The Art of Passive Income

Latest Episodes:

The Most Important Key Factor To Customer Diplomacy Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

"We don’t believe that it's a customer's job to know what he or she wants. CEOs must engage with in customer diplomacy to truly understand their customers and address their latent needs."

Join us on today’s show as we talk with the Founder of the Avenue Group, Jeremy Greenberg, about customer diplomacy and why it’s important to build a deep relationship with our customers that transcends the transactional relationship.

Jeremy, who is also a Co-Founder and CEO of Flyte Fitness, has built multi-million-dollar businesses for two Fortune 500 companies (Capital One and Avon Products). He is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds an MBA.

Listen in as we go over:

Jeremy’s biggest entrepreneurial lesson learned
Surveys—are they sufficient to gain customer insight or are other methods necessary to truly understand customers?
Worst decisions Jeremy has seen companies make related to customer diplomacy

Plus, Jeremy gives examples of companies that are dialed into customer service and experience, as well as those that are off-track. Find out where Jeremy says their biggest challenge lies!

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Get smarter and learn more at AveGroup.com.

Scott: Check out the book, Late bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement by Rich Karlgaard.

Jeremy: At the beginning of the week, write down the main things you want to accomplish that week. Things, if you complete, you will consider a successful week. Do that for four weeks, and see how it works for you. It is really helpful.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Notes Of Gratitude For The Land Business Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

This is nacho typical Round Table episode—First, some serious gratitude, then some serious fun!

Having the time and money to live their best lives, Mark asks the guys to dig deep to get to a more personal and intimate level to find out what they are most grateful for, that this business provides them.

Joining Mark are:

Mike Zaino
Scott Bossman
Tate Litchfield
Scott Todd

Here is a little sneak peek into their answers...

Mike—To me it’s time freedom. Everybody knows I still work the fire department, I'm blessed with a great schedule there, but as far as every other day of the week it’s just basically do whatever I want, whenever I want. And not just the time freedom, but to be free of debt. I don’t have that immense pressure of debt on me anymore. I don't feel the burden and that weight. Debt can be crushing and if anybody out there is suffering from any type of debt you know what I’m talking about, it affects you at all levels of your life.

Scott Bossman—I'm just not rushed anymore. Like when you’re working 8:00-5:00 and you've got to get kids to school in the morning and you've got to get them home in the afternoon and you've got to have dinner ready. It has improved my family relationships. This summer was my first summer home not working a job in 24 years and I was able to go golfing on a Monday with my son and go fishing on a Thursday with my other son and to be able to do these things with my boys that I was never able to do before.

Tate—The money that this business creates, I'm grateful for that. But after all is said and done, it's allowed me to really spend time on things that I want to and that includes my health. I’m able to focus on maintaining a healthy lifestyle which is important because your health is wealth. I'm also really grateful for the time with my young family. It allows me to be a present dad. I don't miss the milestones. I get to go to dance practices and these kinds of activities that my daughter finds interesting and I love it. I love being the only dad who goes to scissors classes.

Scott Todd—I'm thankful that this is a business that has allowed myself and others to enjoy the life that they want on their own timeframe, being able to do what you want, that's the coolest thing to me about this business. It allows you to give back to the community, to give back to mankind. It's not ‘all about me’, it's about living and being a better person because you have the time freedom to do it. And you have the economic freedom to help other people. When you can do that, man, life all of a sudden gets a lot more better.

What is Mark grateful for?

“I’m so grateful for so many things and everything you guys were talking about I’m super, super grateful for. When I was younger, I was Tate and then as I was going through my career I felt like what Scott felt like, being able to get out of my job in 18 months. Then to be able to spend time with my loved ones like, you know, just that morning routine like what Zaino was saying and Bossman being able to have those special moments throughout the week with my family.

I’ve experienced all of those things. So today, I think what I’m most grateful for is The Land Geek community and being able to live vicariously through other people’s success. On Facebook yesterday with the Dude Buddy and the Zen Master, out of nowhere Nick Ringling is like, 'Yeah, you know, I’m 8 months out of Flight School"...I think he made $187,000. And Paul Brewers like, "Yeah, I paid for Flight School tuition in my first deal." Josh Deel same thing.

I mean this is out of the blue. Like we're not asking them to go on and do this. And I think through me hearing these stories of success... like a Tyler and Jen Kelly, I feel like now I can really die in peace, at least professionally, that I've made enough of an impact to do that. I think having that ability to make an impact in other people’s lives I’m most grateful for.”

Mark also shares a story about a recent heartwarming rescue mission that Scott Todd was on.

Then the guys get on topic of Thanksgiving and their family traditions which, for obvious reasons, leads to the topic of food…. Cheesecake Factory may or may not have been mentioned. Ok, it was.

Then, have you ever been in a nacho emergency but didn’t know where to go? Scott Todd has you covered in this week’s Tip of the Week! #PleaseBringBackErikPetersonAndMimiSchmidt

The Land Geek Team is super grateful for all of our listeners, without you there wouldn’t be a podcast! We hope you all had a warm fulfilling Thanksgiving.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Scott Todd: Check out the DataBaseOfNachos.com to find nachos near you!

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

From Corporate Puppet To Real Estate Success Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

Our guest today, Cliff Hayden, is a real estate investor and the founder of ShowMeTheRental.com—an online software tool that automates the most difficult part of property management: finding and screening qualified leads.

In the late 90’s, Cliff was tired of being a puppet on a string for the corporation he worked for. Intrigued by real estate, he wanted to pursue it but wanted to make sure it was going to be the right avenue for him.

Then with timing on his side, he found a way to give real estate a try it before he left the comfort of a paycheck... he got himself suspended!

After making his salary in just the first month and holding the longest suspension in his company’s history, Cliff decided to quit his job to pursue real estate investing as a career.

Business was good for Cliff but he grew tired of taking hundreds of calls and emails from unqualified leads just to find that one good renter. He was tired of managing showings and following up with people.

He was struggling to find time for his family. He decided he needed a better way. And when he couldn’t find a better way, he built it.

Since developing ShowMeTheRental.com, Cliff is able to focus on his business and let the website manage the leads so he can spend more quality time with the people he loves.

Listen in as Cliff shares the details of those early days and how he made the transition from trading time for money to finding the right balance of priorities in his life.

Also find out:

How ShowMeTheRental works
Cliff’s first investment property
How he leads by example for his kids

Cliff went from a corporate puppet to real estate success because he had one thing...a burning desire. And that, paired with a smart exit strategy, was the perfect recipe to create the lifestyle he desired.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Go to ShowMeTheRental.com, it's a great tool at an amazing value of $49 until your house rents.

Scott: This book could help our listeners who struggle with sales. Check out, Questions that Sell: The Powerful Process for Discovering What Your Customer Really Wants by Paul Cherry.

Cliff: Check out the app, Blinkist. Key takeaways from books that will take 15 to 20 minutes to read. It's a really good tool to keep your mind sharp.

Isn't it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Scaling Your Land Investing Business Like A Pro Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

Over the next few episodes of The Land Geek Round Table, we are going to take a deep dive into scaling your land business. The objective is to take you from working IN the business to working ON the business, on your schedule!

Joining Mark this week are:

Tate Litchfield
Mike Zaino
Mimi Schmidt
Scott Todd

Listen in as the team talks about what life in the business looked like when they were first starting out and what it looks like now, working on the business… and we can tell you, it looks much different!

We all want to have our money problem solved. But ultimately, you want your time problem solved so that you have complete control of how you spend your time in your life. If Monday or Tuesday is the same day as Saturday or Sunday or Friday, that's an amazing feeling. I remember that first time I got sick after I quit my investment banking job and this amazing sense of relief that there was no one to call, there's no stress, I didn’t have to deal with a manager or anything like that. I could just be sick. -Mark

Find out the details on:

How many hours a day they worked then and now
Their first hires
How long it took them to get to where they are today

Beside time, find out what it took for our team to get to the point of where they are today—running a successful business that will run with or without them. Bottom line, their success comes down to determination.

You are going to have obstacles along the way, both in the business and in your personal life but if you’re able to push through them and keep going, there is no reason why you can’t be successful in this business.

I think that people need to understand, also reiterate the fact that it’s the deep work that got us to this point. It's like you always say, ‘it's simple, but it's not easy’. You're going to get kicked in the teeth in this business. It takes a lot of deep work and a lot of mistakes and recoveries and commitment because a lot of people get stopped in this business and I think that it comes down to, it can be sort of an excuse when something strong comes up that blocks you and you don't push through it.

You have to not allow that to become an excuse.

I don't want to belittle anybody's issues that will come up in the business but we all have these things that happen and we've all pushed through them. We're here now because we pushed through that. So it's important to realize that, if you're out there listening and you're struggling, that we've done that and it's the only reason we're having good results now is because we pushed through it and you can too so that's like the other side of it. -Mike

And finally, work at YOUR OWN pace. The definition of success is not based on speed or keeping up with others in the business.

People are going to do well at their own pace. How I define success is not necessarily how Mimi defines success. There is no success spectrum that says, ‘well, he did it in this amount of time, well, then that makes him successful’.

How do you define success?

If you define success by building a passive income and getting the heck out of your day job, what does it matter how long it takes? It does not matter and should not matter.

Unfortunately, I think that a lot of times people put artificial time horizons on their success and they go, “Well, okay, I'm going to try this for six months.” Well, I can tell you in six months, you won't be successful. End of story if that's your time horizon. I don't know what you're going to be successful in for six months but it's not this. But if you're willing to continue to chisel away slowly and methodically at building the business that you want, well then you can do it. It's just you have to do it. That's the difference. -Scott

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Check out Tentrr.com—it's like Airbnb but with tents. You can share your land, become a camp keeper and earn annual income by hosting guests on your land.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

If Others Can Do This So Can We—From One Deal To Eighty In A Year Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

We talk with The Land Duo, Tyler & Jen Kelly about their land investing journey in this week’s episode of The Art of Passive Income!

Tyler & Jen are Land Geek clients who have taken their business to the next level and today they are going to give us an inside look on how they went from one deal to over eighty in under a year!

Timeline of Succession

End of 2017—Heard about the concept and started with another program
April 2018—Acquired their first property and struggled on their own
October 2018—Found Mark and bought the Investor’s Toolkit
November 2018—Sold that first property
December 2018—Found a lot of value in the Toolkit so they signed up for Flight School
January 2019—Signed up for coaching with Tate
October 2019—Tyler quit his corporate job

How did they work through the initial resistance to get to the sell of their first property?

They heard the success stories and believed that it works, they just had to figure out how to make it work for them. So, after investing in that first initial program and struggling to make it work on their own, they found Mark and bought the Investor’s Toolkit.

“By getting the Toolkit, it got us way more aggressive in our marketing. We just can’t put out a couple of ads and sell a property, we need to be all over the place. Just that one little stage made the difference and got us that first sell.”

Join us as Tyler & Jen share all the details of the beginning of the journey into land investing, along with:

The inside scoop on Flight School
Why they went into coaching
Who was more nervous with the transition from paycheck to passive
Their experience in the VIP room

Also, find out the mistakes they have made and what they would have done different.

“Going through the struggle made us realize that we don’t want to keep doing that. We don’t have to, there’s a better way. Let’s go find somebody who has been successful and who has done this and learn from them. And we haven’t looked back and this year has been insane."

Tyler & Jen share how they went from one deal to eighty in under a year and how those eighty deals have changed the quality of their lives. Tyler, now gets to spend quality time with Jen and their two daughters with his focus on them instead of work.

Plus, find out their advice to that person sitting in a cubicle at an unfulfilling job, who has health benefits and a nice salary, but also has a long commute to work and is just working for the weekend and holidays.

What does the future look like for Tyler & Jen?

The Kelly’s talk about what their passive looks like now and what their end of the year goal is and Jen raises the bar by the end of the conversation!

Tyler & Jen’s story is an inspirational one, they had the proof of concept and knew this business model worked. They knew if others could be successful, so could they. So they did not stop, they kept it consistent and continuously moved forward.

You have to have that burning desire. If you really want to change and you really believe you can do it, then you can do it -Tyler

We’re looking forward to hearing more about their progress and what this upcoming year has in store for them.

Listen in to their inspiring story now...

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Learn more about LandDuo.com—check out their land and maybe invest in some.

Scott: Sometimes we need peace and quiet to like work. Check out MUSE—a white noise app in the iTunes store and it’s free.

Tyler: Check out Workast—a task management tool that integrates with slack, it’s free for up to five users.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Don't Be a Yield Snob—How Low Should Your Profit Go Nov 26, 2019

Show notes

Is there a dollar amount too small to do a deal? Let’s say you bought a property for $300 and turned around and sold it for $600, is that even worth your time? What if the profit is as low as $150… or even $100?

But, what if you can do that week after week and these lower priced properties can bring in a steady $200 a week? That’s over $800 a month to redeploy back into your business, pay bills, or make a car payment… would that be a game changer?

Listen in as Mark, Tate and the two Scott’s do a deep dive into buying those lower end properties. Find out the lowest amount they’ve made and why sometimes it’s not just about the dollar amount, but about keeping the money moving.

Money loves speed—This business is about velocity and the person who can sell the most properties the quickest is going to win.

As the guys point out, buying lower cost properties has its perks—it’s very low risk, keeps the money moving, and adds to your buyers pool which could later turn into more sales.

It doesn't sound like much to many people, but for me, I’ve built a lifestyle around $150 a month payments and I wouldn't trade it for any other thing out there because this is safe.

Whether there’s not as much meat on the bone to begin with or you’ve been sitting on a property for so long that you just want to get rid of it, the guys go at it from all angles and show you why you shouldn’t discount properties as “just a waste of time” ...and tell you when it is.

Then Mark brings up the really deep philosophical question—How much is enough… when it comes to your Thanksgiving dinner?

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: #BringMimiSchmidtBackForTOW #WeWantErikPetersonsTOW—Go the the Official Motivation & Wealth Creation group leave a comment and tag them!

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Learn How To Side Hustle Your Way To Freedom Nov 21, 2019

Show notes

Are you looking for a side hustle that will generate cash flow? Or, maybe you want to build a business on the side that can lead you to eventual freedom? Our guest may be able to help you with that.

Nick Loper from SideHustleNation.com joins us to talk about side hustling your way to freedom so you can escape the rat race!

Nick is an entrepreneur that’s involved in a variety of projects but his main purpose in life is to help you earn more money, pay off debt, learn new skills, use your free time more productively, and escape the rat race.

Nick is also the host of the top-rated podcast, The Side Hustle Show, which focuses on ideas, actions, and results you need to start and grow a successful business.

He also wrote, The Progress Journal: A Simple Daily Planner To Make Meaningful Progress on Your Most Important Work which we talk about today. Find out why he wrote it and what his most important work is.

Plus, Nick talks about some of his favorite side hustles and breaks them down into three models:

Selling a service
Selling a product
Selling an audience

Is Affiliate Marketing Dead?

Scott brings up the subject and asks Nick if it’s dead because it’s "old and antiquated".

Nick’s response?

“You guys are selling dirt. That's like the oldest business on the planet.”

Touché Nick, touché.

The guys also discuss the one thing that could stop an aspiring entrepreneur dead in their tracks, and that is FEAR! Whether it’s fear to leave the comfort of a paycheck, or fear to scale, fear is what stops so many from fulfilling their entrepreneurial dreams as Scott points out in one case.

Nick also answers these questions:

What is the worst advice seen or heard in the Side Hustle world?
What were the steps that led into creating the Side Hustle Nation?

Then, poses a question back to Mark & Scott...

How do you justify spending time trying to build a business with limited hours that are supposed to be family time in the name of hopefully having more family time down the road?

Find out how they answered, and more, in this week’s episode of The Art of Passive Income!

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Learn more about Nick and how he's changing the world one side hustle at a time at SideHustleNation.com. Also, check out his Progress Journal at ProgressJournal.net.

Scott: Check out the book by Mike Michalowicz, Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself.

Nick: The most effective thing that I have done over the years has been to stack all my calls, meetings, and recordings onto one day of the week. It frees up bigger blocks of time the rest of the week to make meaningful progress on the most important tasks.

Isn't it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Common Mental Blocks That Stop You From Getting To The Next Level Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

What are some of the mental blocks that stop people from moving to the next level in their land business?

Listen in as Mark and a small intimate team dig deep into those common mental blocks that are holding people back in this business.

Joining Mark are:

Scott Bossman
Tate Litchfield
Scott Todd

While there could be a number of reasons that stop people from progressing in their land business, the guys are going to talk about the most common reasons today, which are:

Believing in yourself
The one-in-one-out approach
The fear of being too late to the party
The fear of self-funding

Let’s dig into the one-in-one-out approach a little. This is where you buy one, then wait for it to sell before moving on to the next property. Why isn’t this a good approach?

Here is one example:

Tate, who has spent the last three weeks recovering from a car accident talks about why he wasn’t worried about the money coming in while he was down because he has that passive income coming in every month... which is something that could not happen with the one-in-one-out approach.

It can also lead to burnout!

Scott Bossman recently talked to a gentlemen who is fairly new to the business. He has been in it for one year and has done 80 deals, but only 2 were on terms. He is making cash on his deals, then redeploying it into more deals, but none of it is passive and he's completely burned out because he has just created another job for himself.

Both of these examples make the on-going argument for Mark, that cash is not king when it comes to building that passive piece and why it’s crucial to set the systems up and have a portfolio of notes coming in every month.

Listen in as the guys dive deep into all of the reasons listed above and show you that the only thing holding you back from taking you business to the next level is YOU.

And be sure to stick around for the after chat... it just may save you a trip to Italy!

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Check out the book, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal. It will help you to get your attention back and have this sort of a deeper work in your workday to get more done, be more productive and just be happier overall and not constantly checking technology and having your attention hijacked by something external.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

How To Create Highly Effective Content Marketing Nov 14, 2019

Show notes

Get ready to amp your content marketing with today’s guest, Daniel Daines-Hutt—AmpMyContent.com.

Daniel is a self-confessed marketing nerd who has a background in direct response advertising, but it’s his content marketing that he is known for. Daniel had the top 10 content of all time on Inbound.org and the top content of 2017 on GrowthHackers. He also had a viral post generate $3 million in client requests in only two weeks.

Where most websites convert 2% of their audience into leads, Daniels lowest is 17% and his highest is an astonishing 83%!

Content marketing is about creating content assets that help you communicate with your audience, as Daniel explains. And today, his nerdy side comes out as he gives us all the facts on creating a highly effective content marketing campaign that will have you converting leads higher than the average!

Listen in as we delve deep into the elements of good content and in just 3 minutes, Daniel gives us the algorithm to creating a tremendously valuable piece of content. Plus, find out the details of:

Why less is more
Paid traffic
Scaling slowly
Automation
Link building
Effective testing

Also, what's the worst advice Daniel has seen given in his area of expertise?

Find out his answer and so much more on today’s really nerdy episode of The Art of Passive Income — packed full of value that will help you take you your content marketing to a whole new level by writing less content that will generate more leads!

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Learn more about Daniel and how he can help you really put your marketing on steroids, at AmpMyContent.com. There is a free download and lots of resources.

Scott: Check out this sales book, The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation by Matthew Dixon.

Daniel:

Be empathetic to your audience because the more you can understand them the easier it is to write and the easier it will be to sell.
To learn about direct response advertising, read Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins. Get the FREE PDF Here.
If you are new to business, read the book, The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday.

Isn't it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Is It Bad Etiquette To Ask Another Investor What County They Work In? Nov 12, 2019

Show notes

During the most recent Bootcamp, a question came up that the team wanted to address in this week’s Round Table discussion and that was, is it bad etiquette to ask another investor which county they work in?

Joining Mark this week to Round Table that question are:

Scott Bossman
Mimi Schmidt
Mike Zaino
Scott Todd

But first, just coming from the latest Bootcamp in Scottsdale, Team Land Geek shares their biggest takeaways.

“To echo on what Mike said, what I love is hearing from people about how different their life is today compared to a year ago. Tyler and Jen Kelly had done one deal last year and now they've done 80. I mean, that’s insane and there are a lot of stories like that.

Now some journeys take longer than others but really, I just love hearing those comparison stories from people of where they were then and now. I think that really motivates people to take action and ask themselves, okay, where can I be a year from now if I just start this journey.” -Scott Bossman

So, is it bad etiquette to ask another investor what county they work in?

Join Team Land Geek as they round table that question and share their views and thoughts on the subject. The one opinion that was reiterated by all was, yes, it is bad etiquette… and for a number of reasons.

One reason being that it’s a huge disadvantage for the person asking the question because part of learning and growing in this business is digging in and going through the pain of learning the processes yourself, and that includes the county research.

Mike points out the better, “should have asked” question and that is, how do I learn to educate myself on good areas?

I see a lot of people waste a lot of money on mailings because they are just going to a county with something someone told them but they haven't actually done the research right. -Mimi

Then Mark makes the counter argument on abundance mentality—If we think it is bad etiquette to disclose our counties… which is just one google search away anyways, does that mean that we really don’t have abundance mentality?

Find out the teams response along with all the reasons why it really is just bad etiquette to ask another investor which county they work in.

And then, the chirp... how do you handle that darn chirp!?

Listen in for details in this, “Hey, can I have your fish?" episode of The Land Geek Round Table!

Be you and find properties or counties that you like to work in so that you can create the company that’s unique to you and you can hold that as your strategic advantage too or your competitive advantage over me. -Scott Todd

*Special thanks to Ashley for such a great question!

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mimi: I learned that Trello integrates with PipeDrive; you can learn more by clicking HERE.

Also, check out DeedClaim.com for information on corrective deeds.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?