For you to get a different result in your life, you have to be willing to learn something new!
So often, I find people are looking for a mentor or coach to validate that they are on the right track.
This becomes very counter-intuitive and co-dependent on the coach continuing to either affirm or correct what’s true or not.
For us to grow to the next level, we have to be willing to learn something we’ve not done before, and even tear down the shaky foundations of our life that we’ve had up to this moment in time.
One of the biggest things I’ve seen people struggle with reaching their goals is looking up to others for approval and validation that what they are doing is “ok” and right.
Then, double whammy, they never make themselves vulnerable enough to learn something new – and ask questions because of fear of realizing that they didn’t have it all together in the first place!
So we stay stuck in this delusion of “I will be ok when” and “One day I will reach a place where” – while we continuously rely on other people to give us the power to go after our dreams.
We’re looking for others to be the catalyst for us to reach our goals.
The fact is this will never work. Me saying that right now may be offensive to the delusion that some people believe because what else could be the case?
You have to take responsibility for yourself for your choices. Discipline yourself to do the things that you want to do, without ever needing anyone else to hold you accountable!
It’s time we stop looking to others to validate that we are on the right track, and we start just moving the path forward on our own.
And now we come face to face with our fears: judgment, not fitting in, punishment, getting in trouble, criticism.
We have to be ok with criticism to go after our goals and move forward in the face of it!
Stop allowing critics to disempower you from going after your dreams!
You have to believe in yourself enough to do the thing that’s inside you!
You have to set up a filter of what you take in, and sometimes shutting down voices that are not benefiting you!
These could even be voices of your past, family members, friends, people who you’ve respected before, and they have your best interest in mind – BUT – because they have to also come to grips with the responsibility in themselves for why they are where they are – you can no longer allow them to dictate your choices or direct your path.
Now, this becomes very lonely for a second because we are left with the shell of who we’ve been in our lives, and the future that we are becoming.
As soon as you leave the past behind and stop trying to resurrect the old ways of being, you will be able to reach your goals so much faster.
You will attract the friends, the help, the mentors, the leaders, the resources that you need to reach your goals!
You will start to notice by turning your reticular activating system on that you were headed in the right direction all along.
The truth is this: We don’t need other people to change for us to reach our goals. We don’t need even to get anyone to agree with us to achieve our goals.
We have to give up the need to try to control everything around us, the messages, the people, the influence – and learn to control ourselves: what we are letting in.
This is knowing when to ignore things, and when to pay attention. This is not letting everything that comes at you distract you. This is being focused on where you are going – by being PRESENT at this moment in time to trust the process and know that you are on the right path.
If any doubt creeps in, we often rely on going to others to tell us if we’re on the right path or not, and there’ a time a place for this, but you need to make your circle small that you take input from — less than 3-4 people.
You can have a relationship with many others, but not to the point where you let them influence the direction you are headed!
Choose wisely the voices you listen to – and believe in yourself to know that the path you are on is the best path for you.
When new information comes along, it’s ok to change your choices and change directions. Eventually, we reach a crossroads: where we can decide to circle the same mountain again or move in the course of our destiny.
If you’re someone who’s at that crossroads, or maybe you don’t know what direction to go, that’s what this group is for, the grow your life podcast. To help point you in the direction that will help you reach your goals in the fastest possible manner, without sacrificing your integrity, your family, your health, or your relationships!
Sometimes there’s time to set boundaries. We have to learn to say “no” when we mean “no’ and “yes” when we mean “yes” and not let the fear of what other people might do keep us stuck, living a life that is opposite of what we were both made to do – and desire to live.
When we align our lives with the divine call of God on our experience, there’s a convergence that happens where our desires and God’s desires are the same.
Then we reach a place where we can ask God, “Direct my footsteps.” We know the voice of God in our life because we are attuned to hearing it! We can trust that what he says is true and right!
Then it comes to having wise counsel around you. Sometimes there’s wise counsel for one season that is no longer wise council for another season. We have to learn to let the old stay where it is in the past and keep moving forward toward our destiny!
No one is keeping you from your goals but yourself. No one has the power to do so, but you.
It’s time for you to pick yourself up and start walking forward without looking back – one foot in front of the other!
What’s the right choice to make? Ask questions! Start asking people that you can trust. When you get differences of opinion, consider the source of where you’re getting your answers from and then ask yourself, “Is this going to serve me towards my goals or hinder me.”
Pay attention to the voices that you’re listening to. Are these people who’ve been there before and gotten the results that I desire, or are they just repeating something that sounds good and tickles my ears?
Then learn to trust yourself. Keep the promises that you make to yourself. Have a track record with yourself to reach your goals. There’s nothing terrible about trusting your instincts. You can trust yourself.
This will be the only way for you to go to the next level, and start making the decisions that will have a lasting impact on your life!
Client Email: Best Practices For Email Marketing
This was a letter that I sent to a client that I consult for marketing about email best practices. I think in general people know what to do with email, but these often forgotten and missed points are overlooked:
—————————————-
From the desk of Jeremiah Krakowski
Dear Client,
When doing email marketing, we have to follow best practices. The #1 reason people mark emails as spam is that they get emailed too often. Here's a great article on this:
When sending emails, it's all about cultivating a personal relationship with people first, and secondary is about what you want them to do or what you are promoting.
This is why the best marketing emails always engage people to be a part of the story.
People have a choice to delete or read your email. If they’re sick and tired of what they are getting, they won't even open it and mark it as spam. You want people to be interested in what they are reading. This interest always starts with the subject line - something that invites them to open it up.
Sometimes it's good to be very general even "Exciting news for the new year" or "hey, how's it going" sometimes works. Other times we use more specific marketing language.
The less often you email people, the more likely they are to open.
Also spacing emails out is important.
We must care about the people receiving the emails more than we care about what we can get from it.
Everything starts with good copywriting. If our focus is just what we are trying to tell people, it's more effective to never email anyone in the first place.
We have to cultivate, nurture and respect the relationship of email like we would anyone. Every address is important to us, and they should get value from each email, not just promotion.
This isn't the law that needs to be worried about, but something to consider. It's really a "do unto others' type thing. Everyone is sick of emails, so treat them how you would want to be treated.
Consider what we would care about if we got the email ourselves! What would make us open the email? What would make us feel connected without, instead of just another name and email on a list?
Be blessed!
Jeremiah Krakowski
ps… If you want to work with me, coaching you in your business, sign up for your free 30 minute strategy call with me here: jeremiahkrakowski.com/coaching
Waiting For Perfect Scenarios Is A Path To Failure
For the last six months, every time I think about writing a blog post, I get hit with what I call "F.O.M.O writers blocks" meaning I have too many ideas to write about - and am afraid of them all being the wrong ones, so I didn't write anything.
Now, here we are: Tuesday, January 7th, 2020 - and I still didn't have a blog post up yet!
Over the last 6 months, I've gone on an incredible personal development journey that started right around the time of my LAST blog post! It started with reading a number of spiritual books, as well as leadership books to grow in my spirituality, and my leadership (duh).
One of the number one things that leaders have to do - or they will fail - is making decisions.
Consistent, fast decision making is the number one thing that separates those who are a success from those who are not. Meaning: fear of missing out and decisions are the causes of most failure for leaders!
You see, when we are presented with many decisions, and we don't make any of them - we are effectively catalyzing failures.
The truth is, without action, failure is guaranteed, but the action has a precursor - called decision making. Every action always follows a decision, so the number one thing that prevents success that I've noticed is waiting too long to make decisions.
And here I am, six months later, still haven't decided what to write a blog post about - indecisive, and nothing.
Now I could beat myself up for this and get down on myself - or I can get over it quickly and start writing a blog post!
So here it is, my new year decision making an action. It's no longer ok for me not to write blog posts, so that's what I will be doing!
I've spent my whole life waiting for things to have the perfect scenarios for me to make decisions, and I realized - that waiting is what has held me back the most, more than anything else in my entire life!
It doesn't matter how successful you've been in the past: if you allow slow decision making to touch you - you will fail. And then you'll get a chance to learn the lesson that you have to make decisions faster.
So now, I have started only spending 2-3 minutes on making decisions, and maybe 5-10 minutes on more significant choices. If I need advice or feedback on something, I'll get it, weigh the options and make a decision.
You have to learn to make decisions - right or wrong - quickly - and do something. Not making a decision and staying right where you are will guarantee you will never progress and move forward.
Waiting to decide what questions to ask to get the input you need is one of the worst hamster wheels I see so many people on that I coach. It's time to stop doing that.
Start asking the questions you need to get the answers that will help you move the needle. If you've ruminated on a decision for weeks, it's time to stop doing that.
Make decisions quickly, and keep moving forward!
A great place to ask questions to help make decisions in your business is my #GrowYourLife community. You can join here: https://jeremiahkrakowski.com/community
Speed & Growth Are The Most Important Thing You Must Improve In Your Business
In your business, all of your problems can are solved by increasing how fast you can acquire capital/revenue, how quickly you grow and then, continuously accelerate that growth over time.
This goal, above everything else, provides you with exponentially more revenue than you will ever need. Allowing you to sustain yourself in up and down seasons and double down on what's working when things are profitable!
There's no time to waste to "do everything perfectly" and get things done the way some business class or marketing book told you!
The time is now to grow and grow big.
Amazon wasn't profitable for years, even to the chagrin of many on wall street, but they did this because of the long game.
Here's some examples from Amazon, Facebook & Apple computer.
The bills were paid, the taxes were deferred (lol), and they reached the most people to then accelerate to the next level. Facebook is the same way, along with Instagram!
Apple Computer only succeeded because they got a working prototype on the market faster than anyone else did for a cost more people could afford!
What I'm specifically referring to here is this: if you have a goal, always take the path that brings in increased revenue or capital the fastest, prioritizing which one you can do the quickest.
You must have a "revenue generation mechanism" from the start of anything — something to bring in money to build with.
If you don't have this, you will need an outside investor to provide capital, which is why I mention both revenue and capital here. I see people take 1-3 years even to generate revenue sometimes. This only works IF you have capital coming in from an outside source! If you don't have outside capital to sustain your growth, you have to generate it!
Stop waiting around for everything to be perfect before you take action.
Get some revenue into your business right away, as quick as you can, either generated yourself or from an outside investment - and then get some quick wins on the books!
From here, then you can compound this cashflow to grow things further, always prioritizing growth and speed, over anything else.
If you do this, you can grow and won't hit roadblocks, speed bumps along the away.
So often, we can allow our own ego to say "I have to do everything perfectly and do it the way it should be done before I can succeed" and we miss out on years of what could be possible just by focusing on growth and acceleration!
Get some wins, and then build upon them. Don't build just for the sake of building, build to win, and build to last. This happens only by focusing on what we can accomplish the fastest, not what can we do perfectly the first time.
Allowing yourself the ability to fail and make mistakes lets us learn at an accelerated rate, including what doesn't work as well as what might not fit the market, so that we can quickly adjust to what will work and get results.
I did a video on my FB Live about this today, and I think it’ll help drive this home for you even more. Enjoy!
Let me know your thoughts on this, as well as be sure the join the #GrowYourLife community on facebook.
Here's Why Your Facebook Ads Aren't Working
Everywhere I look, I see marketers and bloggers saying, "Facebook ads don't work anymore."
The strange part is, in my experience, with my clients, this is just not true. I am not even experiencing close to what people say they are with Facebook ads. The ads I run for myself and my clients are producing better results than ever in the last few months!
I've concluded that this rhetoric serves well to sell programs and done-for-you services. But this still doesn't solve the problem I discovered most people have.
You see, everyone I've explored who are struggling to get results with ads has one thing in common: they aren't creating unique, relevant, consumable, high-value training & teaching content on their social media pages for their visitors to return to over and over again.
People are expecting strangers to buy from them just from an ad. Nowadays, people only buy from who they trust.
However, in the world of instant gratification, people trying to sell products aren't taking the extra time to serve their potential customer without asking for anything in return.
The reason why content is so relevant is you can use the Facebook & Instagram platform to track how much of your content viewers are consuming and use AI to find similar audiences.
By capturing only the people who watch 75% of your video content, especially in the long-form LIVE videos that are around 10-15 minutes, you can track exactly who is truly a target customer of yours or not. Someone watching 7 and a half minutes of your content is very much interested in what you are talking about.
The other issue I see people do is they only make video content that promotes what they want to sell.
You have to give away high value (content people would generally pay you for, without fear that because you gave it away, they will somehow not pay for it, which is a false fear that never actually is a problem in my experience). Give your best content away for free and track the viewers.
For e-commerce, create content that surrounds what you are selling, supportive learning information (if you sell anything health or supplement related there are thousands of pieces of content that can be made surrounding the topics of health, fitness, and supplements) that have nothing to do with your product but help you find interested audiences.
Your goal is to find who wants to buy from YOU, not your product. Make your face the brand, or hire a brand ambassador.
When you create this content, you can then track how much of the videos, daily, are watched and how long people are watching.
When you create a sample size of 60-90 days of consistent content, you can then track people who watch 75% or more of the entire length of the videos. This is an audience of people who only complete at least 75% of a video. You can then successfully segment ONLY your most engaged and interested audience, and then use the artificial intelligence platform on Facebook called "Lookalike Audiences" to find people on Facebook who match those who watch your content.
The benefit of this is, your audience is telling what they are interested in, based on how much they are watching.
You can retarget and grow this audience with the lookalike and refine it even more.
This one single function alone can then be scaled towards tracking landing page views, lead generation, add to carts and purchases, to get results.
You built trust and "face brand recognition" (your face becomes the "brand" people recognize for example) and this then helps you find the most engaged audience to then increase your revenues on an extremely low-cost basis.
I created two incredibly detailed pieces of content on my podcast (links at the bottom of this blog post) about making video content on social media and then using free and paid methods to get customers. These break down all of this process in detail.
When you start making consistent high-value VIDEO CONTENT, as part of your strategy, your ads will be more effective because your audience auto-generates itself based on what you talk about.
To build up the initial 75% viewers, using general industry based terms of targeting works to start, with the goal of page post engagement, until you can generate at least 1000 unique users in an audience of 75%
Then, when you get that 1000 unique users, your lookalike audience will be extremely accurate to generate and target the lookalike to get superior results. I've noticed less than 1/3 cent (that's 0.003 cents) per page engagement, and this allows further focusing for less than $5-10 a day to be extremely useful for people just getting started, and then scale as you make more revenue!
I did this facebook live some days ago where I created a basic 10 minute overview with a white board of this process I described above. I highly recommend watching it here:
For more information, I also created 2 hours worth of podcasts on this topic, which are full traning lesssons to help you create video content & get customers to your website.
For more information about Facebook Ads, be sure to follow my page on Facebook and Instagram, where I frequently make updates on what's working.
https://facebook.com/jeremykrak
https://instagram.com/jeremykrak
If you want to hire us to run your ads, the starting cost is $3000 per month and goes up from there, but you can contact us at https://www.jeremiahkrakowski.com/hire-me
How To Listen To Podcasts That Will Change Your Life
I used to wonder what podcasts were the best to listen to. What podcast app should I use? Should I use apple podcasts, google podcasts app, what's the benefit of podcast listening?
Turns out, I didn't realize that by connecting with the podcast world, my life would actually be transformed in a positive way!
You could say, I sort of became a bit of a podcast addict.
This is a personal story of how to podcast episodes transformed my life, but I also hope to open your mind to the possibilities of something that can change your life as well.
What's the best podcast app?
That's really up to personal preference. Where do you want to play new episodes of your favorite podcasts on? What podcast platform do you like the most? Do you like the suggested podcasts that the apps present to you?
Each app is so different, but it's all about personal preference. the iPhone comes with a built in app for podcasts called Apple Podcasts. Similarly, you can find the latest episodes of your favorite podcast on Spotify as well.
When you find one you like, you can subscribe to make sure that the new episodes always appear when you login!
How much do podcasts cost?
The amazing answer is, they are free! They don't cost anything at all! Podcasting is often used to build an audience or community on the internet, similar to a social media platform. Many people offer podcasts as a way to connect with new listeners every week.
Because of this, anyone can listen to a podcast at no cost using their favorite apps online!
iTunes, Spotify, Google, it doesn't matter, your favorite audio recordings are just a click away.
Pressing the play button is how you get started. And you can listen anywhere, either on a computer, iPad, iPhone, or any device you can think of. Podcasting is becoming a major part of everyone's daily life!
Do I need a fast internet connection to listen to podcasts?
Absolutely not! Podcasts don't require fast internet at all! In fact, they work on even the slowest connections. this is because they are strictly audio. Your favorite podcast app downloads, the audio to your device, and your ready to go, with the newest episode of whatever podcast you subscribed to.
What are the best podcasts to listen to?
This is really subjective. Deciding what episodes to subscribe to is a personal choice. Navigate your favorite device to a podcast app and start searching. Alternatively, you can look for suggestions using the top podcast browse functionality.
Most every podcast app has search results that you can search to find your new favorite.
Search around the internet and ask your friends for different subbestions. You might be surprised that you like a specific podcast episode from one podcaster, but not the entire show! And that's perfectly ok. You don't have to listen to every episode from every podcast you check out. You can just listen to what you love, and nothing more.
What are some of my favorite podcasts?
Here are some of the favorites that I started listening to that changed my life as a business owner!
A few months ago I got my start listening to some podcasts, “We Study Billionaires @ The Investors Podcast” and “The Ed Mylett Show” were two that I was immediately drawn to because the first one studied Billionaires, and the second one is from a mega-rich, yet ultra-humble influencer/businessman who also shared the same faith in God that I do.
What were some of my
I was naturally drawn to these two podcasts because they were a way for me to tap into the minds of great men who had something I wanted in life and business.
I was reluctant to get into podcasts, like many people who might be reading this post, but I also had a desire to start my podcast, as well, in the future.
I listened to these podcasts as well as “How I Built This with Guy Raz from NPR” and this enabled me to do the following:
Learn from business moguls interviewed on each podcast
Gain exclusive insider information into industries I cared about
Keep my mind focused on where my goals exist
These are some of my favorites because I have goals to make a global impact and influence the world through technology & business. What a perfect way to learn, to listen to people who are actually doing that very thing.
One of my favorite ways to find podcasts is to search for keywords. I may also search for the names of famous business leaders that I want to hear from (Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Melinda Gates, etc.)
What are some of the main benefits from listening to podcasts?
Podcasts allow you to distill massive amounts of research and information into a very short period of time. To listen to podcasts from experts in almost any area talk about what they do, how they do it, and be mentored by the top leaders in the world.
For me, listening to the podcasts opened up a new world of mentorship and learning that used to previously only be allowed for the elite (seminars, webinars, training programs, mentorship programs) and I could sit under the tutelage of some of the greatest business minds of our generation.
Who wouldn't love to turn on their favorite podcast and be inspired every day? That was me!
Why Did I Start My Own Podcast?
My goal in business is to become a resource for people to learn how to think in life and in business beyond what they could ever imagine is possible.
That’s why I started the Grow Your Life Podcast myself as a way to reach millions of potential listeners around the world with what I know works in business and in life from experience.
I want to find and many subscribers as I can playing and listening to my podcast to help them grow in their mindset and business strategy.
You see, for us to go to a certain level in life and in business we have to be mentored and taught how to get there.
There's over a million podcasts on the topic of business and personal growth, so I know I'm competing in a deep market, but I feel confident that what I have to share will have ap positive impact on the world.
Check out an episode while you can.
Are There Any Best Practices When I Go To Play Podcasts?
Podcasts open up a whole new world of possibility for each of us to learn, in our respective niches and industries, from the best and smartest people on the planet! You can find podcasts from nearly anyone you can imagine, sharing their insight on their latest episode that will change your life!
The best way, practically to listen to podcasts: Do not go in order. Scroll through the titles and pick the ones that are most relevant to you.
Search for titles. Scroll through some of the top people you like to follow and see what they are talking about.
If there’s a particular topic that you want to learn about from someone you admire or respect, find the podcast they did on that topic and listen to it! They will usually give you enough info in 30 minutes to kickstart any journey you want to head in learning and discovery!
Then from here, pick some of your favorites to listen to - just a couple, and listen in the car, while you work, in the gym. Download this information into your brain and learn from these people that you want to align yourself with.
In this, it will open up a new world of possibility for you to learn that has never been available, and I believe it will change your life just as it has changed mine!
What Can I Learn About Starting My Own Podcast?
I went ahead and put together an episode on my podcast all about starting your own podcast.
Most podcasts never get past the first 10 episodes, and we have hundreds of episodes of the Grow Your Life Podcast. Listen to this episode about how to start your own podcast and tap into the knowledge that I've learned along the way in my own podcast journey.
Episode 11: Starting A Podcast For Beginners & Getting To 10 Episodes The Easy Way
I was inspired to start my podcast by listening to these great podcasts and using it as a blueprint for that.
In the future, I may release a full fledged training course on starting and growing a successful podcast! :)
What About Building A Community Of Listeners?
I did start an exclusive community of people, centered around my podcast, and the lessons I’m teaching each week to help people grow, along with free group coaching calls as well. You can join the community here.
I would also invite you to start a podcast journey with me, listening to my podcast here, and plugging in with me each week as I break down unique topics that will impact you in life and in business as well as specific skills tools and strategies that you can apply to sales, marketing and the internet.
I also want to encourage you to not just listen to my podcast, but also check out either some of my favorites that I mentioned above, or search on your own for some podcasts.
Are Podcasts Better With Friends?
I highly recommend posting on Facebook asking your friends what their favorites are and why, and seeing which ones you might be interested in.
This will create a dialog for you to connect with a friend and even talk about the topics each of you are learning! You might even discover common interests that you didn't know you had just by asking!
This is truly going to transform your life and your mind.
If you find that you enjoy my podcast, be sure to share it with some people that you know as well, and encourage your friends to start listening to podcasts.
I think this is something everyone should do as part of their life at least once a week and you’ll see massive transformation!