When people have enough income to pay for their living expenses whether or not they’re employed or business owners, they’re considered financially stable. And that’s a good thing. But is it enough? Being financially stable shows that they either stay below or equal to their means, in order for their finances to be “stable”. But when a sudden challenge in their cash flow comes, which area in their life can they compromise? And so they find themselves wondering, where is the freedom in that?
Army platoon leader turned award-winning podcast host and author John Lee Dumas has firsthand experience in going after that coveted financial freedom as he spent six frustrating years chasing success in law school, corporate finance, and real estate. It was only when he decided to take action after years of straddling the fence of entrepreneurship that he finally found the path to financial peace.
When JLD found inspiration from an Albert Einstein quote giving importance to being a person of value, rather than of success, a light switched and he got into a habit-forming entrepreneurial mindset that allowed him to rake in over $250,000 monthly income. Here’s how:
He identified his big idea.
John Lee Dumas’ big idea came from enjoying watching and listening to podcasts that inspire, educate, and help budding entrepreneurs and hopeful startups navigate and succeed in their respective industries. Now with over 3,000 episodes of interviews with inspiring entrepreneurs, JLD’s Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast has over $12 million net income since its launch in 2012.
The key is to make the decision upfront to be an entrepreneur, and the big idea can be something you’re passionate about and really interested in, or something you’re great at. This is your zone of fire. It’s what you want to spend your days doing, and loving it.
He found a void in his niche.
While he may not have been the first to come up with a podcast that interviews successful entrepreneurs, JLD found a void and filled it. No matter how oversaturated the niche seems, he saw that nobody was doing daily podcasts, and so he exploited the opportunity in a good way and launched Entrepreneurs on Fire, the first seven days per week podcast.
JLD was able to fill people’s need for consistent content while commuting to work every single day, and people started to rely on the podcast as he was able to provide a steady source of useful information.
He defined his avatar.
Your avatar is your most single ideal customer. You can’t go through planning your business without knowing who it is for. JLD’s is 25-35 years of age, works a full-time 9-5 job, and is frustrated in their quest for financial and lifestyle freedom. By intentionally creating his avatar, JLD is able to create content around what his avatar would need and want, such as topics, free resources, and even the style, voice, and tone of his podcast.
He chose his platform.
It doesn’t matter what platform you choose. Whether it’s social media, blogs, or emails, what’s important is that you’re focused on following that one course until you find success on that platform before you move on to the next. Since day one, JLD’s preferred main platform and focus is podcasting which he has won in and is now earning seven figures. Over the years, social media was added for promotional purposes, and to cater to his massive and growing audience at Entrepreneurs on Fire.
He found the right mentor.
For JLD, the right mentor isn’t necessarily the one with the most amount of money. A lot of people make this mistake, which leads to wasted time, resources, and energy. Your perfect mentor is someone who’s recently been where you want to be in a year’s time. This is someone who’s recently been where you currently are, someone who has made mistakes that you’re trying to avoid.
JLD wanted to be a successful business podcast host, so he found a mentor who is a successful business podcast host who’s about a year into her podcast journey. Her knowledge of launching a podcast is still relevant because it happened just within a year. JLD believes that the right mentor is out there for everybody. They just don’t know where to look.
A great starting point for people in search of financial freedom is John Lee Dumas’ game changer 17-step roadmap. His collective genius of over 3,000 interviews with top entrepreneurs allowed JLD to see 17 fundamental truths that he turned into a proven framework to serve as step-by-step guide for thinking entrepreneurs in pursuit of lifestyle freedom. A curation of his experiences and lessons from all his interviews paved a common path to uncommon success, and this is what brought him to a position to do whatever and go wherever he wants, whenever he wants; the ultimate lifestyle and financial freedom.
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