0 (2s):
Boom shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Marketing Made Simple. Today we're pulling a timeless EOFire episode, from the archives and we'll be breaking down Choosing your platform. To drop these value bombs. I brought Leslie Samuel into EOFire Studios. Leslie teaches creators like you how to use your passion to create the future YOU want to see. He is the host of The Leslie Samuel Show and creator of the video series “From Idea 2 Blog”. And today Fire Nation, we'll talk about considering your audience and your strengths. Choosing a platform where you can show your strengths, paying attention, where your audience is spending their time, identifying the type of content they're consuming and finding out what your strengths are and so much more.

The Goal Digger Podcast (51s):
And a big thank you for sponsoring today’s episode goes to Leslie and ours sponsors The Gold Digger Podcast, hosted by my good friend Jenna Kutcher is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. The Gold Digger Podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips, social strategies, business acts, inspirational stories, and so much more. A must listen episode is one of Jenna's recent on everything you need to know about affiliate marketing. Listen to Gold Digger wherever you get your podcasts.

BELAY (1m 21s):
BELAY is passionate about helping your business succeed with their simple flexible staffing solutions. Download Belay’s Bulletproof Budget template for free, which is the exact budget template they used to grow from a small startup to one of Inc five thousand's fastest growing companies for nine straight years today. Just text FIRE, that's FIRE to 5 5 1 2 3.

0 (1m 44s):
Leslie, you went from being a high school teacher, you tried a few things out in the affiliate marketing world and then you started to choose blogging as like your first all in real platform. So kind of talk us through that process, like what made you choose blogging as your main focus platform at the start?

1 (2m 5s):
Yeah, you know, so it's something that I stumbled into because I had been doing some of the affiliate marketing thing. I had been using a forum in order to kind of get in front of people and then get them to complete some of the offers that I had and so on. And what I noticed was in order for me to continue getting people to do business with me, I had to constantly be in the forums and and answering questions. And if I stopped for a little while, then my business went down. And I remember at that time I stumbled onto an eBook about blogging and learning how, you know, people were creating these blogs and creating content and putting it out there in a way that Google would start indexing their content and people would start finding them.

1 (2m 49s):
That sounded like a more attractive option to me. So I decided, you know what? I'm gonna do my own Blog. I'm gonna create content, I'm gonna answer the questions that my potential audience, the things that they're asking, the things that they're searching for so that they can, you know, over time as my Blog grows in authority, they can start finding me. And from there it's, I mean it's been a game changer for me now that I have my own platform and have been doing it for all these years. People find me and as a result of that they do business with me and my business continues to grow as a result.

0 (3m 23s):
And I love the whole concept of like owning your sandbox. Like

1 (3m 27s):
Absolutely

0 (3m 27s):
What you do brother, you own it. Like that can't be taken away. That's what I love about podcasting and you know, social media is great. Hey, that should be part of your plan in some levels. Fire Nation when you get down the road, but at the same time you gotta remember that's not your sandbox, that's Mark's Sandbox or that is fill in the blanks sandbox. So things to keep in mind for sure. And one thing Leslie that I tell my audience over and over again is focus follow one course until success. So talk to us about the significance of you know, at the beginning and we're gonna get into what you've done afterwards obviously, but at the beginning of really just going all in on that one platform, blogging that focus.

1 (4m 6s):
So when I started, I was a high school science and math teacher. I don't know if you know anything about teaching at a high school, but it's not always a walk in a park. And it was, it was a boarding academy. So the students lived there, we were their, their their teachers, we were their parents, we were, you know, their proxy parents. So it was a whole lot going on there. I knew that if I didn't focus, if I tried this and that and that, it just wouldn't happen, right? I like to use the analogy I used to teach physics at the high school and if you take your your fist right and I take my fist and I hit my thigh, okay it might hurt.

1 (4m 47s):
But if I take my fist and I do the same thing but instead of hitting my thigh, I take a little needle and I put it on my thigh and I do the same thing, I guarantee you I'm gonna scream. And the reason for that is because I'm taking the same amount of force, the same amount of effort and applying it over a much smaller area. And because that area of focus is so small, the pressure, the impact of that is so much greater for me As a busy high school science and math teacher, I couldn't spread my effort out everywhere. I needed to focus it in on a smaller area so that I can have more impact and that's exactly what I was able to accomplish as a result of focusing on blogging.

0 (5m 30s):
I love that analogy for the record, I'm going to use it going forward in the future. I'm gonna give you credit, alright? No, the first two times I use it I will give you credit, but then it's mine forever. That's

1 (5m 39s):
Just the first two

0 (5m 40s):
Then it's mine forever. So once you built that foundation Leslie and you were rocking and rolling with your Blog, you just started adding some things, you started adding an email newsletter, a podcast, a YouTube channel. So talk to us about the process of adding additional platforms to support your main one once it's gotten rocking and rolling.

1 (6m 0s):
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, for me adding those different platforms gives me the opportunity to be where people are and leverage those platforms to bring them to where I want them to be. So I remember one of the first things that I started was my podcast and of course you start your podcast, it's in the iTunes directory, it's in all of these different directories. You can then do interviews on other people's podcasts. I did an interview on your podcast which is awesome. And as a result of that, people listen to your podcast and when they listen to your podcast now they head on over to your Blog and when they head on over to your Blog, they join your email newsletter and so on.

1 (6m 41s):
So for me, by adding these platforms in one at a time, strategically it just puts me where people are so that I can get them where I want them to be and then we can continue that relationship on that way. So I did the podcasting thing, I did the YouTube thing and YouTube has been great as well. You know, you put content out there and people find you in a YouTube search and then they check out your stuff and if they like this your stuff, they come and check out your other stuff. For me that's what it's all about. I have my main hub and I use all of these different platforms to point people to my main hub to continue growing my business.

0 (7m 20s):
It's like the spokes on the wheel Fire Nation. I do the exact same thing except for me it's the podcast all of the spokes on my wheel point to my podcast. And Leslie's gonna give you direct specific advice for getting Ready to choose your platform, Fire Nation. When we get back from thanking our sponsors, artificial intelligence has been a hot topic this year. Even if you're not using it, you've likely heard about the many benefits it can provide, like helping you save time, brainstorm ideas and tackle your to-do list. But how do you put this into practice? If you find yourself spending hours each day on content creation, then I've got a tool that will help you do just that. Meet HubSpot's new AI powered Campaign Assistant, a totally free to use AI tool tailored for the marketers and business builders who spend hours each day on content creation.

0 (8m 9s):
Campaign Assistant will transform the way you work by crafting personalized emails, ads, and landing pages. We'll just a few prompts in a matter of minutes and you can start seeing the benefits fast. Just pick the content type, add key selling points and let AI take it from there. Campaign Assistant isn't just free, it's also fully integrated with HubSpot's smart CRM. So you can publish the AI generated content directly into your landing pages and emails from your CRM. So work smarter not harder. Head to HubSpot.com/campaign-assistant to test drive Campaign Assistant for free.

Gusto (8m 42s):
There are a lot of things to consider when running a business and one thing often overlooked, especially as you begin to grow, is how important having your payroll benefits and HR taken care of is. Luckily Gusto makes it easy with their online payroll and benefit software built for small businesses. That's right. Gusto is your all in one remote friendly platform that helps you pay higher onboard and support your hardworking team across the globe all in one place. Imagine having access to fast, easy payroll, including W twos and 10 90 nines. A place to manage health benefits and for nearly any budget and easy access to your offer. Letters, onboarding, checklist and software setup. Gusto also offers unlimited payroll for one monthly price with no hidden fees and automatically files and pays all federal, state and local payroll taxes in all 50 states. No wonder 94% of customers say Gusto streamlines payroll and benefits. And right now Gusto is offering Fire Nation three months free. Once you run your first payroll, all you have to do to get started is visit Gusto.com/fire. That's Gusto.com/fire.

BELAY (9m 45s):
We all know the feeling of just starting out when you are your business, every client, every decision, every detail, it's all up to you. But there comes a time when your potential for business growth depends on you letting go and hiring a team who can help. I know easier said than done, but BELAY actually does make it easy. BELAY has helped thousands of business owners make the leap to scale their businesses with their simple flexible staffing solutions. Belays exceptional virtual assistants and accounting professionals can partner with you to help you grow your business and take control of your time. They have the nation's largest pool of US based talent ready to work with you from anywhere and scale with you as you grow. And BELAY is passionate about helping your business succeed. So they're offering Fire Nation a free Download of their Bulletproof budget template. This is the exact budget template that BELAY used to grow from a small startup to one of Inc five thousand's fastest growing companies for nine straight years. Text fire, that's FIRE to 5 5 1 2 3 to Download the Bulletproof Budget template and streamline your business with BELAY today.

1 (10m 44s):
Alright, Leslie, we are back in. Let's like kind of teased before the break. Fire Nation wants to know, give us some specific advice if they're at the beginning part of their journey and you know, they're at the specific step in this 17 step roadmap that I created with your help, you know, creating this, this step by step chronological chronological roadmap and they're at the part about Choosing their platform.

0 (11m 5s):
What specific advice do you have for them going forward?

1 (11m 10s):
Yeah, so there are a few things that you want to consider. You wanna consider your audience, where are they spending time? And the other thing you want to consider is your, your your strengths. Like what are you, what are you really good at? I'll give you an example and this is from a a, a second Blog that I did. But the concept applies here very much. I wanted to start a biology Blog with what I had been learning about the stuff that we are talking about and what I'd been teaching. And when I wanted to start a biology Blog, I knew I was gonna deal with very advanced topics in biology and I knew that for the person that I'm targeting, they need to see it to understand it and because they need to see it, to understand it.

1 (11m 52s):
I'm not gonna start a podcast explaining to them how the, the sodium ions travel across the channel and the membranes and all. They'd be like, well what are you talking about? I needed to show it to them. So I chose a platform that allowed me to show it to them and that leverage my strengths. I love being on video, I love to communicate with people. So YouTube seemed like it would be the perfect platform for me and for my audience. So I chose that platform and I went semi all in on that platform to get people to my main platform, which is my Blog. So I looked at what, where they spend their time and how they consume content and how they would want to consume content for my topic.

1 (12m 35s):
And I also looked at what I was good at and based on those two factors, YouTube seemed like a no-brainer for me. You have the search and you have the ability to communicate and show people. It just made sense. So what I recommend is pay attention to your audience, where they're spending their time, what kind of content they're consuming and what your strengths are. If you are really good at talking and asking people deep questions, well maybe you should consider doing a podcast where you are interviewing entrepreneurs or whatever the case might be, depending on your niche. And then leverage that to grow whatever it is your main platform that you are doing.

0 (13m 16s):
This is some fantastic advice by our Nation. I mean you've gotta say, you know, a what are my strengths? What do I actually enjoy doing? Like what am I gonna like waking up doing every single day? Some people are scared of video. Well if that's the case, like don't force it like this should, you know, be something that comes natural to you. And I will also say at the same time, you know, it's not like you have to be great at it at the beginning. 'cause by the way, I was a terrible podcast host when I started. I didn't know what I was doing and I became better over time 'cause I put into reps. But it was something that I wanted to get better at that I had passion and excitement to do, to have great conversations with people like Leslie. I mean, who wouldn't wanna hang out and and chat with Leslie? I mean this guy, his vibe, his energy is fantastic. And you know, this is part of the process, this is part of the 17 step roadmap and when I was kind of going through your contribution to this section Leslie, I pulled out a quote, I'm gonna read it to you and just bring it home for us.

0 (14m 11s):
So your quote that I just loved, which is by the way, Fire Nation obviously just a part of his amazing thorough contribution on this topic about Choosing your platform is, it all starts with creating content on my Blog, providing value to my audience and helping them on their entrepreneurial journey. So Leslie, bring it home. What do you really want? Fire Nation to take away from that. But even from our whole conversation today, 'cause then we'll say goodbye

1 (14m 41s):
For me. The main focus of my business is how do I best serve my audience? What are they looking for? What are they struggling with? Because if I can be the person, if you can be the person to show up, to answer their questions, to help them overcome the thi whatever it is they are struggling with, what's gonna happen is they're gonna come to know, like, and trust you. And if they now have a, a decision that they need to make on taking it to the next level and they see that you offer a service, you have a product, you have something else of more value that you charge for, who are they gonna go to?

1 (15m 25s):
Are they gonna go to some random Joe Schmo that you know posted something on Facebook or are they gonna come to the guy or the gal that has become their own personal trusted expert? They're gonna come to you. So you show up, you serve your audience, you do that day in, day out and you will be amazed what happens as a result

Uncommon Goods (15m 48s):
By our Nation. You can see why Leslie was the person to talk about this topic and of course his contribution in the book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success. If you're hearing our voices right now and it's before March 23rd, there is still time to pre-order the book. And believe me, you wanna pre-order the book. Do Not Wait because with the pre-orders, I have five amazing bonuses that are coming along with it. Just one of those bonuses. I'm shipping all three of my journals, the Freedom, Mastery and Podcast Journal to your door for free with a pre-order. There's four other amazing bonuses, they all disappear the day. The book launches on March 23rd. So why would you wait? Lock in it now. Get these bonuses, find out about the other four over at Uncommonsuccessbook.com, get you a pre-orders in fire, Nation Uncommonsuccessbook.com. Leslie thank you brother for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thanks For having me.

The Goal Digger Podcast (16m 54s):
The Gold Digger Podcast hosted by my good friend Jenna Kutcher is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. The Gold Digger Podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips, social strategies, business acts, inspirational stories, and so much more. A must listen episode is one of Jenna's recents on everything you need to know about affiliate marketing. Listen to Gold Digger wherever you get your podcasts.

BELAY (17m 20s):
BELAY is passionate about helping your business succeed with their simple, flexible staffing solutions. Download Belay’s Bulletproof Budget template for free, which is the exact budget template they used to grow from a small startup to one of Inc five thousand's fastest growing companies for nine straight years. Today. Just text FIRE, that's FIRE to 5 5 1 2 3.