The Remote CEO Show

433: Things To Avoid When Working With A Remote Team

My first remote team fell apart in less than a month. I had hired three people to work on my Amazon business. I was still afraid to give up control, so I would message them every couple of hours to ask for updates. Sometimes I would even message them at night or on weekends. Within a couple of weeks, I started noticing a drop in the quality of the work, and by the end of the month, two of the three-team members had left. I learned the hard way that remote work is not like on-site work. People that work well remotely have a higher sense of independence and can motivate themselves. If you are not ready to let your team do their magic, maybe you should wait to hire a remote team! Also, don’t make the same mistake I made. Don’t only rely on messaging apps to speak with your staff. Get on a video or audio call with them every day to set the tone for the day, motivate them and share empowering stories. Working remotely is a blessing, but you need to make sure that everyone feels that way. Don’t automatically expect people to be on the same page. Ask questions, and make your morning meetings count! They’re likely the only time that you get to interact with your staff for the day!

432: How to Stop Being tired ALL the Time

“I can’t focus, and my eyes can’t stay open” I used to say that sentence to myself every day through university and for the first few years of working full time. I thought it was going to be like that forever. But at least I always liked to experiment with different lifestyle choices and diets. So, I made it a point to tweak and adjust my food intake and habits, and while doing that, I was journaling to find out how I felt. To my surprise, spending more time in bed did nothing. Actually, it made me feel less productive and gave me quite a few headaches. But, after years of testing, I finally found my balance. I have an excellent evening routine; I read, write, and plan. Then I wake up always at the same exact time; that way, I don’t need an alarm clock. I also make sure to have my workout in the morning, which gives me the mental and physical energy I need to stay focused in the afternoon. And finally, no matter what I choose to eat, I need to have at least one portion of greens. This routine gave me a sustained level of energy for over a year without fail. If you are in a similar situation to where I was, try these steps, and you will see amazing results.

431: Interview with Michael Gasiorek - How to Scale Your Agency to 7 Figures and Beyond

In this episode of The Remote CEO Show, I had the pleasure to interview Michael Gasiorek. Michael runs Truth Cartel which functions like a plug and play marketing department for emerging technology companies. They have worked with clients such as Algorand, TrustToken, Oracle, and EMX. He also runs Medium’s largest crypto & blockchain publication. He’s an Entrepreneur in Residence @ NYC’s dLab blockchain accelerator & mentor @ world-leading biotech accelerator IndieBio, advising startups on marketing, sales, content, and media relations.

430: The Biggest Discipline “Aha Moment” (LIFE CHANGING)

“I am not cut out for this.” That’s what most people say about themselves when they are starting out. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed at the beginning. But then you realize that discipline is like a muscle, and every time you complete an action, you reinforce the neural pathway responsible for that behavior. When you realize that, you go through a paradigm shift that will make your journey 1000 times easier. The most common thought process that beginners have is “this thing is so hard, and it will be this hard forever.”, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Next time you are trying to instill a new habit, take the time to focus on your internal discomfort and repeat, “this task will never be this difficult again. Tomorrow it will be a bit easier.” Focus all your thoughts on that one concept. Nothing will be as hard as it is now, because you are getting better at it every time you practice it. Let that sink in. Once you truly understand it, nothing will be as daunting.

429: 4 Tips on How to Create Content Regularly (GAME CHANGER)

Coming up with ideas for content from scratch is hard. But if you have a process to follow, it’s just a matter of collecting your thoughts and putting them on paper (or your computer) We need to have a frame of reference to start with, and once we have a cue, our minds can begin developing a whole story around it. What do you want your audience to learn? Come up with your topics and assign each subject to a day of the week. Then pick a day to work on your content, and when you sit down, all you need to do is expand on the topics you have already planned to write about. This system is called ”batching.” It works very well because when you carve out a few hours from your calendar to work on one task (content creation in this case), you enter a state of flow, and you work at a much faster pace. Don’t overcomplicate things! Find a system that works for you and focus on consistency! Your hard work will pay off!

428: 4 Sales Calls You Need To Master! (Must Watch)

Most salespeople sit at their desks waiting for a laydown. The feeling when you receive an inbound lead that is ready to buy is incredible, but that’s a unicorn. If you are in sales (and business) to make real money, you need to master your sales skills so you can close any type of sales call. The battle, for example, is the most common one. It’s when the prospect is interested but has a ton of objections. If you are not quick and sharp, you will lose the battle and miss the deal! The follow-up is also very common, and if you are not diligent with your CRM and consistent with your work, you will lose a bunch of deals that way. Also, do you know how to deal with those clients that want to leave you hanging with the line, “I will get back to you.”? If you don’t know how to take control of the conversation, you will be left hanging more often than not! What’s the hardest type of sales call for you?

427: Don’t Scale Your Business Until You Watch This

So you have a few clients, and you know it’s time to take your biz to the next level. First off, congrats! You made it past the first big filter. Now it’s time to learn a new series of skills. What took you here, won’t be enough to take you to new heights. Yes, you are consistent and motivated. You are also great at offering your service or selling your product. But do you know how to create systems and lead people? The good news is that virtually every business model will require the same skills at the scaling stage, and they all revolve around people management, money management, and process management. Before you embark on this journey, prepare yourself! Take courses on all those topics, get a mentor that can share with you what works what doesn’t. Making a mistake when your business is making 5k a month is not a big deal. But if you make a mistake when your business is making 25k a month, it can take you months to recover. Be smart! Balance learning and doing, and you will be set for life!

426: 4 Tips To Improve Your Leadership Skills

If starting a business is hard, try scaling it!⠀ It’s true… learning how to motivate yourself daily is hard. You need to break out of all your old limiting habits. But when you scale your business, you need to keep up your discipline and lead a team at the same time.⠀ Also, most of your staff will not be as motivated as you are. After all, this is your business, not theirs.⠀ Before giving orders and leading your team, you need to know a lot about the human mind and what drives people. And what’s a better place to start than with yourself?⠀ Do a lot of internal work, and use the same techniques that motivate you to help others achieve similar goals.⠀ At the same time, remember that leading also means making unpopular decisions at times. If your goal is to please everyone, you may be in the wrong career!⠀ In the end, it’s all about practice, practice, practice!

425: Interview with Paul Getter

In this episode of The Remote CEO Show, I had the pleasure to interview Paul Getter: The Internet Marketing Nerd. Paul shares with us his story and some extremely valuable knowledge about digital marketing. Enjoy this episode! 

424: Do you want to be as productive as Jeff Bezos?

What makes people hyper-productive?!
Is it their genes? Their knowledge? Or the place where they were born?
Well, the answer is: “none of those.”
It’s their habits. Habits have a compounding effect on our productivity. The more you stick to a productive routine, the more you will be able to master your energy and focus.
There are several approaches to daily routines, but today I want to focus on the world’s richest person.
Jeff wakes up early and uses the sun as his alarm clock. Then he spends time with his family (he says, “I like to putter in the morning.”)
Once he’s at work, he tries to have all his most important meetings before noon to make good use of his morning focus. He also says that he likes to keep them short because he’d rather fit more conversations in his schedule (If I were running a company like Amazon, I would certainly feel the same!)
Bezos also says that he likes taking care of some house chores because, while he does that, his mind wanders into problem-solving mode, and he credits some of his best ideas and solutions to those moments.
The takeaway from this post is that everyone is different. The goal is to find a schedule that works for you. Test, test, test! When you find a combination of habits that allow you to consistently show up and create good work, stick to the new routine and turn it into a non-negotiable.