How Political Speech-Writing Can Grow Your Business

Erin Geiger: 0:02

Welcome to the Small Business big mindset Podcast, where we dive into tactical strategies to grow your business. And to make an impact on this world. A huge part of success is keeping your mindset and vision on track. So this is a major part of our process. And this podcast. Let's do this. Hey, Erin here. Welcome to the Small Business big mindset podcast this week we have Matt's on story strategists working with business leaders, sales professionals, politicians. I mean, the guy works with everybody to use their story to inspire their audiences to action. Welcome, Matt.

Matt Zaun: 0:40

Thank you. It's good to be here. I'm very excited to be here, as I mentioned before, and this is my favorite podcast. So getting an invite from you to be on this podcast. I was completely stoked. So thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Erin Geiger: 0:51

Oh, my gosh, thank you for so much for saying that. And so we were so excited to have you. And so Matt and I, we we work together, we have co host clubhouse for him every single Thursday morning called Power Hour. It's at 9am. Central every Thursday. And basically it's kind of like I would say, Matt, like a an hour sort of weekly mastermind. We kind of help those people in their career and as people growing their businesses with different facets, right, to grow their careers as well as their businesses.

Unknown: 1:24

Yeah, it's been really good. I've really appreciated the people we've had on I feel like we've done deep dives. And a lot of different discussions are not just business, but also in life as well. So I think it's been really good.

Erin Geiger: 1:34

Yeah, really enjoyed it. So Matt, I, I think your background is fascinating. Your the work that you've done in like speech writing with policy, I mean, I just it's really does fascinate me. So if you wouldn't mind kicking us off with a little bit about yourself, and your background and kind of meander your way into how you got started with what you're doing today?

Unknown: 1:56

Yeah, absolutely. So my background is initially in politics. So I have had an obsession with words how to structure words, how to utilize different messages to really inspire people to action, primarily in the political speech, writing space, I've also done a lot of debate prep, which has been very interesting to say the least debate, PrEP is a very strange world, we may maybe we'll get into that a little bit later, but been heavily involved in debate prep, how to thrive and hostile speaking environment. So politicians that have to do press conferences, they have to go into town halls, who there's going to be a lot of hostile toxic conversations that are going to come up how to actually not only survive also thrive in those environments, I've been involved in the political space for about 13 years. And then in the last five years, I've utilized what I've learned in the political messaging arena and applied it to business. And right now, I primarily work with CEOs, executives, and sales professionals, teaching them strategies. In the political world, a lot of business professionals, they are intrigued by politics, they, they're fascinated by it. But there's so many different things that we do in the political arena that a lot of business professionals aren't using, especially small and medium sized businesses, and a lot of these concepts, if they use them, their businesses would fundamentally change for the better.

Erin Geiger: 3:24

Yeah, so I know, I love how you kind of like, transformed your career into your, in your business into what you're doing now. And would you mind expanding upon that point? Like, how, how do you work with these, these people? How do you, you know, install these strategies into their business? Cuz I got to, I would assume that for some, it's a far cry from what they thought they should be doing, or how they should be operating their business as far as like, integrating story and all of that. So would you expand upon kind of how you work with these, these people? And I don't know, just some maybe beginner sort of tactics that you have them implement when you're first working with them?

Unknown: 4:08

Yeah, so a big part of what I do is I get people to not only establish but build and then do a deep dive in a story bank. So a lot of people they may I don't know if you've heard the term story bank before, but in my opinion, is one of the most important things a business can have. So if I were to say to any listener right now, show me your profit and loss statement. You understand how important that is in business, you understand that we need to do everything we can to cut different frivolous expenses and maximize profits. It's very important. But if I were to ask a lot of these same business leaders shut down your story bank, more than likely there'd be a deficit and that story back not a surplus. So what I do is I help people transform the way they view experiences to really focus on that story. That story bank is one of the most important things that you can have. So what I'll do with people, especially in the business arena is one explain to them the importance of it, what it can do for their business. And I take them through all these different businesses that I've worked with all these different politicians I've worked with how to structure that. So the basis of it is utilizing an emotional POV point of view. So every single person that an individual is going to be speaking with, they have emotions, right? We're all human beings, we have different emotions. And it's connecting stories with that those emotions to really inspire those individuals to do what you want them to do. One of the things that I tell people is that these concepts are so unbelievably powerful that I actually make people Promise me they're going to use them for good and not to manipulate that is how persuasive they are. So if your y is sound, if you have an incredible mission, and you have great principles, and you're actually doing everything you can to help people and really bring about good change in your community, by utilizing your business to do so, I want to teach these principles because revenues are going to skyrocket once you have a story bank in place. And then once you have a story bank bank in place, it's creating a storytelling culture within that business.

Erin Geiger: 6:21

I love that you bring that up, because it's it could start with them, but they need to kind of, you know, spread it throughout their organization, right? It can't just stay with them. So I love that you incorporate that as well. And so you're kind of like, can you kind of go over the difference between like personal stories versus business stories? Because I'm assuming they kind of use a combination of that. Is that right?

Unknown: 6:47

Yeah, so that's a fantastic question. I get asked that question all the time. Should I share personal stories? Or should I share business stories? And my answer to that is always the same. share whatever story is going to get you the result that you want. So I'll say it again, share whatever story is going to get you the result that you want. And here's what I mean by that. I was raised by baby boomers, okay. And when I was being raised, the worlds were radically separate. So my father, who was an unbelievably hard worker went to work. That was his work time when he came home. That was his personal time. And those worlds were completely and entirely separate. In fact, there were so separate, I remember one time that my mother called my father at work. And it was to tell him that my sister fell down a hill broke her arm, and she and myself were on our way to the emergency room. And when he got home, we wouldn't be there. Right? That is how far apart they were. Then, prior to COVID. So imagine right up to COVID, let's say the end of 2019, within the decade leading up to 2019. So between 2009 to 2019, the worlds are starting to become unbelievably blended. Old, more than ever, people were taking their work home, and their home to work. So people are showing up at work. They're on their lunch break. They're on social media platforms, they're checking out what their friends and family are doing. They are going to the bathroom. They're texting their spouse who's picking up Jimmy from soccer practice tonight. Then they go home, they have dinner, they're whipping open their company issued laptops, and now they're working, right. So home. Big, big, big mumbo jumbo, then COVID happens. And people don't even know what day of the week it is literally right? Because we don't know is it personal time is a business today. The reason why I bring that up is because now more than ever before. personal stories are unbelievably inspirational. If you can share a personal story and weave in a business principle, weave in a business point, you're going to be able to inspire your team members, you're going to be able to inspire your prospects more than ever before because we relate more to personal stories. So business stories are still important. But personal stories with a business principle intertwined with it is absolute gold.

Erin Geiger: 9:31

Yeah, I see. This is one of the many reasons why I wanted to have you on because I 100% Well, you know, me or you and I are very similar in that we're all about the story and attentional story, right? That you can then connect to what you're, you're speaking about what it has to do with your business so so so glad that you're you're here and that you're bringing it up because I want 100% agree. But I think people will be surprised how how much of their personal life can be tied to their business. You You know, something that happens, like a memory that you have in the past or something that happened with your kiddo or something that happened with your friend, there's a close connection to oh my gosh, this is what the message that I want to convey to my audience, whether it's like, you know, persevering and business or increasing revenue, it's like you're there's something that happened in your life that can be tied to that. And then once you get that people can connect with you. And then they feel like, oh, Matt gets me, you know, and then they're more apt to want to work with you and continue with you. Now, I believe I've heard you say something like, company core values are a waste of time. So I want you to talk about that. Because I think for a lot of people, they're like, Wait, what? I thought we all had to have core values. What's that about?

Unknown: 10:45

Yeah, absolutely. I think company core values are a complete and utter waste of time. But here's what I mean by that. I will go into organizations and one of my favorite things to ask the employees, I do a lot of trainings for sales professionals. And I'll go in and I'll say, what are your company core values. And a lot of times these people have worked there for three years, several years. And here's what they'll say, the customer comes first, integrity. Now, now, they have had these company core values in the break room, this person's worked at this company for eight years, they have no idea what the company core values. All right. So what I challenged companies to do is have company core stories. Because company core stories are going to be way more memorable, and they're going to create a picture of what that value is. Here's what I mean by that. If I say dog, everyone listening immediately gets their own picture of a dog. Some may be envisioning a golden retriever, some may be envisioning a Rottweiler. I'm envisioning my dog right now. Her name is Lily, she's a nine year old, eight pound morkie, Maltese terrier mix, that might not have been what you envisioned, right. So a lot of times these companies, what they'll do is they'll create company values. And that value, there's a different picture in every single employees mind. And it may be completely off from the founder of that company, and from the leader of that organization. But a story explains why that value is important. So let me give you a prime example of this. I was working with a company multiple years ago, that they are a medical supply company. And one of the individuals received the phone call, here's a sales representative received a phone call from a lady asking for a$17 Park. Now, a lot of people may have said, Oh, can't wait till tomorrow morning, I don't really want to go out. Well, there was also it was also snowing outside. And I said, You know what, I really want you to have this, he left his house and he drove to that individual that night, and a commute that should have taken 20 minutes to an hour. That individual that received that $17 part became a customer for life and ended up spending 1000s of dollars over the course of years after that. Now, when that person shares that story, the other sales representatives are also going to share that story. And now they have a benchmark, they have something to strive for knowing that it's not just a $17 part. This can be 1000s of dollars in revenue brought in for this company. And now that is a story that is shared that exemplifies customer service, because you could say all the customers, right? And we put our customers first and customer service, what does that mean? But that story captures the essence of that principle. And it is going to be remembered for years to come.

Erin Geiger: 14:00

Yeah, yeah. And it's like that saying facts, facts, cells, stories, facts, tell stories sell. Right. It's so it's like, you got the story that you said, that's when people start thinking about their own experiences. And then they see the human side of an organization, rather than just the business side where they feel like, well, you just want my money, you know, so they see the human side of it, and they're like, okay, I can get behind this, you know, they actually do have ambition in life. And, you know, I can get behind and support what they're doing rather than, like, Oh, we've served X amount of people and they've seen a x percentage increase of whatever, you know, it's just like, Okay, what does that mean? And how does that help me? So I love that. So, so much. And this is I've been wanting to ask you this too, because you mentioned this to me, and I was like, What does he mean? So two things. Okay. So what you've mentioned like hey, what we can learn Pixar movies. And I'm like, Okay, well, there's a lot of like, you know, I don't know fable or how to live your life better things around Pixar movie. I don't think that's what you're getting at. And then I do want to hear about. And I'm wondering if if the big aha moment when you're a political speech writer, if that is what catapulted you to have your own business, I don't know if the two are intertwined. But if you could go over, go over that, because it sounds like you had some key learnings which we so this podcast is for people growing their careers, but also early to mid growth entrepreneurs. And I'm always about like, let's share the knowledge. Okay. So, you know, whatever we can learn from other examples and share with others I'm all about so I would love to hear you know, your thoughts on what you had mentioned before about Pixar movies? And then and then what you've learned when you were a political speech writer, because there's only you're the only political speech writer I know. And so it's extremely interesting to me.

Unknown: 15:57

Yeah, absolutely. So Pixar, as everyone listening to this knows is an unbelievably successful company. And one of the biggest reasons for their success is having a system on how they create stories. So they utilize something known as the hero's journey. So for those of us for anyone listening to this, that is, that isn't familiar with the hero's journey, developed by a professor by the name of Joseph Campbell, and there are multiple stages of the hero's journey, there's about a dozen stages, when you're sharing a mini story. So a lot of times stories, you want to keep them quick. And you want to get to the point and you want, you want to do it in a way where you're capturing an experience and you're compacting it down into a short story to be a power punch in your in your customers mind. So maybe two minutes, depending on what what engagement you are in. So you can't do all 12 of these stages. In a two minute story. However, there's, there's a couple elements that you have to do. The first is you can never be the hero of your own story if you want to truly inspire people. Okay, so that's the very first thing now, what do I mean by that? The hero has to be someone else, it cannot be you, it could be a person that could be a principal, it could be a book, it could be a system, that could be a song, it could be a movie, it cannot be you. And we can get maybe we can get to that a little bit later. The second thing is you have to understand that there's an ordinary world, new reality. So if you think of any Pixar movie that you've seen, recently, actually any Disney movie or Marvel movie, because Disney purchased Pixar, and they purchase Marvel, and they purchase Star Wars for all the movies, Disney is now cranking out, they utilize this model. So you have you have the main character that going through an ordinary world, they hit a wall, they a mentor, picks them up over that wall. And now that's their new reality. So in business, there's an ordinary world that your prospects then how will their new reality when they become a client of yours? How is that new reality going to be? So that is a huge element of what Pixar is not only notorious for that they've made astronomical profits off of they have a system down, and that's what works for them. And also not being the hero of your own story when people don't like to hear bragging, but also you can inspire a people when the hero is something else. So to give you an example on that, come on your podcasts. And they were to say, I lost 30 pounds during the COVID shutdowns due to my grit, and determination. They've just made themselves the hero of that story. So if listeners think well, I can't do that I don't have that level of grit and determination. They've lost their audience, they've lost their ability to persuade What if someone says, during the COVID shutdown, I stumbled upon a blog post that had very intriguing principles. I follow these principles, and I ended up losing 30 pounds. They just made the blog post the hero of their story. And now they're not special. It's the principle that special. So if the audience thinks, wow, I can go find this blog post, I can read it. I can apply the principles. Maybe I can lose the weight. That's the start of persuading someone to action. That is key in business and a lot of times business leaders, they want to be the hero and they want to show up. Awesome and I'm the best and it completely rips apart their ability to persuade.

Erin Geiger: 19:50

Yeah, no, I agree. And it's kind of like you're the the wise, supporting character in the film. You know, you're the one that's like leading them along the journey, right? And it's like, you're not inserting yourself as the star of their journey, but you are there to kind of navigate them along the way. Because then you become like a trusted companion to these people in the long term one too is I think that's it's so it's so so perfect. Okay, I do want to hear the AHA of your speech writing career. And then we can we can move on. But would you mind telling us that story?

Unknown: 20:27

Absolutely. So, in the political world, typically, one, it's unbelievably high stress, and I would receive phone calls, and I would need to come up with speeches in rapid fire and it was unbelievably agonizing to me. So I would receive a phone call, and the person says, This is like 3pm on a Friday. I need to have a talk for tomorrow morning. There's going to be a press conference, there's going to be 30 news outlets there. It's going to be at the bottom of the Capitol Building stairs and I needed to write about x y&z none of which I know anything about, there's going to be research that goes into it. So now, I'm freaking out thinking how am I going to come up with a masterful speech for this person and right to their tone and such a quick turnaround time I couldn't they have contact me a week prior. And I would go into panic mode. And I'd freak out and create a lot of anxiety. And this went on for years. And I did everything I possibly could I read a book on communication I get my hands on I took every course I possibly could I went crazy. It was it was an obsession to try to do everything I could to put myself in a position to help these individuals more. And the meter was starting to move a little bit in the right direction. I was getting better, but I wasn't where I want it to be. And then, so my hobby, I'm sure we're gonna relate this I love rock and roll, we, we could talk a lot about rock and roll. I love rock and roll so and I also love studying the history of rock and roll because I think it is a hybrid of sociology, psychology, marketing going against the system, right? The development of rock and roll, especially in the United States has been absolutely fascinating to me. And for a hobby, I would read a ton of books on rock'n'roll. And one night, I stumbled upon those, there was a chapter in this one book I was reading and I stumbled upon a gentleman by the name of Max Martin. Now what's interesting is very few people have ever heard of Max Martin. Max Martin is one of the greatest songwriters in the history of the world, there has not been a songwriter that has written more songs that have hit number one on the charts in the last quarter century than Max Martin. And I'm reading this chapter. And there's hit song after hit song after hit song This guy's written and I thought to myself, How in the world can someone one write so many hit songs? so quickly? And does he have a formula to position these songs to go on to be number one, the charts. And if he has a formula, like can I use it to be a better speech writer. So if you go and you Google, I'm sure a lot of listeners are going to be googling Max Martin, if you google and do a ton of searches on them, it's very, very difficult to find different formulas that he uses. And I, again, being having this as an obsession, I started to do everything I possibly could uncover his formula. And what's amazing is there's different elements of that formula that you can use to be better or better at storytelling, and I've incorporated them into what I've done as a political speech writer. And in addition, what I help business leaders do, and there's so many different things that business leaders can learn about rock and roll. A lot of people will recommend business books. I think it's extremely important to create a tribe of people around you as a business leader and what better individuals to turn to than rock stars because they know how to build a tribe around them. So I've done a lot of studying in regard to rock so hopefully that answers your question.

Erin Geiger: 24:21

No, I love that I would never have thought about that. But you're right. I mean, a lot of the hits are like the pop bands that you see that have like this insane amount of success. It's it's very rhythmic, a thought it's very formulaic of like exactly like how they create their, their music, how they brand themselves, you know, there's a formula to it. And so I like your example of writing a song, too and which most songs they tell a story and a kind of alluding that to writing a speech or writing a story. For for business. That's really that's, that's quite interesting. It's very clever. Kudos to you.

Unknown: 25:01

As an accident, I wasn't, I wasn't writing it to be to get better at out, it was just a big aha moment. And I feel a lot of times in business, we're on this journey, and then we stumble upon something or something will hit us like a ton of bricks. And it's just, it's a big shift in business. And it's, that's fantastic. We need to embrace those moments

Erin Geiger: 25:22

know for sure. And I think in order for, so we don't burn ourselves out, you have got to put systems in place, you know, so that you're not reinventing the wheel every single time that you go. Like, if you're reinventing every single time you wrote a speech or every single time, you know, you do XYZ for a client, it's not productive, and it's stressful. So I really, yeah, I appreciate that. So you've been in business for yourself for years now. I ask everybody, because it's fascinating hearing all the different answers to this question about how COVID-19 this global pandemic that we're just slowly crawling out of has impacted business. And I love asking this question, because I get I get different answers. But typically, people are like, Oh, my gosh, we had to make this shift, you know, or we were already set up pretty well. But you know, we made this change, we realized this part of our business is now you know, the majority of what we do, and we can't imagine going back, so I asked you that too, like, how has it impacted your business? And and how have you shift if any way to kind of accommodate it?

Unknown: 26:36

Yeah, so I'm going to be super vulnerable with you right now about this question, because I think it's really important to kind of dive deep into this question. So prior to COVID. So if COVID didn't happen, and I have two sons, I have a seven year old that I have a two year old material is going to be three and three weeks from now. If COVID didn't happen, the story they would have shared of their father years from now, as my father spoke all over the place. He helped a lot of businesses, but he wasn't really there for me. And then now, it's going to be my dad speaks all over the world. He helps a ton of businesses, but he has made me a top priority. And it was mid April of 2020. I remember I remember it clear as day I can literally picture it right now. I'm sitting on the couch with my wife, and I'm watching my two sons play. And I look over to my wife, Courtney and I say wow, I said we have some awesome kids. And she looked at me and she said it took a global pandemic for you to realize that Yeah. Because prior to that I was traveling like crazy. I always had a different event I was always go go go I was so driven. I I really prided myself with work ethic. And if any of you any anyone listening has studied personalities. I highly recommend looking into the enneagram I'm really big. On the enneagram I'm a three with a four wing it's one of its it's basically psychopathic tendencies, right? Your Go go go high retriever type a full throttle in your face cleric type personality. And I that was where I built my identity. It was it was it was an accomplishing as much as humanly possible. And my kids were a burden to me. And then COVID happened and I was forced to be in a house with them for I mean, everyone knows the story right a long time. And it really forced me to reevaluate my priorities in life. And here's what's crazy. And here's what's amazing about this. There's multiple things to me, that's amazing about this first, it was extremely challenging. So I don't want to get the fact that it was brutal, because prior to COVID, 90% of everything I did was in person events for my business it primarily survived off of in person workshops. So I remember believe it was March, march 27. Summer 27. It was it was right around that time. I remember my phone just ringing off the hook with people saying we ought to cancel this, we have to cancel that. And it's a lot of work to put events on the calendar. So I was I mean, devastated is such a such strong language. But in essence, I was I was flabbergasted. I was like a deer in the headlights. I everyone says oh pivot and you know, you got to be creative. I was really fresh. Right. And then I immediately went to thinking about my grandmother. And my grandmother who doesn't have she didn't have a college education, I don't even know she completed high school was the most empathetic person I've ever met in my life My grandmother can connect with everyone didn't matter if they were CEO, it didn't matter if they were a high school dropout, it didn't matter where they were in life, she could connect like no one else's business. And the reason for that was because she went through the Great Depression. And she never talked about the horrors of the Great Depression, she only talked about what it taught her. And all of these amazing things she took away from it. And I remember saying to myself, you know what, I'm not going to be the person 10 years from now, that talks about the horrors of COVID, I'm going to be the one that says because it's where I drew my line in the sand and said, you know, what things are going to change for the better, I'm going to make a change for the better, I'm going to grow in every single area of my life, that really started with family that started with, with going back to an obsession I had years ago, which was reading like crazy. I kind of shifted from that because of being so busy, and really doing deep dives on what is wisdom? How do we become wise? How do we how do we process information? How do I how do I provide an insane amount of value to my clients, even more than I was right? So that was what changed. And what's what's crazy to me is even as frustrating as it is, or was, I did better in 2020 that I did in 2019, with less work because I was focused on being present. As business leaders were so focused on the future we don't we don't understand how to live in the present moment. And it's devastating to us. It's really is it really is. And I said devastating is a strong word, it is devastating to us. Because we lose our sense of where we are, we lose fulfillment and joy in life. And I mean, you can't drive a car, looking way off into the distance a deer could go right in front of you, I live in Pennsylvania, one of the most deer populated areas in the country, you're going to get hit, you're going to hit something right, you have to look you have to be present. So to answer your question was unbelievably difficult, but I think it saved my family and essence, can you imagine how terrible would be if my if my son's got up in school or in college one day and say, you know, my dad wasn't really there for us at all right? That would really suck. So I was able to rewrite that story through Koba,

Erin Geiger: 32:37

thank you for sharing that perspective. I, I had seen something, some messaging, you know, at the start of COVID. And it was like, Listen, we're all having to deal with this, you know, pandemic, this global event, unprecedented was the word that we've heard, you know, throughout the year, right? We're not all in the same boat. We all have different boats, and backgrounds, and you know, and everything, but we are all in this together. And the question was, who will you be? Once this is over? Who will you be once you come out of this pandemic? Are you going to stay scared? Are you going to tread water? And wait for it to be over? Or are you going to grow? Are you going to get out? learn a new skill? Are you going to invest in quality time with your loved ones? Like who will you be at the end of this? And so, and it sounds like you are like you took that to heart? You know, I mean, that's what you did with that time. You know, it's like you and reinvested it into your, your, your loved ones. And and then, you know, that extended into everything else in your life. And it made you who you are today with a fresh new perspective that you didn't have, you know, a year ago. So I appreciate you sharing that and giving us a positive perspective over this. Yeah, it was a horrible time for a lot of people. And it could be horrible for any of us if we choose to look at it that way. But I love thank you for sharing that perspective. Really. That's, that's pretty incredible. And what lucky kids have is they have a dad like you. That's awesome.

Unknown: 34:18

I guess there are now it really started for him before. So I'm glad that they're so young, because I feel like I still have time. So, but it would really stink of if they were much older, some unhappy that had happened. We

Erin Geiger: 34:32

know for sure. And all of us as parents, I mean, we're just just trying to get something right as we go along. So okay, so are there kind of daily routines that help your success? Because, you know, as you said, as entrepreneurs I mean, there's just so much like you're growing this business and you have a family and you have maybe a social life and you have hobbies or things you're interested in, or you have all these people that are relying upon you So it's a lot. So is there anything that you have in your routine that help your business and personal success and people work out or gratitude journal or listen to podcasts? Or, you know, what do you have within your routine?

Unknown: 35:14

Yeah, that's a great question. So I, this is gonna sound really Elementary, but I think there's multiple layers to this. With every single high level politician that I've worked with, the number one thing that trips them up as their schedule, okay, they don't know how to run their schedule. They don't have great staff surrounding them not on their schedule is going to be terrible for them, like they're literally going to burn out, they're not going to achieve any of their goals, it's going to be a bad situation. And I don't care how high level is, if you look at the last half century, the number one reason why a president of the United States regardless of what side of the aisle, you are, as a listener, listening to this podcast, the number one thing that's devastated their ability to connect with Congress and pass anything is Miss handling of schedules. So and I there's a lot I could share with you multiple things to prove that point. So you have to, you have to make sure your your calendar is absolutely sacred. So for me, I love to properly and I use that word properly, properly use technology. So I make sure that all of my calendars are synced, my business calendars, my family calendars, multiple calendars synced into one, what ever phone app works for you, anyone listen to this, whatever phone app works for you, I don't need to change what you do, I personally use something called Kalamazoo. I think it it really merges a bunch of calendars and in a great way. And then I also use an app called way of life way of life, you can set daily habits for yourself. And what I do is I look at what I want to accomplish, I look at it like a map, not goals, but a map a lot of people set goals. I like I like the idea of the math a little bit better. And here's why. So you have to know exactly where you're going to go, you have to have clear expectations. But so Aaron, you're in you're in Austin, let's say I was in Austin right now. And and let's say Joey, you and myself, we hop into a car, and we drive to San Francisco. So we have our GPS, we're driving to San Francisco, more than likely, we're gonna hit a bridge that's out, we're gonna have to reroute, then there's gonna be a tree down, you know, 100 miles from there, we're gonna have to reroute, there's going to be flooding, there's going to be this, there's gonna be that. So we're not actually going to get from Austin to San Francisco, the way that the GPS set it in the beginning, but we're still going to end up getting there. And that's how I write what I'm going to accomplish over the course of that year. And then I break it up into quarterly, into monthly and the weekly and then more importantly, daily habits that I need to do. I've done this now for this system, I believe nine years. And what I do is I have to hit 75% of my metrics on a monthly basis. If I do that, I'm going to win the quarter if I win the quarter, after quarter after quarter after quarter, I win the year 75 percents the number. So I highly, highly recommend anyone listening to this look at the way of life app, you can track your daily habits, it'll show you different graphs on on where you are percentage wise. So you have to make sure that your calendar is absolutely sacred and that you're

Erin Geiger: 38:50

okay, I love that way of life for sure. Have you heard of the full focus planner? from Michael Hyatt?

Unknown: 39:00

I have not I actually use so this this one right here are the Okay, the best self journal your best self I have not heard the highest one.

Erin Geiger: 39:15

What you're just cuz I've just started using I I have always wanted to be a paper planner person. I just wanted to be that person so badly. And this was not happening. I would buy them at the beginning of the year. I'd use them for a week I started collecting desks and I'd be always on my Google calendar or whatever. But then I started reading and I read about the Michael Hyatt full focus planner and do I am I religious about it? No. Am I religious about my my digital calendar? Yes, it was on the calendar doesn't happen. But I do use the full focus planner more than I do others and it breaks it down similar to what you were saying. Because he has you break it down by quarter by month by week and even like you know, just three things to get done each day because it's you If you put too many things on your to do lists, you know, you're gonna be overwhelmed when you start the day and you're gonna be frustrated when you end the day because you didn't get anything done. You know, you got like, even if you got four of the 15, it's still like, not great. And so as you were speaking, and kind of reminded me of that, so maybe, but it seems like, maybe you're already doing that. But if you wanted something that was like, sent to you, and it's another thing, he sends it to you every quarter, so it's a little bit different than other planners. So every quarter, you get a fresh planner, and you know, you start the quarter that way. So that was interesting was often check it out. So as you're looking ahead, what goals and vision do you have for your business? Like? Are you going to go back, you know, to doing as many in person events as you were? Or are you going to get what what do you what do you see for your future for your business?

Unknown: 40:56

I still love in person events. I just I love there's something about the energy, there's something about the interaction I love in person about So to answer your question, I will absolutely go back to in person events. And my calendar, from the end of this June to the end of November is completely booked. So I'll be all over the country, I have workshops booked. I'm really excited about it. I'll be in Austin, in September, I'm looking forward to that. So I will absolutely go to in person events, it will not be to the level that I did in the past. Because I set min and max for myself when it comes to what I want to accomplish. A lot of business leaders will talk about, you know, no quick goals, and the sky's the limit and think big and all these different things. But again, because my priorities, I feel more clear than ever regarding my priorities in life, I actually have a max goal. So Mike, so what I do, well, Max achievement on that map that I had mentioned to you, I want to hit that as soon as possible, so that I can do more of what I want to Well, I'm still wanting to do what I'm setting out to do. But I could do more things to offer even more value because more wiggle room. So my my main, my mid minimum goal is always 20 Max is 40. I don't do more than 40 workshops a year. And then in the future, I'll be bringing on more of their VIP packages in regard to clients. So bringing more of those on. So I'm having an putting together an all encompassing package for clients, where not only will they be able to utilize my concepts on creating masterful stories and creating that company culture of storytelling. But I also have the ability now to get it on video, and to do a deep dive and story strategy with their entire business. And that is pretty much everything of their business. Regarding storytelling, I'm really excited about that. So that'll be rolling out very, very soon. And that's going to take up a lot of my time, I'm going to be focused on that more. So typically, the way I run my schedule is I, I do a 10 month. So June, and December, I'm typically not traveling at all, at least for business. And I'm focusing a lot of like family events and stuff like that. So doing two to four workshops, every single month, we'll do the 20 to 40. And then also focusing on us clients with the VIP packages. And they're they're very labor intensive. And they take a lot of time and work. And it's it's a lot because it completely revolutionizes their business from a storytelling perspective. So to do two a month with that is going to be a lot of a big time commitment. So I'm looking forward to that. And it's going to be it's going to be great. I'll be launching that very, very soon.

Erin Geiger: 44:04

If there was ever a time that the world needed, what you do it is now I mean, we coming out of this pandemic, that's what we need, we need connection, we need personalization, you know, we need that human factor again. And that's basically that's what you bring to businesses, you know, you bring that human connection back. And so this is what everybody needs right now. So, so excited that you're you're getting by Yeah, I mean that you're coming up with this VIP program and that you're you're heading back out on the road as well, because we need what you have. That makes me so excited. Where can people find you online?

Unknown: 44:43

LinkedIn, LinkedIn is a good place to start. I post a ton of valuable concepts on LinkedIn. And I would recommend checking me out on LinkedIn. You could also look at my website amazon.com. I love starting conversations. So Aaron, just like you or a conference For copywriter, it's all about that conversation connecting, figuring out where people are struggling how to help them. So very problem solution type oriented. So reach out to me on LinkedIn, let's start a conversation. And

Erin Geiger: 45:14

yeah, follow Matt on LinkedIn, you guys, I read his stuff every single day. I do not miss a day. He really posts a really helpful content there. Yeah, for sure. And it's, and I love that your content is the tips and insight. But then there's also some personal stuff in there, too. It's really well rounded. So I appreciate that. Okay, so Matt already knows about this question. But typically, as everybody knows, we ask a fun question, because we love music over here. And it is if you could listen to only one music artists for the rest of your life. who would it be? 100% Bob Dylan. Nice. That's great. I know, do we have we had Bob Dylan? I don't think anyone said that before. That'll be good. Here's

Unknown: 46:00

why. Here's why I have to clarify. For anyone listening, you may think I can't stand his voice. Or guess what Bob Dylan does not care what you think of his voice. Right. So I consider him one of the greatest lyricist of all time. He was crystal clear. With his why with what he wanted to do. And why I just am fascinated with them is because he spent years and years and years of gut wrenching hard work. And in 1963, he ends up on The Ed Sullivan Show. So imagine you're a business owner, and you're gutting it out, and you're working hard. And let's say you're pouring your heart and soul for years, and you finally get this massive client. And this person doesn't line up with your principles. That's what happened with Bob Dylan on The Ed Sullivan Show, because that's all then said to him when he got on the set. We want you to play this one song and he said I'm not doing it. That could have been a massive turning point in his career. And he walked off the set and he said that's not what the world needs to hear right now. This is a song I want to sing. I had a ton of respect for him with with that. And then what's even more fascinating to me is in 1964 imagine that Bob Dylan meets Paul McCartney for the first time. Paul McCartney, they were in the middle of Beatlemania, arguably, the greatest rock'n'roll band in history, The Beatles, Bob Dylan says to them, that they're screwing up when it comes to their music, they're not producing music that's going to change the world. Imagine being Paul McCartney and hearing this from Bob Dylan. And if you look at the Beatles, The transition that they had, it was because of Bob Dylan. They started actually writing lyrics that had deeper meaning. And I have a ton of respect for that he didn't care what people thought about him. His why was crystal clear was extremely deep. For someone that loves words, reading the lyrics that he has, and diving into them. There's very few people in the world that can write lyrics like Bob Dylan, so it has to be Bob Dylan, I had to give you that that explanation because I'm obsessed with his music. So there you go, Bob Dylan 100%. Okay,

Erin Geiger: 48:17

I love it. I love it. You already knew because some people are just like, Oh, my gosh, I am and they ha they're like, I don't know, it's too hard. You guys are jerks. So I appreciate that. You knew right off the bat, and that you had like a story, a story behind it. Right? It's so fitting you know of like, why he means so much to you. And I completely agree. It's like his lyrics are not surface, they're not fluff, you know, for sure. And it'll be a good addition, because we created a playlist of everybody's picks that has been on show. And so it's on Spotify. And so for our one year anniversary of our podcast, we released it, we're like, here's the playlist. So Bob Dylan will now be added to that playlist. It's very go. That's awesome. Thank you, Matt for taking the time. It's it's been, gosh, what an amazing discussion. I can't wait to listen to it again, which is rare because I hate the sound of my own voice. But I will be listening to this one over and over again. So thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it. Thank you, I appreciate being a part of it. Thanks for tuning in to the Small Business big mindset podcast. To keep the fun going. Check out our Facebook group start and scaling online business For even more free trainings and resources from fellow entrepreneurs. If you haven't already, head on over to Muscle Creative calm and click subscribe to join our email list for weekly updates. And if you've enjoyed this podcast episode, check us out on your favorite podcast platform to follow us and give us a review. As always be authentic bringing insane amount of value and keep crushing it