Episode 3
The Power of Associations with Sharon Lechter
In today's episode of the Becoming the Big Me Podcast I have with me Sharon Lechter, an OG badass. From talking books, to Rich Dad Poor Dad, to the Napoleon Hill Foundation, to her new book "Exit Rich" and everything in-between Sharon Lechter has done it all. Tune in to hear about how Sharon has been able to become an early adaptor while aligning herself with the right associations in order to take massive strives in her business and life.
Grab a copy of Sharon's new book "Exit Rich" at exitrichbook.com
Connect with Sharon on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Clubhouse @Sharonlechter
www.personalsuccessequation.com
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Hi! I am your host Djemilah Birnie of www.becomingthebigme.com . I have been building businesses online since the age of 17. When I discovered the power that we hold within our own minds my world truly began to change.
I love to write and have published some books, some of them have even hit some charts 😲 You can check them out here http://bit.ly/djemilahbooks
Ready to start playing BIG and step into your Big Me potential by harnessing the power of your mind? Then make sure you join the free Rewire challenge to get all the tools you need! https://www.djemilah.com/rewirechallenge
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Transcript
Welcome back, you guys to the becoming the big new podcast I
Speaker:have with me today, Sharon lechter. And I'm so excited to
Speaker:share with you Sharon's story. And if you haven't heard of
Speaker:Sharon, you have at least heard of Sharon's work. She did work
Speaker:with the Napoleon Hill Foundation, she annotated
Speaker:outwitting the devil, she also authored the thinking Grow Rich
Speaker:for women. And she also did a lot of work with Rich Dad, Poor
Speaker:Dad. And that whole series, which was actually where I first
Speaker:got my toes dipped into the personal development world, my
Speaker:mom had me listening to all of those audio books. But what a
Speaker:lot of people don't know is that Sharon actually started out as a
Speaker:CPA, and that's where her work truly began. So welcome to the
Speaker:show. Sharon, I'm so excited to have you here.
Speaker:Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be with you.
Speaker:I am so delighted as well. So let's just dive into the
Speaker:beginning. Um, you kind of got your jump from the from,
Speaker:actually the talking books, right? That was before the Rich
Speaker:Dad Poor Dad was it. So I'd love to hear about that.
Speaker:Sure. I think I have one on my desk. Actually. It was a time it
Speaker:was back in 1987, when kids didn't like to read. And we have
Speaker:three children. And I said we need to do something. And a
Speaker:friend of ours was the inventor of the first talking children's
Speaker:book. And it was, you know, today, it might not look that
Speaker:special. But back then kids did not have anything electronic,
Speaker:they didn't have screens. So this was a big deal. It made,
Speaker:you know, made noise. And it got them excited about reading
Speaker:again. And so we launched that. And I learned a lot about
Speaker:publishing a lot about manufacturing, dealing with
Speaker:international orders, as well as the power of association.
Speaker:Because we have this new technology, we didn't know if
Speaker:parents would trust us. And so we aligned with Disney Warner
Speaker:Brothers Sesame Street Marvel Comics. And by making that brand
Speaker:Association, we had instant trust. So we went from 1 million
Speaker:we thought was pretty cool have a million in sales the first
Speaker:year to nine to 23 million in fourth year on track for 52
Speaker:million when we sold the company. And so it's just an
Speaker:incredible learning experience. And all along the way, just
Speaker:understanding the power of of scalability and through brand
Speaker:Association.
Speaker:So I'm curious, what thing have led you down that avenue to do
Speaker:the talking books is that somebody had a passion for they
Speaker:just have the idea? Or how did that see get some?
Speaker:Well, my husband is an intellectual property attorney
Speaker:and actually, the creator of the talking books of Billings was a
Speaker:friend of ours. He and I both served on the American Cancer
Speaker:Society board. So we were friends. And I had many, many
Speaker:years of experience in building companies and getting through
Speaker:public accounting and getting inside companies and seeing how
Speaker:companies did things right. And a lot of seeing how companies
Speaker:didn't do things right. And so my husband worked with Zeb to
Speaker:get the patent for the the actual technology in the book.
Speaker:But I started joining forces with him to help him learn how
Speaker:to scale and be able to fund you internally finance it and be
Speaker:able to fulfill the huge increases on orders that we had.
Speaker:So it was a tremendous opportunity. Plus, I was
Speaker:passionate about it because I wanted kids to get back into
Speaker:reading.
Speaker:One thing that I love that you mentioned is just learning about
Speaker:the power of association. And that's something that you've
Speaker:done an amazing job throughout your entire career is aligning
Speaker:yourself with the right people. And that's one of the one of the
Speaker:reasons why it's so exciting to speak with you because you are
Speaker:one of the oh geez I would say in in this space. And you have
Speaker:done that not by self promotion. Not through putting it on you,
Speaker:but to finding the right partnerships and helping others
Speaker:like your partnership with rich dad poor down. Most people have
Speaker:heard of Robert, but you are a huge part of that. So how do you
Speaker:Sharon, go about finding the right people to align with? How
Speaker:do you go about choosing your associations?
Speaker:Well, you have to have an aligned mission. And as you
Speaker:know, you can have a celebrity brand or a mission brand. And
Speaker:I've always been firmly planted in a mission brand. And so you
Speaker:want to say how can I make the greatest impact and if you align
Speaker:with people that are already in that space, it allows you to
Speaker:reach people much more quickly. And, again, Robert had this idea
Speaker:for a game he didn't know what to do about it. And he found my
Speaker:husband, who was well known intellectual property attorney
Speaker:and asked his advice. And Mike introduced us and it was the
Speaker:same message I was teaching about financial education, and
Speaker:understanding the power of buying, building and creating
Speaker:assets, passive income. And so I was really, we were very in tune
Speaker:with our messaging. And with my background and my experience, I
Speaker:was able to help him commercial commercialize the game. And in
Speaker:fact, he told me, he wanted to charge $200 for it, I said,
Speaker:that's pretty pricey. For a board game, we're talking 1996.
Speaker:So I recommended he write a brochure. And that's when he
Speaker:asked me to become his partner. And we launched cash flow
Speaker:technologies. And that brochure for the board game, was a little
Speaker:book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. All right. And we never expected
Speaker:it to take on a life of its own. We never expected to write 15
Speaker:books together over the 10 years that we work together. But
Speaker:that's exactly what happened. We became a publishing multiple
Speaker:games, multiple books, and a whole new series called Rich Dad
Speaker:advisors. And we were partners and I was the CEO. And I helped
Speaker:to really drive the global expansion of the brand. And
Speaker:doing it a little differently than I've been the talking
Speaker:books, because when you align with Disney and Warner Brothers,
Speaker:you have to write really big royalty checks. And I said, This
Speaker:time, I want to build the brand that other people want to align
Speaker:with. And so that's what we did. We built the integrity of the
Speaker:rich dad brand. And then Warner books came to us time life
Speaker:related to infomercials, a coaching company. So we were
Speaker:able to leverage and we were able to receive royalty checks,
Speaker:which is a much better plan. But it allowed us to impact and
Speaker:reach so many more people so quickly around the world, and
Speaker:over well over 100 countries, well over 50 languages. And so
Speaker:it was just a huge viral success before the internet, and before
Speaker:Amazon, believe it or not. And you're so young, you probably
Speaker:don't remember those days. But it was the old old fashioned
Speaker:thing of mouth, people telling viral marketing by people
Speaker:telling other people around it. And it allowed us to get the
Speaker:book in two hands around the world.
Speaker:Yeah, and one thing I'd like to touch on that is you've always
Speaker:been I've always aligned yourself with projects that have
Speaker:allowed yourself to be an early adapter. You did that with the
Speaker:talking books, but then you did it again with Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Speaker:as well, because that wasn't just the game. And it wasn't
Speaker:just a book as well, it turned into an entire universe where
Speaker:you had all of the audio books, all of the training sessions
Speaker:that came out from that as well. And and that was before that was
Speaker:really a big thing. People weren't doing that in in that
Speaker:timeframe. So what, what guided you to kind of put yourself out
Speaker:there in that way and to take the company in that direction?
Speaker:Well, you know, you want to serve people the way they want
Speaker:to be served. People learn differently. People learn by
Speaker:reading, they learn by listening. They weren't learned
Speaker:by physically participating. And so if you truly want to make an
Speaker:impact, you want to make sure that you're delivering your
Speaker:message in a way that people will learn, hear it and receive
Speaker:it best. And that's really how we started going into all those
Speaker:disciplines. And then having the infomercial taking advantage of
Speaker:the airwaves, people watching TV and then having a coaching
Speaker:company to allow people to go and get a little deeper
Speaker:knowledge and support handholding. And then the
Speaker:regional seminar so we continue to grow and say how can we take
Speaker:this message to the next level today? Well, the sample of what
Speaker:we did is being emulated online when people hear about funnels
Speaker:will sustain you write a book, you have an online, you have a
Speaker:webinar, you have an online course and then you have a
Speaker:regional seminar and then you have coaching or mentoring. So
Speaker:it's really the same thing, but we did it with boots on the
Speaker:ground back then. So
Speaker:yeah, you were you were really paving the path for all of us
Speaker:today. following in your footsteps, though, just thank
Speaker:you and gratitude for opening that pathway of awareness for us
Speaker:all as well. I really do appreciate it because that is
Speaker:the path that I that. I'm on A 26 year old. So thank you very
Speaker:much for doing that work. It's truly phenomenal and just to be
Speaker:able to have that drive to, to do something that people aren't
Speaker:doing at that time, because I know for me, I got introduced to
Speaker:Rich Dad, Poor Dad, because my mom gave me the audio book and I
Speaker:was listening to it. During my commute. At this time, I was a
Speaker:manager of a Verizon store, and I had to take the ferry to go to
Speaker:work every day. And so my mom gave me this and I would listen
Speaker:to these audio tapes, I don't even know if it was the book or
Speaker:if it was the training, but it was from the Rich Dad Poor Dad
Speaker:collection. And I've listened to them every single morning on my
Speaker:drive. So I think that it's really powerful that you guys
Speaker:tapped into that market, because there's so many people who would
Speaker:never have sat down and read the book, I wasn't someone I had
Speaker:barely finished high school, like I wasn't someone who's
Speaker:gonna sit down and read a book. So having it available on that
Speaker:platform was absolutely amazing. And now just kind of carry on a
Speaker:little bit. So a lot of people they might feel like they can't
Speaker:achieve what it is that they're thinking what it is that they
Speaker:desire, because maybe they feel like they're they're born in the
Speaker:wrong circumstances don't have the right resources. I know that
Speaker:you've overcome a lot of obstacles to be able to create
Speaker:this massive empire that you have created. I love to kind of
Speaker:touch on some of those those points, those little little
Speaker:lower points, and what were the things that you did to keep
Speaker:moving forward?
Speaker:Well, there's there are two that I will be specific about one
Speaker:business and one very personal. And the business is when I made
Speaker:the decision to leverage shed in 2007, Robert and I were no
Speaker:longer aligned on what we wanted to do. So it was no longer
Speaker:consistent with my personal mission. He wanted to go into
Speaker:franchising, which is a great model for us financially, but
Speaker:not one a good one for franchisees. And so I made the
Speaker:decision to leave at the height of our success. And people say I
Speaker:can't believe you were so crazy. I said, but no, I never looked
Speaker:back. Because I was, I was standing in my own truth. And I
Speaker:was being true to my own personal values. And sometimes
Speaker:you have to close one door for other doors of opportunity to
Speaker:open. And had I not made that decision, I wouldn't have had
Speaker:the call from President Bush and serve President Bush and
Speaker:President Obama on presidential advisory councils for financial
Speaker:literacy. And I wouldn't have gotten the phone call in March
Speaker:of 2008, from Don green at the Napoleon Hill foundation. And my
Speaker:work with Napoleon Hill Foundation has been so rewarding
Speaker:and so exciting. And such a wonderful relationship that I
Speaker:always share with people as I tell these stories, sometimes
Speaker:you have to close the door in your life to make room for other
Speaker:doors of opportunity to open. And then eight years ago, on a
Speaker:personal side, I hide my success. As I've shared, I've
Speaker:been playing big with Disney's and Warner's books, all those
Speaker:kind of companies, my whole life. But eight years ago, I
Speaker:lost my youngest son, and you're not supposed to outlive your
Speaker:kids. And it really sent me into living in neutral or living in a
Speaker:state of numbness. I was still working, I was still writing but
Speaker:I wasn't having. I wasn't allowing myself to play a bigger
Speaker:game. I wasn't allowing myself to smile or to enjoy life. I was
Speaker:punishing myself through grief. And about four years ago, I
Speaker:almost decided I should probably just retire. And I got a lot of
Speaker:pushback from family and friends. And I think I even
Speaker:heard my son whispering in my ear get over it. Mom, there's
Speaker:more for you to do. And my message to everybody watching
Speaker:and listening to this podcast is that you may have had something
Speaker:that stopped you in your tracks most of us have, it could have
Speaker:been a death like me, or it could have been a divorce a
Speaker:financial setback or an illness. But you're still here, and
Speaker:you're still here for a reason. And there's a you have a message
Speaker:and what you survived, you can share and help other people that
Speaker:are going through the same thing. And so I made that
Speaker:decision four years ago, and I launched a private Facebook
Speaker:group, it's open for anybody to join called the play big
Speaker:movement with Sharon lechter. And that Facebook group was for
Speaker:me to share the things that I was doing to play big again, so
Speaker:that other people could emulate it. Because the playbook
Speaker:movement is about being number one in your field, living your
Speaker:legacy. Because we create our legacy every single day with
Speaker:every heart we touch, and creating maximum impact. If
Speaker:you're going to work you might as well work and impact as many
Speaker:people as possible. And as it was amazing to me because I I
Speaker:knew what I needed to do. But I was just playing small because I
Speaker:was numb. And once I made that decision to play big again. It
Speaker:was like I took blinders off. And too many people go through
Speaker:life with blinders on. The opportunities are there you just
Speaker:don't recognize them because you have these limiting beliefs. And
Speaker:I want people to see the opportunities and start seizing
Speaker:them and once I actually woke up and said I'm going to get back
Speaker:in the game. I had incredible speaking opportunities. I was
Speaker:highlighted in the thinking grow rich legacy movie. Early in
Speaker:2020, I was one of the 13 people highlighted in the television
Speaker:series called world's greatest motivators. Oh, that was just
Speaker:because I made myself open to the possibility and I believe in
Speaker:service and serving others. And I just want other people to
Speaker:understand, you have a right and a responsibility to play a
Speaker:bigger game, if you're going to be working less work at a level
Speaker:where you're going to impact as many people as possible.
Speaker:Wow, that gave me chills, like, the allowing yourself, I feel
Speaker:like a lot of times, that's all that it truly is, is us not
Speaker:allowing ourselves to live a bigger life. It's something that
Speaker:I tell my clients all the time, you don't actually need me as a
Speaker:coach, you don't need me to tell you what to do, you already know
Speaker:everything that you need to know, that you need to do,
Speaker:you're just not taking the action. And so often, it's just
Speaker:because we're holding ourselves back. And we're not allowing
Speaker:ourselves to move forward, whether that's because we're
Speaker:going through pain or grief, or guilt, or shame, or any of the
Speaker:other emotions that we can feel be limiting us. But for you, it
Speaker:sounds like you just remembered why you weren't here. And while
Speaker:your purpose is outside of just yourself. And I think, for me,
Speaker:that's a big way that I can keep going every day. And you still
Speaker:have so much more to do and so much more to create in my
Speaker:lifetime. But I just to continue, like when I get out of
Speaker:bed, I just have to remind myself, there's more people for
Speaker:me to help I've been through the things I've been through in my
Speaker:life for a reason. And I'm still here. So I completely resonate
Speaker:with everything that you were just saying. And then on the
Speaker:point that you mentioned before that on the on the magical, the
Speaker:magic of creating space, right, so you have to be okay with
Speaker:releasing things in your life that are no longer going to
Speaker:serve you. And I'm saying no longer going to serve you not
Speaker:necessarily are not good for you or necessarily bad, because it
Speaker:could be very good things right? Just kind of like what you were
Speaker:talking about with your relationship like that was a
Speaker:positive, that was a good relationship, but it no longer
Speaker:serve your mission. And when you make that energetic barrier, and
Speaker:you put your focus your desire on to even more, you're even
Speaker:more clear with your purpose. Because when you cut off those
Speaker:other things, it's showing yourself and universe of
Speaker:whatever powers you may believe in that no, this is what I'm
Speaker:serious about. And things start to align. And it's not even, I
Speaker:don't even necessarily believe that it's that they're attracted
Speaker:fully into I believe exactly what you're saying they're
Speaker:already there, you just don't see them, until you can remove
Speaker:those limiting beliefs that are blocking your vision from seeing
Speaker:them. So I'm going to steal that blinders line from Yeah, that's
Speaker:great. So
Speaker:I think you know, in my book, my first book, with the Napoleon
Speaker:Hill Foundation, three feet from gold, I share a personal success
Speaker:equation and encompasses a lot of what we're talking about
Speaker:here. And it's your passion and your talent. And most of us stop
Speaker:there. That's what we've learned in school. That's our
Speaker:experience. You know, I was mad that we weren't teaching kids
Speaker:about money in school, that was my passion. And it was actually
Speaker:anger, plus my talent and years of an accounting degree and my
Speaker:publishing background. But in order to truly create success in
Speaker:your life, the next one is times a and Association, the power of
Speaker:association, having the right mentor, having the right people
Speaker:on your team, having the right affiliations that are going to
Speaker:help you get to the next level times a taking action, too many
Speaker:times we know what we're supposed to do, we just don't do
Speaker:it. And then the final element is plus F. And that's for faith,
Speaker:having faith in yourself, having faith in what you're doing when
Speaker:it's needed and necessary. having faith that you will
Speaker:succeed. When I start working with a client, it's usually
Speaker:power of association and faith that need the most work. And
Speaker:when you have the right associations around you, it
Speaker:builds your confidence in your faith. And people can go to
Speaker:personal success equation.com for a free guide to help you
Speaker:identify your own personal success equation.
Speaker:I love that I love that. And a lot of times I'm in the
Speaker:manifestation space, which I'm pretty into. A lot of times it's
Speaker:actually the A that's the action that's left out because we
Speaker:forget that without action. If you're using the law of
Speaker:attraction, then the universe is just going to give you what
Speaker:you're doing. It's just sitting around and waiting. Right? So
Speaker:you have to actually take the physical action. So I want to
Speaker:kind of touch on that. And how do you get through those days?
Speaker:Because we all have we all have those days where we don't want
Speaker:to show up. We don't want to get out of bed. How do you get
Speaker:through those days and keep taking the action
Speaker:by having the right people around you that are there.
Speaker:kicking in the you know what, and when you're having a bad
Speaker:day, they're there to keep your head above water. And it's very
Speaker:important. But again, you talked earlier about to do lists and
Speaker:not to do lists. You know, I think every we all have, we're
Speaker:all multitasking, we all have lots of things, lots of to Do's,
Speaker:most of us don't have a stop doing list, right. And when
Speaker:you're really focused on what you want to create, you have
Speaker:that definite purpose, you have that burning desire, some things
Speaker:have to go get set aside, they might be fun, it might be great
Speaker:to go out and have dinner with your friends one night, but if
Speaker:there's a big meeting for you the next day, maybe you need to
Speaker:stay in focus on getting prepared for that. And that is
Speaker:dedication. That's that self discipline that goes along with
Speaker:it. You mentioned outwitting the devil, you know, talks about how
Speaker:to that F instead of faith for a lot of people is fear. And fear
Speaker:usually paralyzes us. But for a few people that fear turns into
Speaker:anger, it turns into excitement and energy. And that allows you
Speaker:to attach a you know, really give a little bit more energy
Speaker:towards attacking that task. And so as important we talk about
Speaker:definiteness of purpose, mastery over self, right? understanding
Speaker:and learning from adversity, because mistakes happen, but
Speaker:then controlling your environment and controlling your
Speaker:time. And that's the importance of a stop doing list. Right? Are
Speaker:you focused on the outcome that you want? are you allowing
Speaker:yourself to get distracted by a lot of shiny objects and drums?
Speaker:And that decision is purely you? And so your actions that you
Speaker:take? Are your actions committed to the outcome that you want to
Speaker:see happen?
Speaker:Yeah, and now that we're typing about outwitting the devil, I
Speaker:just have to bring this up. So what, what is the real reason
Speaker:why that book didn't get published for so long? Because I
Speaker:know in the book, he Napoleon Hill in the in the communication
Speaker:with the devil on they were talking about how Oh, don't
Speaker:worry, I have other plans for this book not getting out. And
Speaker:then it wasn't out until 2011. So yeah,
Speaker:this is goosebump material. When he wrote in 1938, he had just
Speaker:released thinking Grow Rich, and he was he was frustrated,
Speaker:because he said here I'm giving you the secret to success, and
Speaker:people will read it and not take the action, they will not do it.
Speaker:And so he sat down and few short months wrote this outwitting the
Speaker:devil, which was an interrogation of the devil, and
Speaker:he says, you can believe it's the real devil or an imaginary
Speaker:devil, you know, the stinking thinking we have in our brain.
Speaker:But will you derive any benefit from it? Well, the title scared
Speaker:his wife to death because she worked for the Presbyterian
Speaker:college. And so she said, it's not to be published. And he
Speaker:honored that he died 1970 she didn't die until the 90s. And
Speaker:our sister died in, you know, earlier in early in the 2000s. I
Speaker:have in 2010 ish. And that's when the foundation actually
Speaker:received the manuscript. And they called me Don green
Speaker:session, I have this thing. It's, I don't know what to do
Speaker:with it. And he sent it to me, and it was typed on a manual
Speaker:typewriter, of course, 1938 and I had handwritten notes from
Speaker:Napoleon Hill on the margins. It was incredible. I ran away to
Speaker:San Diego where I do most of my writing, just sitting there me
Speaker:in the ocean. And in just a few hours, it transformed my
Speaker:thinking about how much fear grips us. And I kind of thought
Speaker:it was perfect for the time and 2011 when we released it, but
Speaker:when 20 head, I said no, this book is for this year, because
Speaker:if you go to page 61, in the book, it says, you know, he's
Speaker:interrogating the devil, and he says, at one time or another, I
Speaker:will bring men to their knees, with the fear of poverty and the
Speaker:fear of death. And it's like, Well, hello, welcome 2020 and
Speaker:let's add the fear of isolation to it. So it definitely gave me
Speaker:goosebumps all over again. But yeah, this incredible, it's and
Speaker:you know, what is a perfect book for your generation? Because
Speaker:there's a little in your face, it's a little, you know, is kind
Speaker:of like, yeah, that's what's wrong with this world. And it's,
Speaker:it's been great because it has reinvigorated the teachings of
Speaker:this hill appeals of information to the younger generations.
Speaker:I couldn't agree more and I continued on my personal
Speaker:development journey I've gotten into reading down I read all the
Speaker:time, but I still found that this was such an easy read like
Speaker:it was it had such heavy information and a lot of times
Speaker:books like that like thinking go rich is a very dense reading.
Speaker:But this one I could just open it up and you know, have my kid
Speaker:in the background and my puppy freaking out and still be able
Speaker:to like read for five minutes and digest something and get
Speaker:something out of it. So if you guys haven't read that book, you
Speaker:need to read it. It blew my mind. Because I also read it
Speaker:this year as well. So as much as everything related 2020 and 2021
Speaker:I was just like this. I can't believe that this book was it
Speaker:was written in 38 or 39.
Speaker:Yeah. 1938. So it's literally he was a man before his time.
Speaker:That's amazing.
Speaker:Yeah, and you do so you have done a lot of work with lots of
Speaker:really successful people as well. So in your in Sharon's
Speaker:opinion, what is the number one key to accomplishment?
Speaker:Well, people ask me the definition of success all the
Speaker:time. And I go, you know, Success to me is not the money
Speaker:in the bank account. Success is truly how you feel about
Speaker:yourself. When you look in the mirror, hands your topic, you
Speaker:know, beat The beat loving, you know, happiness of just being
Speaker:yourself who you are. And when you look in the mirror, and you
Speaker:know, that you have in, it's not because of your reflection, it
Speaker:was how you feel about yourself. And you can stand confident that
Speaker:you've added value. When growing up. My dad would ask me every
Speaker:night Sharon, have you added value to someone's life today?
Speaker:He's been gone for 15 years, but I still ask myself that every
Speaker:night, have I added value to someone's life today? And
Speaker:wouldn't the world be a better place? If we all concentrated on
Speaker:adding value to others? Yeah, wow.
Speaker:So one other thing I would love to bring up as well, just my,
Speaker:for my audience, my generation, we are the social media age,
Speaker:right? And everyone gets so caught up in the vanity metrics
Speaker:of social media influencers, yada, yada, you already know
Speaker:where I'm going with this, right? So you're one of the
Speaker:biggest names in the game, I believe, like, I'm a huge fan, I
Speaker:feel if you're, if you're not, at least not a household name,
Speaker:at least the principles that you have helped bring to the world
Speaker:bring your voice to you are definitely household principles.
Speaker:But when I was looking on your social media, I noticed that you
Speaker:have like 10,000 followers on Instagram. But you're such a big
Speaker:massive influencer in the world. So I just want to hear what your
Speaker:thoughts are about that single a lot of people get caught up in
Speaker:their head, that they don't have a million followers online. And
Speaker:they think that that has something to do with the level
Speaker:of success that they'll create, I want to hear what your
Speaker:thoughts on
Speaker:social media is very important. And I am very active in it. But
Speaker:I have not, I refuse to buy any followers, I refuse to have
Speaker:somebody in India give me hundreds of 1000s of followers,
Speaker:I you know, the my followers are all very, very committed and
Speaker:support me in that. So there's something you know, when you're
Speaker:around me that is there's there's no hype is what you see
Speaker:is what you get. And Instagram as as a point of fact, you asked
Speaker:me that is the latest thing that I actually got involved in. And
Speaker:so we've been working on that. And we've done probably I think
Speaker:I'm close to 12,000 followers now. But you know, it's all
Speaker:organic, all people that I'm reaching through either
Speaker:broadcasts or through meetings. And it's something that I think
Speaker:you know, people that that truly want to reach it. And that the
Speaker:other issue, which I share with all my clients, because you can
Speaker:have a million Instagram followers, but Instagram can
Speaker:turn you off tomorrow, and they're gone. And so I teach all
Speaker:my clients, yes, you want to get out there, it's kind of lead gen
Speaker:to have all those social media, but you need to give them a
Speaker:reason to come to your database so that they're in your email,
Speaker:because then you have the opportunity to find them. All
Speaker:right, if Instagram goes away, or Facebook goes away, they're
Speaker:gone. You want to give them a reason to connect with you and
Speaker:get into your database, because that's your intellectual
Speaker:property, then you own those names. And that database adds
Speaker:value to company. So it's really important to think about using
Speaker:that social media as a as a lead gen and as a way to attract
Speaker:people, but to bring them home. And you're bringing them home by
Speaker:getting them into your database.
Speaker:And what would you suggest for people who are maybe feeling
Speaker:like, I have clients come to me all the time who feel like
Speaker:because they don't have very many followers, and it's not the
Speaker:domestic isn't important. What would you say to people who may
Speaker:be feeling that way? So I'm in the same boat. I've built mine
Speaker:completely organically. I don't even have 10,000 people. So I
Speaker:look at it as a tool. And I also worked with clients who have,
Speaker:you know, a million followers and they can't get them to buy
Speaker:anything. Right? So there's, there's two sides to that. So
Speaker:how would you suggest people utilize their social media as a
Speaker:tool and stop themselves from getting caught up in the
Speaker:comparison trap?
Speaker:Well, I think you have to have measurements, you have to have
Speaker:goals and measurements. And yeah, I'd love to have a million
Speaker:followers on Instagram. That'd be great. But I'm not going to
Speaker:turn away what I'm doing for those people who want to learn
Speaker:from me now. So my primary focus Are you think of a bell curve If
Speaker:you don't know what those are the top 20% are your raving
Speaker:fans, the bottom 20% are people who don't like you very much.
Speaker:And the 60% in the middle don't really know who you are. And so
Speaker:a lot of us concentrate on that 20% that don't like us. No,
Speaker:don't do that, right? With the bigger you get, the more haters
Speaker:you're going to have, but focus on the 20%, who love you, and
Speaker:turn them into raving fans, and they will help convert the 60%
Speaker:in the middle. And when you have a million followers, that's
Speaker:fantastic. Give them a reason to engage, give them value, and go
Speaker:give give, give, sell, right give, give, give, give, ask,
Speaker:making sure you're pouring into them in a way. And all these
Speaker:algorithms that Facebook has, and Instagram, they really
Speaker:handcuffed you in being able to access all those followers. And
Speaker:that's why it's so important to give them reasons to connect
Speaker:with you, in your website on a database where you have the
Speaker:ability to push something to them specifically when you know
Speaker:what they're interested in.
Speaker:Okay, now, now moving on to another topic. This is my last
Speaker:question. And then I'll, I'll let you slide on out of here.
Speaker:And what is one thing that you must do every single day?
Speaker:Well, there's a lot of things I do every day.
Speaker:So I
Speaker:I'll mention two of them. When my son died, somebody sent me a
Speaker:book, a little book called The prayer of Jabez. And it's
Speaker:actually a prayer in the Bible. And every single day before I do
Speaker:this broadcast before I do anything, I say the prayer of
Speaker:Jabez little four line prayer, and it basically says, you know,
Speaker:Dear God, please bless me indeed, right? enlarge my
Speaker:territory, meaning allow me to reach more people than I could
Speaker:possibly imagine. Let your hand be with me. So deliver your
Speaker:message to me. So that what I say is what you want me to say
Speaker:that I may not cause harm or be harmed, so that I'm out there
Speaker:doing good and adding value. And so that's something that is a
Speaker:driving force for me every single day, every single event
Speaker:every single interview. And then the other thing I do every
Speaker:single day, it used to be many years ago, it was to to, to to
Speaker:faxes, to handwritten notes, and to phone calls, right. And, of
Speaker:course, no fax machines anymore today. So as a five year old, I
Speaker:go to on Facebook, to an Instagram, now it's clubhouse to
Speaker:come in there, you know, to handwritten notes still and to
Speaker:phone calls. Still, every single day, I do that before I close
Speaker:off for the evening, for the purpose of driving my business
Speaker:forward. Because sometimes we get too geared into what's going
Speaker:on right now that we forget to continue putting our foot on the
Speaker:accelerator. So before I close out, I do something that's
Speaker:moving my business forward.
Speaker:Well, I love that you that you keep it, you keep it to like
Speaker:it's not, I have to spend 300 messages. First of all, you
Speaker:know, you keep it something that's obtainable. And that you
Speaker:can do every day and you're just continuing to make those
Speaker:personal connections steadily each and every day. And I have I
Speaker:do have a follow up question. With social media as well,
Speaker:you're building social media wasn't really a thing. So these
Speaker:days, I know a lot. It can be very overwhelming with social
Speaker:media, like feeling the need to keep up with the rat race and
Speaker:keep up with all of these social platforms. And so for people who
Speaker:are trying to figure out where they fit, like, do you feel like
Speaker:people need to post every single day? What are you what are your
Speaker:feelings with showing up in that way?
Speaker:But depends on what your profession is and what you're
Speaker:trying to accomplish. And I don't think I'm interested in
Speaker:seeing what people had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But
Speaker:some people you know, feel like they have to do that. Or they
Speaker:have to show that they shave their legs today. I mean, it's
Speaker:crazy. And so if you're using it for business purposes, then you
Speaker:need to have a plan. And that plan can be daily posts, it
Speaker:could be post twice a day, it could be weekly posts. The
Speaker:biggest thing from a standpoint of your plan on posting is not
Speaker:the posting is the engagement. So are you in getting your
Speaker:audience to engage with you. And that's something I actually I
Speaker:went out and hire people your age because they know how to do
Speaker:it to help me get a better position online from a social
Speaker:media perspective. And so you have the opportunity but you
Speaker:need to make sure that they are representing your voice and the
Speaker:bigger issue for your age is in my I'll put on my mother or
Speaker:grandmother hat is you've got to be consistent and authentic. You
Speaker:can't be you know talking one thing and Instagram and then
Speaker:showing something that's not congruent with who you are on
Speaker:your on your Facebook because b ob ob found out you know, you
Speaker:got Twitter, you got Facebook and Instagram And the messaging
Speaker:is slightly different. But you want to have you want to
Speaker:represent who you are and your brand and you need to be
Speaker:congruent and consistent with your messaging. But it your plan
Speaker:needs to determine what your ultimate goal is and how you
Speaker:accomplish that. So when we're doing things like I have events,
Speaker:a publishing retreat, at the end of February, I have something
Speaker:else the first week of March, I have something else in the end
Speaker:of March. So we now are strategizing as to, you know,
Speaker:when we can promote what events so that we're not like beating
Speaker:people over the head about it. And so you have to have a plan,
Speaker:you have to have a strategy on how you're going to fill your
Speaker:folks up with information, and be able to get them to support
Speaker:you, if you're just there to be a celebrity and to you know,
Speaker:talk to the tribe, that's fine. But if you're if your goal is to
Speaker:build your business, you need to have that plan as to how it's
Speaker:going to get you to where you want to be.
Speaker:Well, that goes along with just a different type of purpose,
Speaker:right? Like that. Having a plan like what are you using this for
Speaker:because otherwise, it can go right along with another
Speaker:outwitting the devil topic and cause people to drink and get
Speaker:caught up in all of their comparison traps and just
Speaker:scrolling for 10 hours a day. Right? So
Speaker:Well, that's happening today with this new platform
Speaker:clubhouse, I Oh, my gosh, I see people on it for 24 hours
Speaker:straight. And I go, Oh, my gosh, you know, it's a great platform.
Speaker:It's amazing networking tool. I've been so pleased, you know,
Speaker:but I don't get on it. I may be on at one hour every two or
Speaker:three days. But it's huge. It's wonderful. It's a great way to
Speaker:connect with the audience. And what's lovely is, you know, you
Speaker:send out a message on Facebook, you may have 10,000, or 10,000
Speaker:people on Facebook, but you don't know how many people are
Speaker:actually going to see it. Not very many because of the
Speaker:algorithms. But you go into a clubhouse room and there's 1000
Speaker:people in that room and you have an opportunity to speak. They're
Speaker:all hearing you. And so the effectiveness of it is great if
Speaker:you make sure you have your messaging, right. And so but
Speaker:some people have become addicted to clubhouse, and I worry about
Speaker:a little bit.
Speaker:Yeah, me too. I, as a recovering addict myself, I have to be
Speaker:mindful of where those tendencies come out. And I do
Speaker:say my first two weeks on clubhouse where it's a bit
Speaker:dangerous. I was a little too sucked in with the FOMO. And
Speaker:thank you so much, Sharon, for taking time out of your day to
Speaker:come on and speak with me I know I received so much value from
Speaker:you and for my audience did as well. I know you have some
Speaker:really exciting things in the works right now coming up. So if
Speaker:you could please share
Speaker:how very excited over my shoulder, you see my new book
Speaker:extra rich, it's been picked up by ink magazine to be published
Speaker:under their imprint. And it's about, you know, so many people
Speaker:own a job, not a business. And I want to help all of you create
Speaker:that economic engine that stands beside you that is not dependent
Speaker:on you. Something that allows you to create financial
Speaker:independence in your life, as understanding how to build the
Speaker:structure of your business. So you can take your successful
Speaker:business, make it scalable, sustainable, and saleable. If
Speaker:you choose to too many people have spent years building a
Speaker:business, but there's so much business themselves, they can't
Speaker:sell it. I want to make sure you create it so that you can sell
Speaker:it when you choose to or you can set it up for generational
Speaker:wealth to leave to your kids and for future generations of your
Speaker:family. And there's not a lot of resources out there. You know,
Speaker:Steve Forbes said it's a goldmine for entrepreneurs, we
Speaker:take you through the process of how you can build value in your
Speaker:business, increase the price, increase the value, increase the
Speaker:opportunity for sale, and maximize the profits from
Speaker:selling your business. And so as I said, it's available in April
Speaker:from Amazon, but I like to disrupt things as you mentioned
Speaker:during this conversation, so I have it available to anybody
Speaker:right now. You can get it electronically and then we will
Speaker:actually send you the copy of the book if you go to exit Rich
Speaker:book.com forward slash by exit Rich book.com Ford slash buy and
Speaker:you actually get a cheaper that will be on Amazon when it's
Speaker:released. And we include the shipping because I want to make
Speaker:sure the information gets to people soon as possible. And I
Speaker:can guarantee you one tip in the book is going to give you 10 x
Speaker:100 x 1000 x return.
Speaker:Yeah, you guys I would take Jaron up on that offer. I'm
Speaker:gonna go get my copy right now. I will put the link in the
Speaker:description down below. Go grab your copy. She is just amazing
Speaker:wealth of knowledge. And just when she said I'm always going
Speaker:throughout my day looking for the one thing, every book I read
Speaker:every interview I do like what is the one thing one thing that
Speaker:I can pick up that I can carry throughout my my day throughout
Speaker:my life. So go get a boat, pick out the one thing, take a
Speaker:screenshot of this episode tag us tell tell sharing what you
Speaker:learn. And thank you again Jared for hopping on.
Speaker:Well and I really do appreciate you having me as your guest and
Speaker:invite everybody to find me on on Instagram. It's Sharon
Speaker:lechter on Instagram, LinkedIn, my author Sharon lechter
Speaker:Facebook page and and in clubhouse Sharon lechter. So
Speaker:connect with me and I can't wait to see all of you.
