The Playbook With David Meltzer

On this episode of #ThePlaybook, Dan Martell, Founder and CEO of SaaS Academy, sits down to chat about:[2:48] - The four ways that people can create “leverage” in their lives[5:11] - How entrepreneurs can ensure they are positioning themselves for economic success[8:35] - Why having clarity of vision is essential for achieving your goals[16:35] - Why everyone should know the economic value of an hour of their time

5 STEPS TO THRIVE IN YOUR BUSINESS: Stimulate Interest: Stimulate interest for availability, then stimulate interest for your business. Transition the Interest: Emotionally connect with who you’re targeting. Then transition through professional collateral and an explanation of true value. Share the Vision: Share the vision of true value. You want to demonstrate the value you’ll be providing in relation to the customer’s personal values, experience values, giving, and receiving values. Make them see the win-win situation. Manage and Develop the Vision: Manage and develop a vision by providing the value that you promised. Don’t oversell, rather help them manage and develop their expectations. Thrive: Make a lot of money, help a lot of people, and have a lot of fun!

I’ve always said that in order to thrive as a business leader you need four core fundamentals: a great product, an understanding of your fnancials, a good grasp on operations, and the ability to sell and market your business. Te ability to choose the right path, take the right risks, and implement the new skills or knowledge you gain along the way is solely dependent on your decision making. This begs the question: “How can we set ourselves up for successful decision making?” Realize your talents, gifts, and competencies, and determine how those show a clear path to making money or not.

Dan Klitsner, Founder at KID Group and the creator of the ‘90s game phenomenon, Bop It!, talks about how persistence, relentless listening, and learning from failure contributed to the invention and success of Bop It!. He shares his thoughts on the importance of the RITE factors (relationships, idea, timing, and execution) for all inventors, as well as why playing Wordle is similar to the process of invention.Klitsner and I discuss a variety of topics including the mindset required to be a successful entrepreneur, how Klitsner created Bop It for Good to spread happiness and joy to more people, and the challenges of looking for the “next big idea”.

Once you identify people who sit in a position you want to be in (or can help you get skills/knowledge/desire), reach out and ask for help. To me, mentorship is the accelerator of all accelerators. Having three mentors will help you avoid paying “Dummy Tax” yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help, or input on your plan. Asking for help not only provides you with advice and insight, but it helps you stay accountable and stick to your goals.

On this episode of #ThePlaybook, Eric Tosi, Chief Marketing Officer for the Vegas Golden Knights, shares his insights on: [1:04] - How the “Vegas Born” campaign during the team’s first season supported their run to the Stanley Cup Finals [3:27] - What it was like launching the first professional sports franchise in the City of Las Vegas [7:49] - Why working for an expansion franchise enables them to take more risks and be more innovative [13:55] - How the Golden Knights are working to stay on the cutting edge of Las Vegas sports

Standing out is one of the toughest things to do in a crowded market. How do we go about it? I believe there are two simple steps to stand out when making yourself equal and making yourself different.Step 1: Make Yourself EqualThe first thing we have to do when marketing something, is make that product/service/individual equal to its competitors. This means identifying the ways that we are the same, whether we provide the same service, similar features, or solve the same problem.What you want to do is to make yourself equal and then distinguish yourself. This is not meant in terms of superiority, but in making a solution better than it was before. By this, I mean you’re providing extra-value or something extraordinary.This holds true whether you are talking about a competitive product or yourself. Make yourself equal to their value and then create a higher Penn Value. It is important to ask more open- and closed-ended questions because the more you can understand and align with the consumer’s value system, the better the certainty of success.Simply saying "I'm different" does nothing to convince others of your value. Prove it. Show them that you have the same benefits as your competitors. Show how you solve the same problem. Then, show them how different you are from the rest.Step 2: Make Yourself DifferentChallenge others to re-evaluate their perspective on what you are with the unexpected, as catching someone by surprise allows us to make a bigger impact on those with set expectations. Use this surprise in your favor by making it into a competitive advantage.Competitive advantage is typically broken down to two simple things: being cheap and being different. What will you be known for? With a differentiation strategy, a person seeks to be unique in an industry, selecting attributes that others in the industry perceive as important and positioning themselves to meet those needs.

On this episode of #ThePlaybook, Dane Cook, Comedian and Actor, shares his insights on:[2:02] - Why using humor is one of the best ways to deal with your biggest personal challenges[9:33] - How he got a game-winning pick-6 against the legendary Tom Brady[16:13] - His message for anyone struggling to get back up after low moment in their life[19:12] - What it was like to accomplish his childhood dream of hosting SNL

The More you forgive yourself, understand forgiveness and can learn to love those who attack you and create interference in your life, the better your life will become.In order to forgive yourself, you have to use your gratitude to give you perspective on what happened. Gratitude will tell you that your life is about lessons, and lessons will keep coming until you learn them. Reframe your problem with a grateful perspective and your feelings toward the situation will undoubtedly change for the better. To reframe your current situation, can think about the countless people who are worse off than you or consider the ways that you could be faced with an even more difficult challenge.

100% of the things you do now get done, which is why you should practice a Do It Now strategy.a) Create a repository – Have a place where you can organize and plan tasks that you are unable to do right now. This document, folder, or list is something that should be reviewed and updated daily.b) Focus and refocus – Treat focusing and re-focusing like two separate muscles that need to be exercised. Give tasks your full intention when working on them and practice refocusing when switching from one task to another.c) Try not to use deadlines – Telling yourself “X needs to be done by X time” creates resistance for you in accomplishing the task. Dedicate a minimum amount of time to the task each day (as needed) until it is done.Remember that prioritization is the antidote for procrastination. People procrastinate because they haven't figured out their What, Who, and How, so they don't know what to do Now.