Episode 102: John Lee Dumas – Giving Value First Is The Key

[00:00:00] Casanova Brooks:

What’s up Dream Nation today on the line, we are back again, and I don’t feel like there’s an introduction needed, but we’re going to give you the same type of energy. And I always like to start it off with making sure that we know who exactly we’re talking to. So before the number one podcast in the world before being featured in.

All of these different publications and being able to inspire entrepreneurs, just like myself, all over the world, let’s take it back to when you were just a young boy and tell me who is John Lee Dumas.

John Lee Dumas:

[00:00:34] Man, well, Casanova first and foremost thanks, that introduction man, it is a pleasure to be here. For some reason, you know, something about your name just makes me want to break into song that Casanova, ain’t got none, unless you got bones, hun.

One of my favorite songs I know is Anaconda, but you know, I figured I’d use Casanova cause it’s just such a great name, but man, you know, listen. The John Lee Dumas to JLD back in the day, like that’s the thing is I just came from a small town in the state of Maine, you know, 2000 people, you know, once a high school, you know, just try to figure things out, went to college on an army scholarship.

I mean, I was in the army for eight years trying to serve this country and lead troops in a 13 month tour of duty in Iraq. I mean, just trying to figure things out, you know, through my twenties. It really wasn’t until I was 32 years old that I kind of like got my act together and said, wow, I’m not really happy or impressed with where I’m at in my life right now.

And then my third is I found out I was supposed to have all these things figured out. I have nothing figured out. Let’s get moving. So I started doing a lot of the same similar things that you were doing back in the day, which is just consuming great content by inspiring and motivating people and just taking that next step forward, taking that next understanding to the next level and then figuring out.

What is the niche? Like what is the thing that I can do, that’s currently not being done in deliver value to this world?. And it was a slow, painful, struggling process, but man, that’s why the victory is so sweet.

Casanova Brooks:

[00:02:11] I love it, man. And now you’ve done over 2000 episodes. You have Entrepreneurs On Fire and you’re rocking it.

And you’ve had just about every big name, inspirator or big entrepreneur on this show. Let me ask within your journey of the last. You know, 10, 12, 15 years, What has been your biggest obstacle that you’ve had to overcome? You think

John Lee Dumas:

[00:02:35] Myself? I mean, it’s the mindset that we deal with every day. I mean, we’re humans, like as human beings, we just have this imposter syndrome, this fear, this doubt, this anxiety, you know, it’s like, everything’s going so great.

But what if it all crashes down tomorrow and, you know, Frankly Casanova. I kind of compounded that a little bit by asking every one of my guests. What is your biggest failure? What is your biggest flop falling on your face ever? And I got to hear 2000 people tell me these crazy sad, devastating stories.

And that just to me reinforced like, Oh my God, like everything’s here today, gone tomorrow. So yeah. Man the most important thing is you need to surround yourself with the right people. You’ve got to have a mastermind of people that you look up to that are positive, optimistic mindset of abundance. You know, you’ve got to have that mentor.

Who’s there. Who’s guiding you, holding you accountable as well, because if you’re just. A solo individual. Try to take this on your own. You’re going to have these rollercoasters of emotions, the highest of highs, the lowest of lows. Like it’s just the world of being an entrepreneur. And man, I experienced those to this day and you know, and I’m eight years into my journey, you know.

I’ve achieved, you know, massive levels of both financial and just overall success. But at the end of the day, I still struggle with these mindset challenges because I’m a human being and it’s never going to end and that’s not to scare people, but that’s just to encourage people to surround yourself with other people that’s, you know, have the right mindsets and number two, to realize that, Hey, even people that you look up to and admire.

They’re struggling with the same mindset, things that you’re struggling with right now. And so that doesn’t change and embrace that and move forward.

Casanova Brooks:

[00:04:26] Man. I love it. And I know that you’re big on habits. Right? And you’re big on doing things that bring productivity. I believe I was reading the blog and you were talking about the 80-20, right.

And even at last month, you know, figuring out what is the thing that brings me 80%. Right. And what’s that 20 that’s not driving it. Looking back on your career and everything that you’ve been able to accomplish. Like you said, what’s that one habit, or what’s the one thing that you wish that you would have implemented sooner to get your business on a faster scale?

John Lee Dumas:

[00:04:58] This is something I implemented three years too late. Like if I hadn’t been able to implement this sooner and again, Three years sooner would have been ideal. Like things just would have been better overall for me. And that is a morning routine, you know, so many of us just kind of wake up when we wake up, especially when you’re entrepreneurs, you know, that’s why we do it.

Cause we’re like, Oh, we don’t have an alarm. We don’t have a boss who expects us to work at a certain time. So, you know, people just start to wake up when they wake up and that’s part of the freedom. And then they just like, okay, now what am I going to do today? Okay, let me go make some coffee. Okay. Let me.

Go look at my email. Okay. Let me check my social media then like, Whoa. It was 12 o’clock and I haven’t done anything yet. And like, honestly, that was me for a significant amount of time. And finally I was looking in the mirror and I said, wow, man, like, I love those people who just like, get more stuff done before 9:00 AM than the rest of the world does all day.

Like that was me in the army, you know, by force. Not because I wanted to, but. [00:06:00] They made me get up at 5:00 AM and they made me bust my butt until 9:00 AM. And then they will look at us and be like, soldiers. How do you feel that you just got more stuff done before 9:00 AM, then the rest eight today. And I was like, actually, that kinda does feel good.

And so as an entrepreneur, I was like, how can I bring that back? and to me, and again, it took me three years to get there, but I was like, I got to implement a morning routine, man. Cause I don’t have, you know, a drill sergeant screaming at me anymore. Like, I’ve got to be my own version of that drill Sergeant.

And so I created a morning routine that was waking up at 6:00 AM. I was exercising. First thing, I was meditating. I was journaling. I was focusing on me, on the health and wellness of my mind in body and spirits and Casanova. Like when I made that shift. Everything changed because my energy got better. My sense of accomplishment got better.

My productivity, my discipline, my focus, everything improved because I was able to commit those first 90 minutes every single day to my personal routine. I think everybody’s personal routine should be different. Right, but it needs to be a morning routine that works for you.

Casanova Brooks:

[00:07:11] I love that. And discipline, commitment and discipline is what I heard from there.

And that’s how you’ll get the results that you want.

One thing that I know is right now, a lot of people are starting podcasts, right? And you’ve been a pioneer and a godfather of it. Right. And a lot of things that you’ve talked about that I’ve heard over the years is. How you were able to really take off in the beginning because you got people like Amy and Pat Flynn and Tony Robins, Tim Ferris.

Well, nowadays, you know, and you said that when you first started out, it was probably a lot easier because no one was doing podcasts. So it was easy, but nowadays when a lot more people are doing podcasts, what’s that tip that you would recommend for someone to go out and get a couple of big name guests?

Like what’s the path now because podcasts are obviously a lot more out there.

John Lee Dumas:

[00:07:57] I’m going to give you the honest response here, [00:08:00] which I don’t think a lot of people are going to expect, but it’s the honest to goodness truth. Most people when they start and by most, I mean, pretty much everybody when they start.

Should not be going after a big name guest. Cause guess what? You, as a beginning, entrepreneur, as a beginning podcast, host don’t deserve a big guest. You haven’t honed your interview skills yet. You’re not a hundred episodes in like Casanova. You’re not 2,600 episodes in like jLD. You have just started your podcasting journey.

You’re not good enough. You shouldn’t be good enough. Don’t feel bad about it because why would you be good? I wasn’t good Casanova. Wasn’t good. When we started, we had to put in the reps and we did put in the reps and we got good. So now you put in the reps do 50, do 60 podcast episodes, spend six months to a year, honing your craft, getting better and, oh, building an audience so that when you do get those big name guests on.

You don’t blow it. You don’t embarrass yourself and you add value to them because you’re a good podcast host. You’re asking good questions. You’re having good back and forth. Like the banter Casanova and I are having, do you think we would have had this? If he interviewed me episode one, not a chance. Episode 100.

Absolutely making it happen. So that’s my advice. The beginning podcasters, like go after people that are hungry and are growing and you know, are excited to be on your show, but aren’t those A-listers, you know, and that’s fine go after people that are getting after it. And they’re going to promote the show because they’re excited to be on and then you can hone your skills and then down the road when the time is right and you have an audience and you have skills as a podcast host.

Then you can go to town on the big name guests.

Casanova Brooks:

[00:09:40] And it’s like thinking about the NBA, you know, I love sports, but it’s like thinking that you’re just going to jump into the league and play in the All Star Game. It’s not going to happen. You got to get reps up. You’ve got to, you know, be able to show that you can.

John Lee Dumas:

[00:09:52] Some good analogy.

Casanova Brooks:

[00:09:53] So I’m glad that you said it and that is something that no one else says. So I’m glad that you brought it in and brought it to [00:10:00] perspective. Another question that often comes up when people are thinking about podcasting. Now they’re looking to make a career out of it, and obviously you have your income blog that you publish every single month and you shown and been transparent.

For a lot of people, that’s looking at this and they say, Hey, you know what?, it is a passion of mine, but I want to be able to make this a full time income. What’s some overlooked strategies on ways that people can monetize their podcasts, because that’s why a lot of people don’t start. They don’t know if they’ll ever be able to make any money off of it.

John Lee Dumas:

[00:10:29] I want to make it simple for people because so many people will waste time when they started a podcast thinking they’re going to get sponsors, listen sponsors. Aren’t going to work for you until after a significant amount of time. And a large audience has been built. So

Casanova Brooks:

[00:10:42] at the large audience people are, what does that look like?

John Lee Dumas:

[00:10:45] Two to 3000 listens per episode, between two and 3000 listens per episode. And that’s going to take most people a very long time to reach. Cause that’s a huge number. That’ll put you like in the top four or 5% of all podcasts periods. So what my recommendation is you, as a podcast, host need to start by saying to yourself, what is the biggest struggle that my listeners have?

And then how can I provide the solution in the form of a product or a service or a community? That’s how you start monetizing by you offering it to keeping people in your world. Don’t spend your time chasing sponsors and sending people to other products or services, keep them in your world by solving their problems with your solutions,

Casanova Brooks:

[00:11:29] I love it. And I don’t know, you talk about all the time having avatars, right. And your avatar was Jimmy. Right. But figuring out who exactly do you serve? Do you still feel like because nowadays, so many people are jumping all over, do you still feel like that’s the number one thing that someone has to figure out first is figuring out who their avatar is or, or what’s your perception on that?

John Lee Dumas:

[00:11:52] It’s the first step, because listen, you are going to have a million questions, a million forks in the road that you’re going to come to as a podcast host. Cause there’s a lot of different decisions to make. Don’t make the decision yourself as a podcast host because your perfect listener should be making that decision because that’s who you’re creating the show for.

So I say, WWJD, what would Jimmy do? You should be asking yourself, what would your avatar wants? They’ll tell you, you take their advice and you make a quick decision left, right, off to the races.

Casanova Brooks:

[00:12:24] I love it to wrap this thing up, man. When it’s all said and done, cause you’ve added so much value, you know, over 2000 episodes.

So many people that you’ve helped to change their lives when it’s all said and done, what’s the one thing that you want people to take away from who John Lee Dumas was and what he represented.

John Lee Dumas:

[00:12:46] So what I want them to look back and say, John Lee Dumas was a person that’s tried to share value with the world.

He tried to be a person of value and that was his focus and that he was able to inspire individuals, his listeners, to create something that was special for them, so that they could turn around and inspire other individuals causing a ripple effect of awesomeness. And that’s what you and I are doing in this world Casanova that’s what other people that are watching and listening to this are doing.

If you’re creating value, if you’re giving it out to the world, You are responsible in a good way for causing a ripple effect across this world. So I congratulate you Casanova on number 100, massive milestone brother. And I’ll tell you what, when you get to 200, I will come to your show for 30 minutes is a guarantee.

Casanova Brooks:

[00:13:38] I love it, man. I love it. Well, again, it’s been phenomenal. It’s a pleasure to have you on the show. We look forward to having you back again and remember Dreamnation in the dream we trust, but we must take action. Otherwise, it’ll only merely be a fantasy. We’ll see you at the next one.

Take care, brother!

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