So, the end of 2020 is in sight and I am sure that it will be a welcomed goodbye for a lot of us.
But firstly we have the upbeat and uplifting #ALB Christmas Special podcast with John and Jason, which has become a bit of a Christmas tradition, so grab yourself a festive beverage to sip on, sit back and enjoy an hour of John and Jason as they reflect upon 2020, the ups and downs, and their plans for 2021.
They discuss their book of the year, word of the year, what they have learnt and how they have helped others overcome what has been a particularly tricky year for all business owners.
For all of the John’s book fans out there, you will be pleased to hear some news he has for you all too.
And finally, we would like to wish all of you a very happy and healthy Christmas.
Stay safe and here’s to 2021.
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
In this months episode, we have our One Percent Club resident Facebook ads expert Danny Harris.
If Facebook ads are what you need advice on Danny is the man to go to, when he started working in this industry, he was purely managing Facebook pages for people. There was no advertising involved, times have moved on and now he works much more on the advertising side of things because Facebook pages have changed and Facebook as we all know has evolved. The next stage for Danny, will be to teach other people how to do run their own pages effectively.
When an advert comes on the TV, that's when you pick your phone up and watch your phone rather than watching the advert on the TV. So previously what was the audience on the TV is now much more on Facebook, on social media, online generally, and with Facebook being by far the most used website on the planet and people spend more time on it and any other, they basically, can't not work.
Danny also has a whole concept of starting a charity at some point. And the point of the charity will be to help underprivileged kids. It will be focusing on teaching them about things like online marketing, so that they can learn a different route to perhaps the unpleasant routes that a lot of disadvantaged kids end up going down sadly.
Danny’s business is called DH2026 Ltd, now the first part of that company name is probably quite self-explanatory, but what does the 2026 mean? Well Danny has a plan and that will be revealed in the podcast.
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
This months guest is Steve West owner of The Pudding Compartment, (John’s perfect client).
Steve makes delicious handcrafted cakes, biscuits, flapjacks, Brownies, sticky, toffee, puddings cookies, scones, you name it, all white labelled for businesses such as Virgin trains and 2016 apprentice winner Alana Spencer.
Steve joined the One Percent Club 6 months ago with 3 clear goals, there have been many obstacles that many business owners have faced over the last few months, Steve included but despite this, those goals are still in place and Steve is well on track to achieving them all!!
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
#ALB69 – Meet The One Percenters
It is September, which means the doors to the One Percent Club are officially open!
The One Percent Club is a community of like-minded business owners, looking to grow their business, get more free time, and make more money – without just working harder.
One Percenters want to be held accountable, they want focus, and they want structure.
They understand that running a business can be lonely at times, and that hanging around with the right people is key.
In this episode John and Jason will give you a full insight into what happens within the One Percent Club, not only that, you will also have the opportunity to listen to existing members experiences and find out, the most beneficial things they have found to be in their time being a One Percenter.
To sign up or for more information visit bigidea.co.co.uk
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
#ALB68 – The Ghost of Business Past
This summer special episode is going to take you all on a little trip down memory lane and look at not only what John has done over the last 20 years, but also and maybe most importantly what he has learned. Some of the mistakes that have been made and some of the key takeaways that you can benefit from.
20 Years ago, John was working as a civil servant, he had just bought his first house, he was getting married the following year, life was all good. And then something happened. He was moved to a different department in the service and he absolutely hated his new job, he also suddenly found himself in a job where the average lifespan of an employee was two years. His previous role was within a section where literally nobody ever left.
John decided within the first two weeks of being there that this was not the job for him. So he started applying for other jobs, looking at leaving the civil service completely, whether he could work within the private sector, perhaps get another role within the civil service.
And one other thing he looked at was, well, could he start his own business?
Skip forward 3 years and Jason come along to form the dynamic but incredibly modest duo that is John and Jason.
Sit back, click play and enjoy listening to their business journey.
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
This episode’s guest is Rupert Bassadone, Rupert spent his early years in the circus, living in trucks and caravans, he missed a lot of school but the circus lifestyle came to an end when it went off to America and never came back, Rupert then moved into the city lifestyle, joined school and settled into a different lifestyle. He is grateful for his early years upbringing as with this backround it was inevitable really that he would go on to work in the events industry.
Over the last decade-and-a-half. He’s led many high-profile events across the world including leading equestrian events and music festivals as well as major events in the Emirates, Russia, Spain, Canary Islands and France is the founder of Event Site Design.
Rupert always wanted a business that supported his ambitious lifestyle plans, he finds himself always looking to the future.
Lifestyle comes first for him and he focuses on what the businesses needs to be doing to be able to provide that lifestyle, he visualises it with skills that he has picked up through the OPCC as well as other channels and breaks these all down “One thing at a time”.
May 2020 was Rupert’s busiest month EVER on his calendar he actually pondered at one stage how on earth he was actually going to do it all but then Covid hit.
Suddenly Rupert found himself with more time on his hands
But for Rupert more time created more goals find out more by clicking play.
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
Join us with our guest, John Risby, this Thursday for the latest episode of the ALB Podcast.
John has worked for himself most of his life, originally a programmer, and later a web developer. He eventually discovered affiliate marketing. Where, like many of us, he made hay whilst the sun, shone, in the early days of ad-words, including a very nice profit from the incredibly annoying, crazy frog ring tone.
But behind this lurked a developing problem. And in 2004 John finally accepted, he was an alcoholic and stopped drinking. He started the alcohol-free shop many years before alcohol free drinks were fashionable.
It's been a rewarding journey for John, but not without its ups and downs.
John takes us back to those early days of affiliate marketing, which he describes as very London centric. There were lots of free bars. There were lots of champagne breakfasts, liquid lunches, and boozy nights. There was a lot of money being made and a lot of money being spent too.
But that boozy lifestyle was not sustainable for John and he realized things had to change, so that is exactly what he did, he took action, click play to find out more about John’s journey.
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
In this episode we welcome Karlie Somerville aka the queen of green, at the moment she is helping more than 4000 business owners deal with the crisis that coronavirus has brought.
Karlie is a two-time former One Percenter and made a guest appearance in John’s last book, "Routine Machine."
3 years ago, Karlie said she was going to get a commercial business premises, a few people told her she wouldn’t be able to do that, but guess what, she did, and the rest as they say is history.
Karlie’s first business was EcoBlitz an environmentally conscious cleaning company, but with the premises now secured, she went on to launch EcoBliz Laundry Limited.
By Karlie’s own admissions she is a workaholic, she is completely inspired by learning and achieving new things. Karlie even says that it has become her lifestyle therefore she doesn’t look at it like work.
In this podcast we are going to go back to the early days sitting in the pub where Karlie had plenty of discussions with John and Jason, as a former one percenter, Karlie learnt the benefits of having efficient systems and processes in place, it was partly why she felt ready to launch EcoBlitz Laundry Ltd that alongside a bucket full of ambition.
This ambition is still as fierce now as it was then and has led to Karlie now having 5 successful businesses.
So how has lockdown been for Karlie, well it looks a little like supporting 4000 and growing business owners, click play to find out more.
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
Get them for FREE instead!
Today (and EVERY Friday throughout the Coronavirus lockdown) is FREE BOOK FRIDAY - where you can download the Kindle version of BOTH "Big Ideas.. for Small Businesses" AND "Routine Machine" completely FREE.
Paul Burton, was the youngest ever editor of the Plymouth Herald. In this episode, you're going to hear Paul talk about how some cardboard sunglasses persuaded the people of Plymouth to queue around the block to buy a printed newspaper. Paul is also going to talk about the future of printed media, the rise of influencer marketing, and how businesses can write better copy and more effective headlines.
Paul started his career in Bristol around the turn of the century. In his own words he “kind of worked as a reporter for about seven or eight years”. The industry went through an enormous amount of change about 10 years ago, and then every year seemed to get even more enormous, and every year new challenges would present themselves, things like Google, Facebook etc, and continue to disrupt the industry just like they disrupted most other industries.
Paul’s opportunity to become editor in Exeter presented itself about eight years ago, it was the company that owned The Herald in Plymouth and many other papers around the country, it was all the talent reinvented, and there were lots of opportunities available. Paul was asked if he would like to come down and help in Plymouth, and at the time The Herald was in a sort of state of flux, the paper's sales were in decline, in quite steep decline, but that said it did have a loyal audience, and there was certainly a big opportunity digitally, it was just defining how to seize that opportunity.
Do you remember the eclipse? Paul certainly does, he decided to have a load of branded cardboard sunglasses made, in order to receive them you had to buy a herald of course from certain retail outlets , this resulted in people travelling from all areas of the country to Plymouth to buy a paper so that they could get a pair. Paul learnt a lot from that, strategy marketing is always trumpeted as one of the best illusions that you can construct, and that was certainly what was at play that day, he doesn’t think for one minute that everyone who bought a Herald that day actually wanted a pair of cardboard sunglasses, they just thought they did because everybody else wanted one too.
Paul initially took 4 weeks off for a break which turned into 6 weeks, and within that time he thought hard about what he wanted to do. Paul knew that he was good at helping creating content, he knew that he was good at planning content, and he knew that he had helped lots of businesses in the past, he had spoken to lots of advertisers about the future of their business and how they weren't going to be able to take a quarter page ad on page three anymore, they were going to need to think more broadly about how they market themselves. And so that sort of germinated really into the business that he runs today……
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
Earlier this week, I recorded a video for my One Percent Club members, showing them exactly HOW I'm going to 5x one of my businesses in 2020 - and how they could copy me, and do the same.
I've shared that video with you in this bonus podcast episode.
By the end of this episode, you'll be able to:
Doors are currently open for the March intake of my One Percent Club, where I share more than 250 "1% gains" with you, and coach you through implementing them in YOUR business - you can find out more, and apply to join at http://www.bigidea.co.uk/opcc
In this podcast we speak with longstanding One Percent Club member Chris Harris.
Chris is a former Royal Marine, unfortunately an injury shortened his time within the Royal Marines. Chris then started his business, working from home with just £300 pounds and threw himself into the world of home fragrance with a well-known American brand. Chris successfully brought this brand to the high streets of Plymouth and Exeter and embarked on a retail whirlwind. But that whirlwind came with a lot of stress and less and less time was being spent with his family, so something needed to change.
Chris decided to walk away from that £5 million pound a year business, to create an ambitious lifestyle business, that truly delivers the lifestyle he wants for himself and for his family. In today's episode, you're going to hear why he walked away from it all, and he hasn't stopped walking since. Chris, has now with his wife Charlotte set up a highly successful dog walking, grooming and boarding business Harris Hounds.
Harris Hounds are a husband and wife team (Chris and Charlotte) and are there to take care of your dogs every need; exercise, socialising, fun and grooming. Chris is the professional dog walker and Charlotte is a professional groomer. They offer their services separately and/or combined to give your dog the full works.
Chris provides a complete Dog Walking Experience, as well as Day Visits and a Pet Taxi Service. The walks are tailored to your dog; if they need to be kept on the lead, short walks, or if they need plenty of exercise, perhaps with a little discipline too, Harris Hounds can help.
As a former Royal Marine Chris is organised, strategic - and energetic! He will ensure that your dog has the best possible time on their walks, the utmost care and attention on their home visits and as comfortable car journeys as possible.
The business is going from strength to strength, so much so that they have now had to take on a new member of staff to keep up with the demand.
To find out more about Chris’s journey click play, don’t forget the doors to the One Percent Club are now open until the end of March, to find out more visit bigidea.co.uk
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
In this podcast, we will be chatting with our guest Natasha Conway, the lady who creates ads that make people buy stuff. Over 5 years Natasha has worked on hundreds of google ad words, Facebook ad accounts and successfully helped business owners and entrepreneurs generate more leads and more sales. Tash runs her own company www.trafficsnap.co.uk and specialises in pay per click which has just celebrated it’s 4 year anniversary.
On her ‘About us’ section Tash states “It’s true. I love Google Ads, and that’s why, after several years working for a marketing agency, I made the decision to go it alone and set up TrafficSnap and I’ve never looked back.
Why? You’ve probably guessed it by now: because I love Google Ads.
I love the way that I can turn on a new campaign and start getting new leads for my clients within days.
I love the difference I can see in my clients’ businesses when they have a steady stream of enquiries to convert.
I love the power Google Ads has to allow an SME to compete with the big players in any industry.
And to be honest, I love helping my clients sell more stuff and forge a better existence for themselves and the people they love.
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
You've heard our daily minipods over the last week or so.
You've decided what you're going to change.
All you need to do now is START - and KEEP at it. These next 30 days are CRUCIAL if you're going to stick at your new routine(s) like Sticky the Stick Insect, stuck on a sticky bun...
Find out how to do that in this bonus minipod episode to celebrate the release of John's brand new audiobook Routine Machine, which is OUT NOW!
Plus, discover how you could get the audiobook for FREE...
Nothing changes until you CHANGE something.
Nothing happens until you DO something.
Find out what you need to change in this bonus minipod episode to celebrate the release of John's brand new audiobook Routine Machine, which is OUT NOW!
Plus, discover how you could get the audiobook for FREE...
In this episode we are joined by Colette Mason, book coach and publisher who has helped create over 3000 titles and worked with 13 bestselling authors.
Colette has a set of simple effective systems to help you plan, write, edit, format, publish and promote your book. She can help you turn a simple idea into the finished article.
Colette helps in her words "Badass business owners rapidly publish a top-notch book without cutting corners".
For links to everything we talk about, including the video recording of the episode and transcription of everything we talked about, head over to the show notes at bigidea.co.uk/podcast.
And to watch the LIVE recording of each episode of the Ambitious. Lifestyle. Business. Podcast, join our Facebook Group for FREE - you can then watch our ugly mugs in glorious technicolour every month, as well as get BONUS in-between-isodes, and direct access to both of us to ask any questions about this, or any other episode.
Can a book brainwash you?
That's exactly what happened to John in November 2013 - or did it?
Find out in this bonus minipod episode to celebrate the release of John's brand new audiobook Routine Machine, which is OUT NOW!
Plus, discover how you could get the audiobook for FREE...