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Show Topics:

• Patrick Carter was laid off from his job as a Cessna test pilot
• Is starting a business the right thing to do right before leaving a job?
• How was he sure he’d be able to support his family with a new business?
• Promoting his product by flying around the Americas

Patrick had a great job as a test pilot for Cessna until he found out he was being let go.  He was on vacation when he got a phone call with the news.  They told him he was selected for a layoff on Friday and to clean out his desk on Monday.

Not one to sit around, Patrick decided to start a company doing something he loved to see if he could turn it into enough income to support his family.  The Nflightcam was born out of that idea and the rest is history.

(more…)

I was noticing the trees get a do-over every year; they drop their leaves and start fresh in the spring. They don’t have to start from scratch though – they already have a foundation to build on.

What do you need a do-over on?

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084 Coach Radio – Why I Limit Groups to Five People

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Brent Green – Why did I choose to limit coachU to such a small group?  Brent also said he’s listened to the show in the lavatory at 40,000′ above Greenland!

I referenced the coaching I do.  If you need help building your business, let me know.

Jon Tollefson had his first big success on his blog.

West Conner – leasing an office space.

Sara Freisberg says:

Just downloaded coachradio.tv. Looking forward to checking it out!

I really want to keep my business simple and my family as my top priority. As my business has grown I have considered hiring employees but I never take the next step. Is there a way I could help others start cleaning on their own by teaching them how to market their new business and training them on working the business, treating them more as independent contractors? Is there a way we can make a profit by doing this? I would love to hear your feedback.

Chapter I reviewed in Become a Coach: “Where do I Find Client?”

I also referenced this blog post if you’re saying, I need clients, NOW!

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076 Coach Radio – Joined by the Drummer of Big Daddy Weave

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Jeff Jones is the drummer with Big Daddy Weave.  He joins me to talk about multiple things he has going on in his business.

Passive income is a big stategy for Jeff, especially since he’s on the road and in his tour bus so much.  Jeff manufactures custom drum sticks and does a lot of business with big bands, and also individuals.

In addition, we talk about Jeff’s latest book, Drumming up Business to the Beat of My Own Drum.

Part of Jeff’s mission is to start businesses that helps people.

Connect with Jeff on twitter – @jeffdrummer.

This is a behind-the-scenes look at the Big Daddy Weave tour bus.

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075 Coach Radio – Your Story: John Bergquist – The Connector

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John Bergquist joins me to talk about connections.  He’s a fisheries biologist and you’re going to want to check out how he got to where he is now.

On the side, John created Flurry Creations a few years ago to help companies tell their stories.  He started by shooting video, but realized he didn’t enjoy it.  Code-Monkeys and Soma Games are two of his clients.

What does John do?  He helps get the word out and connect people and businesses with each other.

“If you can’t write hundreds of blogs about your topic, perhaps that’s not your topic.” – John Bergquist

I asked John if he ever desired to be in the limelight instead of behind the scenes and he had an interesting answer that lead back to sleeping well at night.

Connect with John on twitter @johnflurry.

John also shares towards the end why he goes by John Flurry online.  I secretly think it’s because he doesn’t want his fans tracking him down and stalking him, but he tells a different, perhaps more interesting, story.

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$90,000 in debt looming over my head used to keep me up at night.  Then I created a plan to crush it all.  Pay it back and owe nothing but a house payment.

My family used to keep me up at night.  I was an airline pilot, basically living in New York City where I was based, while my family was home in North Carolina.  I created a plan to take back my schedule by starting my own business.  Now I’m in charge and 100% in control.

Now I can’t sleep because I’m excited to go to work nearly every day.  We all have things that keep us up at night.  Jerrid is coming to my office for coachU and wrote to tell me this:

“Going to NC is the first step for me in starting a business where I can execute my passions and help people.  I enjoy my current career, but have always felt something missing.  Having a business where I’m in control of my destiny, have an open-ended income, act upon my passions, and help people…this keeps me up at night.

My wife and I became debt-free in December of 2007.  The life we’ve been able to live since then is so foreign to today’s norm.   Recently, we bought our first home and put 40% down after just 2 1/2 years of saving and hope to have it completely paid off in 4 to 6 years.

I’ve had many opportunities to chat with co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family about paying off debt and budgeting…I find myself being way more passionate about these topics than my current job.  To me, going to NC, getting coached myself on the nuts-and-bots of starting a coaching business is not only a no-brainer, it’s something I HAVE to do.”

CoachU is a event where  you’ll go behind the scenes in my business to learn what worked and how you can replicate the same success we’ve had at Lukas Coaching.  If you want to spend time with my team and only four other coaches to build the business of your dreams, you’ll want to join us.

At the time of this writing only three spots remain.  Visit the registration page to see if space is still available.

(Photo credit tambako)

I took Amanda out hiking for her birthday today.  I decided a few years ago that I would make my family my priority so I don’t work on their birthdays.  Amanda actually remembers things we’ve done together over the past few birthdays with surprising clarity.

Her wish was to go hiking today; just her and I.  I cleared my schedule and we hit the same trail I walk nearly every Friday.

I noticed a few things about 4-year olds.  First of all, they talk . . . a lot!

Second, I noticed Amanda rarely looks down.  She kept pointing out things all over the place. Birds, trees, squirrels, caterpillars, rocks, sticks, acorns, pinecones.  Over the past two years I’ve logged about 1,000 miles on this exact trail and I’ve always missed these things.  I’m looking at my feet, making sure to step somewhere I know I’m going to get a firm grip.

Kind of like business.  We try hard to stay in the lines.  We go where people before us have gone.  We don’t look up because we’re afraid to fall.

Amanda didn’t get hurt though.  She tripped a little bit here and there, but I guarantee she saw a lot more of the forest than I did.

This isn’t a ‘stop and smell the roses’ kind of thing.  It’s more of a ‘do your own thing and take some risks’.  You may end up more successful if you’re not worrying about every step you’re taking, and it will surely be more fun.

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025 Coach Radio – Your Story: Kevin Metzger

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Kevin Metger started this blog after giving up on business (he’s tried quite a few).  He has three kids and is very passionate about fatherhood and parenting.  He’s sharing his story and passions through his blog.

Kevin is trying to get 1,000 dads to complete a survey at thedadvocateproject.com.  He’s then interviewing a group of them and turning their stories into a book.

Biggest challenge so far: implementation.

How he’s getting the word out: online media (facebook, twitter, linkedin), getting involved in as many communities as possible.  That’s lead to 3,000 – 5,000 website views per month for him.  Social Media is Kevin’s#1 tool.

What we can learn from Kevin: persistence and attitude.

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