Thomas Paine said, “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.”
I’ve often found that the best things in life don’t come easily. The hard work, the struggle, the dedication that it takes — these are the things that make the end result so rewarding. As an influencer, the ultimate goal should be to discover who you are in the process of taking your message out into the world.
Welcome to this episode. It’s part two of the much-anticipated interview series with Brendon Burchard. If you missed the first part, I strongly recommend catching up on part one before you dive into this episode. In the second part of my conversation with Brendon, we talk about game-changing ways to build a business, why you must honor the struggle in order to scale, the importance of finding reverence for life and the unexpected ways it can show up, and the power of self-doubt and what it signals for you. Get ready — this is going to be an incredible ride.
Who Is Brendon Burchard?
Brendon Burchard is a 3-time New York Times bestselling author and one of the most-watched, quoted, and followed personal development trainers in history. SUCCESS Magazine and O, Oprah’s magazine, have both named him one of the most influential leaders in personal growth and achievement. Forbes named him the world’s leading high-performance coach, and Larry King named him the world’s top motivational trainer.
Brendon is a recipient of the Maharishi Award, a Senior Research Lead at the High Performance Institute, an investor and owner in multiple successful companies, and a member of Oprah’s Super Soul 100. He rarely does media interviews — he prefers reading, researching, filming, teaching online, and creating life-affirming content over cocktail parties and press junkets.
I’m so grateful to Brendon for participating in The School of Greatness for a second time. We recorded our first conversation together on Episode 538: High Performance Habits. I was apprehensive about meeting Brendon at the time, but since then, we’ve grown into great friends, and I have the ultimate respect for his work. He has many valuable lessons to share about building a business that I can’t wait for you to hear. Let’s dive in.
The Importance of Building a Business
Before I met Brendon, I’d seen his videos all over Facebook, heard his name in big circles, and seen his bestselling books at the top of the charts. Brendon has figured out how to build a very successful business while serving a higher purpose. It’s something that influencers often struggle with when they’re just starting out.
“[Lots of influencers say to me], ‘I don’t want to charge people. I don’t want to be a jerk. I don’t want to do business.’ [My response is that] you’re doing yourself a disservice. If you don’t build a business — often people don’t pay attention unless they pay. You want to create a real transformation in people’s lives. [To do that], they have to invest something. They have to give something.” – Brendon Burchard
Brendon has found that every thought leader and top influencer in the world has learned the value of their message. Monetizing that message and building a business signals to people that your mission, your service, and your word is worth something.
Now, just because you have something to say doesn’t mean you have the business training to back it up. Creating a business is not something that comes naturally to everyone. You are going to need to find ways to learn how to create a business model that works for you. You’re going to need to find great people on your team to support you, because you’re not going to be able to do all the work yourself. It’s okay to hire someone to help – just start somewhere.
“I’ve been blessed to be in the business as a mentor for people for 16 years. The biggest names have come to me [for advice], especially this last decade. None of them ever said, ‘I wish I hadn’t worked on building my business earlier.’ They always say, ‘Oh, you know what? I should have focused on the business earlier.’” – Brendon Burchard
Brendon tells people that creating a business model around your message will inevitably support you to pursue your art and freedom. In the influencer industry, there are so many different ways to create a business because there are so many different things to sell.
“Make sure you get something digital running in the background selling all the time. You have to have digital sales and subscriptions these days. That could be a course. My number one go-to for most people is to make sure you have a subscription program, [where] people give you money every single month for access to your content library or to new content. … [With] digital sales, [you could offer] anything from online courses to charging people for access to libraries, to webinars, to coaching online coaching, live or virtual. You have the ability to do seminars, workshops, events, retreats, books, [and] PDFs.” – Brendon Burchard
The opportunity to sell your message comes in many different formats, and success, according to Brendon, lies in figuring out which format works best for you.
“It’s about figuring out what [content] you love to create and which [content] works for your model and your message. … We were talking about Tony earlier, Tony Robbins. He doesn’t have much of a membership program because his method, his passion is being on stage. You also have to understand everyone’s got a different passion or a different way of letting their methods shine.” – Brendon Burchard
The bottom line: the most important elements to figure out are your message, your method, and your monetization. Knowing who you are is a core component of those three things. When you know who you are, the rest will follow.
