Russ Johns 0:02
Welcome to the #piratebroadcast, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings where you can expand your connections, your community. #Kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let's get this party started. I have to say it made the fourth be with you.

Sara Causey 0:27
Yes.

Russ Johns 0:30
It's another episode of the #piratebroadcast. We're here to share a little kindness, a little information, #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Good morning, Sara, How are you this fine day?

Sara Causey 0:43
I'm doing well. Some people may already know that I'm in northeast Oklahoma. If the sky suddenly gets dark and you see me switched on what I call my coyote lantern just so there's light in here it is what it is.

Russ Johns 0:57
Well, I hope that we can have that very entertaining conversation around some of the business aspects that you deal with. Also, just some life. Oklahoma has been a few years since I've been in Oklahoma. I went up there for medical conferences, of all things.

Oh, wow.

It was really, I enjoyed my stay in Oklahoma is like, I spent 10 years in Texas. So it's, right out South to you and it's like, Okay, well, let's talk about some things around things that are going on around us and also business specific goals, because like right now we're in a huge transition. A lot of people are moving and shaking and there are people that aren't unemployed. There are people that are remote working at home for the very first time in their lives. I think one of the things that we want to talk about, is the aspect of sales And how you think and you position yourself in this business world as it sits today. What do you see going forward and how we could do that. Let's dive into that a little bit. I love your video if you haven't seen Sara on LinkedIn connect with Sara tell them Russ Sent you. She's a pirate now, you're a pirate now, Oklahoma pirate. I just love the, can I pick your brain? This mentality is really I know, it's been around for a while I don't know who started this thing. I just a lot of people are really not very comfortable with the idea of concept of it. Can I just pick your brain for a minute? Not necessarily, friends or family it's business associates that want free advice and so you had a few things to share about that.Why don't you share a few things with us about that feature? Back in whites, not positive results.

Sara Causey 3:05
Oh, yeah, I'm more than happy to talk about that. You're right. It's typically not people that I would put in a group that can be excluded from that. Close friends, family members, or people that you have already decided you want to do some type of charity or pro bono work with. I mean, there are some great organizations out there that pair entrepreneurs and small business owners, with students or people who are economically disadvantaged in some way. I can wholesale exclude people in that category.

Russ Johns 3:39
Yeah,

Sara Causey 3:40
I'm very specifically talking about, people on LinkedIn, or business professionals who are making money they can absolutely afford to pay you for your services. Frankly, they're just trying to get something for nothing. They think if they sort of slide into your DMS or creep into your inbox, or your voicemail by saying, I just want to pick your brain just for a quick minute really want to hear your thoughts on this, in a way, I think it's sort of like a subtle play to your ego, I really want your advice. I really want to know what you think about this topic. In point of fact, they just want your advice for free.

Russ Johns 4:24
Or they would like to sell you a program because they are, the clicking pitch. I call them the click and pitch crew. I've had a couple of videos and interactions with some people and it's like, hey, just a heads up. If you have no awareness of who I am or what I do, maybe that would be a first step in the right direction to build a relationship and understand what I need?If you have no idea what I need, how do you imagine that you can help me?

Sara Causey 4:56
Well, and they don't care?

Russ Johns 4:58
No, it's just Gotta approach that may not necessarily be an it may work for some people. I don't know. Does it work? I mean, I don't know.

Sara Causey 5:09
I think okay. I could just just dive in for a second, you brought up an excellent point does it even work? I think like one of the big things that I see with these various sales and marketing funnels is, it's like a herd mentality. People think, Well, everybody must be doing this, like lather, rinse repeat repetitively, because it works. I mean, nobody would keep doing it if it was getting a crappy outcome, right. Yet, that's not that's not even accurate. I think there's probably people who do that shotgun blast approach, that they're making little to no money, but they just keep doing it.

Russ Johns 5:48
They do it. Because that's the way it's always been done. Or that's the way they're told to do it and everything else. It's like cold calls. I don't know. I mean, I probably Get 20 calls a day that they leave a voicemail, but it's just it sounds like somebody's driving down the road. Does anybody else get that? Is that just me? It's like somebody told me and it's like, it's almost like, Okay, I'm gonna pretend that I butt dialed you. So you'll call me back to find out what I was looking for. It's like, no, it's a spam call. They want my number to know that that number is actually working. It's like, don't buy into it. It's like just just yeah, just talk to the hand.

Sara Causey 6:36
Just run

Russ Johns 6:38
Just run. Yeah, I just saw. Yeah, just run. It is so funny because this kind of thing, you know, as a marketer, eventually, marketers ruin everything right

Sara Causey 6:52
I know, it's so true.

Russ Johns 6:54
It's like email was really great. 95 It was really exciting product and It's still a very valuable product. However, through marketing and automation and everything that goes along with it people get tired of getting stuff in their inboxes I think. I still sign up for stuff just to see how their funnel works and what the process is and see if I can learn something new. It goes back to Okay, something for nothing download my free PDF in exchange for my email. Well, a lot of a specific email that goes directly to spam for that, that sole purpose. It's like, so why not just build a relationship?

Sara Causey 7:40
Right? Well, in a real relationship that's built on some kind of common ground, some kind of real ability to potentially help that person in some way instead of, there's some programs out there now that are almost like trying to fake the relationship. Things are automated, even They don't appear to be like what you're talking about with the phone calls. It looks like a butt dial. There's even a program out there. I think it's called sly dial or something like that, where you just automatically go to the person's voicemail, the phone never even rings, you just literally slide into their voicemail.

Russ Johns 8:18
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some of these tactics, and I call them tactics. I mean, they may work for some people, they may work for organizations, if you do enough, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, right. Is it long term? Is it sustainable? Is it really valuable for the use of your time? That's, for me, I The answer is no. I don't know if that's the same answer you receive. But let's talk a little bit.

Sara Causey 8:53
Oh definitely!

Russ Johns 8:54
Let's talk a little bit about the sales process. I mean, what do you what are your position in sales In general, I mean, how do you position that in your business?

Sara Causey 9:04
I go back to a fantastic piece of advice that I was given by one of my mentors in staffing and recruiting great guy named Pete Lefkowitz. For years, he has always really maintained the same general notion, which is, watch what the crowd is doing, and then go in the opposite direction. If everybody is out there saying, fake your way into relationship building, fake your way into some kind of virtue signaling, you need to move in in the opposite direction of that. I honestly think that's one of the reasons for me why I don't feel like money is a dirty word. I don't feel like profitability and sustainability are improper or immoral business goals in some way. Yes, of course. We want to be relationship building. You don't want to just that wham bam transactional sales model. At the same time, you don't want to take 100 years to get someone interested in your product. I see these sales statistics and they make me want to tear my hair out. Because they'll tell people well, the average sale is not made until the person has seen your brand at 5125 times when you're a solopreneur. Or you own a very small business where maybe you only have two or three people supporting you. I'm sorry, but you just don't have that kind of time. I think it's a really good balance between genuinely reaching out to someone because you care and you believe you have the solution to their problem. versus this extremely long drawn out protracted process where you're scared to even ask for the sale. because money is a dirty word. Now we just we run all for profit businesses as though their charities Well, I don't and I'm very candid about that. I like money. I like the lifestyle that it affords me, I like being able to provide for my friends and family and do charity work and to have the money to give to the charity. So, in my mind, if you're looking for a coach who thinks money is dirty and evil and doesn't want to help you make more of it, you should probably just go ahead and bail off now.

Russ Johns 11:21
Yeah. Well, and to add to that, I think that one of the things that I've struggled with in the past as it relates to sales is that, I did a lot of consulting and it was because my experience has been so broad over the years, that I've read multiple things. It was like, Well, what do you need help with? What are you looking to accomplish? What do you. What's your goal? Unless you have a specific roadmap, I think people are often overwhelmed by decision process. The older they get decision fatigue So having a clear, concise answer to say, here's my product, here's how we operate, here's how we can work together. This is what the cost is. When you can get to that point, I think it's a lot easier to, for people to make the decision of, yes, I want to work with you, Sara, and two, I know, it's steep, but the return on investment, it's going to be worth it. That's where you want to be, in my opinion. I think that that's the place that I continue to work towards, and also what I'm doing right now is extremely exciting. I'm fully vested in the idea that it can, it's so helpful, and it's so important to put out there into the world. Because it's part of my passion, and I have no issue whatsoever charging a fair market value for this process, and it's like that's a good place to be. Where if that's why difference because you don't have to put up any kind of a smoke and mirrors in order to accomplish your goal and your message. Maybe you can maybe you can share a few ideas with us, Sarah, that you've used in the past to transition from the scarcity mindset to the abundance mindset. And I think that's the difference.

Sara Causey 13:24
Yes, yes. What I find is that when I first get into a consultation with a new client or a prospective new client, it does not take long before either just abject fear of something, or a scarcity mindset pops up. It would not matter if we're talking about. I think that my PnL don't look good. I think I might be overspending on this and not spending enough on that or I get on the phone with prospects and then I can't quite get them closed. I don't know what's going wrong. Well as we begin to delve into the actual process, without exception, every single time, there's something connected to fear. I'm scared that if I pitch my product or I talk about my services, I'm going to upset them or offend them in some way. I'm scared, they're going to say no, or I just don't feel like there's enough to go around. I mean, for example, in the coaching and consulting space, look at how many people there are out there that use those types of job titles in the work that they do. It hasn't stopped me. I didn't sit back and say, My God, I have these experiences and these gifts that I can really use to help other people level up in business and in life. Because the market is already so saturated, I guess I'll just take my ball and go home. I mean, having that belief in yourself, and that passion for what you do is vital. I mean, as you just said you know the value that you bring. You're charging fair market value for it and the return on investment is going to be great enough that you can stand behind it. I think being able to make that shift to understand there, it's not like a zero sum game, right? If you think back to the movie Wall Street, when Gordon Gekko is telling his protege, hey, if somebody's got to win, somebody's got to lose in order for me to hoard more money it means you have to get less once you get out of that really icky disgusting mentality of wealth. In order for me to have what I want I have to be screwing you out of it. Haha. When you get out of that, it's like the whole world opens up really.

Russ Johns 15:45
It's an amazing and also in a kind of to spin off that idea is the opportunities that arrive by collaborating with other people that may not have the skills that you have. They have a complementary skill so these things that, okay, let's collaborate on some projects together. I work with several people that are like that. It's really refreshing to be able to say, Hey, I'm not alone in this, I have other people that I can tap into. I have other projects and depending on what it is I can actually refer people to other other people and other people can refer to me and it's a community at that point time. I think it's really important for people to get out of the mindset that there's only there's only so much pie.

Sara Causey 16:43
Yeah,

Russ Johns 16:43
There's no there's an abundance. There's no limit on the amount of pie we have. Everybody can have a slice of this pie. There's no limits, there are no limits. I know that there's probably some people out there that want to learn how they can shift that mindset what is it that you went through? How did you get to the point where you were thinking, okay? Was it just a decision one day I wake up and say, Okay, I'm going to, I'm going to change my mindset or I'm going to change my attitude towards what are some things that what's the process? What's the secret sauce, Sara, we wouldn't know.

Sara Causey 17:27
I'm not sure you do. So sometimes in order to really make a big profound change, it's like creating a diamond, the amount of pressure or the amount of pain that has to go into that oftentimes in life we don't really make a huge change and I'm not talking about oh, I instead of drinking 12 soda pops a day I now only drink 10 I'm talking about giving up your cigarette habit or your sodapop habit cold turkey and in order to do those types of things, You have to reach that place where you say, the pain of continuing to do this the pain of continuing to feel and believe the way that I do is so excruciating, that almost anything has to be better than where I'm at. I went through a very profound, deep depression. I mean, some poets and psychologists refer to it as the dark night of the soul. I think that's absolutely put because you feel so be reffed. Stripped of your identity so existentially alone, that you realize, okay, I now have the responsibility of creating my personality, my life, my belief system to function in the way that I want it to. And so I got very interested in this idea of deliberate creation. Instead of feeling like I'm just buffeted by the wind, My life is just outside of my control and stuff just happens to me and I just have to roll with it. I got into a space of understanding, as you just said, there's enough pie for everybody to have the slice that they want, this life that I want and the stuff that I enjoy doing may be completely different from what you enjoy doing anyway. I realized like, okay, through meditation, and through some spiritual growth and development, I can really hone in on exactly what I want to achieve the way that I want to feel as I move through the day every day. Suddenly, it was like the world opened up and instead of feeling like I was confined in a little box, and I didn't know who I was, I didn't know what I wanted. I realized like, Oh my gosh the world is a little bit like being in a giant supermarket or a giant shopping mall where I could say that sweater looks awesome. I want to try that Apple like you begin to understand that When it really comes down to it, there is nothing that you cannot be do or have if you're willing to put in the work and to make the mindset shift to get there.

Russ Johns 20:10
Yeah, taking action as Angie said she's gone. I have to wake up every every actor wake up and make that choice every single day. That's absolutely true and and right on because it's one of these things. Then Mel said, great episode, Sarah and Russ Johns. I know that, for myself. Gratitude was the lever that moved my world and having gratitude and an attitude that I'm grateful for every day every day is a gift every day is is a new day. To create something amazing, and move it forward. For me, it's just daily progress, then progress is the most important thing that I can do in order to accomplish big goals over a period of time. It may not seem like you're doing a lot are making progress in the moment. However I promise you, you look back a year from now and you're gonna say, wow, I cannot believe we've covered so much. We've done so many things. We've accomplished these things. It's really amazing to think that we can actually do that. Like you said, you can achieve goals. You can be what you want to be, you can do this and it takes dedication and it takes effort and it takes action taking action. What are some actions that you specifically focused And on in order to work through your process, work through your steps and move your momentum forward.

Sara Causey 22:09
One of the chief things that I look at when when I'm talking to somebody as a prospect or someone who's newly enrolled into my coaching program, even though it may sound simplistic, or it may sound like well, how's that really related to the health of my business? I want to take a deep dive into how their morning routine and their evening routine plays out, because I tend to find that whatever's going on in the business is very often a reflection of what's going on in the mindset and the lifestyle and the attitude. I remember I will keep his identity private, but I want to share a quick story about one of my coaching clients. He had a wake up timer on his TV, which was always set to a news broadcasts so he woke up to the news, and he played the news the entire time he was getting ready for work in the car during his commute. He turned on talk radio and listen to more news. So by the time he arrived at his office at 8am, he was mad at the world. He was pissed off. He was convinced that the whole world was a trash heap. Okay, so then at lunchtime he listens to more news. In the evening right before bed he listens to more news falls asleep to the news and it's like okay, wait a minute. Your brain is so much more like suggestible and pliable first thing in the morning when you wake up. Last thing in the evening before you go to bed. You do not need to essentially poison it by listening to political pundants go at each other. gloom and doom. News. Everybody's dying. Everybody's about to get blown up by nuclear weapons. I mean, no wonder he was mad. No wonder he was angry. No wonder he had high blood pressure but sometimes it takes that coach or that that other person to be able to look at the pattern and say, yeah, so Bob, you cannot. That's not his real name, john doe, Bob, you cannot sit here and watch news and talk radio constantly and expect to be in a healthy place like it's the one does not lead to the other.

Russ Johns 24:18
Yeah. You actually have to feed your mind with something positive to have a positive outlook in your mind.

Sara Causey 24:25
Absolutely.

Russ Johns 24:31
Here's the other thing I was thinking about this, and I shared it the other day in Twitter is something and I'm not going to get it perfect. However, that's not my goal. My goal is to set the expectation that when you when you take responsibility for your actions, a terrible thing happens. That's like, you don't have anyone to blame. It's like it's not how am I causing this problem? It's not You causing them doing something to you. It's not vam there's no thems anymore. You're responsible for your own actions. It's like what was the thing that the darkness of the soul You talked about coming out of the deep depression. I've had that experience and the thing that really propelled me forward was, like I said, gratitude, and the idea of gratitude and having, being thankful for the day that I have, and the fact that I did wake up today and life is the sun is shining, and things like that little things, the little moments that you can actually find a little bit of joy in the accomplishments and things like that, rather than the deep depressing, oppressive news, you know, grades that are out there that are just not really and I'm a realist level I don't want to ignore everything around me and be Pollyanna with rose colored glasses. However, I think that we have to be cautious about what we feed our brains. What are we feeding ourselves emotionally and mentally?

Sara Causey 26:17
Absolutely. I think that it's it's kind of like a, you know, I'm a farmer and rancher and for me, it's kind of like when you put a seed in the ground and you water it and you make sure that it has sunlight and you give it some fertilizer, whatever is going on there is going to have a direct impact. I agree with you. It's not about ignoring what's happening in the world are never ever ever watching single news broadcasts for the rest of your life. It's about being able to perhaps protect yourself until you have enough of a filter in place to be able to say I'll watch a little bit of this and then I'm going to turn it off and move on because I just know that it's going to drag me down into a very negative place.

Russ Johns 27:00
Yeah, but it's just like we were talking before the show started. Tornadoes happen in Oklahoma.

Sara Causey 27:07
Yeah

Russ Johns 27:08
It's like, okay, you want to be aware, it's just like, Okay, well, I don't need to focus my attention on it. I don't need to panic about it 24 hours a day because it might happen,

Sara Causey 27:21
right? Exactly

Russ Johns 27:23
Worry doesn't really pay the bills as much as taking action in a positive direction, right?

Sara Causey 27:30
Mm hmm. Amen

Russ Johns 27:32
Yeah. So it's one of those things that you really have to focus your attention on and decide, okay, what am I going to consume today that's going to move me forward in a positive direction.

Sara Causey 27:46
yes,

Russ Johns 27:47
I love it.

Sara Causey 27:48
I agree.

Russ Johns 27:50
Well, Sara, this has been fantastic opportunity to have a conversation with someone interesting doing some interesting things. What's next up for Sarah? What direction are you headed? I know that you have some some things taking place in your future as always is the case. Tell us, give us a little snapshot of what to look forward to.

Sara Causey 28:17
Yes, well, a little a little snapshot for me. Certainly this is a busy time on the farm time when mommy cows are having beautiful, cute fuzzy little babies so tired that it exceeds put in the ground and giving them some love and care so there's stuff to eat later. I'm having my website revamped because it's still old from when I originally did my soft launch. I practice what I preach. I try to make sure that if I'm going to tell somebody else, hey, you need to upgrade your social media. Your website needs to speak more to the people that you serve, then I'm doing exactly the same thing. Good thing there on the horizon for sure.

Russ Johns 29:01
In the meantime, they can go to the down below, you can find it. Also on LinkedIn, you are on LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn on occasion. If there's an opportunity that you can connect with Sara, and you need assistance, and you're willing to make a difference in your world and she's, he's got a few tools that you can use and, and I just, thank you so much for being here, Sarah, and I really appreciate the fact that we were able to connect in and have this conversation and hopefully, others found it valuable as well. If we had to leave with something some advice, what would you want to share with the world today?

Sara Causey 29:52
I really think it's so important. We all have the same 24 hours in every day. Even if you're not actively meditating or taking time for solitude now, for the love of God, please block out a good 10 minutes that belong only to you so that you can collect your thoughts. Try to cultivate those emotions of joy and gratitude and just from that simple 10 minute investment every day, you will be amazed at what grows from that.

Russ Johns 30:21
That's fantastic. Always, #kindnessiscool. #smilesarefree. You #enjoytheday. Thank you,Sara. Appreciate you.

Sara Causey 30:33
Thank you appreciate you having me.

Russ Johns 30:37
Thank you for joining the #piratebroadcast. If you found this content valuable, please like, comment and share it across your social media channels. I would love the opportunity to help others grow in their business. #Thepiratesyndicate is a platform where you show up we produce the show. It's that easy. If you want to be seen, be heard and be talked about joy #Thepiratesyndicate today

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