Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Speaker: I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
Speaker: I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
Speaker: What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
Speaker: A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery, and you are about to become one.
Speaker: What's up, solopreneurs?
Speaker: Today, we're talking about why you should focus on increasing your income, if that's not a no-brainer already.
Speaker: But I'm going to explain more about that and why we're picking that topic today.
Speaker: Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker: If you're new, my name is Taylor Armstrong.
Speaker: I'm your host, and I'm here to help you increase your sales, increase your income, and have a much better time doing it.
Speaker: We are talking about the solar industry.
Speaker: If you are not selling solar, listen to this podcast.
Speaker: What are you doing?
Speaker: Hit me up.
Speaker: I've got an opportunity for you if you qualify.
Speaker: It's not a fit for everybody.
Speaker: Okay, but welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker: And welcome if you are new.
Speaker: Hope you're doing awesome.
Speaker: Hope you're gearing up for a great summer of selling.
Speaker: If you didn't listen to last podcast already, I just got back from doing a little week of pest control.
Speaker: I didn't actually sell a ton.
Speaker: I was helping more out there to help a buddy out.
Speaker: You heard the whole story last time, but wife has cancer.
Speaker: And pretty sad situation.
Speaker: So if you want to donate to that cause, you still can.
Speaker: It's in the link for the previous episode.
Speaker: But your boy is back now.
Speaker: Your boy is back in solar.
Speaker: Just threw an account this morning.
Speaker: And let me tell you, it is good to be back selling solar.
Speaker: Anyone that has sold pest control, it's a grind.
Speaker: You're taking tons of no's out there.
Speaker: Some people say solar is...
Speaker: less motivating because you got to talk to more people to get a sell.
Speaker: But I would disagree.
Speaker: I was out there.
Speaker: I only knocked like five, six hours for the whole week.
Speaker: So not a ton.
Speaker: I wasn't out there grinding.
Speaker: But for me, it's crazy.
Speaker: Part of it is I don't know how to sell pest control as well.
Speaker: But I took so many no's to get to that one yes.
Speaker: And I did throw some guilt in there.
Speaker: The one yes I got was
Speaker: Um, I had to kind of guilt trip him, say it's for a good, good cause.
Speaker: I was helping a buddy out with, um, his business while his wife had cancer.
Speaker: And that's how I tipped him past the point and got the cell, but it wasn't easy.
Speaker: So kudos to all those guys that are out selling pest control.
Speaker: Um, for me, I think solar is a much better cell, much easier, like it a lot better, which is why I do the podcast, but it's,
Speaker: I regress.
Speaker: Today, we're going to be jamming on why you should focus on increasing your income.
Speaker: And the reason I'm talking about this, little story to go with it, right?
Speaker: As we're coming back from North Carolina, well, first of all, the trip there, we took a red-eye flight, we flew to Vegas, or sorry, we drove to Vegas, and
Speaker: And we had to drop our kids off.
Speaker: So in-laws came who live in Southern Utah.
Speaker: We dropped the kids off, made the switch, and then hopped on the plane for a red-eye flight.
Speaker: And we flew, was it Frontier?
Speaker: Yeah, I think it was Frontier.
Speaker: One of the cheap ones, right?
Speaker: But we get on to the gate and we're lining up, getting on the plane.
Speaker: All of a sudden they say, hey, your bag's not going to fit in this bin.
Speaker: They have the little measuring little compartments that they make you stick your bag in.
Speaker: And I've got this nice bag.
Speaker: I'm forgetting the brand right now, but it has like a million pockets.
Speaker: It's basically the size of like a carry-on bag, but you throw it on your back.
Speaker: And, um, I've never been stopped before.
Speaker: I've flown plenty of cheap flights, never been stopped just because I always have this thing on my back.
Speaker: So people just assume it's a backpack, but this time this kid was no joke.
Speaker: He looked like this teenager kid, but he makes me take it off.
Speaker: It obviously is not going to fit in this tiny little compartment.
Speaker: So we get to the front and he's like, all right, that's going to be $200 because my wife, she had a backpack too.
Speaker: Hers was smaller.
Speaker: But her backpack, I'm just like, all right, babe, you don't have to fit it anywhere.
Speaker: As long as it's on your back, they're not going to question you.
Speaker: That's how it's always been for me.
Speaker: So we end up paying.
Speaker: We got little discounts.
Speaker: You had to go on the app.
Speaker: She got a little discount.
Speaker: I think we paid 140 bucks.
Speaker: to book these bags.
Speaker: So super annoyed.
Speaker: And long story short, on our way back, we get the flight back to Vegas from North Carolina.
Speaker: And this time I'm like, all right, there's no way I'm paying another 140 bucks to book these stupid bags.
Speaker: It's like the price of one ticket.
Speaker: We got like cheap flights out there.
Speaker: So we're doing all this shoving clothes in my backpack, making my wife's bag as small as possible to fit in the slot.
Speaker: We get to the gate.
Speaker: I'm like, all right, I'm just going to buy the bag in advance.
Speaker: I don't have to worry about it.
Speaker: I don't have to have them hassling me for...
Speaker: um not booking the carry-on before so we get to the front and i see tons of people are wearing bigger backpacks a lot of people have carry-ons and i noticed the lady checking people and she's not making people stick their bags in the slots she's not making people measure their bags and i'm like wait a second she's not checking it why did i pay for this bag
Speaker: We go through security.
Speaker: I'm like, you know what?
Speaker: Could I get like a refund on this?
Speaker: But, you know, too late.
Speaker: I already bought the bag.
Speaker: It's whatever.
Speaker: So spend an extra $70 when I didn't have to.
Speaker: And let me tell you, for some reason, this bugged me the entire flight.
Speaker: I'm like, man, I just spent $70 when I didn't have to.
Speaker: I could have used that money to gamble, right?
Speaker: I'm going to Vegas.
Speaker: Could have had me some fun tonight.
Speaker: Could have bought me a nice steak dinner.
Speaker: Just all the thoughts of what I could have done with that 70 bucks were racing through my head.
Speaker: And I let it bug me and annoy me so much.
Speaker: I was complaining to my wife about it.
Speaker: And I know it sounds stupid.
Speaker: It's like 70 bucks.
Speaker: No big deal, right?
Speaker: We're in solar.
Speaker: That's nothing.
Speaker: But I just focus so much on this money I lost.
Speaker: And then all of a sudden, midway through this flight, it's a four-hour flight, it slapped me in the face.
Speaker: I'm like, Taylor, what are you doing?
Speaker: letting this get in your head so much why are you complaining so much about an extra 70 bucks that you didn't have to spend why don't you focus on increasing your income all that time effort energy you spent focused on what you just lost and that money that could have gone towards other things you could have been thinking about what's the next cell how can I replace that 70 bucks
Speaker: How can I knock that next door?
Speaker: Because most of us, we should be making at least 70 bucks an hour knocking doors if you break it down.
Speaker: Most of us are probably making a lot more than that.
Speaker: So I snapped out of it, but this bugged me so bad that I thought I'm going to do a podcast episode about this because I wonder if there's other cheapos out there like myself that get bugged by losing 70 bucks just like I did.
Speaker: And so that's why we're talking about this today.
Speaker: So for those of you who have lost money, who have done stupid things with your money, how about instead of focusing on the money you lost, focus on how can you replace that?
Speaker: How can you go make 10 times that so you don't have to worry about losing 70 bucks?
Speaker: How can you get to the point where you lose 700 bucks and it's not a big deal?
Speaker: Because those are the thoughts you should be having.
Speaker: It shouldn't be about the money you lost.
Speaker: because you attract what you think about.
Speaker: Me thinking about the $70 I lost, it put me in a scarcity mindset.
Speaker: It put me thinking like a poor man.
Speaker: These things are what middle and low income earners do, is they think about how can I save money to increase my income?
Speaker: How much can I save?
Speaker: How much can I skimp?
Speaker: What deal can I get?
Speaker: And you guys know I love deals if you've been listening to the podcast for a while.
Speaker: I'm a sucker for good deals, right?
Speaker: But sometimes I take it too much to an extreme.
Speaker: Instead of focusing on the deals, how much I can save, I need to be focusing on how can I increase my income.
Speaker: And one of my favorite people that talks about this, Grant Cardone, we all love Uncle G, Grant Cardone, but he gets in debates all the time just trashing Dave Ramsey,
Speaker: If you know Dave Ramsey, he's all about how can you save?
Speaker: I used to be all about Dave Ramsey.
Speaker: My parents were super into him.
Speaker: Dave Ramsey, if you don't know him, he's all about the middle class mindset, like saving your way to financial freedom.
Speaker: But as I've listened to other people, Robert Kiyosaki, Grant Cardone, I don't agree with this anymore.
Speaker: So if you're constantly focused on how much can I save, how much can I save?
Speaker: I think it's their own mindset to have.
Speaker: We should be focusing on how can we increase what we're making.
Speaker: And don't get me wrong, there's a time and a place to say we all should be saving.
Speaker: You all should be living on as little as possible to increase your income.
Speaker: Most people, they do the opposite.
Speaker: They increase their income, then they increase their expenses.
Speaker: But how...
Speaker: How can you increase your income without increasing your expenses?
Speaker: Try to live on 20% of your income.
Speaker: And then with that 80% of it, invest it, right?
Speaker: Side note, speaking of saving, if you have not opened an Apple savings account, you should.
Speaker: Apple just came out with a bomb savings account.
Speaker: Gets a 4.15 APY.
Speaker: per year, which is as far as I know, that's like the best savings account you can open right now.
Speaker: I think there's a Capital One that I had before that got me like 3.6, 3.7.
Speaker: But hey, open yourself an Apple savings account.
Speaker: All you got to do is go to the Wallet app on your iPhone.
Speaker: Everyone should have iPhones listening to this podcast.
Speaker: If not, you're missing out.
Speaker: But go to the Wallet app right now.
Speaker: Click on your Apple.
Speaker: You should have the Apple credit card too.
Speaker: It's bomb.
Speaker: But click on that and then there's a savings button.
Speaker: I didn't see it at first.
Speaker: You do have to have the latest update on your iPhone to see this.
Speaker: But go open an Apple savings account and dump all your savings in there, the money you're not investing.
Speaker: Sidetrack, sidetrack.
Speaker: But back to the point, focus on increasing that income.
Speaker: And then another thing, if it's not a tax write-off, maybe don't buy it.
Speaker: You can write off a lot of things in your business.
Speaker: Everyone should be filing as an LLC.
Speaker: I personally do an S corp, but you should be writing off everything you can.
Speaker: Every meal, how can you make it a business meal?
Speaker: Every meal I go on with my wife, we talk about some business.
Speaker: So, and I'm not an accountant, okay?
Speaker: I'm not giving tax advice, but this is what I do.
Speaker: And as far as I understand, if it is a business conversation you're having,
Speaker: then that can be written off as a business meal, right?
Speaker: So those different things to think about.
Speaker: Okay, and then last point about this, remember the objections you have in your own life are going to come up in the close.
Speaker: So for me, if I'm so worried about saving money, if I'm so worried about getting the best deal possible, guess what's going to happen in my closest?
Speaker: The people I show up to are going to think at the same time, and that has happened to me.
Speaker: Because no matter how you explain it, no matter how good a closer you are, if you have these thoughts in your head, it's going to show up in the close.
Speaker: So think about that.
Speaker: Focus on increasing your income.
Speaker: You don't save your way to wealth.
Speaker: You earn it and you invest it.
Speaker: So focus on how can I increase my income?
Speaker: How can I invest in my skills to get to the point where I am doubling my income?
Speaker: The best way to do that right now, hit me up.
Speaker: We've got a few spots in our coaching group.
Speaker: People are getting massive results.
Speaker: So if you are interested in doubling your income,
Speaker: Shoot me a DM.
Speaker: Shoot me an email.
Speaker: Taylor at Solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: We can have that conversation if you do want to double your income.
Speaker: But keep listening to content like this.
Speaker: Invest in yourself.
Speaker: And if you have a house, for crying out loud, you better have solar on your house.
Speaker: I remember I actually heard a podcast where Grant Cardone interviewed someone in the solar industry.
Speaker: And I'm not going to say his name, but this guy, Grant asked him if he had solar on his house.
Speaker: He said no.
Speaker: And Grant Cardone just trashed this guy.
Speaker: Like, how can you be selling a product that you aren't willing to invest in yourself?
Speaker: Okay, so think about that.
Speaker: I got solar on my house that we have here.
Speaker: Came with the house.
Speaker: Okay, but I like to think that's
Speaker: I'm a proud advocate for solar.
Speaker: Got it on my place here.
Speaker: Okay, and then get organized.
Speaker: Another thing that I think goes hand in hand with this, look in your fridge right now.
Speaker: Have you got things in there from three months back?
Speaker: Look in your closet.
Speaker: Do you have clothes that you're not wearing?
Speaker: Do you have stuff that you're not using?
Speaker: Okay, get what you need.
Speaker: And then if you don't love it, get it out of there.
Speaker: A cluttered mind.
Speaker: is going to create clutter in your life and is not going to lead to success and it's not going to lead to more income.
Speaker: It's not going to lead to more sales, to more closes.
Speaker: So get organized in your personal life.
Speaker: Make sure you are applying the principles of organization to your sales, to your customers.
Speaker: to your follow-up game, that's going to help tremendously.
Speaker: Hey, Ann, go read.
Speaker: There's a book, Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, I think is her name.
Speaker: Great book.
Speaker: She talks about basically just organizing, tidying things.
Speaker: I think she has like a Netflix series too.
Speaker: But making things tidy, and if you don't love something in your place, get it out of there.
Speaker: Okay, great principle.
Speaker: And speaking of organization, we are going to have someone that is a master at this for the next episode.
Speaker: So make sure you tune in.
Speaker: She is the mastermind behind SolarCon.
Speaker: If you attended SolarCon,
Speaker: You saw how well put together it was.
Speaker: I'm sure there's only room for improvement, but she is the mastermind behind a lot of these things.
Speaker: Her name is Lindsay Tuofu.
Speaker: She's going to be on the next episode dropping some bombs and helping you be more organized and also giving you a little bit behind the scenes of SolarCon if you were at that event.
Speaker: So make sure you're tuning in.
Speaker: Send this to someone who is cheap.
Speaker: And if you're cheap, like I am a lot of times,
Speaker: Try to get that out of your head.
Speaker: Yeah, you can look for deals, but don't let it get in your head like I did an entire flight home where I literally was pissed off that I lost 70 bucks.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: But yeah, if you're on a flight, maybe don't.
Speaker: Yeah, maybe see if you can get past it.
Speaker: Not bad to save 70 bucks if you can, but don't let this things get in your head.
Speaker: So that's the topic today.
Speaker: Hope it helps.
Speaker: Go close some deals this week.
Speaker: Go increase your solar business.
Speaker: Get some new clients and we'll see you on the next one.
Speaker: Hey, solopreneurs, quick question.
Speaker: What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day?
Speaker: For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite level solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level.
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Speaker: who want to give back to this community and help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds for, are you ready for it, less than $3.45 a day.
Speaker: Currently, SoulCity is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
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Speaker: and join the learning experience now.
Speaker: This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to solcity.co and join.
Speaker: We'll see you on the inside.
