#30 - Unfulfilling London 9-5 to a Remote Business in Bali - Sol Hyde
One thing, brother, would you mind, like, even using your phone? I don't know if you've got another camera. Just getting some b roll. Legend. That's absolutely legend.
Dean:Who's yeah. You okay with that?
Sol:Yeah.
Dean:Yeah. I'm a sweaty guy.
Sol:Yeah. And that that b roll, could you do horizontal as well as vertical, like a bit of both? Yeah. Very hero. I'm speaking to the man who knows what he's
Dean:talking about. Yeah. Cool. Uh-huh.
Sol:Do you want it closer or is that faster? Here. Okay. I'll sit here, so, wait, There we go. You just just tell me what what is useful for you.
Sol:Think
Dean:You look beautiful my man.
Sol:Thank you, brother.
Dean:Actually, me get that snap of this shit.
Sol:I got a few.
Dean:Shot right here.
Sol:A few little.
Dean:Oh, that's a fucking shot.
Sol:There you go. Cheers, brother. I would take one of you, but I've got my phone. Do want me to take one? Yeah.
Dean:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Go on, actually.
Sol:Very good. I'm gonna get some some there we go. Do you wanna take do you wanna take one in that in that angle as well? Just type one times. Yeah.
Sol:Okay. Cool, man.
Dean:Alright. Let's get this show on the proverbial Yeah.
Sol:Like, let's just keep it let's keep it chill. I'm not chill. Imagine if we we had a camera rolling for the last, like, sixty minutes. We could've just had a fucking We've we've filled the shitcots already. Yeah.
Sol:Yeah. I I I
Dean:do you know what I would love is a a video I know it sounds it sounds I feel like I'm cringing even saying this, but like a videographer.
Sol:Not at all. I'm I'm gonna buy one and have one live with me. Or buy one. I'm gonna I'm gonna get gay guy and live with me. Yeah.
Dean:For sure. Really?
Sol:Just want a camera roll and twenty four seven is the best content.
Dean:100%. Yeah. How much is that gonna cost, you reckon?
Sol:$2.03 k a month, something like that. Yeah. Yeah, it's so worth
Dean:Pay for itself.
Sol:Of course. For sure. Of course. I mean, also you can get them to do the creative design as well, which is really cool. So they like, they post the videos for you,
Dean:they edit
Sol:the videos, so it just takes it all off your mind.
Dean:Oh, that's like, honestly.
Sol:Yeah. Just get rid of that.
Dean:Get rid of your Anything manual with content, I just hate, really Like I don't wanna sound like a princess, it's I just don't like it. I really don't like it.
Sol:It's also not a high leverage activity. No. You're wasting your time doing it.
Dean:No. Yeah. Are we good? We're live? Alright.
Dean:We've basically recorded a full fucking podcast before it even came on. But it's been it's been a good it's been a good encounter, my man, so far. But I wanna start right at your business. You've done 100 I think it was last time I checked, it was like 109 k in a hundred and four days, which is nice with the symmetry to that as well.
Sol:Sounds good, doesn't it? Yeah. Yeah.
Dean:Let's start with, like, what is it that those clients who are paying you that money, like, what is it that they're paying you for? Mhmm.
Sol:I think I've boiled this down into one very clear word, which is a system. Because what they're effectively paying for and investing in themselves is a proven offer plus client acquisition system, so a structured way of using a high ticket skill and then turning that into clients, and then turning that into impact. And I go out and I test different methods of how that could work. I see myself as like a bit of a scientist, which sounds outrageous to say right, but like right now I've got five or six tests going on about different ways to do all this stuff.
Dean:Oh, yeah.
Sol:And then I'm like, this does work, this doesn't work. And then the one that works, I teach to my clients. Yeah. And that's what they're buying. And it's a time thing, it's a time and a knowledge thing.
Dean:And when you say testing now, are you testing manners in which you approach a sales call, or content? Everything.
Sol:So I'm testing every single part of the client acquisition journey. So I'm testing, should you use guarantees? I'm testing, should you say this in this part of the sales call, or should you get set? Should you post value based content, or should you post lifestyle content? And all I'm doing is testing ways for people to do that, and then all I need is someone to come to me and say, I have this skill or this knowledge, and I go, this works, this works, this works, this works, save all of the time and effort that you're gonna spend going and doing it yourself, out the back comes really fulfilling career, loads of money, loads of clients.
Dean:Okay. Right. That's that's beautiful. Because what I like about that is that you're actually testing, You're teaching what you're testing. You're, like, you're literally doing the thing.
Sol:Mhmm.
Dean:And people are coming to you for that knowledge that you've learned from doing the thing to do with their own thing. Yeah. It's amazing. Because there
Sol:was a part of me which was like, is this a bit dodgy? Because, know, I'm making money from people making money. And I was like, okay, how do I reason that in my head? Mean, thing is I was originally just a content coach, so I knew I made I made, you know, good 4 figures, or good 5 figures from just being a content coach. So I walked the walk on that, built that, and then it all just naturally evolved from helping people with their offers, helping people with their sales, all these things, to the point where I was like, it's just a full stack offer.
Sol:And then I was what am I what it was just what am I being most useful for for my clients? And it was content, but then it was like, well if you don't have a good offer, you can't make content about it. And if you don't have good sales process, it doesn't matter how good your content or your offer is. So it just became full stack. But effectively, that's what I see.
Sol:It's what we we literally chat about this outside, that I want to build a career for myself where I get paid to learn more, and that what I learn then benefits the people that I pay. I was thinking about this I
Dean:was thinking about this the other day is is because, like, when you think about mentorship, everyone is looking above one level. And ideally, like, if if you like mentoring, you're looking over your shoulder a little bit and reaching a hand back as well. So, like, the guy who's earning 1 k a month, well, he's probably learning from the guy who's earning 10. Mhmm. The guy who's 10 and so on.
Dean:Mhmm. And I think that's just, like, such a beautiful business model.
Sol:Mhmm. And people because then the what the thing that people hear, and if if someone's listening to this, they're probably like, sounds like a pyramid scheme. Because it's like because it's like there's someone here that makes money from someone here. But the thing is, the world is that. But the world is a fucking pyramid scheme.
Sol:100%. You know? 100.
Dean:Everyone's taken from everyone, but also if you're contributing you'd you'd look. You don't here's the thing. You don't get paid unless you're bringing something to the table. No matter what it is. If you're selling fucking dishwasher tablets or you're selling a content business.
Dean:Of course. They have to be good dishwasher tablets for somebody to pay their money. So, yeah, do do you get a lot of, like, what you just said there about people's perception of it being like a pyramid scheme or whatever? Do you think that that's, like, self induced in your head, or do you actually get people saying to you?
Sol:Yes. Many times I get people saying that to me. Because people people love the fact that I say that I make money from people making money. But if you boil that down, that is what, I don't know, everyone in The UK pays goes to university. Like, lecturers are just teaching back what they've learned already.
Sol:And there's so many examples of that in the world where, as you say, mentorship and all that sort of thing is people just teaching back things. So I get, like, I definitely get the hate, like it comes, but I always believe that if you listen to the average Joe, then your life ends up like the average Joe. So I've got that strong mental frame that if I'm getting hate from people whose lives I fundamentally would never want to live, I'm doing a good thing.
Dean:Yeah, think it's like right, who is that hate coming from? Is it a pretty pretty important factor to consider? And like when you think about you want to take advice from somebody where you want to be like, you know, you don't want to like me and you gladly part with our money for mentors.
Sol:Of course.
Dean:Don't we?
Sol:Of
Dean:course. And why? Yeah. Because we want we want to absorb what they have. Mhmm.
Dean:And so if that's a pyramid scheme, I'm a fucking Yeah. Yeah.
Sol:Yeah. We're straight straight into it. I'm I've like, in the last in the last two and a half months, I've spent 23 k on mentorship. Oh yeah. And firstly I believe that if I am asking people to pay me money, I should be paying money myself, that's the thing.
Sol:And every single time I've done it, it has turned into a three, four, five X ROI, every single time. And I can only vouch for that myself by saying investing has been the best thing I've done, and mentorship is the easiest way to accelerate time. Because you have a choice, you can go and do it on your own. Like if you wanna go and get fit in a gym, go and walk into a gym, go and use some weights, you're gonna lift the wrong way, you're gonna eat the wrong food, you're gonna do that, but you will learn over time what is good and what isn't, but that is frustrating. And what you could just do is go and get a PT and they're gonna tell you the whole thing, and that's the same way I see business mentorship.
Sol:You can go and do it on your own, on sales calls I often say to people like, if you wanna do this on your own, crack on. The reason you work with me is because I'm gonna save you time, pain, and energy doing the things that are wrong. And that has a lot of value to it, because what is more precious than money? Time.
Dean:And also, we talked about this before as well. Fucking so much good content before we started rolling. But, like, you it's like, what are you spending your money on then? You know, if you if you're happy with where you're at and don't wanna, like, improve, fair enough. But, like if you want to improve your capacity to earn money Mhmm.
Dean:You know, it might make sense to learn from somebody who's earning more than you.
Sol:A 100%. The thing that I think it comes from is it comes from the idea that money is earned by you putting your time in. So this nine to five mentality that I turn up at nine at nine in the morning for work, I then finish at five, and once I've done that, a paycheck enters my my bank account, and that money that I earn is for me to go and spend on leisure activities. That is the way that people see money. Whereas I see money as I have received value from someone else, they are then getting paid for that, and I'm going to use that money to find more value from someone else and just keep that cycle going.
Dean:Pyramid scheme.
Sol:Exactly, that's the thing, and that's why I love it.
Dean:Oh my god it's so good, but let's go back right, so go back a few steps to you starting this like engine that you've created that is like you've smashed it, man. 100 ks in as many days is incredible. But like, how did you actually identify that you could help somebody with that? Because you said you were a content coach originally. Was it more so through doing repetitions that then you eventually found yourself like looking through the weeds and then found it?
Sol:Yeah. It's so interesting, it was so organic the way that happened, because I literally was just posting content for eighteen months, and without realising I developed a high ticket skill, which was posting good organic content. And that skill then had people coming to me being like, I see your content, I like your content, teach me how to make your content. Started helping people for free, and then I was getting good results, and then people were like, I see the results you're getting, can I pay you? And I was like, okay, so you can pay me to do this, absolutely fine.
Sol:So then I started a very small mentorship with people with their content, they were smashing out of the park, and then while they were smashing out of the park, I started realizing who I liked working with, who I preferred working with, who I felt like I could help more. And it was not people who wanted to be content creators, it was people that had a business and they wanted leads. And then, so that was like how I then was like, all right, I'm gonna help people with businesses with their content. And then, again, the evolution just happened again, it was, okay, now I'm helping those people. What is the fundamental thing that is stopping their content from doing well?
Sol:It's not the content, it's because they have no idea who they're speaking to, they have no idea what their offer is, there's no clarity in that. So I was like, just to these people, why don't we just jump on a call and talk about your offer? And then we sorted that out, and then it was like offer, content, and then at the end of it was like, I'm getting people on sales calls, but I'm shitting myself about how to actually close them. And I had then done three months of high ticket sales, generated like a 100, I'd done about 150 ks in high ticket sales.
Dean:Just for someone else? For someone else,
Sol:while I was transitioning out of corporate. So I actually developed that skill as well, and then I was like, well, I can help you if you want. And then it was the trifecta about, okay, this is exactly how you build an offer with content, with lead generation, and how you close them. And then that's basically how I accidentally built this business.
Dean:So many things on back there, like I love the fact that you just kind of figured it out because it's very This is something I say to the guys that I work with as well, like, know, you very rarely what you start out with is what you end up with. Like, it takes many shapes and you learn so much and you learn what's good and what's shit and then you cast aside some things and take on some new things. It's beautiful how you've found this, by the way. It's really cool. And also the thing I want to say is the the magic trifecta, as you've said, like, having a good offer, driving leads to that with content, and being able to close those leads with a good sales function.
Dean:Is it? Equals freedom and money. Yeah. Amazing. Right?
Dean:With you, though, like, with your client base, like, who typically comes to you? Because you mentioned content creators and then you also mentioned business owners. Do you have is it what would you say the balance is like between who comes to you?
Sol:So it was content creators and now it's exclusively business owners because of the fact that I realize content is this mystical thing that everyone talks about, it's just marketing. Like it's just literally putting your face and your brand in front of other people, just like a billboard on the road. And I say to people, you think about content in this weird confusing, how the hell do I nail it way, it's like just think about if I was to say you have a business, you wanna put a billboard on the road, who do you want seeing it, what do you want them to do after they see it, and what is the outcome and what is the product that you're driving with that. And that's when you think about content in a different way, and I wanted to help people who had a tangible outcome at the end of that, not people who wanted to chase ego and vanity and wanted wanted to be walked around and someone to recognize it in the pub. I wanted someone to be like, this bit of content that you told me to make has made me x amount of money because of the fact that I've nailed But
Dean:you know those content, like I think people that get into content creation to because they think it's like a way to just make money. Like you get followers, you show your ass or whatever, and then boom, money disappears in your account. And I actually have a few friends who there's one of my friends in particular, his Instagram blew up and he he makes a lot of running content, but he was kind of looking at this as an avenue to get sponsorship revenue. Right. I don't know you know anyone who does this.
Dean:Right. But the model is just like ugly, man.
Sol:Awful.
Dean:Ugly. Like you're chasing people for payments. The the payments aren't that great either shite actually. You get those little links in bio and you get like a few cent if somebody goes it's just shit, man. Agreed.
Dean:And in reality, like these if you are if you are making content to fuel your financial choices in your life, and not just for clout, but if you're making it for clout, forget, like, you're not in this conversation. Yeah. But if you're doing it as a means to generate revenue for yourself, the sponsorship model is, like, ugly. Unless you're Kim Kardashian.
Sol:Yeah, well exactly, but the thing is like no one is Kim Kardashian, and then everyone gets into this world of that, and it just it doesn't work unless you've got a humongous audience. And realistically people get humongous audiences by living tail lives, like lives that are very much in the 12%, or they're 12% people who have got crazy personalities, all this sort of thing. And for the average person you can make an incredible amount of money and have an incredible life by seeing content as a way to build a business, but not off being a content creator. And it's fascinating, they're like, I almost made a YouTube video about it, also I've got too many friends who do it, which was stop chasing brand deals, and every time, again going back to the billboard example, is every time you put a brand deal out there, you are effectively renting all of the hard work you've put into just giving brand free billboard space.
Dean:And you're like, you're hoping that the people who have trusted you buy this other thing, that's like nothing to do with you. Yeah. That you're just hoping to skim a bit off the top Yeah.
Sol:You're an advert. You're a walking advert. Yeah. It's like you're not building a business, and as soon as your engagement goes down, and soon as you're as soon as you're not the hot topic anymore, your business just goes. And like I can't imagine how terrifying that is, because you could wake up the next week and I don't know Instagram banned your account, you're stuffed, or suddenly you have a scandal about you, all these sort of things, and your business just goes overnight, because your business is literally just a number of followers and engagement.
Sol:That, yeah, I feel strongly on this, because I say
Dean:to people
Sol:stop doing brand deals, stop chasing clout because you're not gonna be able to business off it.
Dean:And also as well, Darren, my mentor, talks about this as well, Darren, who you know as well, is like, stop chasing views, bro. Doesn't matter. Views are not gonna pay your rent. Exactly.
Sol:And I've got an amazing story on this because the biggest reason why I learned that chasing views is the worst thing is I had a YouTube video. It it was about how to create content as an online high ticket offer holder, and it did 70 views, which like for me is like poor performance, it's like, I was like, this is flopped, absolutely, like maybe delete it. And then I had a sales call booked in from a random woman in America, and she said, I searched on Google how to build content for my high ticket offer, mine was the video that came up, She booked in a call and paid multiple 4 figures in full on the Wow. And I was like, that is everything I needed to know about content.
Dean:If that is not the biggest advertisement for making tailored, specific content, not chasing views in order to get paid.
Sol:Fascinating. I don't know what is. Fascinating. But and and you found that as well. Is that what tell your clients?
Dean:Well, yeah. I mean, to if I take you back, like, to me starting this podcast, I was a classic example someone starting a podcast with the best intentions. Wanted to help people and try and help people realize how good life can be if you put in a bit of work and then get like, you know, the passive income chestnut that I told you about before the call. But I had no offer, No offer. I was just releasing content, very, like, you know, with great spirit.
Dean:I, bro, I was getting messages. People like me, oh my god. I really wanna get to where you are and stuff. And I'm like, yeah. Yeah.
Dean:You you I I don't know what to tell you to do. I don't have an offer. I don't know how I can service you. And I've since changed that, of course. But, yeah, it's I kind of got pulled in to the world of, oh, I I actually was thinking, oh, maybe I'll get sponsors down the line when I get this sick podcast that blows up.
Dean:And it was a beautiful learning curve.
Sol:But you have to go through it. Right? And I I had the same thing. I was posting for I must have been posting organic content for twelve months before even thinking what the hell I was gonna do with it. Really?
Sol:But I just I saw that it was my ticket to freedom, because I saw I read a great book, I'm not sure if you've read it, called The Almanac of Nabooravikanth. The ghost. I literally, I've probably read that back to back three times.
Dean:No, I actually haven't read the book, but I've listened to like every piece of audio content that man has.
Sol:Man, awesome. Just just get on it. And he in The Almanac of Nabooravakan, the reason that that book changed my life was I read it and it told me two things. Firstly the most important thing in the world is to have leverage, and to understand that if you don't have leverage you are always trading your time for money, and you can never be wealthy or never have freedom if you're trading your time for money. And the thing that I learned was that the two best ways to do that are with social trust and code.
Sol:And what he means by that is you either can gain huge amounts of leverage by having an audience of people who trust you and believe your opinion, which is again posting content, or and you can gain incredible leverage by having code working for you when you sleep. And in my business right now, the only two things that I focus on is how can I gain more trust from people, and how can I use code to work for me when I sleep? Code. AI, automation, all that sort of thing. So right now, know, even small things like my content is scheduled to post for tomorrow, that's one small bit of leverage that you get.
Sol:And once you use those two things, it's incredible, but that book changed my mind. Can't remember why you asked me that. That way that went Oh,
Dean:it's a beautiful rabbit hole to go down, man. Yeah. But, like, going back to your business then, right, let's just zoom back in there because offers, content, and sales, beautiful little trifecta of which you can earn your way. If I think about, like, the sales component of that, do you find your clients do your clients, like, struggle with the idea of selling?
Sol:So much. So much. It's the biggest blocker that mentally people have to get over if they're ever gonna make money online. And the reason that I think people struggle with sales comes from a deep rooted belief that they don't believe their product is worth selling. And I say to people Drop the mic,
Dean:drop the mic.
Sol:I say to people like, I'm saying I believe it is a fundamental moral obligation of me to sell to coaches and consultants because of the fact that I believe with my whole heart that the programme I have built is going to change the face of their business. And when I sit on sales calls I have so much conviction because of the fact that I believe my product is so good. The opposite is true, that if you're scared of selling, it really comes down to that, that you don't believe in the fact that your product is gonna have the impact it does. If you're a PT and you see someone who's overweight and your business is built around helping people there, then you should believe fundamentally that that person needs your help. Yeah.
Sol:And that's the thing, and did you resonate?
Dean:100% man, and even like a couple days ago at the mastermind, a dude, Connor, shout out Connor Fear, listen, but he's like he's a he's a he's a fitness coach turned business coach who coaches fitness coaches. So he's like he's he's he's like kind of gone up a level and is now helping other open comers who are building
Sol:this pyramid.
Dean:And he's like, one of the things he said to me really stuck out to me about conviction, what you said there, which is when I'm on a sales call, I feel it as my duty to give this person what I have if they are a good fit. I don't feel it like I'm manipulating them or coercing them. So I'm more so making them see what they need to see in order to feel good about the purchase so they can actually get the desired outcome that they actually want. Because if they don't pay for the service, they're probably not going to get the outcome. However, if they do, they'll get it, and that's his job, the way he sees it, is to deliver that to them.
Sol:I couldn't agree more. And then the extra step of conviction that I have on that step is that I have regularly told people that I don't believe I can help them on sales calls, and said thank you very much for your time, I'm not gonna try and pitch you because I don't believe I can help you. And that means that I in myself am so authentic with when I say to someone, look, I'm gonna push here, because I truly believe that this is the right thing for you. Because on the other side, I've sat on calls where I don't push, I'm like, look, I don't think this is a good fit, please do not pay money to me. Sure.
Sol:I've literally had people ask to pay money, and I've gone, no, I'm not taking your money. And that that makes me feel Amazing. Authentic, and I, like, it gets woo woo a little bit, but, like, I believe that that energy and that authenticity is is a real thing that comes across.
Dean:100%, 100%. You could sleep better at night as well. I mean, I don't think there actually is evil people in the world. I think everybody wants to be a good person, like genuinely. 100%.
Dean:I think it's just like maybe you might feel someone's fucked you over. You might feel like someone's a dickhead, but everyone in their own head feels like they're a good person and wants to be a good person. And I think I even when I think back to my own business, when I started, there was a guy this is in the property space. I won't give you all the spec, but basically he was giving me a deal. I could have worked with him on the deal.
Dean:I had no risk. He had all the risk and I would just benefit from the management fee. Would take off the top because I would carry it out for him. And he asked me as the expert to kind of like cast my eye over the deal. And I said, look, to be honest with you, I don't think you should.
Dean:And I didn't know this Like, he just came through through a friend of a friend circle. I said, I don't think you should take this man, you know, and properties are fucking the Wild West as cowboys. Mhmm. That guy respected the fact that I walked away from easy money so much, so much that he became a client six months later.
Sol:No way. Yeah. That's awesome. Isn't it? That's awesome.
Sol:That's like, that's such a cool story, because that it just it says everything that you need about running a good quality business and being a good person, because it always comes back to benefit you.
Dean:100%. Content. That's our content. So we've kind of touched on it, and I think one of the things I want to go back to is the fact that you use the way you said code, and you've got like your content scheduled. I think content is great and we can go into the specifics of the production of the content.
Dean:So like as in how do I create like the structure of a video or whatever. But in terms of like systems to set it up, like how far in advance are you like scheduling content? Like if I was to look at your I use Metricool,
Sol:I use Buffer but yeah similar volume. Any good? Yeah yeah. It's good. It schedules content.
Sol:Yeah yeah exactly right.
Dean:But like how far in advance are you batch loading and how do you on top of that question I'll ask how much do you record at once, or are you kind of an in the moment guy?
Sol:So I've got a good story about this because I in September, I made 30 videos Fuck. And in a row, and I had my whole month done. Woah. One And I woke up on the September 1 and didn't have to make a bit of content for thirty days, and that was the worst thing that I've ever done. And I can tell you why, it's because the problem with that is if you batch make too much in advance, then it ruins the fundamental reason why we should do content, is test, iterate, test, iterate, test, iterate.
Sol:And the problem that happened is on the September 6, I had a post that went out and didn't do so well. And on the September 7 I had the same post going out, or similar style post, and the problem with that is I didn't learn. So I keep my iteration cycles as short as possible, so that once I post something five days ago, I can then say today, did it work or not, am I then gonna make it again? So that's the biggest thing. So to answer your question specifically, I batch make because you can't wake up every morning make content, that's gonna cause burnout, but I also don't take the piss with it, because otherwise I'm committed to content that I don't want to necessarily go out in twenty five days.
Dean:So fucking true.
Sol:So maybe like, it then comes into like what your life looks like, but I think probably weekly or bi weekly is like maximum iteration time. But the best thing is if you can do it daily, because the best thing is if you can wake up and say that banged yesterday, I'm gonna make it again. But that's just not feasible or practical in people's lives because we don't have unlimited time.
Dean:So what how does that look for you on a weekly basis then? Are you do you have, like, I'm I'm doing three YouTube videos, I'm doing six, like,
Sol:does that look like? So I'm doing 14 Shorts a week and four YouTube videos right now, and I 14 shorts and how many? Four YouTube videos. Four YouTube?
Dean:Yeah. Solid.
Sol:So I hit that by batch making about a week in advance, but there's like, there's a few ways that you could help with that, which is a, just picking up ideas that already work and just doing that again. Again, super easy to do.
Dean:Your content is great, by way, you're short, super low effort, it's just got the b roll, and like sometimes it's just got a bit of writing on it, like that's like
Sol:Man, like I again It's it's just I'm in your
Dean:face, here's the billboard, here's the billboard, here's the billboard, I'm sold.
Sol:Yeah, exactly, and that's the thing is you don't want, it doesn't need to be more complicated than that, because content, you're asking for people's time, and if you constantly put one minute fifty videos down their throat, they're just gonna be like, I'm just sick of him, don't, I'm not interested. So I have my content I think in two different, I think in two ways of my content, I have eyeballs content, which is like the five to fifteen second video, which is just like, soul, his soul, his soul, his soul, just reminder of his soul. And then the other short form content that I use, which is a bit more value content, so I want eyeballs, but then I also want people to associate me with giving them information. So for example, you mentioned to be the one where I talked about your information coming through your phone, and why is that useful, you have developed more trust and connection in me because of that, but you probably wouldn't have watched that video if you hadn't watched five videos before that were fifteen seconds to five So I mix between those styles of content Mhmm. And then send people to YouTube, which are long form, big value videos.
Sol:You just remind me
Dean:of one of the videos you did, what was it again? Oh, was like when you sit on the couch and you start scrolling, and it's like David Goggins is just like, you're not doing enough, you're not doing enough.
Sol:But see, okay, so that's it's such a good it's such a good point. So if anyone's listening right now, I'm worried about their content. The way that I made that video is I was actually scrolling on the couch. So fucking funny. And I was like, I saw that video come up by someone else making it, but it was about like, it was something slightly different, I think it was about someone was scrolling on their phone, but they were just talking about not going to the gym or something like that, it was like you could either go to the gym or you could scroll on your phone.
Sol:And I saw that video on my Instagram feed, I'm always scrolling and just thinking like how can I make this video? And I went okay this video perfectly applies to my niche, but I can change it to talk about building a business, like procrastinating building a business, within five minutes I'd film the whole video, send it off to my editor, and that's a good quality bit of content that you've got value from, and the production time is five minutes for me. Yeah. And that's how I make content in such high batches, but without burning out.
Dean:And then so you just stick in on your flow of content then, so you'll record, you'll have an idea, think of it, whip it up, send it to editor, I presume we want a little brief, and then they'll go and schedule it for you.
Sol:Amazing. Ideally, like, obviously it's not sustainable to have think idea, do it, and that's the only way you make content, but I I always If magic comes to you
Dean:you'll do it in the so
Sol:yeah, if magic comes, so you wanna have a base which is like I know that there is a bit of content going out every day for the next week for me, and then if I have the spark, reduce time to creation, just get out and do it. So the other day like was driving back to my house on my bike, had an idea about talking about bottlenecks in business and how to solve it, and I went I could even just write this down on a bit of paper and make it in a three days time, or I could stop my bike in the middle of the road, and I just went for a fifteen minute walk, filmed the video, stopped, done, YouTube video.
Dean:YouTube video. Oh I think I actually watched that one. There was one where you were just holding the camera and I was like, he's just fucking walking around with his phone there, so Exactly.
Sol:That's because people just like, the reason you're probably listening to this right now is that you're probably just enjoying hopefully the value you're getting from this, and I was like, why make a really fancy video? And at the start I'd just say, this isn't gonna be any thrills, but if you're a coach or consultant who wants to scale that online offer, just make yourself a cup of coffee, put your headphones in, go for a walk, and listen to this, because I'm gonna tell you about the five problems that you're suffering with right now.
Dean:Oh that was a greyhawk.
Sol:And I was just like, just go. And it's like, people just want value, don't need explosions and all this shit, Just tell them what they need. And everyone's gonna find that boring apart from a coach or a consultant who needs to scale, and then perfect.
Dean:Because you're obviously like, man, you're doing super well with the content, and we talked before about, post a lot about like UK mindset, you know, and people who maybe judge from the fringes and have something to say. And very often, if you're not maybe thick skinned or you've not got the right perspective, it can hurt or it can damage you or it can stop you. How have you found the because I think what I just said there will stop people from starting or stop them very quickly after they've started. Do you know what I mean? Like someone in the nine to five and they're like looking at us and they're like, oh, fuck, I want to get bit of a bit of the action.
Dean:How do you especially in the early stage, because right now you're bulletproof, right? You don't give a fuck. But going back to Saul, who was just starting, let's let's think about him for a How are you getting over the either actual judgment or the perceived judgment in your own mind?
Sol:Yeah. That's such a good question. The I think you can deal with them separately, because perceived judgment is something that only you can fix, because of the fact that it's an inner state, right? And I love the fact that it's effectively if you care what other people think, it shows that you're not certain in what you want to do yourself. Because the way that I got over the perceived judgment was saying, okay well if there's perceived judgment then why am I questioning the decisions and the actions that I'm taking?
Sol:I wasn't like, where is this judgment coming from? It's actually coming from me judging myself and being like, am I doing the right thing here? So once I'd become clear on my why, the perceived judgment went, because I was like, well the only judgment is coming from my head, and now I've sorted that, I'm like, okay great, I'm confident in what I wanna do. Then you have to deal with everyone else. And that is, as you say, no matter what you're going to do, you're gonna get so much judgment, because at the end of the day, if you want an extraordinary life, you have to take extraordinary actions, and to take extraordinary actions you have to take actions that people makes people feel insecure about what they're doing because they're doing normal things.
Sol:And I effectively was ripped the shit out of for weeks on end about posting content. Because I was a rugby guy, was like pints, all that sort of thing, like you know what London's like, you know what, you can imagine what life is like for me, and all of a sudden I was posting TikToks about like me walking down the road, and I was like, what are you doing? And I just thought that if I continued caring what other people thought about me, then I'm living their life, not my life. And I had such big goals and ambitions of, well not even goals and ambitions, I had such a design of what I wanted my life to look like, that by people judging me, the only thing I was letting them do was impact the chance of me actually being able to achieve that life for myself. And that's how I just stayed strong on it.
Sol:I just stayed strong.
Dean:It's so mad because like that, what you said there about people stopping you, either actually or in your own head, from living the life that you want. Like, how many people will not actually even attempt that? Because, man, I'm speaking from experience here. Like, I've been through this as well, where when I started posting content, all the perceived judgment, which, as you correctly pointed out, is just self judgment starts to arise and it can just easily stop you. Whereas something you nail there is if you know exactly what you want from your life, then that falls should in theory fall aside or at least become softer.
Dean:So and easier to deal with. But I think and I'm just going to go a bit of a rabbit hole here. I don't think the majority of people back in London and Ireland, whatever, I don't think a lot of people ask themselves what they want. Like, really be like, is this actually what I want for my life? And if so, great, You know?
Dean:But I think if more people ask themselves that question and really considered it,
Sol:you know, people would start doing shit. Agreed. Agreed. And that's why the mindset part of when I start working with people is the most important thing, because unless you have that clearly defined, things fall apart everywhere around you. Do you teach that in the programme?
Sol:It's the biggest thing that I start with, is mindset. Because I say to people, the thing you need to do before you start learning client acquisition systems and how to post content is mindset. Because the thing about mindset is it plays out in your business failing. So like we can go through loads of examples, but if your content if you're scared to post content, it's because you care about what other people think of you. If you cannot jump on sales calls and close people, it's because you're not confident enough in your value and the things you offer.
Sol:If you don't, literally if you don't do the certain outbounds that you need to be doing to build this offer, it's because your organisation isn't good enough, because you've not basically held, you don't have the habits that are needed in order to be able to do things consistently. So everything falls apart once you don't have the right mindset and habits in place, and I always say that your business is just an extension of you as a human being, and everything that goes wrong in your business is a personal flaw, I can see patterns like this happening when I was a kid, when I was in school, and now it's playing out in my business.
Dean:I remember before I started working with Darren, he said, was like, on a few podcasts, he said, I think I don't know if I'm butchering it, but he said your clients are a reflection of you. And I was like, oh my God, I've got some clients who are just unreal, like the best, most optimistic. They're a season life by the balls. They're low touch. They're low stress.
Dean:They're low maintenance. They're supportive, they're understanding, they're compassionate, all this stuff. And then I have some other clients who are stressful, anxious, worrying, fearful, bit intense, and they're showing me different parts of myself. And that was a big unlock for me.
Sol:That's fascinating isn't it? Because yeah you are the energy that you attract, I think I've said that right. But you
Dean:bring in what you're, you pull in what you're spit now Sure, 100%.
Sol:So that's why I think entrepreneurship is so much about personal development, and that's why we're all fascinated by optimising all these things, because at the end of the day once I sort my mindset out, my business falls into place. As soon as things out of place, soon as things fall out of place in my personal life and my mindset, I can see that play out in my business.
Dean:I actually say this to the guys I work with as well. It's like, this actually, it's not really only a bit like it's partly about making money. It's partly about like systems and shit, but it's like this weird journey you go on internally in your own head. And I think that's like less often talked about.
Sol:And that's why entrepreneurship is the single best thing that I've ever found in my life, because of the fact that it tests me as a human being every single day, it makes me question all of my beliefs, it makes me question all of my habits, and I have grown in the last six months more than I believe I've grown in the last ten years before that, because of everything that I've been tested to do, and everything that I've been asked of by the business. And small things like having to give up alcohol, or wanting to give up alcohol, because of small things like getting my routine in shape. Like I am more of a human being that I'm proud of in the last six months than than most of growing up.
Dean:That's a big one. The the self pride. I I am I'm gonna share a little story here about mindset because I think I told you before we got on the call about meeting the hypnosis session with Ibrahim. And in the hypnosis session, I came into it trying to uncover why was I being fearful about X, Y and Z? Why was I very subtly judging myself about a b and c?
Dean:And why am I not being like compassionate towards myself? And because I'm not doing these things to myself, it's rippling out to others. Right? And it's it's kind of how I like you just said, like you attract what you're putting out kind of thing. When I did the session, like it showed me it showed me so much, man.
Dean:And it made me rethink Like the way I was seeing everything just changed, like in almost in an instant. And I still listen to the hypnosis session. It's like something that's recorded and I it's like trying to bake it into my subconscious. But if you can fix the way you're looking at things, your business, your life, your relationships will all naturally just take care of themselves. It seems
Sol:to be anyway, at least. 100%. 100%.
Dean:So would definitely recommend hypnosis to anyone.
Sol:Agreed. Same experience, best thing I've ever done, so good.
Dean:Yeah. What was yours like?
Sol:It was amazing for all of the reasons that you said, and it has made it's like, yeah, as you say, things are baked into you through childhood, through growing up, that you don't realise form part of your subconscious. And I realised that certain events had been baked into me and then were causing issues in my life, and yeah, as soon as I did it it was, again, it sounds like two blokes sat in Bali talking about hypnosis right? Like it's crazy, it sounds super out there. But I think it almost comes back to like another topic, a bit of a side tangent, it's just about being really open minded to all of these things. And you were open minded to doing hypnosis, you could have been like, it's woo woo stuff that people do out in Bali, but I'm gonna be open minded to it, and I think it's fair to say it's almost changed your life or changed how you think, right?
Sol:Fundamentally. Which is the fact that you're open to it, and that's often the biggest issue that I find with a lot of people is that they're just not open to things. And I guess what's the worst outcome, if it went wrong, it went wrong, nothing happened. Like whatever. But if it goes right, then what could get out of things?
Sol:And I was super open to the idea of hypnosis, and it was incredible what the outcome was, and that wouldn't have happened unless I was just like, okay, let's give this a try. And isn't that just like life? Isn't that what's cool about life? It's just being like, there's this random thing that I'm just gonna give a try because why not?
Dean:Who was it that was saying that one of the biggest life skills is like the ability to be wrong or to change your mind a little something, probably fucking horrendous with all the
Sol:shit he's been out. Yeah. Fifty fifty chance from later. Yeah.
Dean:Yeah. I actually posted something on his story here today or from my story. I was like, literally said, I need to stop reposting this shit. Would he just keep spinning gold like he is the goat? But just going back to let's go on to Bali, like, have you found because you moved out here.
Dean:What was it, like, nine months ago?
Sol:So so I actually moved out here. It's quite it's very much baked into my story because I, very long story short, I came here before I started my corporate job while I was travelling, and I saw people living the life that I was like, I can't believe this exists. They were playing paddle on a Tuesday afternoon, they were making money that I was just like, I'm not money motivated, but they were just making money that I couldn't fathom. They were they were all ripped, they were all super happy, they were all fulfilled. And I was like, I looked at people back in London, and I was just like, that is who I'm gonna become, which is unfulfilled, like, and I'm saying this is everyone in London, but like a lot of people I saw the conveyor belt I was on, and I was just like, I never forget when one of my managers in the corporate once said to me, you don't really enjoy about 80% of the work you do here, but the 20% is always worth it.
Sol:And I was just like, fuck that, like I'm I was like fuck that. Anyway, so going back to that barley, I had barley, I saw this, I was shown this little carrot, and then I got back on a plane and started on my day in London in my corporate nine to five. And then I just did eight months of that, like hated every minute of it, not because of the company, just because of the fact that it was nine to five, working corporate, all that sort of thing. And then the only thing I thought about was getting on the plane back here again, because of, I'm sure reasons we'll discuss now, but because of the fact that it's the best place in the world to be an entrepreneur, I believe. And yeah, it's just like I'm so happy I'm here, I felt like this is what I wanted for the last year, and and that's why I was all I could think about was coming back here again.
Sol:So it was like two part story to to the Bartley part.
Dean:So what would you say, like, on a on a deeper level? Like you said there the words unfulfilled. Mhmm. Like, what would you say alongside that that you've kind of received having come to Bali? I put
Sol:it down to a really tangible feeling of waking up and just being excited to like work on a mission. And that is every day the thing I think about is my business, which sounds sad but it's not because I remember waking up every day from my corporate job and thinking, do not want to put my shirt on because it's one step closer to being sat at a desk doing something that doesn't give me any energy, or doesn't give me any joy. Whereas now, like I just wanna roll over and just start building. And I think fundamentally as people, we were saying this, we were like, you can make loads of money, but it doesn't actually make any difference, because if you don't feel like you're building something, or you have a purpose, you don't feel fulfilled, then life just doesn't have the same meaning to it. And I cannot describe the difference in feeling that I have every day feeling like I'm building something, versus the difference of feeling like I am building A, work that is so meaningless, and b, building someone else's dream life.
Dean:I was just thinking there as you were saying that about the person who's in it, like this is probably old me and you here, right? Sure. You know, if you're in a nine to five and you're thinking, well, I don't wanna have to think about business all the time. Well, I'm not money motivated. The part is like, well, you are money motivated because you do forty hours of work a week.
Dean:Why else are you doing that? You know, so that's bullshit. But I think the idea of I think being an entrepreneur gets like a bad rep or it's almost talked about in a negative light of like, you know, the husband who's been like too distant from the kids or whatever. Sure, that happens and people have a bad relationship with alcohol, a bad relationship with poker or whatever the fuck they think. Like, you know, you can have a bad relationship with anything that's on you.
Dean:But, man, to what you said there, like to wake up and be excited about your your day, to be like, wake up, be invigorated. That is literally priceless.
Sol:Is that not just the goal in life? And I remember this feeling so well of being excited to wake up every day because when I got to Bali, was waking up before my alarm at like five in the morning because all I could think about was being, I just woke up with a smile on my face, I was so excited to build what I was building, and then I contrasted that to then waking up at seven in the morning to a horrible alarm in London, feeling awful. And I was like, those two really tangible specific examples are the exact reason why all I could think about was how to get out of that job, and all I wanted to do was get back to this lifestyle. And I'm back at it now and I can say it's just as good as I remember it, and exactly, that's the thing. And that's why I like to say wake up in the morning excited, because it's easy to say purposeful, I'm feeling fulfilled, but it's really hard to put that down to a tangible feeling, and that's the only way I've been able to describe it.
Dean:Because like fulfilled is this abstract concept almost to somebody who is unfulfilled and somebody who doesn't have purpose, that's like a, you almost can't really grasp it because it doesn't make sense to you right there, but I think what you can make sense of is just being excited about what you are waking up to do that day. Yes. Which is just a beautiful thing.
Sol:100%, and that, it always made me laugh so much. The two things that made me laugh about corporate life was, firstly, the idea of Sunday scaries. Like, that as a concept is you are terrified about your next day, you've built a life where you're terrified about the next day. Like, that seems so crazy.
Dean:When you break that down, that is actually mad. It's it's like actually mad. It's like, you know, you are literally inside your pocket, You have a vehicle to never have to do that again.
Sol:Yeah.
Dean:Yeah. You just have to click a few buttons, absorb a series of information, take a series of action, and you never ever have to
Sol:do that Yeah. And you're just and and it's like you're living in in a fear of yeah exactly that. And then that is the part that is like it's actually easier to change. And then the extension of that, the part is that I always found, again, tangible to people who are listening to this, but you know corporate chat where it's like, what did you what did you do at the weekend? What did you what are you doing at the weekend?
Sol:Yeah. And then people, the other thing that was crazy to me is when people were the whole holiday system, so people were gaming the holiday system, they were like, okay, if I take a day here, and I take a day here, I can buy holiday. All I talk about is the next holiday. It was like, used to work with people who had spreadsheets about how they could take a holiday here, but then means that they would get four days off in a row. And I was like, maybe if you just spent a bit more time actually not needing a holiday from you, or designing a life where you don't need a day's holiday, isn't that more like a better use of your time?
Dean:Honestly man I know it sounds extreme but you're a slave. Like you are a slave to this thing, you know, you the way you see it, you can't live your life unless this thing is done that provides you money to then go and buy fuel and groceries and shit. That's true. You are beholden to this thing fundamentally and that's true.
Sol:Sure man, I couldn't agree more, and it feels really aggressive to say the word slave, and it definitely is aggressive, but I completely agree with it, because it's like you are at the end of the day not having choice. And that is, when it comes down to everything, it's not money, it's not even time freedom, it just comes down to this one word for me which is choice. And it's like, I could either go and work for the next twelve hours, or I could literally not do a single bit of work for the rest of the day. Mhmm. Or I could go and move to South Africa tomorrow morning, or I could stay here.
Sol:And every single part of that is just being able to have that choice. And if you don't have any of those parts of choice, I believe that you are being constrained by someone else. Mhmm. And the difference between whether that is a good idea, if someone's listening to this and they're thinking whether that's a good idea, is you can sacrifice choice. What you get in return for that is stability.
Sol:You can only have one or the other. Yes. You obviously can have degrees of, but like we've maximized choice, but tomorrow morning we might never make a single dollar again from our business. But the thing is we have choice. And people who work corporate jobs and nine to fives, fair play, they want stability, they wanna wake up every morning and know that a paycheck is coming in, then they have to go and serve someone else's dream if they want to do that.
Dean:And when I say this shit as well, like just to add to that, like I don't say it to the person who's like really happy and loves what they do, say it to the person who is like you and I, who has actually sat there being like I fucking hate this and I'm just not but they're not doing anything. It's like I think back to my old man, honestly, the reason I do what I do is because I'm I'm trying to be in service to my old self.
Sol:Love it. Do you know what I mean?
Dean:Love it. I mean, you're probably the same. 100%. Because do do you, like, see yourself in your clients sometimes? Sure.
Dean:Like, oh, fuck. You know, like
Sol:I remember that. I remember having that problem. I remember having that mindset thing. And but that's what that's the best thing is
Dean:just teaching That's why this pyramid scheme is so beautiful.
Sol:It's it's true. Right? Because all we're doing is teaching people behind us. Yeah. And if the whole world did that, the whole world would be a better place.
Dean:Hey fucking man, brother. And people are
Sol:gonna listen that and they're gonna go, you made money off that. And that's because there's this fundamental misunderstanding that I say regularly to my clients, if there's an invoice to be paid and there's a bit of issues over and over, I say I don't care about your money, I don't wanna go and use it to spend, it's just an exchange of value so that I can then get other people's exchanges of value, like we pay for this podcast studio, that is because they provide a great service to us, you make money from your clients in order to then give value to someone else, the guy who set this podcast studio And if you believe that someone is taking something from you by then paying money, then it's a misunderstanding of what money actually means.
Dean:So true.
Sol:And that's why it's like, yeah, if we are having value and impact to people, we should get paid, and that's very fair, just like if you walk into a supermarket and someone hands you a lovely bit of bread, you don't expect to get that for free do No,
Dean:they've slaved away on that bread, and they should rightly be exchanged some money for the breads. Yeah.
Sol:Exactly. So yeah.
Dean:Oh, man. Pyramid schemes, content, we did Bali. Exactly. We're we're just too fucking cheap.
Sol:Why did why did you come out to Bali?
Dean:I think it was a a gradual decline in my feeling like I was settled in London. I just felt over time, like, am I in the right place or am I here by circumstance? You know? And that nagged at me. And then through having a tough breakup and then being coinciding with the mastermind that was out here, it just I was like, you know what, I'm going to go out here.
Dean:I'm going to put my roots in here for a little bit and just and just see how it feels. It feels like this could be a good season for me to be here. You know what I mean? I think I like the concept of a season.
Sol:Yeah. You know,
Dean:because the reality is, bro, like, you don't know what you're going to be doing in two years. You don't know where the fuck you are, you could live in South Africa,
Sol:could be
Dean:in Fiji.
Sol:Sure, 100%.
Dean:And that's it, and I'm just thinking in seasons now, this season, chilling by.
Sol:Yeah, I love that, I love that, it's so cool, I mean it's so cool to just, the world's not such a small place and you can actually just up sticks and move anywhere you want, with obviously you need a bit of money to do it and that helps, but where there's a will there's a way. People always say to me like I'd to move you upside the world, I'm like do it, like why aren't you doing it? Just go and do it, that's what I love about what that answer meant, it's like you had a vision, it obviously aligned with some stuff, and it was like, it's just gotta make it happen. And worse comes to worst, you book a flight
Dean:home tomorrow.
Sol:You
Dean:can go back.
Sol:Yeah. You're back in London tomorrow morning, you can apply for a job and get it in two weeks time, or you can go and do that. You can go
Dean:back into fucking tech sales. Exactly. And you try not to jump off a bridge.
Sol:I love that.
Dean:Brother, this was really fun, man. I appreciate you coming on and sharing your story and your wisdom and just having a good laugh. This was Yeah.
Sol:I loved it, and and thanks everyone for listening, and thanks thanks for having me on, mate.
Dean:Thanks, brother. Nice, man. Sweet.
Sol:That was fun. Very good. Enjoyed that a lot, man. That was so Yeah.
