Info

Entrepreneur Mastermind Podcast

Welcome to the Entrepreneur Mastermind Podcast! One of the most powerful ways you can grow your business and expand your knowledge is by having a mastermind group of people who come together to share their business experiences, struggles and solutions with each other. We wanted to document this process by making our mastermind public and completely transparent. Initially this podcast was called Entreprogrammers since we were a group of entrepreneur programmers starting our first businesses, but since then several people have left and new people have joined and we’ve rebooted the podcast as the Entrepreneur Mastermind Podcast.
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
Entrepreneur Mastermind Podcast
2023
March
February
January


2022
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2015
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2014
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April


All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: June, 2015
Jun 30, 2015

Episode 71 "Gold Farmers"

 

3:05

We’re Live!

 

3:22 

Derick mentioned he had the greatest sale of his RabbitMQ, he traded a copy of the RabbitMQ bundle for a Lego Star Wars kit. Josh says that he’ll reminded him about his choices when he complains why he did not hit 7000. 

 

 4:45

Derick talks about the marketing campaigns of the RabbitMQ bundle.  Also some talk about a mini ebook on LeanPub, with an email course in the works as well. Derick shares more about his complicated marketing strategy. Derick is also working on driving traffic to his pitch

 

11:30

Derick mentions he is not advertising world wide, last time he did that sales were low in other counties.  Derick shares that he had a difficult time deciding when his Drip emails should go out. In response to Josh, Derick says he is not opposed to sending out  two ad emails a day. 

 

20:05

Derick made 6700 dollars on the RabbitMQ bundle after all the stragglers came in, including trading for Lego Star Wars. Derick explains he tweeted that he would trade a copy of RabbitMQ for Lego Star Wars. Well Played! Derick is still getting emails from people who are still interested in buying in a few weeks. 

 

 23:55

Josh says that Derick should setup a cross promotion that connects Javascript to RabbitMQ.  Derick says he actually has time to setup the marketing stuff. Derick shares the reports of the optimization of his website. 

 

31:00

Josh talks about the inner workings of a Continuity model. Derick talks about an embarrassing moment when recording a Watch Me Code video cover ES6 material.  

 

41:55

John is liking Berlin, but leaving on Monday. John talks about the diversity and culture of Europe. John meets someone who he had a discussion with about entrepreneurship and jobs. John talks about how most people would have to become an  entrepreneur, considering changes in the economy. The EntreProgrammers talk about entrepreneurship and how employment is evolving into entrepreneurship. Also, how things have become very niche. EntreProgrammers discuss the problems with Union employment and how people are  trading they’re freedom for security or benefits. They agree it is not sustainable. 

 

59:00

John goes back to mentioning some great things bout Berlin, and give us a recap of the communist history. 

 

1:04:35

John and his family will be flying Ireland, then driving to Dublin. 

 

1:07:00

John’s article on Fast Company has published. Plural Sight asked John to do an interview with Fast Company about the Plural Sight organization. Josh says that John should have gotten a backlink to his site for more traffic. 

 

1:13:50

John asks the team if making the Get Up & Code podcast into a panel discussion, would be a good idea? Similar to Chuck’s podcast.  This allows a bit of freedom and less responsibility.  John is trying free himself from his on going projects, to where he has less responsibility with them while keeping them going. 

 

1:18:00

Josh has installed a gmail plugin that allows him to check his email twice a day. This allow him to only check his email an certain times, so he can get work done. Derick compares this email feature to the Tim Ferris email option. Josh says he needs the mental space to  do his client work. Josh is loving his work schedule and being able to do whatever he needs at anytime. 

 

1:31:15

Josh is trying to line up this client work so they’re month to month. This way he can schedule his week, and plan the following month as it allows. Josh is getting ready to hire a copywriter to help him do some research for him? Josh is about to take John’s advice and hire a transcriptionist VA to take over some menial work.

 

1:45:30

John suggests that Josh should ask for referrals. Josh says that he joined the John Carlton course to learn from David Garfinkle, a copywriter coach. Josh mention that he would be making 12000 not  including benefits. 

 

1:58:30

John talks about a couple of books he liked reading or listening too, one of which is “The Richest Man In Babylon.” 

 

2:00:00

John was mentioned on John Lee Dumas’ podcast Entrepreneur On Fire. John was an example of those who have a niche and make money from that niche.   

 

Thought of the Week

 

John - Pay yourself 10% first.

 

Josh - Cut down distractions

 

Derick - Don’t be afraid to make a non-traditional sale 

 

Things mention in this episode

 

John’s Article

http://www.fastcompany.com/3047592/most-creative-people/this-online-school-for-developers-pays-teachers-millions-of-dollars

 

Fight Company

http://www.fastcompany.com

 

Rev.com

https://www.rev.com/transcription

 

David Garfinkel

 http://www.hardtofindseminars.com/David_Garfinkel_Copywriting_Templates.html

 

The Richest Man In Babylon

http://www.amazon.com/The-Richest-Babylon-George-Clason/dp/1505339111

Jun 23, 2015

EntreProgrammers Episode 70

RabbitMQ Twinky 

 

3:04

We’re Live!

John is still on his expedition in Berlin…

 

5:45

Derick shares his sales report with is new launch of the RabbitMQ bundle. Josh asks about the break-down of the sales.

 

Derick has given away 8-10 full version packages

  • 20 sales of the full package plus 8 giveaways
  • 5  sales of the mid-level bundles
  • 9  sales of the e-book

Interestingly,  two customers were generous enough to full price, without using the discount code. Derick reports he is a couple hundred dollar short of his goal, but still impressed with the sales report.  Derick shares information about his follow-up strategy in the next two week, and  in another 14 days after.

 

15:24

Josh suggest a clever strategy with Derick, setting up a campaign that takes key content from the ebook and send an emails of small snippets of key information over several days. Then send a discount code for an upgrade. Derick mentions he may do a discount later on. 

 

19:30

Josh mentions Click Funnels as an amazing way to track activity on your funnels. John mentions seeing DPD trucks from his apartment window.  

 

20:24

Overall, Derick is pleased with his sales results and is confident in the sale post launch. John talks about those who have a subscription to Watch Me Code, but in interested in the RabbitMQ bundle. John thinks this will upset the customers or make them feel ripped off that they did not get a discount offer. 

 

 27:00

John suggests in the future that Derick create a Platinum Watch Me Code subscription that gives access to anything Derick produces that is also apart of a package or bundle. After this new information, Derick checks the subscription packages to see his Watch Me Code subscribers. 

 

 34:29

Derick talks about helping his SignalLeaf customers migrate to Libsyn. He is able to be an affiliate to Libsyn for the migration of his customers. Derick may create a screencast for the migration to Libsyn, not a promise, but may happen. 

 

39:23

John talks about creating a type of tracking system for podcast. This system will track the  exacted sections of listens in the audio episode, add images to appear,  adding links to appear. Of course this embedded piece of audio would need a special type of player to provide the enhanced experience. Josh says this sound like QR codes for podcasts. 

 

43:06

John mentions he use Overcast to listen to podcasts instead of using iTunes podcast app. Overcast is an iPhone app that enhances the listening experience of podcasts, by removing dead space, normalizing, and playback at different speeds. 

 

52:15 

Chuck mentions that he has several things happening to taking up his time, and he is not able to record videos and make content. Ruby Remote Conf. event is happening next week. Chuck has sales coming in, but not as much as he was expecting. Chuck has 30 - 40 people signed up for Ruby Remote Conf. Josh talked about the timing of the conference may have some things to do with the numbers of sign-ups. 

 

1:04:05

Chuck is thinking about quitting freelancing. With the numbers is making, Chuck could possibly quit. Derick gives advice to freelance for the time he needs extra funds, or until things smooth over. John talks about only freelance for a high rate rather than taking on several jobs that may take up time at low rates.  Josh talks about ways to bounce back, with the story of Ryan Dice and internet marketing. John thinks that Chuck is in no danger with the numbers he is producing. John thinks he could move some things around to make ends meet. 

 

1:21:31

John talks about his meet-up he had in Berlin. 7 people showed up, locals and distant travelers to meet up with John. John is going to do meet-up is all the cities he visited. 

John talks about redoing some server stuff with Digital Ocean. 

 

1:31:30 

Josh has been tracking his work time during the week. Josh is trying to become the teaches pet, while taking Carlton’s course.

 

  • Writing = 20 hours
  • John Carlton Copywriting Course - 2 hours  

 

Josh has the talent of creating the connections with those he want to learn quality traits. Josh is also apart of a writing group where he is getting recommended for work. 

Josh talks about meeting with Perry Marshall and thanked him for the 80-20 information he learn. Also, Perry is publishing a letter Josh wrote and working on a project with Perry. 

 

1:43:15

Josh ask how the Entreprogrammers handle their vacation time.

 

1:53:00

John says that he never really full leaves work behind. He does have to deal with email, otherwise things will pile up. 

 

1:56:30

The Entreprogrammers help Josh figure out his retainer model. Josh is thinking about moving from a project to project model. 

 

Thoughts for the week

 

Derick - Temper your highs with knowledge that the lows are coming, and brace yourself against the lows that the highs are coming again.  

Josh - To find your strengths, look at the thing that got you in trouble as a kid

John - Don’t go off the rails 

Chuck - Stick with call you believe. If you hold some convictions, stick with them.

 

People and things mentioned in this episode

 

ClickFunnels 

https://www.clickfunnel.com/price-table

 

Overcast

https://overcast.fm

 

John Carlton

http://www.john-carlton.com

Perry Marshall

 

https://www.perrymarshall.com/80-20/

Jun 16, 2015

Episode 69

Signal Leaf Talk…

3:04

We're Live!

John coming to us from Berlin, Germany. Still with red curtains. John has been walking 14 miles a day, and exploring the city, and the Diet Coke is cheaper in Berlin. 

8:00

John talks about the toilet situation while in Paris. Worst bathroom in the entire city was at McDonald’s Paris.  John can’t get over the fact of how the  beautiful the city of Paris is, but the inhabitance are questionable. John took notice of the many smoker in Europe. 

19:56

Josh ask John about is AdWords  campaign. John explains that he was not getting good result because of the “bounce back” to the simple programmer site.  John talks about not having the will to write a blog post.  John has not been able to workout or run, because he has been moving from place to place. 

26:27

Derick’s Watch Me Code RabbitMQ Bundle with be release June 15th.   

watchmecode.net/rmq/4devs   Discount code: CAERBANNOG for high level package. 

29:14 

Josh thinks that Derick decision with the discount might not be a great idea. Josh explains the urgency of the lower tier packages. 

34:20

John explain the discount, using the toilet paper vs. a Tesla. John thinks it depends of the products and the targeted market. Josh suggest a discount across all tiers, but a discount proportionate to the price of the bundle. 

The EntreProgrammers discuss the pricing models  for Derick’s bundle. They all have great opinions about how to going about discounting these packages. They are all keeping focus of the success of the launch. 

 45:00 

Josh thinks that Derick should keep the urgency of the discount. Which will leverage the sales and make people think that they should buy before the expiration of the discount code. 

48:38 

After the launch is over and when Derick gets in to regular sales. Derick talks about using the ebook as a way to up-sale to the  high level tier. John suggest something similar, by taking the ebook and selling it on Book Smash or Book Baby. and sale it for .99 cents, and use it as a traffic source.  

53:09

Derick decide to create a discount for the lower tier bundles. 

58:08 

So what about SignalLeaf? 

Derick talks about  how he fell the growing pains of Signal Leaf. Derick has to quick fix his pricing model. At the beginning, Derick did not account for the bandwidth of the podcast.  John talks about the small lost vs. big loss of money each month. Derick gives a run down of the amount subscriber numbers of Signal Leaf.  Josh talks about the infrastructure of the internet:  “They can’t shove anymore lights down the tubes.”

1:06:02

John ask if bandwidth with be cheaper or more expensive in 5 years? Johns passionately talks about the internet bandwidth. Chuck ask if Signal Leaf will have twice the problems it it grows. 

1:11:05

Derick talks about how he does not want to do what Libsyn or Blueberry are doing when it come to unlimited bandwidth.  Chuck suggest raising prices. Derick say he does not have the time to fix the problem. The EntreProgrammers ask Derick, why keep Signal Leaf if he is losing money and on track to loss more. Derick talks  get ideas from keeping Signal Leaf going.  Chuck ask what needs to happen for Derick to keep Signal Leaf continue to work. 

1:24:00

The EntreProgrammers talk about ways to keep Signal Leaf going. John suggest the Derick needs fundamental way to make money with Signal Leaf and fix the business model. 

1:36.00

John suggest the Derick get someone to work off of commission to gain Signal Leaf customers. Derick talks about the other ideas he had to Signal Leaf going. Derick talk about how the DropBox integration would be the killer feature. 

1:43:00

John suggest that Derick set a threshold to when the bandwidth problems occur and send a notification to the user. Derick talks about the other thing he would have time to do if he shuts down Signal Leaf. Derick is talking about how ideal it would be to turn Signal Leaf into a subscription service.

1:50:00

John suggest turning Signal Leaf off or to private, and triple the price.  Derick doesn’t feel that Signal Leaf is worth keeping up. The Death of Signal Leaf. 

1:55:15

John mentions how about a year ago, Derick wanted to shutdown Watch Me Code, and focus on Signal Leaf. 

 2:00:00 

Josh talks about Killing a deal… Josh need help with his scheduling his work load. Derick mention he plans something like one month ahead. Chuck mentions that Josh needs to figure out his prices and his workload he can deliver. 

2:16:00

Amount work the EntreProgrammers do a week. 

Chuck - 50-60 hours per week

Derick - 50-60 hours per week

John - 50- 60 hours per week

EntreProgrammers Retreat landing page

This will be email this week

Go to. entreprogrammer.com/retreat2015

 Thoughts of the Week!

John - Damage control

Josh - Kill things 

Chuck - Where do I want to be in 3-5 years? 

Derick - commit to your decisions.

Jun 9, 2015

Episode 68

Get Maid Service…

We're Live!

EntreProgrammers Rave Party!

John comes to us live from Paris, with no air conditioning and super expensive diet Coke.

08:32 

John is sent on a wild goose chase to get his Edition Apple Watch in Paris. Derick mention that the Sport Edition is not durable enough for sports.  John thinks it is worth the thousand bucks, for the initial use of the maps feature on the Apple Watch. 

16:21 

John does a lot of walking around to different places while in Paris: Eiffel Tower, Mona Lisa, and Napoleon’s Tomb and Disneyland Paris. 

 

22:55

Derick is work hard on the RabbitMQ for develops bundle - tons of editing, making things look prettier, and some work on the marketing.

 24:36

Derick gives you a run down to the three packages are going to be available on the 15th of June. Here is a little bit of what you could expect: 

  • Complete Bundle: 12 Screen Cast, 6 Interview, e-book
  • 2nd Version: e-book, screen cast, 2 interviews
  • 3rd Version: e-book, and 1 free interview

Derick mentions the ThunderPlains Conferences, an excellent resource for developers and networking. John likes the new logos made by 99 designs. Derick talks about the devaluing of designers when contest are held like the ones 99 design hold. 

 39:57

EntreProgrammers discuss the meritocracy of developers, designers, etc.  John talk about how the gate keeps should only exist that is lower level.  John talks about not competing with jobs being outsourced, but give actual evidence and reason why you charge your rate.   

49:01 

Josh makes a great point about freelancers and how they should not take all the low paying jobs, but should take the higher end jobs.  To keep from juggling to many low-end projects.

51:00 

Johns goes to the wrong airport when leaving for Paris. FYI, There is No Iceland Air at Orlando International Airport. Derick shares his horrific travel story.  

1:01:19 

Chuck gets back form Atlanta from Career Builder training. Chuck is planning a personal retreat to recoup and reorganized.  John talks about taking the blue pill, and as entrepreneur, this is the new life of dealing with energizing yourself to get work done. Chuck would take a retreat now, but there tons of events coming up every week. 

Josh talks about how he goes into a tail spin when people try to ping him, or contact him in the middle of work.   

1:16:37 

Derick suggests that Chuck should listen to a pass episode with Rob Walling. Rob talks about personal retreats and recuperating. 

 

1:18:28

 John tells Chuck to get a lawn mower and maid service. John suggests taking the family out while the mowing and cleaning get done. It will give back so  much time. 

1:27:52 

 Chuck talks about how he may be at the inflection point, before thing should take off. John says if you can get through it, thing will look great again.  

1:30:06 

Josh is working for his mentor, a book project (60) pages.  Josh talks about how he joined a copywriter’s group that does critiquing.  Josh talks about turning down projects and taking on only high-end projects.  John suggests that Josh hold on to the small paying clients  and not just one big client. Josh shares details about this copy writing jobs, a lot of thing going well, but some small circumstances keeping from full potential sales.

1:54:10 

Josh says is doing my self development and taking courses with copywriter,  John Carlton, one the best copywriters in the world.  Josh has a call scheduled with Perry Marshall, Josh is excite to begin this new project. 

Thoughts of the Week

Derick -  If your always successful, you’re not learning

Josh -  Plan for slack room 

John - Keep on doing the things that make you feel uncomfortable to grow

Chuck - Your Perceptions form your reality

People and Things mentioned in the episode!

Thunder Plains Conference for Developers: 

http://www.innotechconferences.com/okc/about-2/special-events/thunder-plains-developer-conference/

John Carlton: http://carltoncoaching.com

Perry Marshall: http://www.perrymarshall.com/products/


Jun 2, 2015

Episode 67 "Get Off My Lawn"

All right We're Live! 

A Trip Down Memory Lane

3:30 - The EntreProgrammers talk about receiving free books, from companies and individuals, for the purpose of marketing efforts and Ad spots. Derick shares a few stories of the first books he use to launch his career.   

8:34 - John confesses to modifying cookies on PayPal sites, and changing prices to a dollar. 

9:32 - Derick shows us his original copy of Windows 95. John suggests taking a picture, instead of holding on to artifact. Neat, Derick cleans his office; we can finally see the wood floors.    

Biker Gang   

12:57 - John gives a shout out to the crazies in Waco TX, small town, big problems.

17:46  - What’s going on business wise?

Derick will release the RabbitMQ bundle on June 15th, and will release a free episode with Udi Dahan.  Derick talks about his awesome marketing strategy for his bundle.  All the EntrProgrammers agree that this tactic is a golden nugget for the product launch. 

24:02 – Josh mentions he uses Audio Book Binder to create a sequence mp3s to play back like an audiobook. Josh explains how to configure this format to sync to the Audible app. 

25:02 – John talks about an app called Mac ID, which John claims he filed a patent. John explains how the app is use to unlock and lock your Mac when you phone is in proximity of your Mac, or by touch ID from your iPhone. 

27:30 - John talks about an ultimate prank, using web proxies, he pulled on a member of the Democratic Party. 

29:25 - Derick share is best prank of a screen saver that mimicked “the blue screen of death,” and rebooting sequence. Derick shares another stories of his glory days.  

36:54 – John mentions he has seven episodes on his new Simple Programmer Podcast. Derick does some commentary on the intro music. John mentions the 17,000 downloads.  

40:05 – John shares a podcasting incident: old files and new file getting mixed up.  John finalizes his contact with the consulting gig. The EntreProgrammers talk about their current and pass consulting gigs and their plan to action. 

50:12 – John talks about his new blog editor, Elisa Doucette who is going to help with the writing content for the Simple Programmer site.

John plans to post all these pieces of content on the Simple Programmer site. 

-       5 blog posts per day

-       5 videos per day 

-       Get Up and Code podcast

-       EntreProgrammers podcast

1:03:00 – John talks about how he is able to create tons more content as he hands-off his tasks to his VA, and outsource contractors. John’s goal is to hit a million page view per day on Simple Programmers site. 

1:10:30 – John leave for Paris, and 3 months on the road in Europe.  John reluctantly share that he is apart of another mastermind group.   

1:12:30 - Chuck shares his busy work schedule and not having the time to record videos and create content. Josh helps by sharing how he looks ahead in to the next week and figures the things he is capable accomplishing. John talks about his pass workload in dealing time crunches.  Next, Chuck shares how sponsorship opportunities keep coming up, he may have to raise his sponsorship fees. Keen IO approached Chuck about some sponsorship. 

1:24:05 - Derick shows off his tattoos and confirms his affiliation to the biker gangs. 

1:33:00 – Derick has a new site design on watchmecode.com, thanks to Momoko at Kantan Designs

1:35:35 – Derick add that he refuses to use PayPal for subscriptions. One-time payments are fine, but PayPal has issues with subscriptions payments. 

1:43:25 - Josh is very excited not having an official job. Josh is implementing the pomodoro time management techniques, as wellas turning off  Skype and Slack notifications. Josh is battling deadlines and pleasing clients. Josh shares more about the work he is doing with is client who owns the runner business. He is taking away a great amount of knowledge that he is employing with other projects. 

2:08:00 - EntreProgrammers Retreat sign up are coming

  • October12-15th, 2015 
  • 1200 dollars per person 
  • 10 slots available
  • Register at Entreprogrammer.com/retreat2015

 2:12:10 - Thoughts for the Week

John – Raise your prices 

Josh – Plan yout day first thing in the morning

Chuck – If there are things you need to get done, say no to others

Derick – Simplify, clean up and get rid of stuff. 

People and things mentioned in this episode

Udi Dahan: http://www.udidahan.com/?blog=true

Audio Book Binder: -http://bluezbox.com/audiobookbinder.html

Simple Programmer Podcast: http://simpleprogrammer.com/podcasts/

Elisa Doucettehttp://www.craftyourcontent.com/work-with-us/  

Keen IOhttps://keen.io

Kantan Designshttp://kantan.io

1