The Secret to Growing When You’d Rather Hide  

Most people think success comes from the perfect strategy, but really it’s about having the guts to look stupid. In this episode, I’m sharing three things that terrified me early on. They didn’t pay off instantly, but each one helped me grow into someone who could actually win online

[0:24]
I’m Igor Kheifets, and this is The ListBuilding Lifestyle. The podcast is for anyone who wants to build a wildly profitable email list working from home. If you’d like to make six figures, travel the world and help people improve their lives in the process, this podcast is for you. I also invite you to claim a free copy of my best selling book, The List Building Lifestyle Confessions of an Email Millionaire at www.igorsbook.com
Get the free book plus $3,000 bonus package that includes my best capture page templates, email swipe files and traffic blueprints, visit www.igorsbook.com for details, And now it’s time to claim your List Building Lifestyle!

[1:10]
So, one thing I believe that was one of the most uncomfortable things that I’ve ever done to level up, I think, was to record videos, especially early on, when my English was really bad, and I spoke like a bull rat -you know, from that movie- I think putting myself out there on camera and trying to say things with a straight face, and then watching myself and cringing every time I heard my squeaky voice, I think that really helped to level up. Because, it helped me get okay with the idea that other people will see and judge me.

[1:48]
And I think it’s one of those big mental barriers that people experience when it comes to emailing their list. One of the most common things that I’ve seen in The List Building Lifestyle is people actually generating lots of leads and putting lots of new people on their email list, but failing to mail them or failing to email them consistently. Because I believe they’re afraid of being judged, they’re afraid of sending out an email, and nobody buying anything. They’re afraid of sending out an email and nobody opening that email, which can happen! And that’s a big barrier to success.

[2:30]
I believe if you want to be successful, you have to be okay with people judging you. I’m not saying you should do things on purpose to make people hate you, but you should just be okay with the fact that people will judge you and your words, and they will probably do it harshly, because it’s the internet, and everyone’s a hole on the internet. I mean, not everyone, but 99% of people, I think that the way they use the internet is to get online and just complain, rant or insult other people, because they can do it without the fear of being punched in the face. Online, anyone can say anything about anyone. They don’t even have to back it up in any sort of fact whatsoever. So, you have to be okay with that.

[3:21]
So, for me, when I started recording videos, the first 50 videos I recorded, I didn’t make a dime from them, by the way. Even the one said that caught a little bit of wind and kind of amassed a few 1000 views, I didn’t make any money from those. But I was like, religiously uploading those videos, maybe three to five of them a week. I even remember buying a flip camcorder – I don’t know if you guys ever seen one, but if you google it, flip camcorder, you’ll see- It was like a handheld device that would, its only job was to record high quality video, which you could carry around, like we carry our phones today, and record some videos and then quickly upload them to the internet.

And so, I got better with video over time. But, it’s the mere act, I think, of filming those videos that got me to level up. And I can say the same thing about the first 50 emails that I wrote and sent out to my list, which did not result in any sales. Because, again, I’m just honing my skill, I’m practicing the craft, I’m putting myself out there. I’m kind of just putting in the reps, so to speak. And I can say the exact same thing about the few years that I’ve done on the phone.

[4:57]
Now, this is probably the scariest thing. I think the scariest thing for me was to pitch on the phone, for two reasons. First off, because on the phone, people can say “No”, right? They don’t want to buy from me. And the second reason, because I had to do it for my own products. It was a moment when, after I started making money promoting other people’s products, I said, “Okay, I want to do my own products too”. And so, I created an $800 offer, and I started getting on the phone with people.

And the first person that I spoke to, by the way, that didn’t hang up on me, was a lady, a Ukrainian lady from South Africa. And I thought, “Oh, wow, she’s Ukrainian, I’m Ukrainian, I have a good shot here!”. And so, we actually spoke in Russian for 40 minutes. And then -Remember, she’s inquiring about my coaching- So, we spoke for about 40 minutes. And then, I made her an offer. I said, “it’s going to be $800, this is what you get”. And she came back with the, like, I didn’t expect what she said next! She said, “You know, Igor, if you’re coaching so good, why don’t you coach me for free?”

Now, at the time, I didn’t know how to respond to an objection like that. Now I know, but then I just said, “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to do that!” And that was the end of the conversation! I remember when I hung up the phone, and actually it wasn’t like a phone, it was a Skype call, I felt like, not really insulted, but I felt rejected! I think anyone who ever got shut down kind of knows what that feeling is. And going through that, which was by far my biggest fear, really helped me level up.

[7:05]
The next five or seven calls or so, I didn’t make a sale. I tried lowering the price, increasing the price, it just wouldn’t work! But then, I spoke to one of my mentors, one of the founders of Groove, and I said, “John”. I said, “This is what’s going on”.

And John was actually a highly experienced entrepreneur, unlike myself, who was just a kid, kind of trying to figure out how to build an online business, John was actually a highly experienced business owner who ran a bunch of shops, like in adult stores, he had ownership in a cruise line, and he did a bunch of really interesting stuff, and then he switched to internet marketing.

I said, “John, nobody’s buying, it’s like, I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong”. And he said, “Well, why don’t you say this and this and change this line to this line?” And he’s kind of like, he didn’t give me an entire script, but he sort of tweaked my pitch and stripped a few components, added some stuff. The next call I had, I closed for something like $2,400 or $2,200, I was ecstatic! I felt like I won the lottery. I really experienced one of the most massive breakthrough feelings in my entire life.

But again, it wouldn’t happen unless initially I worked up the courage to face my fears and to pitch someone on the phone. So, there’s just three examples of the things that I’ve done in the industry that I think helped me level up and really helped me grow to become the sort of person you need to be, to be making millions of dollars every year online.

[9:03]
Thank you for listening to The List Building Lifestyle, get access to the previous episodes, transcript of today’s show, as well as other exclusive content at www.listbuildinglifestyleshow.com. Also remember to claim your free copy of my best selling book at www.igorsbook.com. It explains how I made millions with list buildings starting from scratch, plus I’ll give you $3,000 worth of free bonuses, including my best landing page templates, email swipe files and traffic blueprints. Go to www.igorsbook.com, now to claim your free package!