Listen to Positive Talk With Kevin McDonald on the Brushwood Media Network
386 | FUN Conversation where you’ll learn a lot featuring David Newkirk!

January 02, 2023

386 | FUN Conversation where you’ll learn a lot featuring David Newkirk!
Play Episode

A business mentor/coach leveraging expertise as a Senior Executive with extensive experience in building, managing and leading businesses & people in all aspects of an organization - Operations, Technology, Sales/Relationship Management, Marketing and Conversions/Implementations.

Check us out:
https://www.positivetalkradio.net/support/
https://kmmedia.pro/our-store
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/positivetalkradio
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/positivetalkradio/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@positivetalkradio?lang=en
Twitter - https://twitter.com/positivetradio

The player is loading ...
Transcript

0:00  
This is a production of km media dot Pro. Welcome back to positive talk radio. Our goal is simple to explore evolving ideas one conversation at a time. So come on over into our world. I know you'll like it. Because on today's show are you an entrepreneur? Are you an entrepreneur want to be? Do you know somebody that's an entrepreneur or a wannabe? This is the show for you. We've got a great guest for you today. And we're going to talk all about how to get from where you is to where you want to be. I need to learn how to speak English, but that's okay. But first before we go there, it's the last day last show of the year. Nathan, how are you?

0:51  
Good afternoon, Kevin. And long story short? Yes. Yes. What? Yes, is my answer.

1:02  
It's the last day of the year. And I quite frankly, I'm kind of sad. Not Well, no, I'm not sad to see 2020 to go. I'm looking really forward to 2023 I think it's going to be a really dynamic year for a lot of folks and, and us included. And I'm just excited for the whole thing. What do you got planned for this weekend? Are you gonna go be a party animal like you normally do?

1:25  
I'll probably just stay at home and take it easy, you know, gotta be up for work in the morning. So I can't party too hard. But I strive to stay up at least to watch you know, the space needles, firework show or whatever they have planned for this year. And then probably just call it a night after that. And welcome in 2023

1:45  
Yes, and see because you are low man on the totem pole where you are, you get to work on the holidays. And so then Eric can take a four day weekend and and stuff like that. So I applaud you for for having a good attitude about all that.

2:03  
And it also just happens to fall in the days I normally work too. So now just got a cold kind of luck of the draw thing and, and a few years from now, it'll be on a day I don't work. So get the night off.

2:14  
Exactly, exactly. Well, I if you ever decide that you want to go into business for yourself, and you want to become an entrepreneur, and you want to do like what I'm doing, which is a audio or immediate production company, and you become an entrepreneur, I've got the guy to talk to and he's sitting right here with us. And he's easy. He's a great gentleman, his name is David Newkirk. David, how are you?

2:39  
I'm good, Kevin, how are you? Hi.

2:42  
I've been looking forward to this interview for ever since we met the first time.

2:47  
I have to that was such an enjoyable conversation. I was looking forward to the next one with you.

2:52  
It was just so much fun, because you are such a vibrant spirit. And let me let me give you give folks a little bit about your background. You were in corporate America for 30 years, you worked with large corporations, small private company owned privately owned companies, and business startups. You've done it all. And now what you've done is you've gone out on your own and are dedicating your life with the company that you have, which I'm going to try and pronounce it. F those counseling consulting.

3:26  
Yes, ethos consulting. That's right.

3:29  
I knew I'd get it wrong. I had 50% chance that, you know, Nathan, that's my new year's resolution is to learn how to speak English, which apparently is my second language.

3:39  
I thought you're just gonna get a coin with both sides being heads. So that, you know, you don't need to be 50%. Right? Because it'd be 100%. Right?

3:48  
Well, and there's a reason for that. There's a reason why I do not gamble. Because for me, it's I call that giving, because I always pick the wrong 50%. And it's always goes to the wrong place, even when I'm doing like roulette, or something like that. So I don't gamble. So. But in but in any event, David, we were going to be and by the way, you'll be able to give us a call and talk to David if you've got a question about being an entrepreneur getting started you got a roadblock what's happening in your life. And what's going on with you will you'll be able to call and Nathan why don't we get the phone numbers now, sir,

4:25  
now's the time to get those resolutions set in stone for the new year. If you want to give us a call and get some entrepreneurship advice from David Newkirk, our phone number is 425-373-5527 or toll free at 1-888-298-5569.

4:44  
So, David, when was it that you decided that even though you were working in corporate America and you were very successful doing what you were doing, and then you decided that you wanted to start your own thing? And to open up your own company? What What motivated you

4:59  
I think the turning point was you deal with a lot of ups and downs in corporate America, you deal with a lot of personalities, you deal with a lot of egos. And you also deal with people who are not like that. But there tends to be a lot of them like that. And I think I was just very tired of having to always navigate without any rest. The personalities and the ego dynamics in the workplace, where I just wanted to do a good job wanted to be passionate about what I do, wanted to do what I believed in. And I felt like the only way I could actually represent that and be happy was to do it myself, without having to be challenged by corporate America and the culture and the environment, asking me to do things that deviate from what I believe in. How do I want to serve clients what I want to do, and not have to battle in meetings, people who want to do things to serve self. I wanted to serve people. And I wanted to serve passionately, helping move people forward. I did not want to serve self in a corporate America environment.

6:16  
Oh, there aren't people like that in corporate America.

6:20  
Nothing wrong with it. No judgment, but just not for me. Just not for me.

6:26  
No, I get it, I totally I totally understand because I've been told I had an employer one time. And I was working for him. And I had a meeting with them. And he said to me, you know, you're not a very good employee. And you probably need to go do your own thing. Because usually you don't, you don't follow direction well, and you don't do what other people tell you to do. And I really have had a problem with that when I don't believe in the direction that I'm being given. Yes. And a lot of times, the direction you're being given comes from a different place, and a place from other than your heart, which is I know where you are a heart centered man, and you're very spiritual, and you're working to help people live the best life both personally and professionally.

7:17  
Absolutely. One of the things that I always wanted to do is I always felt like if I come in every day, I want to be able to do that rising tide lifts all boats, have everyone have Lau everyone to have a good day allow everyone to be in sync allow everyone to feel like they're part of something. And it was, it was very draining. It's very taxing physically and emotionally, when you're fighting to try to keep that as your mantra day in and day out in a very complex workplace. Entrepreneurship frees you of that complexity. It creates inherent challenges, of course, being an entrepreneur and a business for yourself. But it also brings freedom. And I think that was the attraction, the idea of what what is freedom? And what is unlocking my ability to just follow my passion, and allow me to succeed or fail, at least with that endeavor of following my passion and feeling free.

8:17  
What you're and I firmly believe that because you're following your heart, follow your passion, that you're not going to fail, as long as you keep going and keep working at it. Is that right?

8:29  
Absolutely. You know, it's interesting that you picked up on the word failure because I look at failure isn't always like total failure. Failure could be a failure, just for a day, it could be just for an hour, it could be just for a moment, it could be a wrong decision. So it's never has to be this ultimate thing, right? Where it's a destination, you land out with your business. But you're absolutely right. it with passion. I don't know of anyone who is passionate and fails, because with passion, they leave themselves very open to doing what they need to do to be successful. And you're right, that door tends to lead you through much more ongoing success than anything else.

9:11  
I firmly believe that because I started this in 2002 on a radio station in KLA wide called Kaylee while you're in Tacoma, and I've been doing this offline for the last 20 years. This was my passion. I did it for almost a year. On K K NW, the same station we're on today. I was one of the first shows on K K NW, when they flipped the format, two hours a day, five days a week. And eventually it failed. That particular show failed because I ran out of money to be able to fund it. But it didn't. It didn't extinguish my passion for doing what I'm doing. So it took a while. As sometimes in life, it happens. But now you know, technology caught up and I'm able to do it a little bit differently. And I'm just still passionate about what I do. And I really think that even if, in my case, it's it's taken 20 years to get to where I am. But I'm going to continue doing this and when I may have to hire you as matter, as

10:16  
well, I think it's great because I think you're highlighting it's really a being an entrepreneur is zigging and zagging. There's no straight line, like, you can't say, I'm going on a straight line, like on a train. And I'm going fast. And I'm getting to my destination. We zig and zag, because we actually continue to learn about ourselves. And also, though about the people we want to serve as clients. And as well as the business we're creating with a philosophy and everything else, for it to be an entity and recognize as a brand. All three of those things we learn as we go, we're always learning. So we're going to zig and zag. But those zigs and zags usually are profound, where they are designed to help us get to where we want to be. Although it could sometimes think we could think it's a block, actually, it's usually a lot of times just to learning and we just are switching our perspective to unlock that view.

11:14  
You know, what makes it fun for me is that when I look back on it, and I go, you know, 20 years ago, there was no such thing as positive talk radio, I created it out of thin air, with a with a passion and with a motivation to do it. And it's it's gone. You know, I now have on the internet, I have 800 episodes up, I've got I've got a box full of CDs from the old days, that I still have to go through and to work. And so when you're an entrepreneur, and you create something out of nothing from thin air with your hard work and your dedication, I can't think of a more powerful way to live your life if you're following your values. Do you agree?

12:00  
I agree 100% 100%. Everybody that I talked to everybody I meet everybody I work with. Everyone shares that same, that same experience, when you are living what you believe, and you can execute that through your business. That's just a formula for success with one caveat. The caveat is allowing or allowing ourselves versus chasing, allowing ourselves to be comfortable with not knowing everything, and allowing ourselves to make mistakes and not beat ourselves up for it. But say, okay, where will this take me, and then use it as a learning. So it's really a game of confidence, more than anything to allow us to, to work through things as they present challenges to us. Because there isn't a challenge. We cannot there isn't any challenge we can solve. But we can unintentionally self limit ourselves, which becomes a block. And if we can prevent that from happening and part of his like what you said, the way that we would live our life it with our business every day. So it's a huge plus huge asset.

13:15  
Do you find that people that are entrepreneurial, in some cases, they want to be top dog, and they don't feel like they want to hire people that know more than they do? And they're they want to be that guy, and the VA had no error, I take a different approach. My approach is I don't know that much. So I it's important for me to hire the best people and to surround myself with the best people that I can who know more than me and then take my ego and put it over here. So that I it's not a matter of me thinking that I know everything. And my business has really changed when I was able to bring on people that could really benefit me.

13:56  
Absolutely, I think it's actually a mixed bag. To your point. I think there is a flavor for everyone's personality based on how they are and what makes them most comfortable. You know, some people are very transaction based on results based. Some people are more relationship based and more open more listeners, some people are delegated. Some people like to have more control and authority over everything directly. Some people like to micromanage. There really isn't a right versus wrong solution. But there is a way to understand the cause and effect of how that particular dynamic that you're most comfortable in as an entrepreneur has positive and negative effects and are you willing to work on the personal things that can be drawbacks with that type of of personality makeup that you have so you can make it work with everybody else who isn't going to necessarily be exactly like you. You're going to be very diverse and who you meet who you work with who you partner with So being able to actually divert from yourself to integrate with other people who are different is really important, really important.

15:10  
Well, and I gotta tell you, you left corporate America, and on your website, which by the way, if you want to go look at his website, you can do that, while you're following along on this interview fo ethos consultants.com. And that's E T. H. O S. consults.com. And that's right, right?

15:32  
Yes, it is. He does consults, you gotta Kevin, very, very

15:35  
nice. And your philosophy is, and I know, you can tell me what it is. But I want to read I love the way you put it here, in on your website, which is, you decided to leave corporate America based upon reconciling my spiritual beliefs around empathy, being of service to others, and a focus on humanity, which is often in conflict professionally and personally, finding success. As a two time entrepreneur, while living openly with spirituality, unlocked my passion for helping other entrepreneurs who are facing these challenges for them, selves, I just love the way that the way that you are and when you left corporate America was because of what your spiritual beliefs were guiding you to do is that is Am I correct in that?

16:23  
Yes, you are. It was, it was, it was a very hard decision to make. Because when you leave corporate America, it does cover my credit does provide some large senses of security. Even though there could be some drawbacks. You have a 401k, you have health insurance, you have a steady paycheck, you have stability day in and day out. And so you have some of those material things which are important for anybody to live a successful life in so many ways to have some sense of security with those components. But it can come at a cost of how much what I learned a lot is our self identity, our identity of who we are cannot always be accurately reflected and represented in the corporate workplace. And so there's two versions of us the one that we are at home, different than the one that we are at work. And then for an entrepreneur, we can be the same person that we are at home, as we can with our business. And we don't have to be an obligation to be an identity that makes everyone else happy, while making us unhappy.

17:36  
And you being interested in helping other people. And a lot of times, you know, in corporate America, that's really not the goal. The goal is to make money making money for the stockholders, and they have the best bottom line and stuff. And a lot of times they you, you're not able to operate your business the way that you would, because you're not the boss, or the big boss. There's a corporate culture that you have to deal with. And it makes it really difficult. If you are feeling like you're not taking care of your people, you're not taking care of your customers. And I there's a better way, but nobody listens to you. I had that problem when I was in, in corporate America is that that you have a desire to be a well rounded, helpful person and to really take care of other people. And when you can't do that, it really makes it difficult to go to work every day.

18:36  
It really does. And you know, where that really hits home, when you were just sharing that insight was, it really comes to a head during what's I would call annual performance reviews. My favorite? I mean, right? That was so interesting to me, because you are forced, in some ways, through the system to have to come up with weaknesses with people and tell them that they have to work on something, you know, you're talking about their challenges, their successes, their strengths, their weaknesses, what they have to work on. And then you'll get a mandate that says only X percent of your staff can get rewarded on X percent, and everyone has to get everyone else has to get less because you're budgeted for an allocation amount of x in terms of rate, raise percentage of everybody. So all of a sudden, you have to deal with nominal, you can't always align the monetary compensation of a race as a percent increase in salary. We've to reflect accurate to people because you're being forced to say not everyone can have that. You have to you can't it can't be evenly distributed. If all of your staff are evenly doing really well. You still have to sacrifice who gets more and who gets less. And so there's these inequalities that cannot be reconciled always, but between performance and reward for performance, and then you, you're forced to have to figure out how do you not make someone understand that, hey, you get less than somebody else, but you actually are a really good employee relative to them as well, you're just as good. But I can't compensate you as much because I'm told I can. So because we're restricted on our button, our budget allocation amount, it's a really tough place to be when you when people have to try to justify and make you seem worse than you are just to justify the salary increase.

20:36  
I couldn't, it's in that makes it really hard. Especially when you're looking at somebody in the eye. And you're saying, you know, you are, I value you as a person as an individual. But my boss has given me this limit. And I can only do this for you, even though you and I both sitting here know it's not enough.

20:56  
Yeah. Or we know that you actually are performing as well as other people because they can see for themselves who performs well and not to, and then there they cannot reconcile as an employee, whether they're on the short end of the stick.

21:11  
Exactly. I got a quick story. Can I tell this quick story? Yeah. Okay. I grew up in the restaurant business. And so I became a general manager of a Mexican restaurant, in Federal Way, was called Garcia's on Scottsdale. And if you are from Federal Way, and you remember that restaurant, give us a call, and we'll talk about it 425-373-5527. And I built this the lounge was, and it was a big lounge, but they weren't doing anything with it. And so it wasn't, it wasn't growing. And so my boss, I sat down and talked to my boss, who the district manager any and I said, this is what my plan is, is what I want to do. And he said, well go for it. If it doesn't work, you know, that's fine. So I put in a jukebox, this is right when digital jukebox came out. And, and I was the first one to do that. There were six restaurants, and then also did a free Happy Hour hors d'oeuvres in the bar. And, and then we would put them out and people could go in and get them themselves and all that kind of stuff. Well, the business grew exponentially. It because people started coming because they liked the atmosphere. And we now have music we know and stuff. We had free food, and during happy hour and stuff. And Pete and so our bar business tripled. And so the restaurant actually did better because more people came to the restaurant as well as as the bar. So things were going great. This boss leaves, another boss comes in. He comes from a different area of the country. And he sees what I'm doing. And he says, No, you can't do that. And I said, but it's successful. And he said, well look at the bar is full. There's lots of people here, you need to prioritize that. And then so but no, you don't understand. The reason they're here is because of what I was doing. And he said, No, I don't believe that for a minute. And so instead of free food free appetizers, and we had nachos, we had chicken wings, we had, you know, all kinds of Mexican stuff that was there. And, and, and he said, No, we're not gonna do that anymore. And so he charged for the appetizers. And he wanted me to make that a really big deal and make everybody really excited about now that we're going to charge for appetizers, we used to give away free bean dip, which was one of the signatures of the restaurant has always been. And he took that away. And when he wanted to charge for that. And then the bar business in three weeks, I'm telling you, David, in three weeks, the bar business went back down to the level it was before I started all of this. And so I had my performance review, this is a long way to get into the performance review. And he said, I'm unhappy with your performance. And I said why? And he said, because your bar business has gone down. And it's because you didn't stand behind my program. While his program wasn't going to work, because it was a completely different thing. And he didn't analyze the business or the other businesses in the area and all that kind of stuff. So then it became my fault because of that. And I ended up leaving shortly thereafter, because I couldn't work with somebody who was going to be that way. So that that in my performance review kind of think that's that's the story of corporate America, you're working for somebody that you fundamentally can't agree that what you're doing and what they want you to do is the correct thing. And so you have to make that decision to go elsewhere. And I wasn't able to become an entrepreneur at that point. But I did later on but is that is that that's that's for me. That was that was a horrible moment in time.

24:56  
It's very, it's very common. I've had that experience in all of my years. as well, that type of transition from one boss to another, a change in belief system value systems belief and how they determine what a relationship is with the employee is a direct report. And man, it's, it's like throwing cold water, you're you're, you're in this great relationship with a boss, you love the company because your boss is a great makes it a great company because you get along with them, you're doing the work, you're being seen, you're being valued, all of a sudden, they leave for whatever reason unexpectedly, or they get promoted or transferred to another area, and you get a new boss, completely different value system belief system, and all of a sudden, they're like, you're not doing a good job. And you're like, wait a minute here, when did the criteria change, that this, all of a sudden, everything has been going well, and all of a sudden you see all of your work, start moving towards a performance that's going to be coming, where they're going to determine that you were not worthy of all the work that you did in terms of being recognized. And that it's really tough place to be very frustrating.

26:05  
You know, the toughest part was that I was so successful, that the previous district manager, put that into all six restaurants, the same format that I in the same things that I was doing down there, because it was successful. So this guy pulled it all and business crashed. Those restaurants now, you may have heard of them. They're called Azteca, which is a local Mexican restaurant chain that bought out the entire chain. Not too long after that, because business just fell off the face of the earth. And it was just and the employees, it killed the employees because they were making great money, and then they're not making great money anymore. And so turnover went up and it was had a cascading effect on everything. And that's that's why I've allowed the employee.

26:51  
Well, you know, I find it this is what I always have great conversations with people. And we always tend to come down to this one statement all the time, where we tend to tend to anyway to find agreement, which is you can be in the worst company in the world. But you have a great boss, where you're not feeling the effects of how bad that company is. And you think it's a great place to work. You can be the best company in the world and have the worst, meanest boss and you think it's the worst place that you could possibly be having a job, the prudent people you work for really determine how you feel about the company, because they help deliver the day in day out experience. And that experience is either going to give you joy, and motivation to come to work and work and be happy. Or it's going to give you dread, you can have a hard time getting up in the morning, you're going to contemplate leaving, you're going to be you're going to be unfulfilled, you're going to feel frustrated, maybe even angry. So yeah, you're I think all of us for all of ourselves, our boss is really determined in the corporate world. And so now as an entrepreneur, now you your own boss. And so here's the key. How do you treat yourself? Do you treat yourself with compassion? Do you treat yourself? How do you treat yourself when you're working through things? When you are having a hard time? Do you beat yourself up? Or do you give yourself a break?

28:12  
I don't know what you're talking about.

28:15  
And so it's really interesting because we actually have to become the boss of ourselves. If you remove the task oriented work that we have to do, managing ourselves to make our business successful. How do we treat ourselves as a human being? Do we treat ourselves well? Or do we beat ourselves up? What is when we're inward? How we actually manage ourselves emotionally, really does have an effect on how we deal with the business.

28:40  
I don't know what you're talking about. I'm kidding. By the way, no, we are we are talking with David Newkirk and, and he's a master consultant. He works with entrepreneurs, and he does great work at those consulting is his company, and it's in Portland, Maine, not Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, but he can work anywhere in the world. And because we're digital, and we're virtual now. So David, we need to take a quick break just a couple of moments. And when we come back, I want to put David to the test because I'm an entrepreneur, and I want him to tell me what I'm doing wrong and how he can help my business grow and become profitable. And so I'm about I'm about to step out into the world in my underwear and I hope nobody minds so well. That's a figure of speech ladies. I didn't mean it literally. So we'll take this break. We'll be right back after these messages.

29:47  
Want to say more than words communicate, you can with flowers, your custom boutique floral studio in Bothell, Washington is a natural design.com connecting you to nature through the language of Flowers where your people are is where our flowers are beautiful. Your success is our goal. Now through New Year's Eve, here's your exclusive bonus for being our appreciated listener typing promo code positive talk radio at checkout to receive $20 off your order, our gift to you for being here with us today, a natural design.com

30:23  
Hey there, I'm excited that you're listening right now. And if you like what we're doing here, you're gonna love positive talk radio.net on positive talk radio.net. Each show which is recorded live is packed with positive information with real people discussing real issues and positive solutions that can work for everyone. I hope that you'll join us on positive talk radio dotnet and listen to all 340 Plus shows, I think it's worth your time. That's just me. That's positive talk radio dotnet your home for great progressive positive podcasts. And welcome back to positive talk radio here on KK and w 11:30am. And David Newkirk is our guest today, he is a master counselor, he worked with people that are entrepreneurs, and he's going to work with me here in just a second or two. Because, you know, David, I know you work with a lot of people know, when you when somebody calls you as an example. What is the first conversation you have with them?

31:30  
I usually want to understand their perspective. What what is it that they're what challenge do they have? That is top of mind? Where they feel they're not thriving with the business?

31:47  
Okay, and then when somebody goes down there, do they generally have a list for you? Or do you have to kind of work it out of them and kind of drag it out of it a little bit?

31:58  
Yeah, that's a good question. I usually try to set it up where they don't have to have that long list. mentalist or long list, I asked them to focus on the top one or two, that they tend to feel are the biggest blocks or impacts just in terms of relative to all the things that they may be dealing with, which are the ones that they're feeling inside themselves, that tends to occupy them.

32:21  
Gotcha, I understand completely. Because in 2003, I did the show for 11 months, two hours a day, five days a week, I was spending a lot of money to do that. And I needed to make it up in advertising revenue. And the two numbers never met. If you had a graph, they would be like one one was like, up here. If you can't see where up here is, but we'll say it's higher than the outgo was higher than the income. And so consequently, I ended up having to shut it down. And, and then I had to go, you know, I had a bad country music song period of my life and where everything kind of sorted itself out. And then I drove a bus for 12 years and and then technology caught up. And so now I'm able to do it again, I find myself in very much the same situation. In that I have a I think the show is good. I am told the three answer good. Nathan tells me that all the time. But he's, he's supposed to because he gets paid to say that. But But I think I think creativity wise, we're doing a good job. Bringing people like you here who can actually help people is a real is really the fundamental goal of the program. And so to do that, but I'm working to monetize it, and I and my goal is really actually pretty simple. I don't need to make a lot of money from it. I'm not interested in that. But I want to make enough money to keep it going. So the people that I have helping me can continue that I can reward them handsomely for the job that they're doing. And, and can really take the business and make it permanent, make it large. Because I think this message and the conversations like you and I are having, I think they're very important for people. And so it's important for me to continue. And so that would be if I were to come to you that would be where I would begin is that I've got you know, it's not the income is not equal to the outgo and but I want to keep it going. How do I fix it? Yes, mindset.

34:32  
Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't necessarily say it's mindset, you know, that could that could come up in the discussion, but it does this. I mean, that's the mindset. You know, I look at it as when people talk about, you know, income and, and, or revenue, right, I need to make more money. And that needs to make more it could be like as you're describing it, it could be more passionately because they just want to live really, really well. There's different reasons for it on the spectrum. But at the end of the day, if someone is not attaining their revenue or their income. That's not a problem. But we gravitate naturally is a human to say that's the problem. That's the outcome of a problem. A problem that exists is limiting the amount of income or revenue. So what is that limitation? What is it that's not allowing a higher level of income or revenue? So we, we work on replacing the problem statement from not making enough income to support you know, the demand of costs and everything else, too. Let's look at what are the things that are hindering the ability for income to come in?

35:40  
Oh, that's no, there's, there's a whole different kettle of fish.

35:45  
Yes. Because then there's underpinnings? Is that personal discomfort with selling, asking for the order? feeling comfortable talking about the business in a succinct way where people understand really what you're talking about? Is it is it your target market is off the people that you want to serve are not the people who actually are really listening to this and wanting to actually pay? You know, for whatever the services are? Does it need to be refinement through a segmentation strategy. So it's looking at the different at the different aspects of where you are positioned? what your message is, who you've targeted? And is that audience being readily available to you, as those who are willing to be income paying clients?

36:41  
You know, it's interesting that you that you say that, because that is exactly what I have been told I have, I have a, an associate who's got a business degree. And she tells me that, that I'm not focused enough on where I'm going. But then I then comes into my mind, I have a passion for bringing people that can help other people onto the show. Without, you know, it's like, we're saying that as an example, you should be charging for your guests to come on, because you're giving them free publicity. And I don't do that, because I don't want to put myself into a position of having to say to everybody that pays me that it comes on the air that they are such a super delayed as an example, if it's a chiropractor, he's a super duper chiropractor. Well, he leaves another chiropractor comes, and now he's a super duper chiropractor. It ruins your credibility with people and that's, that's very important to me, my credibility is everything I've got,

37:39  
you know, it's great, but here's what it might. So as I'm hearing you processing all this, right, and boom, this is what comes out. This is how long folk work is. So what I'm hearing is that if you didn't have the superlatives, which put it at risk of adding someone else who's similar, but now that superlative was used, it's hard to use that superlative as to why you're having another guest, that's also a chiropractor, instead is what is it that's just unique and expressing about the chiropractor, that just makes them a good person to have on without having to be the superlative, right? There has to be other things. What are those, so you could have multiple different chiropractors, but maybe it's all about, hey, for a fee, you what happens is when they're on your show, and I'm looking at it while I'm on your show today, and guess what, they get to actually have that as a promotional package for themselves automatically. That might be worth something for them to be able to have a promotional package that you prepare, that they now have, as part of their marketing kit of their services, where they're they're showing establish credibility by being on your show, which is much more visible, visually and auditorily and accessibly virtually, to people they could never reach, right, if there are beyond their local market. So your strategy is you could have a segment of what is a marketing package of the benefits you deliver beyond them just being on the show that they can use in their local market. But what if someone actually isn't local, their virtual and their national? What is that type of package so you have two different packages. So people can promote themselves in the internet world virtually with your things that maybe do a little bit more that virtual, but maybe something more specific and dynamic to a local market where they want to be more physically representative, and not just you know, on the internet.

39:43  
You are good. I gotta tell you are very, very good because you've you've ice it took me a long time to come up with a idea like what you're describing, which we're going to be putting in and here's the other thing, what we're going to be putting that into practice and 23 But the other thing is because I want to deal ethically with people. And there are, whether they're a quarter of a million, literally, there are a quarter of a million podcasts out there. And there are now I'm fortunate, I'm in the top, maybe 10%. Because I'm also on the radio, I'm also doing video, I'm also got a production company. And so I can, I can do anything I want to with, with virtually anybody. So I'm in the top 10% of those types of businesses. But it's still, I want to make sure, and it hasn't been until the last, oh, six months or so that I've been able to say, Okay, I have 20,000 views a month on YouTube. I have 85,000 views in the last six months. I've got, I've got the podcast, we're on 50 different platforms, I've got the radio show, the 12 largest media market in the country. I've got so I've got all of these things that does have value for folks. And my is up until now my My thing is, is it's been like, when can we sponsor my program, please? And they say? And they say, Well, why should I? What? What kind of reach Do you have? Who do you talk to? And I don't really know, I'm just trying to do the Validate get? And you know, and so, rather than now I can say, no, look, I've got these numbers, and I can prove to you that we have reach and if you want to get if you want to reach people digitally, you want to reach people in a local market, we can do all of that for you. And we

41:43  
yes, it's you know, what's really interesting is that a lot of entrepreneurs specifically the thing that they hate doing the most is actively selling, they like doing the work. But selling is not necessarily where they want to spend their time. And by being on your show. It's it's giving them distribution, access of awareness of of doing some of that, hopefully, lead generation type work, although that's the that would be the scene be seen. But lead generation starts with just being out there being seen and being heard. And the fact that you can actually give metrics on what that distribution looks like, like 20,000 views, and so on and so forth. They're thinking, Okay, how much should I pay in advertising for Instagram, I hope people look at it, versus an established channel where it's already drawing people and they can say, Look, you are going to have access of visibility. Right? You can't make promises in terms of what will what work they'll get, but you can deliver accessibility and visibility.

42:49  
Exactly. Well, you know, and it's like in the radio business, and Nathan will tell you that in the radio business they on they have no idea. I cannot tell you, and he has no numbers to back it up either. How many people are actually listening to this conversation in the Seattle market at this particular moment? There's no way to get that information, we can guess. And there are like there's the Nielsen rating, which that which they guess and they have the book that they fill out and stuff like that, but hard numbers you have no earthly idea. And so that is dependent upon the radio station you're on and the reach that it has. And But Nathan Am I have I have I correctly said that?

43:31  
Yeah, it's just like a sample size that they're pulling those numbers based off of in the past, they used to have this thing it's called the PPM the personal People Meter, and then they would be signed up and registered to have that device with them when they're listening to the radio. And it tracks you know, which stations you're listening to, and for how long and then all that data gets submitted to the research project. And it's all just a sample size, because not everybody's worrying ppm. It's just based off a population and gets, you know, generalized based off of that. So I go ahead, and radio is one way communication, we can send a signal out, but we can't receive the signal back.

44:15  
Right. Right. And so there are there are some folks that that would advertise on K K NW, and they would say, we are now now in the Seattle area, including Bellevue and Tacoma, and so forth. They're probably 6 million people. And so they would say, we have a million listeners a week. Now, they can't prove it. You can't disprove it. But that's a bald faced lie. You and I sitting here knowing that I won't do it, and that that hurts me. So because I won't do things that I consider disreputable. And other people do. Does that hurt my brand?

44:51  
No, no, it doesn't hurt your brand. The thing that really is important for people is to talk about it. Where what is the destination by which you would like your guests to be after they have worked with you through positive talk radio. So in other words in this, I talked about this with even business owners, right? So from your perspective as the owner of this, of this talk show, what is it that you would like people to receive as potential, quote unquote, clients to be on talk radio, to? And how are they better off after working with you as being a guest. And that's really the tangible, quantifiable piece more than the data point, which is, how they understand the experience makes them better.

45:47  
And it does. So I deal with so many people, and I interview a lot of folks. And to a person, they all say, we love the interview, it was really, really positive. It really worked out well. And I just loved working with you and stuff like that. So I mean, I think I think we're, David, I feel like we're so close that we can taste it. What do you think?

46:10  
Yes, I think so I think you're very close, I think you're very close, it's a matter of now taking it the next extra step, right. And allowing those people to help you and your bet your greatest source of value is from the people that you've served. So if you were to actually reach out to your prior guests, and ask them, since you were a guest, what has changed for you. You're collecting data, as well as information to understand where positive talk radio has helped, where maybe it didn't help as much. And it starts to create an assemblance of information and perception and understanding that you can use to position with future guests.

47:00  
And you know, the fun part about that about the guest thing is, is that once the episodes up, it's up forever. So they can have that on their website, they can have that on all their information. And it automatically goes there. And it can be a year from now it can be five years from now. And it's still viable, and it's still together, and it's still up there.

47:23  
Absolutely. I'll give you a for instance, let's say for example, you ended up making the suggestion to, to these guests. What if every time you had a prospective client, when you responded to their inquiry, you sent them a link to your interview on positive talk radio. And since you had been doing that, did it change the outcome of how many people became clients?

47:49  
Oh, do you know how many people have actually done that kind of thing? Very few. Because they need you work, quite frankly.

47:59  
But that would be those are one of the things you can arm them with the idea and say, Hey, going forward, one of the benefits of positive talk radio is with this recording, if someone is interested in you, and you feel that the positive talk radio interview would help them understand why it would serve them to be a client. If you send them the link to listen to while they're considering you, that might actually increase the number of times people are hedging and setting versus coming over the fence and saying yeah, I'm gonna hire this person,

48:31  
you know, and the other the other cool thing that you just you just brought up for me is that because we have the ability to edit audio and video, we can create a five minute promotional video for them out of the show for a hand and say this is you know, put this in your business with all of your emails and and everything that you do. And this will and He of course it's going to take us several hours to edit it and so we need to charge for that and stuff but but the resulting value will far outweigh what you pay overtime.

49:07  
That is gold right there because we know the attention span of people to listen or to watch something is like three minutes you know if you can keep if you can keep between three and five minutes and they have that in it has some meat to it because you've edited it and it brings together a synthesis of of a good conversation. That's that's hugely valuable. Hugely valuable.

49:28  
Okay, I unit. You don't want to get this for free. This is so cool. So But David, okay, enough about me and my business. You've given me lots to think about and stuff but I really want people to understand that you are interested in helping people from whatever wherever they are at today, to get to have the life that they really would love to live. That's really is your passion and then

49:58  
it really is I always say When I, when I bring on my clients, there's no such structure and process you as an individual organically and uniquely different. Your belief systems, the things that you've worked through the way that you are, the culture that you are, the way what is valuable to you how you want to be, what makes you happy is always a mix specific to you and nobody else. And how we bring the work that allows that uniqueness to be in the entrepreneurial worldview is really is really the gift. Just retrofitting and ignoring what makes people unique with their passion, who they are, what they are, and how they are. And just trying to put them into a prefab box of saying this is how you go do things is how you build your business. This is what you do that that's trying to strip them and make them conform to something else, instead of just letting them be. And actually how do you modify that process, that box and everything that fits perfectly to them?

51:12  
Absolutely. And the other thing that I want to make sure was that we were running out of time. So Nathan, I needed another hour, please can I put can I put a couple of quarters into the, into the meter and have another hour. Thank you.

51:24  
Oh, Seattle's parking rates, that's going to be $30.

51:29  
Exactly. But because you also are a Reiki Master, you you work with energy, and you work with. And so you and you've got a health and wellness portion of your business, you are working to help people both entrepreneurial in their life in their business, but also, because they're all connected, also health and wellness in their regular life, so that they can lead a really balanced well lived life. Yeah, because

51:55  
you know, it's thank you for bringing that up. I really appreciate that. Because at the end of the day to use that coined phrase, every day, for an entrepreneur, there's no separation between your personal life and your business life, there can be in the corporate world, you know, you have who you are at home. And if it'd be something different at work you are and then when you come home, you're yourself. But when you're an entrepreneur, so So anything that is that you're faced with, that you're trying to work through in your personal life is going to affect your business, anything going on in your business is going to affect your personal life, they're interred, they're all intertwined. So a lot of times when you're working on one, you have to you can't help but you have to work on the other because of this continual cause effect on each other. So yeah, so finding balance is being able to bring the to the personal and the professional as an entrepreneur together. So they're in sync, and harmonious.

52:48  
So what you do is you work on the entire person,

52:52  
what with what they allow, with respect with humble respect to what they allow, yes, but if there's areas they don't want to go, we don't go there. We allow them to set the boundaries as to what they're comfortable with, and what they're not comfortable with.

53:07  
I would suggest that if you want to work with a great mentor and a great coach, that you let them into your world and be willing to talk about everything and let everything, everything, let it all hang out. Because quite frankly, you're going to retard the results that you get, I would believe if you are hiding things and not being forthcoming. I think that's really important with a mentor because it's not like you're gonna go and blab around the neighborhood you I mean, it's a it's a confidential relationship,

53:38  
completely confidential 100%. And I think you you hit on the biggest, the biggest challenge is that if we're not truthful, and we're hiding things, it makes it really hard to get some of the other things done with the business. And that becomes elusive. And then so we end up chasing a result chasing a desire for an outcome to thrive with the business and it stays elusive. Exactly. And it becomes frustrating for the client, unfortunately.

54:08  
Yeah, we really would. David Newkirk has been our guest and the eye you got a minute David, I'm gonna I'm gonna set aside you got about 50 seconds. Now to say anything to our audience, the ones that are listening now and the ones that are listening to the podcast later, anything that you would like them to know.

54:25  
I just that if they just want to have a quick conversation just because they want to air something out to understand it better about the business themselves. Just reach out to me I'm always up for just a great conversation and no strings attached.

54:41  
Wow, you even did it under 50 seconds. That's hard to believe. Very nice. Very nice. It again go to his website, which is ethos consults.com and as e t h o s consults.com. And, David, thank you for being here. You're gonna be on the show again in a week or two. I know that and so I'm looking forward to it. Oh, we're gonna get into some other stuff on the podcast. And we'll get a lot deeper into that. But I you know, it's really is great having somebody like you here, I'm jazz you've really given me now I'm gonna take this and make it a have my team listened to it and because you've given us a whole raft of ideas that we're going to come and by the way, if you would like to sponsor this year program, you can do that go to that just email me Kevin at K M media dot Pro. And we'll talk David, thank you so much for being here. It's been a pleasure and by the way everyone take care of each other to New Year Be kind to one another because each other is all we got. We'll see you Monday at three o'clock.

 

Kevin McDonaldProfile Photo

Kevin McDonald

Owner

Creator and Host of Positive Talk Radio and its Parent Company KMmedia.pro

David NewkirkProfile Photo

David Newkirk

Owner

David brings over 30 years of experience working in large corporations, small privately owned companies and business start-ups. His work has been a source of innovative thinking that has changed how industries and business leaders adapt to the ongoing dynamic changes impacting them. This has led to being recognized as an important thought leader to the world's largest consulting firms and an active mentor to several international and U.S. entrepreneurial programs.

he is frequently asked to speak on the challenges facing entrepreneurs and how to integrate your true self openly with confidence and success.

Outside of work, David is a certified Master Reiki Practitioner and involved in several philanthropic efforts throughout the year focused on helping families in need, veterans, and the elderly.