Transcript continued from the Episode 070 Show notes

Smart Exit Blueprint & Cracking The Code with Farnoosh

Today I have Farnoosh Brock back in the house. A lot of you know Farnoosh. She’s super famous and super cool. She has an outstanding business that she has built. She used to work at a big electronics-related company, just like me. She had a great career, just like me. She got interested in doing stuff outside of that career, just like me. The difference between her and I is that she left that career and started her own business. I haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet. I don’t know if I ever will.

Farnoosh and I got to talking about why people listen to shows like Late Night Internet Marketing and why people take courses like her other course that I took, Smart Exit Blueprint, that talk about strategies for leaving your day job. The reason is that people are dissatisfied with the work that they’re doing, dissatisfied with the recognition and pay that they are getting or they’re looking for something that their job doesn’t offer them.

With the first two, a lot of times, that can be rectified by raises or promotions. You might be looking for a different job responsibility that’s more fulfilling for you. You might be looking for more money, which is a lot of times the case with people in internet marketing. They’re just looking to make extra money. A lot of times, that can be solved more efficiently by just getting a promotion and getting ahead in your day job.

The problem is, how do you do that? It turns out that Farnoosh and I have something in common. In my 20 plus years in the industry, one of the things that I do a lot is career counseling of younger engineers and people coming in behind me. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been really blessed and very successful in my day job. I have a lot of experience about the kinds of things that it takes to get ahead in the corporate world.

Farnoosh decided that she was going to come out with a course about this because she knew a lot about it from her experience in her previous job. I thought that would be something that you guys would be very interested in. I know a lot of you are listening to this show because your day job is not exactly what you want it to be. You’re looking for something else for whatever reason.

In many cases, even if you don’t see yourself staying in your day job forever, it’s going to be a while before you can build your internet business up to something that would allow you to make a transition. It made sense to me to get Farnoosh on here and give us some free tips about how to get ahead in your day job. It’s some stuff out of her course that she is offering.

If you’re interested in that course, you can find it over at LateNightIM.com/dayjob. I’ll let Farnoosh tell you about the course and what’s in there. The real reason that I wanted her here was to give you a sense of what’s possible and what kind of mindset that you should have in your day job if you want to make the most out of it as you possibly can. Without further ado, here’s Farnoosh.

Interview with Farnoosh Brock

Mark: I am on the phone with Farnoosh again. Farnoosh, how are you?

Farnoosh: Hi, I’m so excited to be speaking to you, Mark.

Mark: I’m really glad you’re here. You know, your episode when you were on the show in Episode 61 has been one of the more popular episodes that I’ve done. I’m sure you hear that a lot. I know Erik says that same thing about when you were on Beyond the To-Do List. You probably get that all the time.

Farnoosh: I’m so honored that you guys have had me on and I’ve been in touch with your listeners. It’s been wonderful. Thank you so much for having me on again.

Mark: I have you on because, as a lot of my listeners know, you and I are not only friends but we got started in a business relationship with me as your client taking one of your courses. It is called Smart Exit Blueprint, which was about people who are trying to come up with a strategy for exiting their current job and starting a new career.

As I’ve said on this show before, I thought that was absolutely a wonderful course. I heard that you were offering a new course that’s a little different. I thought it might be interesting to my listeners. That’s what I wanted to talk about today. That’s called Crack the Code, right?

Farnoosh: Crack the Code to Get Promoted. That’s correct.

Mark: To be completely honest, one of my big things with my audience is that I tell them the truth all the time, which is apparently kind of unique. I don’t know why that’s such a big deal. My experience in talking to my listeners has been that a lot of people find me because they are looking to move away from something. They’re moving away from a job that they don’t love or a career that they’re not happy with. They’re trying to do something new by starting a business online or a side hustle.

Crack the Code is about getting promoted or getting more out of a job that you already have. I thought that, for some of my listeners, that might be a better solution for the problem that they find themselves in. They’ve already invested so much in the job that they’re in. It might make more sense for them to make one more attempt or to have a better strategy for leveraging their current investment in their day job.

I wanted to get your feeling about that and whether or not Crack the Code is something that can help people who just aren’t quite getting what they expected out of their current job.

Farnoosh: The idea came from a conversation I had with my mom. I’ve worked on this course for over a year. She said something when I was talking about Smart Exit Blueprint to her. She said, “Honey, not everyone is supposed to leave their jobs and start a business. Some of us have a career and we are invested in it. We just need to figure out what we are doing wrong.”

It made me look back at my eleven-and-a-half year career at a giant technology Fortune 100 company. I had a lot of fun. I built a successful career after making a lot of mistakes. There is so much that you can do right now in your current job starting tomorrow. I’m happy to give you practical tips that can make a huge difference in how you are perceived by your management, how you are enjoying the job, from setting expectations to no longer sabotaging your career by your attitude and so many simple things that I wish I knew at the time.

I did all the hard work but I didn’t do these subtle things. I do agree that not everyone is meant to go out there and become an entrepreneur. A lot of have successful, thriving careers. We are running corporate America. I really want to help you understand how to take charge of your career and take a look at what you are doing right so you can do more of that and at what you are doing wrong without knowing so you stop it and see what happens.

Mark: I am led to believe that this course is a course that you’ve created in what’s become the traditional Farnoosh Brock style. For people who haven’t been through one of your courses before, can you tell me what it’s like when you sign up for the course? Everybody’s job is different. Everybody is in a different situation. How is the course structured? How in the world would you be able to put together a course like this that would be generally helpful to such a broad range of people out there?

Farnoosh: It doesn’t matter what industry you are in. This applies to engineers, project managers and people in construction. As long as there is a corporate structure with managers, you doing a job and someone “grading” you on it, this is going to apply to you. I make people look at their work from an outside perspective. I help you pull yourself out. We get so into it that we don’t have a good perspective on what we’re doing right or wrong.

We talk about mindset, your reputation, your self-confidence, your attitude, your approach to your work, your relationship with your boss, your circle of influence, the people who know, like and trust you and what they can do to help advance your career or, if you cross them, what they can do to stop your career from advancing. We discuss how you look at yourself in the company structure as well as how your personal life comes into play in the workplace.

Then we progress, advance and figure out how to ask for that raise, how to time it, how to say the words, how to position yourself so you are the next candidate for moving up the ladder. I said earlier that I worked a yearlong on this besides the career that I had, the mentoring that I did and the coaches that I had. I had first-hand experience putting these strategies that I share with you into practice. Then there are the mistakes that I made. Then I mentored my peers at Sysco where I used to work and I saw how much success they had by tweaking what they were doing a little bit.

Then I went on this one-year research where I spoke to 25 people, from individual contributors all the way to vice presidents and CEOs of random companies, different industries and different sizes. The common threads that came out were so powerful that I came to the conclusion that this will apply to you. I hope that answers your question. As far as the structure of the course, this is an audio format.

I see the ideal person taking this course as someone who goes to work who has a daily commute with a little time to invest in their own career. They have a very busy life. You can just put this in your earbuds, listen and then come back and do the homework. I made it in a format that’s very mobile. It goes with you. I like auditory learning. I find it very powerful. I was hoping that this would be the best way to convey the information to you.

Mark: I’m sure that will appeal to my listeners because they’re in auditory learning mode whenever they’re listening to me. That makes sense. I’ve had a corporate job for 25 years. I’ve managed a lot of people and done a lot of counseling. The key piece of career counseling advice that I’ve given to people over the last 25 years is that no one is going to take care of you and your career better than you.

I find that a lot of people sit around and wait for things to happen to them. It sounds to me like this is one of the core ideas that you’re communicating in this course and teaching people how to take control of their own situation. Can you talk about your feelings about that?

Farnoosh: Yes, that’s Module 1, Mark. You’re right on track there. No one will manage your career, least of all your manager, even if you have a mentor or coach. Nobody. You are in charge. The moment you actually realize that and take charge, you become a person that others are going to start watching. Instead of expecting others to take care of you and working your behind off, still, it’s not going to happen.

There is a shift that needs to happen where you become the ultimate responsible person in managing your career. That’s true, whether you are an employee or a business owner. That is attractive to your management and company because they need people who are leaders. The first person you lead is yourself. The first person. Then, you can set an example by helping to lead others.

The first thing you want to lead is your career, where it’s going and what’s happening to you. It’s the attitude, even if you don’t change anything else. Just take charge. Think about, “What is it that I’m doing well? What is it I need to do more of? How can I be of more value to my boss and team?” Think with the attitude of giving first. This is not big stuff. This could be a helping hand, a phone call or helping someone fix a computer problem. Just go with that attitude. Small changes can make such a huge difference. It can also make you happier. When we feel like we don’t have control, we feel lost.

But when you feel like maybe you do have control, maybe there are things you can do, even in this economy, even if your company is going through a hard time, because as you know, even in those times, people get promoted. People get bonuses and raises. That could be you. Thank you so much for bringing that up. That’s my favorite topic. That alone creates such a shift in your attitude and perspective. It’s totally noticeable by your management.

Mark: It’s a little bit scary. Sometimes I have to smile because your path and my path have crossed so many times. We have so many things in common, like the corporate career and this stuff on the internet. We have common friends. So many things about us resonate. It always makes me smile. I appreciate that.

I want to ask you a hard question. Can you handle a hard question?

Farnoosh: I can handle it, Mark.

Mark: I looked at your sales letter, which people can find by going to LateNightIM.com/crack. I looked at your sales letter. I read it carefully. One of the things I was a little surprised to see was a claim in the middle of the sales letter that you expected the return on investment for this course to be on average $4,000 a year. I thought that was a pretty bold claim. I’d like to get inside your head a little bit about what you mean by that. What were you thinking when you added that content to your sales letter?

Farnoosh: Thank you for asking very hard questions.

Mark: Sure. I know you very well. I bet you spent a lot of time thinking about whether or not to do that and, once you did it, how to do it. I want to hear about it.

Farnoosh: I feel very confident in what this course can deliver. I can even see it from initial buyers. Let’s talk about that number, $4,000. I did a lot of thinking, Mark, about my ideal buyer. I designed this course with that person in mind. It’s going to apply to a lot of people, but this person is someone who has been in a corporate job, medium or large corporation size, for about five to eight years, probably longer.

They have built a career. They are not a beginner. They have built a successful career. They are well regarded. They are a hard worker. They’re smart. They are probably paid pretty well and they could be paid a lot more because they bring a lot of value to the company. They’re just not able to ask for all they’re worth. They’re not able to recognize that. I see the median salary to be anywhere from $75,000 to $95,000.

I see the strategies that I share with them changing that salary and additional perks. We know companies have additional perks like stock options and bonuses. Sysco had something called CAP Awards. It’s money that they would give out. Again, that depends on the company’s structure. It might not necessarily be monetary. Maybe they offer to pay for your phone, car or internet for your home. All of that is money that adds up. This is not a one-year return.

If you put these strategies into your work, your career is a long career. You’re there for the long term. Over time, on average, minimum, you could get a return of $4,000. I’ve spoken to a student who said that it’s a lot more. It adds up on your salary. Every promotion can change your career. People who are my ideal buyers, a promotion at that level is not a beginner promotion. You’ve built a career.

It’s probably your second or third promotion. It could be a significant change in salary if you know how to position yourself. If you don’t then they’re not going to recognize that. This is all a negotiation. Over time, that’s going to add up. Over the life of your career, $4,000 is minimal. I was being very conservative there. I hope that answers it. I could go into more number crunching with you if you like.

Mark: No. I appreciated that number. I thought it was a very conservative number. These mindset changes that you’re talking about, when you stop being focused on yourself, strictly on your own projects, and you start focusing on enabling your team and the people around you, making yourself indispensable to people and helping other people get their job done, the multiplying effect that can have on your career is enormous.

Just that small tip that you talked about, even with something as simple as helping someone with a computer problem, if that’s the mindset that you have, the amount of value that you can deliver to a company multiplies. It’s going to mean a lot more to you in the end than $4,000 a year, I think.

Farnoosh: Absolutely. I do want to make a point. I don’t know if you’re going to bring this up. There’s something else I wish I had known earlier. It’s the mindset of investing in yourself. I had this attitude that, unless my company paid for this training, I wasn’t going to do it. They are supposed to pay for my training. I do all this hard work so it’s justified.

If they turned down a training I wanted to go to then I would never think about forking out my own money. When I look back, I realize how many lost opportunities and great courses that I could have taken to develop myself, regardless of where my career was going. This is a message that came to me late, so I just wanted to convey that.

Mark: Yes, investing in yourself is key. It’s funny that you mention that because of my personal story. About 10 years ago, I had a situation where there was a conference that I knew I really needed to attend. For whatever reason, my management didn’t have the budget or didn’t want to make the investment. I told my manager, “I understand that. I respect your decision but I think this is really important for our project. I’d like your permission to take vacation and I’ll pay for it myself. I’ll go to the conference because I think it is really critical.” I was prepared to do that. I made the reservations on my own personal credit card.

About three weeks later, the manager came back to me and said, “I went to my vice president. I told him what you were doing. We’ve approved your trip. We’ll pay for everything.” I never ever had trouble getting travel or other things approved again. Once I showed that I was willing to spend my own money to do something like that, the message was clear. I was serious. That made them more serious about investing in me as well.

Farnoosh: It’s a huge sign that you are serious, and not just in yourself. You were telling them how this is going to benefit your work. To take that extra step and actually go out and put your own money up front, I knew that was the ending of that story. I love it. It shows that you are a leader and you really care about the company. They look at you completely different by doing that. Plus, you benefit yourself because you invested in yourself.

Mark: I appreciate you coming on here. I don’t promote many products. I only promote things that I really believe in that I’ve tried myself from people that I know well. I put you in that category of people that I know well. You and I have this previous experience and kindred spirit going. I really think this is something that, for my listeners who are looking for something but they don’t quite know exactly what they’re looking for, and they think they want to start a part-time business.

I think that’s great. Maybe some of them will do that. I really do believe there are some of them out of there that, they think that’s what they want, but what they really need to do is leverage their existing investment. I really think this is an option for them to do that.

Farnoosh: Thank you so much. I’m so glad you are bringing this to your listeners. The stuff we talked about, if they just put that into practice, I think they can see the shift in their career. It’s just going to bring so much happiness into their lives. Once you’re happier, things just snowball. Thank you. I appreciate you having me on again, Mark. I hope that we stay in touch and talk soon.

Mark: You can count on that. Thank you very much, Farnoosh.

Farnoosh: Thanks. It was my pleasure.

Wrapping Things Up…

I hope that was helpful to you. The thing that I always say to people in my day job, and I say to you here on the mic, you can get everything that you want in your life by helping enough other people get what they want. That applies huge in your day job. That’s the big time first thing you need to think about. You can get ahead by making sure that your boss is in good shape and is not just looking good, but getting the right stuff done, that he’s prepared, that he doesn’t get surprised, that he’s successful in his initiatives.

You can get ahead by helping peers that aren’t in your chain of command get their job done. You can help people by anticipating the problems that they’re going to have and alerting them to them. There are all kinds of things that you can do in your day job to help other people. If you help enough other people get their job done at your work, you will get the reputation of a person who is helpful and gets things done.

People will start turning to you for tasks. Eventually, that will pay you dividends. This is a life philosophy that you need to think really hard about, whether it’s for your internet business or for your day job. I hope you enjoyed that discussion with Farnoosh. Again, if you’re interested in Farnoosh’s product, you can find it at LateNightIM.com/dayjob.

That wraps it up for this week. I’m still holding Bella and she’s chewing on my fingers. Don’t chew on me, you silly doggie. Bella and I will be talking to you guys next week where we’re going to have at least one more discussion about building internet businesses online and whether or not that’s really possible.

We’ve got Justin from Empire Flippers and he’s going to talk to us about the thousands of sites that he’s built, what he’s seen and what the value of these sites are. That’s going to be a very interesting discussion for you next week. Until then, I hope you have an absolutely fantastic time working on your internet business. Go get something done.

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