In this episode, we have James Allen, founder of Profit Your Knowledge. He helps clients build passive income businesses in 20 hours per week for work-life balance.
James Allen shares his personal experience and struggles in finding their true calling as a coach and found out how he turned his passion into a profitable online business.
The conversation highlight the benefits of automation and the importance of freeing up time for creative work.
Website: Profit Your Knowledge
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Full Interview:
Transcription:
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James Allen Teaser 00:01
One of the biggest problems that or concerns I hear from people is I wanna teach especially when they're starting out. I work with people who are starting out, but then there's people who are like, I got all the stuff, and it's just like laying a puzzle out on the table, and let's put the puzzle pieces together.
Intro 00:15
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?
If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
Gresham Harkless 00:42
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have James Allen. James, excited to have you on the show.
James Allen 00:49
Yeah, man. I'm pumped to hang out here.
Gresham Harkless 00:52
Yes, absolutely. We've been talking a little bit before we hopped on, and I'm super excited to have James on, talk about all the awesome things that he's doing. But of course, before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about James so you can hear some about some of those awesome things.
And James is the founder of Profit Your Knowledge. He is on a mission of teaching knowledge-based business owners how to grow and scale their online businesses by building a business off of and the authenticity and generosity. James tells the students turn their knowledge and into a lean, profitable, and scalable passive income style business through online courses, memberships, coaching, all while working under twenty hours per week.
And I had the opportunity to be on James' show. He's a really great host and great load of knowledge that he has. And I was peeking around at all his YouTube videos and all the awesome things that he's doing. And I was watching one of his videos. He said that he's not the guru at the top of the mountain, but instead he's the person that's scaling the mountain with you, telling you to watch your step.
And I thought that really resonated with me. But the only thing I would push back on is that you listen to his content, you'll see that he is at least a full a couple full steps ahead on that on the journey to scale that mountain.
So appreciate you being on the show, James. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?
James Allen 02:02
Yeah, man. I'm ready. Let's do this.
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Gresham Harkless 02:05
Let's get it started then. So to kick everything off, let's rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
James Allen 02:11
Oh, how I got started. I'll keep it brief. So, basically, I was in high school and, going way back, but I didn't know what I wanted to do for a career. My mom was like, go to college because then you can have your AA, and then you can get go pursue whatever you want. Seems sound. And my dad had a really successful career doing six figures in construction work, and it was a local union that was just doing well. And he was like, you get benefits, you can get paid right away, we can get you in twenty dollars an hour right off the bat, where most people are doing like ten dollars an hour at the time.
I was like, I'm just gonna do that because I also get college credits. So I went in and I was doing it for about a year and a half and was just burnt out. I was tired, and I'm like, there's no way I can keep doing this for the rest of my life. And seeing the people I was around, I'm like, I don't wanna this just it wasn't in alignment, and it wasn't right for me.
So I ended up finding out about coaching. And I always like to tell people that you can tell how much you enjoy your job based on how much time you spend in the bathroom. Because that was my nook that I would run away to and just be hanging out and just like, oh, I'm in the bathroom. When I was, the whole time, I was, like, studying and reading about coaching and this whole field, and I loved personal development. I had a really traumatic childhood, so I got into personal development at seventeen and read The Four Agreements. So I learned about Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, all these different people, and I was really intrigued by that.
And then when I learned that you could be a coach and help people and share your own knowledge and experience, I was like, wait. I can be like Tony Robbins. On my own version, I wanna be Tony Robbins. So anyway, long story short, I got certified, had multiple certifications over the course of multiple years, and finally got the courage to just start my business. And I was a general life coach, realized it was pretty hard to market, and I didn't know anything about marketing.
So I got more specific, turned into a performance and productivity coach, and I was obsessed from the get go. Like, how do I get paid to help people in a meaningful way and not have to be working all the time? And I was like, I know there's ways where you can make money without having to actually be working constantly. And how do I do that? And that's why I was obsessed with that thing. Grow my business, work fewer hours. So it's helping other people buy back their time.
That's where I learned about online courses, digital products, and about six online courses that didn't make me any money at all. Left me just shamefully spooning a pint of Haagen Dazs staring at another zero dollars. And I'm like, dude, are you kidding me? So I learned from some great mentors like Graham Cochran, Ramit Sethi, and, those guys really Graham actually learned from Ramit, so it was very they were teaching the same stuff, and it just made sense to me. And they taught me about, like, customer research, understanding, getting to the mind of your audience, what they really cared about, like, understanding them, which a lot of people don't do. I didn't for years. Six products didn't make me any money.
And then when I did that, I finally built a new product for productivity, and I made two hundred dollars in my sleep. Now keep in mind, I've done ten thousand dollars a month or even days at this time in my business. But to see two hundred dollars from not doing any engagement with the person, they literally just watched some YouTube videos, joined my email list, read some emails, went to the page, and gave me hundreds of dollars. I was like, what? This is amazing. So that's pretty much the gist of my journey so far. Now I just get to help other people do it because my productivity clients were like, how do you do that? Can you help me? And that's what kick started Profit Your Knowledge.
Gresham Harkless 05:18
Nice. I absolutely love the the organic nature of that, and I love that you said that everybody has that something in them. And a lot of times, I imagine and I wanna hear a little bit more on how you, like, work with your clients because I imagine you have those conversations with a lot of people that you work with, but is that something that's part of that process that you think people do?
James Allen 05:35
Yeah. One of the biggest problems that or concerns I hear from people is I wanna teach especially when they're starting out. I work with people who are starting out, but then there's people who are like, I got all the stuff, and it's just like laying a puzzle out on the table, and let's put the puzzle pieces together. You got everything. We just it's not an order. But when people are just starting out, yeah, they often say, I really I love relationships, and I really want to teach people and help people.
And I can see myself speaking on stages, making content about that. But there's so many other people doing it. How am I gonna stand out? What's gonna make me different? And what I always tell people is that it's your story and your stories, more importantly. Your stories are it's the experiences that you have related to that topic. So I teach online business. It is the most, like, one of the most, if not the most saturated niches on the planet. That's to fitness. I'd say relationships would follow-up after it, but I'm, like, number two.
And I was really intimidated to go into this when I first started from going to productivity, but I always wanted to even before, I didn't even know what, like coaching was back in construction. Right. But I was like, I just wanna help people like really enjoy the work that they do because I was in a job and I didn't like it. But then I look into it and I'm like, I don't wanna be a career coach and help people like create resumes. Like, I don't want people to stay in a job. Like I want freedom. I want autonomy in my life. I don't need to necessarily make millions of dollars. If that happens, cool. I'm not a millionaire right now, but I do very well for myself, and I have time. And that's way more important to me because life is worth so much more than just grinding all the time to make a ton of money.
Gresham Harkless 07:13
Yeah. I appreciate you telling your story and the stories as well too, how those two things go hand in hand. And it sounds like I don't know if that's part of what I would like to call your secret sauce or even if you have more about, like, how you work with your clients.
But I almost feel like you you seem to have an ability, quote unquote, I'm a use the word translate, where people have maybe the experience, the passion, the things that they wanna do, but they're not necessarily sure how to I don't know if the right word is communicate that or translate that so that they can get those opportunities, so they can they can start making that passive income and and have those things go. Do you think that is what sets you apart and makes you unique?
James Allen 07:43
Yeah. I think big piece is, like, a lot of people in this space are, like, let's just make money and make as much money as you you can. And I think what makes me I know what makes me different is I don't want you I want you to make money, but I also want you to relax, to take time off twenty hours per week. I work twenty hours a week in my business, and it grows every month. And that's the magic. I practice what I preach, cause I don't wanna be working all the time. Yeah. I could grind and make more money for sure, but I don't want to. I wanna just hang out and have a great life and find other ways to grow income without having to be working. Because it's, like, working so hard all the time, I did it for years.
I would just stay up all night and be working. And, oh, yeah, you built a really successful monetary business, but now you're stressed all the time, and now you're not happy. What's the point? So I think that's what makes me different is I'm really big on let's be efficient with everything that we do. Let's use automations to our favor, maybe delegate certain things that aren't very happy. This part of the show is I am CEO. That's being the CEO, putting on because you have your employee hat, and then you put put on the CEO hat where you're like, let's actually plan stuff. And, like, how can I make it so I can work fewer hours at the same time? So that's really what makes me different, I feel.
Gresham Harkless 08:56
Yeah. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or even a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
James Allen 09:05
Oh, yeah. I remember I was a productivity coach before. So there's three things specifically, but they all tie in together. And it's three, like, words to live by, but also they go in this order. And it's eliminate, automate, and then delegate. And I learned this from a mentor of mine, Graham I love Graham. But he, he just explained it in that way. And I was like, oh, that makes total sense. But basically, what you do is no matter what you're doing, everything you do on a daily basis, every single task. If it's like, oh, I post on social media every day, or I schedule and bulk record my episodes, oh, there's video editing, Oh, there's serving clients. There's enrolling clients, etcetera, etcetera. Down to the microscopic tasks that you do, like everything. Put it on paper that you can think of, walk away, come back more, and just get everything out.
And look at everything and be like, what am I doing that I could eliminate and nothing would change? You're probably doing a lot of busy work that if you stop doing it, not gonna affect anything. It just sure, it makes you feel like you're being productive, but you're not actually being productive because you're producing something, which is momentum towards a result that you want. I think it's important to you to to really think about what's the goal that you want to achieve even maybe as a precursor before this because if you're really clear on that's what I want. I wanna make six figures this year, you'll say, or whatever your goal is, or 10K this month.
And you write out everything you're doing and be like, is that really helping? If I stop doing this task, is it gonna stop my momentum towards that goal? It's no. It's not really a big deal. Okay. Cancel. Get rid of it. Cross it on the list, whatever you wanna do. Put a big red X, and do that with as many things as you can. And then there comes a point where you start getting into the real stuff, where it's okay. I actually have I like, I can enroll in clients, I actually have to enroll clients.
And there's certain things like lead generation, okay, reaching out, booking appointments. This is like a really simple common thing that I get into when we start getting into automation. Because after you eliminate, then you go to automate. If I just create a Calendly link and say, here's all the information I need from you in a form that is embedded in the actual process, you pick a time that works for you based on my schedule when I'm available, and it automatically creates a Zoom meeting.
And I just have to be like, hey, Gresh, do you wanna come onto the podcast? You're like, yeah, totally. Here's the link. Copy paste from Calendly or Acuity or whatever. And then you book a call. That is such a simple example, and people still don't even do that. They go back they would so much time going back and forth on emails. And then after that, there's certain things that just can't be automated. So that's where you go into delegation, and you think video editing is a great example.
I've seen some stuff where there's some automations that can video edit for you. I love opusclips.io, I think it is, or opusclips. But that is awesome because what I do is I take my YouTube videos that I make, I really focus on a good YouTube video, and I just put it into Opus Clips. And I have an assistant who schedules all that stuff for me because it's important, but me doing it is not necessary. So, yeah, eliminate, automate, delegate. That's probably the biggest thing I could share.
Gresham Harkless 12:07
Nice. I appreciate you bringing that down. And what would you consider to be a little bit more what I call a CEO nugget? This is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It could be something you might tell your younger business self as well too, but it might be one of those tactics or things that you would tell your favorite client.
James Allen 12:21
I would say get help early on. People think that you have to wait a long time. I did for a really long time thinking I could wear all the hats. I can do everything. I could be the video editor, the this, the that, the content creator, the producer, the coach, the admin, everything. And there's a great saying, I can't remember what book this was from, but it was another product back in my productivity days, helped so much. I'd still teach a lot of this stuff to this day. But, he said, if you aren't if you don't have an admin, you are an admin.
And I think that's really important because it goes back to the tasks that you're doing. You want to like, one of the best ways to work fewer hours is to work fewer hours. If you give yourself less time to do something, it forces you to think about what's truly important. If I give myself all day, every day, I'm like, I'm working from twelve to twelve every day, then it's you're just filling time, and you're like, oh, I could do this. I could do this. You start getting drained, like I mentioned earlier.
You start producing worse work on things like finding clients, talking with clients, enrolling them, coaching new clients, opening a space where I can accept more clients or I can create new programs because I don't wanna be on calls all the time. And it's like it frees up time for that creative work where you really should be focusing.
Gresham Harkless 13:36
Yeah. And that ends up being so powerful. So, wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And our goal is to have different quote unquote CEOs on the show. So, James, what does being a CEO mean to you?
James Allen 13:47
I think being a CEO I mentioned this briefly earlier. Like, when you're an entrepreneur, being a solopreneur, having a very small team, like an assistant, it's very lean business. Being a CEO is being strategic. And that's been my experience. I'm not gonna claim that I'm some ultimate CEO or anything. I still have a ton to learn. Alex and Mozi would have a way different answer than me. But what I've learned from my mentors free up more of your time and focus on the things that CEOs do. CEO does CEO work.
And this goes back to everything we've been talking about. The CEO isn't doing the admin work, because the CEO has to be planning. They have to be servicing, doing their job. And in our kind of realm here, that's what it is. So I think it's really taken the time to eliminate all that stuff that you just don't need to do. First off, just trim the fat, and then automate or delegate all the other things. So you can focus on that creative work on building those products that can lead to passive income. They're digital assets. They can run for you for ten years plus, and keep making you money. It's amazing. That's what stuff you should be doing, as the coach, doing that sort of creative work.
So that's what I've learned about what being a CEO really is. And I wish that I did get help with things earlier instead of trying to do everything. Because like you said, right before this was, like, you can't be doing everything, and you're not gonna do it as well as somebody else. Like, you're just there's no way. You can't be that good. And maybe you could over time, but that's gonna take away so much time. Whereas if you delegated that stuff and said, hey, would you help me with this? That you could put into other more important things. So it's worth making that investment.
Gresham Harkless 15:30
Yeah, absolutely. And I love that you use that word investment. Truly appreciate that definition. And, of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know, and of course, how best people can get a hold of you, find a bunch of podcasts, all the awesome things that you're working on.
James Allen 15:47
And if you want to learn more, get connected with me. You can always go to my website, profityourknowledge.com. We also just released a masterclass right now because we didn't talk much about passive income today, but it's a passive income masterclass. It's an hour training and it's free. It's my gift to you.
Gresham Harkless 16:05
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. We appreciate you so much for that gift. And of course, to make it even easier, we're gonna have the links and information in the show notes as well too. But truly appreciate you for all the awesome things that you do. Of course, your time today, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of day.
James Allen 16:17
Thanks, man.
Outro 16:18
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase. It's a community.
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This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless, Jr. Thank you for listening.
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