The Three Month Vacation Podcast
Sean D'Souza
Sean D'Souza made two vows when he started up Psychotactics back in 2002. The first was that he'd always get paid in advance and the second was that work wouldn't control his life. He decided to take three months off every year. But how do you take three months off, without affecting your business and profits? Do you buy into the myth of "outsourcing everything and working just a few hours a week?" Not really. Instead, you structure your business in a way that enables you to work hard and then take three months off every single year. And Sean walks his talk. Since 2004, he's taken three months off every year (except in 2005, when there was a medical emergency). This podcast isn't about the easy life. It's not some magic trick about working less. Instead with this podcast you learn how to really enjoy your work, enjoy your vacation time and yes, get paid in advance.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 29, 2019 • 33min
How do you incentivise clients to finish a course?
Most courses have huge dropout rates. And yet, that's not the case for some teachers and trainers. What makes some courses so dramatically different? The slightly surprising answer is that the course material itself can doom the course. If that makes no sense, follow along, because there's a method to this madness. Find out how to create a scenario where clients never want to leave.
Mar 22, 2019 • 8min
How to Validate Your Uniqueness with Testimonials
Let's say you come up with what you believe is a great uniqueness for your product or service. How would you know if it's great or not? The answer is deceptively simple: every client needs to echo your uniqueness over and over again. But how are you supposed to hear that echo? Interestingly that echo is located in the testimonial. But not just anywhere in the testimonial, but in one really interesting area. Listen to find out and then do the same for your products and services as well. How to Validate Your Uniqueness
Mar 15, 2019 • 25min
Company of One: Why Staying Small Is Smart, Book Review, Part 2
Big companies talk a lot about leadership. However you and I may not have that big charisma factor. What do we have to do to get things done when working with freelancers? What if we need to work with several team members? In this episode, we look at how the primary task is to get the right people in, rather than playing leader. And how that frees up a lot of your time and moves your company forward with a momentum that is quite unexpected. Why Staying Small Is Smart
Mar 8, 2019 • 36min
Why Staying Small is Probably A Smarter Move, Book Review, Part 1
Think Big. Really? Studies show us that scaling up is often disastrous for most companies. But what's the alternative? That's what we look at in this book review—well, chapter review—of Company of One by Paul Jarvis. Instead of driving ourselves crazy, we bring in sanity and upper boundaries to our business, while living a very good life. How do we do that? Let's find out. Why Staying Small Is Probably A Smarter Move
Mar 1, 2019 • 7min
How WhatsApp Helped Fill The Munich Workshop
People are often amazed at how quickly we fill our workshops and courses. It's almost like we have a separate channel to our clients. Well, as it appears, we do. And it's not quite a Facebook group. It's even cooler. Here's how we filled a big chunk of the Munich workshop. How WhatsApp Helped Fill The Munich Workshop
Feb 23, 2019 • 2min
Announcement: Frankfurt Meetup Details - May 2019
Quick announcement regarding the Frankfurt Meetup coming up in May.
Feb 22, 2019 • 32min
Are You Tempted to Use Hype? How to Avoid Hype and Still Get Clients
Hype works exceedingly well, even when the client knows they're being duped a bit. But what if you can't stand hype? Does that mean you roll over and play dead? Here's how you can avoid hype completely, if you wish to do so. And if the hype is so great, that it can't be ignored, you can use the hype like mental judo to turn the tables and to achieve precise results for your clients. How to Avoid Hype and Still Get Clients
Feb 15, 2019 • 7min
When Quitting Is the Smarter Option (Instead of Just Hanging On)
In business the advice we get is to hang in, no matter what happens. Yet, to me that sounds like the wrong advice. You definitely need to hang in a bit when things get slightly tougher than you expected. But there's a time for quitting as well. How do you know if you should quit or soldier on? When Quitting Is the Smarter Option
Feb 8, 2019 • 25min
The Philosophy of Psychotactics - Part Two
We may often hear ourselves saying, we have a long to-do list. Or things that we still haven't completed. Or worse, we may talk about how we have no time. Often, it's just a matter of issues that can get resolved with a touch of philosophy. There's work to be done as well, but the philosophy needs to come first. In this second part of the series, let's find out how philosophy can come to our rescue and serve our business—even save us time! The Philosophy of Psychotactics
Feb 1, 2019 • 25min
The Crazy Philosophy Of Psychotactics (And Why It May Help You In Your Business) - Part One
When we think of business, marketing tactics and strategy comes to mind, doesn't it? Philosophy does exist but it may be a bit on the back burner. Yet, for us at Psychotactics, philosophy looms large. Here are just a few nuggets that you can ponder over and see how they apply to you—and how you can use them in your life and business. The Psychotactics Marketing Philosophy
