In this episode, Victor Dedaj shares how he connected with top experts to contribute to several books and how networking and personal development helped him grow himself and his business.  He also shares the concepts, tips and strategies he learned along the way.

Resources mentioned 

Website: http://victordedaj.com

Books:
The Million-Dollar Day with Mark Hoverson
Dating Destiny with Nate OBryant
Success Breakthroughs with Jack Canfield
The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

3 Key Points 

Personal Development is essential to business success.

Focus on one area or business at a time.

Get a mentor or coach to fast-track your progress and avoid a lot of mistakes.

Show Notes 

[0:50] Intro:

Victor Dedaj is a lifelong New Yorker born and raised in the Bronx. He is a Certified Canfield Trainer in the Success Principles and in the Canfield Methodology by Jack Canfield and the author of the book “You Can Become Successful.” 

In addition, he’s a co-author of several books including Jack Canfield called Success Breakthroughs. He is also a transformational trainer, coach and public speaker. Victor loves helping people succeed and inspiring them to achieve great things with their lives.  

In his earlier years, he worked in the corporate world in finance for nearly two decades, primarily as a performance analyst. Victor later transitioned into the world of Internet marketing and entrepreneurship in 2013 after leaving the corporate world.   

Victor has built businesses in affiliate marketing, network marketing, digital products, cryptocurrency, paid advertising and e-commerce.  He is also a social-media expert.  Victor is a big believer in having multiple streams of income.

He truly enjoys being an entrepreneur and being able to travel the world, and meet great people.

[2:28] What got you to become an author?

Victor said he wanted to inspire people to get what they want. And the truth is you get instant credibility when you write a book.  

Writing a book can change people’s lives. Reading helped Victor. It helped him to believe in himself more and encouraged him to take action.

[3:28] You’ve been in several co-authoring books, what made you want to do those?

They were mentors, , so when the opportunity arose to write chapters in their books he immediately jumped on it.

One was Mark Hoverson and Victor joined him to write  The Million-Dollar Day, which talked about overcoming procrastination, which is one of the biggest success killer.

Another one was Nate O’Bryant. Victor has a chapter in his book called Dating Destiny, and a big part of that is dealing with mindset.  That’s another thing that stops people from being successful. 

And Jack Canfield’s Success Breakthroughs and Victor won an award for that one-for being a bestselling author., which he’s really happy about. 

[5:09] They’ve been marketed in different ways. What marketing techniques did you learn?

One of the best ways is to let people know about it before hand- six months from now nine months from now. You don’t wait until the day before you get the book out. Start reaching out to people. Ask them to read advanced copies of the book.  They can get the word out; they can write reviews for the book. Some people also create Facebook groups. You can ask for video testimonials. Post on social media, email your list, ask for feedback. Ask them what they’d like your next book to be about. But Victor admitted that he’s still learning the ropes. If people get involved they will be much more likely to buy it.

[6:29] Ellen added rather than asking people what they want it’s better to find out in a stealth sort of a way.  When you ask what they want they will say one thing but when you ask other questions like: “What are you working on? Or, what are your challenges?” You’ll get a better answer. 

Victor agreed, he said, “That’s a great way to do it.” Those are great questions to ask.

[7:28] Why have you done so many different things? It was interesting to her because she has focused in one overall area. Victors multiple streams of income are so different.

The early years he was all over the place, and  added that there’s nothing wrong with that. But after a certain point you have to be focused;  try to focus on one thing at a time. His focus going forward is writing more books, but more importantly coaching people,  personal development and public speaking.  

He speaks on personal development, mindset, being focused being consistent, taking 100% responsibility for your life, getting a mentor. 

[9:07] It’s not just learning what to do but if you don’t have personal development, learning technical things is good, but you won’t have the foundation, you’re going to struggle. 

Jim Rohn used to say to work harder on yourself than on your job.  If you work hard on your job, you’ll make a living but if you work hard on yourself, you’ll make a fortune.   

Let’s say you’re working in a network marketing company and it shuts down. If you don’t have the personal development, you are going to struggle.   But if you do, you can take your talents to another company. You won’t worry too much if the company goes down. 

You can do anything and go anywhere with a million-dollar mindset. You can start your own business or go to another company.

[10:34] Ellen added that networking marketing wasn’t for her. She’s tried it twice. And she realized that as an entrepreneur, you are going to try things that are going to work and you’re going to try things that aren’t going to work. You have to be able to let them go and accept what doesn’t work for you. 

[10:50] Victor said that it’s only been the last year and half that he discovered his passion and when you’re passionate you’re really going to put in the effort, cause you love doing it.   

[11:16] If you know your weaknesses, don’t do them -outsource them and focus on what you’re good at. Ellen added that’s what happened to her. She was making good money, but she wasn’t excited anymore.  So, you say, “Then what? “And sometimes, you have to start from where you are and use the skills you have to make the money, and then you see what you like and what you don’t like.

Victor realized the same thing in his corporate job;  he was in a rut but he was able to use the money to put it into his business. It’s difficult to start with no money.

[12:21] How were you able to leave the corporate world? 

Victor said it was a couple of things:  In 2008, there was a big market crash. It was not fun. 

They made it easy for him to leave; they fired him. And he was not too disappointed, so he took a break, gave his brain a rest, and took time to figured out what he wanted to do.   When you go from one type of job to another, it’s a totally different type of mindset. 

In an office, you’re used to having people tell you what to do;  you have accountability and a boss. But on your own, you don’t have accountability and  you can choose not to do anything… but then you won’t make any money.

Ellen added you are accountable to your clients.

[13:55] Victor shared that in affiliate marketing, or network marketing, there is a small entry fee so it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work, but if you pay $2,000 to get in, you have a lot of pressure. And people think they are going to make a lot of money, but there is a learning curve and you have to give it time.  You’re going to make a lot of mistakes. And you have to wear several different hats.

Michael Gerber talked about that in The e-Myth.

Ellen added when she started it was so different from now.  There were no blogs, no WordPress- you had to know html. All her money went to paying people because she couldn’t do anything (other than create her products and programs, and coach).  Overtime, she learned how to be more self-sufficient, but then you reach a point where you are taking on. Jobs that should be outsourced and you’re overwhelmed, and it’s time to give it to someone else to do. 

[15:40] What makes you the most money? It’s the 80/20 principle. When people learn that, their businesses get so much better.

[16:00]} Are you a digital nomad? Or, are you focused on staying in one place?

 Victor said he is  focused on staying in one place. He lives in New York City and loves it there. But he enjoys going to a lot of events because the face-to-face meeting with people is very important- meeting people and building those relationships.. He’s gotten to be in so many books because he’s met these people.

You can get people to mentor you. Someone might give you one little piece of advice that can change your business. You learn a lot on a webinar but you don’t get that. 

Ellen added that after going to a lot of conferences that a lot of it became repetitive, and it was frustrating to listen to all those speakers to get that one little piece of advice.   But, she believes you still should do it every so often to stay connected. 

[17:15] Victor shared that there are hundreds of events every year and you just don’t have the time to attend them all! But it’s good to get away. It really does make a difference to him. He finds it very helpful.  But maybe try different types of events. After a while you’ll master one topic, so try others. Ellen added, “Plus you see the same people”.

[17:57].   Victor thinks it’s important to meet more people and build more relationships; you can’t hang out with the same people all the time. By meeting new people, you increase your network.   

[18:15] What do you think has been most important for your success?  

Victor thought  of several things:  from Jack Canfield; take 100% responsibility for your life. It’s so easy to blame others, the government, our boss, the weather – ultimately it comes down to what we take action on. 

You don’t become solution-oriented and you don’t take action and solve the problem if you don’t take responsibility. 

You have to shift your mindset.    

Being consistent and changing focus to one or two things. When he started he was in four or five companies at once. And instead of having multiple streams of income, he had multiple streams of debt because he was paying money into all of them. He was getting no one to join him. 

Being persistent. They might so no, but they might say yes. and if they don’t, you haven’t lost anything.  So, just ask. A lot of time people will say yes. When he realized this, he overcame his fear of being rejection. 

And he highly recommends getting a coach or mentor. When you’re a newbie 

trying  to learn this stuff on your own-it’s overwhelming. You’re going to make mistakes but with a mentor, you’ll make a lot fewer. 

And personal development, watching videos and trainings and reading books every single day is very helpful. They have helped Victor build a foundation. 

[20:22] What are your favorite books, podcasts, videos?

Success Breakthroughs by Jack Canfield
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
Anything by Brian Tracey
Anything by Jim Rohn
Some good stuff from Dan Kennedy
Videos/podcasts
Anything from my mentors,
Tony Robbins
Mel Robbins
Les Brown
Jim Rohn

Victor likes anything related to motivation; something positive because one thing he has found to be very important is how you start your morning and end your day because your subconscious mind is very impressionable. So, he reads or listens something to start the day and at the end of the day. What you listen to the last forty-five minutes of the day is six times more impressionable than at other times of the day. It’s going to stay in your subconscious more. So, you want something strong and positive.

[22:02] Closing thoughts

You have to show up day in and day out. Be consistent.

Focus on one thing at a time, don’t do what Victor did. Be successful at it, and then you can branch out.  You can’t do it all at once. It’s really hard to make money that way. 

Work on your personal development. It can take time like bamboo, it can be planted and not shoot up until the fourth year.  It had to be taken care of, watered and nurtured. You need to do the same thing, especially if you are going to be an entrepreneur.  You have to be patient. It can take time to get money coming in.   

Get a mentor, and have a strong why. Maybe to retire your parents, a better future for your kids. What are you doing it for? And when you love it you’ll take more action. 

Don’t let fear get the best of you. Most people want to help you. 

Never give up.

Ellen added that you can have multiple streams of income with one overall focus. You don’t have to be in several different areas to have it. For instance, the more books you write, the more streams of income you will have, and when you promote one of them, it promotes all of them, so you’re leveraging it. Or, when you take your book and turn it into a program, it’s still the same topic, but it’s another stream of income.

[24:57] Victor added you might be asked to speak because you have those books.  One trick Victor learned from Jack Canfield is when he’s speaking at an event, he’ll refer to something in one of his books and then during a break people walk by the tables and see the book and some will buy it. 

Ellen agreed and added that it also works on interviews. 

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