What business advice would you give your 24-year-old self if you could go back in time?

“Invest in yourself,” declares BigMike on this episode of Business Outlaws alongside Chris “Bulldog” Collins.

The Outlaws agree — you’re going to fail if you rely on investors to fund your business ventures. It’s not uncommon for folks that are young or new to business to rely on others for success instead of themselves. “The first thing you need to do,” advises BigMike, “is believe in yourself and sell yourself.” Only then can you begin to build your brand.

When he first started growing weed, BigMike didn’t have money, didn’t look for it, and says he didn’t need it. Instead, he relied on himself and the strength of his product. Most people are looking for a lottery ticket to get their business off the ground, but skills and capital will come later. You need to have the mindset of Cortés: Burn the ships, no retreat.

Meanwhile, Chris takes us back to his early days, when he sold his car and asked his mom for a loan to get his businesses off the ground. “I didn’t know what I needed to know,” he recalls. Investing in yourself, full-tilt, is the only way. You need to be prepared to burn everything to make it. “If you aren’t willing to do that, you probably aren’t going to be successful,” adds BigMike.

Learn more about what you don’t know about business by checking BusinessOutlaws.com. Invest in yourself by following @BusinessOutlaws so you’re never again swayed by the empty promises of investment “sugar daddies.”

In Part 2 of Business Outlaws five-part series, “The Recipe to Freedom: Running a Lucrative Online Business,” BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins discuss how to create a business that won’t just make you money, but will also give you financial freedom.

No matter what field you’re in, you’ve got competition. The more you develop your niche, the less competition you’ll have. And the less competition you have, the more money you can charge for your product — because people will be willing to pay more for it. “The niche keeps you from competing on price,” Chris explains.

“People were willing to pay more specifically for things that grew cannabis,” BigMike recalls as he tells his story of “niching down” from lawn care to formulating products specific for cultivating cannabis. He knew he wouldn’t get rich competing with all the other nutrients on the shelf at Home Depot, so he opted out of that crowded space and marketed Advanced Nutrients directly to gardeners who were willing to pay more to get a product made for the high-value plants they grow.

If you want to get rich, you can’t settle for being just one of your prospective buyers’ options. You have to be their only option, and you do that by creating a niche in your market.

Just like last episode, there’s homework that goes with this one. And just like last time, there are awesome prizes in store for a select few. Listen now to find out how you can get yourself in the running for one of those top prizes.

When you’re finished listening, head to BusinessOutlaws.com to see behind-the-scenes footage and more exclusive content from the episode recording. For even more awesome Business Outlaws content, follow @BusinessOutlaws now.

In part one of Business Outlaws’ five-part series, “The Recipe to Freedom: Running a Lucrative Online Business,” BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins discuss how to make a six-figure salary while working from the beach of your choice.

You’ve been teased with this well-worn carrot before, but it’s different this time. Instead of recycling clichés on how having the right mindset will lead you to running a multimillion dollar empire from the comfort of a beach chair, we’re going to help shed some light on what’s hidden in the darkest recesses of your mind. Through a seven-question personal exercise, we’ll force you to look at the things that drive you and deal with them head-on. This exercise is the path to that beach.

Download the exercise at BusinessOutlaws.com now.

“Most people, in their lives, never do an exercise like this,” BigMike says as he and host Jayme Foxx work through the seven increasingly provocative questions. By the time they’re finished with the exercise, neither has dry eyes. They look beyond the pursuit of money and control to explore the motivations that led them to the lifestyles they’ve chosen.If you’re ready to start building the lifestyle you want, you have to be as honest with yourself as they were with themselves.

The honesty doesn’t end with the exercise. There’s still one more question to answer — and it’s a big one. How you answer it will tell you whether or not you’re cut out to be an entrepreneur.

After you’ve listened to the episode and you have a deeper understanding of why you’re chasing the goals you are, check out BusinessOutlaws.com for behind-the-scenes footage and other exclusive content from this episode. We’ll also tell you how to win exclusive Business Outlaws swag through Instagram, so if you’re not already following @BusinessOutlaws on social media, do it now.

Go deeper into the human psyche to explore the mechanisms we can all use for evil — and for good.

There’s more to say about the veil of consciousness than we can fit into one episode of Business Outlaws, so here’s Part 2 of BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins’ discussion with world-renowned author and screenwriter James Bonnet. On Part 1, the trio covered such topics as ascending through the veil of consciousness and how the hero’s journey is a blueprint that will help you understand every experience you face.

“Most people don’t realize, we all have a dark side,” says BigMike. “You should tap into your dark side and understand it,” he continues, explaining that your brain contains the same mechanisms that drove Hitler to commit some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. Though most of us never act on it, we all have the capacity for evil. However, most of us don’t ever realize that capacity because we aren’t above the veil. Once you’re above the veil, intent is what separates good people from bad people. How do you intend to leave your mark on the world?

Before you can answer that question, you have to get yourself above the veil. And it takes work. Hard work. Bonnet can explain the steps you need to take, but only you can do this kind of work for yourself. Learn how to do this by listening to Part 2 of our Business Outlaws interview with James Bonnet.

After you’re finished, visit BusinessOutlaws.com to see exclusive content from the studio like behind-the-scenes footage from this episode. For even more exclusive, behind-the-scenes content, follow @BusinessOutlaws.

Everybody who’s ever seen a movie is familiar with the Hero’s Journey. But you don’t actually have to watch any movies to see the Hero’s Journey in action…because it’s literally programmed into your DNA.

In this episode of Business Outlaws, special guest James Bonnet joins BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins to talk about the most fundamental part of self-transformation: understanding the archetype of the Hero’s Journey and rising above the veil between your lower self and your higher self. Only once you’ve ascended to this higher plane can you see yourself — and all the tricks assholes use to try to manipulate you — objectively. Every human mind is wired to respond to it, but only a small percentage of us actually understand and use it. Here’s your opportunity to join that small percentage.

“The Hero’s Journey is the single most powerful blueprint that I could have possibly learned in life,” BigMike says as he discusses how his experience at one of Bonnet’s seminars expanded his personal toolbox and made him better equipped to face challenges in business and in his personal life. “Now, after you face your darkest hour, you bring fire back to the village,” he explains. Don’t miss this deeply philosophical episode that will permanently alter how you deal with the challenges you face.

When the episode’s over, head to BusinessOutlaws.com to see the second part early as well as behind-the-scenes footage and other exclusive content from the studio. And don’t forget to follow @BusinessOutlaws so you can be part of every one of the outlaws’ profit-boosting discussions.

How do you make money without selling out? That’s what Damon Dash — music producer, entrepreneur, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, and contributor to memoir Culture Vultures — came to the studio to discuss with BigMike, Chris “Bulldog” Collins and host Jayme Foxx on this episode of Business Outlaws.

“I gave the culture a voice, I still fight for it, and I made ’em rich!” Dash says as he vents his frustrations with the music industry, millennial mindsets, what people imagine goes into building a successful business versus what really goes into it, and the “money guys” who prey on artists to profit off their talent. “A money guy buys shit,” he continues, “a good, cool motherfucker builds it.”

The conversation becomes heated when Damon accuses BigMike of working with the money guys and being a traitor to his industry. “It’s about me. I personally want to see how far I can climb that fucking ladder,” BigMike shoots back. When Damon asks BigMike to explain how he gauges his success, the conversation turns to figuring out what really matters, your role in relation to what you create, and ultimately, why you chose the path you’re on.

After you’ve finished listening, head on over to BusinessOutlaws.com for exclusive content and behind-the-scenes footage of BigMike, Chris, Jayme and Damon. And for even more Business Outlaws content, follow @BusinessOutlaws.

There’s marketing, and then there’s sales. They’re not the same thing, but one without the other is sure to lead to failure for your company. On this episode of Business Outlaws, David Garfinkel, renowned author and copywriting coach who personally mentored BigMike, breaks down what effective direct response marketing is and how it works.

You can’t just expect people to see your product and buy it. You need to show them why they need it, which is why you need to use direct response marketing. And to use direct response marketing effectively, you have to dig deep into your target audience’s psyche to see your product from their point of view.

Garfinkel shows BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins how this works by using BigMike’s Blends as an example. He introduces a generic-sounding, ineffective ad that touts the pre-roll as “bigger than big, Mikey-er than Mike, blendier than blend,” and then immediately contrasts it with an ad that hooks the target audience of BigMike’s Blends by weeding out anybody else who might read the copy. If you’re marketing your product to everybody, you’re doing it wrong. Marketing directly to your niche audience is how you make sales.

So, how do you get into your audience’s head to figure out how to market to them? As Collins points out, “What people tell you and what they do can be the world apart.” Tune in to find out how to get your buyers’ uncensored, unscripted perspectives.

When you’re finished listening, visit BusinessOutlaws.com for exclusive content and behind-the-scenes footage from the studio. And don’t forget to follow @BusinessOutlaws for more profit-boosting exclusive content.

How much money is enough to satisfy you? If you had to choose a dollar amount that would make you say “I’ve got what I need, I can retire happy now,” what would that dollar amount be?

That’s what BigMike asks “Boston” George Jung in this episode of Business Outlaws. It’s not an easy question to answer, and it’s not something most people ever really think about. But when he was facing jail time and the prospect of losing everything he’d built, BigMike asked himself that very question. And in his years as one of the most prolific cocaine smugglers in the world, chronicled in the Johnny Depp film Blow, Jung faced this same dilemma.

“I was a thrill junkie,” guest “Boston” George Jung tells BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins in this episode of Business Outlaws. Jung’s no stranger to immeasurably huge financial success and the dangerous realities that come with pursuing it. You’ve seen Blow and heard Jung’s name, but here’s your only opportunity to listen to him tell his story in his own words. It’s not just flying planes over the border and dropping tons of cocaine and sitting at Pablo Escobar’s table; it’s a story of self-reflection and evolving perspectives on who we are and why we do the things we do. “We’re all here for a reason,” he tells our hosts. Listen now to hear Jung’s reason.

When the episode’s over, head to BusinessOutlaws.com for exclusive content and behind-the-scenes footage from the studio. And don’t forget to follow @BusinessOutlaws to access even more awesome exclusive content.

To become the youngest heavyweight boxing champion ever, Mike Tyson had to be more than a badass boxer. He also had to be a boxer audiences wanted to buy tickets to see battle it out in the ring. Do you have a persona that consumers want to buy from?

BigMike and Chris “Bulldog” Collins both identify as introverts, but you wouldn’t know it from their public personas. “People wanna see excitement,” Tyson explains as the trio talk creating alter egos and living up to the personalities we construct for ourselves. “I created who I am,” Tyson continues, “I am Mike Tyson.”

Establishing a persona is just one way of mentally preparing for success. Another is repeatedly playing out your success in your mind, over and over again until it feels natural, much like an athlete does drills in the gym to be faster and stronger. “Most people think there’s an easy button — ‘Mike Tyson, he’s a champ and I’m gonna be that,’” BigMike says. “They have no fucking clue the amount of time, effort, dedication and work that goes into that.”

How badly do you want to be a winner? What sacrifices are you willing to make? After Tyson explains the grueling training regimen he started 12 years old, he drops a wisdom bomb on BigMike and Chris that sums up the different mentality champions have compared to everybody else.

After listening, visit BusinessOutlaws.com to get exclusive content and behind-the-scenes footage from the episode. And don’t forget to follow @BusinessOutlaws to access even more awesome Business Outlaws content.

Have you ever found yourself longing to journey down the road less traveled? Entrepreneurs are the pioneers of the business world, but those who dare to seek profit in fringe industries have to navigate a different mind field of challenges the run of the mill business owner wouldn’t face.

In episode 37 of Business Outlaws, BigMike, Chris “Bulldog” Collins and CEO of CANN Media group Darren Roberts reflect on the challenges they’ve faced while blazing new trails in fringe industries.

After 17 years at the helm of the media conglomerate AVN, Darren Roberts found great challenges coping with stressors from his professional life impacting his personal. At one point, his children were shunned at school, because of their father’s choice of profession. BigMike relates, as he himself has worked hard to overcome society’s perception of him in the cannabis business.

At the core of this episode of Business Outlaws, we learn the the knife cuts both ways in cutting edge industries from porn to cannabis and beyond. Once you’ve listened to the episode, check out BusinessOutlaws.com for exclusive content and behind-the-scenes footage from the episode. For more content from the Business Outlaws, follow @BusinessOutlaws on Instagram.