Jason Linett

Jason Linett is a best-selling author, TEDx speaker, & full-time professional hypnotist. As a practitioner, he has seen thousands of private clients helping to create personal breakthroughs such as quitting smoking, losing weight, releasing fears, and empowering peak performance.

Jason’s unique approach to personal change is based in created verifiable Hypnotic Phenomenon. He shares that “Your client’s issue is based in something that they can FEEL. That means you must create an experience of hypnotic change where the client can FEEL the change taking place.” Jason has found this creates an experience where the clients can immediately leave the process and KNOW that something has changed.

His WORK SMART HYPNOSIS PODCAST has been downloaded more than a million times worldwide. His training programs have a focus on eradicating the confusion and overwhelm that many hypnotherapy training programs create. With an emphasis on the HOW and WHY of specific Hypnotic Language Hacks™, his students traditionally launch their practices faster than other training programs.

He is known as “the business guy” in the hypnotic profession. Jason has given inspirational keynotes at the leading hypnotherapy conferences in the industry, most often sharing the exact methods he has proven to work to create a multiple six-figure business.

As an educator, his online programs are used by thousands of professional hypnotists worldwide. In 2020, he closed the doors of “Virginia Hypnosis,” a local brick-and-mortar practice that was known around the world to migrate his entire business thanks to his revolutionary approach to making the hypnotic change process more effective thanks to the science of online video conference. His business grew in size as he migrated his family to “live on vacation” in Orlando, Florida.

While building a successful business is a great goal to strive toward, Jason is most proud of his ability to do so and be at home each night with his wife and two children.

Where did the idea for your career come from?

I was in a previous career working backstage in technical theater and arts administration. Someone came to my college and did a stage hypnosis show during the Freshman Orientation events, and I was immediately hooked. I learned everything that I could to understand hypnosis, and the greatest strength I saw was that it was a process based in “the right words at the right time” to help people amplify what they want.

My career began doing a motivational program for schools and corporate audiences to entertain and to help amplify the message they needed to deliver to their communities.

I grew up in a family where everyone was their own self-made business person. My “secret weapon” along my journey was that I never was taught to believe in scarcity or fear the statistics that “most small businesses fail.”

I knew that if I wanted to make something happen, I would have to hold myself accountable and take serious action.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I call my lifestyle an “intentional three-ring circus.” I wouldn’t feel congruent to be teaching hypnosis if I wasn’t still seeing clients. My days are often a mix of consulting with my students as well as helping my clients produce change.

As a business owner, the greatest lesson to was to learn what to delegate to others and how to best keep my efforts focused on providing a better experience for my communities.

Because my business is now 100% online, my office is in my home and I find a greater thrill helping people around the world wearing my signature purple polo shirt sitting in front of my training studio — now located in my home office.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I firmly believe in making time to step into a visionary mindset. I’ve learned that there’s no such thing as “finding the time.” The reality is that “finding the time” is a game that we invent to fool ourselves into procrastination and avoidance. The only thing that truly exists is “making the time.” As much as SERVICE is one of my core values, I make it a point to block off times in my calendar to focus only on taking new ideas and turning them into realities.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I’ve been preaching that VIDEO is the #1 thing you need to grow your business. Every social media platform is now favoring those creators who put an emphasis on video, and inspiring us to become more effective in a shorter amount of time.

Hypnosis may be “weird” to those who are unfamiliar with it, and the strongest benefit of video is that it allows people to meet you and begin to know, like, and trust you – even before they become your clients.

The trending expectation I train my hypnosis students to inspire is when their clients meet them for the first time, and they’re greeted as you’re already in deep rapport.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Making it a priority to elevate other people. The “brand” of the Work Smart Hypnosis Podcast shifted over the years as I made it a focus to let it become a platform for practitioners around the world to tell their stories. While some hypnotherapists are stuck in the “dark ages” of believing their primary objective is to “dispel the myths and misconceptions of hypnosis,” I make it a point to help shine a spotlight on the amazing things that are happening in this industry that position hypnosis as a first-line of treatment to resolve personal issues.

The “elevation” habit also helps me to bring on other team members to better support my clients and students — this leads to better delegation so I can keep my time focused on what I do best — and trust an administrative staff of designers and technicians to do the behind-the-scenes work.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Think bigger, and think bigger sooner. I live by the fact that the word HYPNOSIS only dates back to the late 19th century. I think that’s the biggest wake-up call to the reality that we cannot be a profession that does things only one certain way because “that’s how it’s always been done.”

I became a disruptor in the industry in the early 2010s when a major hypnosis organization asked me to help promote the message that “online sessions and online training are going to ruin this industry.” I knew such an antiquated belief and misguided fear would only hold back this industry, so I set out to ask better questions and find better ways to help more people.

There’s always an opportunity to “level up” your skills and offerings to your clients.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Growing a business is ridiculously easy.

When you understand the psychological triggers that are necessary for someone to produce a personal change, you also discover the psychological triggers that are necessary to inspire someone to “take action” with your business.

People often get stuck in their own beliefs because they’re led to believe that it’s difficult or risky to launch a business. The basic “rules to success” come down to a few repeatable systems that will work time and time again — no matter how technologies change.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I challenge myself to reinvent myself over and over. The true “me” is always there, but it’s when things are working at their best — that’s when I find a way to metaphorically throw a wrench into the systems to force myself to challenge everything I firmly believe in to see if I can make things better.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

The #1 strategy that helped me grow my business was TESTING. My career began by going to in-person networking meetings and experimenting with how I introduced hypnosis to the general public. I’d secretly have a digital voice recorder in my suit pocket not to covertly record my conversations, but instead to track what I said and how I said it. I’d keep track of how many conversations I could generate, and what percentage of these conversations turned into clients.

Too many hypnotists expect that they can ask their clients to change or try something new, but they’re unwilling to test things for themselves. The TESTING mindset gave me permission to celebrate the occasional failure because I knew it would put me even closer to repeatable success.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

The biggest failure I’ve ever had is one that I constantly call out in the hypnosis profession: You convince yourself that you know exactly what people need, and like a horse with blinders — you force people to accept your message.

My story was creating a group workshop that I selfishly convinced myself was the #1 thing that people needed. The reality is that people vote with their attention, their clicks, and their money. As confident as I was that my offer was “the best thing ever,” it was a wake-up call when no one signed up for the event, and I lost money on the experience.

This taught me to better engage with my audience and ask them what THEY wanted. Thanks to a brief survey, I discovered that there was another pain point they desperately needed help to address. I created a new group workshop to answer their call. The attendees absolutely loved the event, and I experienced my first ever six-figure MONTH.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Sequencing is everything. Too many business owners are trying to metaphorically ask their audience to “consummate the marriage even before the first date.”

The #1 thing you need to sell in your business is THE NEXT STEP. I see a lot of hypnotists who are struggling in their businesses to attract clients. The call-to-action on their websites say “call this number to book your session.” They fail to realize that their potential clients are not yet qualified to make a buying decision.

Your best strategy is to “baby step” the sales process by creating micro-agreements in a NEXT-STEP-based approach.

The still-frame of a video sells the “next step” to actually play the video.

The first 5 seconds of the video sells the video the “next step” to play the full video.

The content you share sells the “next step” to listen intently to the call-to-action.

The call-to-action sells the “next step” to get your questions answered in a brief call.

The call sells the “next step” of building a greater desire to make the change.

The greater desire sells the “next step” of realizing you’re the person who can help them.

When you divide up your clients’ journey into these individual action steps, you can better create the RIGHT process to consistently fill your calendar with the RIGHT clients.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

We live in Orlando, and our schedules opened up to take our older daughter to one of the theme parks for a special event. The small investment of $100 created a memorable experience that neither of us will ever forget.

It’s important to grow a successful business that runs without you so that you can truly be present in the lives of those you love.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

It’s my CRM. That stands for “Customer Relationship Management.” It’s a software that allows me to store client data and automate tasks. There are many great options on the market, and the benefit is they all offer free trials to check them out and choose the one you like the best. I say this because I use both Infusionsoft and Hubspot – though you could recreate my success with other platforms.

In just a few clicks, I can track every purchase and every interaction I’ve had with a potential client or student. I know what resources they’ve accessed and what videos they’ve watched.

This is important to the growth of our relationship and their personal journey – and it also helps us to identify immediately how “ready” someone is to take the next logical step with my business.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I’ll be a little biased and first suggest “Work Smart Business: Lessons Learned from Hypnotizing 250,000 People and Building a Million-Dollar Brand.” I think it’s a great book. I wrote it…

Though I’ll bend your question of “one book” and instead suggest two — because the secret behind my book is that I wrote it to fill a gap between two books I love:

“The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber

and…

“The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss

Both books address the importance of working ON your business rather than just IN your business and the vital skills you must build in creating systems and delegation.

I wrote my book because we’ve all heard enough stories of billionaire CEOs accomplishing great things, and because I created my success in a rather unique niche — I wanted to share the inspirational journey and specific actions that felt more realistic to the readers, no matter where they are in their business journey.

What is your favorite quote?

Steve Martin:

“Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You.”

In a world where anyone on the internet can pop up and anonymously troll you, I’d add my personal extension of the previous quote “When you’re the person who does the thing, you’re the person who does the thing.”

Celebrate your victories. Yes, take a moment to acknowledge criticisms to look for ways to improve – yet your legacy and impact are what truly create your story.

Key Learnings:

• Take serious action and hold yourself accountable.
• Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it for the rest of your life.
• If you step into a mindset of TESTING, there’s no such thing as failure.
• Opportunities are abundant. It’s your own belief systems that create scarcity.
• The pathway to phenomenal change is based in taking action based on a FEELING.