Tying Heartstrings: The #1 Way to Increase Influence, Traffic, and Income

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I know this is a little to the point, but I’m going to admit it. I’ve found the secret to building a successful business… and you might not like it. However, it’s worked for tons of people around the web. And honestly, if you want to make an impact on others doing something you love, then you’re going to have to do it.

What’s this big it? What’s this secret? It’s being your genuine self and setting on a journey to master yourself.

When I say that, what kind of thoughts come to mind? Do you think of being a skilled speaker? Do you think of someone that hustles 24/7? Maybe you think of mastering the skill of connecting people? Perhaps you think of becoming a great author?

Perhaps you think about all those things. Maybe, none of them come to mind.

When I say “master yourself” or as others might put it become the ideal you”, I don’t mean for you to change who you are as a person. However, I might be asking for you to change your perspective of who you are and what you’re capable of.

Everyone is Different

From school, we know that certain kinds of people tend to resonate with others who are like them. Generally speaking, introverts get along real well with other introverts and extroverts get along well extroverts.

However, while this all true, we’re all different even more than that. Some introverts will like sports just as much as some extroverts. Some extroverts will love meditating as much as some introverts.

There were the groups that were popular. There were the band geeks. There were those of us who were into science.

It’s simple to say that there are all kinds of people. Your way of presenting yourself and your interests will resonate more with some people more than it does with others. Just as an example, I’ve met people who resonate more with Gary Vee more than they resonate with Ramit Sethi – even though, both are very direct in what they have to say and teach very similar topics.

To simplify what I am saying is this: the ideal you is someone that is not only a master of themselves, but someone that can communicate that self to others that will appreciate it.

I believe that the more compassion you show towards others, the more others will return for more in the future, and quite possibly, help you out in the future as well!

 

So, How do I Communite Myself Better to Others?

To say it in one word, be nice. Be honest, responsive, grateful, and go the extra mile for your audience.

On Monday, I was reminded about this once again when I was watching Brian Fanzo on Periscope. In this particular scope he said, that in the next year that three things were going to be huge in being a success in marketing (specifically live streaming):

  • Community
  • Storytelling
  • Engagement

Ask yourself, why are these things important? I’ll give you a moment.

It’s because they’re all things that people can connect with. As the host of the scope, you’re being nice here.

  • When you welcome others that are like you into a community, they realize that they’re no longer alone.
  • When you tell a story, they can connect you to others on so many levels. Your audience can relate better to who you are. They can agree that you want the same things in life. And furthermore, stories can even help people realize that your life and theirs are similar.
  • When you engage with someone who takes the time to engage with you first, they’ll appreciate you even more. When someone emails you, be sure to email them back. When someone drops a comment on your post or wall, make sure to respond. When you do this, it shows the audience member that you indeed care.

Doing these three things will build influence with your audience. In all three, you’re showing a certain levels of being nice and courteous. You’re providing value because they feel valued.

What’s the Point of Giving Away Value?

Well, if it’s not too obvious, the more value you give to your audience, the more they’ll come back. In LTD, we called it tying heartstrings. The more you do something for someone else, the more loops of string you’re throwing around their heart. If you have enough heartstrings tied around their heart, they’ll never be able to leave. If they did, they’d essentially be leaving a small portion of themselves behind. Also, the more heartstrings that you tie, the more they’ll want to engage even more with you, and promote you to others. This, in turn, drives up your traffic.

There are five ways this can happen:

  • They’ll share something you posted on social media.
  • They can subscribe to your email list. Whenever you deliver an update, there’s the potential that they’ll come back. Or heck, they might even share that newsletter with someone else.
  • They can comment on your post. This promotes conversation. If you’ve ever been over at Reddit, you might have realized that sometimes the comments and the discussion it leads to is much more interesting than the post itself.
  • They can email you directly. If they need help, again, you’d give it to them. This increases your trust level and helps them remember YOUR website. He or she will then be more likely to refer to your website to somebody else. If you’re just having a conversation about whatever, who knows – that person may have a blog with thousands of readers. Develop a rapport with this person and you may have found someone who may….
  • They’ll make a link back to your site from their site. (This is called back linking and Google LOVES backlinking.)

Ok, So I’ve Tied Some Heartstrings. Now What?

Well, I’m sure what you might like me to say is that you can sit back and watch your numbers go up, but things aren’t that simple. You’ll need to keep stirring the pot. Gotta keep that momentum going.

What it is time for, however, is for you to put up that first product of yours (if you haven’t already). Studies show that someone is more likely going to buy from a particular source the more times they’ve had in contact with that particular seller.

What’s it going to be? The easy way would be to just come up with something that they might like. The better idea would be to listen to those who you’ve brought in and ask them what they want – then make it. Like me, at the time of this writing, you might have silent traffic (hi guys!) and might have to rely on interviewing 5 to 10 people who you think would actually be candidates for what you have to offer.

Then once, you feel you have enough overlap of their responses, make it, and then deliver them back to them. (For bonus points, you might be so good at getting into those people’s needs that they might just be your first customers and prepay before it’s made!)

Action Steps:

So this week’s action steps are for you to think about this process. Are you connecting with your audience? Are they connecting with you? What kind of problems are you running into there?

If you are connecting and thinking about that first or next product, how’s your research going? Are you having any major setbacks as far as creating some actual buyers? Let us know below!

AoL 023: Recognizing the Delusion of Passion: Helping Millennials find True Personal Freedom with Mark Nathan

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“Being financially free. What a goal. Man, if we could only be financially free, we wouldn’t have to work!”

Has said many a millennial entrepreneur as they set out on their first business.

I know that was the case for me when I first fell into entrepreneurship. Just like, I’m sure, anyone else that has read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Those of us who have read Robert Kiyosaki’s work knows that ideally we want to have as many passive income streams as we can. In fact, he says that one of the easiest ways to build passive income is get started with a direct sales company or MLM.

So, in 2006, that’s what I did. Shortly there after, I met a guy who was quickly rising in the ranks of success in my group. Someone that inspired me quite a bit to leave the shell of an engineer behind.

That someone was this session’s guest, Mark Nathan. Mark has been financially free since 2009 and has worked his tail off to get there. Over the years, the speeches that I have seen him do and the videos that I have seen him in have made me realize that doing what he’s done is possible… and that anyone can do what he’s done. Like Pat Flynn, he’s a very relatable guy and a teacher at heart. But he won’t back away from giving you some tough love.

Recently, Mark has been using his financial freedom to help other startups in the Chicago area get off the ground. And I assume, that one of the things he’s realized is that a lot of us Millennials think that what we want is going to come easy to us. (I mean, why wouldn’t it? So many of us have only ever had to be in school… and that was relatively a cake walk!)

Well, that reason is why a lot of us fail at projects we set out to do. We simply don’t realize all the hardships that we’re going to face to achieve what we want to achieve.

So, to help us get the right state of mind of what it takes to succeed, he and his co-author, David Anderson, wrote their first book: The Delusion of Passion – Why Millennials Struggle to Find Success. Who better to give us struggling Millennials a little tough love than a fellow Millennial who’s reached the Summit?

In today’s talk, Laila and I talk with Mark about his ups and downs in business, what being financially free means to him, and what he and his wife do with their “extra” time.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What he learned about business early in his career during his time at Loyola.
  • What Mark and his wife do with their freedom (including getting on Family Feud).
  • His experiences in theatre, including starting a film festival.
  • His thoughts on developing a direct sales/MLM business and how to build one successfully.
  • What Financial Freedom means to him.
  • Where the idea for his book came from.
  • Some of the way’s he’s “embraced the suck” to get to where he’s at.
  • What mentorship has meant to him over his career.
  • How to make reliable partners out of followers.
  • …and MUCH more.

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

 

First Tip for Beginning Entrepreneurs

Meredith joins in talking about the Law of Resistance:

Mark’s brother, Father Matt, meets Steve Harvey:

You can tell that Mark and his family lead an Upgraded Life!

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, and/or Podbean. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

Social Confidence Mastery

Myke Macapinlac: Helping Shy Guys Succeed in Life via Social Confidence Mastery (AoL 022)

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Being anxious is part of life. And, as we all know, it can be a problem. Ask anyone who’s ever tried to give a speech. Stage fright is definitely a thing. The question is whether you let it control you, or you use it to boost your ability to connect with someone.

Likewise, when we’re dating and meeting new people, anxiety has that ability to get in our heads. What if those people don’t like me? What if I don’t come across as my true self? What if my true self is too weird? What if… what if… what if?

There’s many ways to deal with this anxiety. Many of us learn how to cope with it early in life when making friends. Others, tend to avoid it. Those that tend to avoid it… we say that they’re shy.

Kids (especially teenagers) don’t want to stick out. In their mind, being part of the herd is part of what it is to be popular. If you don’t fit in, then you’re going to be ridiculed for being the odd one out.

When I was growing up, I didn’t fit into any one group. Being the biggest kid in my class AND being a geek, I kinda stuck out. Needless to say, I was picked on quite a bit.

That stuff sticks with you and can have a great affect on who you are later in life. So much so that instead of opening up to the world, you get further into a shell.

Today’s guest, Myke Macapinlac, wants to get guys out of that shell. Being a big kid himself, and not being able to speak English when he first moved to Canada, he was ostracized quite a bit. In fact, he felt it so much that he’d eat his lunch in the bathroom by himself.

Eventually, he felt that life was passing him by and that’s when he started to make a change.

Now he helps other guys make that change.

In today’s talk, I chat with Myke about how he got started, where the idea of the Social Man Project came from, where he gets some of his coaching techniques, and what separates him from other coaches.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How he fell into the coaching arena.
  • When he knew it was time to start his own path.
  • How he landed his first client.
  • How he finds space to do his bootcamps and courses.
  • Where the idea of the Social Man Project (now called Social Confidence Mastery) came from.
  • Where he gets some of his coaching techniques and how those set him apart from other coaches.
  • What are Myke’s 3 cornerstones of his coaching.
  • How to be a Nice Guy without being a pushover.
  • Thoughts on Neil Strauss and his teachings.
  • 4 questions answered on dating issues.
  • …and MUCH more.

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

 

Myke on City TV for the Calgary Stampede in 2014

Cam and Myke discuss how you can create Charisma on Game Quitters:

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, and/or Podbean. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

marrying an entrepreneur

AoL 019: Marrying an Entrepreneur and the Fundamentals of Building a Business with Francielle and Brian Daly

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When you’re introduced to somethings, you either can go slow or fast. Examples of learning something slow might include many sports and school activities such as multiplication, reading, and writing. You get the idea.

Other times you have to go fast – like learning how to ride a bike.

When it comes to entrepreneurship, and teaching others, you can do it quickly and risk blowing their minds. Or you can go slow and try to recreate how you might have learned.

Unfortunately for people who marry an entrepreneur, they often times don’t get the chance to learn slow. Personally for me and Maria, I tried to keep her process relatively slow so that it wouldn’t get too nuts. However, as soon as we got married, I had her listening to podcasts and watching courses right away. Eventually getting her interested in what things she wanted to do outside of her day job.

I could have gone quicker than that. I know that one of my best friends from school, Ben, got his now wife, Megan, to go to an LTD open meeting for their second date. She got to know the business more than she got to know him! Yikes. Talk about a steep learning curve!

Similarly, one of today’s guests got the other to go to a business conference early on their dating life as well. As she eludes to in the podcast, he meant business!

Francielle Daly quickly realized that Brian was for real and that being with him would mean things would change in her life. And boy did they ever. Now she’s running her own site and coaching others with him. All in the matter of a couple of years.

In today’s session, we talk about what that transformation looked like and the ride they have taken together to this point in their solopreneur careers.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • How Francielle was introduced to Entrepreneurship
  • Where the idea of FullTimeMom.org came from and how it’s changed over time.
  • The importance of the 4 Pillars of Business and how they can affect a business.
  • How the question “If you thought you were doing everything right and someone told you that you were doing something wrong, how soon would you want to know?” has changed Brian’s perspective on life.
  • The importance of having a strategy for the things that you do in your business.
  • Why it might be a good thing to work with professionals.
  • Why an assessment is critical when forming teams and business relationships.
  • How they’ve had success finding clients.
  • Whether they see themselves as being unemployable.
  • …and MUCH more.

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Get the Dalys’ Execution Plan Template here:

GET THE EXECUTION PLAN TEMPLATE
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
In this plan, you'll see how you can execute and grow your business. It asks all the right questions regarding your business and makes you think about what your next steps might be.
Please be aware that any work you use this plan for is at your own discretion. It is highly recommended that you seek a proper assessment from Brian and Francielle Daly for proper use.

Article that talks about launching a company with a loved one and 5 things you need to know about doing it.

Marie Forleo asks 4 questions you can ask yourself when taking business advice from your spouse:

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, and/or Podbean. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

Four Systematized Business Building Resources Which Will Help You Find Clarity in Your Work

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The world tends to mistake desire for clarity.  When people talk in a no-nonsense way, it’s often mistaken for aggression. Getting aggressively engaged with your future will bring you clarity.

In a world of much chaos and huge differences in “factual” information, it’s pretty easy to get confused in what we want out of life. We spend so much time figuring out who we are, that many times we forget the actual process that we’ve taken to get to that point.

We forget that not everyone has had our struggles. We forget others don’t have our same background. And many times, we see the strengths that we’ve developed as no big deal.

Many of us, while we know we’re good at things, simply don’t choose to capitalize on those experiences and strengths. Many times believing that we have to emulate someone else to be considered “successful”.

But that’s simply not the case.

When we look at many of our favorite successful people, we might have different ideas of what made them succeed. It’s easy for us to think, “Oh yeah, that guy is a product of the system they’re in!” or “she was just lucky,” or my favorite, “dude, he simply has extraordinary talent”.

But, from successful person’s perspective, are those the true secrets to their success? That the reason they were good is out of their control?

Of course not.

So why is it that so many of us believe that success is given to us? That it’s from an external source?

Personally, I think that we’ve been trained to think that way. Our past schooling and our supervisors were the ones in charge in determining if we were successful. Success was based on our grades and our ability to move up in corporate ladder.

However, I’ve re-learned that true success comes from being able to build a sound foundation that all your future choices will be built on. That sound foundation is often referred to as clarity of purpose or simply clarity.

What Championship Sports Teams can Teach Us About Systemization

For a majority of people, professional sports seems simply as form of entertainment. On the surface, I can see how they see that. And frankly, they are. And I think that’s how many of us started watching our favorite teams. However, as I’ve grown older, I’ve realized that we can study them, not for stats and trivia, but actually for key elements that we can apply to the rest of our life. We can learn about relationships, teamwork, leadership, communication, execution, metrics… the list goes on.

For me, I learned a ton from watching the 2006-2007 Colts team win the Super Bowl. Every year prior while Tony Dungy was their coach, they focused on the small things – the basics of the game.

They focused on tackling. They focused on timing. They focused on communication development. I mean, compared to today’s team, they were pretty polished on every aspect of the game. There’s no way that this would have happened to that Dungy team. The team was simply prepared to win that Super Bowl.

Looking around the NFL, there are a couple of teams that might stick out as teams that just “have it”. They have a working system. One of those, as much as I and other NFL fans would hate to admit, is the New England Patriots.

For as far back as I’ve been a fan of the Colts, the Pats have been a powerhouse in the NFL. While there hasn’t been too much released to the public about how they win so regularly, NFL fans can tell that the program that they utilize works for each player on the team. A program that stresses that their players must “Do Their Job“.

Across the sports spectrum, we can see many instances in college basketball. Take for example, Coach K. Just like the system that the Patriots have with Belichick, part of what makes coach Krzyzewski is that he starts with the basics and that he wants feedback from those that are around him. Before Belichick and Krzyzewski, there was Bobby Knight, and before him there was John Wooden. Each had winning systems.

“But, JC. You just said that people aren’t a product of their environment.”

Well, they are and they aren’t. They are in that a good system can provide a player a good environment to get better in. However, it’s up to the player to take advantage of that environment. Those that don’t follow the system are yanked out and replaced. That said, the more a player excels in that environment, the higher potential they have. They excel, they get rewarded by more playing time. They can’t let their ego get the best of them or the team and they, themselves, won’t win.

They simply need to let the system work it’s magic on them. For some it takes a little less time than others. However, when the player utilizes the right system, they’ll have a much better chance to succeed than if they were the only star on their team… or outside of the league all together!

 

Systematized Business Building

Since personal development and business development have gone hand in hand since the Wallace Wattles days, we should realize that there are ways to build a business and ways not to build one.

Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot of the same material repeated about building a business. Each time I hear it, it differs just a tad bit. However, the foundational pieces stay the same. And the biggest and most important piece that most people who want to start their own business struggle with, right from the beginning, is clarity.

Following a system that can give you clarity, just like in sports, is a HUGE advantage when you’re trying to figure out a business that’s going to function and be successful.

Through the 8 years that I’ve been studying the entrepreneurship world in detail, there have been only four sources that I quote regularly for helping me move on. One of them is finally systematizing his findings. So I wanted to do a quick review for you guys today. Depending on what you want to do, these will all help you move forward without wasting time and money.

Leadership Team Development (LTD)

Type: Immersive Training. Everyone starts from nothing. You will be working with sponsors who have had success already. You’ll be selling already existing products and getting others to join your team. Marketing and training is available through the company.

Cost: Varies. Depends on how you get started. Whether or not you buy the same product you advertise. How much marketing stuff you’ll use.

So this is going to be a hard turn off for some. However, others will love it. Just depends on what you want your business to incorporate. If you want to just focus on marketing and growth, this is totally your thing. If you want control over R&D as well, keep moving down the list.

For me, if I hadn’t started with LTD, it would have taken me a little more time to get into personal and business development. As far as passive income goes, nothing beats the multi-level marketing business type.

Why?

Well, for one, it’s super simple. Because anyone can enter and it doesn’t take a genius to be successful. You simply move product for the main company, and you get more people started as IBOs, coaches, or whatever they call their members.

The second thing is that the right groups, like LTD, will teach it’s members life skills (I learned about John Maxwell and Coach K, among others, from LTD).

And the third thing is that if you truly build it like those that have gone before you discuss, it literally is the most passive income source available out there available for people at all levels. Once you build your business, if you’ve brought in the right kinds of leaders and trained them well, then chances are as your group gets bigger, you’re needed less and less. Oh, and your income increases as well.

If you’re wondering, I’m still a card carrying member, so if your interested to know more, contact me directly about it.

Just make sure you put “LTD” in the Subject line somewhere.

The Foundation (TF)

Type: Immersive Training. Again, everyone starts from the bottom and works their way to the top. You will be working with coaches who have been students in the program before. Originally geared towards building online membership software (Software as a Service).

Cost: Relatively high up front. The expense of being in this program runs in the thousands. So it might not be an option to all future entrepreneurs. But it’s definitely worth it as you will be fully virtually immersed by the class.

Another very focused group that I’ve been a part of has been the Foundation. There are 10 types of online businesses that you can start. Being a “engineer” is one of these options.

As an engineer, we specifically fix a problem that clients and future clients will have. Many times that solution will be done through building software. We do this through what TF calls Idea Extraction. 

Now, idea extraction can possibly scare plenty of people because it might involve cold contacting people – especially if you’re not connected to an industry you want to help. However, there’s ways to mitigate the effects of doing this contacting and it’s explained within their course.

Check them out here.

Pat Flynn’s Book: Will It Fly

Type: Independent Training. Most training across the web is what I’d consider independent training. “Students” can start anytime, anywhere, and at any level. (The previous two options makes everyone start from scratch.) They have complete control over everything about their platform. Some might find this level of control too much. Others might love it.

Cost: Least expensive of the four as it’s a book. However, it’s put together from years of Pat’s studies for his blog and interviewing for the SPI Podcast.

Being released in February 2016, I have had the pleasure of being on the Book Launch Team for this book by the Internet Marketing Crash Test Dummy himself, Pat Flynn. While it might not come with the specific community that the three other options have (not saying Pat doesn’t have community, he does), it does have a great interactive framework that you can use to start your online business.

Specifically the book is divided into five sections. Those five sections are:

  • Mission Design – Through a series of thought-experiments, we’ll make sure your target idea aligns with and supports your target goals.
  • Development Lab – No matter where you are currently in your business, this phase is used to uncover important details about your target idea that you haven’t even thought about yet.
  • Flight Planning – This is where you’re going to assess the current conditions of the market that you’re entering so that you can see what (and who) you’re up against.
  • Flight Simulator – You will be combining everything you’ve learned through your research together to actually validate and test your idea with a small segment of your target market.
  • All Systems Go – You’ll be doing some final analysis to make sure you’re ready to move forward with your idea. In addition to that, you’ll get some helpful insight on your next moves, and how you can take a lot of the information you’ve uncovered during your research in this book forward with you, so you know your next steps.

Check it out here. (Amazon affiliate link)

Fizzle.co 

Type: Hybrid Training. Is a mix between Independent Training and Immersive. While you go at it your own speed and can start from any entry point, there is a community to ask questions regarding anything you might have problems with. I believe this is the Jack of All Trades solution.

Cost: Typically $35 per month. However, there is a trial period. Which you can try here. (Affiliate link)

This resource for building your business, like LTD, is for the long term. You can learn the basics that Pat discusses in his book, but it will take you from creation all the way up to scaling up to a point where you actually start hiring a team to help you. As of the writing of this post, I am a local Fizzle meetup host for Indianapolis.

There are three main phases:

  • Find and Develop your Business Idea – Build a Solid Foundation
    roadmappage-phase1
  • Launch Your Business – Earn Enough to Support Yourself
    roadmappage-phase2
  • Optimize & Grow to Increased Profitability & Sustainability
    roadmappage-phase3

 

Again, you can get started at Fizzle for a free trial here!

If you’re interested in being the best in anything, you got to find a working system to learn it in. As you can tell, I’ve gone through several myself. While I take full responsibility for my lack of focus and discipline in the past, it is my sincere hope that you will be able to excel in any of the above programs.

While each resource above is geared towards making you successful, whether or not you acquire that success is up to you. As the Under Armor Tom Brady (the Patriot’s quarterback) commercial says, “You are the sum of all your training“.

Homework:

If doing what you love for a living is really what you want to start working towards this year, I believe you need to get yourself in a system that will help you focus and excel. There are many out there, but I hope this review gives you somewhere to start. Below, feel free to ask any further questions about each resource you might have.

If you’re a seasoned pro and have had training outside of these 4, I’d love to hear about your experience. Eventually, I’d like to get a guide and/or review for various programs so that people don’t waste their time or money on a program that doesn’t fit them.

Good to Great: Learning How to Generate Greatness

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What is greatness? Lewis Howes in his new book, School of Greatness, suggests that

“Greatness is the result of visionaries who persevere, focus, believe, and prepare. It is a habit, not a birthright.“

As creators, a lot of us wonder what the difference is between people like Lewis and ourselves. We say things like, “Oh, it’s his good looks.” or maybe “It’s because he’s well connected as an athlete”. However, I think these are more of excuses of why we aren’t doing better ourselves vs why he’s doing so well. Yes, he has those things working for him. However, that isn’t the whole story.

The truth is that he’s gone from good to great… and he continues to do that daily.

When I first wanted to strike out on my own, I wondered about how Bill Gates and Steve Jobs got to where they’re at. Mind you, this is back in high school and early college before I became too influenced by formal education. I seriously thought that they were capable of doing this because of their elite tech making powers. However, as I later would come to find out, this simply is just a part of the recipe.

The truth of the matter is, we all have this greatness in us. It’s simply the fact that many don’t know how to tap into this greatness. And it’s really not as simple as just saying “Oh, you need to try something out of your comfort zone.” Again, that’s only part of the recipe too.

At the end of this post, I think you’ll get a good grasp on what it entails to be a successful big name creator.

It’s All About Leadership

When we think about the differences between success stories like Pat Flynn, Lewis Howes, Tim Ferriss, and Gary Vaynerchuk, we might have various thoughts about why they’ve all been able to get to the various levels of success that they have. Perhaps we simply say they were lucky. Or perhaps we realize that they’ve been able to follow a plan (knowingly or unknowingly) that has taken them to where they are.

 

When you think about these individuals, we realize that they have something in common besides simply being successful. It’s that when called to step up, they all have. Pat Flynn got over his speaking issues and has become not only a podcaster, but a successful conference speaker. Lewis literally got off the couch and started doing webinars. Tim didn’t end with just his one book, he did three. And Gary didn’t stop at doing liquor related projects, he’s actually grown Vaynermedia.

All of these acts could simply be described as them Stepping Up. They could have easily backed up and just done what they were comfortable with, but instead they’ve risen to the challenge again and again.

They have gone from Good to Great.

And, unfortunately or fortunately (depending on whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert), doing that is going to take a little bit of Leadership.

How Do You Compare?

To become someone that’s great, we need to realize that there are 5 levels of leadership. Here’s a brief description of each:

Level 1: A highly capable person who is able to give to others through their knowledge, skills, and other good work habits.

Level 2: A contributing team member who uses their talents for the success of the group.

Level 3: A competent manager who understands basic organization of people and resources and is able to meet objectives and goals.

Level 4: An effective leader that is able to stimulate his followers to achieving a particular vision. However, they tend to do so for personal gains.

Level 5: An effective leader who not only gets his followers to achieve, but does so through humility and professional will. They care about the team and their followers.

Now that we’ve sorted that out, let’s think about our examples again: Pat, Lewis, Tim, and Gary.

They all have been able to achieve themselves. They’ve all helped thousands of other people achieve. And, I would say that most of them honestly care about their fan base. So… yeah, they’re all Level 5 Leaders.

Furthermore, I’d say that the following could describe them even more:

  • They talk about their team, their company, their fan base more than they talk about themselves.
  • Not only do they set high standards for themselves, they set high standards for everyone around them.
  • They all would rather stretch themselves and those around them when it comes to challenges vs complaining about challenges.
  • They have ambition for their company and fan base. They want their fans and friends to help contribute to what they’ve started. (However, they’re not completely upset if they don’t want to come for the ride.)

How to go from Good to Great

Well, first off, we should remember that we’re not automatically Great. Again, it’s something that takes dedication and work to achieve. However, if you are wanting to have mass affect on your followers and get to a Level 5 Leader, here are some tactics to help you get there:

People are first, strategy is second. If we’re talking about customers and fans, it’s important to deliver what they want. Don’t produce something that isn’t wanted. You’d simply be wasting your own time. Once you have a viable product and have some people interested in your work, think about how you can promote some of your biggest fans to help work the machine. As you give off jobs that you once had to do yourself (based on your help’s strengths, of course) then you can add more products and/or ways of reaching more potential fans.

Facts and Faith. Simply be aware that as creators, we naturally have great imaginations. We’re always wondering “what if?”. However, that doesn’t lend us much to be a leader. I mean, it could help us be great motivational speakers, and if that’s all we’re wanting to be, that’s fine. However, true Level 5 Leaders have followers that have the same results and to help those people get results, we need to feet on the ground as well as our heads in the sky. (I think Pat does a great job of this one by showing his Monthly Income Report.)

Build Up to Break Through. It’s important to know that as a creator, the beginning is always going to be difficult and labor intensive on our parts. But, as we continue to meet the needs of our small team, customers, and our fans, then we’re building momentum. (If you have an online presence, traffic is a good indicator of this momentum.) Other momentum makers are improving ourselves (so we can stay on the cutting edge of our industry), and actually succeeding. When we have these things and show how well we’re doing, we create more belief with our followers.

Choose Simple Over Complex. Find out what you do well and play to those strengths. If you can’t do something, don’t try to do it until you find or hire help for it. If you’re jack of many trades like myself, then only focus on things that you really enjoy doing. Stay to your strengths, as we can work on our weaknesses but we’ll never get much with them. It’s all about eliminating what you don’t do well and concentrating on what you do. (If we use Gary Vee as an example, we know that he could be doing all of his social media stuff like a champ – but he’s hired people to do that stuff so he can focus on business development.)

An easy way to remember how to keep things simple is to focus on on three things:

  1. Is it what I’m good at.
  2. Does it make economical sense to do this?
  3. Will it excite my followers? Will it stir their passion?

If you’re able to answer yes for all three things, then it’s something you should consider doing.

Strategically Use Technology. As a creator, we want to limit ourselves as consumers. We all know how technology gives us the opportunity to consume information at a faster and faster rate every day. However, we need to learn how to leverage that same technology to get our message out there. It’s ok to be a first user if you think a technology is going to be widely used. (In fact, Gary Vee does exactly this. He believes that the sooner you get on a new technology, the less noise you have to deal with.) However, on the other hand, you can’t go from tech to tech to tech and expect your followers to be able to do the same. Pick something, stick with it, and test new technology out before you commit to it.

Develop a Culture of Discipline. Finally, a Level  5 leader wants to develop a culture of discipline simply because he or she doesn’t want to have to baby sit their fans and/or team. If you’re teaching people to do something, you want them to be able to do things and have their own results. If you have a team that is self disciplined, then you won’t have to redo their work over.

On top of having disciplined people around us, we also want to make sure that we have disciplined thought. Meaning, we need to be thinking continually about the right things. Once we have a product(s), customers, and perhaps a team, we want to make sure that our thoughts are based on helping them be the best that they can be in what they’re doing. On top of that, we also need to be thinking about other ways of building our influence.

Only when we have disciplined thought can we have disciplined action. Do things that help you and your business grow. Don’t do things that don’t.

Homework:

Hopefully this will help you focus on what you need to do to get to a higher level with your work. Remember, it wasn’t luck that got the big names where they were. It was focusing on the big picture and making sure that what they did positively affected those around them.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about any strategies you’ve used to be more influential with your fans, customers, and/or team members. Do you see this strategy as being part of a Level 5 Leader? If it isn’t, can you think of anything you could do with that strategy to make it more impactful? (If you don’t know, feel free to ask.) Chime in below!

Tips For Finding, Hiring, and Working with a Career Coach

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It’s November and many people’s minds are on winter coming up. I know as I’m looking out the window, it’s already that wintery gray with occasional yellow leaf still hanging on a tree. While gazing out there, I find myself asking, “Didn’t we just have winter? What happened to summer?!?”

For many people, the changing of the seasons suggests that change is needed in their lives. They could be thinking a number of things. In fact, you might place me with the bunch that says “I’m not taking another one of these! It’s time to move south!” However, some people actually make the jump.

Another jump that might be made during the change of the seasons, and more specifically in the fall, are career changes. For whatever reason, people regularly change careers in the fall. (Personally, I don’t know why that is. Any thoughts? Is it related to the fiscal year ending?)

Like many transitions in life, there are professionals that are available for hire that can help you with your change of career. These people are called Career Coaches.

Signs You Need a Career Coach

You know, I believe that if you want to be someone you’re not, then you’re going to need help to get there. There are different types of people who can help you get to the next level. Those that are direct and those that are indirect. Examples of people who are more direct in helping others are teachers, managers, and leaders. Examples of indirect helpers would be counselors, mentors, and finally coaches. Coaches being the most extreme of being indirect. To me, a coach is someone who can take another person where they can’t take themselves. I say this because I think people can teach themselves how to do stuff. However, I don’t think they get out of their own head and look at a certain situation from another perspective too well.

I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if we could fix mental blocks we might have and be better at something? To give ourselves that extra push to get out of a particular comfort zone? The truth is that while we like to believe that we’re great at making ourselves better, more often than not, that isn’t always the case. If we knew what was keeping us from going to the next level, then doesn’t it make sense that we would have made that adjustment already and gotten there?

That said, here are a few signs you should be able to recognize as a signal that it’s time to get a career coach.

  • You feel like you’re spinning your wheels in your current career or position.
  • You feel like you’re not given a chance to prove the person you believe yourself to be.
  • You feel like you have problems with meeting new people in professional settings.
  • You’ve been out of work for a long time and feel that you might run out of runway to get another job, or start a new career.
  • You feel like your job and your co-workers jobs are possibly about to be cut.

While this list isn’t extensive, I believe it kinda gives a valid barometer of the things you should be asking yourself “Do I feel…”. If the answer is yes, then it’s time to start looking.

Choosing A Coach

Just like there are many kinds of doctors, there are many kinds of coaches. And believe me, they come with all kinds of shapes and sizes. While many of us can help with general stuff (resume and coverletter writing, interviews, networking, etc.) many us specialize. For me, I like working with millennials who want more in life and are thinking about eventually doing their own thing. Other coaches might focus with people with ADHD or people interested in a STEM field. Yet others might focus with women or those who are thinking about being semi-retired after they leave their current position.

So think about what kind of person you are first. Then think if the coaches you’re looking at fit that description.

Next, think about what you want to get done. What do you want them to help you with? As I said, I like working with people my own age who are wanting to be an expert in the work they have a passion for. And while I can help you do general job hunting stuff, it’s not my bread and butter. In fact, when people want to acquire a job in a field I have no clue in, I generally pass them on to other coaches.

So get a list of 5 coaches that might be able to help you with what you want to get done.

Once you have that last part figured out, you need to interview them. Many of us offer discovery sessions if we expect to be working with people for 6 or more sessions – so that would be your opportunity. (If they’re only going to work with you for 3 to 6 sessions, you might need to find another way.)

Questions that you might ask during this interview include:

  • What should I expect from working with you?
  • Can you share success stories? (Focus on whether they’re describing you in these stories.)
  • What’s your fee structure like? (Find out if they charge by session, by hour, by month, or a combination of the three.)
  • How would you describe your coaching style? (Again are they more direct like a teacher or are they going to help lead you to your own answers? Which one do you have time for?)

Working with a Coach

Once you have selected your coach and it’s time to start working with them, there’s a few things that you ought to do to make your time count with them.

Prepare for every session. You’re paying for this session. So think about how you’re going to get the best of it.What kind of learner are you? Do you like to write notes? Do you need to record the sessions? Maybe you should get any resumes or past documents you’ve prepared in getting a job. Come prepared with a list of questions, ideas, and/or notes you’ve been thinking about.

Keep communication lines open. If you have any personal challenges with something, let your coach know. Are you having financial issues? Perhaps you’re going through some relationship problems. Or maybe you’re struggling with something the coach said. These are things that they need to know to help you craft the best plan possible. So let your coach know about them in a tactful way.

Assessments aren’t everything. If you know me, you should know I’m a huge fan of personality assessments. The main reason is because I think they helped me realize what I should have gone to school for. However, I need to make sure I emphasize “helped”. Everyone is different. And just because you have the same personality type, or the same believes, or the same values as someone else, doesn’t mean you have to be a carbon clone of that person. You’re going to have different experiences, skills, and thoughts than that other person. Let all of those combine to figure out what you’re true calling is.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. When building a skyscraper, construction companies will spend just about as much time building the foundation as they do building the actual building itself. Why is that? Because it needs to support all that weight.

This is true of coaching (and many other processes in life that are worth pursuing), too. Sometimes we’re building something so big we won’t realize it. We’ll hit a plateau and be frustrated one day, and the next we’ll feel that we’re making great strides in our life. The thing is that there’s so many variables in making a career transition that it’s really hard to tell exactly how long it will take for any particular individual – let alone everyone. So results will vary.

Expected Results vs Actual Results

Again, results will vary. Everyone is different. Realize that just like a player on the field will accumulate 120 yards one day and another receiver in that same system will go only 15, there are many different variables as to why that happened. Perhaps the player didn’t have as many opportunities to catch the ball. Or perhaps he dropped one or two of the passes that were sent his way. At the end of the game, they’re on the same winning team and they still won.

Likewise, your coach is putting you through the same system they’ve put others through before as well. However, you’re going to be starting from a different starting point and have different motivators. While your coach is giving you the strategies and guidance to make great plays, in the end is up to you to be that MVP. You’re the one that has to complete what is asked of you.

Homework:

Like all my other posts, here’s something for you to do right now with what you’ve just finished reading.

I want you to think of 3 things that you’re happy about from your current position. Then what are 3 things that frustrate you about your career.

Now, from those 3 things that frustrate you, what is one thing you’d love help with? List that one thing below. We’d love to see what kinds of things you guys are struggling with. Hopefully we’ll be able to help! (If you want our help in particular, you can find out more about our services here.)