Internet Business Mastery AUDIOblogs: Our Best Tips in 15 Mins or Less

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/66287761/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 In today’s world people have blogs for everything from businesses to hobbies and personal story telling. Regardless of the topic or niche industry, successful blogs understand how to communicate with their people and to facilitate readership. This goes beyond simply publishing content and hoping that it is discovered. In order to achieve more success for your blog, consider these 15 elements that successful blogs share in common. 1. They Focus on Relationships, Not Just Clicks Successful bloggers understand the value of building relationships. Making a connection with a single individual is more valuable than 10 or 15 page clicks because that one person has just become a lifetime reader. Respond to comments and make an effort to get to know your readers in order to build lasting, valuable relationships. One of the best blogs at relationship building is the Moz Blog. Despite being one of the most successful marketing, SEO and analytics blogs on the Internet, Moz’s writers and readers are genuinely engaged in each post and comment discussed on the site. Take a look at the comments section of any single post on the site and you’ll see just what I mean. 2. They Have a Clear Vision of Their Brand Understanding who you are and what you stand for are important elements for developing a blog. Everything about your site needs to be consistent, from the tone of voice you use in your writing to the color scheme and topics you write about. These elements should combine to create one consistent brand image for your blog. 3. They are Highly Active on Social Media Social media presents itself as a powerful tool for bloggers. Sharing your blog content on Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms will increase readership and raise awareness for your site. Also, your readers are likely on social media, meaning that it is another tool for interacting with them and making connections. For example, take a look at Havahart. This brand focuses on helping customers rid their homes and yards of pesky animals – but without harming them. Because their Facebook presence is alive and well, Havahart is able to drive a substantial amount of traffic to their community blog. 4. They Push Themselves to Come up With Interesting Post Ideas Content is key when it comes to blogging. Offering people intriguing and useful content is the basis for creating a popular and informative blog. Make an effort to research fresh topics and to come up with creative content ideas in order to make your blog interesting. 5. They Let Their Fans Contribute Allowing guest bloggers or active community members to write posts for your site is a good way to increase readership, show a little fan service and explore new topics and ideas.  Case in point: Buzzfeed. Buzzfeed is notorious for allowing its humble community contributors to suggest post ideas for the main section of the website. While it’s quite rare that a community member has their post republished, the ones who do keep user interest alive on the site – and Buzzfeed gets some great posts out of it. 6. They Give a Face to Each Blogger on the Site Blogs with multiple authors should allow each blogger to express a unique identity. Having each blogger write on a particular niche topic and use a byline will give their posts a lot more credit.

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/64991861/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 I’m really surprised I don’t get asked this question more often. When I first became aware of internet business, I certainly wonder about the answer. Actually, I think most people think about the answer the moment they become aware of internet business. The moment the desire hits them, their brain defends itself with the same, universal answer. Later. It has to be later, for a whole load of reasons. * I cannot get started until I finish school * I cannot get started until I pay of the car * I cannot get started until the kids are back in school * I cannot get started until the kids are out of school * I cannot get started until things settle down at work * I cannot get started until the summer * I cannot get started until the holiday break * I cannot get started until I have at least $x saved in the bank * And on and on. They are all wrong.  There is only one time to truly get started. Oh yes, I’m sure you guessed it… NOW. I was in a six figure, corporate job when the desire struck me.  I said to myself, “I have 2 cars, a mortgage, a wife, 2 kids, a bird, and 2 dogs, now couldn't possible be the perfect time, right?” Now was the time for me and now is certainly the time for you. Listen Now! Download the MP3 Here

  http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/64534338/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 Innovation. It's how truly great businesses like Apple grow rapidly and change the world. It's also integral to the growth of your own business. Even small innovative ideas will multiply your income and impact. The key is to have small breakthroughs regularly. This could be a new way to teach a key concept or a slightly different way of applying existing technology. For example, there's nothing earth-shattering about the launch of our new AUDIOblogs podcast. It's a small innovation, but one that is attracting more listeners and getting much higher engagement. It started with a "why we don't we try this" idea. And now other content creators are adopting this same idea. How can you develop your ability to generate small innovations for big growth? Raw Fuel for Creativity Creativity needs raw material. You put stuff into the refinery, it rolls around in the hopper and, eventually, a brilliant idea emerges. One of the best sources of innovation is peripheral knowledge, in other words, using seemingly unrelated information and applying it to an existing task or goal. Reebok used technology for IV bags (like you see in a hospital) to develop new cushioning for its basketball shoes. I can just imagine a shoe-tech lying in a hospital bed after a skiing accident, looking up at his morphine drip and having a drug-induced breakthrough :). That's probably not what happened, but one thing is for certain. This breakthrough would have never happened had this seemingly irrelevant information not shown up on a shoe designer's radar. Sometimes Rabbit Holes Pay Off "Wait! What? But you guys always tell us to stay focused and use Just-in-Time Learning." Yes. This is true... most of the time. Let's say 95% of the time it's important to be incredibly focused with your learning. However, you'll end up with tunnel vision if you only give your mind "Just in Time" learning. Not only that, but if you denying your entrepreneurial mind of novel info for too long it just might rebel. Your mind needs to play, too. I call this kind of learning, Free Learning. A Word of Warning Now, don't take this as license to chase the shiny and new. Don't go subscribing to every email newsletter under the sun or buying your entire wishlist on Amazon. You have to be deliberate. It's a balance.Productivity is important, but so is exploration. Are you free learning to avoid getting things done, or are you free learning to restore your supply of raw material? Here are three steps to get the most from this form of learning. Step One: Schedule Free Learning Time The best way to ensure that you Free Learning time is about innovation and not procrastination is to schedule it. Set a time limit to keep things under control. I usually set about an hour. I make sure to have at least one free learning session every month. When possible, I do one weekly. Step Two: Follow Your Whims Read about, listen to or watch whatever your heart desires. Anything that catches your interest is fair game. This is learning for learning's sake. It's about learning because you love to learn. There are no expectations of being productive. This is about letting go of objectives or expectations. This is what sets Free Learning apart from Discovery Learning. Discovery Learning has the objective to learn broadly in order to find the best path forward. Free Learning has no prescribed destination.

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/64097390/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 I've been thinking about responsibility lately. Once you've been doing this Freedom Business stuff for a while, it is more and more apparent that we are truly responsible for our own lives. I think our level of success is dependent on the amount of things we are willing to take responsibility for. If you are only responsible for how golden brown the fries at McDonald's are, you will have a very low level of fulfillment and financial success. If you want to live life on your own terms and make $77,183.66 per month, like Mr. Pat Flynn, you need to take an extremely high level of responsibility. To play at that level, you have to realize that NO ONE ELSE IS TO BLAME. He didn't stop because of his fear, he took responsibility and overcame the fear. His first business hit a huge challenge and he nearly lost everything. He didn't whine and say, "starting a business is just to hard and everyone's against me." He took responsibility, found a way to fix it, and even started another business. Taking responsibility is deciding to make this internet business stuff work no matter what. The same month Pat Flynn made his first 30k/mon with his second business, Smart Passive Income, using our Academy 101 method - is the same month an anonymous Academy student quit and refunded saying he just didn't think our system worked. One person took responsibility and followed the system, the other blamed and quit. I always say the only way to fail is to quit. That is what I believed and still commit to everyday. THE ONLY WAY TO FAIL IS TO QUIT. * Cannot find your Single Motivating Purpose? Keep going until you get it! * Having trouble finding finding a niche? Follow the program and just pick one! If the one you pick doesn't work, START OVER. If you don't like the one you pick in a year, START OVER. Taking action will help you get better and better at this. * Some part of the system you’ve chosen to follow not working? Take responsibility and either realize you didn't follow the system exactly or you need a new niche. No one can do this for you, only you.  No one WILL do this for you, only you can do it. Only you can be success by taking responsibility for how you respond to challenges and there will be challenges.  Lot’s of challenges! I want everyone of you to succeed above your wildest dreams, but Jason and I cannot do it for you. We would if we could. Really, I'd drag your butt out of bed 1 hour early every day if I could be everywhere at once, but that is not how it works. You have to choose to take responsibility NOW. Choose to take responsibility and you choose success at ANYTHING. What is something that could change your life right now if you just took responsibility for it? Listen Now! Download the MP3 Here

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/63534217/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 Have you ever wondered how to get the attention of the leaders in your market? We all know connecting with the right people in your industry will propel your success. But getting their attention can be tough and sometimes next to impossible. In this post I'll share a guaranteed way to cut through the noise and get a response from most influencers (as long as it's not Richard Branson or Oprah). This strategy bypasses all the usual advice to build a relationship over time. It goes beyond the typical "magic words" that supposedly get your email read. What I'm about to share works much faster and with a higher rate of success. Honestly, I'm surprised that more people don't do this. I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen use this technique, but the results have always been stellar. The fact that so few do this is exactly why it works so well. So what is the secret?   The One Thing Every Influencer Needs that Only You Can Offer You've likely read the following usual advice: to get what you want most, you have to first help others get what they want. This certainly is true. The desires of most influencers fit into one of three categories. * Impact the lives of more people * Make more money * Have their work validated or recognized But how do you help an important influencer with any of these things when you first start out? You don't have a list to promote to. You don't have connections to offer. You don't have skills that they don't already have access to. So what do you give them? As it turns out, there is one thing you can offer that no one else can. It delivers results in all three of the categories above. It has the power to not only get your email read, but to earn you an enthusiastic yes rather than a polite "no." What is it? Your success story. Why it Works so Well Everyone influencer needs testimonials and case studies proving that their stuff works. It's a key element for successful marketing. Any savvy influencer knows this. Also, success stories make powerful content for their site and press appearances. And even if they already have success stories, more is always better. Your story is unique. Influencers need a variety of stories to share in order to relate to the wide variety of people in their audience. This has a high value for influencers for two reasons. * The percentage of people that take action, achieve measurable results and document it is very small * It's a pain to track down these people down, follow up on their progress, get a testimonial and obtain permission from them. So make it easy for them. Be their success story. Not only will you get their immediate attention, you'll have their gratitude. It instantly triggers the principle of reciprosity. They'll be much more likely to help you in the future. Frankly, it surprises me that more people don't do this. Instead most people waste their time pursuing the usual, "easy" methods. As a result, they are lost in the noise and get ignored. 7 Steps to Get an Influencer to Adore You Here's how to put this strategy into action. * Choose the influencer * Buy their product * Show up on their radar * Take action and get results * Create a video testimonial * Contact the influencer * Follow up with the influencer Here are some tips for each step to get the most out of this strategy. Step 1: Choose the Influencer Choose someone you want to get the attention of. If this is your first go at it, choose a more "mid-tier" influencer.

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/63009259/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 In my last post, This Trap Can Steal Your Success, I talked about a very common and dangerous trap I see our students fall into everyday while building a Internet Business. I’m now going to give you a couple tools to escape and even avoid the Overnight Success Trap. In a time that is blessed with instant, fast, and easy,  it’s no wonder this trap is prevalent and insidious. We are used to getting so many things the moment we have a desire for it, we think EVERYTHING should be this way. * You want to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones, but missed it when it was scheduled to be on?  -No problem, you can click a button and be watching it instantly. * You want some food?  -Go online and order it, it’ll be here fast! * You want to put up a blog in under 5 min? -With a couple click on the mouse, you can have a shiny, new wordpress blog. This is a fantastic world we live in when we can get so many of our desires and needs filled instantly. Unfortunately, it has damaged many of our mindsets when it comes to success, because success in business isn’t instant. There are 2 ways to fix your mindset in order to climb out of the Overnight Success Trap and make sure we are set and ready for the long journey of success. UNTIL ‘Until’ is like a perfect ladder to get you out of this trap no matter when you fall in.  It’s a magic word really, when I started using it, it changed my mind and my outlook.  ‘Until’ allowed me the time needed to make a multi-million dollar business, long past the frustrations and challenges that would have forced me to quit. Okay, here is how I used this magic word. When I left my cubicle office for good and was walking out the door, I said: “I’m not going to stop UNTIL I get the final success I desire” I gave it no QUIT date. I decided to keep going UNTIL I succeeded, no matter what.  I didn’t care if I was an overnight success, I just wanted to succeed one day,  ANY day.  I wanted to find my place in the world and flourish in it.  It didn’t have to be quickly, it just had to happen. The RIGHT Success You want success now, right? Look, we all do, but we don’t have to let that get in our way. We just need to reframe what success means. Most of us Freedom Business Builders make it mean that you earn enough money each month so that you can quit your nightmarish 9-5 job. I’m here to tell you that making that goal the only way to have success will destroy your business and plant you firmly into the overnight success trap. Now, after being clear on that I’m also going to say that you can have overnight success… ...if your change the meaning. You CAN change the meaning, it’s okay, it’s allowed.  After all, you made success mean you need to replace your current income, so you can swap that up right now. It’s time to embrace Every Step Success. Every Step Success means that you count every single action you take towards the building and success of your Freedom Business. Yep, every single one! It seems so easy, but actually it’s not.  Not at all…. We want grand, sweeping, massive goal fulfillment and we want it RIGHT NOW.  It has to be the biggest or best for us to feel like we win. Stop it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have grand, massive goals,

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/62492615/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 The results were quite surprising. Jeremy's first response when seeing them was, "That can't be right." Careful verification showed that indeed, our experiment had worked more than we ever expected. The downloads of our audio content went up by over 60% (and in some cases doubled). As a result, we've made a major change to our content publishing schedule. In this post we talk about our test, why it worked and what change we made to our content to continue the growth trend. Getting More Mileage from Your Content "Why don't we do audio version of our blog posts and post some to the main podcast feed?" The idea came up during our usual Monday strategy meeting. Surveys of our audience showed that they were much more drawn to audio content than to reading. The preference was to consume content on-the-go. Our blog posts were getting traffic, but not nearly the traction that we get with our feature audio show. We wanted to continue blogging to have the Google juice provided by fresh text content, but we hated thinking that a huge piece of our following never even saw our blog content. And so the experiment started. Jeremy and I each chose a couple posts that we'd written and recorded an audio version. These audio blogs, as we called them, didn't replace our feature show. Rather, they went out as additional bonus content. We released about one a week for a month. Then we forgot about them. The Truth is in the Numbers Months later, Greg Hickman asked to see results from our experiment. He was preparing to share mobile strategies for his New Media Expo presentation. And so I dug into the numbers. Here's what we found. * The audio blogs got 60-100% more downloads than the feature podcast (wha?!) * The audio blogs had ten times more downloads than the original blog post had unique visits It was a double-take moment. Content sent out on the same feed was getting downloaded and streamed MUCH more than our main show. So why did it work so well? This is where it gets a little tricky. Because audio download traffic is difficult to track, it gets tough to know exactly why it worked so well. However, we have a solid theory. The Download Multiplier To explain the surprising results, we looked to two key pieces of info. Factor #1: Attention Span is Plunging We've already been living in an attention economy for over a decade. The advent of the Internet followed by high-speed Internet connections in our pockets had fractured our attention. Studies show that the average attention span of an adult surfing the Internet is only getting smaller. While more and more people are consuming podcasts year-over-year, the length of time that they listen to a podcast in one go seems to be getting shorter. Keep in mind, this is general data across all podcast listeners. Results could vary depending on the show or topic. Factor #2: Mobile Usage Has Exploded, But Data Plans are Still Limited In the past several years, the adoption of mobile phones, particularly smartphones, with broadband connections has grown rapidly. When we first started podcasting, podcast were consumed far more on a desktop computer or an MP3 player without data connection. Now, you can download and stream podcasts on the go, at will. That said,

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/62213525/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 I asked how long he had been at it and what was he hoping for? He’d been at it a month or so and was wanting to be wildly success by now. The fact that he wasn't wildly successful already was making him question his niche, his ability to do business, and himself in general. Expecting to be an overnight success isn't something strange, it’s incredibly common. We've been fed a lot of nonsense about what it takes to success. We have The Secret saying we can just wish our dreams into existence, as if just the thought of something is enough to magically make dreams come true without massive action! (and if it was, why wouldn't everyone have everything they want…) We see ridiculously fabricated success stories talking about someone that had an idea on Monday and by Friday was a multi-millionaire. I remember reading about actor Jim Carrey and what an overnight success he was.  Of course the writer of that piece clearly didn't know anything about Jim Carrey as he had been in Hollywood fighting for a career for nearly ten years when he finally ‘made it’.  He’d even lived in his car at one point.  Hardly an overnight success. Of course, my industry is filled with this nonsense.  I just got an email from a famous internet marketer that was titled, Success by Next Weekend.  People like this just perpetuate this trap and to no ones benefit but their own. Overnight Success Trap The overnight success trap is believing, dreaming, requiring that your financial freedom business fulfills all your hopes and dreams within the first week, month, or YEAR of having the idea! Danger, Danger One of the many dangers of this trap is that many tie their self esteem and their desire to stay with it on to this trap and quit if it doesn't happen ‘overnight’. What we talk about when we are saying a Freedom Business, is a REAL business.  Not some quick trick that makes you a couple bucks once and then not again until you do another silly trick.  It’s a real business.  One that is based on the love of a certain audience and the deep desire to create value for that audience. This takes time, not only in finding just the right audience, but also the creation of the value.  The cultivating of the trust and respect.  This takes time.  The more you care and the more you create the value that THEY want, the quicker you can get to the receiving of value (money for you), but it takes time. In my next post I’m going to give you 2 ways to get over the overnight success trap.  I’ll show you ways to avoid the trap and how to get out if you've already fell in. How has the overnight success trap already taken over your quest to succeed? Listen Now! Download the MP3 Here

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/61408349/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 What do branding, French haircuts and embarrassing social mistakes have to do with each other? In this video you'll find out. You'll also specific branding tips of for creating a web site that attracts your ideal audience and keeps them coming back for more. We'll take a look at a real world case study to see what works. You'll learn: * Exactly what to say so your site visitors feel compelled to sign up for your email list * The critically important page that most people completely screw up costing them email subscribers * The first things every site visitor looks at to decide whether or not to stay on your site or leave * The simple tool that will make a site visitor immediately connect with you and your brand * And more... Watch the video above now. If it doesn't appear in your feed reader, please click through to the post to watch. Listen Now! Download the mp3 here

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/60776415/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 I'm often asked how I know if someone is right for being a freedom business builder.  Even asking that question is a symptom of wanting more freedom, but I always say it starts with the desire. Sometimes they are still not sure and want to know if there is a way to truly know if they should take the plunge. Thankfully, there are signs that you are ready to escape the 9-5. This is in no way an exhaustive list.  You may have one or even all the signs, either way, they may be predicting that an internet business is in your future: 1. Sunday Evening Dread.   This is the night the pain maximises.  You have had a couple days off and are basking in the warm embrace of autonomy and choice as you did exactly what you wanted for 2 days straight. You suddenly realize that all ends tomorrow morning and pure dread and despair lurk in the back of your mind, slowly forcing their wait to center stage as the evening progresses. You do anything you can to keep them at bay. You watch Game of Thrones (or whatever your tv/movie preference) because you are trying to forget the upcoming week, instead of for the love of the show. You are constantly on the verge of reverting back to the 6 year old frustration phase by falling on the floor, pounding your and hands and kicking your feet and whining, "I don't want to go to work, I hate work!  You cannot make me gooooooo!" 2. Alarm Clock Anxiety.   Your best friend is the snooze button.  You are so good at using this handy tool, you barely wake up to use it. Ultimately it doesn't save you from the nightmare of reality. Instead of thinking how happy you are it's finally time to get up and live your purpose, you are thinking of all the things you have to do that you don't want to do. You think of the mundane tasks. You think of the tedious commute to your cubicle cell. You think of pretending to care about what your boss says about his weekend and how lucky you are he is giving you this new list of tasks. You think of the time you will miss with your family and the things you'd like to do with your life that is slipping away. 3. Craving Control.   You want to be in charge of your life.  Not just in charge of what you listen to on the way to work, but real things like your future. You are tired of your money and your time being limited and dictated by other people. You are constantly baffled by how stupid the people in charge of your job and the business are. You are tired of all the forces in control of your life not having your best interests in mind. 4. After Work Fizzle.   You've finally escaped the mind numbing work tasks, braved evening traffic and made it home.  Time to play, right? Nope, instead of being uplifted and energetic, you find yourself drained, irritable, and morose. You constantly wonder if it's really worth the money, considering it wipes out your nights as well as your days. Isn't it time for a late evening nap? 5. Fulfillment Freeze Out.   The end of every work day leaves tired, sad, and without energy.  You may have stopped writing out your goals long ago. The passion has long been stripped from your job, now it's all just putting up with it. You have the sneaking suspicion that there is more to life, but better not to stir up to much and feel worse when you get home. You feel energy seeping from you as you go through the motions at work. 6. Honey, meet your children.   You are tired of only having a chance to see your kids on the weekend or while rushing through bedtime chores. The weekends feel rushed as you try to make up for very little time duri...

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/60127656/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 Natalie Sisson's tale about launching her writing career via Kickstarter was inspiring, but it might leave you wondering how to succeed with Kickstarter if you don't have a following yet. You might conclude that if you don't have a following, Kickstarter is probably not for you. Well, I'm here to tell you otherwise. I launched two successful Kickstarter campaigns and nobody was following me when I started my first one. If you're like me, you have probably watched enviously as one Kickstarter campaign after another kicked off and ultimately found funding. "Damn, that was my idea" you might have thought to yourself. Or worse, "I could have done that!" Sound familiar to you? Ultimately, it was the latter sentiment that got me off my butt. It was the Kickstarter project Practical Python: Learn programming for the real world! by Fletcher Heislerthat finally motivated me to get off the sidelines and do something. Take a moment and check out his pitch. I watched in stunned amazement as he raised over $21,000 on the promise to produce a PDF file that he would email out to his backers, once he wrote it. Are you kidding me? $21K for a PDF file not yet written? He had set an $800 goal. "I could do that", I thought to myself. But I hadn't. So why hadn't I? Ultimately I decided that there was nothing holding me back, except for the fact that I had never tried. I decided to try. I'm writing this guest post to encourage you to try too. If I can do it, you can too. I called my pitch "The Joy of PHP" and told the world that I would write a book about programming PHP that was not just fun to read, but it would actually be a joy to read. Why not aim high? Then I waited to see what would happen. Check it out on Kickstarter if you want to see how it turned out. Common Fears Let's address fear first. We all have fears and the idea of posting a video of yourself pitching your idea for the world to see is sure to bring out a closet full of fears. Let's work through some of them so you can get over it. The most common fear you are likely experience is to worry too much about what might happen if your Kickstarter campaign fails. I'm here to tell you, so what? If your Kickstarter campaign fails, it is not the end of the world. Nobody will think you are some kind of loser just because your Kickstarter campaign wasn't financed. The easy way to think about this is to imagine it is someone else's campaign instead of yours. If a casual acquaintance of yours made a pitch on Kickstarter and it failed, which of the following are you more likely to think about him or her: * That person is a total loser who never should have tried something so bold or, * That person has a lot of courage to attempt something so grand, and I wish them success in the future. I'm guessing that you are more likely to think along the lines of #2. Do you really think everyone else is so different? They are not. Most people will admire your attempt, even if you fail. Don't let fear of failure guarantee it. The second common fear is the fear of looking stupid. I know I had this one. There is nothing quite so horrifying as seeing yourself on a video as you um and aah, lick your lips, or compulsively repeat whatever your annoying habit is while trying to convey your idea. I'm not going to tell you what bugs me about myself … maybe I'm the only one who notices it. What I will tell you though, is that we are not perfect, and we are never going to be perfect. To succeed, this is something you just have to get over. Personally, I thought my first video was so bad that I didn't ...

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/59460172/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 There is one main questions that come up with new freedom business builders as they are picking the audience and market they will create value for.  I’ve heard it over and over for the last 8 years.  I think it comes up because somewhere along their journey, someone told them competition is bad. “What if there are a lot of competitors in my chosen market?” My reply is always, “GREAT! That is exactly what you want to see!” The Mistake Most people make a very common mistake to think that they have to find a unique market with no competition. This is a mistake for a couple of reasons. * We suggest there are at least a couple “competitors” in a market you are looking into, so that you have more of a certainty to know there is money in the market. * You have no competition. Number 2 usually gets a wrinkled forehead and raised eyebrow. “Wha…  I just said that there is a LOT of competition… and you say there is none…?” Okay, stick with me, this requires a counter-intuitive mindset shift. The traditional notion is that if someone is selling the same THING as you, they are your competitor.  Now, in many parts of the business world, this is correct.  If someone sells a DVD player and you sell a DVD player, they are your competitor.  Then you simply have to become a master of push sales and marketing to show why your DVD player has better stuff than the other. Thankfully, we are not in that business.  For us, it doesn’t matter if it SEEMS like we sell the same thing as our “competition”.  It’s much easier to teach people we are NOT selling the same thing. We don’t have competitors, we only have potential collaborators In our business model of you being the influencer of your chosen market and you creating the value directly for that market, we don’t have competitors. The mindset shift is this, YOU are part of your product and no one else can replicate that.  This means that even if you sell similar information as someone else, there will be YOU mixed in.  You will pick different angles, stories, examples and topics to focus on and have an all around different recipe for your product.  You will have your style of teaching and personality that some people would pick even if you have the same education product as your potential collaborators. For instance, if we wanted to go onto other podcasts about starting an internet business, we could focus on the things we have that no one else does, like the Single Motivating Purpose.  No one else has that, cause we created the term and the recipe for how to find it.  We can give great value to our potential collaborators blog and podcast audience without sounding like we are selling or doing the exact same thing. Potential collaborators are AWESOME! Now, when you see competitors potential collaborators in your market, you can rejoice!  Now it’s just a matter of seeing if you can like and trust them enough to join up and work together.  When you decide to collaborate, this can look like: * Offering to write a guest post on their site or finding their unique angle and allowing them to write content for you. * You can offer to be interviewed on their podcast or interview them on yours. * You can have them teach a module in your membership site about something they know how to do and you might not and vise versa. We’ve done all 3! Had we thought of everyone in our market as competitors, we would have done none of those things and missed out on the friendships we have with people that look l...

First Day in Paris at Sundown http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/59123138/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 What would you love your lifestyle to be like in 10 years? Jeremy and I love helping people reach their ideal freedom lifestyle. Ten years ago I had no idea I would live where I am today. Looking back, it was all set in motion by one simple secret. In April of 2000, I proposed to my girlfriend, Melanie. We had a little dream in us that said, "wouldn't it be cool to live in Paris some day?" But it seemed far-fetched. On August 15, 2003 I quit my job never to return. I was done being a "company man." I decided to give real estate investing a try. On May 27, 2004 (on our anniversary), my wife and I had dinner at the Palais Royal in Paris. We treated ourselves to a Parisian vacation after I closed my first deal as a real estate investor for a 17k profit. We still didn't LIVE in Paris, but it was a taste of the day when it would happen. Two days ago, my wife, our two-year old daughter and I got off of a one way flight to Paris, France. The dream of those two young adults planning a life together has come true. My wife and daughter enjoy the courtyard outside our apartment in Paris We don't know when we will be back. For all we know we will live there for a year or even two. It's up to us. We have the choice. We talk a lot about defining your freedom factors and your fulfillment factors. Here is the simple secret for make your dreams real. * Deliberately choose the life you want to live. Choose it now. * Write it down. Sit down and paint a picture of exactly what you want. * Take action today to make that dream real. * Take action every day until the dream is real. A few important guidelines are: * Don't live someone else's dream. You are the only one that gets to define what will make you happy. * Don't let life just happen to you. Live life with purpose. * Don't wait until "someday later." Now is the time to be happy. Now is the time to start. Your dreams may seem like nothing more than a desire in your heart and scribbles on paper, but they have power. One day you will wake up and realize the dream is no longer inside of you. You are living it. What will your life look like ten years from now? Share your dream in the comments below. Listen Now! Download the MP3 here

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/58381679/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 I have to break something to you. It’s none of your business how, when, where and on what device your audience uses to connect with you. Your audiences—your customers—have already chosen their mobile device. In fact, they are begging you to go mobile. Now, there are a lot of ways to give your customer a good mobile experience, and there are a few things you should be doing this year to take your mobile game to the next level. The Fundamentals I'm going to pick up where I left off last year, when we covered how you should be getting started with mobile. So if you haven’t taken the two steps below, you’ll want to check those out. Getting Started With Mobile * 3 easy steps to become mobile-friendly and * Make sure your landing and conversion pages are mobile optimized So what do your customers expect of you when it comes to a good mobile experience? I'm going to share 3 things you should be doing this year to make your content more mobile friendly, but first, you need to understand how your customer digests your content. Heidi Cohen (a popular marketer at Heidicohen.com) discusses the four ways we consume content. Let's look at how mobile as impacted each of these methods of consumption. Focused Use This is where we are super focused on one task at hand (who does that anymore?) consuming the content we are giving our attention to. A good example of this is reading books. Do you still read books? For most of us, when we read a book we're pretty focused on that and that alone. We aren't trying to multi-task. Readmills, an app maker that offers apps for you to download books onto your smart devices has reported that they now have more customers reading books from their smartphone vs. tablets. Does that fascinate you as much as it does for me? Tablets were born from e-readers, which were the first digital version of books...,Yet, their smaller counterpart (the mobile phone) is now taking over when it comes to how readers choose to consume books. Dual Consumption This is where we are using more than one device (most likely multi-tasking) because the activity from one device is not engaging enough to be doing it alone. We're all guilty of this, said by the guy who is sitting on his couch typing this on a laptop, while watching the Olympics while texting my friend. A big myth about mobile users is that they are in a rush. That is actually far from the truth as 85% of smartphone usage happens at home while watching TV. Mobile has gone from being the second screen to the first screen. Time Shifting This is where we save content for consumption at a later date. Have you ever downloaded a movie to your tablet before you got on a plane? Have you ever used an app like Instapaper or Pocket to save an article or a blog post for later? Heck, you might even be reading this post from within Instapaper or Pocket. We now choose when and where we consume content, no matter when it was created. Just save it for later. Pocket (formerly, read it later) reported that they have over 10 million articles being saved for later use each and every month. Info Snacking Lastly there is info snacking. This is where we consume content during otherwise wasted times. Have you used your phone while waiting in line? Guilty.

http://feeds.feedblitz.com/-/57849073/0/ibmaudioblogs.mp3 Have you ever been overwhelmed by all the information you face on a daily basis? Have you ever felt pulled in a hundred directions by all the "expert" voices vying for your attention? Have you ever frozen at the site of all the newsletters in your inbox, blog posts in your reader or books stacked on your night stand? It all seems so important and exciting. I know. I've been there. * "Facebook ads are hot right now? I'd better get on that!" * "101 news ways to grow my Twitter following? Oh goodie. I can't wait to read them all!" * "Seth Godin's got a new book! I'll just slide that on top of the ten others on my bedstand." The most common source of overwhelm is... information overload. * Information can save you time or waste what few moments you have to build a business * Information can empower you or sap all your energy * Information can guide you or paralyze you for days In the last post on learning, we discussed Discovery Learning which shows you the path to take toward a high-level goal. The challenge is to know when to turn off the information firehose and focus on action. This post will give you the solution for turning learning into action. When you do this right, your results will accelerate greatly. Your energy will soar. Overwhelm will take a vacation. We've been told by both beginning and advanced students that this one simple concept impacted their progress more than anything we've taught. First, we need to understand the source of information overload. Bathing in Secret Sauce Why do we allow information overload? There are a few reasons. 1. We don't want to miss out Nobody likes to miss out on something important. That's why promotions based on a limited-time or limited-quantity work so well. The problem is that we forget that saying yes to one thing means saying no to others. Like driving a performance car, shifting gears too often wears out the transmission and ruins the ability to move forward. THE TRUTH When you give into the voice that says "I might miss out," you are in actuality missing out on the focus and progress that you already had. You reinforce the message to your mind that your past decisions are invalid. This erodes your confidence and self-efficacy. 2. Learning is Safe Learning feels good. We get the reward of feeling productive, without the risk of taking action. THE TRUTH This is an excuse. It's a form of procrastination. Inaction is the biggest risk of all. It leads to an endless spiral of learning, overwhelm, avoidance, learning, overwhelm, avoidance, and so on. It ensures we never get results. 3. We hope to find the secret sauce Every marketer's mission is to make us feel like they have the "secret sauce." "This ONE secret is what finally brought me success," they say. "And it will bring you success, too. But only if you act now." This kind of marketing plugs into our belief that we're just one blog post, book, email, podcast or course away from finally finding the ultimate secret to success. What the marketer is selling might work well. However, that doesn't mean that it is the best thing for you right now. You have to know the difference. I've told people NOT to buy from us if it wasn't in the interest of their forward momentum. THE TRUTH The secret sauce is taking action.There is no substitute. Progress only comes as a result of action and forward momentum. The Solution to Information Overload