Let me share my podcasting formula with you: 5-10 minutes of a problem, 5-10 minutes of a solution, and 5-10 minutes of a case study implementing that solution to the previously stated problem...
Segment 1: Problem
Content marketing traffic (also transcript and book)
Whatever money issue, technology issue, or motivational issue you're dealing with, chances are the things that slow you down or hold you back are currently 80% internal (the way you think about things) and 20% external (your actions and the things around you).
Many times, if I'm feeling a bit lost or otherwise unfocused, I'll first identify the SPECIFIC problem I'm having (i.e. frustrated, overwhelmed) and then find a bunch of articles dissecting the problem.
Usually, reading about the cause of things like burnout, guilt, and distractions (for example) -- and the various strategies for dealing with specific problems like journaling, meditation, exercise, find a mastermind, complete smaller tasks -- are far more helpful than any amount of denial or self-reflection...
That's why I'm revealing my "master file" of inner mindset solutions to you...
First, if you're trying to overcome a negative issue (like a bad mood), then find your problem and solution in the first section
If you're looking for a positive change in your life (focus, doing more in less time) then jump to the second section
If you want to get motivated, check out the third section below
And finally, if your goal is daily maintenance or you're looking to think your way out of a problem, jump to the bonus section where there's an interesting list of questions to ask yourself
Have fun. I see this post being a resource you turn to again and again when you need that little boost.
Part 1: Overcome Negativity & Bad Habits (eliminate the bad): 85 Tips
Success threatens because it creates change: increased challenges and responsibilities
Believe in your ability to change: your skils and talents are variable
Flight or fight response is natural: fear of being inadequate and fear of rejection
To overcome fear, make it conscious: failure is not the enemy of success. If you don't succeed, try something new. The real enemies of success: complacency, apathy, over-zealousness
Fear itself as a motivator is only a defensive tool: engage fully with life, and not timidly.
Read a different newspaper. If you read the Wall Street Journal, read the Washington Post.
Make up new words that describe the problem. e.g., "Warm hugs" to describe a motivation problem and "Painted rain" to describe changing customer perceptions.
Which of two objects, a salt shaker or a bottle of ketchup best represents your problem? Why?
Imagine your idea and its opposite existing simultaneously.
If you could have three wishes to help you solve the problem, what would they be?
Write a six word book that describes your progress on the problem. e.g. "At present all thoughts are gray," "I am still not seeing everything."
What if you taught weight loss? Give me a 5x5 table (or dashboard) where I can choose the meal plan I want to lose weight.
Hypnosis membership site? Let me jump to the exact recording I want to listen to in order to feel good, fall asleep, get focused, etc. Let me choose the exact real estate form in your real estate membership site.
Catchphrase of the Week: When you copy the airplane for the first time, duplicate the dents, too.
Question of the Week: What's the One Word That You Own? Drip, clone. Template.
Quote of the Week: "No focus = overwhelm." -- Dan Blank
Marketer of the Week:Joe Lavery (put the pressure on your website visitors using scarcity)
Our Membership Cube course shows you how to setup WordPress, a domain name, sales letter, and use Wishlist Member as the "gatekeeper" to manage all your members: let them in once they pay, or kick them out if they cancel/refund.
Today we're talking about a silly way of making money using Fiverr. Our course for this is at Profit Dashboard. Everyone can do this. Even if you're bored, goofing around, looking for startup money, or starting a business that someone else can continue.
Phrase #2: Think about what you'd do if you were desperate for money. Then do some version of that (on a smaller scale) so you don't actually have to become desperate.
Quote of the Week from Revolutionary War Colonel William Prescott: "An obstacle is often a stepping stone."
Marketer of the Week: Daniel Hall from DanielHallPresents.com. Have a whole year of webinars booked. Book 2-3 different webinar swaps with someone if the first one works well.
First, make the money ($100). Then, scale it to make more money ($1000). Then, scale back the time so it doesn't take over your life ($100-$1000/hour)...
Today, think about living life on your terms: where no one tells you what to do, and you can do what you want. Run your own blog, webinars, podcasts, events, publish your books. Do what you want, but do something! Stop thinking.
What if you provided a coaching bonus when someone buys from you? (even for $17 or $97) -- TimeTrade.com
What if you send a personal postcard to people who bought, or even attended your webinars? -- WPKunaki.com and DoubleAgentCards.com
What if you asked QUESTIONS from your email subscribers? Most marketers don't know to do this.
Appointment-Based Business: Could you run your entire internet business in just 1 hour a day? You probably could, if you got off Facebook, emails, customer support. Guess what? You still have that time. It just shouldn't be "business time." You might need a day planner or a calendar.
Fiverr: A Silly But Effective Repeatable Income
Fiverr Marketplace: people buy things for $5, usually more with upsells, multiple "gigs", fast delivery
Based on ratings and rankings so it's not a sketchy marketplace like DigitalPoint, Craigslist, or even Upwork
Voiceovers, videos, run SEO software, transcriptions, article writing
Post your "gig" (or job) and choose your pricing (i.e. $5 for 50 flyers or 100 word voiceover)
Take steps to get traffic to your gig (this is unique to Profit Dashboard)
Check your orders, complete them in a few minutes, and deliver them
Get rated and rate your buyers -- rise in the rankings
Closing Thoughts: Small Increments
What if you read just 1 page of a book per day? (minimum)
What if you earned or saved an extra $100 per day? ($3k/mo = $36k/year = $720k in 20 years, even before compound interest)
What if you put in an extra 10 minutes into your business every morning? 5 hours per month or 60 hours per year
Most people bastardize "Think & Grow Rich" because they forget about FOCUS. Most marketers talk themselves out of taking any action because they're already "imagined" themselves doing it.
Stop thinking. Just do. You can course correct later.
This is how I automate my posting of social media... I can post an entry to my blog and it cross-posts to my Facebook fan page... but THEN replicates to Twitter, my other Facebook fan pages, and my personal Facebook wall. I also have triggers that go off when I upload a YouTube video:
You can connect all kinds of cool stuff. For example, send me a text message reminder at the same time every day, or populate a Google spreadsheet when I add a file to Dropbox, and more:
Marketer of the week: Teresa King. She Taught me how to keep it simple. One of the first people I knew with a membership site (1999) -- BoxedScripts with me. Redirect Pro.
Feature Presentation: The Penny Test
Does your business pass these three tests?
Penny Test (what happens if you set your product's price to 0.01, actually purchase for real, then change the price back to normal later? Can you completely pay, check out, and create an account in your system? What about logging back in?)
Login Test (upsell, test user, MG user masquerading, dashboard page, login-logout)
Opt-in Test (single-double-triple optin, re-optin with existing address) fill in contact form)
Ten Bonus Tests
1. Is your mailing address on your website? 2. What about a contact form? 3. What do I see when I google your name? 4. Search your name on Amazon? 5. Search on YouTube? 6. Search on iTunes? 7. Do you own the .com? 8. Where can I optin on your site? 9. What can I buy? 10. If I only buy one thing from you, what should I buy?
Bonus test: where's the one place that I can find your "best stuff"? (best of page on your blog, blog post listing all your products, etc.)
If you feel like there are holes in your internet marketing knowledge, that maybe you're trying to learn college calculus but can't add two plus two, then this is the podcast episode for you!
Many marketers are obsessed with split testing, funnels, and setting up 1-click upsells, but they don't even have a buy button on a sales page.
Can I walk you through what I tell someone if they're struggling, can't get a sales page figured out, and just need a quick web page online?
The first thing is that you should have a copy of Paper Template (just $7 dollars) installed on WordPress, because you can easily click and create anything you want. But now what do you write on that web page where you want people to enter their email to subscribe? What magic words do you place on a web page where you want people to click and pay you money?
Marketer of the Week: Robert Puddy
I created a couple of products and launched a couple of services with Robert Puddy back in the day. His big thing then was creating traffic exchanges to bring in lots and lots of hungry traffic.
His biggest site is Launch Formula Marketing (now Login Frequency Marketing). Puddy monetizes unsubscribes from his list (link them to SpamAssassin with your affiliate link), even lost password pagees (Roboform). Make them login to your site every day, for example, to watch a webinar.
Wise Words This Week
When we get overwhelmed, we often use multitasking to get back on track. It often causes more problems than it solves. Usually when you split your attention, you’re giving half the effort and producing half the results. The solution is to develop "single-handling" activities. --- S.J. Scott
Copywriting Shortcut
AIDA/WWHW: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Why, What, How-To, What-If. Keep it stoppable stupid, look with fresh eyes, bottlenecks
Who Else Wants To... (this headline is my squeeze page starter)
Imagine... (starter for emails)
What Would Happen If... (starter for webinars)
Quick Question... (starter for sales letters)
PHASE I: Minimum Viable Product
Headline: Who Else Wants To?
Ten bullet points: why should I get this?
Price and buy button
WWHW re-ordering
PHASE II: Fundamentals
Button, stack, headline (in that order)
Product breakdown (individual modules)
Problem agitate solve (story)
Four objections (no need, I don't believe you)
PHASE III: Persuasion
Four stages of awareness
Cialdini 6 elements
Typos and numbers not adding up
PHASE IV: Window Dressing
Case studies and testimonials
Graphics
Jump links
Resources
Paper Template (This is the WordPress plugin I use on all my sites for sales letters, optin pages, webinar replay pages, and more.)
Fast Food Copywriting (Here's how I churn out attention-grabbing, high-converting sales pages in just a few minutes on-demand.)
Speed Copy (The complete course on how to make a full-time income with money-making web pages)
Maybe you're bored in your internet business right now because there's no real risk, challenge, or excitement in your business? This especially happens if you fall into the trap of "lying" because nothing is real. Let's get you creative so you can think your way out of your current predicament (even if that problem is boredom)...
Creativity doesn't only mean "get a bunch of ideas." Notice how the word "create" is in it? Creativity = to create. Make something new and valuable. Idea or invention.
Why slow down? If you're on a roll, keep going, so during slow times when you're tired, your past self (on a timer) is like an extra employee you don't have to pay.
Four minute mile: 100 article days, book in an afternoon, class in an afternoon, airport product. $2k product twice a week. Hack a 100k income, how many products to sell to achieve that goal. $1000 per hour income (webinars). 1 hour per week full time income (Amazon). 1 hour per day income (Fiverr). Think your way out of a situation.
Albert Einstein made creative breakthroughs by asking interesting questions, such as: what would it be like to ride a wave of light?
Distill the noise down: do you take 20 pages of notes at a seminar/webinar or 5 bullet points / key takeaways?
Separate the forest from the trees! Getting so bogged down by the details you don't see the big picture, end goal, reason why, do's and dont's. Presentation on 187 types of content? A mile wide and an inch deep. Solve some problems instead. Good for pitching/presenting, bad for a product.
Our Marketer of the week is Ken Evoy from "Make Your Price Sell." He was the first marketer I've seen with a dynamic price. For example, you sell a product where the price increases by 1 penny every minute.
Let's break the stages of you unlocking your creativity and solving any problem into four steps: WHY (reframe), WHAT (mindmap), HOW (insight), and WHAT-IF (creative flow):
Step A: WHY Reframe (change the interpretation)
Hit the problem from multiple angles with probing questions. Questions must be answered! Here's what you need to ask from yourself:
A1: What's the big problem? What happens without this solution? (common enemy) A2: What am I solving? (specific goal) A3: What's the current way to solve it? A4: Why is my solution better?
Who am I solving it for?
Why does this even matter?
What can I learn from this?
What's funny about this?
How do I start this?
What do I do after this?
During this stage, our goal is childlike curiosity (kids ask lots of questions but adults are set in their ways). We want to limit perfectionism and take up exercise such as free-writing. Apply random words to your situation. Think of as many "C" words as possible, for instance. Criticizing in this stage is only good if you ask: how could I have done better? You need to think up good possibilities and ideas to shoot down later.
Step B: WHAT Mindmap (branch out)
Get the structure, outline, manipulation, trimming, and the sequence.
B1: Brain dump sub-problems. B2: Get it dialed in: Diverge (go big, seek out) vs. Converge (decide, connect, guidelines, reduce). Combine, split, add, remove, edit B3: Professor Elliot Eisner: boundary pushing (rules are constraining, let's bend them), inventing (useful combinations), boundary breaking (least common: opposite thinking, gap filling, the rules themselves are the problem), aesthetic organizing (order from chaos: most common)
Boundary pushing: can we shave one second off this plugin? Remove one step from the process
Boundary breaking: we host this software for them.
Aesthetic organizing: for example, in every 10-episode chunk of my podcast, I'll plan on having one episode about WordPress, a case study episode, a product pitch, mindset episode, marketing, writing, and so on.
Inventing: A or B eye doctor test: does it work better as "A" or work better as "B"?
Step C: HOW Insight (Professor Arne Dietrich Creativity Matrix)
This is the step where you think of the solution, but you don't implement yet. The reason why you might feel you've "hit a wall" is because you're only using one type of creativity. There are four:
C1: deliberate vs. spontaneous, cognitive vs. emotional.
Deliberate cognitive: Thomas Edison (I haven't failed, I've just found 10,000 ways it won't work). Build knowledge, pay attention, make connections
Deliberate emotional: ah-ha moment. Flash of insight, emotions/feelings. Bad chain of events leads to a revelation.
Spontaneous cognitive: Isaac Newton and the Apple. Eureka, dopamine, out of the box unconscious thinking.
Spontaneous emotional: Einstein. Epiphanies from artists and musicians. Least controlled.
C2: How to get to these quadrants: Knowledge + time = DC, Quiet time = DE, Escape (incubation) = SC, Random = SE
C3: You need all four.
Einstein's combinatory play: stop working on the problem. Ideas come to you when you're in the shower.
Don't let "that" person's negativity get inside your head.
Magic wand thinking: if there were no limitations, what would I come up with?
Paint yourself into a corner to get out of your comfort zone. Take a risk.
State change: exercise, take a break, Aaron Sorkin shower, Winston Churchill nap
Step D: NOW Creative Flow (it all falls into place)
Implement the solution!
D1: Anthony Robbins would say you're looking for a Type 1 experience that: feels good, is good for you, helps others and helps the greater good D2: Repetition is the mother of skill: Unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, unconscious competence.
Figure out your routine: write every day, certain hours of the day. What motivates and demotivates you.
Rush to get things done during alone time.
Blue backgrounds = creativity, red backgrounds = attention to detail
Brain tricks. Set a time limit. Get back to a state when you were excited, crazy, unstoppable
What's great about this system we've laid out is that there's a huge "well" of techniques and ideas you can draw from anytime you're stuck thinking of a save to "save" a dead launch, increase your income, revive a dead email list, or even flesh out the chapters of your next book.
Speaking of your next book and eliminating your writer's block, we highly recommend the Make a Product course to get your next book finished and published on Amazon within the next few days.
Are your goals S.M.A.R.T. goals? Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Tune into today's program to uncover the tried and true techniques (16 total) to keep yourself motivated, focused, out of the procrastination zoned and focused on getting it all done and achieving that goal:
Our marketer of the week is Jim Edwards from TheNetReporter. My biggest takeaway from him: just point and shoot PowerPoint for your video. It doesn't need to have quick cuts, fancy edits or be professionally done -- at all.
General Motivation
Four Daily Tasks: Business-Building, Deliverable (no degrees of doneness, no chipping away, no to-do lists)
Seinfeld calendar (do something small every day so the cycle isn't broken) + 5 day sprint
Formula and checklist: for example, 3 part podcasts and "research heavy" blog posts: 100 solutions, group into 4-5 categories and whittle down so it's all meat and no grissle, which leads us to...
Reduce and rearrange the raw materials -- SIMPLE mindmapping with FreeMind helps with this.
Absolute Focus
Dual monitors: left for viewing, right for creating
Remove: distractions, phone, social media, email, TV, news
Clear the clutter: delete temporary EverNote notes and delete after you've made the blog post or product. Clear off desktop items at the end of the month. Quick calendar reminders later in the week to "check on" things and then delete.
Micro-projects: start on Monday, end on Friday or Saturday. You can restart on Monday, but don't leave things open-ended. (Optimistically pessimistic.)
Procrastination
What quick 10 minute activity have you been putting off? Do it now.
Accountability partner. Call every hour if you have a really bad "problem."
Shut down distractions. Close tabs, uninstall Facebook.
Change the pattern. Commit. Don't ask yourself how you "feel" about it. It's a must.
Concentration
What are the top 3 things to focus on? Avoid going an inch deep and a mile wide.
Meditation (meaning silence and reflectiveness).
A state change is as good as rest.
Appointment based business: webinars, meetings, Google calendar, TimeTrade coaching calls.
Wise Words to Live By
Three simple rules in life: 1. If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. 2. If you don't ask, the answer will always be no. 3. If you don't step forward, you'll always be in the same place.
What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise. -- Oscar Wilde
You may think the grass is greener on the other side, but if you take the time to water your own grass, it would be just as green.
Philosopher Karl Popper: True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it.
They usually aren't S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented, and time-bound). SMART goals are pretty self explanatory but let me lay it out so there's no confusion: when you set out to do something, make sure that it's:
simple and clearly defined (specific)
something tangible so it's 100% clear whether or not you accomplished that goal (measurable)
enough of a stretch to move you out of your comfort zone, but not a shot at the moon (achievable)
all about an outcome instead of an activity (results-oriented)
in such a timeframe that it creates a sense of urgency for you (time-bound)
I think when most people set a goal that they're serious about, they intuitively and automatically make it specific, measurable, and achievable. The two biggies here are "results-oriented" and "time-bound."
Issue #1: You're Not Results-Oriented & Time-Bound
People don't know WHY they're doing something, for example, someone tells me their big goal is to write a book for their business. Why? Just because. Someone told them to do it. There's no real plan beyond that, and their heart isn't in it (no emotional reason-why) so it's just not going to get done. (It probably won't get started.)
The average person makes a silly goal like, "I'm going to run 2 miles every morning all this year." That's bad. It's open-ended, and it's not time-bound. A better goal would be that you're going to walk 10 minutes every evening for one week, and that's it! Nothing recurring.
Issue #2: Your Goals Are Too Big
Second problem, the goals are the wrong size. Usually too big. They're so big that you've subconsciously set yourself up for failure before you even started. You could have made your goal "write a 1/2 page blog post" but instead you said you'd write a 200-page book, including editing.
Can you please be honest with yourself? If you don't want to do anything different this year to grow your business and change your life, I honestly think that's okay, but ONLY if you're honest with yourself about it. That leads us to...
Issue #3: Belief & Honesty
Third, there's no real belief behind these S.M.A.R.T. goals. Maybe you're going through the motions and setting these goals because you think you "should", and you feel "bad" for not having one. Maybe you feel excited when you plan it out. But that excitement wears out in a few days, doesn't it?
The problem with a New "Year" resolution is that you probably start thinking of a goal around December 1st (Thanksgiving is over and it's holiday time), decide on that goal around December 5th, and then give up on the goal completely by December 15th. A small portion of people make it until January 10th, and even less until February 1st.
The solution to your "belief" crisis is to gain a small victory so you can not only see what's possible, but you've also broken that vicious cycle of:
feel bad -> over-engineer a pie-in-the-sky solution -> give up on it -> feel bad again
The Answer: New Month's Accomplishment
I have a better path for you and it's actually pretty simple:
Don't wait until January 1st to do something different
Don't have a huge year-long or recurring goal (just hit the next milestone)
Do something SMALL and ONE-TIME, like writing one blog post or going on one walk (anything is better than nothing)
Don't tell others you're going to do it (just do it and brag about it later)
Use the new month as an excuse to run a new "experiment", but keep doing more what's making money and less of what's not making money
Let's just call this a "New Month Accomplishment." This way, it's something small and S.M.A.R.T. that you can knock out. The reason why the end-result is so small is because the journey is more important than the destination, you're trying new things (and re-visiting old things that worked but you forgot), and if you get some small successes, you're more likely to be happier and more confident about those small achievements of yours. You're more likely to repeat those things and make them good habits.
What's Your New Month's Accomplishment?
My "New Month's Accomplishment" for January was recording an audiobook. That's something I've wanted to do for a few years, and I have eight books on Amazon at the moment, but no audiobooks. A few days ago, I sat at the computer, and did nothing that day but dictate (read aloud) the first half of my first book (100 Time Savers).
That took almost exactly two hours. The next day, I didn't check my email or Facebook until I recorded the second half (two hours), then adjusted the audio according to ACX's (Amazon and Audible's) specifications, and sent it off. It takes a few weeks for them to approve the audio book, so I'm just waiting on that.
My business partner Lance Tamashiro's New Month's Accomplishment (just from my observation) was sending a handful of thank you cards to some of our customers. This is something we used to do every day, but we stopped and forgot about it. Now we're doing it again. Simple!
Let's say you're sick of that messy garage. Instead of making a "commitment" (yuck) to "try" to "clean up better" this year, take one of item out of that garage, take a picture of it, and list in on Craigslist within the next few minutes. Done! New Months' Accomplishment finished.
If you have trouble writing: Ernest Hemingway only wrote 500 words a day, but he did it every day. Stephen King writes exactly 2,000 words (7 pages) daily. If he hits 2,000 words and he's in mid-sentence, it doesn't matter, he stops!
If he writes 1,500 words and gets to the end of the book he's writing, he types THE END and writes the next 500 words for the next book. Your New Month's Accomplishment could be to only write 500 words tomorrow. Don't worry about the next day or month or the rest of your life, just get 500 words out of the way.
I'm curious to know what your New Month's Accomplishment is, but don't tell me!
In fact, don't tell anyone what you're doing. Finish something simple that you can complete in a day (or two at the most), or preferably just 10 minutes today, and now you've finished more than those schlubs who "planned" their "resolution" for the "New Year" and never even started.
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About Robert & The Podcast
The Marketer of the Day Podcast interviews entrepreneurs who have been through “the struggle.”
They’ve experienced the headaches of repeat failure, trial-and-error, scaling, delegating, course-correcting, and getting their online businesses to succeed beyond their wildest dreams… and want to help you get to where you need to go.
