There's no other word I can use to describe seanwes conference but incredible. The event far surpassed and exceeded my expectations. It was a beautiful picture of empowering talented, professional people and the result was nothing short of flawless. It honestly blew me away.

Everyone said it was the best conference they'd ever been to.

People with many different kinds of different businesses came from all over the world to be in one place together for several days, to enjoy some fantastic speakers, great conversations, and famously delicious Austin food.

In today's podcast episode, Ben and I recap what happened at seanwes conference—an event we started planning nearly 2 years ago.

We specifically designed this event around the in-person conversations we knew people wanted to have. Generous margin was scheduled around speaking sessions with ample time for Q&A and lunch. In fact, after lunch we had an hour long "session" that was really just a time for people to talk. The first speaker after lunch didn't start until 3:30pm, so no one had to face the "after lunch crowd". It was very relaxed.

People told us that while after most conferences they felt like they had to recover, seanwes conference actually left them feeling, full, recharged, and rested. Amazing.

This episode gives a behind-the-scenes look at how we organized the conference. Ben, Cory, and I also share the gold nuggets we took away from the event. It's a fantastically jam-packed episode for anyone looking for insights or inspiration for organizing their own conference too.

Take a moment and project forward. Get in your time machine and travel 20 years into the future: who is the future version of yourself you hope to meet? What does that person look like?

We don't think about this person often enough. When you don't intentionally think about becoming the person you want to be, you just end up becoming the person you are.

How often do you think about this future version of yourself and how are you taking actions now to become the person you want to be?

You have to make money to support yourself and you know you need to sell something, but how do you find the right balance between giving away things for free and putting a price tag on something?

Relationship marketing is important and giving away valuable content for free is a great strategy, but how much is too much?

Can you give yourself out of business?

Yes. Yes, you can.

You have to support yourself. If you don't sell, you don't make money. If you don't make money, you can't keep doing what you do. That means you can't continue helping people and everybody loses!

But finding the balance is tricky.

We talk about finding that balance, how people don't pay for content (they pay for context), and how true value is in the application of information not in the consumption of it. In other words, it doesn't matter whether what you provide is paid or free—what matters is whether people apply it.

We finished up something special a couple weeks ago: http://30DaysToBetterWriting.com.

It's a mini course—30 lessons, 30 days, 30 minutes a day—crafted to help you build a writing habit.

Why build a writing habit?

Writing is the starting point for all other mediums.

• Want to do a speech? Write.

• Want to sell products? Write.

• Want to record a song? Write.

• Want to compose a book? Write.

• Want to produce a feature film? Write.

• Want to make a great podcast? Write.

• Want to teach an online course? Write.

• Want to shoot a compelling video? Write.

It all starts with writing.

Today's episode is an extremely practical guide to helping you clarify your message, improve your writing and speaking voice simultaneously, increase your writing speed, and so much more.

If you know you should be writing more but struggle to maintain a writing habit, this episode is for you!

Content marketing is all the rage—and for good reason!

(Content marketing = creating things like blog posts, podcast episodes, and videos as a way of attracting clients and customers.)

It's a fantastic way to build an audience and attract a loyal group of followers who will buy from you and support what you do.

But there's a downside: it's not a quick solution. It will take 2 to 3 years of consistent, regular publishing for the bulk of benefits from content marketing to surface.

It's a good long-term strategy, but is it something you should be doing when you're just starting out and trying to make money?

This was the topic of a conversation Ben and I had over coffee at our last meeting. He's in a similar place right now, and I actually recommended he stop focusing his efforts on content marketing and do something else instead:

Build one-on-one relationships with people and give them no-strings-attached value.

Why? Tune in to today's episode to hear the discussion.

If you’re feeling stuck creatively, it’s simply because you’ve given yourself too much freedom.

We think freedom produces creativity, but really it paralyzes us.

When there are infinite possibilities and too many options to choose from, we feel overwhelmed.

The solution is impose constraints on yourself.

• Limit your options.

• Reduce the tools at your disposal.

• Give yourself less time.

When you have fewer options, tools, or time, you’re forced to move forward.

I'm doing something different today: I'm talking about current events.

Apple has removed the headphone jack in it's latest device: the iPhone 7.

Crazy or brilliant?

This move has been rather controversial (as have previous bold-at-the-time moves like removing the floppy and CD drives from devices), but it is a calculated move nonetheless.

Today's show isn't exclusively about Apple—it's more about the concept of patience in business and making decisions in the best interest of the long game.

Whether you love or hate Apple, their actions affect us all—and there are lessons to be learned. We'll be talking about those today.

Again, the point of the episode is not Apple but to use the topic as an opportunity to dive into a discussion about the long game. We do talk about Apple, but you should listen regardless of whether you care that Apple removed the headphone jack.

We talk about the future in regards to innovation and market acceptance, how people react to change, and how to set yourself up with enough cash reserves to afford to think about the long game.

You were taught a myth.

The myth is that competition is a good thing—it’s not!

When people say, “Competition is a good thing,” they mean that it’s good for consumers.

As a business owner, you don’t want to compete, you want to DOMINATE your market. It’s a weird concept to wrap your mind around at first because you’ve heard the opposite said so many times.

If the word “dominate” scares you, you’re going to get run over. You may have an averse reaction to the word, but it’s not about practices that aren’t above board. It comes from a place of wanting to serve your customers in the very best way possible.

Right now, someone else is serving your customers and doing so to a poorer degree than you. Are you satisfied with that?

You know you have the best product (this is the dominating mindset): you know it’s the very best and if people went with you instead of your competition, they would be better off. It would be great for them!

Why then are you satisfied with someone else serving these people poorly?

When you don’t dominate, you allow someone else to serve these people to a worse degree. You have to see it as your duty to serve people better and dominate your market.

Take massive action!

This episode is entirely inspired by The 10X Rule. It’s the best book I’ve ever read. I buy it for all of my team and family members.

If you haven’t read this book, you’re making a huge mistake. Go buy the book, read the book, and listen to this episode.

If you’ve already read the book, read it again. Then buy the audio book.

If you’ve listened to the audio book already, listen to the audio again, then buy the book and read it.

It will change your life.

If you’re still not convinced, listen to today’s episode.

There are many different ways to be in business. But you do have to sell something.

What you sell, who you sell it to, and how it helps them are all important things to think about.

There's no right, or wrong, or even necessarily better business model—it's all going to depend. Some business models work better for different businesses.

I find that a lot of people don't have a good grasp on their own business model, so I feel it's an important conversation to have. A lot of people need clarity on this topic.

We talk about examples of different business models and go over the pros and cons of half a dozen of them.

People live their life in weekly cycles.

They have habits that repeat: On Mondays they make a long commute, on Wednesdays they watch their favorite show, and on Fridays they hang out with friends.

We all have recurring events and things that happen on a weekly basis.

If you want to stay top of mind with your audience, you've got to get inside that weekly cycle.

People will attach the act of listening to your podcast or reading your newsletter or watching your videos to their own existing habits!

But this only happens when you get inside the weekly cycle. In this episode, we talk about staying top of mind with your audience by being consistent in your publishing schedule.