In The Trenches

If you've been following me for a while, you know I write about product development (starting, finishing, and shipping products and services) a lot. Part of the process for successfully shipping a product or service to market is making sure it will work BEFORE you spend months or years building it. This is what we mean when we say: minimal viable product. The minimal viable product or MVP is the most basic, version 1.0 product you can build that can then be sold to early adopters to see if your idea is good or bad. Yes, it's that simple. No, it's not easy. In today's interview, I sit down with marketer and author of Start Something: A Step by Step Guide to A Successful Business, Cheryl Woodhouse to talk product development, how to validate your ideas cheaply and quickly, and how she's helped dozens of clients create something their audience loves (without breaking the bank). Listen, take notes, then leave a review on iTunes letting Cheryl and I know how much you loved this episode :)

• How to identify a solution that will succeed in the marketplace

• How to create your minimal viable product (MVP) and launch it to the world

• The importance of the number 100 in the product validation phase

• How to find or create distribution channels for your product or service (i.e. how to find people to sell your product to!)

• All about Cheryl's personal story, starting as a copywriter then transitioning to marketing and strategy

• And much more...

Website: cherylwoodhouse.com Twitter Facebook * * * If you enjoyed today's podcast, leave a review on iTunes here. And let us know what you think in the comments below!

How often do you find yourself competing for attention online? If you're a writer, artist, entrepreneur, or blogger, chances are a lot. It comes with the territory. There are millions of websites and our audiences' time and attention are limited. So the question is: how do you distinguish yourself from the crowd and earn that well deserved attention for your high quality content? Enter: Ryan Hanley. Ryan is the creator of ContentWarfare.com, the host of the Content Warfare Google Hangout / Live Podcast, and the founder of Hanley Media Labs. Ryan is THE leading authority on winning the war for attention online by building your brand the right way (and a person whose advice I implicitly trust - something I say about very few people). The best part: Ryan isn't keeping his genius to himself. Instead, he's  taking all the knowledge and experience he's gained over the years from building brands online and putting it into a book he's launching through a new book crowdfunding platform called Publishizer: Check out Ryan's book (appropriately titled: Content Warfare) on Publishizer here. In today's podcast, we sit down and discuss Ryan's background and how he transitioned from corporate America to online entrepreneurship; how he became a leading authority in building brands online; and his unique journey to published author.

• Ryan's transition from accounting to online entrepreneur, Podcaster, and brand building authority

• The three ingredients for successfully capturing a segment of any market (hint: it has to do with Audience, Story, Experience)

• The three components of Experience:

• Customer Service: Good or Bad

• Which components of experience matter and which don't (you might be surprised by this)

• How to tell your story so that you attract the right customers

• Which is the best social media platform and why (and how to implement it for your own success)

• Why Ryan went the crowdfunding path for his book and how crowdfunding is changing the landscape of publishing for the better

Website: www.ryanhanley.com Twitter Facebook

Publishizer.com  * * * If you enjoyed today's podcast, leave a review on iTunes here. And let us know what you think in the comments below!

No contracts. No selling. No price. That's how today's guest, Adrian Hoppel, a Philadelphia-based web designer, does "business." Instead, he simply gives his work away - as a gift - and expects nothing in return. Yet instead of being taken advantage of, Adrian's business has flourished. Last year, he worked on 25 projects and ended up getting paid more per project than he would have had he used fixed pricing. And less than half way through this year, Adrian's already more than tripled his total projects from last year (in fact, he's had to hire multiple employees...and get this: they ALL work in the gift economy). And the requests for his gift-based work continue to flow in. In today's broadcast, we talk all about the Gift Economy, Pay What You Want pricing, how to build and manage a team in the gift economy, and even touch on Adrian's military background and how it's helped him in his new efforts. Seriously, this is one of the most fun interviews I've done and Adrian's story is incredible. You need to listen for your own good :)

• Why Adrian left corporate work to pursue his dream of living and working in the gift

• All about the Gift Economy (and what that means from a practical standpoint)

• How a little book called Sacred Economics changed Adrian's life

• How Adrian has tripled his business in just a few months and how he's managing it all

• What it takes to create a gift-based business where no money or exchange is expected (you're going to be blown away by this, I promise)

• How Adrian leads a team of employees using gift-economy principles

• How Adrian once argued with a client for being TOO generous in return for his work (and why he's stopped doing that...good choice!)

• The specific process Adrian goes through to live and work in the Gift Economy

Website: http://adrianhoppel.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/aphoppel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adrianhoppelwebsites * * * If you enjoyed today's podcast, leave a review on iTunes here. And let us know what you think in the comments below!

A lot of people have books in them... But how many take the time to actually write them? Enter: Dave Ursillo - a multi-published author and entrepreneur who helps creative self-starters live their leadership through artistry. Dave’s written 8 books, is the leader of the Literati Writers – a small, private community of writers, and has done numerous speaking engagements around the country on the topics of communication and leadership. In today's broadcast, Dave and I sat down to discuss a topic near and dear to my heart:

• COURAGE in writing

Dave shares his journey from working in politics to writing books and coaching writers full time.  While his story is interesting in and of itself, Dave also walks us through actionable steps to developing courage in writing and entrepreneurship. Weather you are interested in writing, or you want actionable steps to develop courage and self-belief in your own artistry and business, today's broadcast is for you. Oh, and if you enjoyed today's broadcast, leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

• How Dave got his start in writing on September 11 2001

• How this incredible event changed the scope of his writing (and his life)

• The power of writing to create constructive thought and dialogue.

• Dave’s start in the political world and how the nature of politics compelled him to start writing

• Dave’s journey from the job he hated,to hitting 4 months of depression and working his way out using his creativity and passion

• How Dave created the exclusive writers group: Literatti Writers

• How to cultivate courage in your writing and life

• Why we need to be fearless with our writing (and all our actions)

• Why we need to surround ourselves with similar values (hint: it has to do with courage)

1. Daily Practice

*note: we go in depth on each of these in the interview, so definitely check out the interview!

"Courage in writing is everything." [Click to Tweet]

"The journey in life is the greatest reward."  [Click to Tweet]

Website: daveursillo.com Twitter: @daveursillo

literatiwriters.com * * * If you enjoyed today's podcast, leave a review on iTunes here. And let us know what you think in the comments below!

Have you ever wanted to start your own conference, festival, or event? You know, like TomCon, or the Morkes Festival? Me too.  That's why I brought Stephen Ananicz onto In The Trenches today. Stephen is the cofounder of the The Key West Film Festival, and has a background in acting and film production (if you check out his name on IMDB you’ll see him credited in movies like Pirates of the Caribean and Salt, among other blockbusters). And while his background in film is interesting in and of itself, I really wanted Stephen on In The Trenches today to talk about how he created the Key West Film Festival from scratch. Creating any sort of festival or conference is a massive undertaking and I really wanted to dig into the details on how exactly Stephen went from idea to finished product on a project with such scale. As a quick background on the festival:  The Key West Film Festival was founded in 2012 as a nonprofit independent film festival supporting the South Florida art and film community. It’s now going into it’s 3rd year come this November and is continuing to grow in size and popularity. So seriously, if you've ever been interested in creating your own major headline event, this is the interview for you.

• How Stephen’s background in film allowed him an inside look at the film industry and gave him a ton of experience with film festivals

• How he first created the idea for a film festival in Key West, Florida in 2010

• How Stephen conducted his initial market research (and why this was paramount to making the event work...pun intended?)

• What it was like to see the idea snowball to the point of no return (launch or fail)

• The precise steps for creating a successful festival from scratch (yes, I had Stephen number and organize them for me)

• How to build the right team for whatever your project is (and why it was essential Stephen got the local community on board)

• How Stephen tweaked and pivoted the event so it become more productive and successful

• And much much more

Stay focused on one thing. [click to tweet]

kwfilmfest.com Key West Film Festival's Facebook Key West Film Festival's Twitter

We all hear variations of the following phrases - ‘you need to work like a madman to be successful’ OR ‘you need to work hard…and then work harder to get what you want’ but what does that really mean? It’s easy to say you should ‘hustle’ but it’s a lot harder to ACTUALLY put in the time and effort to make things happen. Enter John Genovese – a guy who truly exemplifies the word hustle. John is the co-founder of Polite Persistence LLC. a business consulting and growth strategy optimization firm specializing in helping entrepreneurs and business owners find success faster. Their flagship product: the Polite Persistence App, is an email application that is, according to John, “The Fastest and Easiest Way to Send Follow Up Emails, Guaranteed.” In today’s broadcast, we go in depth on why this claim isn’t an exaggeration by showing you how the Polite Persistence App works, how John has bootstrapped his startup from nothing yet has managed to get the attention of hundreds of entrepreneurs and business owners even though they have yet to launch the final product, and the step by step process he’s using to do it. Entrepreneurs, business owners and creative looking to sell your work – listen up. The lessons and strategies we talk about apply beyond the scope of Software as a Service businesses to anything you want to sell or promote (from art, to writing, to your own business to a movement of any kind). So take out your pen and paper and get ready to take some notes.

• How John came up with the idea for his tech startup (and why this validated the business model almost instantly)

• Why following up with people the RIGHT way is so important for entrepreneurs 

• How to connect with people you admire (by giving them an offer they can't refuse)

• How John bootstrapped this tech startup with NO coding experience and NO background in UI, design, or engineering

• Why John gives away free beta licenses to prospective customers to get them on board (and how this builds his sales funnel)

• How John prices his products - and WHY he chose those price points

• Everything and anything Lean Startup - this is a big broadcast and we talk through the ENTIRE process, from start, to finish, to ship, of John's software business

Seriously, we probably cover a hundred topics on building a startup from scratch, so check out the episode and learn a little something.

PolitePersistence.com Polite Persistence Facebook @PolitePersist

Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Have you ever been passionate about a pastime, but didn't think it could ever develop into anything more (like a business)? Maybe it's time to reevaluate your thinking. In today's broadcast of In The Trenches, I sit down with Cliff Ravenscraft, a man who turned a passionate side project into a 6 figure business in a few short years. Cliff started podcasting as a hobby in 2005… In a couple short years, his podcasts had garnered enough attention for him to quit his day job and pursue podcasting full time. Now, Cliff not only produces multiple podcasts (and personally recorded over 3,000 episodes), but he is also a podcasting consultant and coach. I had the honor of meeting Cliff in person when he and Pat Flynn hosted a meetup in Nashville.  Not only does Cliff know his stuff when it comes to entrepreneurship, specifically in regards to building your audience through podcasting, but he’s a super down to earth person. If you’re at all interested in podcasting, marketing, or simply turning a passion into a business, definitely check out today’s broadcast. 

• How cliff started in Christian ministry, and how that has profoundly affected his entrepreneurial journey to this day

• Why Cliff gave up a 6 figure salary to pursue podcasting full time - something that was barely making him enough money to survive, at the time

• Cliff's hobby of podcasting and how it all started in 2005 with a podcast about the TV show Lost

• How Cliff 'lean started' his podcasting career with a $35 headset and had his first show up (called Generally Speaking) and running within 15 hours

• Why Cliff gave himself plenty of time to 'side hustle' podcasting before going at it full time

• How his first year of podcasting only brought in $11,000 in profit for him and his whole family - but he kept hustling to make his dream come true

• The reality of being an entrepreneur and how Cliff worked 14-18 hours a day for the first 9 months of becoming a full-time entrepreneur

• Why entrepreneurs need to pace themselves (and Cliff's intense story of how he overworked himself to the point of being hospitalized and almost dying)

• What it's like to produce 30 different shows and more than 3,000 podcast episodes (hint: it's a lot of work)

“You can best achieve success by helping other people achieve success.” [click to tweet]

“If you give enough away for free people will beg you for ways to give you money in return.” [tweet]

PodcastAnswerMan.com @GSPN

Gspn.tv Authentic Life Radio Podcast Mastermind

In today’s broadcast, I sit down with bestselling author, Jason Andrew Bond. Jason is a full time fiction writer who has written several novels and short stories.  His first novel, Hammerhead, has over 100 5-star reviews on Amazon (as of this writing), and hit best seller status shortly after its release. While that's remarkable in its own right - it's rare for any author to hit bestseller status, let alone on their first novel - the most remarkable part is this: Jason self-published and had no massive marketing push for his book. Everything he did, he did it himself. Hammerhead made it to bestseller status through word of mouth alone. THAT is impressive. You might think this success, so early and so quickly, has allowed Jason to sit back and relax a little, but nothing could be further from the truth. As you’ll hear in today’s interview, success isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. So if you’re a writer, blogger, author or just curious about the creative process, take out a pen and paper and download today’s interview.  There is a ton of great stuff to learn from here, including…

• How Jason started writing early in life and the impact it has had on his writing today

How to be a great writer: “Go home tonight and write for 5 minutes…do that as long as your heart is beating. [click to tweet]

The key to success in life: “5 minutes a day of writing, 5 minutes a day of reading and you just can’t go wrong. [click to tweet]

JasonAndrewBond.com @JasonAndrewBond

Nathan Lowell Zen and the Art of Writing The War of Art Robert Dugoni Hammerhead

In today’s broadcast, I sit down with Ryan Delk – creative entrepreneur, networker extraordinaire and Lead Growth at Gumroad. If you’re not familiar with Gumroad, it’s the platform I use for all my products and allows me to make my products Pay What You Want (believe it or not, almost no other platform out there has this same feature). Take a test drive by checking out my book 2 Days With Seth Godin below (as you can see, it seamlessly integrates with my website – and all that took was a few lines of code that I copy and pasted into this page). 2 Days With Seth Godin In today’s broadcast of In The Trenches, Ryan and I talk about the power of a platform like Gumroad, why something like this was the natural evolution of online commerce, and how it’s changing the digital commerce landscape as we know it. If you enjoy today’s broadcast, please leave an honest review on iTunes.  The more ratings and reviews I get for the podcast, the more reach and impact it will have.  So if you enjoy it, spread the word by leaving a review!

• How Ryan Delk got started as an entrepreneur by building a startup in Africa

Email: R (at) Gumroad.com Twitter: @delk LinkedIn

Keith Urban on Gumroad Nathan Barry

Today’s guest is Jennifer Blanchard – a writer, creative wellness and writing coach, and all around creative entrepreneur. Jennifer helps entrepreneurs take their books from idea to draft, so they can grow their audience and propel their business to the next level, without fear, distractions or disorganization.  She does this through a focus on creative wellness (how food, fitness and health affects our creativity). Currently, Jennifer is in the process of consolidating her many websites online into one resource, which you can find at jenniferblanchard.net. She has an eBook coming out at the end of September called Creative On Command: Instant Inspiration Exactly When You Need it, which is all about how health affects creativity. If you’ve ever suffered from lack of motivation or creativity, definitely check out Jennifer’s website and pick up her new book when it's released.

• How Jennifer found her way as a writer, entrepreneur and coach

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Butt In Chair Pen Name: How to Create Yours