For the first year or so in business, I was a one-man shop. It was just me, and I scrambled working all sorts of insane hours trying to align my work into an actual business.

That all changed when I started hiring team members. I now have five team members who help create content and copy for our clients.

The embarrassing truth is I made a few hires too quickly without ensuring they were the right fit for us, for our Manifesto and the values we want to embody.

When it comes to growing your team, you need to look beyond just your company culture and personalities.

You need to consider how well the prospective new team member can embody the message and values you want to share.

Is it clear they ‘get it’ when it comes to why you do what you do with your business? No, it’s not fair to ask them to care as much about your business as you do, but do they care in a way that it’s obvious?

The right hire is a great fit for your culture, your personality types, and your message you want to share. Focus on the fit for your message as you get ready to make your next hire.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

One of my good friends Cody Burch launched his first live event this week. It’s called One Hour Funnel Live and it’s hosted here in Denver.

Now, if you’ve ever done a live event, then you know how daunting that can be with all of the registration details, schedule, the financial commitment, and the day-after-day hard work of sharing about your event.

I’m ecstatic to share about Cody’s event because he built his event through investing in a great community. He’s gone out of his way to connect with people around the world, share his expertise, be generous with his time, and prove he’s trustworthy with people’s time and attention.

The key is there was no selfish or hidden agenda in Cody doing that. I watched him intentionally connect with people and give his best energy and attention.

There’s a proverb that talks about if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with others. Follow Cody’s example and invest in your community. Give without expecting anything in return because you have the chance to impact the lives of others through your generosity. This will pay off over the long run as you build a business through strong relationships and intentional connections.

And Cody, congratulations, my friend, I’m so proud of you and love what you’re building with your message.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

I spoke at an event a while back with about 500 people in attendance, and it struck me how many speakers didn’t stick around after they spoke.

At least two other speakers walked off the stage, spent a few minutes in the green room, and then, *poof*, they left the event!

And I get it - many speakers are busy going from event to event with phone calls, meetings, and new opportunities fighting for their attention.

However, a mentor of mine shared some advice five years ago that still sticks with me today.

He said, “You are not more important than the rest of the people at the event. You simply have the opportunity to serve on the stage. Stay in the room and your message will continue to make an impact.”

The next time you get to speak, make time in your schedule to be fully present for the entire day when you speak. That means even if you don’t have your breakout session until 3:00 in the afternoon, show up and be fully present for the entire day. If the first session starts at 9:00, be at that session.

It shows your audience that you value their time as much as you value yours. It also gives them the freedom to connect with you before and after your talk.

There are just as many great opportunities to connect with your crowd in the hallways as it is during your session.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

The reality is your message isn’t for everyone, and that’s GREAT!

Take a deep breath with me and hold onto it for a second… and now, let it out again.

That’s your sigh of relief. Be at peace, be okay with knowing your Message isn’t meant to change everyone’s life.

Whether you’re a podcaster, a speaker, coach, consultant, YouTuber, service provider, trainer, whatever your focus is, you have the permission not to connect with everyone.

It’s just as important knowing who isn’t a good fit for your message as knowing who is a good fit.

Yes, you’ll probably get people who disagree with your perspective, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad fit. It may mean they’re not ready to listen to your perspective.

This is your permission slip though not to make everyone happy with what you have to say.

There’s a good chance the ones who unsubscribe, dislike, or ignore your message are the ones self-selecting that they feel they’re not the right fit.

Every time I see someone unsubscribe from our list, I take that as a great opportunity to ask: what could I have done better? If nothing comes to mind, then I go with the assumption they’re not the right fit for my Message. And then, I move on.

And you, have the chance to move on to knowing your message isn’t for everyone.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

There’s a good chance you’re listening to Keynote Clarity because you have an Alexa device, like an Echo, an Echo Dot, or an Echo Show.

You may even be wondering, “How do I create and launch my own flash briefing?”

Over the past six months, our team at Keynote Content has created a turnkey flash briefing production system.

There are three key phases in our Flash Briefing development:

Phase 1 is where we focus on your overall flash briefing strategy: what’s the name of your new flash briefing, who is it for, what are the daily themes, and how do I know which equipment to use to create a great audio experience?

Phase 2 is about your initial buildout and test month. We do all of the work to produce your flash briefing and walk with you every step of the way through your launch. The only responsibilities you have is paying for your hosting provider and providing raw audio files for us to produce, schedule, and populate to Alexa devices around the world.

Phase 3 is where the ongoing monthly production of your flash briefing. Just like with Phase 2, the only thing you have to do is provide us with a month’s worth of raw audio files we can use.

If you’d like to learn more, you can check out alexaflashbriefings.com to see our process and sign up if it looks like a great fit for your message. Again, go to alexaflashbriefings.com and check it out today to see how our team can help you create, launch, and grow your flash briefing.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

I started recording videos using a teleprompter about six years ago. At first, it was tough. There’s a learning curve to using a teleprompter, and for me, it took a few videos before I was comfortable enough to truly be myself without looking like I was just reading a script.

Can a teleprompter actually help you make better videos? The answer is it depends. I know, that’s a cop-out answer, but it’s the truth. There are many factors to creating a great video, and a teleprompter is only one of these factors.

Other factors such as the script you’re using, the lighting, the sound quality, your outfit, your body language, those are just as important as the teleprompter.

In the end though, I have more confidence creating videos if I know what I want to say and it’s on the screen for me.

If you haven’t tried a teleprompter before, I recommend starting with bullet points instead of an actual script. It gives you an idea of where you want to go next without having to read every word and stay true to how you show up on screen.

Give it a try and good luck!

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

When I went to launch my first online course five years ago, I focused so much on the design of the sales page.

What button color should I pick? Is that the ‘perfect’ image for this section? What color should the headline be?

I thought I hit save on the draft of the page, but by chance, I accidentally published my sales page. It stayed up for an entire weekend, and I didn’t know my mistake until I saw a sale come through.

It occurred to me that people were willing to overlook half-baked design or even bad design if they connected with the message on the page.

Now, I’m not saying design doesn’t matter at all - of course it does - but it’s more important to focus on the copy.

Is it absolutely clear the value you’re offering through your sales page? Clarity in your copy will lead to conversions on a bland-looking sales page.

Focus on your message first, then add in great design. If you have to choose though, go with a simple design and a great story to tell.

You will generate more sales with great copy and a bad design over bad copy with a great design.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

Picture yourself waking up this morning. What motivated you to get out of bed? Was it inspiration or obligation? Your audience needs to know why you do what you do.

If you’re like many speakers, coaches, and consultants, you constantly face the question of “Is this all worth it? Why do I keep doing this?”

Think about your audience, the people you get to serve.

Think about how their lives and businesses, marriages, families, mindsets, finances, schedules, whatever area you impact, think about how your clients have better lives because of you and your Message.

That’s what I want you to hold onto today: you are making a difference. Even if it’s only one person, you changed their life.

Now, go find someone else today that you can help with your Message. You don’t have to make a life-changing impact, but you do have an opportunity to make a difference.

Hold onto that inspiration - you are making a difference - and keep pushing forward!

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

If you want to get to know your target market better, you need to make multiple connections every day.

This may be reaching out to someone you know or want to get to know on LinkedIn. See who your second-level connections may be and send a message introducing yourself and asking how they met your mutual friend.

You can also send a well-written message to a new colleague. Take a few minutes and look through their website. If something jumps out to you, make mention of that to your colleague. It shows you took the time to get to know their business better.

Another idea is to reach out to one of your strategic partners and set up a call to catch up and trade ideas.

Whatever step you take, focus on building a better connection. We can’t serve and connect people we don’t know or understand. Give generously of your time, focus on adding value, and you will start to build a more meaningful network of great connections.

Reach out to at least one person today to create a better connection for tomorrow.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

Over the past two weeks, I’ve shared each of the twelve stages of the Hero’s Journey.

And, you may be thinking, “But, I don’t really think my product or service is that heroic.” Maybe you even doubt the impact you can create, or you’re buried in Imposter Syndrome, starting to second-guess your impact.

Here’s the one truth I want you to hold onto today: you are extraordinary.

If you give an ‘ish’ about your audience, then you are already prepared to help your clients, your readers, your subscribers, whoever it is that’s listening to you, you’re prepared to help them have a heroic experience.

It may not seem that flashy and you may even think your topic or industry is boring. I guarantee that you hold a heroic message inside that people are starving to hear from you.

It starts with believing that what you have to offer has the power to change someone else’s world. Don’t even worry about changing the whole world right now - focus on changing one person’s world. And another’s. And another’s.

And then, you’ll start to see that what you’re creating is a heroic experience where your audience has the confidence and peace to conquer the challenges right in from of them.

Believing you can is the kickstart you need to change someone else’s world with your message today.

The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”