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When I was 14 years old, I was inspired to get into radio because I loved listening to "American Top 40". It was a countdown show of the 40 most popular songs on the radio each week, hosted by Casey Casum. This week, I'm sharing the top 40 podcasts I listen to, with a little explanation of why you might want to check them out.
I will also identify the podcasts I absolutely do not miss, ever. And I'll share the 3 very popular podcasts I instantly did NOT like. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…
You can get Jeff Walker's new book, Launch, for free right now. This is a limited time offer, as he is… er… LAUNCHING his book! You get some very valuable bonus materials just for requesting a free copy. You do have to pay the shipping fee (it's less than $7.) Click here to get Jeff Walker's book for free.
Spiritual FoundationsThis week's Spiritual Foundations segment is an interview with Brian Holmes, the host of the Strategic Living Podcast.
Feature Segment: Ray Edwards' Top 40 Podcast CountdownThese are my Top 20 Podcasts. This list is entirely subjective, and it will undoubtedly change. Every week I am trying out new podcasts, so every week a few may drop off this list and a few new ones may rise up. But the top 5-7 have remained remarkably stable, with one notable exception.
The 10 Podcasts I Never Miss
Listener Questions
What To Do Now
Here are some steps you can take to put this week's episode content to work for you:
Question: What are podcasts do you never miss? Click here to leave your comments.
What if you could automate success? What if you would set a few things in motion that, if not guaranteeing your success, would automatically increase the likelihood of success … in all areas of your life?
In today's episode I share how controlling 5 "environments" greatly increases the odds of your success. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…
If you would like some very practical help building up your blog as a business, you should consider attending the Buzz Seminar, which is hosted by my friends Frank Viola and Mike Morrel. In this show, I interview these two, and Frank gives away a very powerful tip on writing blog posts that go viral (and he certainly knows how to do that!)
Spiritual FoundationsWhat do we do when it seems God has gone silent, and we're not hearing his voice?
Many have suggested you should look for some hidden sin in your life, that explains why you have been "cut off" from God. I have a different idea about what is going on, and how you can re-establish communication with your Father in Heaven.
What if you could automate your own success? While that is not totally possible, you can indeed set up your life os that your odds of success are greatly improved. You do this by intentionally controlling 5 major "environments".
The importance of the environments you operate in cannot be over-emphasized. In the show audio, I explain why this is true. The 5 Environments are:
When you consciously engineer your 5 Environments to support patterns and states that lead to success, you will enjoy more success than before… automatically.
Listener Questions1. Roger Whitney asks about how I choose my topics for the podcast, and how far in advance I know what the topic will be.
2. David wants to know how a successful real estate appraiser could transfer their knowledge into an online, passive income business.
What To Do NowHere are some steps you can take to put this week's episode content to work for you:
Question: What elements in your current Environments are not supporting you, and how will you change those elements? Click here to leave your comments.
We entrepreneurial types tend to be graded starting things and leaving other people to clean up the details. Our staff, virtual assistants, and colleagues may find it difficult to deal with us.
There's nothing wrong with you, you just need to realize what you're good at, what other people are good at, and how to negotiate the handling of tasks so that both of you are operating in your "zone". So today, I'll explain to you how to work with other people without driving them crazy. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…
I'm a little behind the party on this one, but I just got a fantastic new book called To Sell Is Human by Daniel H. Pink. Pink gives a brand-new look at the art and science of selling. His insights go against what most of us have been taught about selling, but he has a lot of social science to back them up. This is a practical book, not just pie-in-the-sky theory. Pink has no less than six alternatives to the classic "elevator pitch", and gives specific tips on how to perform other functions of the sales process in a more persuasive, more humane, and more profitable way.
Spiritual FoundationsDon't be fooled by the "work ethic" that demands you pour out the sweat before you get the reward. Earning your living by the "sweat of your brow" was actually part of the curse!
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:26
Feature Segment: How To Work With Other People Without Making Them CrazyEntrepreneurs possess certain personality traits that make us hard for other people to understand, and sometimes make it even harder for other people to work with us. In their perception, we create a lot of chaos, take a lot of risks, and behave capriciously. Our codebook for how to communicate and succeed is different from the codebook they are using.
If you've taken any of the personality type assessments, you may have discovered that you, as an entrepreneur, tend to be a Starter, and not so much a Finisher. I've known this about myself for quite some time, and the remedy is to surround yourself with people who are good Finishers, people who are good at doing the details and follow-up… and then letting them do that without micromanaging or driving them nuts.
That last part has been hard for me. I have found my interaction with other workers in my business, especially outsourcers, to be frustrating at best (with a few notable exceptions, among them being my stellar Assistant Kathy!). When things were not working so well, their work came in late, or not done correctly, or they disappeared on me when I needed them again. I read about a method of communication that, as far as I know, was developed by Rob Berkeley. It's called the Circle of Commitment, and has made a huge difference in the way I work with people.
This may not seem like a big deal, but it has really revolutionized my life and eliminated a lot of stress for me. Probably for the people who do work for me as well. Because after reading about this in Perry Marshall's Renaissance Club Newsletter, I realized I was pretty horrible at every step except the first one. I was good at asking what I wanted done, not very clear when I was negotiating exactly what would be delivered, mostly oblivious to the performance of the task, and once the deliverables showed up I did an abysmal job of communicating that I had received the work and what my evaluation of it might've been. Not pretty.
Since becoming conscious of these four steps and using them as I work with others, I've become laser-accurate in my communications. I even received feedback from one of my writers, who expressed, with a great deal of relief, how exciting it was that I was finally letting them know that I had received the pieces he had written for me. I always assumed that he knew my silence meant everything was fine. Woops.
Just being clear in these four steps will make a huge difference in how you work with other people
What To Do NowSo here's your assignment that will help you turn this week show into profits, put the tips and action, and make your life better in the process.
Question: How do you ensure better communication with your team members? Click here to leave your comments.
Many a professional, and many a freelancer, find themselves asking, "How can I get more clients?" May I suggest this is the wrong question? in fact, it is precisely the wrong question.
A better question to ask would be, "how can I build a business where clients come looking for me?" We will explore the construction of such a scenario in today's episode. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…
If you're tired of not making any money with your online business and you'd like to finally just get things jumpstarted… I'm getting together with a small group of serious entrepreneurs here in Spokane in July. Were going to spend three days and just build your business from the ground up. Or rebuilt it if what you're doing is not working. It's not cheap, and the only way to get in is to pass through and " interview" with me personally. We have 12 seats, two of them are already spoken for, and I promise you every single one will be filled. I do not promise to ever do this again. If you think you would like to be part of this group, to finally stop "talking" a big game and asked a start PLAYING the big game, click here and fill out this application in full. If your application seems to merit further consideration, my assistant will set up a call between you and me.
Tip Of The WeekI just got a new wireless headset for use with my telephone, and I absolutely love it. It has crystal clear sound, a noise canceling microphone, 10 hours of battery life, and incredible range. It's the Plantronics Savi 740.
Spiritual FoundationsLiving a life of joy and peace is not difficult.
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Matthew 6:31-33
Feature Segment: Stop Trying To Find Clients
Constructing a business so that clients seek you instead of vice versa is a lot like farming. First you have till the soil, then you have to sow the seeds, and then you cultivate the rows. Only then can you begin to see the harvest. At every year you must repeat the cycle, because the year you don't, there will surely be no harvest.
Think in terms of three different crops. The crops each take a different amount of time to bear fruit.
If you do as I recommended, you will very quickly find yourself no longer hunting for clients. Clients will be hunting for you.
Question: What activities will you commit to in each of the three different time frames? Click here to leave your comments.
Recently I was working with a client on an advertising campaign. We had been running a particular ad in a variety of online media (mainly solo mailings to email newsletters), and the ad was barely breaking even. We decided to test different subject lines. Basically, we changed seven words.
Immediately upon our next mailing, our "Return on Ad Spend" or ROAS Went from around 80% to a startling 150%. Seven words. There's a saying in the direct response marketing business: "tiny hinges swing big doors". In this episode, I will introduce you to five such "tiny hinges" that can "swing big doors" in your business. Small changes you can make that might mean the difference between meteoric success or humiliating bankruptcy. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…
Every day I go to my mailbox-my real world, physical mailbox, looking forward to getting something fun. A good sales piece, for me, is a treasure. Issues of my favorite newsletters, also a treasure. Books, cards from readers and listeners, the occasional gift. All great stuff in good fun. Then there is the "junk". Now what many people consider junk I actually look forward to-a good sales letter, a magalog or bookalog, or the weekly direct-mail piece from James Malinchack.
Everyone's got their own definition of junk, but those things to me are treasures. Junk, to me is all the poorly executed direct mail that I get. The stuff that so bad that it's a total waste of ink and paper. Stuff that's completely irrelevant to me, my business, my family. How do you get those folks to stop sending you mail? Why, there is an app for that of course. It's called Paperkarma. It's free. Using this app, you simply take a picture of the offending junk mail, click a button, and the folks at Paperkarma make your junk mail go away.
I'll be darned if I know how they make any money doing this, but I'll keep using them as long as they manage to stay in business. They are not 100% successful, by the way, and getting everybody to stop sending your junk mail. And if the mail happens to be addressed to "occupant" or to someone who used to live in your address, or if it's just a ZIP-Code-carpet-bomb mailing, this app is not going to help. But it's a great little tool, and can dramatically reduce the amount of stuff you have to recycle every week.
Spiritual FoundationsDo you find yourself working hard to get God to fulfill your prayers?
I know people who have an illness and who run from healing evangelist superstar to healing evangelist superstar, practice the Daniel fast, anoint themselves with oil, repeat special prayers, and do their best to be 100% sinless and perfect and holy in their behavior. In other words, they are always looking for the right "magic ritual" or "good behavior" that will get God to heal them.
But God has already supplied all our needs, and promised us that we don't need to worry or work so hard. There's a beautiful story in the gospel of John that shows us why this does not work, and why in fact we should stop working so hard to get God to give us what he is already promised.
When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath."
John 5:6-9
This man encountered the one who was greater than the Angels, and who did not need a special supernatural event to deliver his promise This man encountered Jesus. Notice a couple of things: Jesus didn't ask the man to do anything until after he was healed… And the healing took place on the Sabbath. The day of rest.
Rest easy in God's promises, and believe that he always keeps them. Our job is to simply rest on his assurances, and trust that he knows when, where, and how to give us his very best.
Whether the answer you're seeking has to do with your family finances, a relationship, and illness, or some mental torment that you currently are enduring, just rest. Jesus will take care of you. God's delays are not God's denials.
Feature Segment: Tiny Hinges That Swing Big DoorsHere are five "tiny hinges that swing big doors". Five small leverage points that can turn your business around, multiply your productivity, and skyrocket your profitability. As my friend Michael Hyatt likes to say, get all your numbers going "up and to the right."
As always, I want you to leave the podcast by taking some action. So here's how to turn this episode into real-world value:
Question: Have you ever had an experience where a tiny hinge swung a big door for you? Click here to leave your comments.
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