I came across a really interesting video the other day and I wanted to share a short clip and some thoughts. The gentleman you’re about to hear is Jaron Lanier, he’s known now as a sort of Silicon Valley philosopher and futurist, with a background as both an entrepreneur in virtual reality in the 80s, to working at Microsoft as an interdisciplinary scientist. He's also a composer and musician, so a super interesting guy and clearly a very deep thinker. So I want to play you this clip, and...

For experts like coaches and consultants, it’s easy to get trapped in a business that doesn’t fit us. In the real estate business, Mike Ferry is still going out and speaking to live audiences and real estate offices in his 80’s. That’s the lifestyle he wants, but it’s not what I want. On the flip side, some experts set the goal of a business that runs without them and throws off a high profit that allows them to essentially retire. Richard Koch is a great example of this. He works a few...

As a newer coach or consultant, there are two paths people tend to choose from, and one path they get stuck on. Now, what do I mean by newer? That could mean you're just launching your coaching or consulting business, but it could also mean you're jumping into a new niche. Maybe you're well known in your real estate space, but you're jumping into a much bigger space like personal development. Or you've been involved in big companies with big brands, but you were behind the scenes. So you...

When you sell something that is a “necessary evil,” like accounting, insurance, mortgage, and even real estate to an extent, I haven’t seen a lot of evidence that people are interested in long-form audio content. HGTV shows with pretty homes and pretty hosts? Absolutely, people vacuum it up. But notice what’s happening. In shows like House Hunters, the hard parts of the transaction are glossed over. The emphasis is on the homes and the fun of speculating what home these idiots are going to...

This comes from one of our newest clients who’s in that fantastic position right now, and it’s time for her to scale up her influence and impact without taking more time and energy. When you take on most of your clients through relationships, referrals, speaking engagements, etc they can come easy, but they’re coming for the relationship with YOU. They don’t want leverage, they don’t want something scaled. So the key to breaking out of that and taking on clients who are willing to get less...

Today’s topic is deeply personal to me, but I’m going to pull out lessons that are really applicable to anyone in the thought leadership game. When I think about the thought leaders I look up to, admire and respect the most, these are the top 5 who have impacted and influenced me in various ways. Tim Ferris - He thinks like no one else I know, and his engineer/architect approach has heavily impacted how I think and approach problems. Derek Sivers - He popularized the concept “if it’s not...

This episode is brought to you by the magic of YouTube recommendations. I was watching some videos of fun facts, and came across a video about Bob Ross and went down a Bob Ross rabbit hole. Apparently not much is known, as Bob himself was fairly private, and now his estate keeps things pretty close to the vest, too. But we know the basics of the story, and for our purposes, there are 3 lessons I pulled out of Bob Ross's story that we can dig into. So let's review the story and fill in...

As introverts, we must protect our energy. Otherwise we don't show up in social situations as our best selves. We’re all different, but introverts definitely have a social capacity - a limit on how much energy we have to be social. Because for an introvert, being social draws our energy down, and being alone fills that energy tank back up. You probably know the feeling when you run out of energy. You’re “done” being social, and you can’t be as engaging, enthusiastic and relaxed in a social...

Back in 2015, I formed my first coaching/training partnership and we launched a podcast to support it. 18 months later we were hosting a standing-room only session at a major industry event. I know what it’s like to launch a venture with no name recognition. It’s not easy, but thanks to developments in podcasting and online marketing, it’s easier than ever. The big challenge for any new coach or consultant is this: What big name people do NOW isn’t what got them there. We look at...

In today’s episode, we have a very special conversation with fellow podcaster and introvert, Barry Karch. Barry is a 35+ year real estate veteran, and host of the Real Estate Unsalesperson Podcast. On the surface, the world of real estate is dominated by extroverts. People don’t commonly expect introverts to be successful agents, but according to Barry, introverts have the characteristics that make them the best Realtors, and there are more introverted top agents than we’re led to believe. ...

If the purpose of your podcast is to create demand for your coaching/consulting business, doing interview podcasts without some Solo Episodes makes it hard for the audience to get to know you. Not having Solo Episodes is like running a church and never doing a Sunday sermon. Solo episode are where the audience gets to know your POV, belief system, methods and your system, but what do you talk about in these episodes? In this episode, I’m going to share how to immediately come up with 5...

Introverts need more time to recharge. That’s just a fact. We can try to be someone else. We can try to convince ourselves that we’re ambiverts. We can try to work up the energy with Tony Robbins state change methods. But at the end of the day, none of that is sustainable. Introverts need alone time to recharge, so it’s even more critical that introverted coaches and consultants learn to manage our energy. So what happens when introverts try to run our business like an extrovert?...

Here’s the big idea of this episode: not everyone needs thought leadership to get the growth they want. If you have a very simple, direct offer that people are already receptive to, and they don’t need to be converted to a new point of view in order to buy, then you may not need a lot of thought leadership. A perfect example is right in my own home turf of real estate. We’ve launched a ton of podcasts in the real estate space, but we don’t launch real estate podcasts aimed at the general...

1. Your Podcast drives home your CandC Idea Your Clear and Compelling Idea is the living, beating heart of your business. It’s the idea that creates demand for your coaching by communicating your value and who benefits the most from that value. Take BMW for example. Their Clear and Compelling Idea is the Ultimate Driving Machine. That Idea sets that brand apart AND speaks deeply to car buyers who care about the driving experience. That Idea also repels those who care more about other...

We can throw money at our marketing all day long with high-end production and pricey bells and whistles, but Dan Kennedy’s success with a $15,000 infomercial proves that low tech can be wildly effective. Once you’ve met the minimum quality expectations, you’re better off investing in your content, getting to know your audience, and adjusting your message accordingly. Stop throwing money at the problem, and start being obsessed with the quality of your messaging.

Clubhouse is the latest example of the rise of live audio platforms. As sales and networking forums, they work, but as a marketing medium for introverts, are they sustainable? Introverts need leverage in their communication because we don’t have the energy to be our own sales reps, and still deliver a high quality level of service to our clients. Live audio doesn’t fit that bill. It will never build influence to the same degree, and it will never be eternally discoverable and searchable....

Introverts are constantly labeled incorrectly, and associated with a ton of negative perceptions - from being gruff, irritable and dismissive, to hating people and abhorring any type of social situation. To sum it up, introverts are accused of being total a-holes, not being able to handle people and being poor communicators, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. How do we combat and overcome these misperceptions? We have to understand ourselves, set boundaries around our...

Behind the success of any high growth coach and consultant, there are 3 ingredients that show up over and over again. Their ability to get massive traction isn’t about doubling down, it also hinges on taking advantage of specific external factors, catching a wave and riding it all the way to influence. In this episode, I talk about 3 important external elements that lead to high growth, and how to tap into them. Let’s get into it!

You'll meet some amazing people through podcasting. People who might become mentors, referral partners, even lifelong friends. I know I have. That's a big part of why podcasting changed my life. It isn't just the level of influence built, it's the relationships I formed along the way. So in this solo episode, I cover a handful of tactics to turn influencers into personal friends through podcasting and personal, human follow up. Let's jump in! Have a deep, meaningful conversation Get them...

It’s easy to get caught up in the chase for attention, and the world we live in is very geared toward getting attention. That includes almost all the marketing advice we get today. So I hope this episode is a counterweight to that obsessive focus on attention at the expense of real, enduring influence. We’ll explore 3 areas in coaching/consulting businesses where influence makes everything easier, and if you’ve wondered how to get to the next level, make sure to check out #3 because I give a...

This week's episode is in response to a question from one of our email subscribers, "If I am on a podcast or doing a virtual presentation - how do I get people to identify themselves as leads? In other words - how do I leverage that event for lead generation?" It's such a great question because it gets right to the heart of our marketing system - our message, our point of view and our offer. So we'll go deep into those 3 categories, pull some examples from folks like Tim Ferris, and hopefully...

The algorithm has changed the rules of the game so drastically on social media that we’re literally playing a new game. But our mindset towards social media has not caught up to the new game. Followers and friends have become vanity metrics, and it skews all of our decisions in our marketing. We need to adopt a new mindset and treat social media according to the reach they’re actually giving us, not the vanity metrics. There are 2 directions we can go. Give the social media companies what...

The biggest fear in launching a podcast is that it fails to attract an audience and falls flat. In this episode I’m going to pull back the curtain and share the biggest mistakes I’ve uncovered in 5 years of launching podcasts for super niche business coaches and consultants. There’s no theory here, just real mistakes real people make in launching their podcasts and how to avoid them. Enjoy!

I sent out an email asking for some tough questions for the podcast, and I got some amazing ones. I wanted to answer a great one today in the show. The question comes from Jim, “How can I be recognized and paid as an expert, without calling myself an expert, guru, genius or other nonsense.” So I want to give some practical examples where it’s easy to stray into puffery and hype without even realizing it, because we see so much of this everyday in the coaching and consulting world. When...

The best and most effective copywriting is good because it’s authentic, genuine and extremely one-to-one personal and effortlessly generates trust. It’s completely different from what comes from copywriters selling information products online, who rely on cheap tactics like puffery and hype. There’s a big difference between the psychology of selling products and marketing professional services. Using the wrong techniques and tactics is costing us sales every single day. Sales pages, emails...