Next time you're networking with a group of entrepreneurs, keep your ears peeled for a certain word floating above the conversation.

The word is "mastermind," and it's a concept that is trickling down from the multimillion-dollar start-up set to homegrown entrepreneurs like you and me.

If you're not familiar with the term, the term "mastermind" can have a very "Great and Powerful Oz" sound about it. Simply put, a mastermind is a small, very focused group of business owners who meet regularly to sharpen and strengthen their business strategies.

One of the biggest advocates around for mastermind groups is Jaime Tardy, founder of EventualMillionaire.com. Jaime is the kind of person anyone would want in their mastermind group--she has razor-sharp focus, unwavering commitment to her goals, an insatiable appetite to learn...and she's also a lot of fun to talk with!

Jaime joined me this week to talk all things mastermind, and the takeaway is hugely informative. If you've been thinking about creating or joining a mastermind, or even if this is the first time you've the term, this episode is going to spell out exactly what the benefits are, what kind of mastermind you should be looking for, and how to conduct operations once you get started.

Jaime also put together a worksheet for forming your own mastermind, complete with email scripts for contacting potential members. Click here to download it so you can get started right away!

Should I Pay to Join a Mastermind?

There are lots of opportunities out there to join an existing mastermind for a subscription fee. I did this early in my business, and it was helpful...but Jaime says that the most valuable masterminds don't involve money changing hands.

"Peer masterminds," as they're sometimes called, have these advantages over paid groups:

• You have equal say to everyone else in the group--no single person is controlling it.
• They tend to last longer than paid subscription-based groups.
• It's easier to form true friendships with others in the mastermind.

Should My Mastermind Only Have People from My Niche?

Definitely not! Jaime is in a mastermind with a financial advisor, an internet marketer, and a professional sword swallower! What they do have in common is a high regard for systems and processes, and a level of success that they're trying to reach.

"You have heard the quote, 'You are the average of the five people that surround you.' We want the level of just about everyone else in the group to be about the same, or at least have different niches of what they can talk about. You want to make sure that each person has an expertise that other people could use."

It's also a good idea to reach out to at least one or two people who are way more experienced or profitable than you currently are. These people will raise the bar on the meetings and bring insight that could take you months (or years!) to achieve. These people should be at the top of your list to invite to your mastermind...even if it's a little scary to reach out to them.

"If it scares you, that’s a good thing. You are going to be creating something that you can have for three to five years. This group could help your business make so much money. Yes, you might be super scared to email them once. But what’s the worst that will happen?"

What Happens in a Mastermind Meeting?

You can organize a mastermind meeting in any way that makes sense, but here is the rough outline that Jaime's mastermind uses:

First 15 minutes: The group goes around on the call and shares their wins from the previous week. Whether it's making a million dollars or cleaning off their desk, no victory is too small to share.

"We are always looking forward, and never realize the amazing stuff that we are already accomplishing. So being able to share that lets us all rejoice in each other’s wins. And it is really inspiring."

30-40 minutes: Each week, one member takes the hot seat with a specific issue they're facing in their business. They bring any collateral or examples that can help inform the members about the issue--they might even email everyone ahead of time. The rest of the group will weigh in on the issue and offer their unique expertise to solve the problem.

"You can bring whatever you want to the hot seat. You talk about it and at the end you usually have some sort of clarity or direction to go in whether it be a resource, something to try, being introduced to a person. That makes a huge difference."

Final 10-20 minutes: The group selects the next member to take the hot seat for the following week. With the others' help, the upcoming member reviews his/her goals for the quarter, so that the group can help them solve a problem that gets them closer to that goal.

"As entrepreneurs, we can get really distracted. We are trying to make sure that our actions actually align with what we want. That is when you see massive progress."

How Do I Know if My Mastermind Is Working?

The same way you know if any relationship is working--if you feel mostly positive effects from being involved with it.

There are definitely masterminds that are not a good fit for you, that just don't offer what you're looking to get out of it.

Or perhaps it's going great for you, but someone else in the mastermind is routinely late to meetings, participates minimally, or contributes negative energy.In either case, a few meetings is usually all it takes to know that something's not working right.

"The level of commitment matters. If it doesn’t, people are not going to feel like they are getting value from it, and they will start backing off or will quit. And then it starts to feel icky."

Get Jaime's insights for keeping your mastermind on track! Click here to listen to the full interview now.  

Commit to Your Own Success

It can take one or two tries to find the right group of people for your mastermind. But from my own experience, I can tell you that my entire business changed when I finally locked into the right group.

I want you to have the same experience, so if this is something you have been thinking about for a while, commit to yourself:

"In 30 days I will have created my own small mastermind of five people."

Best of all, forming your mastermind is so incredibly easy if you follow Jaime's step-by-step worksheet. Click here to download it now!

 

If you’ve sought out training to help you build your business, or tracked the success of other entrepreneurs, you have firsthand experience of the power webinars have to not only engage and excite an audience, but to convert them to into paying clients.

Maybe you’ve even been one of those people who signed up for a webinar to get a little free education, and ended up making a purchasing decision that you were genuinely excited about!

So why does the idea of putting on your own webinar have you quaking in your boots?

Let me guess...

• You don’t mind a little grunt work, but you doubt your ability to string together all that technology.

• You love the idea of delivering content in a highly personal way to your audience, but you hate the idea of a sales pitch at the end.

• You’ve got a foolproof concept in mind . . .  however, you’re not sure how you’ll pull together an audience since your email list and sales funnel are still a work in progress.

Busy entrepreneurs (like you and me) don’t have a SECOND to waste on activities that aren’t directly linked to profit. If you’ve ever tried creating a webinar before, you know that sinking feeling of waiting, as the seconds tick by, for your sales to pick up speed. (Ugh! It’s the worst, isn’t it?)

In my experience, I’ve found that four major myths are to blame for a poor conversion rate.

I’m going to debunk those myths for you, and show you how to replace them with truly effective practices that will not only reward all your hard work, but have you out of your chair with excitement.

Myth #1: Webinars are just a marketing strategy (and not a whole system).

What most entrepreneurs think of as “webinars” is really just a small fraction of what they really entail.

Most view webinars as just the presentation component. In fact, the presentation constitutes no more than 15% of an entire, well-integrated webinar STRATEGY.

A truly effective webinar strategy involves 5 Key Stages (planning, pre, live, post, automated), all of which MUST be executed in perfect harmony in order for cash to change hands at the end of your presentation.

In short, a webinar isn’t a single tactic, but an entire system with many moving parts, specific timelines, and delicate levers to pull.

My webinar system is so much more than just a set of slides pulled together in a presentation deck.

Specifically, my webinar system includes strategic content designed to be precisely aligned with my paid program.  It also includes a list building component, an email marketing plan, a technology strategy, a focus on scarcity and engagement, special Q&A sessions to eliminate objections and so much more.

And when everything lines up perfectly, your business grabs hold of an effective, efficient sales machine that acts as the backbone of your business and gives you the opportunity to grow, scale and automate at will.

Myth # 2: Webinars are a TON of effort and involve too much expensive technology.

True. Webinars AREN’T simple.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t be relatively easy when met with the right A-Z blueprint that leaves nothing to chance.

From pairing together the most affordable/reliable technology to knowing exactly how many email follow-ups to send to maximize conversions, a step-by-step blueprint can take an otherwise COMPLEX strategy and make it attainable for even the most time-starved solopreneur.

And for the business owner that possesses such a blueprint, the “complexity” of running a profitable webinar actually becomes a huge competitive advantage, giving them the unique chance to be the FIRST in their space to use webinars effectively.

Just to name a few, some of the best webinar platforms (for both live and automated webinars) include GoToWebinar, Google Hangouts, Easy Webinar, Webinar Jam, Stealth Seminar and Evergreen Business Systems. I want to engourage you to check a few out to see what might be a great fit for your webinar plans.

And on a final note, YES, executing a webinar strategy requires effort…but you’ve already proven that you’re willing to put in effort--you just need the reassurance of knowing that every bit of energy you put into your business will come back to you tenfold.

What you CAN’T afford to do is waste time and energy in perpetual “figure it out” mode.

Myth #3 - I’m fine; I learned about webinars a few years ago.

While it’s awesome that you got a head start on webinar marketing a few years back, the very same early mover advantage can EASILY become a major detriment to you and your biz if you fail to embrace the MANY factors of success that have changed over the years.

Audiences have changed…

Attention spans have changed… (Thanks, Netflix.)

Technology has changed…

Customer buying habits have changed…

Presentation practices have changed… (There were a few things you were taught to say on a call a few years ago that are now surefire ways to make your viewers hit self-eject.)

And how we go about GETTING people to show up on the call (and buy after the fact) has changed as well.

Hint: It’s not enough to just invite your audience to the webinar and hope they show up. There are very specific things you MUST do to not only make sure they show up, but show up in a highly focused and engaged state. (Click here to download my freebie and discover exactly what I do to ensure I always get a strong webinar turnout when I go live on my webinars.)

So when you add it all up, there’s very little you can bank on from the tactics of years past if you want to succeed in the shifting paradigm of webinar strategy.

Which quickly helps us dispel our next myth…

Myth #4 - It’s too late. I already missed the boat on webinars.

Sure, you missed the boat on webinars as a tactic…

…but there’s always another boat coming!

And that next boat is...wait for it...

Webinars as a COMPLETE sales funnel.

And if you’re reading this post RIGHT NOW, then you’re in a unique position to catch wind of this new strategic approach before anyone else in your niche does, and in doing so, claim your stake in the rich blue ocean ripe with sizeable and scalable profits.

So chances are that even if your competitors are already using webinars (the old way), you can gain a competitive advantage by being the FIRST to build a complete webinar funnel based on the proven frameworks, techniques, and strategies that I’m about to share with you.

Keep reading . . . now that you know the 4 webinar myths, I've created a DETAILED, free cheat sheet to help you with your first (or next!) webinar . . .

My wish for you is to sidestep the countless traps that make most webinars epic disasters, and instead learn how to create a masterpiece.

I’ve been doing webinars for over 5 years now and I’ve made MANY mistakes along the way. You don’t need to do the same! I’ve compiled a list of 5 of my biggest webinar mistakes over the years and how to avoid them before your first (or next!) webinar. Click here now to get that list!

When I say the word “blogging,” what’s the first emotion you feel?

If you’re like many entrepreneurs, it’s probably stress, mixed with a little bit of guilt.

Even if you truly love writing, keeping up a blog for your business can be one of the hardest things to get done…if you even get it done at all. Your business might be running full steam ahead, but your blog is lagging months behind!

Today’s episode is all about getting your blog back in gear, minus the stress. I’m talking to one of my favorite people in the online marketing world, Darren Rowse, the founder of ProBlogger.net and one of the first people to recognize the potential of blogging for entrepreneurs.

He’s going to walk us through the bare necessities of blogging, and show you how to streamline your process so that you gain traffic, convert leads and build community with every post you write.

Despite having written an encyclopedia's worth of information about blogging over the past few years, Darren is no stranger to the stress around blogging:

“It’s pretty easy to get to a stage where your blog is running you instead of you running your blog.”

So why keep blogging at all?

Simple—your blog is the cornerstone of your branding foundation. It's the best way to get your name out there, and to help people get to know you.

Just ask Darren:

“I have discovered over the years that when I go to a conference people come up to me and hug me and say, 'I love you!' I always wonder why because I have no idea who they are. But it’s the regular contact, the personal aspect of blogging, that really helps people to like you. Then over time they come to trust you.”

Darren says the key to writing an effective blog post is to focus on one of these three aspects--knowing, liking, and trusting--in each post that you write.

And he points out a few simple ways to get it done:

Helping people know you

Highly shareable content that gets your name out there where people haven’t heard of you yet. This could be humorous imagery, inspiring quotations or informative infographics.

Helping people like you

Personal stories, motivational content, anything that inspires empathy, emotion and a sense of belonging. This is also a great category to embed photos, audio or videos that helps you connect on a face-to-face level.

Helping people trust you

How-to guides, case studies, even sharing mistakes you made in the past and what you learned from them. This is where you show readers that you know what you’re talking about.

Reinvent the SWOT Test

Would you believe that when Darren started ProBlogger, he’d only been an actual pro blogger for less than a year? With so little experience under his belt, he was fearful of being called out for not being a seasoned expert. (I’m sure we can all relate to that!)

But rather than let his inexperience hold him back, Darren used this “weakness” to his advantage. He was transparent in his posts about aspects of blogging that he didn’t understand yet or was just learning about.

As it turned out, the transparency was a big hit with his audience, and earned him even more followers.

“To position myself as someone who was on the journey, maybe a few steps ahead of you but I still haven’t gotten it all together, really resonated well with my audience.”

Once you’ve run a SWOT test (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) on your blog, go back and reconsider the weaknesses and threats you found. They can actually be the ideal ways to differentiate yourself in your field. So many people out there position themselves as bulletproof experts, that your audience may find your “inexperience” very refreshing.

Become a Title Master

Darren leaves no uncertainty about the importance of titles:

"The title of your post changes the destiny of your post. …can be the difference between somebody reading it and sharing it and it just sitting in the archives and never being read again."

The simple fact is that people make decisions whether to read your blog post (or not) based on its title!

Lucky for us, Darren offered a few tips on creating irresistible titles, with examples pulled straight from some of his own top posts:

• Communicate a benefit. “How to Take Sharp Images”
• Ask or answer a question. “What the Numbers on Your Lens Mean”
• Creating curiosity or intrigue. “Three Lenses Every Photographer Should Own”
• Spark controversy or debate. “Nikon Versus Canon”
• Get personal. “Are You Making These Blogging Mistakes?”
• Use one powerful word. "Six Stunning Secrets to Help You Break Through Bloggers Block"
• Make a big claim or promise. “21 Techniques All Camera Owners Should Know”

How to Find Readers (Without Google’s Help)

The constant changes in how Google ranking works mean that SEO tags and hyperlinks don’t work as well anymore for getting your blog to show up in a keyword search.

According to Darren, that doesn’t matter as much as knowing who you’re trying to reach with your blog, and showing up where those readers hang out online.

"I am a big believer in adding readers one by one. I don’t think you need to be attracting thousands of readers everyday to your blog. For me it’s really about building a presence in the places that my potential readers are and being useful in those places."

Try watching on Twitter for people who use your keywords and respond to them. Be helpful in forums. Join Facebook groups that are on your particular topic and add value to the conversation. What you’re looking for is the opportunity to bring a new reader on who will love your blog and bring their whole network along with them.

A lot of you have asked me if it's a good idea for you to start planning live events. You see the entrepreneurs you admire staging weekend retreats where they get up and set their audience on fire with excitement, education and motivation. Maybe you've even been to one and thought "Hey, I could do that!"

The short answer is Yes! I started planning and participating in live events very early in my business, and while my inexperience made it a little terrifying at first, I couldn't deny the powerful boost it gave me--not just in terms of leads, but also in terms of confidence.

That's why I invited Rich Brooks to join me on the show today. Rich is a small business owner who just happens to be an event-planning powerhouse. I asked Rich to let me pick his brain for the fundamentals of planning a successful live event.

The Who and the Why

If you've ever attended Rich's amazing Agents of Change conference in Portland, Maine, it may surprise you to learn that his live event track record began with a simple lunch meeting.

The purpose of a live event isn't to wow everyone with your multimedia presentations and dynamic speeches. Those are great bells and whistles to add as you gain experience, but the real heart of a live event is to do four things:

• Get your name out there and establish your credibility
• Differentiate yourself from competitors
• Generate leads for business
• Turn a profit

The more you work on your online marketing, the more you start to notice how crowded it is out there. It's getting harder and harder to get noticed in people's social media feed, no matter how valuable your content is. So why not get the edge on your competitors and take your message directly to your audience, face to face?

Yes, it takes more time and effort to plan an event than to post something on Facebook. But, Rich says,

"A live event could be that thing that really separates you and raises you above all of the other people out there in your industry. If you are looking to kind of change up the way you engage with people, a live event may be the perfect thing for you."

3 Phases of a Live Event: Speakers, Sponsors and Seats

Rich says that all live event planning boils down to these three phases.

• Speakers - Getting people to offer valuable content for your audience
• Sponsors - Getting people to contribute to your audience's experience
• Seats - Getting people to show up in your audience

First Things First - Who Is This For?

Before you start worrying about getting people to show up (we'll talk about that later), spend some time thinking about who you want to show up. The key thing here is quality over quantity. Here's what Rich has to say about it:

"The #1 is that you are putting on an event for people. Who is this audience? What do they look like? Who is your avatar? What kind of information do they want to consume? What are they looking to accomplish? What are they looking to do?"

As in all other forms of marketing, you need to narrow in on your ideal audience member, and design the perfect event for them. I know it's counterintuitive, but being super specific will actually help you attract more people.

Once you know who you're planning this event for, you'll have a firm foundation to build on with the three phases.

Phase 1: Speakers

There are three main ways of attracting speakers to help lead your event:

• Get them to do it for free as a way to gain visibility.
• Pay them.
• Have them pay you.

If that last item made you do a double-take, considering that many potential sponsors are eager to be seen as thought leaders, and would love the chance to get up and present to your audience. (Too many of these type of speakers can kill an event, though, so limit it to one or two sponsors whose product or service would truly benefit your ideal audience.)

Obviously, if there's an ideal speaker that you can afford to pay, then do it!

But it's actually much easier than you might think to attract quality presenters to your event for free. Call on people you have an existing relationship with. Ask colleagues to recommend good candidates...then get them to introduce you! Look around for people who have just published a book, started a podcast, have something they're trying to promote.

Yes, it can be intimidating to reach out to people--even a natural networker like Rich isn't always entirely comfortable with this part of the planning process. But it never hurts to ask...or even nag a little! You'll often be surprised at who says yes.

Hear more of Rich's stories about scoring great speakers for live events. Click here to listen to the full episode.

Phase 2: Sponsors

The idea with sponsors is, of course, bringing in some money from your event. Enough, at least, so that you don't lose money. They can underwrite some of the costs of putting on the event, provide technology services, even supply coffee, snacks and meals for attendees. (This turns out to be one of the most expensive aspects of planning an event, Rich says).

The key to looping sponsors into your event is taking a "barter" approach. Think of it as them trading sponsorship for something your event can offer them.

For example, Rich approached the local news station where he often appears as the "Tech Guy" and told them he was having a panel of people from Maine appear during his conference. This was a perfect tie-in with the station's brand, and they agreed to sponsor the event.

Bottom line: give some thought to how your sponsors will benefit from association with your event, and you'll make it a whole lot easier for them to say "yes."

Click here to download this week's free giveaway.

Phase 3: Seats

This one is the biggie--"How am I going to sell tickets?"

It's also the number one fear that keeps people from planning a live event--"What if nobody shows up?"

This is where your list comes in handy! Rich says that with every event, his team tries new tactics for reaching people, and every year finds that his opt-in lists have the best yield.

"I discovered over the years that nothing sells tickets like email. It really does make a difference."

Two more things to keep in mind:

• People really like attending live events. They want something to get excited about with other people--by planning a live event, you're offering something they truly want.
• There is nothing wrong with an event that has 12 people as long as it is the right 12 people and they are paying enough money to cover the expenses of your event.

Find out more ways to fill the seats at your live event! Listen to the full episode here.

...And Just One Two More Things

What do I charge?

You may struggle with charging money for your event, especially if it's your first one. When the purpose of the event is to generate leads for your business, it can feel a little wrong to ask for money on top of that.

But Rich says charging for your event is an important part of everyone getting value out of it, including the attendees.

"I found that if you have a free event people will be excited about it and then they don’t show. They don’t have any skin in the game. ... You have to charge something so people understand that there is a value to what they are getting."

How much should I promote?

In the excitement around planning your first event, it's easy to just bombard social media with reminders that it's happening and people should come. But it's important to carefully craft a sales message around your event, so that people don't get sick of hearing about it! For example, Rich will post a "10 Fun Things to Do in Portland, Maine" article on his blog, and end it with a simple pitch for his event.

Try to time your more obvious promotions around FOMO-inducing moments in the sales process. Announcing Early Bird discounts, One Day Only specials, "Seats Are Rapidly Selling Out!" messages, etc. are perfect opportunities to jog people's memories that they want to attend.

Do you ever find yourself in the middle of a challenge with your business and wondering,

“How did I get here…again?!”

Nothing feels worse than the suspicion that you’ve been spinning your wheels for the past month. (Or quarter. Or year.) The last thing we want is to get caught in a downward spiral, where we never get to overcome our struggles and rise past a certain level.

But what if that spiral was actually going up, not down?

I spoke with Nathalie Lussier, world-class digital strategist and email building expert, about this problem that confronts all of us: how to understand the recurring patterns in our business.

Not only does she give some sage advice on how to deal with these patterns, but she shows how embracing them can actually help you build your business by narrowing your niche.

We usually think of business strategy as being a line between Point A and Point B…and measure our success by how straight that line is.

But in real life, Nathalie says, the path is more like a spiral staircase. As we make our way up to the next level, we revisit the same issues, challenges and themes over and over again. 

When you come up against circumstances that make you think “How did I get here again?”, flip the way you’re looking at them. Even if it’s the same issue, you’re in a different place with it than you were six months (or even six weeks) ago.

What’s more, each time you revisit that same situation, you learn something a new and deeper lesson about it, which you can then pass on to your target audience. They’re all climbing spiral staircases of their own, and they need your story to help them keep going.

Three Things that Define Your Niche

Whether you say “nitch,” or pronounce it “neesh” like Nathalie (who is French),  you already know that digging deep into your niche is a cornerstone of your business’ success.

According to Nathalie, your niche is the sum of three things:

• Your topic
• Your story
• Your audience

Each time you make another look on the spiral staircase, you go deeper into each aspect of your niche. Here’s how:

• Your topic - Each “spiral” builds new expertise that narrows the focus of your business. It takes you from a broad category (“I help people achieve better health”) into a very specific component of that category (“I offer natural healing methods that cure migraines in ten seconds or less”).

• Your story - Each “spiral” is a new chapter in your story, which creates new opportunities for connection with your audience.

• Your audience - Each “spiral” lets you understand more about your own challenges and develops new strengths to overcome those challenges. As a result, you have renewed insight into who needs you the most.

Narrowing Your Niche Helps You Build Your Audience

It’s easy to assume that it’s better to go bigger in the beginning stages of your business, to collect as many people in your audience as possible, and then narrow your niche once you’ve got a solid email list going.

In fact, Nathalie recommends just the opposite: Go narrow in the beginning. Establish yourself as an authority in one very specific area, build a small but mighty email list, then unfold into new products and new ideas when you’ve built the relationship with those clients.

“[When] people already know you as an expert in one thing, it’s easier to add expertise in other topics."

Narrowing Your Niche Helps You Say “No”

Narrowing your niche also helps you save a lot of time (and headache) by giving you opportunities to say “no.”

When all you want is to build, network and grow, it can be terrifying to turn down opportunities. The problem is that every time you say “yes” to one opportunity, you have a little less energy to invest in all the other opportunities you’ve agreed to.

You have to decide ahead of time what the smart "yes-es" are, and then stick to your guns. Nathalie carries around an index card with her five goals for the quarter listed on it. When an opportunity comes up, she compares it against these five goals. If the opportunity actively promotes one of those goals, she gives it a yes. If it doesn’t promote those goals, no matter how great it sounds, she says no for right now.

It may be hard at first, especially if you’re someone who has a hard time turning people down.

But saying “no” in one place is what will give you time and energy to say “Yes!” down the road to unexpected windfalls. As Nathalie puts it,

“Saying no leaves margin for magic.”

Narrowing Your Niche Helps You Ask for What You Want

Think about some of your mini-goals for this quarter. Maybe you want to get published in a prominent magazine or website. Maybe you want to speak at someone’s live event, or host an event of your own. Maybe you want to join forces with another business.

These kinds of opportunities don’t usually come knocking—you have to ask for them. Chances are, you’re one of several people asking.

But when you have a clearly defined, highly specific niche, you’re bringing something to the table that will stand out. 

Your niche gives you leverage to show why what you have to say matters, who is going to listen, and how success in that opportunity can be measured. Those are win-wins for you and the person you’re asking.

Narrowing Your Niche Reconnects You with the Deeper Meaning of Your Business

Take a minute to really search your soul. What are you really passionate about changing in the world? Whom do you feel the most empathy for? Whose troubles do you burn to solve?

Your compassion is a powerful indicator of where your niche really lies. Identify the people whose struggles motivate you the most, and let them become co-creators of your business by defining your work around their needs.

“A lot of times, we get caught up in the logistics and the analytics, what’s the conversation rate, what’s the opt-in rate… Just remember that there’s a human being on the other side of that screen who has their own heartbeat, hopes, dreams and goals. When I’m sending an email, I’m not sending an email to my list—I’m sending an email to all these incredible human beings.”

Next time you find yourself in an all-too-familiar position in your business, don’t lose heart. Look for the opportunities it offers—opportunities that you’d never have seen last time you were in this place. There’s nothing wrong with a spiral if it’s leading you upward.

I started out this year with a fully fleshed-out calendar. I knew exactly what I was going to do, when we were going to promote, when we were not going to promote, when I was going to take vacations, etc. Everything was planned.

Well, as you probably know, things change as the year gets going. As entrepreneurs, the challenge is to be flexible enough to seize good opportunities, but not so flexible that we lose all our momentum.

Now that it's July--where did the time go?--I decided to hit "pause" in the calendar flow and regroup.

I'm going to walk you through a simple, powerful exercise to evaluate where you are right now in your business, what’s working, what’s not working, and what needs to change.

I've also created a downloadable template that helps you chart your progress in this exercise. You can get it by clicking here.

Ready? Let's get started.

Step #1 - Review Your Week

Write down every single thing you can remember you’ve done in the last seven days. I mean everything--creating content, training, phone calls, reading emails, writing emails. It's crucial to know how you've been spending your time.

Step #2 - Perform a Brain Dump

Think ahead to the next six months, and write down all of the things you need to get done. People to contact, products to create, events to attend, blog posts to write . . . I mean everything. (Warning--don't use this as an opportunity to come up with new ideas! This is just for what you've got in the works right now.)

Step #3 - Identify the Revenue

Now that you've got your list of six months into the future, take a highlighter pen and highlight every item on that list that will produce revenue for you, either directly or indirectly.

Learn more about how you can successfully "regroup." Click here to listen to the full episode.

Step #4 - Identify Misspent Time

Now take another highlighter pen in a different color, go back to the list you made in Step #1, and highlight the tasks that were either a big waste of your time or that you could have delegated but didn't.

Now go back to the Six Month list, take a third highlighter pen, and highlight all of the things that you could either do farther into the future, or that can be leveraged or delegated.

Lots of highlighter action, I know. But this is all about identifying where you should and shouldn't be spending your time.

Step #5 - Color Code Your Calendar

I use Google calendar, which makes it very easy to highlight each entry in a certain color. The point is that to have different colors for different categories--planning a project, upcoming deadlines, content creation, podcasting, being interviewed with someone else, even time off or personal errands (like getting my hair cut).

Once you do this, you can step back and see the big picture of your schedule. Where are your biggest blocks of time being spent? Is that enough, given what you know about your work flow? Are you spending enough of your week doing the things you really love?

After all, isn't that a big part of why we start our own business?

Don't forget to download Amy's template that walks you through this whole exercise, step by step. Click here to get it.

At this point, it's time to pat yourself on the back, take a walk, breathe deeply.

That's the whole point of this exercise--giving yourself more room to breathe. You now have a bird's-eye view of what your schedule really looks like. You know where you need to focus your time. You know what things you can quit doing or delegate.

Without these moments to regroup, the day-to-day hustle can start to consume you. These regular check-ins with your schedule will put you back in charge of your business.

For busy entrepreneurs, the About page of a website is one of the easiest to put off. You might throw a few vital details up there, like your name (always a good place to start) and your credentials, and promise yourself to fill it out later. Maybe you even go back and try adding some details that paint a fuller picture of you as a person.

But for many, no matter how hard they work on it, their About page just falls flat. It feels fake, like you’re pretending to be someone you’re not. And that makes sense—we’re all taught never to brag about ourselves…so it feels pretty strange to suddenly write a whole page about why your customers should think you’re so great!

That’s why I’m so happy to introduce you to Melissa Cassera. She’s a publicity expert (as well as a screenwriter and an actress), and if you read her own About page, you can see that she is an expert on how to write about yourself in a way that comes out warm, genuine and authentically irresistible.

Why Is An About Page Important?

Melissa compares the About page to the gown a Hollywood actress wears on the “red carpet.” It’s the way to show off both your importance and your individuality at once, impressing people and engaging them at the same time. The About page is where you give people just enough information about you to want to know more.

In other words, you don’t want to give away the whole story on your About page—it’s their intro to all the excitement that awaits if they choose to work with you. For the reader, it should feel like they’ve met you in person, looked you in the eye and shaken your hand.

So how do you convey that feeling in words?

Think About How You Serve the World

Rather than begin by talking about what you do, begin your About page with a line or two about why you do it. This should be the element that guides you through the writing process for your About page. If you get stuck or are wondering if you are including the right kinds of details, ask yourself if what you’ve written paints a picture of the world/society/lifestyle/change that you are trying to build with what you do.

Hear more of Melissa's tips on how to make your About page shine. Listen to the full interview here.  

Make Your Credentials Fun

It’s important to list the things that give your business credibility—an advanced degree, an impressive title or certification, a number of years in your field or successful working relationships with noteworthy people. But rather than just list them, Melissa advises having fun with them! Try translating your credentials into an analogy that helps your audience understand what that kind of cred means in your industry. (“I attended the Harvard of health coaching schools” is a good example.)

By listing your credentials this way, you can use your bragging rights to gain your readers’ trust and build engagement.

 Show Your Non-Professional Side

Would it surprise you to learn that the part of your About page that really sells you is the part where you talk about something besides work? This, Melissa says, is what really seals the emotional connection with people and allows them to get to know you on a more personal level. Not only that, but this section is what sets you apart from your competition. Nobody else has the same story, the same style, the same lovable quirks and personal motivations that you have.

As Melissa says in her "Better Bio Challenge" blog post,

"Personal details aren’t 'frivolous' — they anchor you in the reader’s mind and showcase the 'person' behind the 'business.' Try to include at least ONE little detail about your passions, guilty pleasures + personal life, in your bio — and you’ll sparkle off the page, every time."

Counterbalance Your Accomplishments

If your About page starts feeling a little self-indulgent, Melissa says an easy way to lighten it up is to “show your brushstrokes.” After mentioning the glowing review of your program on the Today Show, drop in a reference to that one time you tried to teach a college class and sat on a whoopee cushion. Details like this help keep you human to your readers, and show them that you’re the same as them—just a little farther along in the journey toward success.

Get Melissa's Mad Libs-style template for creating an irresistible About page. Click here to download it instantly!

Offer Fun Facts

Like the “non-professional life” part of your About page, this part is meant to connect with your ideal audience in a way that nothing else can. Tell a few “secrets” about yourself—that you cover your eyes during the scary parts of movies, that puppy videos make you cry, that your favorite place to work is in your kids’ treehouse.

Be forewarned—this will turn off some people. But they are the right people for you to turn off. At the end of the day, Melissa says, your About page is not meant to engage every single person out there.

“Your bio or About Page is only intended to turn on your ideal customers and it should be repelling the people that you want to turn off.”

Create an “Action Step”

By now, your audience has fallen head over heels in love with you…so what’s the next step? Where does the relationship go from here? Melissa says this is the moment to offer them a concrete action step. Offer a free opt-in gift, list links to your five most popular blog posts, tell them to contact you to set up a consultation. Whatever your specific action step is, make it simple and immediate for them to make the next move.

Get more of Melissa's suggestions for making your About page actionable. Click here to hear the full interview.

The Bottom Line: What Is Fame For? 

Melissa has a stellar blog post called “Four Questions to Help You Identify What's Not Working in Your Biz...And Make It Better.” In it, she offers this really thought-provoking quotation:

“Getting famous is not all it’s cracked up to be and getting featured in the media doesn’t always lead to sales, either.”

It’s not enough to have people think you’re “fabulous.” Better sales come from a real relationship with your clients, and the About page is all about relationship building. So while a clear action step is a great way to end your About page, leave the sales messages to your sales page and emails. Focus your About page on building trust and rapport with your target audience, and they will search for ways to work with you.

Two weeks ago, in Episode #62, I reviewed the project plan I use for all of my promotions. And if you downloaded the free Project Plan Checklist that I offered, you might have had some questions about the bigger action items on that list.

I'm going to break down some of those bigger items in upcoming episodes. Today, though, I'm going to walk you through some of the details that led to the overwhelming success of this promotion.

This blog post is going to be just a tease for the podcast, for the simple reason we cover a lot of ground in the audio version! If you haven’t listened to this week’s episode yet, I really encourage you to download and enjoy the whole thing.

But for now, here are the basics:

Launch in Review

My recent launch of the Profit Lab was very different from past launches. I took some risks by changing things up and I’ll be honest—I was a little worried. But those risks paid off in a big way. It turned out to be the most successful launch I've ever done, with sales just under a million dollars, and some amazing new insights that will make future launches just as profitable.

Here's what really paid off this time:

Consistent Content

This launch came during the most consistent year I’ve had, in terms of offering free valuable content. Between my podcast, my blog, and the downloadable giveaways I offer each week, I was able to build a huge amount of affinity and trust with my audience. That really paid off when I started promoting my program for sale.

Surveying My Audience

A few months before the promotion began, I put a survey out to learn more about my audience. (I talk about that survey in Episode #55, if you haven’t checked it out yet.) That survey gave me immense insight into how my audience feels, what they need and, best of all, how they talk about those feelings and needs! When it came time to promote my program, I was able to speak their language better than ever.

A Targeted Giveaway

The Product Maximizer, which I gave away a few weeks before the launch, was more than just a free download. It was targeted at the exact people that I knew would benefit from my program. I had over 7,300 people opt-in for that free giveaway. When it came time to promote the program, I got to speak to those 7,000 people in a different way than anybody else on my list, because I knew they would be keenly interested in exactly what I was going to offer.

Educating My Target Market

Another pre-promotion I did was a live webinar series, where I taught on a topic related to the Profit Lab. The reason I did this was to help my target market understand what they truly needed for making more money online (i.e., a sales funnel). That gave me a perfect segue into selling my program, which is all about creating that sales funnel!

Rebranding

This year’s Profit Lab had a brand-new look and a brand-new name. The name change was a risk, but I went for it and it paid off. And I think the facelift had a lot to do with that! Everything from the ads to the imagery to the course materials was done by one great designer. As a result, the whole thing had a very distinctive look that appealed to people who had never heard of my program, and renewed interest from people who had heard of it.

Retargeted Ads

This was the first time I’d ever done this. Retargeting means running ads specifically to people who showed interest in a product but then didn’t “pull the trigger.” In this case, it meant people who had visited a sign-up page for the free webinar I was offering, but then didn’t register for it. I created retargeted Facebook ads to reach those people and encourage them to go back and sign up. For those who did sign up, I retargeted them with an ad that sent them directly to the Profit Lab sales page.

There are so many more details of this launch that I want to share with you, including what worked and what didn’t work so well, especially when it came to running Facebook and Google ads. These details will be immensely helpful alongside this week’s free download.

Last year, one of my most popular podcasts was an interview with John Lee Dumas. But I invited him back this week because I wanted to talk about podcasting again, in a whole new way.

Today, I want to focus on about podcasting for somebody who already has a platform. Maybe you have a business with a blog. Maybe you have an online training program or course that you’re constantly perfecting and promoting from one year to the next. Maybe you are a coach or consultant.

Bottom line, you have something important to say. And maybe you’ve been thinking the podcast thing seems to be growing even bigger, and might be a good way to help your business get bigger, too.

Well, you’re right. It is.

No question, podcasting requires a fair amount of work, especially to get it all set up. But it can also be a huge boost to your business’ visibility, to establishing your brand as a leader, and  ultimately to your sales.

John is a podcasting superhero. His show Entrepreneur on Fire is consistently ranked among iTunes’ top business podcasts—he even got a Best of iTunes recognition within his first year! More impressively, though, he puts out a new episode every day! (As in seven days a week—no weekends off for this guy.) This makes him the perfect person to explain why podcasting is worth it, how he gets it done, and how he manages to stay fired up about it every single week.

Why Should You Podcast?

As entrepreneurs, we are always looking for other avenues to grow our audience. That’s why we use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, that’s why we blog and send emails to our list. The podcasting sphere is just another way to reach more people—a lot more people. iTunes has 525 million active subscribers, and SoundCloud, Stitcher and Spotify are catching up fast.

Podcasters are an obsessive crowd—they are constantly looking for new content to listen to during their commute, while walking their dog, while they’re waiting at the airport…you name it!

That’s the great thing about podcasting—it doesn’t require you to say “no” to something else, the way a lot of content does. In our multi-tasking culture, it’s the perfect way to get your message heard and deliver free, valuable and consistent content to your audience.

What Kind of Work Is Involved?

The great news is that you really don’t have to create that much more work to keep a podcast going. You just repurpose content that you’re already creating for one outlet into another outlet.

To get started, simply go back to your best blog posts (or videos, or images, or even social media posts), the ones that got the best engagement, and turn them into a bullet point flow. Then switch on the microphone and talk your way through them. Beef it up by talking about what led you to create that piece of content. Talk some of the comments you received. Talk about what you liked best about it. Talk about how you feel toward that content now.

By doing this, you’re getting the attention of people who may never find you on Facebook, or who always mean to read your blog and just don’t make the time to do it. You’re getting them in the midst of their busy day, and becoming a familiar voice in their  lives.

How Do You Get It Done?

First let me assure you that you don’t have to create a seven-day-a-week podcast for it to be a valuable tool in growing your business. But even recording once a week can feel daunting, especially when you’re just getting into the groove, or you get sidelined by a busy week and suddenly realize that you’re scheduled to post a new episode tomorrow.

The key to getting it done is batch processing. This approach is one that will save your sanity, if you stick to it. And it all depends on one big thing…

Scheduling

The key here, John says, is owning your schedule. He doesn’t ask guests what time works for them—he sends them his calendar and has them pick from the slots he has open. And then, each Tuesday from 9am-4pm, John has eight one-hour conversations with podcast guests. At the end of the day, he’s done with interviews for the week! (Plus an extra, just in case.)

It works the same even if you’re not doing interviews on your podcast. Schedule the time, block it out, and power through several recordings in a row. You’ll find yourself getting in a flow that makes each one better than the last.

Template

Having a pre-determined format is crucial when you’re just getting started podcasting. What you don’t want is a lot of awkward silences, information getting repeated, or rabbit trails because you just don’t know what to say.

You don’t need to write a full script—what you do need is some sort of structure to give your episodes consistency and help you find your voice. It will also help people understand who you are and what your podcast is about. (If it’s too free-flowy at first, people may stop listening because they don’t have a framework for understanding you.)

Over time, this structure will become second-nature to you, and your listeners will have a grasp on who you are and what you’re about. More and more, you’ll be able to just talk into the microphone.

Voice

It’s normal not to like the way your voice sounds on a recording.

But John says “Get over it.”

The thing is, consuming audio content makes people feel a personal connection in a way that other media just can’t reach. For one thing, listening is a very intimate act—even more than watching a video. For another thing, people bring podcasts with them into, let’s just say, very intimate parts of their lives. John says people have told him they listen to his show while they’re in the shower! It sounds crazy, but having someone’s voice with you all through the day, even when you don’t know what they look like, makes you feel a real connection to them.

So don’t be afraid of how you sound. Keep your focus on your content and the people out there that you’re trying to reach.

But Wait...There's More!

John has some incredible free content for you. If you want to learn about how to find your ideal podcast topic, your ideal podcast listener, how to get your show noticed in the ever-growing podcast arena, and so much more, click here to get into his free podcasting workshop.

You know me--I teach what I know best. And what I know by now, more than anything, is that the key to making a sales plan work is having a proven, foolproof system. 

So today, I'm going to walk you through my project management system, line by line. This is one I've spent hours mapping out with my team. Some of it will be familiar to you, but it's in the little details that you'll find the most value--the tiny things that make your promotion polished, professional and, most importantly, effective.

Another great thing about putting together a promotion with this system is that it sets up your content to be "evergreen"--meaning you can use it over and over again to sell your product and build your business.

There's a lot of content in this post and in the podcast. But don't worry. I've put together a special checklist for you, so that you can put all this information into action right off the bat. No matter what kind of promotion you're planning, this checklist has all the basic steps you need to make sure it launches successfully.

Click here to download it instantly.

I divide all my promotional planning into three categories:

• The Pre category is everything you do before the cart opens (i.e., your product becomes available for sale).
• The Live category is everything you do when the cart is open.
• The Post category is everything you do after the cart closes.

I've launched promotions in the past that I've had just a few weeks to pull together. As my business has grown, I've had more time to plan and prepare. But here's the thing: it's never enough time! Let me encourage you to always get started on this system earlier than you think. There will always be last-minute tasks that have you scrambling. That scramble will be a lot less stressful, the sooner you get started. (Right now, I'm already starting on this system for a promo set to launch in October!)

Category #1: Pre-Promotion

As you might guess, 80% of the work happens in the Pre phase. I’ve broken them down into smaller categories, starting with…

Admin

The cornerstone of Admin is making all your decisions in advance, getting organized and scheduled, so that when you “hit the red button” for your launch, you can enjoy (mostly) smooth sailing through your promotion.

Organization

The first thing we do might surprise you: we organize our Dropbox. We have a folder for everything…no file floats alone. But  I’ll admit to being a little crazy about this, but let me tell you—it saves you from going a lot crazier in the long run, wondering where those files are that you need to send to your designer so you can launch in two hours!

Confirm and Document All Promo Dates

Before getting started, I put each stage of the promotion down on the calendar. For example, in my recent Profit Lab promotion, I had to nail down when I’d start running various Facebook ads, when I’d release each promotional webinar, when the early bird pricing began and ended…all of those little pieces are determined before anything gets started.

Schedule Promotion Phases

I have different phases in each of my promos. Phase 1 includes offering free content that warms up my target audience by offering value before I promote anything for sale. Remember the Product Maximizer from a few weeks back? That was a pre-promo content piece, scheduled for Phase 1. Phase 2 included free webinars that ended with a product pitch. Phase 3 was when the cart opened, so it includes lots of timely bonuses and heavy ad running to people who have shown interest. And the final phases are all about “Take Action Now! Cart Closing Soon!”

These are my phases—you’ll have your own. But the point is scheduling them in advance, to save playing catch-up with yourself later.

Determine Price Points/Membership Levels, Hire Designer/Programmer/Copywriter

This is where you're setting your ground rules for sales and assembling your team to make those sales happen!

Set Up All Campaigns in InfusionSoft

Decide in advance which emails you’re going to want to send, and queue them up for sending. You won’t have them all written yet, of course, because you don’t have all the links, downloads, maybe even some product language. But setting up the campaigns in advance will let know where there are holes you need to fill.

Content Creation

This is where I spend the most time...and the most worry...and the most creativity. I love this phase, even in its stressful moments, because it's when I get to spend quality time with my product, making it perfect for my audience.

I always start this phase by creating a content grid--a spreadsheet that helps me keep track of each component of the content I'm creating. Here's a snapshot of what mine looks like:

Program/Product Content Creation

This includes everything from creating the product name, brainstorming a logo, getting into all the nuts and bolts of the product. (For me, that means deciding on modules, creating outlines, determining what should be core content vs. bonuses.)

As part of this, I always include a “Stick Strategy”—a juicy bonus I send to people after they purchase, to keep them excited and engaged, and let them know they’re being taken care of.

Promo Content Creation

Same as above, except just for the promotion part. I use my free content—my blog, my podcast, social media posts, webinars and related giveaways—to offer valuable giveaways

Members’ Area

This is where people log in after they buy, and get all your product content. For the Profit Lab, I create a very specific outline for members to see how the course is going to run—I list all the modules, links for downloads, and bonuses they’ll get along the way. I also include a welcome video to let them know what I’m going to let them know.

Setting this up in advance is especially important so that you can test it before releasing it! There will always be bugs—the important thing is to catch them before your audience does.

Sales Page + Order Form Creation

As a team, we lay out the way we want these pages to look, write the sales copy (including testimonials), set up your countdown timer, and collect the images we need for it, and send it on over to the designer and the coder.

Again, you need to test it out! This includes double-checking the sales disclaimer, the privacy policy, the refund policy, all the little details that get overlooked in the stress of actual launch. Also, have someone do a test sale, to make sure that everything happens the way it’s supposed to when real customers show up.

Create Email Grid

This outlines every email we’re planning to send in InfusionSoft, and when we’re going to send it. Note the subject line, when they’re going to be sent, and who is going to receive it.

Wondering what kinds of emails you should send? Listen to the full podcast episode to get Amy's detailed list of what to send and when. 

Customer Support

Determine the language around your refund and discount policies, automatic responses, and answers to FAQs that your customer support team can be ready with. This could also include a pre-recorded voicemail if you have a customer support phone line.

Determine Graphics

In the past, we’d be frantically creating images at the last minute. But in my last Profit Lab launch, I had a complete list of every graphic I'd need for anything related to the promotion--imagery for emails, social media, website, the works. As a result, I was able get it all designed in advance by one designer, so it was ready early and it all looked consistent.

I've included that list in the free downloadable checklist for this week--get it here!

Ad Grid

Facebook ads, Google ads…we have them all mapped out in advance, with imagery, copy and dates for when to run them in each phase.

Social Media

Creating a posting schedule has really saved me a few headache! We determine ahead of time what we want to post on social media about the promotion, set it up in Edgar (my favorite queuing tool), and have one less thing to worry about when the launch goes live. (Just make sure to glance at your social media from time to time throughout the launch, to make sure that your links and images are showing up correctly.)

“Mastery” Level

I don’t always do this for promotions, but sometimes I include a special “VIP” membership tier that includes extra bells and whistles—a Facebook group, live Q&A calls, all that good stuff. If you’re doing different levels, make sure you list in advance all the extras you’ll be doing, including times/dates, setup you’ll need to do, and whatever material that you’ll be offering.

Waitlist Page

It’s important for your integrity to close the cart right when you said you were going to. Right after the cart closes, I redirect all the purchase links to the waitlist page. This is super important to set up in advance—believe me, you don’t want to be setting up your waitlist page in the minutes right after your cart closes!

Tracking Document

Daily sales, units sold, whatever you want to track, get this tracking document set up in advance and designate the person who will be tracking it. One thing you don't during your launch is to be constantly adding up your numbers to see how you're doing!

Get more of Amy's insights on this step-by-step promotion plan. Listen to the full podcast episode here.

Whew! The PRE phase is done…which means most of your work is done. The next two phases are really short and sweet.

Category #2: Live Promotion

Maintain the New Customers Area

As you start to sell, make sure everything’s working for your new customers, and that they’re having a smooth experience.

Price Change

If you did an Early Bird pricing, like I often do, you’re going to be increasing your price at some point while the cart is open. So you’re going to be switching out order forms and change your sales page in the midst of your launch.

Social Media Upkeep

Having this in your project plan is huge—you (or your team member) will know exactly when to change out any social media imagery from Pre phase to Live phase.

Category #3: Post Promotion

Shut Down Ads

Redirect Promo Pages to Your Waitlist

Remove Promotional Imagery from Website/Social Media

Celebrate! 

I’m always ready for a virtual champagne toast by the end of the process. I also send out thank-you notes to everyone who has helped: team members, affiliates, experts, etc.