Podcast appearances and mentions of alexa flash

Too many live streamers finish their livestream and then they are off to produce the next one. Is this the right thing to do?  Just like a podcast or even a pre-recorded YouTube video, your livestream should continue to live on. This creates an opportunity for evergreen content and is great way to increase your show awareness and community growth.  Today we will discuss a couple areas to help you make this happen. Post promotion Create a Twitter lists for your guests Share the recording with your co-host and guest  Create a blog post Repurposing Share the episode with your guest Send out to your email list Create tweets linking back to your blog post Use clips from the broadcast to drive traffic back to the original video (Ex: right-click a YouTube video and copy link at current time) Repurpose the audio into a podcast Record an Alexa Flash briefing (2 - 10 minutes) Thank you for joining us for episode 55 of the Launch Your Live podcast where we discussed what to do when you are done with your livestream. We'll dive in to tools and greater ways to repurpose your live streams on a future episode. Remember, if you need help with your live streaming, contact us for a consultation by messaging us on our Facebook page @launchyourlive For more information on this episode, head to https://launchyour.live/ep55. We will see you all on a future episode. Click the subscribe or follow button, push play, and let's get you moving with live video Link: https://launchyour.live/ep55 (https://launchyour.live/ep55) Launch Your Live Official Site https://launchyour.live (https://launchyour.live) Facebook https://facebook.com/launchyourlive (https://facebook.com/launchyourlive) Instagram https://instagram.com/launchyourlive (https://instagram.com/launchyourlive) Twitter https://twitter.com/launchyourlive (https://twitter.com/launchyourlive) LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/company/launch-your-live (https://linkedin.com/company/launch-your-live) YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjAelMZ-TPHw-vn0fWTxQ9A (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjAelMZ-TPHw-vn0fWTxQ9A)

My guest today is Emily Binder. Emily is an entrepreneur, marketing strategist, and founder of Beetle Moment Marketing, a voice-first consultancy based in Austin, Texas. Applying over a decade of experience in running successful marketing initiatives from startups to Fortune 500 brands, Emily helps her clients advance their brands by capitalizing on new technology. Marketing practices change fast. Voice technology is emerging as the next component of successful marketing strategies. From voice-first SEO to capturing the content-distribution market with smart speakers, advisors have an opportunity to make headway and connect with their clients now.  In this conversation, we discuss how financial advisors and planners can use their greatest tool, their voice. In her work, Emily focuses on voice technology including  AI and voice assistants, branded audio content, and social media. In this episode, Emily helps advisors explore the possibilities of connecting with clients through using voice-activated tools like Alexa and Google Home through flash briefings and podcasts. In order to do that, you need to differentiate your brand — and to tell a compelling story that's concise, informative, and easy to access.    Don't miss one of our favorite moments, when Emily invites our listeners to not be left behind the advance of voice technology. She compares it to the move from desktop to mobile. As clients shift away from typing, tapping, and swiping to use voice-activated searches for information, you will want your firm to show up at the top of the search results.   If you'd like to get more tips and ideas from Emily, you can subscribe to her weekly podcast, Beetle Moment Marketing, and to her daily Alexa Flash briefing called Voice Marketing - Daily Beetle Moment. Both are excellent resources for financial advisors to build a practice that's relevant and irresistible to clients. Resource Links Connect with The Model FA Web  Social Did you enjoy the Model FA Podcast? Never miss an episode! Subscribe to get automated updates about all future episodes. Enter your email address here

We've got another beautiful winter weather day for the Florida Keys. High's will reach 70 and lows will drop to 64. It's definitely a fire pit evening!  Mahi are still being caught offshore and Hawks Channel is on fire - so much is being caught right now. Life doesn't get better than waking up to this kind of winter in the beautiful Florida Keys. This show is available as an Alexa Flash briefing. You can find it on YouTube and any place you get your podcasts!

While vacationing in Key West in the 1960’s with his partner, Joe Lizska, Frank Romano made the terrible mistake of falling asleep on the beach. It’s a mistake many tourists to Key West make, not realizing how much closer Key West is to the equator than the mainland, and how much faster you get sunburned at this latitude. By the time Frank woke up, he could barely move without terrible pain.   His entire chest was completely burned and he could barely move, let alone put on a shirt. Another local beachgoer happened to see Frank struggling in pain when he woke up, and told him he had just the remedy for his sunburn.   Frank and his new friend made their way back to the local’s home and the man promptly went out to the garden and cut 2 stalks of his aloe plant and promptly filleted them and rubbed the aloe juice all over Frank’s chest. By the next morning, there was no sign of Frank’s sunburn and he was flabbergasted. He couldn’t believe that a plant could perform such a miracle on his skin, and set his wheels in motion. If this plant could do that to his damaged skin, what could it do for healthy skin.    Later Frank and Joe moved to Key West and started the Key West Fragrance and Cosmetic factory. They used aloe in all of their products and for years, Frank was the chief chemist and could be see in the shop window mixing and measuring potions on Front St.   Frank and Joe adjusted well to life on the island. They grew their business and their circle of friends. One October day, Joe came home and told Frank he needed to show him something. Frank went along as Joe took him down to Duval St. Standing on one end of Duval St. Joe asked Frank what he saw.    Frank really wasn’t sure what he was supposed to see. He saw some boarded up shops and that was about it. Joe asked him, “do you see any people walking?” Frank said no. “Do you see any cars driving up the street?” Again, Frank said no. At this point Joe began to paint a picture. Here they were in Paradise where the weather was still warm, but once the summer vacation tourists left the island, not much happened until the snowbirds returned for the winter.   Because of this lull in tourists, it caused the island to go into a shutdown mode. Many businesses closed up and found business in other parts of the country where they still had customers. May employees of the businesses were laid off and had no work during this time.   Joe had realized that they needed some sort of festival or event that could be put on to bring tourists to the island during this low season.They gathered their friends, Bill Conkle and Tony Falcone, who owned Fast Buck Freddie’s and they put a plan into motion. The next October, the first Fantasy Fest was held and they had a parade with 12 floats that had been beautifully decorated. Some 5000 tourists came to the island that year for Fantasy Fest. The event has continued each year and grown into an international event, with people flying in from all over to enjoy the adult themed celebration.   It was today, December 20, 1975 1975: Key West Fragrance and Cosmetic celebrated its fourth anniversary by opening their new store and factory at Greene and Simonton streets. In four years, the company had grown from two employees, Frank Romano and Joe Liska, to two stores and 36 employees in Key West plus nine other shops in Florida and one in Haiti.   If you visit Key West today, you can still visit this company, now renamed Key West Aloe by stopping by their store on Duval St at Duval Square.   And that’s what happened today in Key West History.    Today in Key West History is brought to you by 43 Keys Media. To learn more about our beautiful Florida Keys, visit http://43keys.com.   you can also get this program as an Alexa Flash briefing. Just tell Alexa to play Today in Key West history as your Flash Briefing.  

In episode 45 I talk with Ravi Jayagopal he is the host of a podcast at SubscribeMe.fm we talk about everything You Need To Know About How To Create Digital Content, Package That Content And Make Money With It - Using Membership Sites, Online Courses & Recurring Subscriptions the making, marketing, monetizing and tracking of online digital content using membership sites and recurring subscriptions. We also hit on his books and Alexa Flash Breifing (part 2 of conversation)https://subscribeme.fm/@RaviJayagopalhttps://www.facebook.com/ravijayagopal

In episode 45 I talk with Ravi Jayagopal he is the host of a podcast at SubscribeMe.fm we talk about everything You Need To Know About How To Create Digital Content, Package That Content And Make Money With It - Using Membership Sites, Online Courses & Recurring Subscriptions the making, marketing, monetizing and tracking of online digital content using membership sites and recurring subscriptions. We also hit on his books and Alexa Flash Breifing (part 2 of conversation)https://subscribeme.fm/@RaviJayagopalhttps://www.facebook.com/ravijayagopal

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! If you’ve been with me from the beginning of this podcast, you may have noticed that my intro is just a little bit different, which brings me to today’s topic – the future of this podcast… But to give you some context, lemme take you back to how this all started in the first place. When I started the Pep Talks for Side Hustlers podcast back in March of 2018, it was designed to be a daily flash briefing for the Amazon Alexa. Flash briefings are short episodes that are supposed to be no more than 10 minutes long. When I first was introduced to the concept of a flash briefing from my business coach, I totally poo-pooed the idea. If you want to hear that story in detail, you can check out episodes 22 and 23. But once I came around to the idea, I thought, “Easy Peasy. I can share tips and advice to help keep side hustlers motivated through those tough times – because it’s something I wish I would have had while I was side hustling.” And then I thought… “Well, I don’t want these episodes to go away after one listen…” Which is the nature of an Alexa Flash briefing, it’s almost like an Insta story – it’s there for 24 hours until the next episode comes along and there’s no way to listen to past episodes. It’s a snapshot in time. So I decided to also set them up as a podcast on iTunes so that there’d be a whole library of them for anyone that wanted to go back and listen to past episodes, or binge listen which is what I do when I find a new podcast I love – I subscribe in iTunes, then I change the settings to start in chronological order and I binge-listen from the very first episode. And rarely do I listen to multiple podcasts at once. I find one that I love, and I listen until I’m caught up. In fact, the other night I had dinner with the very first friend I made in third grade when we moved to Columbus Ohio, and she called me a serial monogamist. Uh, duh, I’m still friends with you 30 years later and I can only listen to one podcast at a time!! So that was the plan. A daily, 10 minute flash briefing/podcast. 70 minutes of content a week, knock it out in just a few hours. Boom. done. But what I didn’t expect is how much I’d have to say on the subject of side hustling. Or how much I’d have to say about building a business from the ground up. Or all the fear I had after I quit my day job. Or all the transitions I’ve gone through over the past few years. So what was supposed to be a daily, 10 minute pep talk turned into 30 minutes or more of storytelling, teaching, and sharing the good, the bad and the ugly about side hustling and entrepreneurship. Every. Single. Day. Of course I don’t record every day. I write and record and edit these episodes on Thursdays, and then my team takes it from there and publishes them. If you’re interested in learning more about my process, you can check out episodes 123 and 124. Here’s the thing: I absolutely love creating this podcast. I love writing the episodes, I love reflecting on my business and sharing the lessons I’ve learned and the mistakes I’ve made along the way. I love recording and editing it, and the strategy I have for leveraging it to grow my business is also super exciting to me. It lights me up! But what I’ve heard from my listeners and my community and my peers is that it’s just too much. They can’t keep up with over 30 minutes a day, seven days a week of new content. Now, I know there are some of you listening that are like, “Wait, I listen every single day, I don’t understand what those people are talking about.” And I know you’re out there because you tell me! You listen while you work out in the morning, you listen on your way to work… But guess what? Not everyone is like us! Crazy, right? But what I discovered 6 months in is that creating new content at the pace I’m creating it is a challenge, especially when I have a whole entire web design business to run. It’s one of those things where I didn’t realize how hard it was on me until it was too late. Like, until I was past the point of exhaustion. Until I didn’t realize how much it was hanging over me, like, “I gotta get the podcast done, I gotta get the podcast done.” And then, people start saying to me, “You do seven episodes a week? And you write them all out beforehand? How is that even possible? That’s crazy! How do you keep up with that?” And I’m like, well, I have a process, I don’t record every day… and I explain it all very matter of factly, like I’m some superwoman who has it all figured out. And then, I start hearing things like, “I love your podcast, but I can’t keep up. Too many episodes. The amount of content you’re putting out is overwhelming me, it makes me feel like I have to move faster than I can, and that makes me feel like I’ll never be able to be successful.” Wow. Hearing that was like a wake up call for me. Like someone threw a glass of cold water in my face. Like in a good way, not like in a Real Housewives way. And in that moment what I realized is that the frenetic pace at which I’ve been recording pep talks and writing blog posts and sending emails is a total reflection of the uneasiness I’ve felt since leaving the security of my day job. I channeled my fear into hustle. As long as I keep running, the monster can’t catch me. As long as I keep creating new content, people will find me, my business will grow and I’ll be able to write myself a paycheck every two weeks. So I had an amazing opportunity to go away with 5 other girlbosses for a weekend mastermind/planning retreat recently. As we were getting to know each other, we were talking about our big, crazy, out of this world goals, and I had said, “I want to be the Amy Porterfield of WordPress.” And for those of you that don’t know who Amy Porterfield is, she’s the goddess of online marketing – well, in my eyes. She has a ginormous audience, we’re talking hundreds of thousands of business owners, her podcast is called Online Marketing Made Easy, and she has a few courses all about online marketing. Like, that’s the kind of impact I want to have. So we’re going around the room talking about things we’d like to change in our businesses, and mine is that I’m still working too much. Like, an unhealthy amount. My business coach already ordered me to do something fun just for myself on Fridays and take Sundays off, but I had overcompensated by adding hours to the weekdays. So I’m talking to the girls about my schedule and what I do every day, and we get to Thursday and I say how I spend 5-6 hours on Thursday on my podcast, not including writing or curating the content or scheduling the guests or whatever. So if I really boil it down, the podcast takes me around 8-9 hours a week, and then probably another 5 for my team. And one of them says to me, “What if you cut it down and did less episodes a week?” And I immediately was like, “Why? It doesn’t take me that long. And it’s my favorite thing to do!!” And she looked at me and said, “How many episodes a week does Amy Porterfield put out?” Good point. She puts one 30 to 40 minute long episode out per week. So after a lot of soul searching, and planning, and thinking about the future of my business and how I want to FEEL, for now, I’ve decided to go down to 3 episodes a week of Pep Talks for Side Hustlers – Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So for those of you that listen on Alexa, you’ll get a flash briefing from me just 3 days a week, and those that listen on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio or Google Podcasts will get a new episode on Monday, Wednesday and Friday going forward. And I’d love to hear your thoughts on this decision – head on over to www.peptalksforsidehustlers.com/176 and leave me a comment on the show notes and let me know – did you listen every single day? Are you a binge listener? Was it too overwhelming for you or just right? And in episode 177, I’ll take you behind the scenes of my mastermind weekend, because if you ever get the opportunity to do something like that in your side hustle, it can be a total game changer. Today’s pep talk is brought to you by Bluehost. Go to www.peptalksforsidehustlers.com/bluehost and get 36 months of web hosting for just $2.95 a month. That’s less than one trip to Starbucks a month – and if you’re anything like me, you’re at Starbucks more than that! Then you can sign up for my Free 5 Day Website Challenge at www.peptalksforsidehustlers.com/5day and I’ll show you step by step how to get started building your new website for your side hustle.

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! Welcome to my March Income Report! Each month I publish an income report to take you behind the scenes of my #SideHustleGoneSerious and show you exactly how much I make, how much I spend, and what lessons I learned along the way! IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN MARCH Social Media Marketing World I kicked off March with a trip to San Diego for Social Media Marketing World – an amazing trip that really pulled me out of my comfort zone. I highly recommend this conference to anyone who seriously wants to make a living from their online business. You can read more about my experience at Social Media Marketing World here. Pep Talks for Side Hustlers Podcast While I was at the hotel, I took a deep dive into Pat Flynn’s Power Up Podcasting Course, which I had actually purchased a year earlier at Chalene Johnson’s Marketing Impact Academy(also an awesome conference in San Diego). I knew when I purchased it that I didn’t need it right away, but there would definitely be a time when I would be launching a podcast so I wanted to get in on the super special intro price! When I returned home, I got right to work on Pep Talks For Side Hustlers, a daily podcast and Alexa Flash briefing that gives tips, motivation, and actionable advice to help side hustlers and people starting an online business to stay the course. I feel very passionate about this topic because I know first-hand how hard it can be, but I also know the rewards waiting on the other side. It’s also an entirely new way to connect with my existing audience and attract an entirely new audience. So throughout March, I brainstormed episode topics, wrote several weeks worth of pep talks, built my podcast website, recorded, edited, and produced a few weeks worth of episodes, and streamlined my whole process so that I could hand it over to my VA team and all I would have to do is write, record, and edit the episodes. I’ve also incorporated some list-building tactics and affiliate marketing tactics into the podcast as well. The first episode went live on March 24 and I invite you to check out the first few episodes on iTunes here, and would LOVE it if you would leave me a rating and review

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! Today we’re talking about what it really means when you feel resistance to an idea. Has someone ever shared an idea with you or given you advice, and you feel major resistance to it? Like, a physical feeling where maybe your chest tightens and you get really uncomfortable and you just want to stop talking about it? Like when you think about putting your first blog post online for the world to see. Or making a video. Or recording your voice for a podcast. Or even scarier, going live on Facebook or instagram. I used to think feeling resistance was a red flag, that it meant something was a bad idea, but what I’ve come to realize is that when I feel resistance, my shield is up and I’m trying to protect my blind spots. I’m trying to be right. I’m trying to stay in control, to have what I “know” to be true continue to be true. It’s a safe place to be. When I have my shield up, I’m not receptive to new ideas. But if I’m safe where I am right now, what’s the incentive to grow? To grow, I need to lower that shield, reveal those blind spots and consider that maybe I need to get a little bit uncomfortable in order to grow. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably always in GO mode. I’m always trying something new, I get impatient and I don’t always give things the time they need to marinate and develop before I decide that it’s not working out and I’m on to the next thing. Because then still right get to be right. It didn’t work, I did it right, so it must not work. Moving on. But what I’m really doing is avoiding taking risks and staying in my comfy little comfort zone. I’m actually really grateful for what I’ve been able to accomplish operating from that safe place.  Quitting my day job, helping over 5,000 people build their website (even if they all don’t stick around on my email list) and starting my business from scratch and figuring it out along the way. Imagine what I could accomplish if I didn’t play it so safe all of the time? If I’m going to get to where I want to be, it’s time to examine that feeling of resistance a little bit deeper to uncover what it is telling me, and let the people that I trust to help me actually help me. If I hadn’t acknowledge resistance to a new idea, this podcast and Alexa Flash briefing would never have happened. I was on my weekly coaching call with my business coach, Vicki Fitch, and I was complaining that no matter what I seemed to be doing, my email list has been stuck right at 4,600 subscribers, and I’m losing people at the same rate that I’m bringing them on, and I’m afraid that I’m not going to make enough money now that I don’t have a secure paycheck… and on and on and on. After we unpacked that I was actually redirecting grief from the recent loss of a close family member into feeling like the ground I was standing on in my business was shaky (a pep talk for another time), Vicki suggested that I needed to expand where I was looking for my target audience, that I was fishing in the same pond as everyone else in my niche and the pond was overfished. And then, she shared with me an idea that I was totally not feeling. She suggested that I create an Alexa Flash Briefing. And here’s exactly what I thought: Yeah, that thing was fun to play with on Christmas Day… I even got one as a gift but I never got around to opening it because I have no use for it. Everything I need to do I can do on my iPhone. I mean, my niece uses it to make fart sounds. That’s going to be a waste of time. “Sure, I’ll look into it.” I said, but lucky for me, Vicki can tell by my voice when I’ve got my shield Lucky for me, she knows that I do that, so she asked me to just research and consider it. Fair enough, I thought, and I lowered my shield just a little bit. As I was doing my research, And then, it all became crystal clear. all of these ideas that have been swirling around in my mind for the past few months that I wasn’t taking action on because I was scared or I couldn’t figure out where they fit with my current business model, or how to execute them – they just came into focus as Pep Talks For Side Hustlers. I could finally see how this new idea was going to help me fish in a different pond while also staying true to who I am and creating fresh new ways to serve my existing audience. When you have that kind of clarity, things come together fast. A completely new brand was born. I built the Pep Talks for Side Hustlers website in just a couple of hours, came up with a list of a year’s worth of pep talks in just a few hours, and recorded, produced, published and scheduled a month’s worth of content in just a couple weeks time. So when you’re feeling that resistance, pay attention. It’s not always a bad thing. And tomorrow, I’m going to share 4 questions you can ask to tap into that resistance and find out what it’s really trying to tell you.

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! Today we’re talking about what it really means when you feel resistance to an idea. Has someone ever shared an idea with you or given you advice, and you feel major resistance to it? Like, a physical feeling where maybe your chest tightens and you get really uncomfortable and you just want to stop talking about it? Like when you think about putting your first blog post online for the world to see. Or making a video. Or recording your voice for a podcast. Or even scarier, going live on Facebook or instagram. I used to think feeling resistance was a red flag, that it meant something was a bad idea, but what I’ve come to realize is that when I feel resistance, my shield is up and I’m trying to protect my blind spots. I’m trying to be right. I’m trying to stay in control, to have what I “know” to be true continue to be true. It’s a safe place to be. When I have my shield up, I’m not receptive to new ideas. But if I’m safe where I am right now, what’s the incentive to grow? To grow, I need to lower that shield, reveal those blind spots and consider that maybe I need to get a little bit uncomfortable in order to grow. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably always in GO mode. I’m always trying something new, I get impatient and I don’t always give things the time they need to marinate and develop before I decide that it’s not working out and I’m on to the next thing. Because then still right get to be right. It didn’t work, I did it right, so it must not work. Moving on. But what I’m really doing is avoiding taking risks and staying in my comfy little comfort zone. I’m actually really grateful for what I’ve been able to accomplish operating from that safe place.  Quitting my day job, helping over 5,000 people build their website (even if they all don’t stick around on my email list) and starting my business from scratch and figuring it out along the way. Imagine what I could accomplish if I didn’t play it so safe all of the time? If I’m going to get to where I want to be, it’s time to examine that feeling of resistance a little bit deeper to uncover what it is telling me, and let the people that I trust to help me actually help me. If I hadn’t acknowledge resistance to a new idea, this podcast and Alexa Flash briefing would never have happened. I was on my weekly coaching call with my business coach, Vicki Fitch, and I was complaining that no matter what I seemed to be doing, my email list has been stuck right at 4,600 subscribers, and I’m losing people at the same rate that I’m bringing them on, and I’m afraid that I’m not going to make enough money now that I don’t have a secure paycheck… and on and on and on. After we unpacked that I was actually redirecting grief from the recent loss of a close family member into feeling like the ground I was standing on in my business was shaky (a pep talk for another time), Vicki suggested that I needed to expand where I was looking for my target audience, that I was fishing in the same pond as everyone else in my niche and the pond was overfished. And then, she shared with me an idea that I was totally not feeling. She suggested that I create an Alexa Flash Briefing. And here’s exactly what I thought: Yeah, that thing was fun to play with on Christmas Day… I even got one as a gift but I never got around to opening it because I have no use for it. Everything I need to do I can do on my iPhone. I mean, my niece uses it to make fart sounds. That’s going to be a waste of time. “Sure, I’ll look into it.” I said, but lucky for me, Vicki can tell by my voice when I’ve got my shield Lucky for me, she knows that I do that, so she asked me to just research and consider it. Fair enough, I thought, and I lowered my shield just a little bit. As I was doing my research, And then, it all became crystal clear. all of these ideas that have been swirling around in my mind for the past few months that I wasn’t taking action on because I was scared or I couldn’t figure out where they fit with my current business model, or how to execute them – they just came into focus as Pep Talks For Side Hustlers. I could finally see how this new idea was going to help me fish in a different pond while also staying true to who I am and creating fresh new ways to serve my existing audience. When you have that kind of clarity, things come together fast. A completely new brand was born. I built the Pep Talks for Side Hustlers website in just a couple of hours, came up with a list of a year’s worth of pep talks in just a few hours, and recorded, produced, published and scheduled a month’s worth of content in just a couple weeks time. So when you’re feeling that resistance, pay attention. It’s not always a bad thing. And tomorrow, I’m going to share 4 questions you can ask to tap into that resistance and find out what it’s really trying to tell you.

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! Today we’re talking about what it really means when you feel resistance to an idea. Has someone ever shared an idea with you or given you advice, and you feel major resistance to it? Like, a physical feeling where maybe your chest tightens and you get really uncomfortable and you just want to stop talking about it? Like when you think about putting your first blog post online for the world to see. Or making a video. Or recording your voice for a podcast. Or even scarier, going live on Facebook or instagram. I used to think feeling resistance was a red flag, that it meant something was a bad idea, but what I’ve come to realize is that when I feel resistance, my shield is up and I’m trying to protect my blind spots. I’m trying to be right. I’m trying to stay in control, to have what I “know” to be true continue to be true. It’s a safe place to be. When I have my shield up, I’m not receptive to new ideas. But if I’m safe where I am right now, what’s the incentive to grow? To grow, I need to lower that shield, reveal those blind spots and consider that maybe I need to get a little bit uncomfortable in order to grow. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably always in GO mode. I’m always trying something new, I get impatient and I don’t always give things the time they need to marinate and develop before I decide that it’s not working out and I’m on to the next thing. Because then still right get to be right. It didn’t work, I did it right, so it must not work. Moving on. But what I’m really doing is avoiding taking risks and staying in my comfy little comfort zone. I’m actually really grateful for what I’ve been able to accomplish operating from that safe place.  Quitting my day job, helping over 5,000 people build their website (even if they all don’t stick around on my email list) and starting my business from scratch and figuring it out along the way. Imagine what I could accomplish if I didn’t play it so safe all of the time? If I’m going to get to where I want to be, it’s time to examine that feeling of resistance a little bit deeper to uncover what it is telling me, and let the people that I trust to help me actually help me. If I hadn’t acknowledge resistance to a new idea, this podcast and Alexa Flash briefing would never have happened. I was on my weekly coaching call with my business coach, Vicki Fitch, and I was complaining that no matter what I seemed to be doing, my email list has been stuck right at 4,600 subscribers, and I’m losing people at the same rate that I’m bringing them on, and I’m afraid that I’m not going to make enough money now that I don’t have a secure paycheck… and on and on and on. After we unpacked that I was actually redirecting grief from the recent loss of a close family member into feeling like the ground I was standing on in my business was shaky (a pep talk for another time), Vicki suggested that I needed to expand where I was looking for my target audience, that I was fishing in the same pond as everyone else in my niche and the pond was overfished. And then, she shared with me an idea that I was totally not feeling. She suggested that I create an Alexa Flash Briefing. And here’s exactly what I thought: Yeah, that thing was fun to play with on Christmas Day… I even got one as a gift but I never got around to opening it because I have no use for it. Everything I need to do I can do on my iPhone. I mean, my niece uses it to make fart sounds. That’s going to be a waste of time. “Sure, I’ll look into it.” I said, but lucky for me, Vicki can tell by my voice when I’ve got my shield Lucky for me, she knows that I do that, so she asked me to just research and consider it. Fair enough, I thought, and I lowered my shield just a little bit. As I was doing my research, And then, it all became crystal clear. all of these ideas that have been swirling around in my mind for the past few months that I wasn’t taking action on because I was scared or I couldn’t figure out where they fit with my current business model, or how to execute them – they just came into focus as Pep Talks For Side Hustlers. I could finally see how this new idea was going to help me fish in a different pond while also staying true to who I am and creating fresh new ways to serve my existing audience. When you have that kind of clarity, things come together fast. A completely new brand was born. I built the Pep Talks for Side Hustlers website in just a couple of hours, came up with a list of a year’s worth of pep talks in just a few hours, and recorded, produced, published and scheduled a month’s worth of content in just a couple weeks time. So when you’re feeling that resistance, pay attention. It’s not always a bad thing. And tomorrow, I’m going to share 4 questions you can ask to tap into that resistance and find out what it’s really trying to tell you.

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! Today we’re talking about what it really means when you feel resistance to an idea. Has someone ever shared an idea with you or given you advice, and you feel major resistance to it? Like, a physical feeling where maybe your chest tightens and you get really uncomfortable and you just want to stop talking about it? Like when you think about putting your first blog post online for the world to see. Or making a video. Or recording your voice for a podcast. Or even scarier, going live on Facebook or instagram. I used to think feeling resistance was a red flag, that it meant something was a bad idea, but what I’ve come to realize is that when I feel resistance, my shield is up and I’m trying to protect my blind spots. I’m trying to be right. I’m trying to stay in control, to have what I “know” to be true continue to be true. It’s a safe place to be. When I have my shield up, I’m not receptive to new ideas. But if I’m safe where I am right now, what’s the incentive to grow? To grow, I need to lower that shield, reveal those blind spots and consider that maybe I need to get a little bit uncomfortable in order to grow. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably always in GO mode. I’m always trying something new, I get impatient and I don’t always give things the time they need to marinate and develop before I decide that it’s not working out and I’m on to the next thing. Because then still right get to be right. It didn’t work, I did it right, so it must not work. Moving on. But what I’m really doing is avoiding taking risks and staying in my comfy little comfort zone. I’m actually really grateful for what I’ve been able to accomplish operating from that safe place.  Quitting my day job, helping over 5,000 people build their website (even if they all don’t stick around on my email list) and starting my business from scratch and figuring it out along the way. Imagine what I could accomplish if I didn’t play it so safe all of the time? If I’m going to get to where I want to be, it’s time to examine that feeling of resistance a little bit deeper to uncover what it is telling me, and let the people that I trust to help me actually help me. If I hadn’t acknowledge resistance to a new idea, this podcast and Alexa Flash briefing would never have happened. I was on my weekly coaching call with my business coach, Vicki Fitch, and I was complaining that no matter what I seemed to be doing, my email list has been stuck right at 4,600 subscribers, and I’m losing people at the same rate that I’m bringing them on, and I’m afraid that I’m not going to make enough money now that I don’t have a secure paycheck… and on and on and on. After we unpacked that I was actually redirecting grief from the recent loss of a close family member into feeling like the ground I was standing on in my business was shaky (a pep talk for another time), Vicki suggested that I needed to expand where I was looking for my target audience, that I was fishing in the same pond as everyone else in my niche and the pond was overfished. And then, she shared with me an idea that I was totally not feeling. She suggested that I create an Alexa Flash Briefing. And here’s exactly what I thought: Yeah, that thing was fun to play with on Christmas Day… I even got one as a gift but I never got around to opening it because I have no use for it. Everything I need to do I can do on my iPhone. I mean, my niece uses it to make fart sounds. That’s going to be a waste of time. “Sure, I’ll look into it.” I said, but lucky for me, Vicki can tell by my voice when I’ve got my shield Lucky for me, she knows that I do that, so she asked me to just research and consider it. Fair enough, I thought, and I lowered my shield just a little bit. As I was doing my research, And then, it all became crystal clear. all of these ideas that have been swirling around in my mind for the past few months that I wasn’t taking action on because I was scared or I couldn’t figure out where they fit with my current business model, or how to execute them – they just came into focus as Pep Talks For Side Hustlers. I could finally see how this new idea was going to help me fish in a different pond while also staying true to who I am and creating fresh new ways to serve my existing audience. When you have that kind of clarity, things come together fast. A completely new brand was born. I built the Pep Talks for Side Hustlers website in just a couple of hours, came up with a list of a year’s worth of pep talks in just a few hours, and recorded, produced, published and scheduled a month’s worth of content in just a couple weeks time. So when you’re feeling that resistance, pay attention. It’s not always a bad thing. And tomorrow, I’m going to share 4 questions you can ask to tap into that resistance and find out what it’s really trying to tell you.

Wondering how to create a flash briefing? Whether you want to promote your business, share your hobby, or raise awareness for your non-profit, now is the time to create a flash briefing. In this episode, Teri reveals the step by step instructions on how to create a flash briefing for Amazon Alexa… with no coding required!Create a Flash BriefingFlash briefings are the new podcasts… as least as far as I am concerned! If you are interested in getting your message out to the world, in my opinion there is simply no better way than to create a flash briefing. In my experience, good quality flash briefings are being consumed at a rate equal to or greater than that of podcasts. For example, 4 months after launching the Alexa in Canada Podcast, I was getting approximately 200 people listening to each episode on the day it was released (and less on the other days of the week). Compare that to the Voice in Canada Flash Briefing: after only 2 weeks, I was already getting 300 listeners every single day!When it comes to audio content, flash briefings are the new frontier. This is the next big thing in audio, so my suggestion is don’t wait any longer – go create a flash briefing now!Whether you want to promote your business, share your passion for a hobby, or raise awareness for your non-profit organization, now is the time to create a flash briefing. Below I outline the simple steps on how to create a flash briefing that anyone can follow. And there is no coding required!!Step 1: Decide on Your TopicThis one may seem like a no-brainer, but before you begin to create a flash briefing it is really important to think carefully about your topic, and what you will be talking about. The most successful flash briefings are the ones that consistently put out great content. You have to be willing to commit to create a flash briefing episode on a daily basis. So, make sure that you have enough to say about your topic to make a daily show that is engaging, exciting, and valuable for your audience.Can you imagine yourself doing this 365 days from now and still going strong with fresh ideas? Think about your general topic and then brainstorm (and write down!) at least 30 individual episode topics for your show. To help you out, here are a couple of subtopics to get the creative juices flowing: news, reviews, tips, tricks, deals, scores, updates, seasonal items…. the list really goes on and on, limited only by your imagination.Step 2: Record an Episode (or a few!)Are you cut out for this? Well, before you dive into setting up your Flash Briefing hosting service and your Amazon Developer account (don’t worry, both are really easy to setup!), try recording an episode for your first Flash Briefing and see how you like it. You could just use your mobile phone and get going, but keep in mind that the higher quality the audio, the more polished and professional your show will be!Here is the audio equipment that I recommend. It’s relatively inexpensive and works great! It is excellent value for the money and this is what I used (and still use!) to create my top-rated Flash Briefing:Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB/XLR Cardioid Dynamic MicrophoneNEEWER Adjustable Microphone Suspension StandOn Stage MY420 Studio Microphone Shock MountDragonpad Pop Filter Studio Microphone Wind Screen So, consider using some good audio equipment and a program such at GarageBand or Audacity for the recordings. Once you decide how you will record the episodes, go ahead, push record, and create your first flash briefing episode! Even better, get ahead of schedule and pre-record a week’s worth of episodes.Also, keep in mind a few key points:Make your flash briefing episodes short. I suggest keeping your audio files under a few minutes. I aim for approximately 2 minutes with each of my episodes.The main purpose of each audio episode should be to provide informative and entertaining content to your listeners. Try to avoid advertising, plugs, or promotions.Use high-quality audio formats. Amazon suggests using the MP3 format with a bit rate of at least 256kbps (this is a setting you choose when exporting your file from your recording software).Make sure your audio is free of distracting background or other noises.And finally, try to keep a consistent volume within each episode and between episodes.Step 3: Decide Where you Will Host your Audio FilesSo you got your first recording under your belt! Awesome job. That’s the first big step to create a flash briefing. Now what? Well, we need a place to upload those audio files so that when listeners ask Alexa for your flash briefing, she has a reliable, simple place to find them.There are lots of ways to host your audio files, some more complicated than others, but I promised that this would be simple and coding-free, didn’t I?! Over the years, I have tried a number of audio hosting services and I now highly recommend Pippa.io. This is because they have made it extremely easy to setup a flash briefing, particularly because there is no coding or programming required. Simon Marcus, the CEO of Pippa.io, joined me on my podcast to discuss Pippa.io and how he, his team, and I developed the flash briefing feature in consultation with each other.Note that in the spirit of full transparency, I am an affiliate for Pippa.io because I believe they offer such an incredible service. If you choose to use them, make sure to use the coupon code “alexaincanada” (without the quotes) to get a free month of service. Click here to go to Pippa.ioRegardless of who you choose to host your audio, make sure that the host can provide a publicly-accessible RSS or JSON feed, secured with an https URL. Pippa does this all automatically!Once you have setup your audio host, follow their instructions to create a flash briefing show and upload your audio files.Step 4: Register as an Amazon DeveloperThe next step to create a flash briefing is to signup for an Amazon Developer account. This is completely free, but it is absolutely required. This is where you will submit your flash briefing to Amazon so Alexa knows that your show exists. Go to https://developer.amazon.com/login.html and create a free account.Step 5: Create a New Skill in the Developer Console BetaOnce you have your developer account setup, it’s time to create a flash briefing skill. Go to the Alexa Skills Kit Developer Console at https://developer.amazon.com/alexa/console/ask and then follow along with these instructions:Click on Create Skill.Enter the Name for your skill. This name will be seen by users in the Alexa App. Make sure this name does not imply sponsorship by Amazon, or infringe on the copyright, trademark and publicity rights of a third party. Click Next.In the Language drop-down, choose the language for your skill. A Flash Briefing skill targets a single language and you cannot change the language once you select it. To create a flash briefing for the Canada Amazon store, (i.e. Amazon.ca) choose English (CA). To create a flash briefing in the American Amazon Skill Store (i.e. Amazon.com), choose English (US). Likewise, if you want your flash briefing in another country, choose the appropriate language.Click Next.Select the Flash Briefing Pre-Built model.Finally, click Create Skill. This will automatically take you to the Build tab (seen at the top left of the screen).Step 6: Set up an Error MessageEnter a Custom Error Message. Alexa says this message to the user if there are any problems retrieving the flash briefing for some reason. Hopefully, your audience will never hear this! Just type something like, for example, “Voice in Canada is not available at the moment.” There is a 100 character maximum for this phrase. Make sure this message is in the language you chose for your skill. This means if you are creating an English Flash Briefing, your error message should be in English.Step 7: Add One or More Flash Briefing Feed(s)When you create a flash briefing skill, you have the option to setup multiple feeds of text or audio content. Typically each feed focuses on a specific genre of content such as sports or local news. Alexa will read a text feed, called text-to-speech (TTS) or play recorded audio files. One feed must serve as the default feed, which is always turned on for the skill. The remainder of the feeds for a flash briefing can be turned on by the user that enables your skill. Most flash briefings only have 1 feed, but you technically could have multiple feeds covering different sub-topics all under one umbrella flash briefing skill.Here are the instruction on how to add a feed. For most flash briefings you would only have to do this once (i.e there would just be the single default feed). If you have multiple feeds, repeat the following steps or each feed.Click Add New Feed.Enter a Preamble Message. This is a short introduction for the feed that Alexa reads to the user before the actual audio is played. It should start with “In” or “From”. For example, “From Voice in Canada…”. The preamble is limited to 70 characters, and should be in the same language you chose for your skill.Enter a Name for the particular feed – choose a name that is unique to this skill and helps users determine the content. For flash briefings with one feed, this feed name can be the same as your skill name. For those with multiple feeds choose something that describes the feed. For example, “Developer news.”Choose the Content update frequency. This is how often the feed will have new content. You can choose: hourly, daily, or weekly. I recommend daily (but remember, you have to commit to doing it daily!).Choose your Content type. This is the format of the feed content. You can choose Text or Audio. I recommend audio, which is an actual audio file that you record. The rest of these instructions show how to setup this type of feed. (FYI: The other option – text – is to have Alexa read the text in her voice.)Select the best description of your Content genre from the drop-down box.Now, the moment of truth… it’s time to identify the location of your audio files, i.e. your Feed. As mentioned previously, there are lots of different ways to host your audio files. Whatever you decide to do, the feed field is where you paste the link (i.e. the JSON or RSS URL) to your audio files. The URL cannot be any destination which requires the user to login. Here is where Pippa.io really makes things simple! Remember when you setup your audio host with Pippa? Well, go back to your account, click on your flash briefing show, and then click on Distribution. Click on the Alexa Flash icon. Now simply copy the Alexa Field URL and past it into the Feed field on your Amazon Developer account. The last thing to do is edit the number at the end of the link – it can be any number from 1 to 5. This number tells Amazon how many of the latest audio files to play when a user requests your flash briefing. For most cases I suggest setting this at 1 so Alexa plays only the single most recent audio file at any given time. And that’s it! Easy, huh?!Now choose your Feed icon. This is a 512 x 512 pixel PNG (can include transparency) or JPG file that represents your feed. This image will display in the Alexa App. Again, make sure that the icon does not imply sponsorship by Amazon, or infringe on the copyright, trademark and publicity rights of a third party.Click Add.Click Save.Optional: Repeat these steps for each feed you provide for the skill. The first feed you add will automatically be marked as the default feed. If you add more feeds, you can choose which feed is the default, by selecting it in the Default column.Click the Test tab at the top left of the screen when you are finished adding feeds and are ready to test your skill.Step 8: Test Your Flash Briefing SkillThe next step in skill creation is to test the Flash Briefing skill on your Alexa-enabled device. You must have this device registered to the same account as your developer account for your skill to display.On the Test tab in the developer portal, move the the slider in the top left corner to Enable to begin the testing.Click and hold the microphone icon and say,”Alexa, what’s my Flash Briefing?” or “Alexa, what’s the news?” Alexa should respond with “Here is your flash briefing.”(Don’t worry if you get an “Unsupported Directive. AudioPlayer is currently an unsupported namespace. Check the device log for more information” error message. Just ignore it!)Now go to your Alexa App > Skills and find your skill by applying the Your Skills filter, and enable the skill.After you enable your skill, you can ask Alexa, “Alexa, what’s my Flash Briefing?” or “Alexa, what’s the news?” Your content should play or be read by your Alexa device.If you have multiple feeds, you should enable all of them and test them with your Alexa device or app.When you have finished testing your flash briefing and you are ready to move on, click the Launch tab in the upper left of the screen.Step 9: Provide Launch Information for your SkillThe descriptions and images you provide on the Launch Information page provide the content that displays in the Alexa App. Users can scroll through a list of skills, and select a skill to see more detailed information. The interaction model is already defined so the most important information you provide is a short and long description of your skill, and the images that identify your flash briefing.Fill in the Public Name. This is the name of the flash briefing that will be displayed to users in the Alexa app. It can be different from your invocation name, but I suggest keeping it the same. It must be between 2-50 characters.Fill in the One Sentence Description. This is a quick, at-a-glance description that describes the flash briefing. This will display in the skill list in the Alexa App. It can be a maximum of 160 characters.Fill in the Detailed Description. This is a more comprehensive description of this skill. This description is shown to users on the skill detail card in the Alexa app. If you have multiple feeds, list the different feeds offered here.Don’t worry about the Example Phrases. They are automatically set for Flash Briefings and cannot be changed.Upload a Small Skill Icon. This is a 108 x 108 pixel PNG (can include transparency) or JPG file that represents your skill. You can make this the same as your feed icon, just a smaller version. In fact I recommend it, particularly if you only have 1 feed.Upload a Large Skill Icon. This is a 512 x 512 pixel PNG (can include transparency) or JPG file that represents your skill. This can be the exact same icon as your feed icon.Select a Category from the drop-down box that best describes your flash briefing. This helps users find your skill quickly and easily.Optional, but highly recommended: Enter some Keywords, or simple search words that relate to or describe your flash briefing. This helps users to find your flash briefing. Make sure to use spaces or commas between each search term.Optional: Enter the link to the Privacy Policy URL that applies to your flash briefing.Optional: Enter the link to the Terms of Use URL that applies to your flash briefing.Click Save and Continue.Step 10: Answer the Privacy and Compliance QuestionsThe Privacy and Compliance page lists questions that are required for every skill, including flash briefings. Note that a Flash Briefing skill should NOT enable users to make purchases or ask customers for personal information.Answer No to the first question regarding allowing purchases.Answer No to the second question regarding collecting personal information.Answer the next 2 questions regarding targeting children and advertising as applicable to your particular flash briefing.Under Export Compliance, check to certify that your Flash Briefing skill may be imported to and exported from the United States and all countries that Amazon operates. Note: Your flash briefing will only display to customers in countries where the primary language of the country matches the skill language. For example, an English (CA) skill displays in Canada. An English (US) skill displays in other countries (including the US) where English is the primary language.Under Testing instructions, simply type ‘None’.Click Save and Continue.Step 11: Set the Availability and Beta Test the Flash BriefingAnswer the question, Who should have access to this skill? Select Public, unless of course you are creating a flash briefing to be used by a particular business.Optional: Beta Test your flash briefing. Click on the arrow in the beta test box. Enter your email address in the “Beta Test Administrator Email Address” box and then click Add. Then click on the arrow next to “Add Beta testers”, add the email addresses of people that you want to include in the beta test, and then click Add. Finally, click on Enable Beta Testing. Your beta testers will receive an email inviting them to beta test the flash briefing. Make sure to let them know about the beta test and make sure to gather feedback so you can continue to improve your flash briefing.Answer the question, Where would you like your skill to be available? I recommend selecting “In all countries…” to make your skill available to users worldwide. Select “Selected countries and regions” to limit the flash briefing to the specified countries. Your flash briefing needs to support the primary language for each of the specified countries to be accessible by users in those countries.Click Save and Continue.Step 12: Perform Final Review and Submit for CertificationCheck for any flags that indicate that you have forgotten something or are missing an element.When everything looks good to go (i.e. you see a nice, big, green checkmark), click Submit for Review.Step 13: Celebrate!You’re done! Awesome job! Now sit back, relax, and wait for Amazon to email you back to tell you that the flash briefing is live. Amazon says that this can take up to 5 business days, but in my experience this usually happens within 24 hours. There is a chance that Amazon may reject it for various reasons, but they will always provide feedback if this is the case. It’s usually not a big deal – just fix the issue they identified and then resubmit it! Before you know it, you will have your flash briefing live and your message will be available to the world! Congrats!Need some Extra Help?If you follow along with the steps outlined above, you should have all the info and settings that you need to get your flash briefing up and running.However, if you would like some personalized help with the recording, marketing, technology, or any other aspects of your particular flash briefing, I am pleased to be able to offer some limited time for flash briefing consultations. Please feel free to contact me here, tell me a little about your flash briefing ideas, and I will get back to you with the rates and some scheduling information as soon as I can.Good luck with your flash briefing!!List of resources mentioned in this episode:Pippa.io – use coupon code ‘alexaincanada’ (no quotes) to get one month freeAudio-Technica ATR2100-USB/XLR Cardioid Dynamic MicrophoneNEEWER Adjustable Microphone Suspension StandOn Stage MY420 Studio Microphone Shock MountDragonpad Pop Filter Studio Microphone Wind Screen Shopping on Amazon.caVoice in Canada: The Flash BriefingAlexa in Canada: The Voice Experience PodcastPlease leave a review on iTunes See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.