Podcast appearances and mentions of bob circosta

The latest annual results for QVC/HSN are in, and let's just say they're not looking pretty—that's the shocking first chapter of today's podcast. But don't worry, we've got something special in store after that! The legendary Bob Circosta returns to the show for an unforgettable walk down memory lane, reflecting on the golden days of HSN—the Home Shopping Network. Tune in for an emotional and nostalgic ride as we celebrate the moments that made HSN a household name!

Get ready for a blast from the past as we welcome Bob Circosta, the original HSN host (Home Shopping Club), to the podcast! With the iconic home of HSN in Tampa/St. Petersburg closing its doors and relocating to West Chester, PA, Bob takes us on a fun, behind-the-scenes journey. He'll share the fascinating origins of the network, the moment they realized they needed a bigger space, how the first hosts were chosen, and what makes legendary talents like Bobbi Ray Carter stand out. Tune in for stories, laughs, and all the juicy details you won't want to miss!

It's sort of like the day the steel mill closed in Allentown. HSN, once one of the Tampa Bay area's largest employers, is closing its St. Petersburg studios and moving operations to Pennsylvania. Home shopping on TV was born in Pinellas County (on the radio), then went nationwide and worldwide. We speak with the first salesman-host, Bob Circosta, about HSN and its legacy in the region. 

Guest host Connie Willis and TV shopping host Bob Circosta discuss his long career that started by selling can openers on the radio and went all the way to helping found the Home Shopping Network, and his advice for the best way to market new products.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob CircostaBobCircosta.comLearn How to “Master Your Message” From TV's Billion Dollar ManDo you have a great product that you know people need and want, but are unsure how to sell it or market it to the right audience? Today we talk to Bob Circosta, TV's original home shopping host who help paved the way to a whole new shopping industry and sold the first-ever home shopping product. Now, with over 75,000 individual product pitches on live national TV, Bob has perfected how to make an impactful and profitable message to maximize sales! In today's episode of Harvest Growth Podcast, we'll cover:The behind-the-scenes story of how HSN started the eCommerce marketing world from the man who sold the first product ever on their network and thousands of other products since then.Key principles to improve your marketing messaging.Tips that you can apply immediately to increase your sales.And so much more!You can watch the full interview HEREVisit BobCircosta.com and receive $50 off Bob's online marketing messaging course with promo code “harvestgrowth”Do you have a brand that you'd like to launch or grow? Do you want help from a partner that has successfully launched hundreds of brands that now total over $2 billion in revenues? Visit HarvestGrowth.com to set up a free consultation. 

In the conclusion of the interview with Bob Circosta, Shawn asks him about the traits which make a good host and is it easier to be a host or a guest.  There's a tribute to the man who started this whole industry, Lowell "Bud" Paxon.  Bob talks about the worst items he's encountered and why they were honking horns at people.  The chat ends with a discussion about the future of the industry.  

"Home Shopping Club" is a very different beast than the HSN you know today, and Bob explains.  It is;  however, so successful we discuss the second network they start up.  Competition notices this, and here comes CVN and QVC to compete.  Plus Bob Circosta shares his experiences as part of the "Home Shopping Game" a television game show on the CBS stations.  

The first person to ever sell on Home Shopping Club (later known as HSN) Bob Circosta joins the show today, for the beginning of a multi-part interview about his career and a look at the dawn of shop-on-television, which started on radio.  Bob explains how it all began, strictly by accident, at a Florida radio station.  We follow the progression of the industry and his career, up to the point it went national.  This interview will be continued on the next show. 

In this episode, Jake and Gino talk with none other than Mark Victor Hansen himself. Along with business partner, Jack Canfield, Hansen is best known for creating what Time magazine called "the publishing phenomenon of the decade". Chicken Soup for the Soul books are one of the most successful publishing franchises in the world today, with more than 500 million books sold internationally and more than 100 licensed products. The name "Chicken Soup" was chosen because of the use of chicken soup as a home remedy for the sick. The first Chicken Soup book, published by Health Communications, Inc., sold more than 2 million copies. There are now over 500 million copies in print and in 54 languages worldwide. In 2005, he co-wrote, along with Robert Allen, the book Cracking the Millionaire Code in which he highlights several self-made millionaires such as Bob Circosta, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Alexander Graham Bell, Oprah Winfrey, and others, using them as examples of how to build wealth. In 2006, Hansen co-wrote, with Art Linkletter, the book How to Make the Rest of your Life The Best of your Life. In 2010, Hansen co-authored, with Robert Allen, the book Cash in a Flash, as the sequel to the New York Times bestseller The One Minute Millionaire. Here are some of the key takeaways: The size of your thinking determines the size of your life. Education draws out the greatness in you and it starts when you self-educate. You elevate by figuring out what you want. So, we need to know the destination we want to be at. Partnering with a mastermind revolutionizes your life. You create a life you visualize for yourself. Listen to this inspiring Podcast with Mark. This could change your life forever. Check out the recent book authored by Mark Victor Hansen: Ask!: The Bridge from Your Dreams to Your Destiny Learn more about Jake & Gino: www.jakeandgino.com Apply for limited time, complimentary multifamily investing training: https://bityl.co/6v71

Bob Circosta is an entrepreneur and TV host. He is the pioneer host of home shopping on TV and has helped grow home shopping into a multi-billion dollar industry. He has sold over $6 billion worth of merchandise in his 43 years in the industry, earning him the title "TV's Billion Dollar Man."  In this episode… About 43 years ago, Bob Circosta’s boss handed him an electric can opener to sell on his radio show. Even though Bob had never sold on the radio before–and neither had anyone else back then–he went with the flow and he managed to sell over a hundred electric can openers in what will become the start of the radio/TV shopping industry.  Tune in to this episode of Inspired Insider as TV’s BIllion Dollar Man, Bob Circosta, to find out the three rules that he credits for his success in the business and as an entrepreneur.

In this episode, Bob Circosta, the Original HSN host, tells us about his experience of selling on radio and on TV. He gives us lots of powerful information about selling, this episode is packed with tips that you can apply to your business today! You can connect with him at www.BobCircosta.com  If you need your product to be pitched and sold on air, contact info@bobandchad.com to see if they can help you!  Also, be sure to enter the contest to win a free ticket to the next Cultivate Your Success Event in Tampa, FL, 2020, valued at $77! (Cultivate Your Health & Wealth) Just listen to the podcast and private message Colleen, the Podcast Host the answer to this question: What was the most unusual product Bob mentions that he sold? You can reach Colleen on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/cultivateyoursuccess/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/YourGigGirl/

Ever have an idea for a product? Ever want to get that product sold on HSN or QVC? Original - and current - HSN host Bob Circosta will tell you what you need to do first.We also talk about the best product ever sold on HSN; the weirdest; and the worst (which you won't believe was real). In addition to hosting on HSN, Bob also runs boot camps to show entrepreneurs how to get their products on Home Shopping Network. He's also the author of "Life's A Pitch."https://www.BobAndChad.comhttps://www.BobCircosta.comhttps://ww.MarketAnything.co

During this entertaining segment of the Compassionate Capitalist Podcast, Bob Circosta shares the lessons learned during his legendary career as "TVs  Billionaire Dollar Man" who has sold over $6 Billion in merchandise.   Karen and Bob explore the similarities between selling customers on why buy a product and selling investors on why invest in the company.  A clear message creates the foundation for the story to be presented, and knowing your target and how to get the opportunity in front of them produces the outcome a CEO is seeking.   Today, Bob helps entrepreneurs create an impactful and profitable pitch to maximize their sales and marketing on various marketing platforms. Bob also co-hosts a live shopping channel called “WHAT A GREAT IDEA with Bob & Chad” and quarterly workshops to help entrepreneurs break through to massive sales growth.  To learn more visit http://bobandchad.com  Karen Rands helps entrepreneurs get the capital to fuel their growth through the Launch Funding Network and Access to Capital System.   To learn more visit http://karenrands.co   Also get the best selling primer for Angel Investors > Inside Secrets to Angel Investing. The ABCs of Success?   Watch to learn with the video of the conversation https://youtu.be/A5CtcKo6DNk or listen on your favorite podcast player and subscribe to the Compassionate Capitalist Podcast.   

During this entertaining segment of the Compassionate Capitalist Podcast, Bob Circosta shares the lessons learned during his legendary career as "TVs  Billionaire Dollar Man" who has sold over $6 Billion in merchandise.   Karen and Bob explore the similarities between selling customers on why buy a product and selling investors on why invest in the company.  A clear message creates the foundation for the story to be presented, and knowing your target and how to get the opportunity in front of them produces the outcome a CEO is seeking.   Today, Bob helps entrepreneurs create an impactful and profitable pitch to maximize their sales and marketing on various marketing platforms. Bob also co-hosts a live shopping channel called “WHAT A GREAT IDEA with Bob & Chad” and quarterly workshops to help entrepreneurs break through to massive sales growth.  To learn more visit http://bobandchad.com  Karen Rands helps entrepreneurs get the capital to fuel their growth through the Launch Funding Network and Access to Capital System.   To learn more visit http://karenrands.co   Also get the best selling primer for Angel Investors > Inside Secrets to Angel Investing. The ABCs of Success?   Watch to learn with the video of the conversation https://youtu.be/A5CtcKo6DNk or listen on your favorite podcast player and subscribe to the Compassionate Capitalist Podcast.   

In this episode, I interviewed my good friend Bob Circosta.  Bob was the world's first Live TV Shopping Host over 40 years ago, and he helped create the whole industry which now includes HSN, QVC and many other U.S. and international Live TV Shopping channels.  Bob shares the story of the first product ever pitched, back when HSN was a radio station that launched a show called the International Suncoast Bargaineers Club.  It's a fascinating story, but Bob also weaves in some great advice for entrepreneurs and business owners based on his more than 25,000 hours pitching products on live TV and over 75,000 unique product presentations.  Among other things, in this episode you'll learn:•How to pitch your product or service•How to get distribution to market your business•The secrets to effective selling, even if you “hate selling”•How to stay motivated in the face of trials as you grow your businessEven after helping thousands of business owners, Bob is still very active in helping entrepreneurs and inventors get their products launched on HSN, on Canada's “The Shopping Channel,” and by hosting product videos for digital marketing on Facebook and Instagram.  You can learn more about Bob Circosta at BobCircosta.com, and if you'd like to learn about working with Bob or attending one of his live Bootcamps, please reach out to Info@HarvestGrowth.com.  This podcast is hosted by Jon LaClare, founder and CEO of Harvest Growth.  To learn more about Harvest Growth and how they can help you “harvest the growth potential of your business”, please visit HarvestGrowth.com.  

Bob Circosta is TV's original home shopping host and one of the individuals who helped create the multi-billion-dollar TV home shopping industry. He sold the first item ever offered! Over the past 40 years, Bob has logged over 25,000 hours of live selling on TV, made over 75,000 separate product presentations, and has, individually, sold over six billion dollars in merchandise which has earned him the title: “TV's BILLION DOLLAR MAN.” Today, Bob helps entrepreneurs sell their products all over the world. When HSN started their entrepreneurial program segment, HSN American Dreams, they asked Bob to find products and bring them on the air. In addition, Bob co-hosts What a Great Idea with Bob & Chad on the live shopping channel in Canada. His popular book, “Life's a Pitch” is a proven and powerful guide to successfully selling ANYTHING – ANYWHERE! Bob has been featured on ABC's Good Morning America, NBC's Today Show, ABC's 20/20 and in articles in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. Recognized as the world's leading authority on TV Shopping, Bob received the first-ever “HSN LEGEND AWARD” for his contributions and lifetime achievements in the electronic retailing industry. What you'll learn about in this episode: How Bob grew the Home Shopping Network from its very beginning The product that started the home shopping industry Why you should take action right now if you have a product idea Simple products that have become hits in the past Getting started selling a product even if you have limited quantities to start How to sell a product that you didn't even come up with yourself The types of products that are suitable for HSN and the types of products that sell the best The process that a product goes through to get approved What dollars per minute (DPM) means and why it's important to the home shopping world What happens after a product is approved How long it takes to get paid after your product airs on HSN Why this process is low risk for entrepreneurs The reason you need to sell a high volume to make a lot of money in the home shopping market How to continue manufacturing a product if it does well in the first test run Bob's book “Life's a Pitch” and what it will teach you A special Bob is offering to listeners to get your product pitch heard right away Resources: TheMentorPodcast.com/Eval Get Ron's Free Book and Audio Here Get Ron's $1 Offer Here

Consider this story: in the 13th century, there was a Turkish trader who would go to the border with the Orient. When the border guards asked what he was smuggling, he'd shrug and point at his donkey. The border patrol burned the hay in the donkey's cart and search the donkey closely to figure out what he was smuggling. When they found nothing, they let him pass. Later, he returned empty-handed, without a donkey. The next day, the same thing happened. Over the course of 30 years, he became a wealthy trader. After this time, the retiring chief of the border patrol asked the trader what he was smuggling and swore not to punish him. Only then did he admit to smuggling... donkeys. Do you see what he did there? He was so transparent, and did his smuggling in such plain view, that everyone was too busy looking deeper to see what he was actually doing. When we tie this back to today's three insights, you'll see that the trader was also designing his offer first, before focusing on being as transparent as possible. When you think of seeding, imagine an apple. The seeds are inside the fruit when it falls to the ground. The seeds then take root, grow into new trunks, branch out, and produce new fruit. Because the seeds are in the middle of the fruit (which is the offer, in this metaphor), you can see why it's so important to design the offer first so that it contains the seeds.  One specific way you can seed is by using your module names as seeds within your speech, pitch, or presentation. For example, you might have a module called “Quick and Easy Ways to Learn Wordpress.” As part of your presentation, you might say, “We'll be talking about some quick and easy ways to learn Wordpress even if you're a tech dummy.” Notice how this line incorporates the exact language of the module without sounding unnatural. Tune in to learn more about all of these points, and ways you can apply them to your own skills in selling through storytelling!   In This Episode: [01:59] - Alex introduces the three key insights that you'll learn all about in today's episode. [02:50] - To get things going, Alex shares the story of Nasreddin Hodja, a Turkish peasant who rode around on a donkey telling stories in the 13th century. [06:43] - Alex relates the moral of the story he has just told to one of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which involves beginning with your offer. [07:43] - When Alex is about to enroll someone, he explains that his intention is to do everything in his power to inspire and influence that person to say “yes” to what he is offering. He explains how well this has worked out for him. [08:50] - Alex describes a question that he asks people who take part in one of his intensive programs, and uses this question to demonstrate what seeding is. [10:09] - “The shortest distance between two points is not a straight line … is the path of least resistance,” Alex points out. [11:05] - Alex shares a lesson he learned from his friend Lisa Sasevich, and describes the importance of letting your students know what the ascension path is. [13:52] - We learn why it's so important to have language consistency throughout your offer, instead of using synonyms. [14:42] - Alex shares the WSGAT technique from Bob Circosta, and explains that you're often not actually selling the item you think you're selling. [16:38] - A specific way you can seed is by using the names of your modules as you talk, Alex explains. He also discusses the difference between pimping someone into a sale and pampering them into a sale. [18:04] - You've been selling all your life, Alex explains, and gives some examples of instances in which you probably tried trial closes when you were a kid. [18:30] - Alex returns to the Hodja story he shared earlier and points out that the shortest distance to two points is the path of least resistance. [18:52] - Alex offers a quick review of the specific insights he has explored in this episode, discussing transparency, beginning with the end in mind, and seeding as being like breadcrumb navigation. [19:54] - Speaking of reviews, Alex asks listeners to head to this link to leave a comment and rate the show. [21:00] - Alex offers listeners a gift in honor of the second episode of the podcast: a free copy of his books Alexisms! Tune into the episode to learn how to get yours.   Links and Resources: Alex Mandossian MarketingOnline.com Skipio - where mass business texting gets personal! Alexisms by Alex Mandossian All Selling Aside on iTunes Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey Lisa Sasevich WSGAT Bob Circosta Tested Sentences That Sell by Elmer Wheeler

Pitch 2 the Pros, The Inventors Launchpad Network and Guest Host TV’s Billion Dollar Man Mr. Bob Circosta are on a nationwide search to discover the next Big Thing. In each episode, Inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers are given the unprecedented chance to make their businesses grow immediately. Pitch 2 the Pros is looking for entrepreneurs who can pitch their Inventions and products in hopes of landing that big break. If selected your product could be place on a TV Shopping Channel, Retail Store shelves, in an Infomercial or featured on a major Ecommerce site. The Inventors Launchpad Network and Host Carmine Denisco – Is proud to present The Pitch 2 The Pros Podcast, With Special Guest Host The Legendary Mr. Bob Circosta. www.bobcircosta.com This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network. www.inventorslaunchpad.com

Pitch 2 the Pros, The Inventors Launchpad Network and Guest Host TV’s Billion Dollar Man Mr. Bob Circosta are on a nationwide search to discover the next Big Thing. In each episode, Inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers are given the unprecedented chance to make their businesses grow immediately. Pitch 2 the Pros is looking for entrepreneurs who can pitch their Inventions and products in hopes of landing that big break. If selected your product could be place on a TV Shopping Channel, Retail Store shelves, in an Infomercial or featured on a major Ecommerce site. The Inventors Launchpad Network and Host Carmine Denisco – Is proud to present The Pitch 2 The Pros Podcast, With Special Guest Host The Legendary Mr. Bob Circosta. www.bobcircosta.com This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network. www.inventorslaunchpad.com

Pitch 2 the Pros, The Inventors Launchpad Network and Guest Host TV’s Billion Dollar Man Mr. Bob Circosta are on a nationwide search to discover the next Big Thing. In each episode, Inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers are given the unprecedented chance to make their businesses grow immediately. Pitch 2 the Pros is looking for entrepreneurs who can pitch their Inventions and products in hopes of landing that big break. If selected your product could be place on a TV Shopping Channel, Retail Store shelves, in an Infomercial or featured on a major Ecommerce site. The Inventors Launchpad Network and Host Carmine Denisco – Is proud to present The Pitch 2 The Pros Podcast, With Special Guest Host The Legendary Mr. Bob Circosta. www.bobcircosta.com This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network. www.inventorslaunchpad.com

Pitch to the Pros, The Inventors Launchpad Network and Guest Host TV’s Billion Dollar Man Mr. Bob Circosta are on a nationwide search to discover the next Big Thing. In each episode, Inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers are given the unprecedented chance to make their businesses grow immediately. Pitch to the Pros is looking for entrepreneurs who can pitch their Inventions and products in hopes of landing that big break. If selected your product could be place on a TV Shopping Channel, Retail Store shelves, in an Infomercial or featured on a major Ecommerce site. The Inventors Launchpad Network and Host Carmine Denisco – Is proud to present The Pitch to The Pros Podcast, With Special Guest Host The Legendary Mr. Bob Circosta. www.bobcircosta.com This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network. www.inventorslaunchpad.com

Pitch 2 the Pros, The Inventors Launchpad Network and Guest Host TV’s Billion Dollar Man Mr. Bob Circosta are on a nationwide search to discover the next Big Thing. In each episode, Inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers are given the unprecedented chance to make their businesses grow immediately. Pitch 2 the Pros is looking for entrepreneurs who can pitch their Inventions and products in hopes of landing that big break. If selected your product could be place on a TV Shopping Channel, Retail Store shelves, in an Infomercial or featured on a major Ecommerce site. The Inventors Launchpad Network and Host Carmine Denisco – Is proud to present The Pitch 2 The Pros Podcast, With Special Guest Host The Legendary Mr. Bob Circosta. www.bobcircosta.com This Podcast is brought to you by the Inventors Launchpad Network. www.inventorslaunchpad.com

It all began back in 1977 when an advertiser traded units of a product in lieu of payment in cash for his advertising bill. AM radio talk-show host Bob Circosta was asked to sell avocado-green-colored can openers live on the air by station owner Bud Paxson. Circosta invited his listening audience to call him up, reserve one of the can openers and come down to the studio to pick it up. The phone lines started to light up… And on that day… 112 electric can openers were sold and the home shopping industry was born! Today, the phenomenon of TV shopping channels generates over $12 billion a year in product sales. Ever since then, businesses, companies and entrepreneurs have looked to Bob Circosta to help them find the words that work. And boy oh boy, do they work! 25,000 hours of live selling on television and 75,000 separate product presentations later and Bob has accumulated a whopping ONE BILLION DOLLARS in personal sales for entrepreneurs and businesses all over the world. As Marissa Shipman, Founder and CEO of The Balm says “If selling was an art, then Bob Circosta would be the modern day Da Vinci.” A strategic thinker and pioneering force in the television home shopping revolution, Bob is bringing Fortune 500 “Big Brand Thinking’ to businesses and products of all shapes and sizes. The business world, celebrities and a multitude of national media outlets have featured Bob in a variety of roles ranging from appearances on NBC’s Today Show and 20/20 to promoting products with stars such as Suzanne Somers, Fran Drescher, Florence Henderson, Ken Paves, Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, Carol Alt, Jillian Barberie, Dixie Carter, Patti LaBelle, Bob Hope, Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, Cindy Margolis and more! Now you can tap into the wealth of knowledge that has made Bob Circosta “TV’s Billion Dollar Man!” Whether you’re anxious to learn how to sell on the air or want Bob to come and speak at your next big corporate event or share his proven selling secrets to your sales team and entrepreneurs, Bob Circosta Communications, Inc. offers a variety of solutions customized to fit your needs. www.bobcircosta.com The Inventors Launchpad – Roadmap to Success Series is presented by Inventors Launchpad in beautiful Tampa Bay, FL and hosted by Carmine Denisco. Carmine is an accomplished Author, Entrepreneur, Inventor and Co-founder/Managing Partner of Inventors Launchpad. Along with his business partner Rick Valderrama has changed the face of the invention industry and look forward to helping inventors from all over the world move their ideas forward. For more information please visit www.inventorslaunchpad.com

Hugh Ballou Interviews Dave Lucas about his Misfit Entrepreneur concepts and systems. The Interview Transcript Ep 53, Interview with Dave Lukas Hugh Ballou: Dave Lukas has this podcast called the Misfit Entrepreneur. Dave, you and I met virtually, and we are getting acquainted. What I have seen so far is quite impressive. Say a little bit about your background and your business, and then about this podcast, this Misfit Entrepreneur. Talk about yourself and your background and what the inspiration was for launching this great podcast you have. Dave Lukas: Thanks, all good stuff. Thanks for having me, and thanks everyone for tuning in. A little bit about my background just so you guys know. I have always ben an entrepreneur, ever since I was a kid. Like most people, I did the lawn thing, but I did a direct sales business at my college and took it to another business after college that I brought to Columbus, Ohio, where I live now. I split time between Columbus and San Diego. I am in the health and wellness arena. I did that for a year. Then I had this crazy idea. I either wanted to run or own a Fortune 500 someday. So early 20s, right? Everything you can accomplish. I got to get up from the ground floor with one of these and really understand it. One of the best places to do that is on the sales side of things. If you look at a lot of CEOs, a lot of them are salespeople. Sales is a skill that no matter who you are in life and no matter what you do, you really need to understand and utilize. One of the things I talk about when I do speeches is that sales is one of the most innate, natural abilities we all have. If you have a spouse or a significant other, you sold yourself to them, and they sold themselves to you. It’s something that we do naturally. We don’t think of it to be more deliberate at it. I went to school essentially. I worked for a top 50 training program, Fortune 500. Spent a number of years there. Had a lot of success. I was Rep of the Year and all that in my early days. Then I became a turnaround manager and a trainer nationally for all of their rookies. During that time, I continued my entrepreneurial efforts. I continued to invest. I continued to build up other businesses. When you are successful in sales, that gives you autonomy, which allowed me to do that. One of those companies I invested in and helped to guide and mentor in my free time was a company called Grass Technologies. It was a very unique company in the data intelligence space in the travel industry. Anything can be learned. That is one thing I learned. Going from where I was and going to the travel sector is a completely different world. We grew that business from basically nothing to- Nowadays I spend a lot of time there, and it is my largest business. Inc 5000 multi-year winner. We do business in over 100 countries. It’s been a lot of fun. We have that. I do some other things, where I teach and speak and train. I work in the investment side of things, and I am part of a small hedge fund. Then I started this podcast. It’s called the Misfit Entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur, that makes sense. People are like, “Oh yeah, you’re an entrepreneur. You started a podcast to learn the unique traits of entrepreneurs.” The reason I did it is not what most people think. The reason I did it came about three years ago when my wife and I went to China to adopt our daughter. We adopted our daughter, and we get home, and she is 18 months old at that time. In my youth, I spent a lot of my extra time, weekends and evenings, learning. I trained with Zig Ziglar, God rest his soul; Brian Tracy, who wrote the cover quote for my bestselling book; and Tony Robbins, all of these guys, billionaires and millionaires. I spent about five years spending every waking moment that I had learning from these people. That is how that book came about. Fast forward multiple years later, and I have this 18-month-old. I am a dad now. As we are starting to become a family, all of these things are bubbling up that I forgot that I had learned throughout time. I learned from this person or that person. I’m going, Oh my gosh. How much of this stuff have I forgotten over the years? The idea for the Misfit Entrepreneur came about because at that point I said, “I have to have a way where I can immortalize these lessons and this amazing advice from people like you and others throughout the world for her to have even after I am dead and gone.” That is how it started. Do I do a blog? Do I do a video blog? Do I do an email address that she get when she’s older that there is all this stuff in there for her? I am a big listener of podcasts; I know a lot of people are. They are pretty mainstream nowadays. I love the medium because you can take it anywhere. You can take it to the car, to the gym, while you work. You can have it anywhere, which is different than a video or a blog where you have to be present in viewing and reading. You can’t take it to all these places. So that is why we settled on a podcast. We launched in September of last year. It’s been a blessing. Now we are in over 50 countries, and we have had amazing guests. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s helped to bring this amazing information that these people have, these secrets, their misfit trades that set them apart and helped other people learn and put to use in their lives. That is a brief background on all that fun stuff. Hugh: That’s a very different paradigm than a lot of people I talk to, as you might imagine. I love that. We had a conversation before we went live today and discovered that we have a lot more synergies. I am glad to have you today as a guest. My audience I would classify as social entrepreneurs. They are running a business, or they are running a church, synagogue, or local community foundation. The commonality is that we all are establishing good, sound business principles in the organizations that we run. I want to probe some of that with you because the things that make us independent as entrepreneurs also cripple us so we don’t fit. Some of the things we need to learn are things we don’t yet know we need to learn. I love what you talked about in keeping track of all the things we have been exposed to. We have learned so many things we have forgotten a lot of them. I love the podcast. Like you mentioned, I love keeping current on my skills. You may know that I spent 40 years as a musical conductor. The composer/conductor Ralph Vaughan Williams said that music did not reveal all of its secrets to just one person. I get tidbits from a lot of other people, which is great. As entrepreneurs, we tend to go to the shiny object when we need to stay focused. I think podcasts are a focus for me. I am an entrepreneur. I am guilty. Seems like you have this bestselling book. What is the book about? What’s the title of it? Dave: The book is called The Ten-Year Career. It came out in 2012/2013. The idea behind that book was, Okay, I spent all this time learning all this stuff. How do I condense it down so it’s useful? It came about because I had this giant binder of all these lessons, notes that I have learned along the way. When I was working on one of my businesses or with someone else or just in general, I would pull this thing out and go, “Hey, I learned that from Tony. Check this out. Here is what we can do here with this.” Eventually, enough people said that I should distill it down and put it in a book. The biggest challenge for a lot of people is where to start. Where do I start, and how do I get that momentum? The book was written as a way to help people, whether you are just starting out, or maybe you have lost your way and are looking for that road map or path to help guide you to get yourself to higher levels of achievement. The book title, The Ten-Year Career, is based upon the fact that my goal was always to be at a position to where if I wanted to, I didn’t have to work within ten years. I am happy to say that I achieved that two years ago. To me, that was my goal. But it was the principles that had to be put into place consistently done over time to do that. One thing I found about success in very high achieving and high-performing people that consistently win, it’s not that they do one thing extremely better than anyone else—sometimes you have those cases—but really it’s they do a lot of things just incrementally better than the others. And they do that consistently. That is what’s in here. It starts off with: Who are you? How can you find clarity and purpose in who you are? Then it goes to helping you set goals for yourself so that you have something to go after and achieve. A lot of people don’t write down what they want. They don’t know what they want. You have to have that clarity to find it. Then we go into helping you get the skills you need along the journey. I talk about sales earlier. There is a chapter on that in there. There is a chapter on managing your finances. Productivity and time. Structure = freedom. I know that sounds weird, but the more structure you put into your life, the more freedom you will gain by it. That is something that is important. A lot of people don’t plan anything. They don’t plan their days or weeks, and they don’t plan for their success. We have all heard that cliché that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. That is really true because being structured, understanding where you are going and how you are going to get there, makes it so much easier. That’s all in there. Then we have traits of highly sucessful people I have met along the way that are really stand-out things like what it means to be tenacious and what that looks like and examples of that, what it means to be committed. We go through all that. At the end, we share some unique ways—even from 2012 or 2013, they are still relevant today–that you can start a business before, if you have never started or created a business before, here are some unique things you can be doing. Ways of looking at things that are different to help you get ahead. Hugh: I am laughing because you were so in sync with these messages. We have talked very little. It’s like in James Allen’s book A Man Thinketh, he says, “We don’t attract what we need. We attract what we are.” The reason failing to plan is a cliché is because it’s true. I want to make sure people know. Is it ten number or ten word? Dave: Word. Hugh: The Ten-Year Career. Is it Dave Lukas? Dave: It’s D. M. Lukas. Hugh: D. M. Lukas. Dave: I am the weird guy that spells it with a K. I am the one guy out there still, I think. Hugh: I misspelled you. How did I do that? Dave: No worries. It’s very common. Hugh: I’m sure they can find it on Amazon. It’s been a bestseller. What is a link to find you online? Dave: You can type in Dave Lukas in Google and find a lot of things. I am on all the social media as themisfitentrepreneur. Misfitentrepreneur.com. You will find everything if you go there. Hugh: People ask me how to find you. Did you try to Google me? I’m all over, as are you. A couple of interesting things. Thank you for explaining about the book. I got to get me one. There is a journey in writing a book of self-discovery. It’s self-empowering when you are trying to share with other people. Did you find that true? Dave: It’s my first book. It took me two years. Advice for writing a book if you are going to write a book: Ready, fire, aim is okay. You can always revise it. I really wanted it to be perfect in every way, so I went around and around and around. My wife knew me pretty well. In the beginning, I would dabble in it a little bit and go away from it. She knew me pretty well and said, “When you are truly committed to it, you’ll do it.” On those words, that was literally about a year. A little less than a year later, it was done, published, out. It is a journey. You discover things about yourself and who you are. You learn about things that you didn’t even think about. Especially when you are learning to write, most people aren’t professional authors. I’m not either. But you start to study how to get a message across succinctly. That transfers into other areas of your life. When you are on a meeting like this, don’t say too many words; only a few will do to get a message across. It’s interesting going through that process. You learn a lot, you grow a lot, and you discover some things in yourself you never knew you had. Hugh: Those are good words. That book seems like it would be valuable. As soon as I hang up, I’m getting it. In that explanation, there is something that came to my mind. A month ago, I had on a colleague of mine, Dr. David Gruder, organizational and developmental psychologist. We were talking about the shadow, that part of us that holds us back. You and I talked a little bit about mindset. This whole thing about sales, it requires a different mindset because we have the wrong idea about sales. I do work with lots of different kinds of entrepreneurs, including those who are clergy. They don’t believe in sales. What is evangelism if it’s not selling something you believe in? You have a need, you find value, and you connect people with that value. One of the people I want to have on here who is a friend of mine is Bob Circosta, who sold over $11 billion worth of stuff on the home shopping channels. He hates to sell, but he teaches people how to sell, and he is brilliant at it. It’s about the transfer of feelings, but it’s also offering people value. Would you speak to this? How do we reframe our thinking? The book that I referred to As a Man Thinketh has a lot of really meaty stuff. What does Dave Lukas have to say on how we need to reposition our thinking no matter what kind of entrepreneur we are and what kind of organization? I think it starts with us reframing our thinking. Would you agree? Dave: It is. This is one of my favorite topics to talk about because it’s where most people struggle the most. They actually don’t realize a lot of things about the way that they think. It’s funny you just mentioned a pastor or priest having trouble selling. What are you doing giving a sermon? When you are giving a sermon and doing the verse of the day and explaining that and trying to connect that with people’s lives so they take it and make a difference with it, that’s what you’re doing. You’re selling them on understanding that sermon. You don’t look at it that way, but that’s what you’re doing. We’ll take a step back from that and a step back even from sales. Here is the thing that a lot of people don’t realize about the way that they think. I’ll ask you: When the baby comes out of the womb, is their success and path in life already predetermined? When they get out of the womb, do they say, “Beautiful baby. Too bad they will never make more than $35,000.” Hugh: We tend to do that as irresponsible adults. We put limits on others, which sometimes they accept and sometimes they don’t. Dave: What you just said makes a lot of sense. If you guys think about that, you really come out with a clean slate, but we actually are conditioned to be who we are in life. A lot of that conditioning is great. Sources: parents, friends, media, culture, school, religion, everything has an impact on who we are. The thing that people don’t realize is that we have two minds. We have our subconscious mind and our conscious mind. Our conscious mind is what you use when you think to give an answer, like I am thinking it through now. That is your conscious mind. But your subconscious mind is actually the most powerful part of the brain. It is the animal part of the brain. It is the part that runs you without you even knowing it. How else do you think to drive a car or throw a ball? In a lot of situations, you just react. What you say is a reaction. You don’t really think. You say it, you do it. That is your subconscious. What the subconscious gets its information from is all that conditioning over the years. Basically it files that away in your brain, and when scenarios or instances come up, it takes that reaction or that way of thinking and applies it. You at home, how many things do you say because that is what you learned from your parents, or maybe things you do because that is what my parents did. That is all conditioning. The cool thing is there are a lot of cool things that come from that, cultural things, traditions, etc. But there are things that come into our lives that if you stopped and thought about it, you may not actually accept about yourself. You may think that $50,000 is a lot of money, or you say that, but when you step back and think about it, you say, “That is actually not a lot of money. I think $500,000 is a lot of money.” Or so on. The trick that people have to learn is what I call really the awareness factor. Awareness is the catalyst to change. Once you understand that you have been conditioned to be certain ways, then you have the choice to keep them and keep using them in your life or recondition yourself for what you want. I’ll give you a great example as to how the mind can quickly be reconditioned. Have you ever wanted or saw a car that you really like? Maybe a cherry red whatever. It’s amazing how after you put that to memory and say, “I really like that car. I want that car in that color,” how much you see them on the roads. I don’t know if you’ve ever had that experience before or seen that, but it happens. I remember when I first saw an Aston Martin on the roads here, I said, “That’s the car.” It’s the Vanquish. I went home and looked it up. That is on the goal board. That is the car. I had never seen an Aston Martin before that. But the next week, I saw four of them on the roads. That is your subconscious. Once you give it something, for all the credit we give it, it’s actually pretty dumb. It’s the animal part of the brain. It filed it away and started looking for it and pointing it out to me. It’s the same in all aspects of your life, from your financials to your relationships to everything. This is where once you are aware of this, you can start to do a few things. The first thing that I talk about with people is you have to develop what I call your inner coach. This is that little voice inside of your head that catches you when you go to start saying something or you go to start doing something that you don’t agree with in your life. It could be something that you learned from somewhere else or you have done over and over again but you realize that it’s not you. That’s not who I want to be. And you start to realize it. It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a lifelong skillset that you have to do with this to start to change the way you think. What you do is you do what I call stop, ask, and choose. You stop yourself in the moment, ask yourself, “Is this the thought or reaction I want to have?” and choose the path forward that you feel is best for you. When you start to do that, you recondition that brain. When it comes to finances, if your success and wealth path is set to a certain number, you can start to retrain your brain to set it to a higher number. Ask yourself how you will get there. That activates the side of the creative brain and allows you to start growing and learning and taking the steps you need to go to those higher levels. It’s not easy for anybody. But you look at a lot of the most successful people in the history of the world. You will see that this trait runs common with them. Whether they figured it out or were just naturally gifted at it, this is something that they truly understand. They truly understand how to have true choice and gain control over their thoughts and the way they do things. I have a couple more points to that, but I will stop there if you have any questions. Hugh: Well, I do. I do. Or some observations. I am still in sync with all of that. Three weeks ago, on an interview like this, I was at the Napoleon Hill Foundation, which is a two-hour drive from me, speaking to the executive director, who used all of Napoleon Hill’s philosophies, running a bank or other businesses. He is now the executive director for the legacy of Napoleon Hill with his foundation. What you are talking about, the things that Napoleon Hill discovered when he interviewed all of these famous people, I never thought about whether they were aware of it or not, but they all had this trait as positive image failure was not an option. It was the subconscious that you program with your conscious. Bob Proctor speaks about that a lot. You are sort of springboarding on Napoleon Hill’s writings and philosophies, aren’t you? Dave: None of this stuff is new. In fact, it was around way before Napoleon Hill. Aristotle was talking about this stuff. Hugh: Amen. Dave: It’s been packaged in different ways over the years that at the time made the most sense for people to understand it based on where they were in life. Napoleon Hill was a wake-up call to a generation essentially. When he wrote that, he packaged it in a way that really helped people to grasp it and be in sync with it and become aware so they really could put it into effect in their lives. We have seen it in other ways. We have seen The Secret and other things that have been packaged around this concept. But at the very root core of it, it comes down to a very simple process: your beliefs lead to the way you think. The way you think leads to the way you feel, the way you feel leads to your actions, and ultimately your actions lead to your results. Now if you take out the middle of that, you get beliefs lead to your results. What you truly believe ultimately becomes your results. What you focus on in life becomes your life. This is where the clarity is so important to understand what you truly believe. How many people take the time to stop and ask themselves what they truly believe? What do I truly believe about my life? What do I truly believe about my finances, my relationships, my family, my spirituality? What do I truly believe? We live in such a fast-paced society nowadays. We stop the microwave with three seconds left, I often joke. We can’t wait those three seconds anymore. Ding on the phone and we are automatically trained. Talk about subconscious conditioning. The phone dings and we are automatically on it. When do we have time? Or does it not feel like we don’t have time to stop and ask ourselves what we truly believe in life? Take two hours and put pen to paper on what you truly believe. It will change your life. What you truly believe will turn to actions in your life. You have to constantly remind yourself of this stuff. You can’t just do it once and be done with it. Again, what happened in the news yesterday? Anybody remember? It moves that fast. A great thing for you to do is remind yourself of these things. I will give you a simple one. I know it sounds goofy, but I have been doing it almost every day for a decade now. I have a white board in my office. When I walk in every single day, it says, “What type of attitude will I choose to have today? Great, fair, or poor.” Every morning, I have to come in and take a marker and circle which one of those I am going to have. I know it sounds rudimentary, but remember the subconscious is the animal, rudimentary part of our brain. Every day, I come in and not once in ten years have I circled fair or poor. It’s always great. When something doesn’t go right or I feel myself starting to react, that bubbling up inside you that we have, I look up there and saw that I circled I am going to have a great attitude today. I stop myself, ask myself how I want to go forward, and then choose the way that I want to do it. I can’t count how many times how having a simple board in front of me has made a difference and saved a deal or relationship or allowed me to better coach someone or make the right decision at the right times because just like everybody else, it’s a work in progress in life. I still react to things. I am not perfect; ask my wife. Little things like that make such a huge difference. Remember we started this by talking about the high-performing and successful people, they do little things incrementally better consistently. That is an example of one little one that works really well for me. Hugh: Consistently. I love that word you just slid in there. You’re talking about the structure. I laughed when you were talking early on in the conversation about having a structure in place. I am a musician. It’s a very ridged discipline. It’s mathematical and exacting. We have a structure. But because we have the structure, now we can be creative within that structure. Now we can spend our energy letting it happen. We are not spending energy trying to figure out what happens next. You’re hitting a lot of universal truths. What Napoleon Hill did was understand the laws of nature that have always existed, but he did what I would call original research by interviewing people who actually employed it. Like you said, he put it into a system that people could replicate that goes back to Aristotle and Biblical writers and other points in history. It is very consistent with all of that. He lists the attributes of true wealth. Money is the last one because it is the least important, but it is the result of all the value. The law of attraction came out of that. We are talking about that. We are also talking about programming your subconscious. That was a big part of that. Bob Proctor speaks about a lot. I don’t know if you understand or know the work of Murray Bowen. It is leadership methodology, understanding ourselves from our family of origins. We have this DNA that is imprinted into us, like software that is loaded into our computer. Unfortunately, a lot of people just use the defaults with the software and haven’t learned to program it appropriately. A whole lot of the things you are saying really ring true, no matter where we are working. I call my audience social entrepreneurs because we are not doing the corporate things. We are doing something independent. However, we have lots of liabilities. Our assets are our liabilities. The things that make us independent also penalize us. The mindset difference. You also talk about consistency. That is a huge one in my book. You also talked about having a structure in place so you know what you’re supposed to do. Your white board thing is brilliant. Napoleon Hill talks about that. Read your goal and set your attitude. He found that all these people could not hold a positive and negative idea simultaneously. You’re hitting a lot of the strong points. These are all in your book, are they? Dave: Yeah, a lot of this is discussed. I have expanded upon it since then, but much of what I just said is in there. Even the structures side of it, you mention the structure. Once you understand this stuff, you have to have a way to systematically input it in your life. That is how you plan things and how you do little things. Every morning, Tony Robbins does something similar like this. I have my own spin on this. I do what I call my 10-minute prime. It’s ten minutes to center yourself before the day starts, especially in today’s age. We are getting hit from all sides of all kinds of things throughout the day. It moves so much faster than it did in Napoleon Hill’s time or even ten years ago. It’s funny. A lot of people don’t even think about this, but the iPhone is 10 years old just this year. Doesn’t it seem like it’s been a lot longer than that? It’s amazing where we have come and even more amazing where we are going to be a few years from now, let alone ten years from now. Having the ability to put that consistent structure in your life, that is what I do with my ten-minute prime. I do three things I’m grateful for for the day. I center myself around gratitude and start my day with gratitude. That makes such a huge difference. If you have ever had a day where you start off late and it snowballs from there, and everything seems like nothing goes right throughout the day, it’s because that negative start has compounded in your subconscious and continues into everything else throughout the day. Having a process like a ten-minute prime where you stop and say I’m thankful for this or that, I believe in this, and this is a great thing for those in the world today, that gets your mind in a whole different way. It stops that negative thinking and stops things from happening like that. Hugh: That’s huge. You are slipping in some gems. I want to highlight that. You begin with a position of gratitude. There is abundance we are not grateful for, and it’s there for us to claim. I want to highlight that. Sorry to interrupt you. But that is so key. Dave: No, not a problem. I fly a lot. I am in the travel industry. I do everything from speaking. I split time between here and San Diego or my biggest office is for Grass. I am back and forth. I do a lot of flying. I am still amazed at how annoyed people get flying. You are in a seat going 550 miles an hour through the air on your laptop working or watching a movie or whatever. Come on! 100 years ago, you were on horseback trying to cross the Rocky Mountains. Come on! It’s just amazing what we have at our disposal that we take for granted. Hugh: It’s amazing. You have a lot of nuggets in this. We will transcribe this so there will be places for us to underline all of this great stuff. Dave, I knew you were great. I didn’t know you were this great. This is awesome. I could talk to you all day, but I don’t think people are going to listen to us all day. So I try to keep these interviews to a manageable length. We are on the downside of an hour here. As we wrap this up, think about what are some of the key points you want to leave people with? We are serious about changing the world. We got great stuff. We are entrepreneurs, but we are compromised by all of these things you have highlighted. What are some thoughts you’d like to leave people with so they can continue thinking? What are some things you’d like to leave people with as final thoughts? Dave: The first thing is be deliberate about your success. Take some time to plan and write down what you want. Get clear on what you want. Be deliberate about it. If you have ever had a day where you feel you have worked really hard and at the end of the day have nothing to show for it, that is pretty common. That happens because we don’t plan for it. We don’t sit there and say, “What do we need to accomplish today?” The other half of my ten-minute prime is I do the three things I need to thrive for the day. These are the three things that are going to make the biggest impacts on my world, my businesses, family, relationships, whatever it may be for that day. I take the time to think through the three most important things I can do today to further our mission and what we are doing. If you do nothing else but that, it will make such a huge difference. Be deliberate about your success. The second thing is you can never stop learning. I always say your education begins after school, whether that’s high school or college. Whatever it is, your education begins when you decide that it really begins. Take that time. I knew in today’s fast-paced world, get on a regular regiment. Read, listen to podcasts, seek out things. Anything can be learned. Whatever you don’t know, you can learn. Seek out those that have done it. The beautiful thing about today’s world is you can access all of it. Whatever you want to learn is at your fingertips, and it’s probably free. Get yourself into a mode where you are consistently learning and growing. If you are not growing, you are dying. If you are not growing yourself and your knowledge and your capabilities, then you are kind of dying. You are not reaching your true potential. Those are two things that I think are really important to anybody in success, no matter what you do, whether you are a nonprofit or in business, whether you are an athlete or in school, whatever it is. The last thing is look for those little things. Look for those little things that you can do just a little bit better than anybody else. Think about it. The 100-meter dash in the Olympics is won by 1/100/100 of a second. That makes the difference. You take inventory of your strengths, understand what you are really good at, and be deliberate there. Look for those ways to get incrementally better so it translates to a big difference for you. You will be amazed at how fast you can grow if you do that. Hugh: Wow. I loved everything that you have said in this interview, Dave. Dave Lukas, D. M. Lukas, author of The Ten-Year Career, thank you for sharing your brilliance with my audience today. Dave: Thanks for having me on. It’s been a pleasure to be with you. Any questions anybody has, I am always open. I respond to all emails that are sent to me. www.misfitentrepreneur.com. Any way that we can help, let us know. Hugh: Here we are. I sent an inquiry. Thank you so much, Dave.

Hugh: Greetings, this is Hugh Ballou. My special guest today is my dear friend and colleague, Shannon Gronich. We have known each other at least ten years. We met at a CEO Space event and have had casual conversations the last few years. Shannon has invited me to be a presenter at the Business Acceleration Summit in Melbourne, Florida. Whoa, has that been a power-packed event. I have learned more and more about Shannon’s multiple gifts. Today’s topic is how social entrepreneurs get publicity. We do great stuff, but nobody knows about it. Well, let’s tell people. Shannon, welcome. Shannon: Thank you so much. How to get free publicity is what I am really excited about. Hugh: Give us some background. I always want to know why this person is qualified to talk about this. I could read a bio or something, but it’s much more fun to hear it from the person themselves. Talk about yourself. Shannon: I love events. I produce close to 400 events. Within the process of doing events, I learn how to really work with the media, what they are looking for in stories. I came up with a simple system. I have gotten over three million dollars in free publicity and have developed a simple system that anybody could do the same. You don’t have to be a copywriter; you don’t even have to be a good writer. It’s something that when you use this format, it is a great way to attract publicity. Hugh: How many dollars? Three million dollars in free publicity? Shannon: Yes. Hugh: And you have produced 400 events? That’s mind-boggling. That’s impressive. People actually come and attend these events, I assume. Shannon: We have had thousands of people attend some of the events I have done. Hugh: That would tell me that this publicity thing works. Let’s get into your topic. I am a small business owner. I work by myself, I have done lots of good stuff, I have great social media, but I’m not sure I make it work really well. I also have a charity that does lots of good stuff. I’m not sure I get the publicity I deserve there. What are the problems you see with small business owners and social entrepreneurs? Shannon: It’s exactly what you just shared. You have these two amazing projects that you are working on, and it’s actually getting media attention, but also getting what is already existing to amplify and attract more. A lot of times, businesses are spending so much time working on their business that they don’t take time on marketing. I always tell people that if you are not getting the results you want, look at some of these key components, one being your press kit. Spending more time on your market. I know that with one of my first events, before we first cracked this code, we were getting 500 attendees. Once we cracked that code, the next time it went to 2,000 attendees. We had all the media in our area pick it up. The story was awesome. There were different variations. That type of impact took time, dealing with rejection because we had a number of people say no, they didn’t read it or no, I’m not the right department. You have to be okay with following up, but as you can hear, to go from 500 to 2,000, that was absolutely worth putting in that energy to get such a high return. Hugh: Amazing. Usually I am told by marketers that you need to spend $100 per person to get people there. You are telling me this is another model. Shannon: Yeah. There are a couple challenges I hear from people. They hire a publicist. I love them; I think there is a lot they can do. They hire a publicist and don’t get the results they want. I am big on empowering people to learn some of the tools, the language so that when they hire somebody or when they are sending out a piece, they know it will get the results. At the end of the day, it is all about the results you are going to get. The second thing is also as you said, spending the money but spending the time. If you turn some of that into time, taking time to get on the phone or develop a story or have a conversation with the media to sell them, not giving them too much information, but putting this together, I have seen people spend a lot less on their marketing and many times get free press. Hugh: I have a copy of your book on this. What is the title of that book? Shannon: Media Magic: How to Attract Limitless Radio, TV, Print Publicity. Hugh: That’s a pretty good book. It gives me some thoughts on things I had no clue about. How could people get Media Magic? Shannon: They can go to shannongronich.com or on Amazon. If you send me a receipt from Amazon, I give everybody an interview with Jay Abraham’s ghost writer who is also a contributor in the book. If you don’t know who Jay Abraham is, he gets paid six figures a day to go into corporations and deal with their marketing strategies. His ghost writer, who has also been in all areas of publicity, is sharing copyrighting secrets and language for prosperity, and I give that away for free for anybody who reads the book. Hugh: Jay Abraham is legendary. And a ghostwriter is someone who has to think within their brain and write for them. We will link to that underneath this video and in the podcast show notes. I will remind people to go to hughballou.com to find the different links for the different shows, and then the notes are there, too. Part of my problem in publicizing is people want to know who I am and what I do. Part of what I help people think through for themselves that I can’t do for myself is as a leader, we are people of influence. Defining ourselves is an important paradigm, is it? Shannon: That is actually the first step. Hugh, I think you’re really fortunate. The first step when I’m working with someone is to develop what I call an expert power bio. We have our bios and our resumes. But an expert power bio is what makes you stand out and sizzle and have the media pay attention. And Hugh, with you being in Forbes Magazine, your years of success, some of your clients, you have a lot of the key components to stand out as an expert. I know that when you are coming to town, any time I say that he has been featured in Forbes, that adds instant credibility. Some people that might be listening to this say, “I don’t have that success.” What is great about this expert power bio system is that you can actually… I have had 20-year-olds or people coming out of a job and creating a new business… There is a way to add sizzle to your bio or even use association with someone that you learned from or trained with to help you stand out. That is one of the first things people look at. Hugh, you are in a unique position because you are teaching leadership. People, especially with nonprofits or businesses, you are in an industry where I think at least with your press releases, the first thing is developing a tagline that sizzles. What is the benefit of leadership? We have to look at that end in mind. What is the story we are going to tell? There are all kinds of things with media. You can look at negative news and talk about politics. But there are three things I focus on with the media that everyone loves. They love human interest. You have been a musical conductor, Hugh. That story you tell. Maybe somewhere where you have overcome adversity. They also love community giveback. If you are involved in the community, and I know your listeners have nonprofits, that is easy for them. They have human interest and community giveback. And the third thing is education. Those are the three things that I focus on with individuals that I find it’s really easy when you have crafted a story to get the media to print. That is what they look for. Hugh: Wow. Do you have a checklist about that somewhere? Shannon: I do. My book is actually a workbook. You can write or scribble in it. I wanted people to get in the action. Anything I do, I think we should get into action. Kind of like you, Hugh. You do the same thing. Hugh: What I heard you say is we need to focus on results. When I did my first speaker one sheet and I sent it to this advertising company that specializes in one-sheets, I had a call with the chairman. He says, “This is all about you.” I went, Uh oh. I don’t like the tone of this. He said that it needs to be about them. Yes, I work on leadership, but that word gets people stuck in a rut, so I try to communicate what happens. They don’t buy leadership; they buy results. But it is through leadership that we make a difference. So how to present that. You are so right. People want to know what they are going to get out of this. Bob Circosta, a friend who sold six billion dollars on home TV, said, “What’s so good about that? We have to define the benefits of it.” Shannongronich.com or Amazon to get Media Magic. I need to pull that out and reread it. You are reminding me of things that I know but I am not using. Let’s go back to other tips. By the way, if you are in Florida or if you want to go to Florida in the winter, in January, that would be a good excuse to go to the Business Acceleration Summit. Businessaccelerationsummit.com is the website. I will be there with other thought leaders. It is a life-changing couple of days. It doesn’t take you a long time, but there is a lot of power packed into it. It’s where Shannon and I connect with people and share useful information. What are other tips?  How do we do a power bio? Shannon: I would love to offer that for free. If they go to shannongronich.com, I used to only give this to my clients, but it’s one of the most difficult things that people have to do: how to write about themselves. It’s a challenge to write about yourself. It’s a challenge. So I decided to give it away for free. I have a twelve-step program, which should really be a thirteen-step program because there is a thirteenth step. The thirteenth step that is not there, but I do share in a follow-up email, is a list of clients. One time, I had a woman that I was working with, and she was struggling with doubling her prices. She had a lot of clients. She was in this place where she was working herself overtime and needed to get to the next level. So we worked on her power bio, and when I started looking at her work, first off, she was amazing. She came from a job, and in that job, her exclusive account was Delta for three or four years. I asked her, “Can we list Delta as one of your clients?” Sure enough she could. Adding Delta as one of her accounts for her bio made it easier for her to double her prices with new clients. It was really great. Power bio is essential. I think it’s one of those things that people should really spend time on. The free press system I use is just a one-page tagline that sizzles, again talking about the results for the individuals. I will share a secret with you that you can use the next time you go shopping. Oftentimes, when people send me press releases, it’s an announcement. I just haven’t found that to work. The most successful press release that I had about an event, the tagline was, “85 Ways to Improve Your Health in Six Hours or Less.” We had 85 booths, and it was a six-hour event. That is how we came up with that tagline. Numbers are really essential. Those stand out above everyone else. When you go shopping next time, look at Oprah and Cosmo. They have spent billions of dollars in seeing what taglines will get people to buy magazines and read their articles. They are all short and sweet, and many times they have numbers. Take those and fill in what you can put in. It could be “Six Secrets to,” “Seven Steps to.” This doesn’t just apply to your press release. I found that if you are doing a workshop title or an email that you want to get opened, all of these principles can be universal in marketing. I had an event that I purchased a number of years ago. They had been doing meditation, and they had been at the event for a number of years. It was like a yoga meditation. They had a hard time getting people to come to the event. We changed the title to “How to Attain Inner Peace in Ten Minutes or Less,” and the classroom filled up. Hugh: That’s worth this whole call right there. We are guilty of making announcements. I am thinking this principal would be a good power bio for your bio page on your website. Where else would they use the power bio? Shannon: What I was just sharing with the tagline is for the press release. The power bio, I use it with my proposals. I use it anywhere that I want people to pay attention and I don’t want to be talking about myself. Does that make sense? Any time I am sending out a proposal or anything like that has really doubled my conversion. I know you can use it with grants. They want to know who your team is. If I am going to an event, if people have hired me to do event consulting, if it is a first-year event, oftentimes people question if they can pull this off. When you have someone on your team who has produced 400 events, really your whole team in your nonprofit should develop a power bio. Hugh: When you send out a press release, I assume there is something about me in the press release. Shannon: No. Hugh: Oh. Blow up that assumption. Shannon: There are many ways; there is not a right or wrong here. In the Associated Press, a lot of times people do put something about themselves. I have found that if you want free publicity, it cannot look like advertising. I may attach a bio as a separate thing, but when I send a press release, it is strictly about the story. How I position myself or you, Hugh, as an expert in the power bio is there is a certain place. I share this in the book, too. We quote you as an expert. You do the quote, and then you say, “Hugh Ballou, leadership expert.” Then we finish it. It’s a neat formula of how that works. For you, I would not say “founder of SynerVision.” I would do Forbes because Forbes is a big name. For me, I just say, “author, event producer,” really basic titles. The idea with this is you want the press to interview you. You want them to be telling the story about you. If you are marketing you, then they are like, “This person just wants free advertising.” Hugh: Wow. That has blown up an old paradigm I’ve had in my head, but it makes so much sense. So it’s okay to add another sheet as the bio. Shannon: I would keep them separate. I would not attach it to the press release. I would keep it as two separate attachments, or just a small thing in the body of the email. This can also be used to get speaking gigs. When you send in that information, you can send your power bio. You can use this material for lots of things. Hugh: That’s awesome. We are talking about the press release, which is a whole different format. You go over that in your book. You are also doing another biannual event soon. Shannon: It’s the Media Magic Sales and Marketing Intensive. We are actually working on your power bio, which you leave there with, as well as your press release. I have brought in some experts. I have a woman who is a regular contributor for the Huffington Post and Yahoo News. I have someone else who has been on The Today Show. I bring in other experts. This is an intensive where we work on your media kit. We have a website expert who comes in and helps you figure out how to convert through that. Hugh: I know that website expert. He is very good. He does both marketing and websites. The websites aren’t just a pretty picture, but they actually convert. That’s the whole message I am getting here. We tend to send out messages that don’t convert. We want to know how many people are going to come and buy our products or join our charity or come to our events. I’m thinking there are a lot of things I see churches and charities do wrong. They send an announcement. There is no compelling reason to want to go. They don’t get it because they know the reason, but they didn’t share it with anybody. It reminds me of the TED Talk with Simon Sinek, “Begin with why.” You are coming from that perspective of, “Here is what you are going to get.” You hit them in the face and interrupt their thinking because people are expecting the boring announcement. Instead, they get, “Hmm, pay attention.” The power bio could be a separate piece. In your press release, could you link to that? They could choose to find out more that way. That About Me page is usually done poorly as an afterthought when really that is the lead piece. This is establishing your position of influence in my world. There is also a segue with social media. I see lots of bad things in the form of an announcement, and people are selling you before you even know who they are. I’m thinking this whole concept could be a power concept for social media. You want to address that separately? Shannon: I think that with everything we do, we want to be mindful of the language we are using. Another expert we are bringing to the upcoming intensive, he is a sales expert in time shares and hotels, and he has a heart of gold. He has been able to crack the code based upon different personalities. One of the things is: Out of the 17 different personalities, there are the top two dividers of head and heart. In marketing, I love that he uses the Aflac example, how Aflac brings in the heart and saves time and money, which is the head. When we look at marketing, if you can at least hit those two touch points, then you can hit more of the masses. For me, I speak about community and human interest, which are heart stuff. I may lose people because I won’t talk about how to save money and how to increase revenue and more of the head things. You really need to combine the two in any of the marketing we are doing. Hugh: Absolutely. I am thinking of the Aflac duck. You got that thing that comes to your mind, and it’s really top-of-mind marketing. People really think about it. We also don’t spend time explaining who you are and building relationships with people. Then we really hammer them with promoting our event. Why should they do that? We don’t have a relationship with people. There is a different conversation around that. We are coming close to our time here. This is extremely valuable information, and I want to make sure we don’t send people down a foxhole. Let’s give them some clear directions. The Media Magic one-day intensive, where can they find more information about that? Shannon: They can find that at shannongronich.com under Events. I want to make sure I say one more thing before we go. Everything can be found on shannongronich.com or even businessaccelerationsummit.com. The real magic formula that I think of is yes, the language and what we say, but it really is the relationships and talking to people. How I have been able to get millions of dollars in free press is talking to the media. I don’t just send it out and expect them to pick it up. It involves emails and phone calls and expecting them to say no but having the vision of following it up. With my biggest success, I was rejected over ten times. No, we didn’t get it. No, we didn’t read it. No, it’s not a fit. I tweaked it a little bit, and at the very end, I don’t usually give up until the magazine goes to print and I know it’s done. I know that each time I just have to keep working at it and building that relationship with them. The editor ended up calling me and saying that they had a remnant space, and they gave me an entire page in the magazine. It’s really key to pick up the phone and not say too much. Use that tagline that sizzles. Say that you have a story that you think they would be interested in. You have a piece that might be great for their readers. You are coming to them first. Make it about their readers. Have them ask questions. If you fire-hose them, that is too much. That is why the tagline that sizzles, maybe a couple of stats about the challenge or problem you are solving, and get them engaged in asking questions. Hugh: Awesome. You may not remember, but I owned a camera store in St. Petersburg, Florida. I built out a very substantial footprint in providing film and chemistry to photo labs in industry: police departments, newspapers, the whole city of St. Pete, etc. I built that by relationship, exactly what you talked about. I got to know people. I visited them. I had something novel to talk about. They would say, “Oh, by the way, do you sell this? We need some of that.” So it’s really about connecting with people. You have helped us set a new paradigm. I am bad as a businessperson in understanding that. I teach people to think that way, but this is a good reminder for me. In my charity and the charities that I work with, we think that because we have a worthy cause, people should print it. When really, they don’t have a lack of people sending them stuff. We want to stand out from the crowd and create a compelling reason. People can find out about all of this at shannongronich.com. It’s not really a commercial. You are giving away free stuff and information on how to get free publicity. I am doing an event the next time you are doing your media intensive in Florida, and that’s a good reason to go to Florida this time of year. The Business Acceleration Summit, there are many good reasons to check out that information. Like I do, you give away a lot of free stuff. Shannon: I want to help so many people. Hugh: You do. This is a helpful interview. I am grateful to have you as a colleague and friend and that we collaborate on a lot of events together. As we come to a wrap here, I want you to think about a tip that you would like to leave people with. How do you get the world to pay attention to the important things you are doing? What is a parting thought that you have for people? Shannon: It is that every single one of us has a story. I have found that every business and individual has at least 50 stories that someone wants to hear and know about that is either inspiring, educational, or uplifting. There is not a lack of inspiration in each cause or individual. It takes time and energy and effort. It’s not much. You can do this in a short period of time of sharing that with the world and standing up and letting people know. Even adversity can be turned into a way of moving people to take action. Hugh: Great advice. Shannon, thank you for sharing your wisdom with people today, especially with me.   Get the free Power Bio Template at http://shannongronich.com

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