Podcast appearances and mentions of John Saddington

About this episode: This week we have John Saddington who's been running newsletters for over 10 years now. John is currently running his newest newsletter called Yen.fm, a daily newsletter for community-minded professionals. I wanted to bring him on the podcast because he wrote a really interesting deep dive called Build, Test, and Launch an Email Newsletter From Scratch. In that deep dive, there's a section on how to build a publication workflow that won’t burn you out. So in this podcast, we're going to dive deep into this workflow to help you in your newsletter journey. We're also going to talk about the writing process changes over the years.

We believe in an exciting and inevitable future where everything that we do will be fundamentally touched and transformed by blockchain technology and the world will be an infinitely better place to live, work, and play.Consequently, our mission is to accelerate the growth of blockchain within the public conscience, vernacular, and culture through awareness, education, and entertainment.In fact, our first explicit milestone is to get 1,000,000 new folks into blockchain, bitcoin, and cryptocurrency! This is just the first of many steps!If this resonates with you then join us; you are the vanguard.Subscribe on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCueLJ4vLHTwMpYILmdBjRlgFollow on Twitter - https://twitter.com/decentralizedtvFollow on Google + - https://plus.google.com/+DecentralizedTVOriginal Articles on Medium - https://medium.com/decentralizedtvEmail List - https://mailchi.mp/fa9de7339b0c/decentralized-newsSupport Decentralized TV original projects!Crypto Social Exchange - https://yen.io/The Bitcoin Pub - https://thebitcoin.pub/Crypto News - https://cryptoyum.com/Coin Prices and More - https://coinpuffs.com/Learn the Fundamentals of Bitcoin - https://10daysofbitcoin.com/Follow the best podcasts from the best minds in the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency space on twitter.https://twitter.com/bitcoinpodcasts

We believe in an exciting and inevitable future where everything that we do will be fundamentally touched and transformed by blockchain technology and the world will be an infinitely better place to live, work, and play.Consequently, our mission is to accelerate the growth of blockchain within the public conscience, vernacular, and culture through awareness, education, and entertainment.In fact, our first explicit milestone is to get 1,000,000 new folks into blockchain, bitcoin, and cryptocurrency! This is just the first of many steps!If this resonates with you then join us; you are the vanguard.Subscribe on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCueLJ4vLHTwMpYILmdBjRlgFollow on Twitter - https://twitter.com/decentralizedtvFollow on Google + - https://plus.google.com/+DecentralizedTVOriginal Articles on Medium - https://medium.com/decentralizedtvEmail List - https://mailchi.mp/fa9de7339b0c/decentralized-newsSupport Decentralized TV original projects!Crypto Social Exchange - https://yen.io/The Bitcoin Pub - https://thebitcoin.pub/Crypto News - https://cryptoyum.com/Coin Prices and More - https://coinpuffs.com/Learn the Fundamentals of Bitcoin - https://10daysofbitcoin.com/Follow the best podcasts from the best minds in the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency space on twitter.

e believe in an exciting and inevitable future where everything that we do will be fundamentally touched and transformed by blockchain technology and the world will be an infinitely better place to live, work, and play.Consequently, our mission is to accelerate the growth of blockchain within the public conscience, vernacular, and culture through awareness, education, and entertainment.In fact, our first explicit milestone is to get 1,000,000 new folks into blockchain, bitcoin, and cryptocurrency! This is just the first of many steps!If this resonates with you then join us; you are the vanguard.Subscribe on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCueLJ4vLHTwMpYILmdBjRlgFollow on Twitter - https://twitter.com/decentralizedtvFollow on Google + - https://plus.google.com/+DecentralizedTVOriginal Articles on Medium - https://medium.com/decentralizedtvEmail List - https://mailchi.mp/fa9de7339b0c/decentralized-newsSupport Decentralized TV original projects!Crypto Social Exchange - https://yen.io/The Bitcoin Pub - https://thebitcoin.pub/Crypto News - https://cryptoyum.com/Coin Prices and More - https://coinpuffs.com/Learn the Fundamentals of Bitcoin - https://10daysofbitcoin.com/Follow the best podcasts from the best minds in the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency space on twitter.https://twitter.com/bitcoinpodcasts

“If you can get into a job that has a really small team where you can work closely with the founders, you learn at a much more accelerated rate than if you were working in a much larger company dealing with managers.” In this episode of Nat Chat, I’m joined by Vincent Nguyen. Early into his college career, he already knew that the traditional college path wasn’t for him. He started a blog on the side called Self Stairway and over the course of seven months, he began posting on publications, connecting with influencers, and eventually got the opportunity to take on an apprenticeship with the company Empire Flippers. He took the apprenticeship, dropped out of college, and moved to the Philippines. After six months of working with them, he was promoted to be their marketing director and after a while, he branched off to start his own company, Growth Ninja. He’s been doing that for over two years now and helps sites grow through Facebook advertising. Vincent’s a good example of the great opportunities that you can gain from getting an apprenticeship, as well as showing that you don’t necessarily need a degree to be successful. We cover a wide range of topics, including: The multiple opportunities that an apprenticeship or blog can present you Disregarding college and self-educating yourself Resources for others looking to easily get an apprenticeship Advice for others looking to get into entrepreneurial pursuits The parental concern towards those choosing to not go to college Vincent’s journey from being an apprentice to becoming a marketing director And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to check out Vincent’s company Growth Ninja!  If you enjoyed this episode and our discussion on entrepreneurship and bypassing college, check out my episode with Zak Slayback, where we deep dive into both of those topics and much more. If you enjoyed the discussion on apprenticeships, check out my episode with Charlie Hoehn, as well as my episode with Cory Ames. Find Vincent online: Growth Ninja Self Stairway Mentioned in the show: Self Stairway [0:24] Empire Flippers [0:42] Tropical MBA [1:39] Entrepreneur On Fire [10:02] Marc and Angel’s site [10:11] Vincent’s video for Empire Flippers [10:44] Zapier [13:22] Dynamite Circle [28:04] Reddit [36:49] GetApprenticeship [37:34] Jobs.dynamitecircle.com [38:00] Sumo [38:14] We Work Remotely [38:30] Remote Ok [38:31] Tropical MBA podcast [40:45] (Vincent's first and second episodes on there) Books mentioned: The 4-Hour Workweek [39:50] (Nat’s Notes) People mentioned: John Lee Dumas [10:01] John Saddington [10:04] Neil Patel [10:07] Marc and Angel [10:11] Joshua Becker [10:14] Taylor Pearson [37:36] (Taylor’s Nat Chat episode) Tim Ferriss [39:34] Ramit Sethi [40:15] Derek Halpern [40:24] 1:30 - Introduction to Vincent, a bit on his first apprenticeship, becoming a marketing director for Empire Flippers, and then leaving to start his own company. 3:53 - Some of the internships Vincent was doing before he left for his apprenticeship at Empire Flippers. 6:20 - A bit on Vincent’s self-improvement blog Self Stairway and some of the things that he did there. 9:25 - Vincent detailing the video that he did which greatly helped him land the apprenticeship at Empire Flippers that eventually led to him starting his company Growth Ninja. 14:36 - Some more on Vincent’s apprenticeship with Empire Flippers, some info on the company being based in the Philippines, and what Empire Flippers does. 17:31 - Vincent’s transition from being an apprentice to becoming the marketing director of Empire Flippers and how he developed the skills for that role. 19:37 - Discussion on Vincent dropping out of college and some of the concern that his parents had. Also, some general discussion on the concern that most parents have with their kids going to college. 24:28 - What made Vincent not want to go to college and what peaked his interest in entrepreneurial pursuits. 26:19 - Some of the reasons that Vincent left Empire Flippers to start Growth Ninja. 28:38 - The beginning experiences that Vincent had with starting Growth Ninja. Also, what it was like for him leaving Empire Flippers to start his own company, and how he maintained a relationship with Empire Flippers afterward. 31:09 - What the business has been like for Vincent in the past two years. Also, some discussion on existential crises, finding out what you want to do in life, and some helpful perspectives on choosing something that you want to do. 34:46 - What made Vincent choose to keep his company local instead of remote. 36:05 - A bit on Vincent’s first apprentice and how he found her. 37:20 - Some really good resources for people wanting to find apprenticeship opportunities. 39:38 - Some of the books that had the largest impact on Vincent with entrepreneurial confidence. 41:40 - Some last thoughts and things that Vincent wished he had known earlier when getting started with his entrepreneurial pursuits. Some good advice for others interested in making better decisions and being more successful. 43:25 - Wrap-up, where you can learn more about Vincent, and where to find him online. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://nateliason.com/podcast Always be open to criticism and feedback. Don’t be so convinced that you’re right and don’t be so sure of yourself.

August 11, 2016 BioBots 3D Printing Danny Cabrera & UP2398 VC John Saddington

August 10, 2016 - BioBots 3D Printing Danny Cabrera & UP2398 VC John Saddington

Joe Darnell and John Saddington discuss technology in relation to our work ethic, John’s app projects, and creativity.

Today we’re joined by John Saddington, who will be speaking at Release Notes this October. John is the creator of the app Desk, which helps its customers publish to their blogs. John speaks to us today about his background in entrepreneurship, getting along with competitors, the importance of marketing, and his experiment in advertising on […]

We had a great conversation with indie Mac developer John Saddington about writing and his new app Desk PM, which is now available in the Mac App Store. We talk about life, death and doing things that matter with that short time in between. To start things off, Bryan brings up flash fiction and asks if limitations can actually help creativity. Sam puts on his software engineering hat as he asks whether or not programming should be considered a foreign language. And to close things up, Sean asks the group what the evolution of writing could look like.

Tell me a story. John Saddington is back with an incredible story of his journey to being named Best in App Store from Apple this year. Inspiring, raw honesty from a man I deeply respect.

Do you know what the secret to life is? One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean $#!7. That’s the wisdom Curly passes on in the movie City Slickers, and it’s the wisdom so many of us feel like we’re chasing. We want to find the one thing that’s […]

Finally, I share my thoughts on WWDC and why software development could be a great creative outlet? Wormydrawing app created by an 8 year old: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/wormy-drawing/id882326367?mt=8 Interview I did with Wormydrawing creator's dad about Scottish music and technology: http://www.list.co.uk/article/46616-scottish-musicians-experimenting-with-technology/ John Saddington on why you might want to become a software developer: http://john.do/swift/#more-47479 2014 WWDC Keynote: http://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2014/ Daring Fireball: http://daringfireball.net/ Accidental Tech Podcast: http://atp.fm/

I'm really excited to sit down and chat with the developer of wpForGlass, a WordPress plugin for publishing via Google Glass. When the news broke, the first thing that came to my mind was, “Who is Ozzy Farman and this agency Weber Shandwick?” Why is that important? In my humble opinion, this type of plugin is forward thinking. We're not talking about another social share plugin or can someone theme the admin better — this is the practice of fusing two great technologies together for the enhancement of publishing. Why didn't innovation like this come from one of the “well known” WordPress agencies? Should it have? We'll learn about that and more in episode 57! Interview with Ozzy Farman of Weber Shandwick Video quality isn't that good while recording via a hangout Listen to the audio version Matt Report - A WordPress podcast for digital business owners WordPress through Google Glass Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / Subscribe Share RSS Feed Share Link Embed Download file | Play in new window Publishing with WordPress This isn't the only foray into fusing technologies with WordPress. John Saddington is doing this with photography and his iOS app Pressgram. I still feel that we've yet to really harness the potential of using WordPress as a publishing platform for individuals and large media organizations alike. WordPress is poised to be the central hub for an individual's social publishing — not Facebook, not Twitter — your WordPress blog. https://twitter.com/sarahpressler/status/411181929703038976 You own the data, the traffic and you call the shots. Look for innovative plugins like this to heighten this experience over the next year. The Business of big agency This wouldn't be a Matt Report episode without talking business. Ozzy shares some insight into the 300 person PR agency(there's 300+ in the NY office) Weber Shandwick, that fronted this open source plugin development. I did some research before the show and their landing some rather large deals. With deals reaching intp the multi-millions, Ozzy explains how we should position our own sales pitch. Some great advice for us to elevate from the $500, $5000, and into the $50,000 projects. Takeaway: Telling a story You know what is great about WordPress? It allows us to tell a story. We can draft short posts, long form content, or publish a podcast. Now, with Google Glass integration, telling a story becomes easier than ever. Ozzy views the investment in this technology as paying it forward for future client relations. You might not be able to walk into a Best Buy and pickup a Google Glass today, but you can be assured that when your media team is looking for an agency to deploy 100's of them for a big media push — Ozzy will get the call. Welcome to the community Welcome to the community Ozzy! I mentioned that his agency isn't one of those we normally hear of in the halls of a WordCamp — at least, I haven't. So when he announced his project on Github, he was really surprised to find that WordPress folks were helping him out and guiding him to do it the “WordPress way.” It was great to get that first person perspective on our little community. Grab the wpForGlass plugin here: http://labs.webershandwick.com/wpforglass/2013/10/27/introducing-wpforglass/ The featured image was taken by Ozzy on his Google Glass device!  ★ Support this podcast ★

John Saddington joins the Freelancers to talk about building a successful Kickstarter campaign.

John Saddington joins the Freelancers to talk about building a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Chris Enns, Tim Smith, and Adam Clark have a great podcast called the Intellectual Radio Program. I was recently listening to episode 8 on SSKTN.com. And right near the end, Chris has this beautifully honest moment, where he describes the frustration I think a lot of us feel when it comes to building our own products: How long do you hold on to something you’ve built?

Keep it simple stupid. Take your idea and cut it and half and then cut it in half again. Then pick the top 3 features of you product and cross off 2 of them. What do you have left? Buttons. I love the idea of Max Foundry's button plugin because it solves such a simple problem. Don't have the design chops or time to code some sweet CSS buttons? Let's see how Dave Donaldson solved this issue and built a business around it. Interview with Dave Donaldson of Max Foundry Watch on YouTube Listen to the audio version Matt Report - A WordPress podcast for digital business owners Episode 24: A WordPress business built on selling buttons Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / Subscribe Share RSS Feed Share Link Embed Download file | Play in new window Keep it simple stupid A popular Matt Report interview is with John Saddington — we chat about the power of focus and simplifying your message/product. One of the hardest things to do as an entrepreneur is to “say no” to all the wonderful features and functions we want to build. Once we start adding more “stuff” to our products & offering we start getting spread thin. Not enough vertical focus or rinse/repeat systems are in place. Here's what I think you're going to love about this interview — Dave started with buttons as his first product. Buttons! From there, he took this simple solution and grew other products. Built a nice base of folks to market to and then capitalized. Don't miss this episode especially if you're just launching your new business! Like what I'm doing? Can you share this on Twitter or Google Plus? Share this if you love to talk WordPress shop! ★ Support this podcast ★

This week we have part 2 of our interview with John Saddington that literally sent warning bells blaring through the 8Bit office. We also hear about his new Kickstarter campaign: Pressgram (an iOS app that allows you to take filtered photos, and publish them to your WordPress blog).

#061: In this session of The Smart Passive Income Podcast, John Saddington and I discuss successful startups and life as an entrepreneur. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session61

Before this interview we thought John Saddington was a guy that built WordPress products with his team at 8Bit (we were also intrigued by his new Kickstarter campaign: Pressgram). What we didn’t realize is that John, at a young age, had worked his way up the corporate ladder at big companies like Fox and Dell. Today you’ll hear his story.

Becoming an entrepreneur takes a special person. Some might say passionate, driven, and even crazy. I only have two words to describe Mr. Saddington: Focus and clarity. If you're running your first startup or third, you need to watch (or listen) to this interview with creator of the Standard theme, founder of 8bit, and now Chief God Mode of WPDaily.co. John Saddington interview Watch on YouTube Listen to the audio version Matt Report - A WordPress podcast for digital business owners Meet John Saddington serial WordPress entrepreneur Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / Subscribe Share RSS Feed Share Link Embed Download file | Play in new window Focus and clarity This interview brought me down memory lane. Standard theme was my very first premium theme for WordPress. Five years ago, I never thought I would be interviewing the creator of this powerful theme let alone interview the lead the developer of the current version. During this interview, John made me realize the power of a focused mindset and having a clear vision of where you're going. We must clearly define who we are, what we want, and how we're going to get there. The vision only makes the prize juicier. If you're not constantly challenging status quo – you're going to be stuck in the middle for quite a while. Noticed I said, “who we are.” I feel this is the most underrated part of our careers. If we can not properly define who we are, how can we define what we offer clients? If we don't fully understand what makes us tick, our products and services are doomed to stand the test of time. What do you think? Hey, we're on iTunes! Last week, I introduced the audio player and today we're on iTunes! The wait is over folks. The @mattreport is now on iTunes! Like it so far? How about a review? https://t.co/cYlER8jH — Matt Report (@mattreport) February 19, 2013 If you're enjoying this podcast/web show – would you mind leaving a review on iTunes? Thank you! I always ask folks to say thank you to our guests on Twitter or wherever they are online. I've been seeing a lot of tweets saying thanks and I really appreciate it! https://twitter.com/wpmodder/status/303325356037914625 https://twitter.com/rezzz/status/301009158445076480 https://twitter.com/SchechterDesign/status/298464628890030081 @amberweinberg listening to your interview on @mattreport. Totally amazing how you quit your job on the spot and took a chance. Admirable! — Jeff Golenski (@jeffgolenski) January 22, 2013 ★ Support this podcast ★

Becoming an entrepreneur takes a special person. Some might say passionate, driven, and even crazy. I only have two words to describe Mr. Saddington: Focus and clarity. If you’re running your first startup or third, you need to watch (or listen) to this interview with creator of the Standard theme, founder of 8bit, and now Chief God Mode of WPDaily.co. (more…)

I recently wrote here on the blog about some new productivity "tweaks" with which I have been experimenting. Today's podcast is a report on the results. In this week's podcast episode: A "field report" on my latest productivity experiments. An alternative to mindmaps. How to get free of those "guilty feelings". Stu McLaren on hiring the right people. Tip Of The Week Not into mind mapping, but wish there was an easy way to outline your ideas? You have got to try Workflowy. It was made for the purpose. Spiritual Foundations Are you plagued by feelings of guilt, about regrets over what you should have done in a certain situation? Don't be… There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 When Jesus came and paid the price for sin, that included all of our sins. Past, present, and future. That means is far as he is concerned, we have nothing to regret. A "guilty conscience" is not the work of our father in heaven, but is the work of the enemy-the devil. See Hebrews 9:14. Lifestyle Business Stu McLaren has wisdom to share on the subject of hiring-and on not being cheap. Feature Segment: Results of My Productivity Experiments Recently, I wrote on my blog a post about a new plan for improved productivity in 2013. I thought it might be useful to share the results so far. Works and all. Here are the plans I wrote about, and a report on my observations Productivity Philosophy. If you are not familiar with the GTD philosophy, I encourage you to read David Allen's seminal work on stress-free productivity. A great augmentation to the GTD material is one of my favorite new podcasts and websites, Erik Fisher's "Beyond the To-Do List". At this point, I would give myself a "brown belt" when it comes to GTD. My biggest challenge is keeping my inboxes to zero, and limiting those inboxes to the smallest number possible. Planning. In keeping with my adherence to GTD, my planning is fairly simple. I have a weekly review session on Fridays, during which I collect all the inputs that have accumulated over the past week, and one by one clear them from my inbox. So far I've done a pretty good job of keeping on top of my weekly reviews. I'd say I am at about 90% on this one. Disciplined Tracking. For business activities, I am developing a dashboard for my company in Excel to keep track of key metrics. Frankly, I've gotten so caught up in looking for the perfect dashboard, I haven't really started using one yet. That will change within the next three days, as I am forcing myself to pick some kind of tracking system. Even if it is 3 x 5 cards. Productivity Tools. In the past, I have been a "tool junkie". I have actually managed to not look at any new productivity tools since the beginning of the year. That may not sound like a big deal to you, but it's a big deal to me. Boundaries. This year, I am resolved to stick to my regimen of only answering email once a day, and the same for phone calls. I also intend to be "off the grid" three days a week for both email and phone calls. Still my biggest challenge. My name is Ray Edwards, and I am a recovering "yes man". Guarding My Heart and Mind. Toxic thoughts and emotions destroy us. Toxic thinking limits our potential for accomplishment. Toxic emotions limit our potential for happiness and fulfillment. In the new year, I will not allow negative thinking, language, images, or emotions to pierce the boundary of my sight or hearing. While I have improved in this area, I still have work today. Have watched a couple of things on television that, in retrospect, were a bit dark and cynical and viewpoint. It isn't possible to watch things like this and walk away unaffected. Task Batching. I perform best when I batch similar tasks together and do them all at once. This is going pretty well for me, because it is exit become a habit of mine over the last few years. Focus Blocks. "Focus blocks" are clearly defined blocks of time that I use to focus on one single task. I can tell you this. It seems that making a declaration about a new habit is a surefire way to become a lightning rod for challenges and resistance to that habit. Digital Fasting. I am a digital junkie. I love Facebook, Twitter, Google+, email, RSS feeds… you get the idea. That's why it's important to me to completely unplug frequently. My goal is to be completely free of email, voice mail, and Internet consumption… 100% free… at least one day a week. I have done pretty well, but frankly no where near 100%. This Sunday, I'm shooting for 100%. Sabbath. One day each week, my intention is to be at complete rest. Same answer as the previous section. The Positive No. I mentioned earlier that it is difficult for me to say "no" to people. This year, my default response to every request made of me will be, at least initially, "no". I had a few chances to practice this, but I still wouldn't counted as one of my core disciplines. Yet. Income Producing Activity Hours. I have identified the activities which are most likely to result in producing revenue for my company: speaking, writing, marketing and advertising, and creating new material or trainings. There are a few other income-producing activities, such as networking, sales calls, and developing JV relationships. I am creating carefully protected and intricately planned "focus blocks" for these activities. These are among the first activities to be scheduled in my calendar. This one has worked out surprisingly well so far. Writing Time. This is in my top tier of income producing activities. It is also in my top tier of spiritually fulfilling activities. Therefore, this is one of my very highest priorities, and will be one of my most protected assets in the new year. 30 Day Challenges. I love new ideas, and I love trying them out. So much so, that I have tended, in the past, to try out many different ideas in a single week. Therefore, in the new year, each month I plan to adopt one "30 Day Challenge". A single new habit, activity, or discipline. I will post each month's 30 day challenge publicly, and at the end of the 30 days report on my experience. . Hardest one of all for me to keep. My Challenge this month was to journal daily. We're on day 16 of the month, and I've written in my journal four days My plan going forward is to become more disciplined about my new habits, and not to simply give up. That's the mistake I think most people make when it comes to resolutions, or adopting any new discipline. Special Announcements I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. It is nearly sold out. The purpose of the conference: to help you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! I was written up by Eric T Wagner on Forbes.com this week. You can check out the article here. Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can also find the podcast on Stitcher. Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679 What Are you doing to be more productive in the new year? And how are your New Year's resolutions coming along? Share your ideas and tactics below in the comments.

Ever have a day where you feel like you just didn't get anything done? Now imagine getting entire day's work done in two hours. Sound impossible? You won't feel that way after you listen to today's podcast. In this week's podcast episode: How to do a days work in two hours. A counterintuitive marketing book recommendation. How (and why) it's possible to achieve effortless success. Stu McLaren on the importance of being intentional. And a few surprises, too… Tip Of The Week This week I have a rather counterintuitive book recommendation. One of the best marketing books I've ever read (twice now) is Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Church. Spiritual Foundations As new creations in Christ, we are supposed to be "at rest". Our life is not supposed to be about striving and working hard, but about receiving. Yes, I am saying that God will do a lot more for us than we could ever do for ourselves. And that he actually wants it to be that way. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest… Hebrews 4:9-11 This is a promise from God, and it echoes the Old Testament story of the promised land. In ancient Israel, there was an actual land that the people were given as a promise from God.This land was, in God's own words, to include houses that had already been built, vineyards that had already been planted, and wells that had already been dug. Everything was already done for the children of Israel. As believers under the provisions of the new covenant, our "promised land" is to simply rest in what Christ accomplished for us at the cross. In the passage from Hebrews, we learned that God desires that we would enjoy His rest. That we would be blessed, provided for, and healed as we receive from him. Through no efforts of our own. Lifestyle Business Stu McLaren shares his thoughts on the importance of being intentional. Feature Segment: How to Get a Day's Work Done In 2 Hours Here's the overall checklist for doing a days work in two hours. There are 3 phases to this method: Plan, Prepare, Perform. For a detailed explanation… listen to the podcast! Plan Make your "List of Three", "Fantastic Five", and your "Weird Time List". Prepare Wake up one hour earlier. Have a quiet time. Perform Work on your "List of Three" before you do anything else. Use the "F.I.T." Method. Take a 10 minute break, and move immediately to the "Fantastic Five". Now take a 30 minute break, and go about your day as usual. Relax. Use your "Weird Time List" to "grout your day". Special Announcements I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. It is nearly sold out. The purpose of the conference: to help you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Our exclusive Las Vegas workshop is more than half-full. If you're interested in participating, you will need to contact my office immediately. Tomorrow I will make a special announcement about a brand-new event. Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can also find the podcast on Stitcher. Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679 What tips can you offer that would help get an entire day's work done in just two hours? Share your ideas and tactics below in the comments.

Today I want to share five weird tactics that, when used correctly, almost guarantee more success. In this week's podcast episode: The five weird tactics. The power of the uncommon conversation. My first book recommendation of the new year. That's all coming up… Tip Of The Week For refreshing, unusual, and inspiring look at the writing life I recommend Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Spiritual Foundations Speaking plainly is a shocking and radical way of communicating. Jesus said you should "let your yes mean yes, and your no me no." Speaking the truth so plainly is disarming and incredibly persuasive. Try it. Feature Segment: 5 Weird Tactics Make The New Year Your Best Year Ever Do less. Say no. Stop multitasking. Stop setting goals. Pray Special Announcements I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Our exclusive Las Vegas workshop is more than half-full. If you're interested in participating, you will need to contact my office immediately. Next week I will make a special announcement about a brand-new event. Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679

If your business is struggling right now, or you need more cash flow, you might think it's ridiculous for me to say there's something better than new customers. But there is, and that's what we'll cover in this week's interview with Jim Palmer. In this weeks podcast episode: Jim Palmer shows us explains what is better than new customers. Stu McLaren: "You should start spying on people". How to achieve effortless success. That's all coming up… Tip Of The Week I have long been recommended to you a program called Evernote. Recently, a new version of this software has been released. They have succeeded in making a great thing even better. The main features of Evernote that I like: Capture anything – save your ideas, things you like, things you hear, and things you see. Access it anywhere -Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device out there. Find things fast. Search by keyword, tag or even printed and handwritten text inside images. Lifestyle Business With Stu McLaren Stu McLaren explains why he has been spying on people. Spiritual Foundations God's plan for you and your business is not that you work so hard that you make yourself sick, destroy your mental health, and wreck your family. His kind of success is effortless, and he has already done the work when he died on the cross: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:2–3 This doesn't mean that you simply sit on the couch and wait for things to fall into your lap. It does mean that as you work, you can be relaxed and free from anxiety and fear. He has already provided every blessing you need in life. So how do you get those blessings? It's simple: believe, and rest on the Lord's promises. You might pray something like this: "Lord, I rest in the work that you have done on my behalf, and I thank you that you are already making good things happen for me. So I will stop all my stressing, struggling, and attempts to control circumstances in order to get what I want. I'm simply receiving what you've already provided." Feature Segment: Interview With Jim Palmer There is something that is better than new customers-and you might be surprised to discover what it is. That's just one of the nuggets we will reveal in this interview with Jim Palmer. Listen to the podcast audio for the entire interview. And be prepared to take notes! Listener Questions Only one listener question this week, this one from Todd Liles of Service Excellence Training. Todd wants to know how he can get his podcast listed in iTunes. Special Announcements I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Our exclusive Las Vegas workshop is more than half-full. If you're interested in participating, you will need to contact my office immediately. My next podcast will be on the topic of "How to Make the New Year Your Best Year Ever". If you have a question about that, please leave me a voicemail message. This is a good way for you to promote your own website, because I will be happy to link to your site in return for you asking a question. Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679

When it seems the economy around you is in turmoil and chaos, is it still possible to thrive? If so, how do you do that? In this weeks podcast episode we will cover: The results of "asking the listeners". Changes you can expect in the podcast. Stu McLaren: "Doing the work up front". Is God the source of evil? Plus, "How to Thrive In a Turbulent Economy" That's all coming up on today's episode… Tip Of The Week A couple of episodes ago, I advised you to ask your customers what they really want. I proposed using a survey-which is exactly what I did. Here are the results of my survey about how you think I could improve this show. The suggestions were: Add more listener participation and questions. Change the ending music to match the beginning music. Share concrete copywriting tactics. Get more specific about dollars. Make the show tighter. Those are the top suggestions we are implementing, starting with this episode. I hope you like what you hear. Lifestyle Business With Stu McLaren Stu McLaren explains why it's worth doing the work up front, and doing it well. Spiritual Foundations Recently, I inadvertently started a bit of a tiff on Facebook. I posted the following: If you think you are sick because God has some purpose in it… reconsider. Sickness does not come from God. According to John 10:10, evil is the work of the enemy, who "comes only to steal and kill and destroy". Jesus, on the other hand, comes so that we "may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). He also came to "destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). It's simple. God is good. The enemy is bad. Good things come from God, and evil things do not. It's helpful if we keep the difference in mind – it'll help us not attribute the work of the enemy to God! The reason this is important, is because when Jesus rose from the grave and conquered sin and death, he ushered in a new and better covenant for all of us who follow him. We no longer live under fear of punishment, for Jesus has taken the punishment on our behalf. He has covered us in his grace-literally, "unmerited favor." God does not send evil into your life-not to teach you a lesson, not to improve your character, and certainly not to punish you. If you follow Jesus, you believe in him, you confessed to measure Lord and Savior… you are unpunishable. Feature Segment: How to Thrive In a Turbulent Economy Yes, there is chaos in the marketplace. The economy can be described as turbulent. But that doesn't matter. There is no reason for you, my entrepreneurial friend, to fear the storm. Bedrock principles will keep you on course. Here are seven keys to thriving even in a turbulent economy… Faith. You will receive what you believe. Carefully guard where you are placing your faith. It makes a difference. Foundations. Most people crumble when their core values are challenged-because they never made those values a conscious decision. Most of us simply inherit our values and beliefs from our family and friends. Make yours a choice. Don't just know what you believe, know why you believe it. Family. After your connection to your Creator, the most important link to your ultimate success is your family. Even if you have no family, as it is traditionally understood. I explain what to do if you don't have any family living, or none that you are connected with, in the podcast audio. So make sure you listen to the show itself. Friends. How you relate to friends-even how you define that word-is of vital importance to how effective you will be in the world. Especially in the world of business. Focus. What you focus on expands. If your constant focus is on the negativity and the chaos of the environment around you, expect to see more of the same. Take responsibility for what goes on inside your head. Finances. Business is a game won (or lost) by the numbers. The rules are simple: make money, save money, spend as little as possible. Fun. Make it a goal to be more joyful than all of your companions. Joy is magnetic, and draws people to you. It has the added benefit of drawing cheerful people to you, helping eliminate the "Eeyore Factor" from your life. Listener Questions Martin Hurley Jeff Davis Beaumont Miles Jim Siverts Special Announcements I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Our exclusive Las Vegas workshop is more than half-full. If you're interested in participating, you will need to contact my office immediately. My next podcast will be on the topic of "How to Make the New Year Your Best Year Ever". If you have a question about that, please leave me a voicemail message. This is a good way for you to promote your own website, because I will be happy to link to your site in return for you asking a question. Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679

On this episode, we chat with 8BIT, Tentblogger.com, and Action & Influence (co)founder, John Saddington. Along with being a husband, father, and friend….John's become one of my mentors and one of the main reasons for starting this entire site. In this talk, John continues to expand the limits of entrepreneurship. We share about building your personal brand, why it's so important, and some things he's learned along the way.

There is no need for you to struggle for many years before enjoying success. While it sometimes happens that way, that is not a requirement. Nor is it necessarily a sign of worthiness. In this weeks podcast episode we will cover: How to speed up your iPhone, and boost its battery life, without spending a dime. And, best of all, it only takes about 15 minutes. Stu McLaren: pay me now, or pay me later? December 21st, the Mayan calendar, the "Breaking of the World"… and you! Plus, "How To Succeed Faster " That's all coming up on today's episode… Tip Of The Week Michael Hyatt published a great blog post on how to speed up your sluggish iPhone. These three simple actions will not only speed up your phone, but also appear to boost battery life. Check it out. Lifestyle Business With Stu McLaren Stu McLaren explores the differences between maximizing transactional value, versus maximizing recurring transactions. Sounds boring, but isn't. Spiritual Foundations Entrepreneurs have a divine call and an important role in repairing "The Breaking of the World". Never apologize for your love of business, and your relentless pursuit of excellence. These are qualities planted within your DNA by God. Own who you are. The people will curse him who withholds grain, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it. Proverbs 11:26 Feature Segment: How To Succeed Faster Success does not have to be a slow process. The speed with which we attain our goals has more to do with what happens inside our head, than with what happens in our external circumstances. This episode is all about how to speed up the success process. Here are nine ways you can accelerate your success. Know exactly what your "success destination" looks like. Reverse engineer the path to success. Model those who have done what you wish to do. Avoid the inevitable attractive distractions. Measure your progress in writing. Be accountable to someone. Get a coach-or coaches. Recalibrate on a regular schedule. Consciously select what you are not going to do. Special Announcements I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Our exclusive Las Vegas workshop is half-full. If you're interested in participating, you will need to contact my office immediately. My next podcast will be on the topic of "How To Thrive In A Turbulent Economy". If you have a question about that, please leave me a voicemail message. This is a good way for you to promote your own website, because I will be happy to link to your site in return for you asking a question. Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679

Today, I share how to get better clients who pay you more money for your products and services. At one point in my career, I would take on as many as six simultaneous projects, and work as much as 80 to 100 hours a week. That is simply crazy. There is a better way, and in this episode I'll show it to you.. Other points of interest in this weeks episode: How to read your customers minds, and know exactly what they want. Are you living a life that just "happens to you"? Or are you happening to life? Stu McLaren gives us the answer. In our spiritual foundations segment, will answer the question: does God care even about my small problems, like the pimple on the end of my nose? How could he have time for our tiny little problems? That's all coming up on today's episode… so fasten your seatbelt… and let's roll. Tip Of The Week One of the best ways to find out what your audience wants from you is to ask them. I suggest using a tool like Survey Monkey for this purpose. In fact, I'm going to demonstrate this suggestion in practice, by asking you how I can improve this podcast. Click here to take the survey Lifestyle Business With Stu McLaren Stu McLaren challenges us, by asking: are you living a life you designed, or are you living a life that happens by accident? Spiritual Foundations My blood pressure used to go up every time my phone rang. Why is this person (any person) calling me? Don't they know how busy I am? I've got news for you… that attitude is a sickness. Jesus is the perfect model of what a human being led by the Spirit looks like. How they walk and talk and interact with other people. And Jesus always had time. He still does. Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them… Matthew 19:13–14 I am not sharing this to judge anybody for feeling busy or stressed out. But it strikes me as remarkable that the Son of God always has time for us. He is infinitely available. We don't have to wait in line. There is a mindset that exists that I call the "poor little me" mindset. This is the line of thinking that leads you to say things like, "God is too busy, and this is only important to poor little me." This kind of thinking is focused on your own self-worth, or lack of it. But the truth is, God is infinite. He is instantly available to everyone of us-and he is interested in every detail of our lives. Scripture tells us that he even numbers the hairs on our head. Imagine that. Whatever might be troubling you right now, it is not too big, and not too small, for Jesus. Nothing is impossible for him. And he has an infinite amount of time just for you Ask him for help. Open your heart and let all your emotions out. He's big. He can take it. Approach him just like a little child approaching your father-the perfect father, the one without the shortcomings that earthly fathers have-and ask your daddy for what you need. He's ready to give it to you. Feature Segment: How To Get Better Clients Who Pay More As I mentioned earlier, when I was beginning to build my freelance business I took on too many clients and worked too many hours. This is chiefly because I was not selective about who my clients were, and did not think through how much they were paying me. This key mistake took its toll. It affected my health, my attitude, and even my family relationships. What's worse, many of the clients I took on during this time were… well… jerks. It seemed that some of them existed only to torture freelancers. These days, my business is totally different. I work well under 40 hours most weeks. .. and I make a lot more money. I enjoy every hour that I do work. And I simply don't tolerate cheap or annoying clients anymore. One of the annoying variety occasionally does slip through under the radar, but once I detect them, I am very quick to chase them back across the border. I have 9 suggestions that will help you attract and secure higher-quality clients, who pay you much higher fees than you currently receive. You may be surprised to learn this is easier than it sounds. Suggestion 1: Decide in advance what you want your business and life to look like. Suggestion 2: Reverse engineer what kind of clients you need to make that happen. Suggestion 3: Define your criteria of what constitutes a good client – in writing. Suggestion 4: Identify the qualities that are evident in a bad client. Suggestion 5: Commit yourself to never again except a bad client. Suggestion 6: Develop a client screening process. Suggestion 7: Script everything at first. Suggestion 8: Confront with love and boldness; use brave communication. Suggestion 9: Kill the monsters while they're little. Special Announcements I will be making an appearance onstage at James Malinchak's "Big Money Speaker Bootcamp" December 6-9 in LA. I'm super-excited about this event! I don't know if you saw ABC's hit TV show, "Secret Millionaire"… James was featured on the show. At the Boot Camp, he shares his strategies and tips on how to become a Big Money Speaker. I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, Ken Davis, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! I am getting tremendous feedback about the "Big Idea, Big Plan" teleseminar I hosted last week with my "mystery guest". Replay recording available for a short time. My next podcast will be on the topic of "How To Thrive In A Turbulent Economy". If you have a question about that, please leave me a voicemail message. This is a good way for you to promote your own website, because I will be happy to link to your site in return for you asking a question. Episode Resources Here are links to resources mentioned during this episode: Tool: Survey Monkey Stu McLaren's personal blog Wishlist Member Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679

Today, I share how to get better clients who pay you more money for your products and services. At one point in my career, I would take on as many as six simultaneous projects, and work as much as 80 to 100 hours a week. That is simply crazy. There is a better way, and in this episode I’ll show it to you.. Other points of interest in this weeks episode: How to read your customers minds, and know exactly what they want. Are you living a life that just “happens to you”? Or are you happening to life? Stu McLaren gives us the answer. In our spiritual foundations segment, will answer the question: does God care even about my small problems, like the pimple on the end of my nose? How could he have time for our tiny little problems? That’s all coming up on today’s episode… so fasten your seatbelt… and let’s roll. Tip Of The Week One of the best ways to find out what your audience wants from you is to ask them. I suggest using a tool like Survey Monkey for this purpose. In fact, I'm going to demonstrate this suggestion in practice, by asking you how I can improve this podcast. Click here to take the survey Lifestyle Business With Stu McLaren Stu McLaren challenges us, by asking: are you living a life you designed, or are you living a life that happens by accident? Spiritual Foundations My blood pressure used to go up every time my phone rang. Why is this person (any person) calling me? Don't they know how busy I am? I’ve got news for you… that attitude is a sickness. Jesus is the perfect model of what a human being led by the Spirit looks like. How they walk and talk and interact with other people. And Jesus always had time. He still does. Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them… Matthew 19:13–14 I am not sharing this to judge anybody for feeling busy or stressed out. But it strikes me as remarkable that the Son of God always has time for us. He is infinitely available. We don’t have to wait in line. There is a mindset that exists that I call the “poor little me” mindset. This is the line of thinking that leads you to say things like, “God is too busy, and this is only important to poor little me.” This kind of thinking is focused on your own self-worth, or lack of it. But the truth is, God is infinite. He is instantly available to everyone of us-and he is interested in every detail of our lives. Scripture tells us that he even numbers the hairs on our head. Imagine that. Whatever might be troubling you right now, it is not too big, and not too small, for Jesus. Nothing is impossible for him. And he has an infinite amount of time just for you Ask him for help. Open your heart and let all your emotions out. He’s big. He can take it. Approach him just like a little child approaching your father-the perfect father, the one without the shortcomings that earthly fathers have-and ask your daddy for what you need. He’s ready to give it to you. Feature Segment: How To Get Better Clients Who Pay More As I mentioned earlier, when I was beginning to build my freelance business I took on too many clients and worked too many hours. This is chiefly because I was not selective about who my clients were, and did not think through how much they were paying me. This key mistake took its toll. It affected my health, my attitude, and even my family relationships. What’s worse, many of the clients I took on during this time were… well… jerks. It seemed that some of them existed only to torture freelancers. These days, my business is totally different. I work well under 40 hours most weeks. .. and I make a lot more money. I enjoy every hour that I do work. And I simply don’t tolerate cheap or annoying clients anymore. One  of the annoying variety occasionally does slip through under the radar, but once I detect them, I am very quick to chase them back across the border. I have 9 suggestions that will help you attract and secure higher-quality clients, who pay you much higher fees than you currently receive. You may be surprised to learn this is easier than it sounds. Suggestion 1: Decide in advance what you want your business and life to look like. Suggestion 2:  Reverse engineer what kind of clients you need to make that happen. Suggestion 3: Define your criteria of what constitutes a good client – in writing. Suggestion 4: Identify the qualities that are evident in a bad client. Suggestion 5: Commit yourself to never again except a bad client. Suggestion 6: Develop a client screening process. Suggestion 7: Script everything at first. Suggestion 8: Confront with love and boldness; use brave communication. Suggestion 9: Kill the monsters while they’re little. Special Announcements I will be making an appearance onstage at James Malinchak’s “Big Money Speaker Bootcamp” December 6-9 in LA. I’m super-excited about this event! I don’t know if you saw ABC’s hit TV show, “Secret Millionaire”…  James was featured on the show. At the Boot Camp, he shares his strategies and tips on how to become a Big Money Speaker. I’m attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you “get noticed in a noisy world.” It’s being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Wilkerson are speaking. I’m also looking forward to meeting  Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, Ken Davis, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there’s not a single speaker I’m not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! I am getting tremendous feedback about the “Big Idea, Big Plan” teleseminar I hosted last week with my “mystery guest”. Replay recording available for a short time. My next podcast will be on the topic of “How To Thrive In A Turbulent Economy”. If you have a question about that, please leave me a voicemail message. This is a good way for you to promote your own website, because I will be happy to link to your site in return for you asking a question. Episode Resources Here are links to resources  mentioned during this episode: Tool: Survey Monkey Stu McLaren's personal blog Wishlist Member Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy “request line” at (509) 713-2679

If you are tired of struggling to make sales… if it seems your business exists just to blindly run from one promotion to another… if every month you feel like you have to reinvent the wheel to bring in revenue… you're going to love today's podcast! Today, I'm going to give you a quick method to create a marketing plan for the entire year of 2013. The best part is, this is going to be so simple you can fit your entire marketing plan on a single page. Which means, you'll actually do it! Here's the menu for today's episode: A book recommendation that will change the way you learn, and the way you eat. Why you can expect God to provide open doors, new opportunities, and the resources to overcome whatever challenges you may be facing. My quick and easy method for laying out your promotion and marketing calendar for the coming year… boosting your sales and profits, and slashing the amount of work and stress in your life. And I will share a few special announcements. Tip Of The Week Tim Ferris released his new book, The 4-Hour Chef, this past week, and once again made publishing industry. This time, it was because his book was effectively "banned" from most physical bookstores. Tim turned adversity into opportunity, and launched a formidable bookselling campaign like nothing I've ever seen. In the podcast, I discuss the details of this… plus the merits of the book itself. Spiritual Foundations Does God send misfortune to his children (you and me) so we can "learn a lesson"? Or is it appropriate for us to expect good things from our heavenly father? Is God really on our side? What is the proper response when we face trials, and while we are waiting for God's answer? Here is a clue… in the book of Job, at the point where Job had lost everything (his family, his fortune, and his health), Job refused to blame God for his misfortune. The Lord's anger was kindled against Job's friends, who all seemed determined to convince Job that God had allowed or brought these misfortunes upon him. God honored Job's request for his friends to be forgiven. And notice what the text says next: "And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, WHEN HE HAD PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before." Job 42:10 Don't allow seeming lack in your own situation to prevent you from providing God's abundance to others. Brokering God's supernatural provision for others releases a grace to receive your own. It's worth noting that this demonstration of lavish Grace took place in the old covenant, and according to the Bible we live now under a much better covenant. How To Create A One-Page Marketing Plan The current business environment is not an excuse for under-performing revenue. There are businesses that are doing quite well, thank you very much. So using words like "it's the economy" amounts to little more than pathetic excuse-making. If you are experiencing a downturn in revenue, the answer is-do something different! A good place to start, especially at this time of the year, is with a fresh marketing plan. Here's how to create one quickly and easily… in a way that is almost guaranteed to boost your revenue. First, consider why you need a marketing plan at all. It's really quite simple: no plan, no real destination. What we want to focus on is coming up with the "minimum effective dose". We're not trying to write the"War and Peace" of marketing plans. Here's how were going to do this: go get a calendar, and a list of holidays taking place in 2013. Listen carefully to the instructions I give you in the podcast itself, and within about an hour, you will have a better marketing plan for the coming year than 90% of business people in America. Think about this: what will happen if you actually carry this exercise out? Special Announcements I will be making an appearance onstage at James Malinchak's "Big Money Speaker Bootcamp" December 6-9 in LA. I'm super-excited about this event! I don't know if you saw ABC's hit TV show, "Secret Millionaire"… James was featured on the show. At the Boot Camp, he shares his strategies and tips on how to become a Big Money Speaker. I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Owensby Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, Ken Davis, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679 Question: How far in advance do you plan your marketing, and how do you do it? Leave your tips in the comments below.

If you are tired of struggling to make sales… if it seems your business exists just to blindly run from one promotion to another… if every month you feel like you have to reinvent the wheel to bring in revenue… you're going to love today's podcast! Today, I'm going to give you a quick method to create a marketing plan for the entire year of 2013. The best part is, this is going to be so simple you can fit your entire marketing plan on a single page. Which means, you'll actually do it! Here's the menu for today's episode: A book recommendation that will change the way you learn, and the way you eat. Why you can expect God to provide open doors, new opportunities, and the resources to overcome whatever challenges you may be facing. My quick and easy method for laying out your promotion and marketing calendar for the coming year… boosting your sales and profits, and slashing the amount of work and stress in your life. And I will share a few special announcements. Tip Of The Week Tim Ferris released his new book, The 4-Hour Chef, this past week, and once again made publishing industry. This time, it was because his book was effectively “banned” from most physical bookstores. Tim turned adversity into opportunity, and launched a formidable bookselling campaign like nothing I've ever seen. In the podcast, I discuss the details of this… plus the merits of the book itself. Spiritual Foundations Does God send misfortune to his children (you and me) so we can “learn a lesson”? Or is it appropriate for us to expect good things from our heavenly father? Is God really on our side? What is the proper response when we face trials, and while we are waiting for God's answer? Here is a clue… in the book of Job, at the point where Job had lost everything (his family, his fortune, and his health), Job refused to blame God for his misfortune. The Lord's anger was kindled against Job's friends, who all seemed determined to convince Job that God had allowed or brought these misfortunes upon him. God honored Job's request for his friends to be forgiven. And notice what the text says next: “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, WHEN HE HAD PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Job 42:10 Don't allow seeming lack in your own situation to prevent you from providing God's abundance to others. Brokering God's supernatural provision for others releases a grace to receive your own. It's worth noting that this demonstration of lavish Grace took place in the old covenant, and according to the Bible we live now under a much better covenant. How To Create A One-Page Marketing Plan The current business environment is not an excuse for under-performing revenue. There are businesses that are doing quite well, thank you very much. So using words like “it's the economy” amounts to little more than pathetic excuse-making. If you are experiencing a downturn in revenue, the answer is-do something different! A good place to start, especially at this time of the year, is with a fresh marketing plan. Here's how to create one quickly and easily… in a way that is almost guaranteed to boost your revenue. First, consider why you need a marketing plan at all. It's really quite simple: no plan, no real destination. What we want to focus on is coming up with the “minimum effective dose”. We're not trying to write the”War and Peace” of marketing plans. Here's how were going to do this: go get a calendar, and a list of holidays taking place in 2013. Listen carefully to the instructions I give you in the podcast itself, and within about an hour, you will have a better marketing plan for the coming year than 90% of business people in America. Think about this: what will happen if you actually carry this exercise out? Special Announcements I will be making an appearance onstage at James Malinchak's “Big Money Speaker Bootcamp” December 6-9 in LA. I'm super-excited about this event! I don't know if you saw ABC's hit TV show, “Secret Millionaire”…  James was featured on the show. At the Boot Camp, he shares his strategies and tips on how to become a Big Money Speaker. I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you “get noticed in a noisy world.” It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Owensby Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting  Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, Ken Davis, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy “request line” at (509) 713-2679 Question: How far in advance do you plan your marketing, and how do you do it? Leave your tips in the comments below.  

In today's podcast, I am spending a lot of time answering one of the most common questions I receive: "Ray, what online business tools or software do you use to run your Internet based business?" I'll go into detail about what online business tools I use, why I chose them, and also be very candid about whether I would make the same choice if I were starting over again today. Specifically, in this episode we will cover the following: I will share my new favorite iPad app, which is a notetaking app with a twist. In Spiritual Foundations, will discuss God's will to heal in all areas of your life. I will go in-depth on the subject of online business tools. I'll get specific, and name names. Stu McLaren shares exactly how frustrations can be the source of million-dollar business ideas. And I will share a few special announcements. Tip Of The Week Some of my own Paper doodles. This week's tip is for another iPad app. This one is called simply Paper. What makes it different from the app I reviewed last week? Paper is more than a notetaking app. It is really intended for artists. It works and feels like, well… paper. Hence the name. Check it out. Spiritual Foundations God's nature is to heal you in every way: "…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." Acts 10:38 Don't fall for the lie that says God made you sick to "teach you something". That's not who He is! The Best Online Business Tools In the course of running an online business, there are many tools and applications to choose from. I use a lot of different tools in my own business, and I am frequently asked for recommendations about what the best tools to use might be. I am going to supply some very specific answers, and share some of the tools that I use most in my own business. Before I do, however, I want to make a couple of things very clear. First of all, it is rarely the case that the lack of a tool creates the lack of success. In my experience, successful people are successful despite not having the "right tools". This may sound counter-intuitive. I am not saying that it's wrong to have the best tools available to get the job done. That would be ridiculous. What I am saying is this: if you are using your search for the "perfect tools" as an excuse not to act, you will almost certainly encounter disappointment. Perhaps outright failure. There is no such thing as a "perfect tool". It's better to start with what you have, from where you are, and do the best job possible. That is what being an entrepreneur is all about. Creating value out of the available resources. The second thing you should be aware of is that I do receive a commission for recommending most of the tools listed here. If that bothers you, feel free to disregard my advice. However, I will say this: I do not recommend any tool that I have not used myself, or that I do not feel will help you. Here is my list of recommended tools, software, and websites. These have helped me build a successful online business, and I believe they can help you do the same. What I'm Using Now… And Most WordPress.org – This is what I recommend almost everyone use to build their website. It's about more than just "blogging", it is a rocksolid architecture for constructing any website. There is a reason why so many Fortune 500 companies choose to build their website on the WordPress framework. Plus, because of the ability to apply different "themes" to your WordPress site, you can change the look and feel of your website with the touch of a button (or, in this case, the click of a mouse). Just make sure you are running the self hosted version of WordPress, which will be found that WordPress.org. You don't want to build your website on WordPress.com, because you lose a certain amount of control, and also it just looks less professional. DIYthemes.com – This is the company that sells the thesis WordPress theme. Devotees of thesis are almost fanatical in their enthusiasm for this very solid, lightning fast, SEO optimized WordPress theme. While it is very powerful, and very sophisticated, it also comes with a bit of a steeper learning curve than other WordPress themes. But if you are looking for a rock solid framework for your website, this is the place for you. StudioPress.com – The folks at StudioPress are producing some of the most elegant and beautiful WordPress themes available today. They all work with the Genesis framework, which means your WordPress site will be running on a solid foundation that is optimized to get you search engine love. This is a great option for short-cutting the design phase of your website-these things look great right out of the box. InfusionSoft.com – We just switched! This is a very robust and powerful CRM (or customer relationship management) software system, including email followup, direct mail, shopping cart functionality, and more. Infusion allows you to do some very sophisticated marketing, using behavior-based rules, analytics, and automation sequences. If you have a business that is doing $1 million or more in revenue per year, you might well want to consider using this system. It is not cheap, and there is a learning curve to get the most out of it, but it is well worth both of these costs. PayPal – This is the easiest and best way to start taking payments online. PayPal is an established, trusted payment processor, thanks mostly to their very close association with eBay. It's easy to set up an account, and you have direct access to the money as soon as someone pays you. This is where I recommend you start when you're ready to start taking payments online. iPowerPay.com -At some point, you're going to need a real, honest to goodness merchant account. This is an account that lets you take credit cards directly as a means of payment for your products and services. The customer pays using their credit card, and the money is automatically deposited in your bank account a couple days later. The problem is, it's not exactly easy to get a true merchant account for online business. Especially if you're just starting out. This company is the company I use for my own merchant account. It's very inexpensive to get started, and they have a 98% approval rate for all applications (sometimes it feels like other companies have a 98% rejection rate!). These folks truly understand the business of Internet marketing, so you'll never have to feel like you're forced to explain your business to someone who just doesn't "get it". Highly recommended. BlueHost – This is the place to start when you initially build your website. You will not outgrow this quickly in all likelihood. Even if you experience huge success with your new website, blue host can accommodate your growth a long way down the road. Their prices are excellent (starting at about 7 bucks a month), and their service is just as good. This is where I recommend all beginners start for their web hosting-and more than a few "seasoned veterans" should be able to do quite well with an account at blue host. Opt-in Skin – This is a WordPress plug-in that allows you to design beautiful and response-enhancing opt-in forms for your WordPress powered site. It has many built-in features, including the ability to split test different designs see which will get the most registrations. I've been using it for a while now, and the only criticism I have is that it runs a little slowly when you're trying to design and generate a new form. That, however, is a small price to pay for what this plug-in will do. Scribe Content – This plug-in helps me optimize my blog posts and site content for better placement in the search engines. This is really the only SEO work that I do on my site. Evernote – My absolute favorite app that defies description – but I'll try: your new omnipresent, universal, non-corporeal notebook. Yep, can't describe it. Try it. You'll understand. LastPass – The last password you will ever need. Remember a single password, and access all of your accounts and sites. DropBox – This vital service allows me to synchronize the folder on my computer with an identical folder in the cloud. What this means is, I can have access to my files anywhere I can access the Internet. I can also share with others. Indispensable tool! Backblaze – This automated backup service makes a complete up-to-the-minute backup of my computer "in the cloud". That means even if my computer catches on fire and burns to ashes, I can still duplicate it at the click of a button later. Screenflow – I use this tool to make a screen cast recordings that are responsible for so much of my revenue. For instance, when I make sales videos for my own products, I knew Screenflow. When I create the products themselves, I used Screenflow to create the content. And when I am paid to create sales videos for clients, this is the tool that I use. ByWord – A simple, distraction free writing environment that I love. I learned about this gem from Michael Hyatt. Word – I wish it were not so, but sometimes you just have to have Microsoft Word to get the job done. Usually, the "have to" part is because someone else is using it and thus I am forced to use it also. Pages – In my opinion, a much better word processing and page layout program than Microsoft Word. Lean, sleek, and easy-to-use, everyone should just switch now. So I can stop using that other program altogether. OmniFocus – Hands-down the best implementation of GTD I've ever seen in software. I use this every single day. Synthesis – I'm not currently using synthesis WordPress hosting, but I'm very close to making the move. It's mostly a matter of time for me. Their hosting is designed and optimized for WordPress sites. Meaning you get better security, fewer crashes and other problems, and speed. All very important. GetNoticed! WordPress Theme – I am looking forward to testing Michael Hyatt's upcoming WordPress theme. Based on the design of his own popular website, this team is optimized for experts, authors, thought leaders, life coaches, and others who wish to build an online platform for themselves. The theme has not yet been released, but you can sign up to get notified when it is by clicking here. WishlistMember – Plugin that turns WordPress sites into recurring revenue! Online Business Tools I Don't Use, But Do Recommend Here are a few recommendations for services that I don't currently use in my business, but that I have tested and believed to be very useful. In some cases, I am using these tools and services on behalf of clients. In all cases, I believe these to be of the utmost quality and worth your consideration. SquareSpace.com – Until very recently the only platform are recommended for building a website was WordPress. That was until I gave square space a try. While there are many website building services available these days, this is the only one that I would recommend as a way to build your platform website. Their hosting is incredibly sophisticated, and you will probably never outgrow it. It's virtually impossible for you to generate enough traffic to bring one of their websites down. Their built-in design templates will make your site look like a million bucks. Their drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to design your website yourself. If using WordPress intimidates you, and if you don't need to build sophisticated paid membership site, this is worth considering. Not to mention it is very reasonably priced. BigCommerce.com – If I were starting my business again from scratch today, it is very likely that this is the shopping cart system that I would use. But this service is much more than merely a shopping cart, as they offer help with all phases of building a profitable website. If you take full advantage of everything they have to offer, you will end up spending more than a few dollars, but they do very good work. Highly recommended. AWeber – There are many options to choose from for building your e-mail list, delivering messages to them, and tracking the results of your e-mail marketing. This is my top recommendation for anyone just getting started out. These guys take all the hard stuff and do it for you, in the background. They make sure you stay off the spam lists, and they make sure your e-mail gets delivered. They're also relatively inexpensive. You can get started for about 20 bucks a month. 1 ShoppingCart – This is the shopping cart system that I have used for taking online orders and automating product delivery since about 2004. Not only is it a shopping cart, it also features integrated e-mail marketing functions, handles shipping, taxes, and a lot more. This system is relied on by many online marketers, and the folks who own it have worked hard to keep updating it with the features we need to run our businesses. Highly recommended. Woothemes.com – WordPress themes that are stunning to look at, attractive to search engines, and completely easy-to-use. I've worked with a lot of websites that are built using themes from this company, and this is my number one recommendation for you if you are just starting out. I also highly recommend these themes to you even if you're a seasoned pro. MarketSamurai – For doing market research, and finding those profitable keywords for your website to focus on, this is the software you need. It runs on all computers (Mac, PC, and even Linux) and while it is simple to use, it is also very powerful. The Lifestyle Business Segment Stu McLaren returns as our "lifestyle business correspondent", and this week Stu is sharing his thoughts on how frustration can be the source of million-dollar product ideas. Special Announcements I will be making an appearance onstage at James Malinchak's "Big Money Speaker Bootcamp" December 6-9 in LA. I'm super-excited about this event! I don't know if you saw ABC's hit TV show, "Secret Millionaire"… James was featured on the show. At the Boot Camp, he shares his strategies and tips on how to become a Big Money Speaker. I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you "get noticed in a noisy world." It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Owensby Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, Ken Davis, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy "request line" at (509) 713-2679 Question: What online business tools could you not live without in your business? Leave your tips in the comments below.

In today's podcast, I am spending a lot of time answering one of the most common questions I receive: “Ray, what online business tools or software do you use to run your Internet based business?” I'll go into detail about what online business tools I use, why I chose them, and also be very candid about whether I would make the same choice if I were starting over again today. Specifically, in this episode we will cover the following: I will share my new favorite iPad app, which is a notetaking app with a twist. In Spiritual Foundations, will discuss God's will to heal in all areas of your life. I will go in-depth on the subject of online business tools. I'll get specific, and name names. Stu McLaren shares exactly how frustrations can be the source of million-dollar business ideas. And I will share a few special announcements. Tip Of The Week Some of my own Paper doodles. This week's tip is for another iPad app. This one is called simply Paper. What makes it different from the app I reviewed last week? Paper is more than a notetaking app. It is really intended for artists. It works and feels like, well… paper. Hence the name. Check it out. Spiritual Foundations God's nature is to heal you in every way: “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Acts 10:38 Don't fall for the lie that says God made you sick to “teach you something”. That's not who He is! The Best Online Business Tools In the course of running an online business, there are many tools and applications to choose from. I use a lot of different tools in my own business, and I am frequently asked for recommendations about what the best tools to use might be. I am going to supply some very specific answers, and share some of the tools that I use most in my own business. Before I do, however, I want to make a couple of things very clear. First of all, it is rarely the case that the lack of a tool creates the lack of success. In my experience, successful people are successful despite not having the “right tools”. This may sound counter-intuitive. I am not saying that it's wrong to have the best tools available to get the job done. That would be ridiculous. What I am saying is this: if you are using your search for the “perfect tools” as an excuse not to act, you will almost certainly encounter disappointment. Perhaps outright failure. There is no such thing as a “perfect tool”. It's better to start with what you have, from where you are, and do the best job possible. That is what being an entrepreneur is all about. Creating value out of the available resources. The second thing you should be aware of is that I do receive a commission for recommending most of the tools listed here. If that bothers you, feel free to disregard my advice. However, I will say this: I do not recommend any tool that I have not used myself, or that I do not feel will help you. Here is my list of recommended tools, software, and websites. These have helped me build a successful online business, and I believe they can help you do the same. What I'm Using Now… And Most WordPress.org – This is what I recommend almost everyone use to build their website. It's about more than just “blogging”, it is a rocksolid architecture for constructing any website. There is a reason why so many Fortune 500 companies choose to build their website on the WordPress framework. Plus, because of the ability to apply different “themes” to your WordPress site, you can change the look and feel of your website with the touch of a button (or, in this case, the click of a mouse). Just make sure you are running the self hosted version of WordPress, which will be found that WordPress.org. You don't want to build your website on WordPress.com, because you lose a certain amount of control, and also it just looks less professional. DIYthemes.com – This is the company that sells the thesis WordPress theme. Devotees of thesis are almost fanatical in their enthusiasm for this very solid, lightning fast, SEO optimized WordPress theme. While it is very powerful, and very sophisticated, it also comes with a bit of a steeper learning curve than other WordPress themes. But if you are looking for a rock solid framework for your website, this is the place for you. StudioPress.com – The folks at StudioPress are producing some of the most elegant and beautiful WordPress themes available today. They all work with the Genesis framework, which means your WordPress site will be running on a solid foundation that is optimized to get you search engine love. This is a great option for short-cutting the design phase of your website-these things look great right out of the box. InfusionSoft.com – We just switched! This is a very robust and powerful CRM (or customer relationship management) software system, including email followup, direct mail, shopping cart functionality, and more. Infusion allows you to do some very sophisticated marketing, using behavior-based rules, analytics, and automation sequences. If you have a business that is doing $1 million or more in revenue per year, you might well want to consider using this system. It is not cheap, and there is a learning curve to get the most out of it, but it is well worth both of these costs. PayPal – This is the easiest and best way to start taking payments online. PayPal is an established, trusted payment processor, thanks mostly to their very close association with eBay. It's easy to set up an account, and you have direct access to the money as soon as someone pays you. This is where I recommend you start when you're ready to start taking payments online. iPowerPay.com -At some point, you're going to need a real, honest to goodness merchant account. This is an account that lets you take credit cards directly as a means of payment for your products and services. The customer pays using their credit card, and the money is automatically deposited in your bank account a couple days later. The problem is, it's not exactly easy to get a true merchant account for online business. Especially if you're just starting out. This company is the company I use for my own merchant account. It's very inexpensive to get started, and they have a 98% approval rate for all applications (sometimes it feels like other companies have a 98% rejection rate!). These folks truly understand the business of Internet marketing, so you'll never have to feel like you're forced to explain your business to someone who just doesn't “get it”. Highly recommended. BlueHost – This is the place to start when you initially build your website. You will not outgrow this quickly in all likelihood. Even if you experience huge success with your new website, blue host can accommodate your growth a long way down the road. Their prices are excellent (starting at about 7 bucks a month), and their service is just as good. This is where I recommend all beginners start for their web hosting-and more than a few “seasoned veterans” should be able to do quite well with an account at blue host. Opt-in Skin – This is a WordPress plug-in that allows you to design beautiful and response-enhancing opt-in forms for your WordPress powered site. It has many built-in features, including the ability to split test different designs see which will get the most registrations. I've been using it for a while now, and the only criticism I have is that it runs a little slowly when you're trying to design and generate a new form. That, however, is a small price to pay for what this plug-in will do. Scribe Content – This plug-in helps me optimize my blog posts and site content for better placement in the search engines. This is really the only SEO work that I do on my site. Evernote – My absolute favorite app that defies description – but I’ll try: your new omnipresent, universal, non-corporeal notebook. Yep, can’t describe it. Try it. You’ll understand. LastPass  – The last password you will ever need. Remember a single password, and access all of your accounts and sites. DropBox – This vital service allows me to synchronize the folder on my computer with an identical folder in the cloud. What this means is, I can have access to my files anywhere I can access the Internet. I can also share with others. Indispensable tool! Backblaze – This automated backup service makes a complete up-to-the-minute backup of my computer “in the cloud”. That means even if my computer catches on fire and burns to ashes, I can still duplicate it at the click of a button later. Screenflow – I use this tool to make a screen cast recordings that are responsible for so much of my revenue. For instance, when I make sales videos for my own products, I knew Screenflow. When I create the products themselves, I used Screenflow to create the content. And when I am paid to create sales videos for clients, this is the tool that I use. ByWord – A simple, distraction free writing environment that I love. I learned about this gem from Michael Hyatt. Word – I wish it were not so, but sometimes you just have to have Microsoft Word to get the job done. Usually, the “have to” part is because someone else is using it and thus I am forced to use it also. Pages – In my opinion, a much better word processing and page layout program than Microsoft Word. Lean, sleek, and easy-to-use, everyone should just switch now. So I can stop using that other program altogether. OmniFocus – Hands-down the best implementation of GTD I've ever seen in software. I use this every single day. Synthesis – I'm not currently using synthesis WordPress hosting, but I'm very close to making the move. It's mostly a matter of time for me. Their hosting is designed and optimized for WordPress sites. Meaning you get better security, fewer crashes and other problems, and speed. All very important. GetNoticed! WordPress Theme – I am looking forward to testing Michael Hyatt's upcoming WordPress theme. Based on the design of his own popular website, this team is optimized for experts, authors, thought leaders, life coaches, and others who wish to build an online platform for themselves. The theme has not yet been released, but you can sign up to get notified when it is by clicking here. WishlistMember – Plugin that turns WordPress sites into recurring revenue! Online Business Tools I Don't Use, But Do Recommend Here are a few recommendations for services that I don't currently use in my business, but that I have tested and believed to be very useful. In some cases, I am using these tools and services on behalf of clients. In all cases, I believe these to be of the utmost quality and worth your consideration. SquareSpace.com – Until very recently the only platform are recommended for building a website was WordPress. That was until I gave square space a try. While there are many website building services available these days, this is the only one that I would recommend as a way to build your platform website. Their hosting is incredibly sophisticated, and you will probably never outgrow it. It's virtually impossible for you to generate enough traffic to bring one of their websites down. Their built-in design templates will make your site look like a million bucks. Their drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to design your website yourself. If using WordPress intimidates you, and if you don't need to build sophisticated paid membership site, this is worth considering. Not to mention it is very reasonably priced. BigCommerce.com – If I were starting my business again from scratch today, it is very likely that this is the shopping cart system that I would use. But this service is much more than merely a shopping cart, as they offer help with all phases of building a profitable website. If you take full advantage of everything they have to offer, you will end up spending more than a few dollars, but they do very good work. Highly recommended. AWeber – There are many options to choose from for building your e-mail list, delivering messages to them, and tracking the results of your e-mail marketing. This is my top recommendation for anyone just getting started out. These guys take all the hard stuff and do it for you, in the background. They make sure you stay off the spam lists, and they make sure your e-mail gets delivered. They're also relatively inexpensive. You can get started for about 20 bucks a month. 1 ShoppingCart – This is the shopping cart system that I have used for taking online orders and automating product delivery since about 2004. Not only is it a shopping cart, it also features integrated e-mail marketing functions, handles shipping, taxes, and a lot more. This system is relied on by many online marketers, and the folks who own it have worked hard to keep updating it with the features we need to run our businesses. Highly recommended. Woothemes.com – WordPress themes that are stunning to look at, attractive to search engines, and completely easy-to-use. I've worked with a lot of websites that are built using themes from this company, and this is my number one recommendation for you if you are just starting out. I also highly recommend these themes to you even if you're a seasoned pro. MarketSamurai – For doing market research, and finding those profitable keywords for your website to focus on, this is the software you need. It runs on all computers (Mac, PC, and even Linux) and while it is simple to use, it is also very powerful. The Lifestyle Business Segment Stu McLaren returns as our “lifestyle business correspondent”, and this week Stu is sharing his thoughts on how frustration can be the source of million-dollar product ideas. Special Announcements I will be making an appearance onstage at James Malinchak's “Big Money Speaker Bootcamp” December 6-9 in LA. I'm super-excited about this event! I don't know if you saw ABC's hit TV show, “Secret Millionaire”…  James was featured on the show. At the Boot Camp, he shares his strategies and tips on how to become a Big Money Speaker. I'm attending the Platform Conference in Nashville. If you do business online, you MUST attend this conference that helps you “get noticed in a noisy world.” It's being put on by Michael Hyatt and Ken Davis. My friends Stu McLaren and Carrie Owensby Wilkerson are speaking. I'm also looking forward to meeting  Jeff Goins, Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, Ken Davis, John Saddington, Michele Cushatt, and Andrew Buckman. Unlike most conferences, there's not a single speaker I'm not excited to hear and to meet. Get a ticket while you can! Would you like to have me speak at your event? Click here to visit my speaking page and get details on my availability. Your Feedback Do you have an idea for a podcast you would like to hear? Do you have a question that you like to ask me? Please send me an email. And if you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the podcast. You can find the podcast on Stitcher by clicking the logo: Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy “request line” at (509) 713-2679 Question: What online business tools could you not live without in your business? Leave your tips in the comments below.  

Our government has been surreptitiously bringing in foreign soldiers sailors and airmen. And they're giving them bonuses. Up to $200,000. Meanwhile single Australian soldiers are to lose being reunited with their families at Christmas. A once a year reunion. And unlike government ministers and top bureaucrats, they had to fly economy class. This is a government which has left the country next to defenceless. As a proportion of the Gross National product, we're back to spending about the same as we were in the 1930s. Before the disastrous Collins class submarines are replaced there's going to be another enquiry. This has the advantage of taking any replacement out of the budget for this year. You get it- a saving. And where are the new fighters for the RAAF and the modern artillery for the Army? In the meantime military prosecutions are still centralised Canberra. They are in the hands of a person who has never been under fire. This led to the appalling prosecution of our SAS soldiers who were doing no more than their duty in Afghanistan. The Daily Telegraph's Alex Devics reports (9/6) that 726 foreign soldiers, sailors and air force personnel have come to Australia since 2006. This has cost taxpayers about $100 million. War Graves campaigner John Saddington says “it’s an absolute disgrace. We’re hiring mercenaries.” Foreign soldiers are coming from Britain United States New Zealand Canada South Africa Italy Singapore Poland Greece and Germany. Why incidentally, aren't there any from Fiji? More proof that our politicians should not be just accountable every three or four years with candidates provided to us from the political parties. The politicians should be accountable every day of every month every year. As they would be under Direct Democracy.

John Saddington ( Check%20out%20episodes%2011%20to%2020%20of%C2%A0The%20Sales%20Podcast%20here. ) - Serial Entrepreneur, Prolific Blogger, Open & Honest Dialogue. John Saddington Started young at age 14 doing programming for Johnson and Johnson and bagging groceries. Dropped out of Georgia Tech…struggled to get a “piece of paper” (his diploma). Worked at Dell. Worked at Fox News. Being an entrepreneur was not the plan. As he moved up in management he realized he had little respect for authority and he realized he could do it better and move faster. Began building his own products at night – 2006-2007. Has had 5-6 startups since then. Some VC. Learned Basic and Visual Basic when living in Japan. He was self-taught. Now, with online courses, even free courses from Stanford and iTunes Library, you can learn anything. Entrepreneurs get frozen with ideas. We need to force the idea of scarcity on ourselves so we focus and dig deep and become excellent. Execute. There is no “right” answer. John got his “big break” with Flash development. 8Bit – his idea back in 2008-2009 – came from his frustration in building WordPress sites for his clients. It sold 30-40 copies the first day so he brought on 3 other partners to help him grow and they grew to seven. Mashable voted them… Tough to “get it right” when growing a company and with changing technologies. WordPress is still so nascent. It's hard to stay the course long term. Entrepreneurs get bored quickly. There's a difference between “lifestyle” companies and “growth” companies with fast-paced growth and finding liquidity to exit. Often we don't listen to our hearts. John learned he didn't speak up often enough or vocally enough. The longest he's been at a company is two years and nine days and that was about a year too long. Sept 4, 2012, he began kicking the idea around for Pressgram ( http://pressgr.am/ ). It was a nights and weekends project. He was not happy with the Facebook and Intragram terms. In March of 2013, his wife said: “Why don't you put it on Kickstarter?” (She's the brilliant one. She's a strategist.) I've backed 200+ projects on Kickstarter for others but never for himself. So he put together the campaign overnight and launched it at 12:04 AM on Saturday. He raised $56,000+ and this became a very public project. This had a big influence as well on how 8Bit unfolded. Kickstarter is very “altruistic.” It's not “an online store.” You're there to help someone else's dream. 498 backers to reach $50,000. Peruse Kickstarter to see what's out there and see what works and what doesn't work. John had finished his initial wireframe and some code but the framework wasn't really built out. It's harder to get software accepted on Kickstarter. Indiegogo ( http://www.indiegogo.com/ ) accepts almost anything. If you have an itch to scratch you lose almost nothing by submitting your idea. Go ahead and get rejected to make you tighten up your pitch. There is a small staff that reviews and approves your idea. You can appeal with 300 characters. Built more than a prototype with Pressgram ( http://pressgr.am/ ) and now he's going to go find his team. Others will find a partner first, and that's fine, but he likes to build first. He has the energy to do it that way. In-app purchases are how you monetize free apps. He sees a way to build a WordPress ecosystem around this app. If I'm not in love with what I'm building and if it doesn't scratch an itch I have and I want to use there is just something so moving that helps me go the extra mile. That's what separates “armchair entrepreneurs” from those that actually do it and that gets you through the tough times. The fund-raising season is incredibly tough. My wife is emotionally and intellectually prepared for me to be a “deadbeat dad” and absentee husband as I get on planes to cross the country and even the globe. 3,264 posts – about 9 a day – for 365 days in 2011 and experienced tremendous growth. He didn't get tired of it. He wakes up around 4:30 or 5 and writes until 7 am. He and his wife work with boundaries. He has been journaling as long as he can remember and has been blogging since 2001. He has templates he uses to accelerate his production and now has internal templates. Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes better. John admits he's obsessed with his work. He has moved his wife many times chasing his ventures. They have been up and down the financial roller coaster. His wife is “full of grace and loves me, thank God!” By setting up boundaries he has incredible freedom. When 7 am comes he spends time with his kids. His next is 8:30 to 2 PM. He can do whatever he wants. At 2 pm his oldest is done with first grade and he picks her up. From 2:30 to 7:00 pm it's “lights off” when it comes to technology. His wife loves reading and he loves programming but they'll discuss how they want to spend their evening. Feed.ly ( http://cloud.feedly.com/#welcome ) Pro is one of his favorite app. He was one of the first 5,000 to buy a subscription for life for $99. Seth Godin, Doesn't have a lot of time to read. RSS feeds help. He has noticed in highly-productive people that they are so consumed with what they are doing that they have no time for “sideline commentary and are not concerned with missing something.” Entrepreneurs execute in an environment of ambiguity. “What's hot” becomes unimportant. I'm not concerned about my next competitor. “I could drown in worry and shame” if I focused on that. John wants to learn something new every day. Yesterday he learned that you can't call something a photo until it is printed. It's a picture or image until it becomes physical. Show some love for this episode. Give me a shout out on Twitter. ( https://twitter.com/saleswhisperer ) Grow your sales with this book ( https://info.thesaleswhisperer.com/way-book ). Thank you for checking out this session of The Sales Podcast with host, Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer®. Please leave a quick rating and review of the podcast on iTunes ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sales-whisperer-sales-marketing/id655310847?mt=2 ) by clicking on the link below! It would be extremely helpful for the show! Get the professional help you need to grow your sales via these resources: * Sell More This Month ( https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/30-day-sales-growth ) * Hire Better Salespeople ( https://talentgenius.simplybook.me/v2/ ) * Hire The Best Keynote Speaker ( https://www.wesschaeffer.com/ ) * Find Your Best CRM ( https://info.thesaleswhisperer.com/best-crm-quiz ) * Join the Free Facebook Group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/theimplementors/ ) Check out episodes 11 to 20 of The Sales Podcast here ( https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/the-sales-podcast-episodes-11-20 ). Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-sales-podcast/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy