The Secret to Selling Anything Online: Don’t Summarize

The secret to selling a digital product online to someone you’ve never met before is the same as the secret to selling your script to a Hollywood movie producer: Don’t summarize. I learned this from reading one of Michael Hauge’s articles on storymastery.com. Michael is a top Hollywood story expert, author, and lecturer who consults with writers, filmmakers, marketers,…

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7 Habits of Insanely Unproductive People

A lot has been said about the insanely productive. In fact, the best article I’ve read on the behaviors of insanely productive people is this article by Benjamin P. Hardy. Today I’ll show you the flip side of what productivity looks like. Something I’m sure a lot of you know too well. Don’t fret. The first step…

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The Shortest Commencement Speech You’ll Never Hear

“The worst thing that could have happened to me is to become my own boss at 22 — because I would have stopped growing right there.” When Ryan Holiday said this on James Altucher’s podcast this week, I stopped what I was doing. Humble brag? Nope. Holiday was dead serious. Today, I’ll give you some advice I wish I…

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What Great Teachers Do Differently

Think about a teacher who has helped you succeed before. What did they do differently from the rest? The answer can probably be summarized in three paragraphs, as you’ll see. When Jonathan Fields, entrepreneur, and founder of The Good Life Project, interviewed Anders Ericsson, the famous researcher who discovered the 10,000-hour rule, he got to ask…

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What’s Your Across-the-Table Advantage?

Here’s how to bring a gun to a knife fight and get away with it in business… On Sunday, Gary Vaynerchuk posted a video from a recent book signing event he did and someone asked this question: Hey Gary, When you’re selling a client, how do you convince them that what you’re doing for them is better…

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‘Sooner or later, most of us are going to become consultants’

In 1997, Dr. Gary Scott Goodman wrote a book called 6-Figure Consulting: How to Have a Great Second Career. I think Goodman should update his book and call it 6-Figure Consulting: How to Have a Great First Career. Here’s why… In the first chapter, Goodman makes this uncanny prediction. Goodman says [my emphasis in bold]: Numerous companies…

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How to Make Your Customers WANT to Give You a Referral

As I was leaving the dentist, the receptionist asked if I would give a referral. “Maybe you could tell your contacts about us. We’d really appreciate it,” she said. Then she handed me a couple flyers. I smiled and replied, “sure.” Then I walked out of the office. If you had to guess… what are…

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How This Student Could Make $1.6 Million in ‘a Couple of Hours’

Here’s a cool Friday-feel-good story for you with one very important lesson. Earlier this week, a video of a student from NYU Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music went viral. Maybe you saw it? The video was from a Masterclass where Grammy Award-winning-recording artist Pharrell Williams sat in as a guest lecturer, offering notes to the students…

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Step One to Accomplishing All Your Life’s Ambitions

By today’s standards, what I’m about to suggest might sound unhealthy. However, I can assure you it’s a proven strategy that will set you on the fastest path to accomplishing all your life’s goals. In an old interview, ETR founder Mark Ford did with Mike Dillard, Mark offers this one piece of advice he says…

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The One Word Podcasters Need to Stop Saying

Right now, podcasters are having a moment. But here’s the thing about podcasting. As the market becomes more saturated, which it will, it becomes harder to stand out. Even right now, competition is fierce on iTunes and it’s only getting worse. Today, I want to help you stand out by giving you one piece of…

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Is ‘Be Yourself’ Good or Bad Advice?

I’m always curious what topics get people riled up online. At the moment, there is no shortage. See: all American politics The most recent controversial debate I’ve come across was on a topic I’d never have guessed. Adam Grant, author of Give and Take and Originals wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times…

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3 Business Lessons from Chick-fil-A

Nobody was expecting this… Last week, Chick-fil-A introduced its first app called One App and in three days the app was downloaded over 1 million times, making it the #1 downloaded app in Apple’s free-app store last week. If you’re wondering what the cluck happened? I’ll tell you… Free food. With every app download, Chick-fil-A…

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