Tag Archives: iTunes

Episode 50: Bring Yourself Into Your Career | 4th Grade Teacher Karen Krupnick

As a 4th Grade Teacher Karen Krupnick was an excellent teacher who always brought something of herself into the classroom.  Her passion for teaching transferred itself to her students and, as a former student myself, know she changed the lives of her students.  Learn how you can bring yourself into your career in Episode 50 of the Defining Success Podcast!

Karen Krupnick on the Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn Bring Yourself Into Your Career

Karen Krupnick

Karen Krupnick was my 4th grade elementary teacher.  Karen Krupnick has been a teacher for 40 years and has taught over 1,200 students, including myself.  She fostered the creativity of her students by teaching lessons that were outside of the box.

Karen had no idea she was going to be an educator.  She graduated college as a French teacher and it took a while before she made a decision to become a teacher.  A friend of Karen’s began teaching preschool and Karen decided to give it a try.

Teaching has changed completely from 40 years ago.  When she first started, there was a lot of experimentation in the classroom.  It was a time when you tried new things and when she left teaching it became a test-oriented environment.

State standards have changed the classroom many times over.  The new common core is looking to change the way teaching is done.  The one thing Karen enjoyed about teaching was that she was able to bring something of herself into the classroom (bring yourself into your career) and could teach her classroom in creative ways and now that is definitely not encouraged.

When Karen went into teaching most teachers said they went into education because they could share their passion with their students.

One of the most valuable things Karen learned about teaching was the never-ending progression of students.  Because of their different gifts, Karen came to appreciate people in a whole different way.  She found the uniqueness of the human being to be very interesting.

Karen loved teaching math and she learned many things she could bring to her students and she loved doing integrated units and bringing all subjects into these units.

The Great Race to Nome Karen Krupnick Bring Yourself Into Your Career

The Great Race to Nome

The Iditarod is a sled-dog race in Alaska where somewhere around 100 dog-sledders make this long trip along Alaska and it was immediately fascinating to Karen that human beings do this.  At the time Karen was first introduced to the race, there wasn’t a lot of stuff out there.  Students could calculate averages, do mathematical equations, read on the subject, and communicate with participants in the Iditarod.  As a result, Karen created curriculum and wrote a book on the subject which 1,000’s of teachers were using in their classrooms.  Recently; however, the state standards have forced administrators to say that this was not important and were discouraging teachers from using it in the classroom.

As technology evolved, students could do live chats with the mushers.  And students could also chat with classrooms that were located at checkpoints along the Iditarod trail.

Karen wishes people outside of education understood that the teacher’s job never stops at 3pm.  And that they’ll never understand how much time teachers put into their job over the summers.  It’s painful as a teacher that so many other professionals diminish the efforts of teachers and it would be nice if they only knew how much time, effort and commitment most teachers put into their job.

Being a member of the team to educate your child is extremely important.  Making sure they’re doing their homework and understanding what goes on in your child’s day is very important.  Good, quality parenting is always part of the education process.

One of the things Karen missed was picking up her kids at her line in the morning.  She loved seeing their energy and feeling their energy and loved questions.

Karen Krupnick

Karen Krupnick

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • Should teachers bring a piece of themselves into the classroom?
  • What do you think is the best way to educate children?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • Iditarod.com – “It takes so much more than a field of willing mushers and anxious sled dogs to run the Iditarod Trail Race. With an annual budgetof almost two million dollars, the Iditarod Trail Committee depends on a hard working force of volunteers and supporters to raise the necessary money all year around. An annual sweepstakes isheld. Various items are sold at fairs and benefits. Banquets are planned in both Anchorage and Nome. This volunteer force and the loyal supporters from both the private and business sector make the race possible each year.”

Success Quotes:

  • “Success is being able to get up every morning and be glad that you’re going to your job.”
  • “If you love where you’re going and what you’re doing than you’re a success.”
  • “Be yourself and study the things that you love. Don’t choose what you study because of what anybody else tells you.”
  • “Be yourself.  Bring something of yourself into your classroom.”
  • “A career goes home with you.  A job, you leave behind at the office.”
  • “Good, quality parenting is always part of the education process.”

Special Requests:

Rate and Review the Defining Success Podcast in iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909

 

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Episode 46: Real-Time Marketing | Author David Meerman Scott

David Meerman Scott is a marketing strategist, advisor to emerging companies, best-selling author of eight books including three national best-sellers, and a professional speaker on topics including marketing, leadership, and social media. In Episode 46 of the Defining Success Podcast, David shares his ideas on real-time marketing and how you can use real-time marketing to help your business grow.

Real-Time Marketing David Meerman Scott Defining Success Podcast New Rules of Marketing and PR Defining Success Podcast Zeb Welborn

David Meerman Scott

David Meerman Scott wrote the New Rules of Marketing and PR and he’s helping businesses understand how the marketing world has shifted to giving and receiving instant feedback so you can be found online.  In Episode 46 of the Defining Success Podcast, David Meerman Scott talks about Real-Time Marketing and its implication for the future.

David’s first job was at a Wall Street Street Bond Trading desk which he hated.  He then began selling economic services to traders and he learned that he was really doing more marketing than he was selling.  He then got a job in marketing for a company called Knight Ridder and he’s been a marketer ever since.

In 2002, David Meerman Scott worked for the News Edge Corporation was acquired by Thompson-Reuters and he was an officer and was asked to leave because they didn’t need the management team going forward and it gave him an opportunity to see what he wanted to do moving forward.  At 39, he realized he could do some consulting on his own and in 2005, his second book was called Cashing in With Content and his most well-known book is the New Rules of Marketing and PR which has sold 300,000 copies.

Since 2007, David has been earning his income on the speaking market.  He drifted from one point to another.  David wasn’t afraid to do things that others said would be a mistake.  And these events all worked out great for him.  In 2002 when David decided to start his own thing and many people looked down on people who started their own businesses because it was seen as if you couldn’t find a real job.

Each of the things that paid off the most were risks that Scott took.

The old rules of marketing and PR were that you either had to buy attention for your business or yourself in the form of advertising, you had to convince media outlets to write about you or you had to reach customers individually through direct selling.  The new rules of marketing and PR is the idea that on the web there are millions of people who are looking for things online to buy or do and they go to search engines or they ask their friends, colleagues and social networks.  The organizations and the people that create the best content will be the ones that show up in search engines and the more likely friends are to share them.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR Fourth Edition by David Meerman Scott

The New Rules of Marketing & PR Fourth Edition

The New Rules of Marketing and PR is about how to create content.  World Wide Rave is another book by David Meerman Scott and in the last year, David has made his book completely free, and to get it search for World Wide Rave.  David wrote another book called Real-Time Marketing and PR.  When people are making purchasing decisions, they are doing it right now and his book is designed to show how to engage people in real-time.  Most companies and organizations are focused on campaign marketing and most companies are doing that exclusively.

The idea of marketing is switching it around from doing it when a business is ready to when the customers are ready.  News Jacking is the art and science of turning your ideas into a news story.  It provides really cool ideas on how you can create something that people will see because you’re piggy-backing off of a breaking news story.

David gives 35 speeches a year all over the world.  This month, David is traveling to Cairo and Cutter and he’ll be gone for six days.  In November, he’s traveling to Buenos Aires and Istanbul.

The biggest mistake David sees companies make is that they talk about themselves way too much.  And that doesn’t work in today’s world.

It’s very important to create content on the web.  To have a great website, to have real-time content around that website, whether it’s a blog or YouTube videos and it’s important to put yourself out there on the web and through social networking.

Facebook has only been open since 2007.  Twitter has only been around since 2007.  It’s important for businesses to understand what this means for them and their future.

David Meerman Scott on the Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn

David Meerman Scott

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • Do you interact with your customers in Real-Time?
  • Are you creating content on the web?  If so, how?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • David Meerman Scott – “David’s book The New Rules of Marketing & PR opened people’s eyes to the new realities of marketing and public relations on the Web. Six months on the BusinessWeek bestseller list and published in 26 languages from Bulgarian to Vietnamese, New Rules, now in its 4th edition, is a modern business classic. Scott’s popular blog and hundreds of speaking engagements around the world give him a singular perspective on how businesses are implementing new strategies to reach buyers.”

Success Quotes:

  • “Success is creating a path that allows you to enjoy life.”
  • “Social media is about engaging people.”
  • “Social media is about listening.”
  • “Social media is about sharing the content you create elsewhere.”
  • “The way that people are solving other people’s problems on the web.”
  • “No matter what you’re doing you’re gaining incredible knowledge, you’re learning and interacting with people.”
  • “Everything that I’ve done all pointed me to where I am now so I don’t have any regrets.”
  • “Create the content that will be valuable to the people you’re trying to reach.”
  • “You need to be helpful on the web that will be beneficial to people.”
  • “The New Rules of Marketing and PR is the idea that on the web there are millions of people who are looking for things online to buy.”
  • “It’s the organizations and the people that create the best content that generate the higher search engine results and promoted in social networks.”
  • “The New Rules of Marketing and PR is that the better your content is the more attention you drive to yourself and to your business.”
  • “If you’re blogging, creating videos and active on social networks than you’re more likely to get noticed than someone who isn’t.”
  • “I enjoy helping people and being able to interact with people and share ideas.”
  • “I wasn’t scared to do things that people actually told me were a mistake.”

Special Requests:

  • Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, of by leaving reviews on our iTunes page!  Find us anywhere by searching for the Defining Success Podcast!
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Episode 38: Having Multiple Passions is Okay! | Eighty Bug from 80bug.com

You may have noticed the change to our theme music this week on the Defining Success Podcast.  We have our guest for Episode 38 of the Defining Success Podcast to thank for that.  Eighty Bug is big into music, dieting, puppetry and archery and is here to show you that having multiple passions is okay!

Eighty Bug 80Bug has multiple passions. Listen to her interview with Zeb Welborn on the Defining Success Podcast

Eighty Bug

Eighty Bug is a singer, songwriter, DJ, arranger and producer.  She has crossed genres from pop, hip-hop, soul, R&B, rock, country, electronica, downtempo, and dance music with her unique southern soulful voice and electronica influence.  She’s extremely active and knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects.

Eighty was born in Camp Pendleton in California and she was always on the road and went to 18 different schools as she was growing up.  She was quite an observer and would learn to observe others and assimilate into their culture.  She has lived in Atlanta, Seattle, L.A., San Francisco and Brooklyn.

Music has always been in Eighty’s blood.  Early on in her career, she was a signed artist and since then has written music that has appeared in music and films.  As a musician, you’re traveling . . . You play music, sleep and eat.

Aside from music, Eighty loves to eat and loves educating others on the uses of food and incorporating them into your diet.  She has been able to travel all over the world because of her music and has developed her culinary skills along the way.

Eighty has opened for bands that she’s loved including Run DMC and Lupe Fiasco.  She’s gotten lots of placement in television shows.  One of the pieces she wrote appeared on an MTV show and it was a very heartfelt emotional song and helped to connect people to the story of the disaster that occurred in New Orleans.

When Eighty writes new music it inspires her.  Anything can happen with her music and that’s what she loves the most . . . the creative process of writing a new song.

She used to work for a band called Jupiter Rising and she wrote this song called Hero, which is one of her favorite songs and got picked up by an Oprah charity, the International Women’s Museum which used it as their theme song.  When she creates music, it’s not about money or fame, it’s about writing songs that brings blessings or hopes for other people and their lives.

The International Women’s Museum finds women artists around the world and works to display their art to others.

Eighty is also a puppeteer.  She began working with puppets as a young child and she made lots of different characters.  She worked for Disney in the character department and got picked up to be a puppeteer.  She also had an opportunity to work for Jim Henson and worked with some of the best puppeteers in the world.

The coolest thing about puppeteering to Eighty is playing other characters.  Others may not believe it, but Eighty is very introverted and she loves playing a character and thinks it’s very cool to play another character and use that to connect with other people.

Eighty loves to eat good things and if it doesn’t taste good, she’s not going to eat it.  And when she’s done eating it she wants to feel good.  Her motivation is to make food that tastes good and makes her feel good afterwards.  Her passion for eating drove her to start the Knife and the Spoon food blog where she educates others on having the proper diet.

The best thing Eighty enjoys is having great communication with her friends and building upon that every day.  Her multiple passions allow her to express herself and share experiences with her friends.

Eighty has made a lot of poor choices in the music business and she’s been through a lot of the trials and tribulations that the music industry has, but she’s become a better person for it.

DJ Josh One and Eighty worked together to create a new song which is appearing in some Microsoft’s upcoming advertising campaign.  They released a song called Chasing Rainbows and they also wrote another song called Universal and posted it on iTunes.  One of the Microsoft people heard the song, loved it, and are planning on using it.

Eighty Bug (80Bug) appeared on the Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn. Multiple Passions.

Eighty Bug

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • What are you passionate about?
  • Do you have multiple passions?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • 80bug.com – Welcome to Dj80.com and 80bug.com, home of 86 Productions. Here you can read about, listen to and watch the progression of artist 80 Bug – from singer, songwriter and DJ to topline/melody writer, arranger and producer. Dj80bugg has crossed genres from pop, hip hop, soul, RnB, rock, country, electronica and downtempo to dance music with her unique southern soulful voice and electronica influences.
  • Microsoft – “As a company, and as individuals, we value integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect. We are committed to our customers and partners and have a passion for technology. We take on big challenges, and pride ourselves on seeing them through. We hold ourselves accountable to our customers, shareholders, partners, and employees by honoring our commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality.”
  • Creative Minds & Visions – Creative Minds & Visions was established to help people live the creative life by developing a clothing brand that promotes artists, musicians and those in the entertainment industry.

Success Quotes:

  • “It’s all good in the end and if it’s not good, it’s not the end.”
  • “Success is waking up every day and liking yourself.”
  • “Keep your mouth shut.  Think before you speak.”
  • “Think about the potential impact that what you say has.”
  • “Be thoughtful in your process.”
  • “Life loops when you make the same choices.” – Will I Am
  • “Leave yourself open to the possibility of anything.”
  • “No matter where you go, there you are.”

Special Requests:

  • Listen to Universal by 80Bug in iTunes.
  • Share your thoughts with us about the new intro music that Eighty created for us.
Eighty Bug 80Bug Defining Success Podcast Zeb Welborn Universal Microsoft Multiple Passiona

Eighty Bug

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Episode 37: Balancing Your Work and Personal Life | Alex Navas from AlexNavas.com

Alex Navas helps people and business owners determine what is important in their business and personal lives. It’s not easy balancing your work and personal life.  The most successful people are able to find a healthy balance between the two where they are able to accomplish a lot at work, but not to the detriment of their families.  Learn more from Alex on business and what it takes to be successful in Episode 37 of the Defining Success Podcast.

Alex Navas Balancing Your Business and Personal Life Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn

Alex Navas

Alex Navas is nationally recognized for his financial expertise and exceptional small business marketing methods.  He has been active in finance, marketing, sales and personal development for 10 years.  He is now an energetic and charismatic speaker, trainer and business coach.

Alex started his entrepreneurial career installing car stereos for his friends and from that point on he knew he was destined for a life in business.  At 21 years old he started his first business, a mortgage company.  He and his wife did really well in the mortgage industry and he learned his passion was helping other business owners become successful by holding bootcamps for real estate agents.

Alex helps businesses by taking a look at their assets.  When he explains assets he means the positive things you have in your business.  After analyzing your assets, Alex can point to some opportunities you’re missing out on which could help you grow your business.

By understanding where a business is at, Alex can help businesses expand faster using less resources.  A lot of times success online depends upon taking advantage of the right opportunities and being able to identify those opportunities is critical to the success of any business.

A lot of entrepreneurs make decisions based on illusions.  A common challenge entrepreneurs make is they think they know the answer about something before the event even takes place without acting on it first.

Their are a few key things to achieve exponential growth.  Your mindset is important to the success of any business owner.  One of the key ways to grow exponentially is by choosing who you’re going to serve, because it gives you the opportunity to serve who you were not meant to serve.

Alex owns the Christian Business Academy and purposefully narrowed his focus because he knew that he was meant to serve those people.  In return, it has become easier for him to attract the clients that he wants because they are attracted to his purpose and mission.

One of the things that Alex is really good at is creating profitable partnerships and he works with a lot of coaches and consultants and he helps them leverage what they’re doing.  Alex created an online training program with another business coach in order to help people create experts in the industry.

When Alex was running his mortgage company, he was working from 7am to 11pm.  One day he was sitting with his son and he realized that his business was taking him away from his family and he vowed not to let that happen.  We’re passing up opportunities to say that some day we’ll have time to spend with our family.  Balancing your work and personal life is critical to the happiness of an individual.

Alex has seen so many successful people, but their personal lives are in shambles.

Most business owners are overwhelmed and overworked. Most business owners are doing way too much work.  Once you get focused and narrow down your goals then it becomes easier to achieve your goals and you’re doing less work.  No matter what Alex does at work he thinks about the people he’s serving and how he can help them.

Balancing Your Business and Personal Life, Alex Navas on the Defining Success Podcast

Alex Navas

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • How important is balancing your work and personal life?
  • What is more important?  Your business or your family and friends?
  • Who is the target market for your business?  Why?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • Alex Navas – “Whether you already know who I am or not, I’m ultimately here to serve you and I have a lot to tell you that will shed some light on who I am and how I can help you experience more joy, happiness and fulfillment in your life and your business.”
  • Christian Business Academy – “C.B.A. (Christian Business Academy) was founded to gather Christian entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals and empower them to create more fulfilling, profitable and purposeful businesses through the Word of God in order to create lasting change around the world using their businesses as the catalyst.”

Success Quotes:

  • “When you have fun in your business, you’re never working.”
  • “We all have a reason why we’re here beyond us.”
  • “Success comes much easier when you’re having fun and operating in your purpose.”
  • “85% of business owners are doing way too much.”
  • “It’s a lot easier to work with what you have than to start from scratch.”

Special Requests:

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Episode 23: The Impact of One | Alejandro Reyes from the Get Internet Famous Podcast

 

Thank you for visiting the Defining Success Podcast.  Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909 Thanks for listening!

Alejandro Reyes

Alejandro Reyes

Teaser:

Alejandro Reyes grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.  His life was filled with struggle, but he did have one thing going for him . . . a supportive grandmother who would pray for him every day to succeed.  Alejandro is now the host of the Get Internet Famous Podcast, author of the book, Get Internet Famous and has experienced success in a variety of different capacities.  Learn from Alejandro in Episode 23 of the Defining Success Podcast.

Recap:

Alejandro Reyes wants to help you get famous.  Not the TMZ or Kardashian kind of famous, but the kind of famous that will offer you influence and impact to grow your income.  He is also the host of the Get Internet Famous Podcast and author of Get Internet Famous:  The Ultimate Guide to Building Your Platform, Growing Your Influence and Changing the World.

Alejandro got into marketing online in 1999.  The only reason he started his business online was because he didn’t have a car and needed to figure out a way to make money. He heard Bill Gates say that by 2010, half of all sales would occur online and so he sought out to see how he could grow his business online.

In 2003 and 2004 Alejandro learned how to drive traffic to websites using MySpace and in 2006 he built his first six figure business online and he didn’t work very hard to make that happen.  Because of his success he wanted to help people learn how to use the online skills to grow their businesses.  In 2008 he came out with a coaching program and he had a belief that everyone was going to become a social media guru.

He worked offline and started running workshops in Sacramento to help local businesses use social media and the Internet to reach more customers. He was featured on almost every major news outlet in Sacramento and developed quite a following.

Last summer, Alejandro’s wife applied for a nursing school in Seattle, was accepted and within three weeks Alejandro sold his business and took a job in Seattle working for the same school his wife was attending so she could attend school for next to nothing.  But Alejandro wanted to do more so he re-launched his brand online, Get Internet Famous and he’s been able to connect with old friends.

The inspiration for Get Internet Famous came from an article Alejandro read in Wired magazine which basically said that anyone can get Internet famous.  The article helped him understand that there was an opportunity for him to get out of his poor lot in life.  He wanted to inspire people who have buried their passions and wanted to help them get it out.  He thought that if he could help people unleash their passions he could help change the world for the better.

Alejandro attributes his success to the prayers of his grandmother.  Alejandro grew up around drugs and alcohol within his family.  His family was broke and they felt dysfunctional.  His grandma would continually pray for Alejandro and encouraged him to pursue his dreams.  Alejandro says his grandma was the most successful person he knew.  Even though she had no money, she was rich because everyone loved her, she was lively and always happy.

One thing Alejandro mentioned was that sometimes there are people in your life that help you and support you and that sometimes you owe it to those people to go on and do great things, and to not be complacent.

Getting Internet Famous has nothing to do with marketing.  You have to have passion.  If you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life.  It would be something you would do regardless of whether or not you got paid to do it.  You have to also be good at what you’re passionate about.  You have to be gifted and have some expertise at what you’re passionate about.  In order to become great at what you do, you have to work really, really hard to be good at what you do.  When you’re willing to work really hard you can start to come up with your messaging.

Alejandro suggests asking 5 to 10 friends who have your best interest in mind.  Once you ask 5 to 10 people what you’re passionate about and then find out if you’re good at what your passion might be.

Alejandro Reyes started using Snippet to write Get Internet Famous and then he decided to start his own podcast right at the same time.  He basically re-launched AlejandroReyes.com, but wanted to make it more about the other customers. Alejandro says, your personality gets you to stand out online.

Alejandro Reyes

Alejandro Reyes

Email is the first thing people check in the morning is and almost everyone sees emails more likely than Facebook, Twitter or any other platform.  It takes between six and seven encounters before people make a decision to purchase.

A huge opportunity exists for people to create offline connections with people they meet in the online world.  By connecting with people you meet online you can establish long-lasting fruitful relationships with people online, enhance your credibility and become an expert.

Alejandro thinks he’s made lots of mistakes, but the two biggest that came to mind for him was not generating an email list quickly enough and not spending enough time with his family when he first started his business.

Alejandro thinks he’s helping change the world by helping others make a difference by helping them create a larger audience to have a larger impact.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • What would you be doing whether you got paid to do it or not?
  • Do you work hard for yourself or for others?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • Get Internet Famous – Alejandro Reyes has been helping entrepreneurs & companies with online marketing for over 10 years. He plans on sharing guest interviews, insights and inspiration to help you grow your business and change the world.
  • Wired Magazine – “Wired (stylized as WIRED) is a full-color monthly American magazine and online periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics.”
  • Gary Vaynerchuk – “Meet Gary Vaynerchuk, a 36 year old New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author who is also a self-trained wine and social media expert. From a young age, it was clear that Gary was a businessman. At 8-years-old he was operating seven lemonade stands in his neighborhood and by 10 he had moved onto selling baseball cards at local malls. In high school while working at his family owned liquor store, Gary started reading The Wine Spectator and wine books, and realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ wine store. Recognizing the importance of e-commerce in 1997, Gary launched Winelibrary.com and helped grow his family business significantly from $3 million to $45 million by 2005.”
  • Snippet – Like Twitter for books, we limit the word count to 1,000 words max per chapter (unlimited chapters). So, in essence, we’re between a tweet and an e-book. Now as a writer, you can get new ideas to market faster, share expertise, test new book ideas, create companion pieces, or tell entirely new stories—all in less time.

Success Quotes:

  • John Wooden “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
  • Zig Ziglar “If you help enough people achieve their dreams, along the way you will achieve theirs as well.”
  • “Do what you’re passionate about, love what you do, and serve people with a crazy enthusiasm.”
  • “If your personal life is out of order, your personal brand will suck.”
  • “Email marketing is the biggest opportunity in marketing online right now.”
  • “What would you be doing whether you got paid to do it or not?”
  • “When you marry your passion and your gifts, that’s where the magic happens.”
  • “The soul purpose of getting known online has everything to do with the people that you serve.”
  • “How do you stand out and pierce through all the noise?”
  • “We owe it to people sometimes to be the best version of ourselves.”

Special Requests:

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Episode 22: How To Be a Go-Giver | Bob Burg Author of The Go-Giver

Thank you for visiting the Defining Success Podcast.  Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909 Thanks for listening!

Author of The Go-Giver Bob Burg

Author of The Go-Giver Bob Burg

Teaser:

Bob Burg shares the lesson of his book, The Go-Giver in Episode 22 of the Defining Success Podcast.  Learn the five laws, that when applied can guarantee a person’s success. Bob is extremely knowledgeable and shares his expertise on business and some advice and tips which you can apply to your business today.

Recap:

Bob Burg is a sought after speaker at corporate conventions and for entrepreneurial events.  He has addressed audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000 – sharing the platform with notables including today’s top thought leaders, broadcast personalities, Olympic athletes and political leaders including a former U.S. President.

Bob has written numerous books, has been a public speaker, has worked in sales and has a lot of experience helping others increase sales.

This interview focuses on Bob’s book, The Go-Giver, a book that encourages people to be go-givers and to be willing to help others in order to attain individual success.  Bob also says that a go-getter and a go-giver are not opposing philosophies, but rather that one could be a go-getter and also a go-giver.

If you look at the companies that are successful, have a long-sustaining business, and who run the business well.  They take the five laws from the go-giver and those laws were already in play.

The five laws are the laws of value, compensation, influence, authenticity and receptivity and all five laws work in conjunction with each other.  When all five of these are used in conjunction it makes it possible for people to achieve their goals.

The Go-Giver by Bob Burg

The Go-Giver by Bob Burg

The first law of success is to give more value than what you take in payment.  In business, it’s important to focus on the other person.

The second law says that the more people we add these values to then the more we will receive in return.  As you add more value to more and more people you will have more people willing to spread the word about you and your business.  Our value comes from how many people we can add value to.  Not only do we need to provide great value, we also need to provide that service to as many people as we can.

The third law is the law of influence that says your influence is determined by how abundantly you put other people’s best interest first.  The best leaders see how they can place other people’s interest first and if they can do that they will become more successful.  To the degree you’re able to help others the more likely people will be willing to help you.

The law of authenticity shows how willing you are able to help yourself.  All the sales skills, and technical skills are very important, but those skills are not valuable if you don’t show up as yourself.  When people see there real you, they become attracted to you and they respect you and they like people who walk in their own integrity.  One key in authenticity is being confident enough to do so when we understand the value that we bring to others.  Market value are skills, traits and values that you bring to the marketplace.  It’s important to have someone that is removed enough from the situation who can see who the forest is from the trees.

The fifth law is the law of receptivity.  You have to be willing to receive as much as you are willing to give in order to be successful.  Giving and receiving work in tandem with each other.  The key is not giving or receiving, the key is to focus on the giving and allow the receiving.  If you can’t receive the little things, then you can’t receive the big things.

Bob says that if you follow those five laws, you’re guaranteed to succeed.

A lot of people think that selling is taking advantage of others or trying to convince people of what they don’t want or need.  Selling is actually about helping people get what they want or need.  When you shift your focus from an I focus to others you will see a return.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • How do you know when you’re being your authentic self?
  • What do you think of the five laws Bob presented during the interview?
  • Are you a Go-Giver? Why or why not?

Links to Great Stuff:

Bob Burg – “Bob Burg shares information on topics vital to the success of today’s businessperson. He speaks for corporations and associations internationally, including fortune 500 companies, franchises, and numerous direct sales organizations.”

The Go-Giver – “The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be. And so one day, desperate to land a key sale at the end of a bad quarter, he seeks advice from the enigmatic Pindar, a legendary consultant referred to by his many devotees simply as the Chairman.”

T. Harv Eker – “Eker is the author of the best-selling books, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind and SpeedWealth. He has also developed several highly-acclaimed courses such as The Millionaire Mind Intensive, Life Directions, Wizard Training and Train the Trainer. He is also the producer and trainer of the world-famous Enlightened Warrior Training.”

Success Quotes:

  • “Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile dream or goal.” from Nightengale
  • “Success is a feeling of piece of mind and genuine happiness based on having done ones best in living up to their potential.”
  • From Sean Woodruff “A great salesperson matches the benefits their product or service with the wants, needs and desires of the prospect.”
  • “When you’re selling you’re giving time, attention, council, education, empathy and ultimately, great value.”
  • “When you’re selling, you’re literally giving.”
  • “One mistake people make . . . is thinking that giving and receiving are opposite concepts.”
  • “The key to authentic giving is to stay open to receiving. 
  • “Being authentic means that we are congruent.”
  • About Gandhi “Integrity is when everything you think, feel, say and do are in alignment.”
  • “The golden rule of business says that all things being equal people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.”
  • “The money you receive is a direct result of the value you provide.”
  • “Money is an echo of value.”
  • “The first law of value says your true worth is determined by how much you give in value than you take in payment.”
  • “A go-taker is somebody who feels entitled to take, take, take without having added value to the person, to the process and to the situation.”
  • “We want to take the focus off ourselves and move from an I focus to an other focus.”

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Episode 21: Networking Secrets for Entrepreneurs | Esther Kiss from EstherKiss.com

Esther Kiss helps entrepreneurs build better businesses.  She considers herself to be a mentor and has a lot of advice for entrepreneurs on how they can build their business, reach more customers and make more money.  The key to getting what you want, explains Esther, is giving yourself to others.  By helping others you will receive benefits and, in turn, become successful

Esther Kiss

Esther Kiss

Thank you for visiting the Defining Success Podcast.  Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909 Thanks for listening!

Recap

Esther Kiss, from EstherKiss.com, mentors entrepreneurs.  She helps experts and service providers generate a steady flow of ideal clients and helps to convert leads more effectively than ever before.  In short, she will show you how to get more clients and make more money in your business.

Esther has an extensive background in business.  She grew up in a small family that had a lot of investments in hotels, real estate, and trading and shipping companies.  Esther lost a lot of her investments in the stock market and so she started her own business to teach others how to speak Hungarian.  She was able to package her business in a way to have only the people who are very committed and had enough time to learn Hungarian.  She was able to get them pre-paid and paying triple the market value.

She then realized that her expertise would be perfect in a business coaching context.

Esther than got a job at the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute to show that she has some credibility in the industry.  It gave her the credentials to show that she could do it.  She reached out to her circle to ask if people knew anyone who was interested in learning Hungarian and her business blossomed from there.

In the interview, Esther provides lots of valuable tips on time management for entrepreneurs.  She encourages all of you to write down what you do on a daily basis literally to the minute because in order to manage your time effectively, you need to know where you’re spending your time.  Do the highest revenue generating activities and then you will be better at time management.  You should divide your time into three categories:  flex time is devoted towards the day-to-day operations of your business, focus time is focused on long-term projects like your marketing campaigns and the third is your free time which is the rest of your life.

If you want to do a better job at networking, see who the decision makers are at a company and see who they know.  If you know someone who might be connected to someone you’re trying to get a hold of then reach out to that person and see if they can connect you.  Another great tool entrepreneurs can use when networking is to be a giver, because people will think you’re a nice guy.

Esther says there are a variety of different ways to figure out who the decision makers are and there’s a lot of different tools to figure out who those decision makers are.  Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ are great tools to figure out who the decision makers are, but you can also view the website or get access to information online about who you’re trying to reach.

Many entrepreneurs struggle because they are able to make a certain amount of income but they are never able to cross the hump to live a more comfortable lifestyle.  Esther helps entrepreneurs by delving into their business to find ways to make their business more efficient and reach out to others for a higher potential profit.

Many business owners go for low income sales and focus on volume, but Esther recommends entrepreneurs target the customers that are willing to invest more and more often.

Esther Kiss at the Emmy's

Esther Kiss at the Emmy’s

Most entrepreneurs make the mistake of trying to be like everyone else while they think they are making themself unique.  If you’re doing what everyone else is doing, you’re getting followers, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your making money.  Esther recommends having a system that works and that when you turn it on you know you’ll be able to get customers.

Esther considers herself to be a business mentor.  Coaching typically involves spending a lot of time with a person to help them come to their own conclusions.  Esther than gives entrepreneurs shortcuts to come to their own conclusions.

Esther considers herself to be very logical and analytical.  She focuses much more on results and numbers and she tries to help find her business produce results.  Esther is also very strong at connecting with others.

Willpower is an app that will not let you go onto certain websites for a particular amount of time.  These external tools can help, but it really comes to your own willpower that will determine your success.

Spend an hour a day looking for referral or promotional partners.  If you’re a marketing coach you would be interested in working with a website designer or a PR Director.

If you’re not able to say exactly what they are interested in you will not be successful in business.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • How important do you think giving is in business?
  • What traits do you look for in a business coach?
  • How do you network?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • EstherKiss.com – “Esther loves teaching her creative business & marketing strategies, mentoring entrepreneurs to help them get more high paying clients.”
  • Beverly Hills Lingual Institute – “The Beverly Hills Lingual Institute is your best choice for learning a language in Los Angeles and Orange County.  Offering language classes in over 25 languages with the most comprehensive schedule of classes available, we are Southern California’s Premier Language School.”

Success Quotes:

  • “Success is having the confidence and ability to building what you want from scratch.”
  • “If you come from a place of wanting to help and serve rather than selling something to them . . . you build more confidence and leads because every person will have a great experience.”
  • “Tune in to the core desire of your ideal client, pinpoint it and speak to their highest need.”
  • “Entrepreneurs are usually very excited and energetic in trying new things.”
  • “Most entrepreneurs have entrepreneurial ADD where they start a million projects and none of them get finished.”
  • “Be very clear about the results you can get for people.”

Special Requests

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Episode 19: The Importance of Learning from Your Mistakes | Brian Roberts from In-Store Radio

Brian Roberts, aka “The Voice,” is the announcer for the Defining Success Podcast, but he also manages his own business, In-Store Radio which are custom radio stations for retail locations. As an entrepreneur, Brian knows the value of learning from your mistakes and shares with us why making mistakes are some of the most important things you can do.

Brian Roberts - Learning From Your Mistakes

Brian Roberts

Thank you for visiting the Defining Success Podcast.  Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909 Thanks for listening!Recap:

Recap:

Brian Roberts is the owner of In-Store Radio, which creates a customized radio station for retail and corporate locations.  He also happens to be the voice you hear at the beginning of every podcast for the Defining Success Podcast.

Brian ran Goodwill Industries in Central Florida and at 33 Brian decided to come out to L.A. to become a rock star.  His dreams as a rock star weren’t really working out and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his dreams and his family.  Someone told Brian he had a great voice and suggested he be a voice actor.

The idea to run In-Store Radio came when he visited Walmart and Walgreen’s and listened to their customized radio station.  He then began to think of the opportunity that he could create a customized radio station for smaller businesses and thus In-Store Radio began.

His association with Goodwill Industries got his business started and being somewhat of a computer geek, Brian was able to create a usable system for small businesses to have their own customized radio station inside their business locations.  His love of computers, Goodwill and entrepreneurship helped him build the foundation for his business.

Brian was then able to set up a live radio stream into their business and as long as the location has access to the Internet they can get access to their customized radio station.  Brian is trying to get into 1,000 locations by the end of the year.

A great success story Brian likes to share is that every year they had an event which never seemed to get a lot of visitors.  The first year that they had Brian create a short advertisement and for the first year ever they sold out their tickets and the next year they increased ticket sales by 300% selling out again.  For Goodwill Industries, Brian was able to encourage shoppers to donate and encouraged those who donated to become shoppers.

When talking about learning from your mistakes . . . Early on in his career, Brian offered a deal to a friend of his that was unsustainable.  Once Brian realized he couldn’t deliver on the deal he offered his friend he told him he couldn’t do it and they re-negotiated.  Brian felt awful, but he learned a valuable lesson that mistakes are acceptable and as long as you learn from your mistakes and move on that you can never fail.  Learning from your mistakes is an important skill to have as an entrepreneur and business owner.

Brian has two children and Brian thinks it’s interesting that when his kids were younger they would constantly make mistakes and they were encouraged to do so, but that as they got older he became less willing to encourage his children when they made a mistake.

Brian’s mom was a teacher and he had a complex early on about asking teachers questions.  And for his entire ninth grade year he was lost in Algebra and sometime during his junior year he finally raised his hand and said that he was completely lost and asked for help.  The teacher helped him understand the material and afterwards many of his friends came to him saying they were having the same problems.  It taught Brian a lesson that it was ok to ask questions because if you had a question, it was likely others had the same question as well.

Being an entrepreneur taught Brian that he can do pretty much anything he can put his mind to.  It taught Brian that all along he had a unique gift that he could offer the world.  Once he learned that he could make money as an entrepreneur it became very freeing.

Brian believes that he has certain talents and has developed particular skills.  His singing ability has helped him become a successful voice actor.  He was able to find the emotional connection in his writing just like he did when he was a singer.  The computer has been invaluable to Brian’s success in business as well.

Procrastination and over-thinking got Brian in a lot of trouble early on in his business.  The way Brian describes the way business should be done is “Ready, Fire, Aim.”  Meaning that as an entrepreneur, it’s important to take action first and then analyze your results.

In-Store Radio - Learning From Your Mistakes

In-Store Radio

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • What mistakes have you made?
  • What is the importance of learning from your mistakes?
  • Do you think “Ready, Fire, Aim” is a good strategy to use for entrepreneurs?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • In-Store Radio – Brian’s mission is to spread the “Good News” of not only Goodwill, but of ALL businesses throughout America and abroad through In-Store Radio.  That mission will put a custom-designed and professionally-produced radio show into every retail store and waiting room around the globe.
  • Voice123.com/BrianRoberts – Brian’s voice is varied and strong. He has the ability to do all types of work from the “Classic Announcer” to “Young punk” and anywhere in between!
  • Goodwill Industries – “Goodwill® works to enhance the dignity and quality of life of individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people in need reach their full potential through learning and the power of work.”
  • Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce – “The Chino Valley Chamber offers a wide variety of opportunities for members to market their businesses, a strong legislative action committee, and a commitment to the continuing education of a diverse workforce. For additional information, check out our convenient links to city websites, selected businesses and current projects.”

Success Quotes:

  • “Success is being happy . . . Nothing matters unless you’re happy.”
  • “I really love helping people accomplish things they didn’t know they could accomplish.”
  • “I was perfectly content being an employee and letting someone else tell me what I was worth until the fire was lit.”
  • “I’m completely unemployable . . . because there is no possible way I can survive working for someone else.”
  • “There are a lot of people who are bound up by their fear of looking silly that they pay this horrible price.”
  • “The more mistakes you make the more money you make.”
  • “What business owners do better than the people that don’t own businesses is make mistakes and are ok with making mistakes.”
  • “The reason entrepreneurs succeed where other people don’t succeed is because they understand that as long as they didn’t quit, they didn’t fail.”

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Episode 17: The Flexibility and Price of Being a Business Owner | Jennifer Davis from Scrapbook Expo

Being a business owner has its perks but it also has its drawbacks. Jennifer talks about the flexibility her job has given her, but also discusses the amount of effort and time she’s spent building her business. In this episode you’ll also learn valuable tips on how to build a following on Facebook.

Thank you for visiting the Defining Success Podcast.  Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909 Thanks for listening!
Scrapbook Expo - Business Owner Jennifer Davis

Scrapbook Expo

Recap:

Jennifer Davis is the owner of Scrapbook Expo, the premier scrapbook show; Weekly Scrapper, a blog for every day scrappers; and, Party Solutions, a party supply rental company.  She’s also extremly knowledgeable when it comes to Facebook as she has been able to amass a following of close to 110,000 likes on her Scrapbook Expo Facebook page.

Jennifer’s scrapbooking business started out as a hobby and it gave her an opportunity to get out of her job which she hated.  She started out as a vendor at a Scrapbook show she attended and saw what the owner of the conventions were able to do and she thought she could do it so she started her own Scrapbook Expo.

She was one of the first scrapbooking businesses to start a new show.  She put on her first show in San Diego and now she puts on shows in 17 locations.  In the late 1990’s it was real easy for Jennifer to get support for her Scrapbooking shows because they would choose a location and word of mouth was really the only marketing they needed.

Weekly Scrapper

Weekly Scrapper

When the economy started to go down hill it became a lot more difficult to attract customers and she resorted tto learning how to market for her business.  She started doing print advertising, email marketing and she finally turned to social media marketing and does almost all of her marketing online.

At a Scrapbook Expo scrapbookers would have access to 100 different booths related to scrapbooking to shop at.  They hold workshops all day to learn different techniques to scrapbooking.  There is also scrapbooking crops which are held at the show where scrapbookers get together to scrap all weekend long.  Ladies get an opportunity to get together, share ideas and have a great experience.  Different groups like different activities.  A lot of the people who attend the shows are groups of four or five women who make a weekend getaway of the Scrapbook Expo.  They rent a hotel room, they shop together, they sign up for workshops and they participate in one of the crops.

There are also make and takes which are very popular which is where they can visit a booth and take part in a project where they create a finished product within 5 to 10 minutes.

Jennifer was very instrumental in my success as she’s been able to help me in a variety of different ways.  We first came in contact when she put out an ad for a tutor and I helped to tutor her son, Nick.  After which, she became my first client for my Internet marketing business as I helped to build the online Twitter presence for @ScrapbookExpo.  My sister and I have been working for Scrapbook Expo ever since from social media marketing to email marketing to search engine optimization (SEO) to website design.

Jennifer also mentored me and made being an entrepreneur accessible to me.  I had never met an entrepreneur before Jennifer and her help and guidance helped encourage me to this path for which I will forever be greatful.

Jennifer doesn’t use Facebook personally and it took her a long time to figure out how to use it for her business.  She knew that Facebook fit in well for hobbies.  And she learned how Facebook was used to market her business and has found it to be very successful.  Scrapbook Expo now has almost 110,000 Facebook Likes and is growing daily.  Jennifer has really mastered the art of Facebook and has learned that Facebook should rarely be used as a sales tool, but mostly to build an online community.

Because Scrapbook Expo has such a high user engagement Scrapbook Expo uses Facebook to get access to users email addresses.  Last month they gave away 100 prize packages, but had to give them their email addresses to get an opportunity to win those prizes.  Because they were so respected through their Facebook presence it was easy for their fans to give their email addresses and during their giveaway campaign they gathered over 10,000 email addresses.  They then can use those email addresses to sell services or products to customers.

Word of mouth is a huge benefit to using social media to promote Scrapbook Expo.  Every customer who attends the show has the potential to reach dozens, and even hundreds of more people. If you can get one person to endorse you on social media you have the ability to reach more people.

Jennifer recommends not using social media to sell.  Businesses who are failing in their use of social media is that they are not asking themselves what the customer wants.  Businesses need to find out what the customer wants and they also need to be consistent.

Party Solutions

Party Solutions

Jennifer also owns a party rental company, Party Solutions, and Scrapbook Expo started buying their own decor for the Scrapbook Expo and because they weren’t using their equipment throughout the whole year they figured they could rent out the equipment they had when it was not in use.

One of Jennifer’s mistakes in business was that she was not a good sales person.  She was great at marketing and promotion but lacked in her ability to sale.  At first, sales came easy, but after the recession hit she needed to learn how to sale or how to hire others who could sale.  Now, Jennifer has hired sales people who are helping to grow her business and have more of an impact.

Currently, Jennifer has more than 100,000 emails of people who are interested in Scrapbooking and she’s currently marketing that list to advertisers.

Jennifer is very thankful for the flexibility that her business allows her.  She says she works twice as hard as her wage working friends, but the results more than make up for it.  As a single mother, being a business owner gave Jennifer the opportunity to take time off when she needed to in order to spend time with her son.

Discussion Questions:

  • What are you thankful for?
  • What is important to you?

Links to Great Stuff:

Success Quotes:

  • “Success would be finding something that you enjoy and being able to turn a profit to support yourself.”
  • “If you make yourself an expert and you market yourself there’s a lot of opportunities and I see a lot of people who lack taking that first step.”
  • “The beauty of social media is it’s viral and word of mouth . . . is the best form of advertising.”
  • “The majority of what we post is useful posts that interest them as far as learning how to scrapbook.”
  • “On Facebook, if you have a hobby related business . . . it’s very easy to find and connect with other people who have that same interest.”
  • “You don’t go into business you grow into business.”

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Episode #13: Adjust Your Sails to Increase Your Sales | Nick Ruiz from RecycledGoGetter.com

Nick Ruiz made a name for himself in the real estate business and ran into some difficult times when the economy crashed around 2008. He’s now starting a new project called www.RecycledGoGetter.com where he helps you increase your sales. In this interview of the Defining Success Podcast Nick Ruiz shares his expertise on business and real estate.

Thank you for visiting the Defining Success Podcast. Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909 Thanks for listening!

Nick Ruiz - Increase Your Sales

Nick Ruiz

Recap:

Nick Ruiz is the owner of RecycledGoGetter.com. He’s obsessive. He’s passionate and he’s building a go-getter community online. Learn the subtle and “between the lines” language of psychology and human behavior to increase your sales, beat your competitors and become a better entrepreneur.

Nick Ruiz has always been passionate about selling. And at an early age he got involved with AmWay and loved the skills he developed while working for the multi-level marketing business. Nick is a firm believer in getting out of his comfort zone and working with AmWay helped him get out of his comfort zone and work on selling.

At 19 years old, Nick Ruiz saw an informercial featuring Carleton Sheets, No Money Down Real Estate, and he developed an interest in real estate. He bought the program for $299 and started researching real estate based off of the advice given in the program. He purchased his first property and he was making $500 a month profit by bringing in renters.

At 21 years old, Nick sold his first house and made a $22,000 and sold his second property and made $35,000 in one check. In his twenties, he bought 65 buildings and bought and sold over 100 properties.

In 2008, Nick’s world came crashing down as he had borrowed millions of dollars to fund his real estate investments and was put out of business and had to go through bankruptcy. Nick started buying, rehabbing and selling and he’s been mildly successful doing it up to this point.

Nick thinks the real estate market has bottomed out. He thinks that now we’re safe in real estate and that things are looking up. It is now no longer a buyers market and it’s shifted to have an even balance between buyers and sellers. It’s hard to find amazingly cheap deals because things are shifting.

Every community has a real estate investors group and Nick recommends you find a group like that and immerse yourself in that group. Real estate is a people business. He also recommends finding realtors who are also in real estate investing.

RecycledGoGetter.com

RecycledGoGetter.com

Nick recently started RecycledGoGetter.com and began learning online marketing and social media and he wanted to get into business. Nick’s goal was to develop a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and wants to help his entrepreneurs in any way he can. Nick uses video to get his content and message across to other entrepreneurs.

One of Nick’s favorite interviews was and interview with Robert Greene. Robert has written several books on mastery and how to master your craft. Robert and Nick had a lot in common and he really loved everything Robert had to say.

Nick believes everyone has an expertise that they should share with others. Most people think that they may not be experts but that they actually have something of value to offer.

Nick believes success is that if you can wake up and truly love what you’re doing…are passionate about it and make a difference in other people’s lives and get paid for it. Then you are successful. Check out Nick Ruiz’s page to learn how you can increase your sales.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • Have you ever had a period of struggle in your life?
  • What’s the BEST way to increase your sales?

Links to Great Stuff:

RecycledGoGetter.com – “Learn the subtle and ‘between the lines’ language of psychology and human behavior to sell more of your stuff, beat your competitiors, and became a better entrepreneur.”

Carleton Sheets – “Carleton Sheets is recognized as the best-selling author of the No Down Payment® home study course as well as other successful real estate
books, video and audio programs. He has sold more than 3,000,000 copies of his
programs in the United States alone.”

Robert Green – “Three-time NYT best-selling author Robert Greene uses his site to reveal and discuss in-depth the dark side of our culture and relationships.”

Welborn Media

Success Quotes:

  • “People don’t realize that even if you think you don’t have an expertise, you do.”
  • “The trick to getting a big following is to get in front of other people’s audiences.”
  • “There is a lot of content out there and you ain’t special so you have to find something unique and get that out there.”
  • “When times are good you party. When times are bad you ponder.” Tony Robbins via Nick Ruiz
  • “Immerse yourself around other successful investors.”
  • “I believe in getting scarred.”
  • “When the winds change you have to adjust your sails.”

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Episode #7 – Listen and Be a Great Teacher | Vic Braden from VicBraden.com

Teaser: Vic Braden is one of the most famous tennis coaches of all time and has written over five books on the subject. As tennis legend, Jack Kramer, once said, “One Vic Braden is worth a lot of champions in helping the sport. The [John] McEnroes, [Bjorn] Borgs, [Jimmy] Connors, they’ve been great. But I don’t think any one of them has created the interest in the sport Vic has.” Be sure to listen to the story of Vic Braden when he lost to Bobby Riggs while he was tied to an elephant.

Thank you for visiting the Defining Success Podcast.  Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909 Thanks for listening!

Vic Braden

Vic Braden

Recap: 

One of the things Vic enjoyed most about playing tennis was that it gave him an opportunity early on to travel to different places.

Being a good coach is being a good listener and knowing what you’re teaching.   Most coaches talk to much and listen to little.

Vic has been involved in so many things and one of the things he’s most proud of is teaching blind children how to hit a tennis ball and Vic would call out a number and these children were able to play tennis.  Vic loves working with special needs children.

Vic’s biggest concern was that he cared very little about money and didn’t save much because he was too busy helping others.

One thing that Vic thought helped him the most was being a licensed psychologist and the skills he learned as a psychologist has helped him to become a great coach. You need to study how the brain works and why concentration levels vary.  A person would have to be willing to do a lot of research.

Students can find answers to anything they want and when parents have a problem with their computer now a days they ask their 8 year old student to fix it.  Vic recently began putting students who showed interest in tennis and they taught them how to be tennis coaches.  Not only do these young children teach better than most coaches, but their game begins to develop stronger because they are paying attention to detail.

Vic would like you to share his story with others.  He started junior medical ambassadors as doctors are training students about the danger of diabetes and obesity and they teach classrooms about the those dangers and Vic will be making a movie of it that will be available to schools across the way.

If you’re interested in helping Vic Braden to help fund his programs to help students across the United States please visit VicBraden.com and share this podcast episode with your family and friends.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • What is the best way for students to learn?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • VicBraden.com – “I feel lucky to have played a small part in the sports world. Looking for creative ways to help people play their chosen sport better, and sooner, has provided me with plenty of excitement and new knowledge. Though I still feel we’re in the “Stone Ages” on many fronts, that will change because there are so many fine researchers generating new projects. In addition, there is evidence that the many disciplines involved in understanding sport are beginning to cooperate on a much higher level….”
  • Vic Braden Books – Vic Braden has written over five books on coaching tennis and continues to be an advocate for the game and the youth who play it.
  • Welborn Media

Success Quotes

  • “I’ve never seen a little elephant who liked playing tennis . . . He would move with Bobby as though he played doubles with Bobby all his life.” – Vic Braden
  • “I have never played an elephant.” – Anita Bryant
  • “Success is when you’re happy with what you’re doing and happy with the results.” – Vic Braden

Special Requests

Vic Braden

Vic Braden

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Personal Branding | Rich Hammond from the Orange County Register

Rich Hammond is the USC sports reporter for the Orange County Register and has wanted to be a sports journalist all his life. Pay particular attention to a story Rich tells about former Los Angeles Dodger player, Lou Johnson. Lou had problems with substance abuse and lost his World Series ring as a result. Listen to the podcast to learn how Lou Johnson got his World Series ring back and to learn about personal branding and what it takes to make it in the highly competitive field of sports journalism.

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Rich Hammond from the Orange County Register - Personal Branding

Rich Hammond from the Orange County Register

Recap:

Rich Hammond always knew he wanted to be a journalist.  He loved reading and writing at a young age.  Once he began writing for his junior high school newspaper, he knew that was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

Sports writing is a highly competitive field and Rich knew that he needed a strong foundation in his writing abilities and got lucky with some opportunities that were presented to him.  He attributes his success to the fact that he always seized opportunities when they came to him.  He encourages others to do the same.

He attended the CSPA (California Scholastic Press Association) Workshop and established some great connections that helped him along the way.  He goes back to volunteer his time every two weeks during the Summer’s at the campus at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Each day is a challenge writing and every day presents new opportunities for Rich and he tries to make the most of them.  He enjoys successed every day and feels very fortunate that he’s been able to cover numerous memorable sporting events.

Being a journalist is interesting in the sense that you have to understand people’s motivations and you need to distinguish who’s telling the truth.  Often times Rich feels he made mistakes because sometimes he was too cautious about using sources or sometimes he has taken sources at their word and it’s “bit (him) in the butt.”  Typos are also a concern to Rich and he knows the value of making sure to avoid typos.

The coolest part for Rich about being a journalist is going to major sporting events for free.  People pay money to attend these events and he feels very lucky that he’s been able to attend some of the greatest sporting events.  It also gives Rich the freedom to travel, see different parts of the country and a lot of interesting people.

Although journalism is changing the fundamentals are still the same.  You have to be able to tell a story, be accurate, to relate to people, to ask good questions, to be aware and you have to be able to communicate.  We are now in a 24-hour news cycle, if something happens, as a reporter, you need to be on that story.

One of the biggest changes in journalism is the more personalized relationship with their readers.  During the age of newspapers, all people would see was the persons name in print, but now writers appear in T.V., more pictures are shown, they appear on podcasts and establish more of a personal connection then what was done in years past.  Your online reputation is important and now everything you do matters.  With the easy to use Google searches, Facebook pages and LinkedIn accounts it is now more important than ever to establish your online reputation.  When people look for you online, what are you going to find? Personal branding is critical to the success of businesses in the online world.

For Rich, success was working hard, enjoying what he did, and being happy doing it.  For him, it has nothing to do with money.  If money, or titles determine your success than there will always be something that you don’t have.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • How Do You Know What You Were Meant To Do?
  • How Do You Know if You’re a Success?
  • How important is personal branding?

Links to Great Stuff:

Quotes of the Episode:

  • “Your name becomes your brand . . . your name is your currency.” – Rich Hammond
  • “If you can go to bed at night being happy with who you are and what you’ve done then I think that’s what makes you a success.”

Special Requests:

Rich Hammond at the CSPA Workshop

Rich Hammond at the CSPA Workshop

THANK YOU!

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Episode #2: Explore Your Options | Kim Nelson of Daisy Cakes

Kim Nelson is the owner of I Love Daisy Cakes. She cooks and mails some of the most delicious cakes all over the country. She appeared on Shark Tank and struck a great deal with Barbara Corcoran and has never looked back. Learn how she was able to take sales from 2,000 in 2010 to 25,000 in 2012.

Thank you for coming to the Defining Success Podcast website.  Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast in iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909.  Hope you enjoy the show!

White Chocolate Mint Cake by Daisy Cakes.

White Chocolate Mint Cake by Daisy Cakes.

Recap:

Kim Nelson knew early on that baking was her “God-given talent.”  She started at an early age and made some wise business decisions on her way to her appearance on Shark Tank at the end of 2010.

While in the Shark Tank, Kim asked for $50,000 for 20% of her business and struck a deal with Barbara Corcoran for exactly what she asked for.

She’s worked hard to build her business and took her cake sales from 2,000 in 2010 to more than 25,000 in 2012.

Her biggest mistake in business was not looking into all available options when it came to shipping her cakes across the United States.  She recently switched shipping options and has found it much more convenient for her business.

She advocates people pursuing their passions and advices those interested in baking to go for it.

Her cakes have appeared on the Nate Berkus show and with Anderson Cooper and has been creating opportunities with celebrities because her cakes taste so good.

Kim Nelson from Daisy Cakes

Kim Nelson from Daisy Cakes

Takeaway:  Explore Your Options

Many business owners are very good at taking action to accomplish particular goals, but sometimes it’s very important to consider all your options before making business decisions.

In Kim’s case, she had been paying more than twice as much for shipping going from $45 per shipment to $20 per shipment just by switching shipping companies.  This change in value will help grow her business as she will be able to sell more for less, reaching more customers and making more customers happy.

Taking action is a good trait to have, but learn to explore all your options when making important business decisions and you will be rewarded for doing so.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • What is your “God-given talent”?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • I Love Daisy Cakes – Some of the greatest hand-made cakes you’ll ever have.  Her cakes have sold everywhere thanks to an appearance and Shark Tank and their wonderful recommendations.
  • Shark Tank – The Shark Tank appears on ABC every Friday night.  The sharks are entrpreneurs who invest in companies who pitch their product to the “Sharks.”
  • Welborn Media” – When it comes to website design in Southern California, be sure to explore your options.

Quote of the Episode:

“To make people happy with what makes me happy.” – Kim Nelson

Special Requests:

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