“If you want to speak with the voice of your soul, you have to quiet the voices in your head.” – Me

I was talking to some friends after the Sacramento Speakers Network meeting tonight (the greatest networking group ever!), and I heard the phrase above come out of my mouth.  I was stunned.  It was a big “A-ha!” moment for me.  I’ve been trying to figure out how to succinctly describe what a Blog Whisperer does, and suddenly there it was: what I’ve learned to do, and what I’m enjoying helping other people to do, is to quiet the voices in their heads; when they learn to do that, they can start to find and speak with their true voices.

I know from my own experience how debilitating those voices can be.  Have a look at some of the early posts on this blog; they sound like they were written by a robot, and, in some respects, they were.  The stuff I wrote was aimed at…no one in particular.  I was writing to appeal to as wide an audience as I could manage, and no one cared.

And yet, I was convinced it was the correct way to write.  Don’t offend, don’t alienate, don’t polarize…those were my mantras.  When I finally started to quiet my mind, though, I started to hear a different voice.  The new voice was vaguely familiar, but it had been a long time since I’d heard it.

As I listened to the new voice, what I heard was the truth, my truth.  When I took the next step and started to speak with that voice, something incredible happened: readers started to show up in larger numbers and, more importantly, they started to engage in conversations.

I don’t claim to have this all figured out; I’m still getting the hang of it.  Just when I think I’ve got it figured out, the old voices start to clamor for attention.  They can be hard to ignore, it’s true, but it gets easier every day.

So here’s the question: what are the voices in your head saying that keeps you from speaking with the voice of your soul?

Last week, I signed up for what looks to be a cool new service called SeededBuzz (I saw that a few of my friends had “liked” their ad on Facebook, so score 1 for the effectiveness of Facebook ads).  The basic idea is that you can submit your best blog posts (called “planting a seed”) , and other bloggers can pick up on the theme and write posts of their own based on your “seed” post (otherwise known as “buzzing” your “seed”).  Once you get a handle on the goofy terminology, it can be a great way to meet, connect with, and befriend other bloggers.  And it works!

Meet Tia Peterson, creator of BizChickBlogs.  Tia knows her stuff: she’s been designing websites and messing with WordPress since graduating college, although she won’t tell us how long ago that was.  Her tips and advice for bloggers are spot on.  I met Tia via (heh…that rhymes) SeededBuzz, and this is why I love blogging: it’s all about the connections!

Anyhow, a few weeks ago Tia wrote a post that considered the question of why so many blogs fail.  I think that’s an interesting question, especially considering my new Blog Whisperer project.  The reason I started MyBlogWhisperer.com was the fact that so many of the blogs I was setting up for people were left vacant once they were completed.  When I would ask the owners of said blogs what was going on, I’d get different versions of the same answer: they felt like they didn’t have anything worth saying.

And I think that’s the number one reason most blogs fail: FEAR.  So many of us have been filling our heads with negative self-talk for so long that we refuse to believe that anyone would want to hear anything we have to say.  I’m here to tell you, though, that they do!  Believe it or not, there are thousands of people just like you who are looking for someone to give voice to their thoughts and feelings.  That someone can be you, if you’ll just get out of your own way.

And it doesn’t stop with bloggers. For so many of us, fear is the only thing between us and the success we desire.  The object of our desire, whether wealth, fame, a satisfying relationship, or a prosperous business, is right there, ripe for the taking; and yet we’re afraid to reach out and pluck it off the branch.

Isn’t about time you broke your mind out of the dungeon of fear?  Isn’t it time you conquered your fear, once and for all, and let your light shine?  I think it is.  I think it’s time for all of us to reconsider the power we give to our fear, and start to take some of that power back.  Stay tuned for suggestions on how you can do just that.

What do you think?  How has fear held you back, and how do you plan to reclaim your power?

First of all, I have to say a big “Thanks!” to Dave Navarro of Copyblogger fame for his great article today about how to write headlines.  That’s one thing I’ve never really paid attention to, but I’m going to start.  Thanks Dave!

So…are you curious?  Wondering what these five evil mistakes are and how you can stop making them?  Well, I’m going to be recording a podcast with SMB technology guru, noted speaker and award-winning author Karl Palachuk on his Cloud Services Roundtable Podcast next Wednesday at 9:00 AM.

If you want to listen to the podcast interview for free, you’ll have to register and listen live; otherwise, you can sign up for the membership and download it at your leisure.  After the podcast, I’ll be diving into a 5-part series on this topic here on the blog.

And for those of you who are curious, here are the five mistakes we’ll be talking about, the five mistakes that are killing your marketing campaigns:

• You don’t know who you’re talking to
• You don’t know what you want them to do
• You don’t ask them to do it
• You don’t give them a compelling reason to do it NOW, and
• You don’t follow up to make sure they’ve done it

Want the details?  Then be sure to register and tune in next Wednesday (September 1st, 2010), or pay attention to this blog for the breakdown of each mistake – and how you can avoid it – after the podcast.

Click here to register for the call so you can listen live for free!

Since I’ve been advocating the spirit of transparency, I have a confession to make: I have absolutely no idea how to launch a product.  And before you start sending me tips for doing it right, I should also add that I’m not sure I want to know.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on a project for a new program I’m going to offer starting in September.  The site for the program is MyBlogWhisperer.com, and it’s designed to help bloggers get out of their own way and start writing or recoding and sharing what’s in their heart.  I’m really excited about the program, and I can’t wait to take my first registration.

Here’s the thing, though: I feel weird promoting my own stuff.  I know I’ve got something valuable to share, but I don’t feel inclined to make a huge deal out of it.  And I definitely don’t want to be a cheeseball internet marketer pitching the product of the week.  I just want folks to know what I’m up to and, if they like the sound of it, to join me in the class.

So, wise readers, how do I do it?  How do I balance the desire to build some positive buzz and get the signups coming in without resorting to “yellow highlighter” tactics?  What do you all think of the page and the program?  Please let me know your thoughts, and thanks for reading!

P.S. I was recently interviewed by Antonio Coleman of TrafficColeman.com.  Antonio was a blast, and I had a lot of fun talking to him about blogging.  You can check out the podcast by clicking here.  Enjoy!

Last post, I discussed the problem with the “fake it ’til you make it” approach to business, namely the difficulty it creates for building open, honest, transparent relationships with your clients.  I promised to follow with a post discussing the benefits of transparency in your business, so here goes.

#1 – Transparency Builds Trust

When I read a post by Johnny B. Truant that detailed a financial difficulty he had in the past and how he dealt with it, I felt an instant affinity for him.  I could tell as I was reading the post that this was a guy who really got it, a guy who could relate to the struggles I was going through and, as a result, I trusted him immediately.

Funny how that works, isn’t it.  I mean, I’ve never met Johnny; for all I know, he could be a guy who beats up Boy Scouts and steals money from nuns to support his toad-licking habit.  Whatever he is, though, I trust him because he had the guts to tell the world that his life isn’t always sunshine and roses, and that occasionally he gets kicked in the crotch, too.

When you’re that honest with people, you can’t lose.  Oh sure, some people would refuse to do business with you if they found out you were late on your car payment, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: they’re probably not any fun to do business with anyways.  Let them go, and spend your time and energy getting to know the people who get you.  Which brings us to…

#2 – Transparency Helps Your Choir Find You

I’ve been talking a lot lately about the idea of finding and preaching to your choir; in other words, spending all of your effort and energy marketing to that portion of the population that’s just like you.  Being transparent is the only way for them to find you.  If you’re spending your time “faking it”, hiding behind the illusion you think the world wants to see, they’ll never have a chance to connect with you.

Your choir is looking for a leader who’s not afraid to say the things they’re feeling.  That’s you.  If you step into the light and share your thoughts, your fears, your frustrations, they’ll love you for it.  And because they love you, they’ll buy your stuff, whether it’s an information product, a training program, or a more traditional product or service.  They won’t stop there, though: they’ll also tell their friends to buy from you.  Because you get it and you’re not afraid to say it.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?  Which reminds me…

#3 – Transparency Is Fun

Honestly.  I wouldn’t lie about a thing like that.  Seriously, once you get over your initial fear of being found out and exposed, telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth is exhilarating.  You’re no longer saddled with the fear of getting caught; you’re free to let it all hang out, and that kind of liberation from the psychological bondage of your past is, well…liberating.

So isn’t it time you let your light shine?

If you need some help figuring out how to do it, I’d love to help.  Post a comment or send me an email, and let’s figure out how to get you over what’s holding you back.  And for those of you who are ready to go “all out”, check out my new Blog Whisperer program, a 90-day course that will guide you through the process of getting your ideas out of your head and onto the screen so that your choir can find you.

Thanks for reading!

pos·tur·ing

1 : to assume a posture; especially : to strike a pose for effect
2 : to assume an artificial or pretended attitude

This post has been stewing in my brain for days, and I think it’s about time I get it out.  If it seems a little disjointed, well, consider the source.

I’m calling out the “fake it ’til you make it crowd”; I think it’s time to put that idea to rest.  While the philosophy seemed like a good one at first blush, I’m beginning to understand that “faking it” is just another way of hiding from the fear of being open, honest and transparent.

The thought is that by pretending you’ve already arrived at the destination, somehow the journey will be less arduous and time-consuming.  If you’ll just act like a successful business person (i.e. “fake it”), so the theory goes, people will assume that you are a successful businessperson and will want to do business with you (i.e. you’ll “make it”).  Sounds good, right?  You can move to the front of the class without doing any homework or passing any tests; who wouldn’t want to do that?  Where do I sign up?

Here’s the problem, though: if you’re not a successful business person, pretending to be one is at least a little dishonest.  What happens if that new client, trusting in the posture you’ve assumed, hands over a project you’re not prepared to deal with and you continue to fake it?  What could your posturing cost you (not to mention your client) in the long run?

For the record, I want to be perfectly clear that “acting as if” and visualizing your success, both on your own and with your team, is one of the best ways to stay optimistic and to keep moving forward.  What I’m concerned about, though, is the growing number of people I meet who are taking these exercises out into the world with them, pretending to know things they don’t know, taking on work that they don’t know how to do and have no intention of learning how to do, and causing harm to others in the process.

And why are they doing it?  Because they’re living in fear of being “found out”.  They fear if their clients find out that they’re struggling, the clients will go away.  They fear admitting they’re having a tough time because they think it diminishes their value in the marketplace.  They fear having their failures exposed.  And so they “assume an artificial or pretended attitude”; they posture, hoping that no one will see the panic behind their plastic smiles.

It’s time to stop the madness.  It’s time we all stopped posing and started being.  It’s time to be OK with what IS, to accept it, to embrace it, to be grateful for it, to appreciate it, to revel in its perfection.

Struggling to pay your bills?  Welcome to the club…we’re accepting new members daily.  Wondering how you’re going to make payroll this month?  Know that you’re not alone.  Recovering from a failed business, a failed relationship, or a failed everything?  Me too.  And that’s OK.  You know why?

Because life, in its infinite perfection, is teaching us the lessons we need to learn to prepare us for the greatness we were born for.

It’s a fine balance to maintain, and difficult at times, to live in that space where you’re simultaneously visualizing a better future and accepting the “IS”-ness of the present moment; if you’ll be patient with it, though, it will get easier.  Deciding on the policy of transparency is a tough row to hoe, but the rewards outweigh the risks ten-fold.  Stay tuned for a discussion of the benefits in a future post; in the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

I’m part of a discussion over at LinkedIn Groups (I didn’t link to it to protect my their identity)  about branding and whether or not it’s still relevant. They’re tossing around terms like media channels and marketing equations. They are confusing brand equity with market share. The marketing insiders just don’t get it. Granted they are talking to other marketing professionals. However, if they are true to their own brand then it is bound to leak through – ask any I.T. marketer about verticals, optimization, and integration.

I’m of the belief that, while the spirit of branding is still applicable (only it’s called promotion), the term branding is WAY over used. And because of the communication platform of the Internet (I tried really, really hard not say Social Media) branding has given way, thankfully, to “having a conversation”.

I used this example:

You have a company of 500 people. 400 people manufacture, package, and ship your super-duper baby spit-up remover. 50 of them are out there selling it. 10 are marketing folks. 40 provide support services and management. What’s the chance of all 500 employees living the brand? A snowball’s survival comes to mind.

Now, you could run a print ad in Parenting Magazine (which I’m actually reading right now ) that reaches 2.1 million (per Wikipedia) and control what your potential customers READ about you. But that brand equity gets used up fast if you publish an inappropriate photo in your online-newsletter (Google Parenting, Fox, Boston).  And look what home equity loans did the the real estate market.

My solution: have a conversation. Start at the largest forum for your industry – it’s not hard to find and Google is your friend. Ask questions to find out what the end-user of your product or service finds attractive about it. Listen to their answers and provide feedback they can understand.

Why do you think the “Old Spice Guy” is so successful? IMB has an idea (BEWARE there are tons of buzzwords) that I think is spot on. They are creating a conversation, in real time no less, that answers questions from their customers. Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner!

So what conversations are you starting with your customers today?

Oh, if you think I’m way off base, let’s have a conversation about it

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In addition to his regular contributions on The Motivation 101 Blog, guest author Todd Pillars spends his days teaching entrepreneurs how to appreciate their customers.  Check out his “Just Like Them” blog, but beware: if you give him a reason, he’ll send you a card!

Guest Blogger Dan Waldschmidt

I’m just going to be me.

I am tired of being the person that you think I should be.  I’m just going to be the best “me” possible.

And isn’t that what you really want from me?

Where did all this start?

We all have a sense about how the world should work.  Right?

The little spoon goes to the left of the big spoon.  The smart kid goes on to be the most successful person in the class.  If you work really hard then you end up having all the best parts of the “American Dream.”

But if you think about it, you didn’t come up with that idea. In fact, you don’t even know the person who came up with those ideas.  And yet for some reason we accept them as fact.

But they aren’t facts.  They aren’t.

What does that mean?

It means that everything you know about what you should be is now wrong.  The slate is clean.  You’re back to square one.

Ohh… and by the way, the people around you aren’t any better qualified than you to start putting plays on the chalkboard.  They are the same goofy nuts who laughed at the same immature jokes that you did in high school.

Sure they look all sophisticated and “put together”.  They look like people whose opinions should matter.

But here’s the reality.  They don’t matter.

Not one little bit.

So what does matter?

You matter.

You’re not a moron.  You actually know more than you think you do.  Sure you’re prone to get turned 37 different directions after listening to all the critics.

But we all do.

We all second guess our motivations, intensions, and strategies.  Sometimes we do it out-loud.  Most of the time, we keep that in our heads.

And that’s even more dangerous.  Because the monsters in that playground are even more dangerous.

So what’s the plan?

Here is the secret to ultimate satisfaction: “Stop doing and start being…”

Be the best “you” possible.

And only you really knows the full potential of what that could be.

It’s bigger than you have ever imagined.  It’s more successful than the critics would ever give your credit for.

Some people will love you.  The rest will still think you’re a loser.  Either way, you won’t really care you’re too busy being the best you possible.

And there is something ultimately satisfying about being all you can be.

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Dan Waldschmidt is a former high-growth technology CEO, one of the founders of IntroMojo, a popular inspirational speaker, and a sought-after strategist on creating edgy conversations in the marketplace. He blogs regularly on his popular motivational selling blog Edge of Explosion and is the husband to a cute gal named Sara and the father to two energetic boys. He’s just an ordinary dude who happens to have an outrageous vision. And he wants to help you change the world…

You may have noticed (at least I hope you did) that the frequency of posts here has dropped off a little in the last few weeks.   I thought I should drop a quick line to let everyone know that I’m still here.  I’ve immersed myself in a new project that’s kept me pretty busy (more to come on that later this week), but I’ve almost got it finished so regular posts will resume soon.

In the meantime, I’ve arranged for guest posts from a few of my favorite bloggers; I hope you enjoy reading them.  In fact, I’m planning on making this a weekly feature, so if you’d like to make a contribution to the Motivation 101 blog (or if you know someone who would), please drop a quick email to jerry@jerrykennedy.com with your name, blog URL and a brief description of the post you want to write.

Well, that’s it for now, other than a quick shout-out to my friends, the Nomad Canfields.  If you haven’t checked out Joel and Sue and their daughter Fiona chronicling their attempt at running away from home (they’re in Vancouver, BC, right now), you should  have a look at their blog, Canfield of Dreams.  You might recognize Joel as an infrequent contributor to this blog or as the other guy in the legendary Business Heretics videos (actually, it was all his idea).  Anyhow, have a look and tell them I said you should stop by.

Thanks for reading!

Carl Taylor, Entrepreneur and Author

There are a lot of websites and speakers that are trying to motivate you. They motivate you to take action, to get off your ass and achieve more. But if you’re an idiot and someone motivates you, you are now just a motivated idiot, and you are going to do idiotic things faster.

Motivated idiots are those people who go to their first property seminar, hear a sales pitch disguised as education that says you must invest right now in this off the plan unit block, immediately sign on the dotted line and a few years later wonder why they don’t have the returns they expected.

I’m not meaning to have a go at seminar selling, or even property seminars; they are viable business methods and have their place.  What you should be focusing on is “their first” as in it was their first seminar. The presenter did a great job and got them motivated, but at this stage they were just a motivated idiot and they made an idiotic decision because they didn’t know what questions to ask.

No need to be alarmed as there is a cure… a 3 step process that you can use to avoid being a Motivated Idiot.

Step 1. Get Educated

Step 2. GET Educated

Step 3. GET EDUCATED

Education is the key…and I’m not talking typical education that you go to school or university for years and years to get. I’m talking about practical how-to steps and specific experiences – the kind of knowledge that you get from having been there and done that, from mentors and friends, the kind of knowledge that is shared in non-fiction books and videos and at educational seminars.

The better educated you are on a subject, the better the questions you can ask, which in turn will help you make better decisions.

So get out there and educate yourself, pick a topic and start absorbing information through books, mentors, seminars and so forth…then you will know that you are not a motivated idiot.

Here’s to YOUR Success.

Carl Taylor is the author of Red Means Go! - Secrets to Achieving a Happy, Effective and Successful Life with You in the Driver’s Seat, which is now available on iTunes!  Get TWO free chapters from www.carltaylor.com.au