Ignorance rocks… sometimes.

The older I get, the more I realize how much more I can learn.

(I’ll talk about why this is important later in this post)

While playing professional football, however, I thought I was the smartest (and toughest) person in the world.

Boy was I wrong.

It couldn’t have been farther from the truth but I guess there is something about being young, and padding it up everyday to take on some of the meanest athletes in the world that makes you think you know it all.

It wasn’t until I got injured and retired from the game when I realized I didn’t know much about anything.

The Power of Education

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of our current education system in schools.

I had a great time at my high school and while in college, but it was more about the friends I made, the sports I played, the girls I chased, and the overall personal experiences… not as much on the classroom experience.

I don’t want to get into debate about our education system but if you want to then check out what friend Michael Ellsberg has to say about it in his book The Education of Millionaires.

Check out this video see what type of eduction I’m talking about (the powerful kind).

The education that makes the most sense to me is when you continue to educate yourself on your craft (for me it’s business, speaking, marketing, building relationships, etc) and on personal development.

It doesn’t matter how good you are at something because you can always improve and take your game to another level.

The greatest athletes in the world continue to practice harder, longer, and more deliberately than their competitors.

This is what makes them great.

Enter Coaching

I’m a huge fan of having a coach.

I’ve had many great mentors.  The more intimate ones that I would call or meet in person early on were Stuart Jenkins, Chris Hawker, Frank Agin, among others.

I spent countless hours bugging these wise individuals, asking them questions, challenging their thoughts, and offering value in any way I possible could.

I can’t thank them enough for putting up with me

I also had many mentors that I followed online.

Some I’ve become great friends with as I’d email or  call from time to time for advice, while others I would simple learn by following their example.  (shout out to Gary, Chris, Carrie, Seth, Tim and others who have been so helpful in many ways)

Just as the best athletes practice harder than everyone else, they also seek top coaches to take their game to the next level.

I was pretty ignorant about business a few years back, and it’s mostly due to having zero experience in the business world.

Finding a coach and mentor allowed me to learn quicker than I could alone.

Watch this video to learn more about the power of coaching for your business.

What do you think?

Do you continue to attend workshops, conferences, and training sessions to improve your skills?

Do you have a mentor or a coach that guides you in the direction to achieve your goals?

Or are you just going about your days wondering why you aren’t seeing the results you desire?

Would love to hear your thoughts below.

What do Seth Godin, Tucker Max, Ramit Sethi and Tim Ferriss have in common?

All of them are NY Times Best Selling authors, have ginormous followings, and are media magnets.   Most of us already knew this about them.  The one thing they have in common that most do not know is at some point in their careers they all had a level of support from Charlie Hoehn.

Who is Charlie Hoehn?

Although Charlie created a guide called Recession Proof Graduate that has been downloaded over 100,000 times, he isn’t known as your “big time” blogger or author… yet.

His RSS feed has around 1,000 subscribers, and he mentions that he only blogs once every four months (if he’s lucky).

I’d been following Charlie for a couple of years, however, because I kept seeing him online share updates about his work with some of the authors mentioned above.

After I met Charlie in person at Tim’s 4HB book launch party, and saw how successful the launch was, I convinced Charlie to do a video interview with me.  I knew he played a major role in its production so I wanted to learn all of his “dirty little secrets” behind the launch, and his interaction with his mentors.  Here are just a few of the things we cover in this interview:

• Charlie’s definition of “The Hustle”
• The best way to “pitch” a thought leader in order to work with them
• Why he chose to work with Seth, Tucker, Ramit and Tim over others
• The reason they choose to “hire” Charlie over others offering free work
• Who has been the most influential in his career
• How to become a #1 NY Times best seller (the right way and wrong way)
• The main reason he hasn’t worked with any women (but why he wants to)
• The Biggest Mistake he made on Tim’s 4 Hour Body book launch
• Why they choose not to market to Tim’s 100,000 person email list
• The greatest lesson Charlie has learned from these mentors
• Who gave Charlie the best advice (and what it was)
• And much more

This was originally supposed to be a 20 minute interview, but the answers were so good that it went to nearly an hour.  Check it out as I know you will be both surprised and inspired by a number of his responses.

Charlies entire approach has been to learn how to start successful businesses.  He want’s to learn the mistakes that failed businesses have made so he doesn’t make those same mistakes in the future.  Charlie says,

“Once you learn this information, you have given for yourself a formula to create wealth for the rest of your life.”

For Charlie, it makes sense to take a pay cut early in your career to learn the important lessons so one can scale this information for the rest of your life.

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I hope you enjoyed this video with Charlie and make sure to stick around to the last part of the interview to hear his motto on life (it’s a good one  Also, if you enjoyed this interview, please take a second to share it with your friends on Twitter or Facebook and let me know what you thought about Charlie’s answers in the comment section below.

My friend Kevin Nations told me early in my business career that “Facts Tell and Stories Sell.”

This resonated with me during that moment as I was struggling to really persuade my audience to buy my products and reach the level of sales I was looking for.

I realized at that moment I was sharing too much data, and not telling enough stories.

Stories have since become an important part of my meetings, presentations, webinars, or speeches I give to any size of audience.  Without stories, my business and my relationships would not be at the level they are now.

I know that in no way am I a “master storyteller”, and we all have room to grow in that department (especially by telling better stories around our products, and services).

Sean Malarkey and I recently had the opportunity to host a webinar with #1 NYT, #1 WSJ, and #1 USA Today best selling author Peter Guber.

His new book Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story has a powerful message and we took 60 minutes to hear his story about how anyone can share their story better.

Watch the video above and share this message with your friends if you find it inspiring as well.

For those that don’t know who Peter is, he is the former chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures and currently heads the Mandalay Entertainment Group, which presents hit films such as The Kids Are All Right and recently partnered in acquiring the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.  Among the award-winning films Guber has produced or executive-producedare Midnight Express, Gorillas in the Mist, Batman, and Rain Man.  He is a professor at UCLA, a Harvard Business Review contributor, and a popular speaker at numerous business forums.  You can learn more at www.TellToWin.com and follow Peter on Twitter @PeterGuber.

Chris Hawker's Power Squid

Ever have an idea you thought could be worth millions?

Did you ever decide to take action on that idea to make your millions?

If so, congratulations and lets meet up sometime to chat about what you did.

If not, continue reading as this article will teach you the first steps every inventor will need to know about bringing your million dollar idea to market.

Enter Chris Hawker – the Inventor

I’ve known Chris Hawker for a little over three years now and he always tells me,

There is no million dollar ideas, only million dollar executions. 

He is a designer by nature, but due to huge success from a number of his inventions including the Power Squid, Onion Goggles, and Thirsty Light, he has become the “go-to” expert for helping inventors or those with “Big Ideas”, take their idea to market and make them profitable.

As Chris likes to say, he…

Helps transform everyday tasks into opportunities to enjoy life.

Taking Your Ideas to Market

If you have an idea and want to take it to market or figure out a way to get into big box retailers like Wal-Mart or Target, then there are a few ways to help you get there, but I’ve yet to witness a better approach then the “Chris Hawker way”.

Chris Hawker Invention Diagram

I invented my first product back in late 2007 just before I was introduced to Chris, and since then I’ve probably seen him create, manufacture, sell or license over a dozen products.

He has come up with a great forumla for taking ideas to market which helps him stay on track in figuring out weather or not his idea or an idea a fellow inventor brings to him is worthy of pursuing. (see his invention pyramid image to the right).

There are a number of moving parts in trying to figure out taking your idea to market.  For me, I bring my ideas to Chris and let him work through his system to see if they are worthy enough, but for those that try to do it on their own, there are a few things you should know when starting out.

Watch this brief video below to see what your first steps should be.

Becoming An Inventor

We are all inventors in our own way, and we bring ideas to market in various forms that may not always end in being in Wal-Mart.

If you think you have a great idea, make sure to take the advice Chris shares in his video, but if you’d like more advice and think you have a great idea that can make a difference in the world, then make sure to submit your info here to get it in front of Chris.

There is always a process we take when we want to launch our ideas, but doing the research and ground work is the key ingredient to not wasting a lot of time and money long term.

We all may have million dollar ideas, but nothing will finalize unless you follow through with the million dollar execution.

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Have you ever thought of brining a product to market and imagined what it would be like to see your product in big box retailers?  What was your biggest obstacle in bringing it that idea to market?  Or, if you do have an invention that is already on the market, what has the process been like for you, and what would your biggest piece of advice be for others?  Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Social Media Marketing

This is a guest post by Michael Cash.

People have grown accustomed to fast business transactions in the “real” world.

If you’re buying a coffee at a gas station in the morning, you just want the coffee quickly so you can move on with your day.

Business comes first – forming relationships comes second.

However, social media marketplaces rely on building relationships with your customers before they even think of buying your product.

A 2009 study by the Nielsen Company concluded that Americans were spending 17% of their Internet time browsing social media web sites. Social media sites are a powerful consumer pool that many new marketers ignore because they simply don’t understand them.

Make Sure People Are Convinced That You Know Your Stuff

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make as a social media marketing guru is publishing tips that only work with very limited application or that flat out don’t work at all. Aside from visiting a bookstore and stocking up on marketing literature, many serious Internet marketers earn a marketing degree in their free time. This isn’t so you can emblazon your site with your diploma; rather, it is simply to gain some of the skills that you will need to be influential in your niche.

Along the same lines, make sure you are either a skilled writer or have a trusted editor to rely on for nasty grammar and spelling errors. Just like a lack of knowledge, having a poorly written web site or social media space can spell disaster, even if you are giving solid tips.

Add Value, and Nothing But

One of the first mistakes that social media marketers make when approaching a site like Facebook or YouTube is assuming that they simply need to get their information out there for their potential customers. Of course, this is important. However, it is vital that your information is targeted towards your primary demographic and that it creates some discussion, or buzz.

Consider the marketing campaign of Blendtec, which hit its peak on YouTube in 2008. Using a game show style program, Blendtec created a feature called “Will it Blend.” During this show, they put different everyday items into a blender, including an iPhone and a copy of Halo 3. These videos featured the company CEO Tom Dickson and went on to get millions of views for each of the more than 100 videos. The videos became so popular that Steve Jobs even made a guest appearance when Blendtec decided to blend the iPhone 4.

Blending an iPhone 4

Before this marketing campaign, Blendtec was an unknown appliance manufacturer selling blenders at around $400.00 each. Perhaps the acting seemed a little hokey, but in the end, the videos attracted a lot of buzz about Blendtec – showing the power of their blenders in a humorous and relatable way. Best of all, the videos gave Blendtec a face and accomplished the all-important task of building a relationship before making a sale.

Give People What They Want

Whether you are running a marketing campaign yourself or want to educate others who are preparing to do so, focus on what your audience wants to hear – not what you think they should know. For example, you might be marketing a simple computer that is designed for the needs of senior citizens. While you might be impressed with the processing speed and other technical aspects of your product, your demographic will likely ignore such statements.

In fact, they will likely care about what the computer will allow them to do, or how it will change their life for the better. Rather than focusing on technological aspects, tell your readers how they will be able to connect with old friends, start their own web site, find faster routes to the grocery store, etc. Think about the problems that your product will really solve and focus on how they will appeal to your targeted demographic.

With a few successful marketing campaigns (and a few stellar before and after testimonials), you will be respected as a social media marketing guru in no time. Remember to keep your information simple and valuable. Focus on your consumers and give them value beyond exposure to your product. When people begin wanting your product (even if the product is your advice) without realizing that it was just aggressively pitched to them, you will know that you have reached guru status in the world of social media marketing.

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Michael Cash is a twenty something freelance writer and internet consultant residing in western Michigan.

I have a man crush on David Siteman Garland from TheRiseToTheTop.com. That’s right, a Man Crush!

Why? Not only is his content sexy, but the man behind the content is even sexier! (haha)

In all seriousness, I’ve been friends with David since the first few months he became active on social media, and over the last few years have been blessed to connect in person and do a number of brainstorming sessions with David where we both share ideas on how to grow our businesses (and sometimes talk about how to take over the world).

I remember talking with David over two years ago in his St. Louis condo on when he would be coming out with his first book.  Even thought he wrote the book, did all of the planning and research, I still like to think that I had a part in leaving a seed in David’s mind about producing this book.  And here we are now, and the book is alive.

I read David’s book already knowing it would be great because of his interesting daily content on “Rise”, his blog.  Little did I know that it would actually be one of the top books I’d read all year (and I’d say that even if I wasn’t a close friend).

The reason I love Smarter, Faster, Cheaper is because David shares well more than 101 ways to build your business Smarter, Faster, Cheaper, but he shares so many engaging success stories from himself and individuals/brands in many different industries.  I look at it as the one stop shop for building a huge brand and business on a small or no budget.

If you are tired of not being as big of a brand as you would like to be, or don’t feel like spending money on marketing and advertising that isn’t working for you, then do yourself a favor and pick up this book now.

Here is a video I did with David about his book, and some of the other ways to market your business the Smarter, Faster, Cheaper way. (The video is choppy at certain times but picks up after a while)

Like I said, David is a world class gentleman and this book has the potential to make you or your business world class if you take action and implement his strategies.

He has a ton of cool goodies of at his site to check out, or you can be a serious action taker and pick up his copy here.

I love meeting and spending time with interesting entrepreneurs.

It’s especially fun to be around those who have achieved great success as I personally feed off that type of energy and it gives me something to strive for.

One of the things I recommend others to do is to connect other people in their network to help them grow their businesses or achieve their goals.  I find it satisfying making introductions and actually seeing others succeed because of it.

This past week I was in Vegas speaking at the Perfect Business Summit (some top speakers and entrepreneurs from all over the world attended) and I got to meet some great new people but also hang out with some good friends.

If you want to learn from some of the best out there in different industries and levels of entrepreneurship, then I recommend you follow, reach out to, and connect with these individuals below.  In no particular order, here are my top 10 entrepreneurs from this past weekend you should follow and connect with.

1.  Ali Brown

I’d only heard about Ali from other successful women entrepreneurs who had been to her events, or been on her famous Ezine for years.  So many women loved her so I was interested to find out what she was really like in person.  I was refreshed to know someone in her position could be such a down to earth, and real individual.  We had the same flight from Vegas to L.A. and I was even more inspired with her struggling personal stories early on from taking the leap to quit her job to become a struggling entrepreneur to now running a multi-million dollar business.  Make sure to check out her Shine event, her blog, and follow Ali on Twitter @AliBrownLA as she is a quality person and business woman to know.

2.  Darren Hardy

Success is Darren’s middle name.  Darren spoke at the Perfect Business summit as well, and when I met him, he oozed success.  Everything about the clothes he wore, to the way he spoke, to his posture showcased someone who is confident, and who has achieved great things.  Darren is none other than the publisher of Success Magazine and author of The Compound Effect.  He is definitely someone I’d love to learn more from, and I think you would get a lot out of him as well.  Make sure to check out his personal site here, and follow him on Twitter @DarrenHardy.

3.  Michael Schneider

I’ll have to admit, I’ve known Michael for about a year now (thanks to the intro through the one and only Shira Lazar) and we have become good friends.  I’ve met up with Michael in L.A., London, and in Vegas during out separate business travels, and the guy has really taken over the world by storm with his start up company Mobile Rodie, a.k.a. the most powerful mobile app platform in the world.  Michael knows a ton about all things mobile, and at the end of his speech someone told Michael he was so impressed the event was able to get him to speak and that it was the most informative information on mobile he had ever heard.  Check out Michael on Twitter @MSFD.

4.  Larry Benet

Larry Benet, or “The Connector” as he is know in the business world is one of the most connected people you can meet.  I had heard about Larry’s famous SANG events where he had people like Tony Robbins, Tony Hsieh, Keith Ferrazzi, Jack Canfield, and every other successful author and speaker under the sun attend and speak at his events.  I got to spend half a day with Larry at two different events, in cabs, Warren Whitlock‘s car, and it was fun to learn about the personal side of Larry.  It made me see why so many love to connect with him and why he is successful at what he does.  Check out his blog here, and follow him on Twitter @LarryBenet.

5.  Dan Bliss

What can I say, Dan Bliss is the man.  He is the founder of Perfect Business and the Perfect Business Summit which is one of the top entrepreneur events of the year.  I had the pleasure to meet Dan at one of my L.A. networking events in early 2009 (I believe) and have had a lot of great conversations with him ever since.  It helps to know that Dan graduated from Ohio State and since I live in Columbus and love the Ohio State football team, we get along perfect!  Dan is another person who is extremely well connected and knows a lot about raising investment, and knowing the exact tools you need to start and grow your business.  Check out the Perfect Business site, and on Twitter @perfectbusiness.

6.  Pam Slim

Pam is a celebrity Business/Life coach and is also the author of Escape From Cubicle Nation.  She is pretty much a rock star, and I got more relevant, useful information from her insights in our 20 minute conversation than I did from half of the business books I’ve read this year.  She is an awesome person, great writer, fun speaker, and has that genuine motherly soul that makes you want to give her a big hug every time you see her.  We have only talked a few times in the last two years, but I plan on connecting with her more often as I was reminded at how wise and relevant her advice really is.  Make sure to check out her blog here and follow her on Twitter @PamSlim.

7.  Matthew Lesko

Matthew is my hero.  It takes a lot of balls to be on T.V. all the time, wear a suite with question marks all over it, and act like a mad scientist.  The thing I love about him, (as Jim Kukral would say) is he gets your attention.  In a world where attention spans are shorter and shorter, he continues to keep them.  He has written over 100 books, and pushes the limits with marketing and infomercials.  He had a number of great ideas about where things are headed in the future with T.V. infomercials and the shift to online marketing.  As crazy as his clothes may be, he’s a bright guy.  Check out his blog here and follow him on Twitter @MatthewLesko.

8.  Alicia Dunams

I’ve also known Alicia for over a year now and we have connected a few times in person, but it was fun to hear about the latest things going on in her business.  She helps individuals get more leads, sales and publicity by helping them launch their own book in a little less than a month.  It’s pretty fun to get more press, and writing my own book (with co-author Frank Agin) has opened doors for me that otherwise wouldn’t have been open.  Make sure to check out here site here and follow her on Twitter @AliciaDunams

9.  Trey Pennington

Trey is someone I’ve had the pleasure of being on stage with during a social media panel.  He is probably one of the nicest guys in social media that I know, and I think it has a lot to do with him being from the South (just kidding Trey).  He has somewhat of a Southern accent, has the manners of a saint, and seems to have a smile on his face no matter what this situation.  He has a dominating presence on Twitter, and just knows a lot about building a community (much better than myself).  I see Trey all over the world speaking on a number of stages, and only see big things to come in the future.  Make sure to check out his blog here and follow Trey on Twitter @TreyPennington.

10.  Josh Ochs

I sat on the advanced social media marketing panel with Josh, and grew to like him very quickly.  1.  Because he agreed with a number of the things I was mentioning in regards to LinkedIn and social media and 2.  because he had a number of complimentary ideas to add to our panel that was more refreshing than previous panels I’d been on.  He also used the word “nerd” or “nerdy” 27 times during our hour long talk, and because of that, I figured the guy was pretty cool.  In all seriousness, Josh is the marketing pro behind Media Leaders, the international social event company that now operates in 15 cities around the world.  Feel free to check out his blog here and follow him on Twitter @JoshOchs.

My Simple Recommendation

Follow these entrepreneurs, watch what they do, connect with them in person, and try to add value to their life or business.  They each have unique talents, experiences, and connections that could make or break your next project or business.

If you know any of these successful entrepreneurs yourself, please add a note in the comments section stating what you like about them, or how they have directly benefited your business already.  Also, please share this article only with those who you respect, so they to can enjoy the benefit of connecting with these powerful entrepreneurs.

David Siteman Garland is an extremely successful young entreprenuer.

He has started and owned a professional hockey league, created a hit T.V. show, speaks professionally around the country, and now has his first book deal (all before his 26 birthday).

The guy is a mutant and his hustle mentality gushes from his eyelids.

So how has David been able to build a powerful brand and achieve (some of) his goals?

One way David has done this is by being completely fearless and taking action to go after what he wants.  He isn’t afraid to fail, and he alters his path at any time along his j0urney when he notices something isn’t working the way he wants it to.

Simple as that.  David creates valuable content, connects people, and does this on a consistent basis.

Do you need to have 20+ years of experience to make a living doing something you are passionate about?  David has a little over 3 years of experience (not including his life experiences), and is completely dominating his niche and growing every day.

Don’t take it for me, watch this video interview below with David just to see how much passion and knowledge he has.

Make sure you check out David’s new book when it comes out, as he really knows his stuff and I stand behind everything he produces.  There aren’t too many people I can say that about, but David is the real deal and his site The Rise To The Top is always a great resource for entreprenuers.

What are your challenges you face along your journey to being an entreprenuer, or any other goals you might have?  Make sure to leave a comment with a few of your challenges, and I’ll have David respond with his best stuff.  Make sure to follow David on Twitter for quick markeitng tips as well.

There are different paths to success.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Arthur Kade is someone who has a clear goal in mind, takes massive action each day to achieve his goal, and doesn’t let anyone negative stop him along his journey.

Are you doing this along your journey to success?

There are some people that love who he is, and what he does… and there are others who disagree with everything he represents.

If you take 30 seconds to read parts of his blog, or watch one of his gazillion videos you will know why.

I’m not here to comment on the controversial things he posts on his site, but rather talk about his approach to achieving his dreams as everyone can learn something from his approach.  Check out this video interview I did with Arthur below:

(*disclaimer* Arthur swears and uses offensive language, so if you don’t feel like being offended today, then don’t watch this video, and watch this one instead)

Again I’m not here to judge Arthur on the things he does or says that you may or may not take offense to, instead, I’m here to talk about his passion and his attitude.

Arthur has built a pretty nice brand for himself in less than a years time.   The action steps he is taking is one to take notice of as he is constantly doing something to build his personal brand.  The success he is receiving has come directly from being completely transparent, not listening to the critics, taking massive action, and going after what he wants (as opposed to waiting for someone to hand it to him).

Can you appreciate Arthur’s hustle and accomplishments?  Are you taking these steps along your journey to success?  Are you visualising your goals every day and see yourself holding your own Oscar?  Time to step things up on your journey to success… wouldn’t you agree?