Marc Guberti

E63: Achieving Financial Freedom Through Real Estate Investing With Whitney Nicely

January 2, 2018 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Whitney Nicely started her real estate investing career after selling dump trucks. She flipped her first property in 2009 and has never looked back. She is a very successful real estate investor and highly sought after strategist who helps others create and boost their portfolios. Whitney also empowers women to dive into the real estate investment world in order to take control of their lives and finances.

Quotes To Remember:

“I like to buy houses without spending any money.”

“Get in, do a couple small deals, go through the process, figure out what you like, and then grow from there”

“The numbers don’t lie.”

“If you get that bad taste in your mouth, it’s hard to get back in.”

“Everybody knows someone with a problem with a house.”

What You’ll Learn:

Learn what to look for when investing in real estate
How to replace your 9-5 income with real estate
How to buy real estate without spending any of your own money
How to make offers to win a negation situation
How and where to buy real estate in your area

Key Links From The Show:
Whitney’s Site

Recommended Books:

Miracle in the Mountains by Harnett Thomas Kane

Shoemaker of Dreams by Salvadore Ferrigamo

Proverbs – 31:16
Whitney’s Book

E63: Achieving Financial Freedom Through Real Estate Investing With Whitney Nicely

January 2, 2018 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Quotes To Remember:

“I like to buy houses without spending any money.”

“Get in, do a couple small deals, go through the process, figure out what you like, and then grow from there”

“The numbers don’t lie.”

“If you get that bad taste in your mouth, it’s hard to get back in.”

“Everybody knows someone with a problem with a house.”

What You’ll Learn:

Learn what to look for when investing in real estate
How to replace your 9-5 income with real estate
How to buy real estate without spending any of your own money
How to make offers to win a negation situation
How and where to buy real estate in your area

Key Links From The Show:
Whitney’s Site

Recommended Books:

Miracle in the Mountains by Harnett Thomas Kane

Shoemaker of Dreams by Salvadore Ferrigamo

Proverbs – 31:16
Whitney’s Book

How To Publish Your First Podcast Episode

January 2, 2018 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

publish first podcast episode

Podcasting presents a unique opportunity to connect with influencers, expand your brand, and publish new content for your audience at the same time. You get to interview guests who then promote the episode, and that episode is content for your audience. But for a beginner, publishing the first podcast episode seems difficult.

For starters, you need to get a guest to say yes (unless you want to run a talk show style podcast). Even then, you need to figure out the technological end of the process so everything smoothly sails.

People like John Lee Dumas and Pat Flynn literally make six figures from their podcasts every month. I can go on and on about the benefits of starting your own podcast, but I’ll go deep into how you can publish your first podcast episode.

Get The Yes Before Doing Anything Else

Before you do any additional research for starting a podcast, you need to land your first guest. Before I knew anything that I’ll share with you, I contacted five people and asked them to be a guest on my upcoming podcast.

The moment I got the first yes, I was committed.

Since getting the first yes, I’ve used a bunch of tactics to land more guests on my podcast. I started with my network and expanded from there.

Email them with a message like this:

Hello [name],

I’m starting a new podcast about [topic] called [name of podcast]. If you are interested, I would love to have you as a guest on the show.

[Closing]

Make your email short to avoid overwhelming the potential guest (who may be getting several emails like this, and plenty of emails not like this).

You can schedule your first guest the old-fashioned way (a bunch of back and forth emails in which you and the guest confirm a time and date that works for both of you). In the long-term, it’s better to use a tool like Acuity to make the scheduling process seamless.

One lesson I learned from this experience is that it’s harder to start than it is to continue. Once you get started, the rest of it gets much easier.

Determine How You’ll Conduct The Interview

I use a combination of Skype and Zoom to conduct my interviews. The Skype Call Recorder is less expensive and gets the job done. However, Skype can sometimes have problems such as breaking up the connection, but overall Skype’s Call Recorder is very reliable.

When there are problems, I use Zoom. I started using Zoom because it was essential for my Content Marketing Success Summit and Productivity Virtual Summit. While Skype Call Recorder is fine with audio, most of the problems emerge when you go to the video format. Zoom is my go-to tool when I want to conduct the interview as a video.

Don’t look beyond Skype and Zoom. Pick one or the other, test it to make sure you know what you’re doing, and then move onto the next step. Here are some of the differences between Skype and Zoom for you to explore when making your decision.

Prepare For The Interview

podcast preparation

Deciding between Skype and Zoom will eventually determine the platform you use to conduct your first podcast episode and beyond. Preparing for the interview is the next step, and while this may seem difficult for the first episode, the prep work gets much easier as you prepare for more interviews.

Before we talk about how the prep work gets easier, let’s talk about preparing for the first interview.

To effectively prepare for a podcast interview, you need the following:

#1: Show Introduction—This is the same for each show (or at least for a while). Greet your listeners, say your name, and state who the podcast is for. Here’s the show intro I use for my podcast: Hello and welcome. I am your host, Marc Guberti, and this is the podcast for entrepreneurs who are looking for the breakthrough for their businesses. I am very excited about this show.

#2: Topic Introduction—Intro the topic in a few sentences. Let listeners know why this is important and how this episode will impact them.

#3: Guest Introduction—I usually look at a guest’s About Me Page or read their About Section in another podcast’s show notes. This makes the guest introduction easier for me to write. Don’t mention the guest’s name until the very end of your intro. Use “Today’s guest” for the rest of it.

#4: Write The Questions In Advance—Think of some questions that you would like to ask the guest. I used to write 12 questions as if I am a client and the guest is a consultant. As you write more questions, you’ll find a few that you can ask over and over again. Now you have to think of fewer questions since you have some predetermined questions. That’s how the prep work gets easier over time. It gets even easier if you listen to the guest. I now only write half as many questions as I need because the other half of the questions come from our conversation.

The Interview Itself

After you prepare for the interview, the next step is the interview itself. The more time you prepare for the interview, the better the interview will flow.

Establishing an enthusiastic flow throughout the interview is critical for two reasons:

This flow determines the value of the interview. That value determines how many loyal listeners your podcast gets.

The interview is expedited relationship building. In most cases, a great interview instantly creates a great relationship.

Practice reading the intro just before the guest calls in (the intro will make or break any episode). Say it with enthusiasm, and the enthusiasm will carry through the episode.

As you ask questions, you need to listen to the answer while thinking of how you will connect their answer with your next question.

You want the questions to flow as if you thought of them in the moment. Once you think of a good transition, hold that transition in your mind as you listen.

Once you have the transition in mind, you must still listen to the answer because you’ll learn new things, and some guests ask their hosts questions. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.

Writing The Show Notes

writing podcast show notes

Another reason you need to listen to responses is because you’ll have to write show notes for each interview. In the show notes, you simply summarize what listeners will learn without giving too much information (you want listeners to listen to your episode instead of getting everything from the show notes).

I advise relying on your memory for the show notes and using the questions to spark your memory. When I look back at the questions, I bring myself back to my conversation with the guest. This helps me craft better show notes.

You can eventually outsource this part of the process (and almost every other process), but you should put in the work to write show notes before you hire someone. You’ll need to teach that person how to get the job done, and you can only do that with some experience under your belt.

You should also write the show notes for at least the first dozen episodes to reaffirm your commitment to your podcast.

Publishing Episodes With Libsyn

You now have the interview file and the show notes all set. Some people edit their interview files to include intros and outros and to fix any mistakes. I hired an audio editor from Day #1 because I knew that would hinder me from starting.

You may love editing the audio of your episodes, but if you don’t, either hire someone or make the edits very minimal. Your first episode is a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) and a proof of the concept. If you reach 100 episodes, the editing and entire process should be more detailed.

But to not drift too far, you have your audio file and your show notes. The final step is to publish your first episode. While many options exist, Libsyn is the best choice. I use their service to publish Breakthrough Success episodes on my blog, Stitcher, iTunes, Android, and plenty of other places.

Don’t just take my word for it. Pat Flynn and John Lee Dumas BOTH use Libsyn for their podcasts. Libsyn is very reliable, and while there are other options available, I recommend sticking with Libsyn.

In Conclusion

If you want to publish your first podcast episode, I strongly recommend you follow this blog post’s steps from start to finish. I have written over 2,000 blog posts, and I have never been that direct in asking people to follow any of my blog posts to the brim.

There are so many ways to approach each of these phases within the process. You’ll develop your process as you publish more episodes. I’ve interviewed hundreds of people for my podcast and virtual summits. This process works.

Yes, there are other ways, but why not go for something that works. Other approaches will work too, but none are as action oriented and specific as this approach.

If you think a modification is needed, let me know. But if I had to start the Breakthrough Success Podcast and relearn how to podcast over and over again, this is the only blog post I would need for getting started.

What are your thoughts on this approach? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.

E62: Landing High-Ticket Sales & Attracting Top Clients With Dan Lok

January 1, 2018 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Dan Lok has built a thriving network of multi-million dollar enterprises. He now inspires entrepreneurs and thought leaders from around the world to do the same. Dan. otherwise known as The King of High-Ticket Sales, is one of the most highest paid and in-demand consultants in the luxury and high-ticket space.

Quotes To Remember:

“Revenue is good, but at the end of the day, it’s how much are you netting.”

“Business is a game of margins, not volumes.”

“It’s all your limited beliefs that will hold you back.”

“If you are always easily reachable and available, you’re not very valuable.”

“I don’t sell information, I provide transformation.”

“To sell more, you’ve got to get them on the phone.”

“The more you pay, the more you pay attention.”

“Be effective by being selective.”

What You’ll Learn:

Why high ticket sales can be less work and better return
How not to project your problems on clients
Why restricting supply is lucrative and can make you more valuable
Why most high ticket sales start with a phone call, and how to make them happen
How to take on and manage more clients
How to be able to choose your clients, and work on projects you want to.

Key Links From The Show:

Dan’s site

Dan’s Youtube channel

Recommended Books:

80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan

F.U. Money by Dan Lok

E62: Landing High-Ticket Sales & Attracting Top Clients With Dan Lok

January 1, 2018 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Quotes To Remember:

“Revenue is good, but at the end of the day, it’s how much are you netting.”

“Business is a game of margins, not volumes.”

“It’s all your limited beliefs that will hold you back.”

“If you are always easily reachable and available, you’re not very valuable.”

“I don’t sell information, I provide transformation.”

“To sell more, you’ve got to get them on the phone.”

“The more you pay, the more you pay attention.”

“Be effective by being selective.”

What You’ll Learn:

Why high ticket sales can be less work and better return
How not to project your problems on clients
Why restricting supply is lucrative and can make you more valuable
Why most high ticket sales start with a phone call, and how to make them happen
How to take on and manage more clients
How to be able to choose your clients, and work on projects you want to.

Key Links From The Show:

Dan’s site

Dan’s Youtube channel

Recommended Books:

80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan

F.U. Money by Dan Lok

Hack Your Mindset To Publish 1 New Blog Post Every Day

January 1, 2018 by Marc Guberti 8 Comments

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Publishing new content is hard. You have to think of an idea, write out the content, do research, optimize the post, and schedule it. What about if you publish 1 new blog post every day? That’s a completely different ballgame.

At one point, I published 1 blog post every 12 hours. The blog posts were much shorter, and I didn’t prepare nearly as much as I have been. There are many steps that I take even after I’ve written the content.

I didn’t take those extra steps before, and those extra steps hurt my publishing frequency. I went from two blog posts per day to daily blog posts. Daily blog posts became weekly blog posts and then inconsistency followed.

I thought to myself, “This is okay. It’s just a growing process. I need to focus on other revenue generating opportunities and not spend as much time writing blog posts.”

The Awakening

After I took a long look at my content brand and read Flip The Funnel by Joseph Jaffe, I realized I over-prioritized customer acquisition. If you focus too much on customer acquisition, you forget to continue providing a better experience for current customers.

I realized that I needed a customer-centric brand, and writing daily blog posts allows me to create a better experience. The experience you provide also happens to be one of the seven pillars of customer centricity. With this new knowledge and my dream to turn Breakthrough Success into a daily podcast, I returned to daily blog posts.

The Big Flaw

blogging mistake

At the beginning of 2017, I set the goal of publishing one new YouTube video every day. There were far more steps to go from idea to published video than from idea to published blog post. I embarked on this challenge, and stayed consistent for almost two months. I then dropped back down to weekly videos and eventually become inconsistent.

There is a fatal flaw that prevents content creators from reaching the status where they can publish 1 new blog post every day. A lack of time isn’t that fatal flaw.

The fatal flaw is this: You need to be writing new content every day.

Yann Girad wrote a fascinating article on Medium about how he wrote a blog post every day for two years. In that article, he explained the mindset that leads to disaster:

“Maybe because if you say you want to do it on Monday and Thursday you still have five excuses left. You’d still have Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday as an excuse. So if you still have Tuesday, why do it on Monday? And if you still have Wednesday why do it on Tuesday?”

If you don’t write every day, you risk falling into this mindset where you backlog the work. You then say that you’ll write this week’s blog posts on Sunday because you’re loaded with work for the other six days. Sunday comes around and you get busy. None of the blog posts get written.

What About Content Batching?

With that said, I’ve been a big advocate for content batching, a process in which you consistently choose a certain day of the week to create all of your content. John Lee Dumas blew me away with this concept when he said he does all of the EOFire interviews in two days.

EOFire is a daily podcast, so he’s interviewing 28-31 people over the span of two days. He can dedicate the rest of his month to other areas of his brand.

At first glance, content batching seems to lead people towards the fatal flaw. I’ll get all of my content done on this day of the week so I can do other things for the rest of the week.

The moment I attempt to content batch blog posts and videos, I find myself on the path towards inconsistency. I miss a day, and since each day carries much more weight in a content batching strategy, my consistency falls apart.

However, you can batch other parts of your brand and even content creation itself. While batching doesn’t work for my blog posts and videos, content batching works just fine for my podcast interviews. I only interview people on Tuesdays and Wednesdays unless I need to make a special exception.

That means for the other five days of the week, I can focus on other areas of my content brand. It’s also easier for me to write blog posts during these five days. On Monday, I can write a blog post and do some extra planning so it’s easier for me to squeeze in the blog post on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

You can use this approach to theme your days to boost your productivity. This method will allow you to accomplish your goals and stay in a constant state of flow. Jack Dorsey uses this method to run both Twitter and Square.

Write Blog Posts With THIS

When people think about daily blog posts, they think, “Well, that’s great, but I don’t have enough time.”

I can refute that excuse in so many ways, but I’ll share a powerful hack that works wonders. You can write blog posts on your smartphone.

When you’re waiting for anything or anyone (public transportation, watching advertisements before the movie starts, etc.), you can write some more content for an upcoming blog post. I’ve written dozens of blog posts with this one method.

I didn’t make any changes to my schedule. I just utilized time that was normally wasted. I don’t want to even think about how many extra hours it would have taken me to write those blog posts if I didn’t write them on my smartphone.

Don’t Make Them Perfect

I don’t spend much time in the editing process. At the most, I’m looking for places to insert more links to past blog posts and valuable articles on the web.

It’s okay if your blog has a typo. As long as your blog post is valuable, people will overlook the typo. As you write more blog posts, the value will come natural. You’ll think of the ideas and sentences much faster.

If you find yourself analyzing the same sentence over and over again, you need to move on. The marketplace only rewards the ideas that get implemented, and to write a blog post every day, you need to do a lot of implementing.

I’d rather publish an imperfect blog post every day than never publish a perfect blog post. Even if you think it’s perfect, it’s not. Perfection is a myth, and the quicker you realize this, the easier it will be for you to write daily blog posts.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

delegation

Publish 1 new blog post every day…it sounds easy. The goal gets difficult when you factor in the other tasks within your business, and let’s not forget about life as a whole. Writing a blog post takes less than an hour, but so many things compete for our attention.

The best time hack I’ve come across is delegating various tasks within your brand. There are a plethora of necessary tasks for my brand that I don’t perform. If I still had those obligations, I wouldn’t be writing a blog post every day.

Create a list of all of the necessary tasks you perform for your brand. Any task that you don’t enjoy performing is subject to delegation. I recommend you start by delegating the most time consuming task first and then go from there.

You can make the revenue back by optimizing your blog to gather more email subscribers and then optimizing the autoresponders to generate more sales.

Establish A Routine

Yann’s Medium article from before inspired this one, so I don’t want too much overlap. The final tactic I’ll mention is that you need to establish a routine. I’ve tried a variety of writing methods. Here’s the method I’m currently sticking with:

#1: Outline The Blog Post The Night Before. My outline looks very simple but gets the job done. I just identify the blog post’s title and the tactics I’ll cover.

#2: Research Some Relevant Articles The Night Before. This research is based on the outline.

#3: Write The Blog Post In The Morning. I do some research as I am writing the blog post when an idea floats in my mind. Some bloggers prefer to wait to do this extra research after writing the blog post (the internet can distract you from your work). I prefer to get the research over with so I’m not thinking about it as I’m writing the blog post.

#4: Schedule The Blog Post In The Afternoon Or Evening. I prefer scheduling blog posts on the same day I write them. I always have a buffer of blog posts scheduled in advance in case I can’t schedule a blog post on a particular day. I’m okay with batching this method, but I am no longer okay with batching the writing process.

I no longer write more than one blog post each day. If I have a burning desire, I’ll craft the outline and intentionally ignore the burning desire. Surprise, surprise, the burning desire only builds, and I have no problem writing tomorrow’s blog post.

Consider your schedule as you write and plan out blog posts. Since I batch my podcast interviews on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I’ll use Mondays to write more detailed outlines for the Tuesday and Wednesday blog posts.

For a more detailed outline, I do everything in the simple outline but also write the introduction and conclusion.

In Conclusion

Publishing a new blog post every day isn’t easy. However, there are many content creators proving that it’s possible every day.

Writing blog posts doesn’t just help with acquiring more leads, but daily blog posts will also strengthen the relationship between you and the audience you’ve already built.

What were your thoughts on this content creation approach? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments section below.