Adam Houge is an author and a beacon of hope for self-published authors. The status quo view of self-publishing is that it’s hard to make money and sell books. Adam proved both of this myths wrong by selling 2 million of his self-published book.

 

Adam’s initial motivation wasn’t to make money. He was more focused on spreading his valuable content and getting his books into the hands of as many readers as possible. He wrote a religious book in the midsts of a series of medical bills and retirement from his day job. This is the book he wanted to spread. After writing 100+ books (not a typo), he’s now done just that—spread his message. In this episode, he discusses how he found the time to write 100+ books. 

 

Adam also talked about overcoming the 30 day drop off in sales after your book gets published. He doesn’t just get sales in the short-term. His books continue generating sales years after they were published. We also talk about keywords and categories, Amazon’s SEO.

 

Adam treats us to a mini course on all things Kindle marketing. If you’ve got Kindle books that you want to promote, listening to this interview will greatly help you with your efforts.

 

As always, our guest shares his favorite inspirational quote, and much, much more.

 

 

Key Links from the Show

 

www.thefanbaseformula.com – Adam’s Training Course for Authors

www.adamhouge.com – Adam’s Personal Site

 

Learn:

 

– How to keep sales up on Amazon Kindle

– Why Keywords and Categories are so very important

– How to make your book reach the right people

– Adam’s best learned career lesson

– What most authors get wrong when first publishing

– Adam’s favorite inspirational quote

Aaron is an online writer, contributor, publisher and guest blogger. I first learned about Aaron in a funny but awesome way. Aaron was looking for teens to feature in a SUCCESS Magazine article. My friend Ulyses Osuna tagged me and I learned about the opportunity. I submitted my story in a powerful way, Aaron and I got to talk a while afterward, and the rest is history. He’s now the latest guest on my Breakthrough Success Podcast.

 

Aaron has written for some of the most prominent websites such as The Huffington Post, Mashable, Business Insider, SUCCESS, and many more. Like any entrepreneur, Aaron had his low point which he discusses in the episode. He then developed a love for blogging, and guest blogging in particular. This love for guest blogging got him on those prominent websites I mentioned earlier. He talks about how you can land your content on those websites too. 

 

While this story sounds glorious, Aaron has faced rejection after rejection. In fact, his tagline is “Let’s Get Rejected.” He occasionally posts on Facebook about how his article got rejected on many websites, but then one website took his idea (and most of his articles end up raking up some SERIOUS engagement).

 

Key Links from the Show:

http://iconicontent.com/ – Aaron’s website

http://www.copyblogger.com/author/aaron-orendorff/ – Aaron’s CopyBlogger page

http://buzzsumo.com/ – One of Aaron’s go-to tools

https://www.google.com/trends/ – You can use this tool to analyze trends. In this interview, you’ll discover why Google Trends can literally transform your content brand.

http://iconicontent.com/guest-posting-course/ – Aaron’s guest posting course. Take it if you want to learn Aaron’s big secrets on web domination.

 

 Learn:

– Why the snowball effect is important but doesn’t ensure anything

– The right way to build relationships with editors

– 3 mistakes people commonly make with submissions

– Aaron’s advice for having a breakthrough

– How to write content that gets approved

I’ve known Joe Parys for a while, so I was delighted when I learned he agreed to be a guest on my podcast.

Joe and I created two Udemy courses together and have been interacting with each other ever since. I’ve viewed him as a mentor on Udemy and I’ve asked him questions throughout my journey on that platform.

For anyone curious (and eager to get a big discount), these are the two courses we created together

 

• Develop A Winner’s Mindset: The Power Of Positive Thinking

• Boost Productivity & Get Amazing Results On Social Media Now

 

 

Now I have him on my podcast to discuss how he made a six figure income on Udemy in 2016. While this alone is impressive, the cool part is how he achieved this goal.

On January 1, 2016, Joe declared his goal to make six figures selling his courses by the end of the year. Before that, he barely made $10,000 from his courses and had no idea how he would make six figures.

We talk about how he made his big transformation in this episode just in time for the excitement of a New Year. People set New Year’s resolutions all of the time. Joe talks about how to accomplish them even if you don’t know what you’re doing quite yet.

But Joe has some other insights up his sleeve in this episode. We talk about some of the tactics he used to get more sales for his courses and expand his Udemy student base.

At the end of 2016, Joe was rapidly approaching 200,000 students throughout his courses. That’s not bad for someone who only had 22,000 students just 366 days ago (2016 was a Leap Year. Remember that? I didn’t).

 

Key Links From The Show:

joeparys.com – Joe’s official website.

udemy.com – The site Joe publishes his training courses on

udemy.com/user/josephparys – Joe’s Udemy profile

 

Learn

– How to optimize your descriptions to boost sales

– How to increase student engagement in your online courses

– The pros and cons of using a site like Udemy VS hosting your courses

– How to accomplish your New Year’s resolutions (for real)

 

Subscribe to the Breakthrough Success Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher. If you genuinely enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you could leave a quick review for Breakthrough Success on iTunes, Stitcher, or both.

In our latest episode, I am joined by Tom Corson-Knowles, an entrepreneur, publisher, and author of 20 bestselling books. Listen in as we discuss his career, and as Tom drops some super valuable information on success as a writer.

 

Tom had a different dream than his classmates, and wanted to be successful for his quality of life and to make a change in the world…rather than working crazy hours at a Wall Street cubicle. He had a clear vision and set his sights on it.

 

Tom talks us through his start and how he became a bestselling author. Tom discusses how we should model our way to success and wants us to avoid a devastating mistake most people make when they publish their first book.

 

Wondering how to get people to buy your books? Tom goes deep into this question within the episode. You’ll also hear about “thinking time” and many other lessons that will help you become a more successful author and entrepreneur.

 

Key Links from The Show:

 

www.tckpublishing.com  – Tom’s Publishing Company’s Site

www.ebookpublishingschool.com – a free Video tutorial on publishing

www.publishingprofitspodcast.com – Tom’s Podcast

 

Learn:

 

– Tom’s 3 Keys of Authorship

– How to run a business and still have time to write

– Tom’s best lesson learned during his career

– To model success on those who you consider successful

– How and why to create a great team around you

On today’s episode, Ramon Ray and I discuss hosting a successful event. As someone who constantly wants to bring people together, Ramon has made a truly interesting career out of hosting events, that is if he isn’t speaking at an event or running Smart Hustle Magazine. 

 

Starting from the ground up, Ramon grew the size of his events depending on what he saw was appropriate, and has made good on his decisions when planning for each event. He takes us through what he considers the “5 broad buckets” of planning to host an event, and what he thinks is a strong marketing plan. 

 

We chat about the ups and downs Ramon has faced, and he explains that he even still goes through this process today, and what it is that he does to stay motivated and creative during those bad times. We are fortunate to hear an interesting and comprehensive insight into the world of events. 

 

Listen in to hear why Ramon compares planning events to having a baby, and the best lessons he learned during his career.

 

 

Key Links from the show:

www.ramonray.com – Ramon’s Personal Site

www.smarthustle.com – Ramon’s magazine

 

Learn:

– Ramon’s advice for breaking through

– Ramon’s tips for putting on an event on a shoestring budget

– How to get good speakers at your event

– Why planning and building in time to market is key

– Ramon’s inspirational quote

 

Seth Godin has been my role model since the very early stages of my entrepreneurial journey. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to interview him for my podcast. 

 

In case you don’t know him, he’s a 18-time bestselling author (Purple Cow and The Dip being my two favorites…it’s too hard to even think about ranking them though) who founded many great companies like Yoyodyne and Squidoo. I came across Seth’s content during my Squidoo days, and during my time on Squidoo, I learned a lot of what I know now. I attribute my time on Squidoo as a critical phase of my journey.

 

Seth has been an entrepreneur for 40 years. While he’s an entrepreneurial superstar now, he didn’t have that status early in his career. His books were rejected 800 times, and through this rejection, he learned that enthusiasm over criticism is a must. Seth talks about that, why it’s important to look at what you can offer the world, how you can help solve problems, and much more.

 

And his inspirational quote is quite fascinating. That will be revealed in the episode.

 

 

Key Links from the Show:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/04/first-ten-.html – Seth’s mentioned blog post

http://www.yourturn.link/ – Seth’s recent Book

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ – Seth’s Blog Posts

 

Learn:

– 3 Tips for marketing yourself and your products better

– Seth’s thoughts on achieving a breakthrough

– Why it’s important to watch people

– To not rush or expect everything at one

– Why “90% of success is showing up”