Youpreneur: The Profitable Personal Brand Expert Business!

If you’re a personal brand entrepreneur, I’m willing to bet you’ve had at least one “ah-ha” moment in your career. As entrepreneurs, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and adrenaline rush of a new idea. But before you take a major gamble and put all of your time, resources and money on the line, you need to validate your idea. After all, if you’re not sure whether anybody wants or even cares about your new idea, you risk launching something that’s destined to flop. This is why I’ve invited my good friend, Yaro Starak, onto the show to talk about how you can validate your ideas before releasing them to the public. Yaro recently launched a new business completely unrelated to his personal brand and it’s been a complete success! So, if you want to find out how he did it and how you can follow in his footsteps, pop your earphones in and have a listen! Essential Learning Points From This Episode: An existing audience will make the launch of any new business venture much more successful If you spend most of your day replying to emails, you’ve become a victim of your own success – it’s time to outsource! If you can’t reply to an email in three sentences or less, pick up the phone for a longer conversation Introduce a beta test run of your new idea by reaching out to your email list with a blog post and selecting a few “test clients” who are interested in participating A beta test gives you an insight into how much potential traction surrounds your idea Use case studies from your test clients to help increase validation and social proof in the beginning stages of launching your new business Building trust is about sharing personal insights with your audience Outsourcing your emails allows you to establish both a reactive and proactive emailing system so a potential new client never falls through your fingers Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: Yaro’s website: InboxDone  Yaro’s Blog  Rise of the Youpreneur Personal Branding Roadmap Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST! Thank You for Tuning In!  There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose mine, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the top and bottom of this page. For more information go to youpreneur.com/303

Having the right marketing funnels in place can have an astronomical effect on the success of your business. But, developing a marketing funnel that moves people through the journey to conversion takes time and strategy. So, who better to discuss marketing funnels than the expert, John Lee Dumas. John is the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Entrepreneurs On Fire, where he delivers inspirational strategies to help fellow entrepreneurs live the life they’ve always dreamed of having. John was the opening keynote speaker at last year’s Youpreneur Summit, where he inspired the audience to create profitable funnels for their business. His speech was so good that I thought… you know what? it would be a shame if that were the last time anyone ever heard it. So… this podcast episode is a little bit different. I’ve pulled the audio directly from last year’s keynote archives to share John’s fantastic keynote speech with you all. In John’s speech, he shares everything you need to know about building a highly profitable marketing funnel that could lead to a multi-million-dollar business. Essential Learning Points From This Episode: Your defining moment in life is the instant that motivates you to stand up, take action and discover your “true purpose” If you don’t learn how to “funnel up” before “funneling down”, your marketing funnel will never work A funnel is the journey that your avatar takes from the moment they first discover your brand until they become a client, customer or an evangelist Build the initial momentum and get things going by niching down Your “avatar” is your ideal customer – so make sure you know them inside and out! You must have a content creation system in place to make sure you create content on a consistent level If you created a great piece of content, get the most out of it by repurposing it Don’t underestimate the power of a one-to-one conversation to grow your audience Host live training sessions because sales happen on live webinars Never hesitate to let people know about your offer because as an entrepreneur, you’re obligated to generate revenue Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: John’s FREE training course – 3 Hours to Your Big Idea  John’s Entrepreneurs On Fire podcast Rise of the Youpreneur Personal Branding Roadmap Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST! Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose mine, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the top and bottom of this page. For more information visit youpreneur.com/302

Many entrepreneurs assume that implementing automated systems and funnels in your business takes away the human connection that we all want and need with our customers, but that’s rarely the case. In this episode, I interview a good friend of mine and fellow entrepreneur, Greg Hickman. Greg is the founder and CEO of System.ly, where he helps entrepreneurs come up with systemized business growth plans using proven marketing systems and automated funnels. I’ve used his services in the past to build funnels for my own business, and the work he did back then continues to help my business grow today. So, trust me when I tell you that building systems into your business can not only make you more money right now but continue to grow your business for years to come! Essential Learning Points From This Episode: Automating certain parts of your business won’t de-humanize it, but establish a more streamlined and systemized growth plan Before you can implement an idea, you have to implement a systemized game plan using the right tools and technology Most businesses can get to seven figures with one funnel by keeping it simple and not overcomplicating it The level of sophistication required for you to make a sale will dictate the best conversion method When designing your first funnel, design one that allows you to sell over the phone because one-to-one conversations are more likely to convert Always consider the lifetime and the annual value of a client before paying for leads If you want to get on the phone with the right people, you need a process that filters your most qualified prospects from weaker leads Focus less on the features of your services and more on the benefits and results that your service provides Use a simple 4-step approach to get the right people on the phone - Lead Magnet, Video, Application and then get them on call and close the deal! Perfection will starve you from your own success because it’s just another form of procrastination The fastest way for a business to grow its profit margin is to focus on one type of avatar (client), one offer, one conversion method (funnel) and one traffic source Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: Greg’s website, ‘System.ly’  Greg’s personal website  Connect with Greg on Twitter  Greg’s Facebook page  Previous episodes with Greg: Why You Need To Go Mobile With Your Small Business and How To Build Your First Email Marketing Funnel Rise of the Youpreneur Personal Branding Roadmap Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST! Thank You for Tuning In! For more information click...

Welcome back to the podcast! I have an extraordinary episode for you all to mark an incredible milestone…300 episodes of Youpreneur FM! I’d like to thank every single one of you for tuning into the podcast because without you, I wouldn’t be here doing what I love to do every day, and this podcast definitely wouldn’t be here! To mark this special occasion, I’ve invited a bunch of my business buddies (14 to be exact) onto the show to share their number one tip to becoming a successful personal brand entrepreneur. I hope their expert tips and advice will motivate and inspire you to go and do great things with your business – enjoy! Key Learning Points From Each Guest… Chris Guillebeau from Side Hustle School - Understand what your message is and be clear on what you want to say Pamela Slim - Help people get what they want because that’s the very best reputation to have as an entrepreneur Amy Landino - Get your face out there, leverage video and show people what you’re made of Michael Port from Heroic Public Speaking - Be very specific about who you serve, what you help them do, achieve or get and why you do it Chris Brogan – Be helpful and help other people Mike Stelzner from Social Media Examiner – Identify the smallest possible audience that you can provide value to and consistently give them content for free Janet Murray - Let people get to know the person behind the business to attract loyal fans and lifelong customers Jay Baer from Convince & Convert - Create amazing content consistently and don’t wait until you’re motivated because success is built on perspiration, not inspiration Jeff Goins from Goins Writer - Be the part of you that feels the sincere and the least polished because this is the part of you that people can connect with Jenny Blake from Pivot Method - Think about how you can optimize for revenue and fun because if you’re having fun, you’re readers, listeners and followers will be more likely to enjoy your content John Lee Dumas from Entrepreneurs on Fire - Engage with your audience as you grow, and you’ll save time and effort while scaling your business Matthew Kimberley  - Carve your own path and forget about what other people think of your vision Amy Porterfield  - Focus on getting uncomfortable on a regular basis when it comes to speaking your truth Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income - Get personal with people and have one-on-one conversations with your audience to help build a stronger personal brand Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: Chris Guillebeau’s website  Pamela Slim’s website  Amy Landino’s YouTube channel  Michael Port’s Book, ”Book Yourself Solid” Michael Port’s website  Chris Brogan’s website  Mike Stelzner’s website  Janet Murray’s website  Jay Baer’s website  Jeff Goins’ website...

In a noisy world where small businesses are forced to compete against more recognized brands for consumers attention, it can be tough to keep your business above water. Let’s face it…if we don’t have the attention of our prospects, customers, fans, followers, subscribers and so on, we’re done. On this podcast episode, I talk with Neen James about why attention is vital for businesses and how to get more of it. Neen is a good friend of mine and honestly, one of my most favorite people on the planet. She is a member of the League of Heroic Public Speakers and offers practical strategies to her audiences. Neen is also an accomplished author of “Folding Time” and her latest book, “Attention Pays.” Essential Learning Points From This Episode: Attention is the evolution of productivity, and when we learn how to grab and keep people’s attention, we make more money, and we get more done Attention drives productivity, profitability, and accountability We pay attention in three ways: personal, professional and global Personal attention is about being thoughtful and thinking about who deserves our attention Professional attention is about what deserves our attention and being productive Global attention is about being responsible with focus on how we pay attention in the world Don’t underestimate the power of a handwritten note to add a personal touch and show your appreciation Try to invest 15-minutes a day and identify your top 3 non-negotiable activities that will move you closer to achieving your goals Multi-tasking isn’t always the answer – each time you change tasks, your brain takes 23 minutes to regain focus Public accountability drives private accountability, and when we tell someone else what we intend to do, we’re more likely to follow through with it You should outsource things that are not your strengths, so you can focus on what’s most important to you and your business If we pay attention to our clients and listen to what they don’t tell us, we’ll be able to accommodate them better Ask more targeted questions to your clients to get to the heart of what’s really going on and find out what they need from you and your business Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: Neen James’ book, “Attention Pays”  Neen James’ book, “Folding Time”  Neen James’ website  Rise of the Youpreneur Personal Branding Roadmap Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST! Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose mine, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the top and bottom of this page. For more information click here.

I am sure that you’ve heard about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which it came into effect on May 25th, 2018. It’s basically a stronger set of rules on EU data protection, which changes how businesses handle their customers' personal information and as a result, people have more control over their personal data. But what does it mean for your online business? When GDPR came into effect, everyone was freaking out about it because nobody really understood what it meant. So, to ease everyone’s fears and clear up some of the confusion, I invited data law protection expert, Suzanne Dibble, onto the show. Suzanne used to work as a business lawyer at the largest law firm in the world – literally. In 2010, she switched her focus from keeping household names and huge multi-nationals out of trouble to helping small business owners protect and scale their business. She’s a natural entrepreneur at heart and always provides practical and relevant advice to each of her clients. Essential Learning Points From This Episode: GDPR is a supercharged data protection law that replaces the previous 1995 Data Protection Directive Data is the world’s most valuable asset – so it’s important to protect it The maximum fine for a GDPR data breach is €20m or 4% of your global turnover in the last 12 months You must have a lawful ground for processing data which includes consent, contractual, legal and legitimate interests You don’t necessarily need to get an “opt-in consent” from existing customers to continue to market to them Your privacy notice must clearly state that people can object to the processing on the grounds of legitimate interests Use this opportunity to clean up your email list and sort out the subscribers who engage with you from those who never open your emails GDPR has amplified the standard of consent. There must be an affirmative action by the individual that signifies their consent It’s not mandatory that you need to have a double opt-in, but you may need it when dealing with special category data or sensitive data (such as health information) Don’t bundle all of your consent boxes together - you need to give people real choice and control Controllers can only use processors and virtual assistants outside the EU if they are GDPR compliant Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: Suzanne’s GDPR for Online Business Facebook Group  Suzanne’s GDPR Compliance Pack Suzanne’s Website  Suzanne’s Facebook Page  Facebook Video Interview with Suzanne on GDPR   Rise of the Youpreneur Personal Branding Roadmap Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST! Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts

Public speaking can be a really daunting prospect for many of us. The fear that we’ll humiliate ourselves in front of a live audience is enough to make anyone sweat buckets before a live event! But if you can just make them laugh, you’ll immediately ease the tension in the room and boost your own self-confidence so that you can give a world-class talk without choking on stage. On this podcast episode, I speak with David Nihill about how to be funnier in your public speaking, presentations, live broadcasts, YouTube videos and even on your podcast! David is an author, producer, entrepreneur and funny man from Dublin, Ireland. He is the best-selling author of “Do You Talk Funny?” and the founder of the FunnyBizz Conference. Essential Learning Points From This Episode: The value of humor is that it can be used to grab and hold people’s attention You may not be able to overcome your fear of public speaking, but you can learn how to manage it Create a “happy journal” and fill it with funny content ideas that you can look back on Inject short personal stories into your presentation and follow up it with, “I told you that story because…” to really grab people’s attention Always try and put the punchline of your story at the very end of the sentence to facilitate time for laughter If you’re worried that a joke will fall flat, avoid telling jokes and tell a funny story instead Acknowledging a fail is the easiest way to overcome awkwardness and make the audience laugh Focus on content over delivery until you get paid to speak Link the start of your speech to the end and try to leave them with three key learning elements If you’re showing slides and images during your presentation, you need to set it up and use it alongside (or instead of) your punchline Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: David’s book, “Do You Talk Funny?”  David’s business “FunnyBizz Conference”  Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk  Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk  Rise of the Youpreneur  Personal Branding Roadmap  Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course  Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST!  Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose mine, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the top and bottom of this page.   For more information on this episode, click here.

There’s nothing quite like the thrill and excitement of attending a live event or conference. As an entrepreneur, you can benefit massively from attending a live event, especially if you want to network and build relationships with like-minded people who just “get it”. After hosting the first ever, wonderfully successful Youpreneur Summit conference in November in London last year, I’ve decided to do it all over again this year! We had 375 people flood into the Queen Elizabeth Convention Centre in London last November, and 37 countries were represented by entrepreneurs from all over the world. It was an incredible experience and tickets flew off the shelf! So, I hope to see you all again and maybe a few new faces at the Youpreneur Summit this November. You can grab your tickets now by hopping over here - move quickly for early-bird ticket prices! On this podcast episode, I talk about live events and how you can get the most out of them. I truly believe that for all business builders it’s so important to attend live events on a regular basis. Essential Learning Points From This Episode: You MUST turn up with the right mindset to get the most out of the event Your attitude can either make or break the event for you – a positive outlook will give you a positive experience Always try and find out the event schedule in advance so you can plan your time as efficiently as possible Make a “hot list” of the important people you want to meet Following the event hashtag prior to the event taking place will help you to meet the right people Don’t throw business cards at someone you’ve just met – you don’t want to be that person at a live business conference! Collect your notes from the event and organize them in a way that’s easy to follow Interact with people you meet with a friendly follow-up via the social media channel in which they are most active You can build your business FASTER if you surround yourself with people who truly understand what it means to be an entrepreneur Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: Get your ticket for Youpreneur Summit 2018  Rise of the Youpreneur  Personal Branding Roadmap  Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course  Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST!  Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose mine, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the top and bottom of this page. For more information, click here.

Building your personal brand takes a lot of hard work and dedication. It’s about you, your personality and passions but more importantly, it’s about what you can do and how you can serve others. I’ve had a lot of young people on the show lately and this week’s guest is just 21 (but she doesn’t talk like a 21-year-old!). Lauren got in touch with me after she picked up my book, “Rise of the Youpreneur” and reached out to me. Lauren is a professional health and fitness coach with over 120,000 followers on Instagram. She’s doing an incredible job utilising the platform to help build her brand and she has a real fresh outlook on entrepreneurship and business. Lauren struggled with weight issues as a teen until one day she decided enough was enough. She discovered weight lifting and how to lose weight healthily and launched an Instagram account to track her fitness journey. She realized that people were interested in what she was doing and what she had to say, especially when she gave value to her audience. It wasn’t long before her followers wanted to buy her products and so, Lauren made the difficult decision to drop out of university, quit her job, and embark on her personal brand journey – and she couldn’t be happier! Essential Learning Points From This Episode: Remember that your online presence can have a massive impact on your reputation AND your brand You can take your own experiences and personal trials to offer support to others Don’t let anyone else in your life stop you from going after what you want Branching out of your industry is possible if you know how to do it RIGHT Providing valuable content to your target audience is the key to building and maintaining a successful brand and a loyal following Staying focused on your message and keeping it aligned with your business model will help attract the right people to your business It’s worth taking risks when you’re young because you’ve got time to recuperate if it doesn’t go as planned If you start thinking less about failing and more about succeeding, you’re more likely to do great things with your life Much, much more!  Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: Lauren Tickner’s website Lauren’s Instagram Account  Lauren’s Fitness E-Book Guides  Lauren’s Impact Through Influence Course Rise of the Youpreneur Personal Branding Roadmap  Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course  Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST!    For more information and to listen to previous episodes click here.

Goals aren’t exclusively for the start of the new year, and you should always revisit and re-evaluate your goals as the year progresses. A comment I saw on the private Youpreneur community forums, where members of the Youpreneur Mastermind Community receive real-time advice, encouragement, and accountability to help them reach their goals, inspired this podcast episode. The comment that caught my eye was from a Youpreneur member who said she wanted to become a higher paid speaker by the end of the year.  The problem with her goal was the fact that it was far too vague. She needed to get down to the nitty-gritty details such as how much she wanted to get paid, how she was going to do it and when. Asking her these questions forced her to go back to the drawing board and start reverse-engineering her big goal into a set of smaller, more manageable targets that she could actually achieve. This podcast episode is all about how to break down your big goals, because if you do…trust me…you’ll achieve so much more! Essential Learning Points From This Episode: Breaking down bigger goals into smaller goals can help you achieve MORE Create a timeline of attainable tasks with realistic deadlines Avoid setting yourself up for failure by giving yourself enough time to achieve your smaller goals Reverse-engineering your big goal into smaller steps will keep your mind focused and prevent you from giving up Revisiting your goals each month helps to keep yourself on track Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From this Episode: Buy your ticket to the Youpreneur Summit  Rise of the Youpreneur  Personal Branding Roadmap  Sign-up for the FREE Youpreneur Launchpad Training Course  Join the Youpreneur Community and Build Your Business FAST! Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose mine, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the top and bottom of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! For more information and to listen to previous episodes click here.