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September 17, 2016  

NDSU’s Win Against Iowa Is No Upset

By Cheval John

Teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) who scheduled teams from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) 95% of the time would get an easy win.

It would give them an opportunity to “practice” their football schemes in order to prepare for tougher matchups against competion in their respective conference.

Iowa thought they were going to get an easy win when they scheduled North Dakota State.

Even the analyst of ESPN gave NDSU a 9% chance of winning against Iowa.

Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, they lost to the Bison 23-21 in a walk-off field goal by Cam Pederson.

Maybe Iowa should have listened to Allie Davison.

I am not surprised that many are declaring this win by the Bison (3-0) an upset.

To be fair, it could be called an upset because football teams in the FBS has 85 athletic scholarships while teams in the FCS only has 63 athletic scholarships.

The win by North Dakota State should not be viewed as an upset because they are 9-3 against FBS teams.

They have the belief that they can beat anybody whether it is an FCS or an FBS team because they know their strength of running the football will wear them out.-

That is why it is no accident that they have won five consecutive FCS National Championships and could possibly win their 6th championship next year.

Small businesses must have the mentality that they can beat the larger corporations in the same manner that North Dakota State defeats FBS colleges.

Unfortunately, most small businesses do not have the winning attitude because they believe that they don’t have the marketing budget, the staff or the infrastructure to cdmpete against larger businesses.

If North Dakota State had went into the matchups with the mindset that they can’t win against the FBS college teams, then they would have wind up losing those football matchups.

Instead, the Bison believed in their strong work ethic and their strength of running the football and knew that they could defeat anyone.

Small businesses must understand that their strengths in building a loyal following on social media, putting out uplifting and quality content through their blogs, podcasts, live video streams and free reports can help them to stand out from their competition.

Most large businesses would not even consider putting out content about their industry because they believe they might be put out of business if their competitors find out their secrets that have made them successful.

When you have the mentality that you can succeed in your business with less resources, you will see the positive outcomes of your business.

And the masses will wonder how did you outlast the larger businesses who had the larger marketing budget to succeed.

September 4, 2016  

The Nation Is Recognizing #HTownTakeover

By Cheval John, September 3rd, 2016

The #HTownTakeover has officially been recognized by the USA.

It should be called the University of Houston potentially crashing the College Football Playoff party.

The reason is that Houston dismantled the defending Big 12 Champion University of Oklahoma 33-23 in front of a sellout 71,016 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

UH students, faculty, alumni and even the city of Houston are celebrating this epic win against a top-ten opponent.

The Cougars solidified the hype of possibly being the first team from a non-power 5 conference to make the four-team playoff.

It also makes a case for UH to be included in the Big 12 Conference.

Here is Elissa Rivas, a reporter and anchor of ABC 13 Houston responding to this tweet about the Big 12 proposal by UH

And the Houston Astros was watching the matchup during batting practice in preparation for their second game against the Texas Rangers

And UH President and Chancellor of the UH System, Dr. Renu Khator, echos the statement about the win against OU as a statement matchup.

So why is it that UH is all of a sudden the talk of the town

It has to do with their head coach Tom Herman.

Before Coach Herman arrived, UH was an above average football program under the previous head coach Tony Levine.

Coach Herman set a winning culture in the football team and even implored the college students to attend their home matchups.

And the #HTownTakeOver took root on the UH Campus and later in the city of Houston after they won the American Athletic Conference title, then the Peach Bowl against Florida State.

I can argue that former UH softball coach Kyla Holas built the program from the ground up and made them a powerhouse in collegiate sports.

Since UH softball or any other women’s sports does not garner the attention like football and basketball, they are left in the shadows of the money-revenue sports of collegiate athletics.

With the above being told, they are a few lessons that anyone can learn from the recent success of the UH Football Team.

1. You Must Have A Winning Mindset

Though the UH Football Team did not have any top recruits like their counterparts in the Power Five Conferences, they developed the mindset that they could beat any collegiate football team in the country.

They understood that to develop that winning mindset, they had to work as a team

Dave Sanderson explained on my show, What’s The Word, that the passengers of the US Airways Flight 1549 survived the plane crash because they worked together to escape the sinking plane

In the same way, we must have the mindset that we can succeed in our business and careers because sooner or later, the success will come to past.

2. You Must Be Laser-Focused on Your Goals

In the midst of the noise that UH could go to the Big 12 Conference, the coaching staff reminded the team of their goal of winning the AAC championship this season.

They understood that they had to beat OU if they wanted the collegiate football world to take them seriously as a football team.

As business owners, we hear all the noise of the rise of a new social media platforms that can revolutionize our business and that we need to be on there.

We need to stay laser focused on our goals that will eventually lead to the success of our business.

3. You Must Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People

The UH Football Program would not have achieved their success had it not been for the administration under Dr. Khator.

Dr. Khator invested money into the athletic department that allowed them to improve the stadiums around the UH campus.

And since UH Football is the main draw for the university, they are determined to keep Coach Herman at the university as long as Dr. Khator continues to believe in the athletic programs.

You must surround yourself with people who believe in your dreams of a successful career or business because they will lift you up to the next level.

The places to find like-minded people is at conferences and networking events.

And you can jump-start the friendships on social media in group chats because you will be able to build trust with your potential customer or business partner.

As I conclude this blost post for better, here are a few group chats on Twitter to consider joining:

Twitter Smarter hosted by Madalyn Sklar

Biz Heroes hosted by Paper.Li

ChatSnap hosted by Kristy Gillentine

Viral Chat hosted by Post Planner

Influencer Chat, hosted by Rebekah Radice, Ann Tran and Diana Adams

HootChat, hosted by Hootsuite

VC Buzz, hosted by Ann Smarty

Media Chat, hosted by Aaron Kilby

Millennial Talk, hosted by Chelsea Krost

Dare To Be, Hosted by Andrea Sanchez

Blog Chat, hosted by Mack Collier

Lets Live Stream, hosted by Rachel Moore

August 20, 2016  

Choose Your Social Media Platforms Wisely

By Cheval John

It seems like every few months we see the next big social media platform that would benefit us.

It’s a mad rush to jump onto that social media platform because of the fear of missing out.

In the last year and a half, live streaming platforms like Periscope, Snapchat, Blab have changed the game of how many businesses market themselves.

Then Facebook’s subsidiary, Instagram “created” Instagram Stories” about three weeks ago to rival Snapchat.

And recently, Google announced that they are shutting down Google + Hangouts On Air and moving their users to YouTube Live starting on September 12th.

It is understandable of why so many people are jumping onto live streaming platforms.

The advertising dollars are now in live streaming according to this New York Times article.

You might hear from many telling you that you need to be on this live streaming platform or that live streaming platform because many of your fellow entrepreneurs or professionals are there.

So a person can wonder which live streaming/social media platform should they or their business be on.

The answer is “it depends on where your audience is and which live streaming/social media platform you feel comfortable using.”

For example, the Sam Houston State University athletic department are only on Youtube, Instagram (Facebook) and Twitter because their audience want to see highlights from the sporting matchups that their teams participate in.

Ashley Johnson, owner of Mouth Marketing, LLC, told me on my show, What’s The Word, that she is not using Instagram Stories because they integrated Snapchat like features in their platform.


Ashley also said that she does not use Snapchat and was getting used to Instagram.

And for myself, I only use Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and LinkedIn because I feel comfortable using these platforms above.

Plus, I am trying out the live streaming platforms like Firetalk and Huzza.io to see which one works well for my podcast recordings (I was using Blab before they shut down their live streaming platform last weekend).

You do not want to jump onto the next big live streaming platform because other tells you to.

What you should do is focus on the social media/live streaming platform that works well for your business and your personal brand.

If you try to be great at all of the social media platforms, you will wind up burning yourself out and create a bad digital trail of your social media presence.

June 15, 2016  

Nothing In Life Is Free

By Cheval John

Lets say you send an top-leading expert in the business industry about the possibility of buying them coffee in order to learn how they overcame challenges to be successful in their business.

People like Mike Michalowicz, Author and Speaker

Or Felena Hanson, author of the new book, “The Flight Club and Owner of the Hera Hub.

Two likely scenarios will happen.

They will respectfully decline your offer to buy them coffee.

Or they will charge you a fee for about 30 minutes to an hour to learn about how they overcame the odds to become successful with their business for the better.

You might believe that the above is mean because you figure that they are nice people.

True, they are nice people.

But, you must understand that if they spend about 30 minutes to an hour of their time chatting with you about their business, they will be losing money in the process.

Because that same time they spent with you could have went into creating another business idea that would allow them to make money.

That is why the small percentage of the world are truly successful because they see their time as valuable.

They use their time wisely in order to keep themselves motivated to be successful in their business and aim to make the world a better place.

Now if you send these same entrepreneurs an e-mail invitation to spend 30 minutes to an hour as a guest on your podcast or “television” show, nine times out of ten, they will say yes.

The reason is because they will have an opportunity to share their story of how they achieved business success as a guest on your show.

They also know that they will not be losing money because they will attract a new (your) audience to their business.

That is why you see a lot of movie stars appearing on national television shows when they are promoting a new movie.

Or even music artists appearing on ESPN shows like “First Take” and “His and Hers” during the Super Bowl festivities when they are promoting a new album.

That in itself is why an entrepreneur or even a college student should host a podcast or a “television show.”

If you are just starting out, don’t send the invitation to a big name celebrity or rock star in the social media industry because you don’t have an audience yet.

Instead, start with the people you in your network who knows you and trust you because overtime, your podcast or television show will have a dedicated audience.

And a bonus that seems contradictory to the above advice, don’t waste your time chasing influencers because they are busy people and are receiving the same e-mail invitation from your fellow podcasters to be a guest on their show.

When you spend your time wisely and build your podcast/television show slowly, you will eventually gain respect from your audience that will eventually allow your business to be profitable for the better.

May 25, 2016  

Everyone Are Influencers

By Cheval John

One of the first advice many will hear if they are starting out their podcast would be to get a major influencer on the show.

Like this article, “How To Get Successful People To Answer Your E-mails” featured in Brazen Life and syndicated by Aol.com, showcases the step-by-step advice on how the author got a major New York Times best-selling author to answer his e-mail.

The above advice would apply to ambitious entrepreneurs who are starting out their business for the first time.

Another part of the advice is that they would have the opportunity to showcase their expertise to your audience.

The advice of reaching out to influencers would be good if you were the only one trying to get their attention.

The problem is that many newbie entrepreneurs and/or podcasters are doing the exact same thing in trying to get the attention of major influencers.

In the same way of how half of professional athletes are using steroids to be successful in their respective sports, the ones who are taking the above advice are looking for shortcuts to achieve success in their business.

In the case of podcasters, you will not achieve immediate success if you have major influencers in the initial stages of your show unless you are the first to host a seven day a week show like John Lee Dumas in your specific podcast niche.

Instead of going after the major influencers in your specific industries, do this one thing instead:

BE A GIVER

Find a way to help someone else succeed in their business if you want to succeed in life.

The person who is just starting out in their business in the same manner as you, are looking for strategies to grow their business.

If you have a podcast and are on the same level as that person who has a business, you can give the much needed boost for them to take their business to the next level and in the process build a strong and lasting friendship.

Kami Huyse of Zoetica Media, told me a story of how a late Houston area business person and community leader would ask everyone he got in contact with this question, “How Can I Help You?”

His giver’s mentality made the area a thriving community and probably led to the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament being held at the Merrell Center indirectly.

And I can say that Mrs. Huyse is a giver too because she built one of the most popular networking events with the Social Media Breakfast Houston that meets once a month and brings some of the most popular social media influencers in the city of Houston.

Now you can ignore the advice and continue to go about chasing the major influencers.

If you do keep on chasing the “major influencers”, you will come across as a person who is looking to only use them to build your business.

I can guarantee that the “major influencers” will know if you are one of the energy vampires that are taking from them because they can sense a fake from a thousand miles.

You must understand that these “major influencers” were once in your shoes and they had to work extremely hard for years in order to be successful in their business and build a strong and loyal following.

If they can build a successful business and a loyal audience, so can you because at the end of the day, everyone are influencers.

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