The Right Way To “Amplify” Your Message
By Cheval John
It seems like in every generation, there is a new buzz worth that catches fire and add a new meaning to the English language.
One of the buzz words that is really catching fire seemingly this year is “amplification.”
You might wonder what does amplification mean?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, amplification means “the particulars in which a statement is expanded.”
So if this definition is right, a person want to make sure that their statement or message have a wider reach and be able to stand out.
In the age of social media, it is really noisy because everyone is out there sharing valuable information and trying to stand out from their competition.
The problem is that many are using the same mechanism like posting on Facebook, Tweeting on Twitter, etc. to try and get notice.
If you are a business, you are trying to find ways to amplify your message and make a sale.
They will try to find out which social media platform to use to get their message out and gain more customers.
Many businesses and people will go into using social media as a way to only promote their products or service.
Unfortunately, they miss the boat.
What they fail to realize is that they should not use social media to self-promote and turn people off.
Instead, they should use social media to engage with their audience and build a loyal following.
And for those who do understand the use of social media, they are standing above the noise and are amplifying their message.
They also understand that blogging is overcrowded and that one of the ways to stand out on social media is having a podcast.
They see that a podcast is another way to create a loyal following and slowly, but surely build trust with their audience and gain a loyal fan base.
They also see that podcast has a much smaller competition compared to blogs.
It makes sense because they are about 300,000 podcasts in the world compared to about 450 million blogs according to Cliff Ravenscraft, longtime podcaster and host of the Podcast Answer Man.
And the listenership of podcast has been steadily growing over the last decade.
According to the Edison Research, 46 million people have listen to at least one podcast in a month this year.
So does it not make sense for anyone including small business owners and solopreneurs to have a podcast?
I think so.
Britt Michaelian think so too.
Mrs. Michaelian recently launched the Mass Amplify Show earlier this year and it is really doing well.
It has been on iTunes New and Noteworthy within the first weeks when she launched it and is continuing to do well.
She has interviewed different guests like Bryan Kramer, Ted Rubin, Porter Gale, Brian Fanzo and many others who have amplified their message.
Though Mrs. Michaelian has been a best-selling author, reported from the Red Carpet for major events like the Billboard Music Awards, and even helped launched the Ricki Lake Show Social Network, she understood the changing times and was prepared to reinvent herself.
She shared with me on “What’s The Word?” last night about how she had a successful launch with her podcast, “The Mass Amplify Show”
Hint: Mrs. Michaelian had co-hosted or hosted several podcasts before the Mass Amplify Show:
One of the important lessons that people can carry away from this episode are:
1. You have to reinvent yourself in order to keep up with the ever-changing world of social media.
2. You must bring value to others if you want to stand out from the crowd
3. You must give, give, give
4. Your career path will change overtime and you will have to learn how to pivot.
If you follow Mrs Michaelian’s advice, you are on your way to amplify your message and stand out from the crowd.
Do you know of other ways to amplify your message? You can leave your comments below.
Changes Are Important To Thrive Successfully
by Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of Mr. Puen
Is it possible to do more with less?
We might think that it is impossible to thrive because we don’t have all the resources to succeed.
The first thing that you might do when you are either starting a blog, a podcast, a business, etc. is to try and have all of the important stuff to stand out from the crowd.
In the case of blogging, writing a post everyday to drive readers to your website.
It might be a good idea to start off with writing a post everyday.
However, it might take away time from you doing other things like promoting your post or finding creative ways to get people to your website.
You might be focused on the number of readers that visited your site or the number of downloads from your podcast.
Though those things are important because you need an audience to be successful, it should not be the primary focus.
The primary focus when starting out with your blog or a podcast is consistency.
Readers or listeners will expect to see new content on the day or time that you put out your first post or show.
And when you are not consistent with releasing your new post or podcast, then it will be a struggle from there.
I will say that I had failed miserably with being consistent with the timing of releasing a blog post and especially with my podcast when I started out.
You can say that it was a learning curve for me.
I had made a goal to write blog posts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for this site starting this year with the exception of writing everyday during the Blog A Book challenges.
Unfortunately, I failed again with the goal.
I realized that I can’t keep up with writing three times a week for my site, contributing to Millennial CEO and hosting my podcast, “What’s The Word?” on BlogTalkRadio.
I want to be able to deliver some valuable advice to all of you that visit this site and also be consistent in releasing the schedule.
Since I made the decision to have the podcast go live on the air on Monday nights at 7 p.m. central, I am going to follow suite with this website.
So starting next month, I will be blogging only twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the time being.
Tuesdays will be posts dedicated to the guest who “made” an appearance on my podcast to a large degree.
In a sense, this will be a “Relaunch” of this site.
My goal is to be consistent with putting out blog posts that will meet the expectations of all of you that visit this site.
I hope that I will meet your expectations.
It’s Alright To Be a Dreamer
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of Dreamer’s Podcast.com
Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate and I receive a commission based off of recommendations of books.
You might have an idea for a product or service that can change the world for the better.
When you share it with people like your friends or family, 9 times out of 10, they will tell you that it is impossible and that you should go for a job that will allow you to have a salary.
It happens especially when parents tell their college offspring to go for a major that will allow them to gain a fast track into getting a great entry-level job.
When you decide that you want to follow your dreams, endless possibilities awaits you.
The same people will tell you that you are crazy and that you are a dreamer because you did not go down the “safe” and established route.
If you feel that you are alone because you are following your dreams, don’t despair.
The reason being is that they have been people throughout history who dared to follow their vision and as a result, changed the world as we know it.
People like Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Steve Jobs, the Wright Brothers, Bill Gates, etc.
And the best news is that they are still people today who have waken up to the reality that life is short and that they should go after their dreams.
That is what exactly what Joe Pardo did when he launched the Dreamer’s Podcast in May of 2014.
He interviews people who have dreams of either running a business, becoming a dancer, etc.
I had the honor of making a guest appearance on his podcast to share about how I started this website and also shared my dreams of spending a year on each continent of the world except for Antartica.
In return, Mr. Pardo shared on my show, “What’s The Word?” how he came up with the name of his podcast and his new book, “Joe Pardo’s 31 Life-Changing Concepts.”
You can listen to the interview here.
Even though, Mr. Pardo is not running an actual business, he is taking control of his destiny because of his podcast.
Now if he did not built his brand through the podcast, he would have been in a dire position like so many people who got laid off from their companies.
Layoffs are still happening as we speak.
According to the Houston Business Journal, Halliburton and Baker Hughes has cut thousands of jobs which included 350 in the state of Texas.
They claimed that it was not because of the upcoming merger of the two companies but the dropped cost of oil in the marketplace.
Sometimes, it is best if the circumstances leads to a person to follow their dreams and become either a freelancer, independent contractor, consultant, etc.
If you are the lucky ones who have not been laid off, but still have the desire to follow your dreams, then I would suggest to start your business on the side.
It will give you time to grow your business into a self-sustaining company and also make your dreams a reality.
Harmony In The Workplace
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of Entrepreneur.com
In day-to-day business, the goal is to generate enough profit that will allow the owners of the company to pay their employees and also pay themselves.
The only question is if the people that run the businesses will achieve those goals of making a profit the right way or the wrong way.
If an owner of a company only see their employees as a commodity, then they will not treat them right and that can lead to an unhappy workplace.
Examples would be not paying them for their worth or using their title to instill fear into their workers that will take out the free will out of them.
This is probably why there is a tension between the older generation of workers and the millennial workforce.
Most of the older generation are not willing to adapt to the new way that work is happening.
Like collaboration with fellow co-workers.
The question is “Can A Workplace Have Harmony?”
I believe a workplace can have harmony.
And companies are spending a whole ton of money to bring in consultants to teach about leadership and how to make sure that there is workplace harmony.
S. Chris Edmonds is one of those consultants who teaches leaders in companies about how to have a great workplace.
I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Edmonds about his work as a speaker, consultant and his latest book, “The Culture Engine” on “What’s The Word?
You can listen to the interview here.
And if you enjoy this episode, you can go to the podcast page of this website and subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher and the newly added, Tune In Radio.
The Flexibility Of Being A Small Business
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of Dream Designs
Everyone is celebrating national small business week.
It is in honor of all of the small businesses which plays a huge part in the United States economy.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2014 report, they were 28,443,856 small businesses currently in operation in the U.S.
The majority of the small businesses are non-employers (22,735,915).
Though these non-employer businesses would like to have employees, they probably enjoy being solopreneurs.
Another thing that you can factor in with these solopreneurs is the fact that their non-employer businesses could be side businesses because they are taking the small steps towards full-time entrepreneurship while they are at their current full time work.
One of the best things that small businesses have over the larger corporations is the flexibility to pivot when the market changes.
They do not have to worry too much about letting go of their workers if the economy is in a recession.
Though this is great news, you might still have the “I do not have enough money blues” to compete with the larger corporations.
That is not the mindset to have because you can still compete against the larger businesses even if you do not have the “large budget.”
Despite having “limited” resources, you have the ability to be very creative on how you market your product or services with the biggest game changer of all: SOCIAL MEDIA.
Social media is a place where anyone can interact with a person even if they are thousands of miles away.
With platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., you can be very creative in how your share your message.
My suspicion is that you are like many of the small businesses who understand that must engage with your audience on a daily basis to earn their trust and eventually a new customer.
You also realize that gaining the trust of the customer is a long term goal and that it will take time to earn their loyalty.
If a corporation want to get their message out in the world, they buy advertisements, sponsor television events like college football, basketball, etc. to get in front of the large audience that are tuning in to watch the events.
That is why the smartest companies, intuition says the majority of small businesses, are participating in group chats on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to build their audience.
They are also blogging to showcase their expertise.
Like Stephanie Shirley, owner of Bennis Public Relations Inc.
She shares about the ups-and-downs of running a business through her company’s blog
Mrs. Shirley was very creative in building a loyal following of nearly 1,000 fans because she has been very transparent with her readers.
Because of her transparency, she has taken her business to the next level.
Another way that small businesses can market their product or services is through a podcast.
You might be thinking “Why not just a blog?”
Though blogging is very, very important, the blogosphere is over populated.
According to statista.com, there were 173 million blogs in the world in October of 2011.
That number has really increased tremendously since that report came out.
It is also possible that they are more blogs out there that are not currently active at the moment.
So the number of blogs could possibly be close to 400 million.
However, they are about 300,000 podcasts.
And with the amount of people who uses smartphones which is over a billion, that is a huge opportunity for small business owners to reach a global audience.
And iTunes reported in 2013 that they had over 1 billion subscriptions of podcast from their website.
Another thing to consider about podcasting is that Apple created the Carplay system in 2014 that allows anyone to connect their iPhone to their car’s dashboard.
The Carplay system is set to be in 50% of cars hopefully by the end of this year.
So with less competition and huge access to potential listeners, small businesses can start a podcast and build a loyal audience in addition to having a blog.
They also do not have to worry about being their true selves when they are sharing their message out to the world unlike the corporations.
So if you are a small business and are looking to take your business to the next level, consider starting a podcast and also a blog because it will allow you to grow your audience the right way and you will not have to worry too much about using a marketing budget to share your message.
That is something that larger companies will probably not be able to do because they will have to get approved from a hierarchy of executives before they can share their message.
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