How Goodreads Creates Products Its Customers Love
“I have a theory about product development that I’ve been developing over the years, which I think is pretty powerful and I’d like to share with you guys…” Otis Chandler the founder of the website Goodreads.com recently gave a talk at Hustle Con about How Goodreads Got 50 Million Users. One piece of advice Chandler shared…
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The Wrong Way to Sell Your Story
“They can smell it.” “Millennials — and I know this for a fact — can smell solicitation. And it’s a turnoff. The best ads are not solicitous,” says Matthew McConaughey in an interview with The New York Times. It was announced yesterday that Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey is the new ‘Creative…
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How to Spread Good Ideas
Imagine you have a product that can solve a major problem in the world. How would you go about getting your product in the hands of as many people as possible? Elon Musk has a pretty great answer for that. Over the past 10 years, Musk and his three companies…
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What Does Your Customer Expect is Going to Happen?
What does your customer expect is going to happen when they purchase your product or service? That is the question you should be asking every time you craft a new advertisement or marketing campaign. When you go to a restaurant, you expect to feel full after your meal. When you…
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The Chop Wood Carry Water Method For Getting Clients
You’ve probably heard the saying about “before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water – after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” That’s what I do in my business. I chop wood, I carry water. Today, I’d like to tell you the story of how that came about and why it’s become such…
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The Millennial Advantage
In business, there’s something called the Millennial Advantage. I don’t know if anyone has coined “Millennial Advantage” yet — but consider it coined now. What you need to know about the Millennial Advantage is that it’s not limited to millennials — anyone can possess it. In fact, a lot of professionals…
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The Truth About Passive Income for Young People
If you’re young and ambitious but don’t have a lot of money yet, this is the kind of career advice you need to hear. Sol Orwell the founder of Examine.com, just finished hosting an AMA on Reddit. If you missed it, I’ll save you some time and share my two highlights from…
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The Simple Concept That Made Me $6 Million Last Year
On Monday morning, you get a message indicating there’s a new balance in your PayPal account. You check and see that — while you were at the beach that weekend — more than $6,500 was deposited into your account. On Tuesday, you receive a check from a client: $4,000, which he…
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How to Profit from Your Bad Ideas
I learned this when I was working in Hollywood… Whenever I hear someone say this, my ears perk up. I don’t know what it is about Hollywood that I find so fascinating, but there seems to be a lot of interesting wisdom being passed down from people in the biz.…
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The Secret to Selling Anything Online: Don’t Summarize
The secret to selling a digital product online to someone you’ve never met before is the same as the secret to selling your script to a Hollywood movie producer: Don’t summarize. I learned this from reading one of Michael Hauge’s articles on storymastery.com. Michael is a top Hollywood story expert, author, and lecturer who…
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I Doubted Everything In My Life… Here’s What Happened
Someone wrote on Quora: “I want to benefit all of humanity as much as possible. But how can I get over all the doubts I have?” My response: You’re going to totally fail. Your doubts are completely correct. I’m not saying this in some reverse psychology way. You’re not a teenager…
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How to Make Your Customers WANT to Give You a Referral
As I was leaving the dentist, the receptionist asked if I would give a referral. “Maybe you could tell your contacts about us. We’d really appreciate it,” she said. Then she handed me a couple flyers. I smiled and replied, “sure.” Then I walked out of the office. If you…
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