QnA: Lessons from Oprah

It’s been a crazy week. Big product launch…and then on Wednesday I received an emergency text about a friend who was in a freak accident…

…but thanks to the Internet Lifestyle that I live, I was able to get on a plane and fly to be with my friend yesterdayafternoon at the hospital (where after a few tests we found out he should be just fine after he heals up).

Listen, every day I’m grateful for the extreme freedom that my website business permits me…and that’s why I’m so dedicated to helping you achieve the same.

Today, as we do every Friday, we’re going to hit a QnA session, covering some pretty intense topics. If you have any questions, just send them in or post them on the blog and I’ll do my best to get to them next Friday.

Q: Pastor Jon asks – I am a newbie to your newsletter and find it inspiring to say the least. I am a Presbyterian pastor and have been for 20 years or so. This means I have a good many sermons I have written and in fact I write a new one every week. I wonder if you have any ideas of how I could create my own website and an online business based on the content I have. It is hard to imagine how to monetize the content. If you have any ideas I would greatly appreciate it.  At the same time, I realize you are very busy and may not be
able to respond to an email such as this.

Answer:
Hi Jon, great to hear from you. I believe there is a tremendous opportunity here for you to help people.

There are many roads you could go down. What I recommend is spending an hour on Google, searching what is currently out there.

For example, in the 5 minutes I spent on Google, I typed in “Sermons for Sale”, and found that there are plenty of sites selling sermons.

I also know there are sites selling eulogies, wedding speeches, etc.

Basically, ANYTHING that is “wanted/needed” can be sold.

That said, maybe you want to create a Mission and build your business around that.

Maybe you won’t sell sermons, but you’ll use the internet to increase church attendance, or maybe you’ll create a book like “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren, and use a blog to promote it.

Perhaps you are even better on video than in writing, and you want to share a message weekly through an online “TV show” – essentially a video you create and put up on youtube.com or vimeo (which is another free video hosting site).

There are so many things you could do – heck, I’m getting excited at the possibilities available for you. So…

Step #1 – Do your research on Google. You’ll be amazed at what is already out there.

Step #2 – Check out Pillar #5 of Internet Independence in my article here.

This will show you how you can make a living with only 1000 true fans. It’s amazing what is possible with the Internet. Thanks for your question.

Q from Nat: I want to build a “personality based business”, as you called it, but I’m not sure I’m ready to share my background story on the Internet…

(NOTE: Nat also sent in her story, which is very powerful.)

Answer:
Nat, Thank you for your question and sending in your story. It was amazing, and I strongly encourage you to share it because it will inspire so many women to take action and change their lives.

If you have any doubts or hesitations, consider this…who is one of the world’s most famous women?

Oprah.

And what do we know about her.

EVERYTHING. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

She certainly had a tough life years ago, didn’t she?

But isn’t that one of the main reasons women connect with her?

If Oprah was like Paris Hilton, having everything handed to her from day one, would Oprah be as influential as she is today?

Absolutely not. There would be no connection.

On a smaller scale, look at my friend Bedros. He had over 400 fitness experts at his last seminar, where he told them the story of how he went bankrupt and lived out of his pick-up truck before becoming a successful fitness studio owner. That’s a powerful connecting story.

And you’ve read about my struggles with anxiety and panic attacks as I grew my website business…not something that I wanted to share in publci, but I knew it would be a powerful
connecting story that also teaches important lessons on persistence and overcoming obstacles.

So I strongly suggest sharing your story…you have no idea how many people’s lives it could change.

Because remember…for every day that you hold back your story or your product, somewhere out there is a woman who is crying herself to sleep because she can’t find someone like you to show her that there is hope.

Please share your story and be the hope for that person,

Craig Ballantyne

The more you know about yourself, and the more you respect and respond to this knowledge about who you truly are and what makes you different, the better your results will be with everything in life. Don’t try to be something you are not. What you see as your weaknesses may actually be your strengths.