We’re never supposed to admit this…

I’m struggling today.

And there’s really no good reason for it. I can’t point to anything and say, “Oh, if only that hadn’t happened!” or “If only that had gone the way I wanted it to…”

Nothing is wrong. And nothing is right. It’s all in my head.

I had a very close friend, now deceased for 4 years, that used to call that “having the mulliegrubs”. Today, I’ve got the mulliegrubs.

My brain is not wired like everyone else’s (or maybe it is, I don’t know…), but I know that I have to work very hard at staying positive so that those little niggling doubts and worries don’t come tumbling in.

It’s been much easier for me over the past 15 years since I’ve built more faith in my life. But some days, it’s tough. I don’t suffer from depression. Mine is not a chemical imbalance. I suffer from self-pity, pathetic, debilitating, disgusting, ridiculous, unwarranted self-pity.

I’m a pretty positive guy with a great work ethic, but sometimes… well…

So, this morning, when I felt this coming on, I posted on Facebook in the Internet Marketing Super Friends group this little snippet:

How do you stay so damn positive!?

I get up every morning and read stuff that gets my mind right for about 45 minutes. Sometimes, that’s inspirational, spiritual, or “positive” books. Sometimes, it’s a biography – especially like historical – of someone who has had transformational moments in their life like Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington. Or more contemporary folks like Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, or others…

But this morning I read that our lives are the cumulative totals of our plus and minus thoughts – positive and negative. Like putting a drop of clear water in a glass of dirty water, we can clean up our mind by dripping positive thoughts throughout the day.

Some people just seem to have this nailed.

How do you do it, if you do? And if not, why not?

Paul Evans, one of our NAMS rock star instructors, responded with a link to this post on his blog. It was just what I need!

He gave me permission to reprint it here.

Why I Am Happy 92% of the Time

Guest Post by Paul Evans

It might be a little higher than 92%, but I didn’t want to brag. And I am not afraid at all for you to talk to any of my friends and family to find out if I am telling the truth.

Paul's son Sam is a happy guy too!

It’s said that happiness is based on circumstances, while joy is based in the Holy Spirit. Joy is NOT determined by circumstances. We can all have it regardless of our situation.

However, I AM talking about being happy.  This is about creating circumstances that produce happiness.

In order to get and stay happy some nouns  (people, places and things) may have to change. More importantly, you may have to change (I know I did!)

Before getting to the 6 Habits of Ridiculous Happiness here’s a quick test to help you determine if you have the raw materials necessary to make happiness easier.

Personal Happiness Test: Do you feel that a lot of life happens TO you? Or do you feel that a lot of life happened BECAUSE of you?

If you answered TO, then you’re going to have a tough time being happy. You most likely have a “victim” mindset. Nothing goes your way. The world is against you. You’re self-focused.

If you answered BECAUSE, then you’re going to have an easy time being happy. You most likely have a “contributor” mindset. A lot just seems to go your way. The world is waiting for your next action. You are others-focused.

The good news is that every TO person can become a BECAUSE person. Every BECAUSE person can become a BE-CAUSE person. This will help…

6 Habits of Ridiculous Happiness

Habit #1: Love.

Loved by God. John 3:16. I take that verse very seriously (and I don’t take much seriously at all).

It seems like a lot of folks on the planet are searching for acceptance. John 3:16 takes care of that. That makes me happy. (Of course you have to accept this truth. If you keep making that “why I’m worthless” list you’re never gonna have a permanent smile.)

Love others.  You may recognize this as “the second commandment.” Loving others makes you happier. You think about people and smile. You look for ways to carry out…

Habit #2: Helping Others

This is a BIG key to happiness. When we serve others I’m convinced it releases some sort of happy chemical. Doing something cool or sweet for someone unleashes a wave of goodness. You can…

Help an old lady get her groceries in her car.

Give a smile to the cashier.

Serve in a local mission or soup kitchen.

Sponsor an orphan.

Write a thank you note.

Leave a gigantic tip. (I did this at Waffle House last week and the waitress screamed so loud I could hear her at my car.)

Warning: there will be times when you serve and get rejected. The old lady might hit you with her cane. The cashier might give you the one finger wave. The waitress might take your tip and say, “It’s about time.”

Happiness is about the action you take, not the response you get.

Helping Others is something we all CAN and SHOULD do everyday to be happier. If you’re self-centered I think you deserve to be miserable.

Habit #3: Laughter.

I love to laugh and love to help other people laugh. If you want to be happier, you need to get funnier. Or at least get a sense of humor if you don’t have one.

One of the best things about Facebook is the number of funny sayings, images and video that are shared. You don’t have to be funny. On Facebook others can be funny for you.

Certainly you need to be able laugh at yourself. Most of my keynote speeches open with a segment called, “The Advantages of Being Short.” I make fun of myself while clearly pointing out that tall people will all be my height one day. We all have a good time and folks find out that I’m not some serious speaker that’s come to drain them of life through boredom.

How can you help others laugh more?

Habit #4: Work.

If you HATE your work it’s gonna be tough to be happy. Hate and happy just don’t go together. They’re not good dance partners.

On the other hand, if you love your work and who you work with and who you work for it’s much easier to be happy.

“Paul, you don’t know my boss. He’s a real jerk! You’d be miserable to if he was your commander.”

Go back to Habit #2. If you can’t beat them; serve them.

Heads up: If you’ve hated every job you’ve ever had you must find the problem. What’s the ONE thing all those jobs had in common…. Ah… YOU!

Since you can’t fire yourself, make yourself better and your work will be better. And you’ll be happier.

Habit #5: Wiring.

Worry kills happiness.

OK, I’ve got an advantage here. I’ve never been a worrier. Some of my friends are though. I’ve seen them in mental wrestling matches with the great “What If?” The matches can go on for days, even weeks.

I knew I could never compete with them in the arena, so I decided not to worry. I mean some of these folks are real pros!!!

I’m not a psychologist so I can’t make you stop worrying. And I don’t know a magic formula – but I do recommend you go to YouTube and type in “Bob Newhart Stop It.” That might help.

Habit #6 Quit.

I’m a quitter. I say that with no shame. Any job or activity that made me sad long-term I quit. That’s right. I did not battle through. Did not stay the course. I quit.

Noooooo….. don’t start quitting everything. You can’t just up and quit your job, but…

You can quit things that don’t help with happiness.

Quit smoking so you’ll be healthier.

Quit eating out so much so you’ll be wealthier.

There are a lot of things we could quit immediately that would help, right?

Why not make a list? During the week when you feel blah or sad write down why. Then determine if you can change what’s creating that feeling. If you can, then do it.

A caution here, though. It’s not about OUR happiness. People have done a lot of dumb, hurtful and harmful things in pursuit of happiness. Our happiness is not to come at the sacrifice or damage of others.

What’s keeping you from being happy?

Live Your Mission,
Paul Evans

May 2012: Monthly Wrap Up for MyNAMS News!

This is a little late for the inaugural monthly newsletter, but it’s done! When you see how much we’ve posted, you’ll be amazed!

That’s a major accomplishment… I’ve been meaning to do this for a few months now, and from this point forward I’ll make sure this is delivered in the first week of the month.

The big news is that NAMS8 is less than 90 days away! If you’re a MyNAMS Premium Member, you can get a super deal on the discounted ticket. If you’re not, why not!

What did you miss in April?

April was an awesome month for weekly live training…

The live training is always one of my favorite events of the week.We’re pushing nearly 30 business training events since we began these last September. And as always, active Premium MyNAMS members have access to the past, present and future weekly training events held eachWednesday night.

This week we’ve instituted a new system that allows you to register one time for the weekly training and we’ll then remind you each week. So, be sure to sign up here.

Weekly Live Training is:

Wednesday

8 p.m. ET

7 p.m. CT

6 p.m. MT

5 p.m. PT

Guest instructors included:

NAMS200: Three Excellent Reasons You’ll Be Podcasting

Three Excellent Reasons You’ll Be Podcasting Sooner or Later, with Kelly McCausey (Kelly offered an incredible value exclusive to NAMS members. Visit Smart Podcasting and get a 6-week self-study course on podcasting with a 25% NAMS discount using the coupon code = NAMS) Podcasting is a relationship builder that takes your content marketing to a more – read more!

NAMS200: Creative Communication and Connection

NAMS200: Creative Communication and Connection Paul Evans is a tricky guy. He conducts business like a master because he does one thing really well: Keep it simple! Download the presentation here And here’s the audio of the presentation for download. Don’t be fooled by the down-home, y’alls, and the southern lilt to his voice. He’s… read more!

NAMS200: Connect With Your Audience Through The Power of Stories

How to Connect with Your Audience through the Power of Stories What would happen if you genuinely connected with the “stories” of your prospects. I’m not talking about a shallow, “tell ‘em want they want to hear” interaction to trick people into buying. No! I mean to establish an authentic heart connection with your prospect… read more!

NAMS300: Insider Secrets To Profitable Webinars

Step-by-Step Insider Secrets To Producing Highly-Profitable Webinars Been to a webinar lately? Then you know that webinars are hot! If you’re not offering webinars as a part of your overall marketing plan, you should be. Here’s why: Webinars can… Increase your sales conversions and consequently produce monster profits Build your list like crazy Help you… read more!

NAMS100: Choosing An Affiliate Program

How to choose an affiliate program One of the most important things you can do is to carefully select your affiliate relationships. There are several things you need to evaluate when you are looking for partners. You don’t just want to run into any relationship without checking out these things: 1) Depth – is this… read more!

Content that you don’t want to miss…

Are You A Star Yet?

Are you a star yet? Do you want to be? Would you like an opportunity to tell the world about your online business? Quick Action: Click the link below to fill out a form to submit a brief description of your story below. After you do that, we’ll evaluate your story and contact you with… read more!

Podcasting Makes You A Valued Expert

This is a guest post by MyNAMS member Kelly McCausey. Kelly started her first online business in 2002, and was able to quit her day job in 2006 to work from home full time. She is an affiliate marketer, membership site owner, product creator, and author of several online business guides. She’s also an expert… read more!

Yes – There Really is a Way to Pin Your Favorite Images from Facebook!

So you setup your Pinterest account, you have a few boards and several pins. You’re really having fun finding cool ideas and sharing them with others. It’s just amazing what you’ve been able to find on Pinterest!… read more!

Domains for Sale

Looking for good keyword rich niche domains that have been aged? It’s spring cleaning around the NAMS house! I’ve cleaned out the basement, pressure washed the house, and lined up a new bush hogger to tame the grass and weeds on the front of the property. Now, it’s time to let some of my coveted… read more!

Expose Yourself!

Instructors and Students: Expose yourself! Okay, keep your shirt on, but really, it’s all about getting as much exposure as possible, right? That’s the first rule of marketing: Claim the expertise and don’t be shy about telling others about it. The caveat, of course, is that you really have to be an expert. So, what are… read more!

How to Promote NAMS (and Make Money) If You’re a Niche Affiliate Marketer

How to Promote NAMS (and Make Money) If You’re a Niche Affiliate Marketer… by Nicole Dean. David and I were talking the other day and he said “Nicole, I have nearly 1000 members in the MyNAMS community. Can you imagine if I could get them all to become active affiliates who were making sales?” Oddly… read more!

Marketing 101 – Get Customers

Build it, but don’t wait for them to come! If you want to be an internet marketer, you’ve got to go get them… One of my favorite movies is “Field of Dreams” with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones. In one of the key moments of the movie, Terrence Mann (Jones) says to Ray (Costner)… read more!

You Should Be An Affiliate!

You should be a MyNAMS affiliate AND promote! Here’s why… Sometimes, it’s better to just spit it out! In the MyNAMS system, anyone who opts in to any paid or free product, ecourse, landing page or popup through an affiliate link is tagged for life. That means current and / or future commissions are tracked… read more!

Where Do Small Business People Get Their Money

Where do small business people really find startup cash? Yes, it takes money to make a business work. We all know that. Very few people make enough profit from day 1 to sustain the business over time. Too often, we get hung up on the fact that we can’t get a loan from the bank… read more!

Did you get your bonuses?

You got your bonus downloads for April I hope? We are late moving them into the catalog section of the site, so you if you hurry, you can still download them before May’s downloads go up.

May is shaping up to be a BIG month at MyNAMS! The weekly training is huge and we’re adding some new benefits that will knock your socks off.

Affiliate Sales Domination: For example, members have the option Monday to begin the 52-week Affiliate Sales Domination program. MyNAMS Premium Members will get the training for free with a 100% discount coupon. (That will be available to Premium Members on Monday.)

All others can get the training for a stupid low price of $9.97.

Turn Key Audio Website: We’re adding a new monthly download benefit on May 21. It’s a turnkey niche website with ebook and audio version for your personal use. Just wait until you see this.

Webinar Replays: And yes, members always get the webinar replays, the pdfs of the presentation, and the mp3 downloadable file. But…

By May 18, you’ll see that all of the Weekly Live Training replays will be for sale as low-cost individual products that you can promote to your lists. Low-cost items are a great way for affiliates to drive new members into the MyNAMS system and a great way for you to make more commissions.

16 Days of May Bonus Sales period:

And this is the last item for this newsletter.From May 15 to May 31, we’re running a very special 16-day promotional period with outstanding opportunities for you to get some great bonuses for referring new members to MyNAMS.

1. Referrals during the 16 Days of May bonus referral period will get 20% one time bonus – details to come when you sign up the bonus incentive period.
2. Life-time database referral tagging for all products in the system including free and paid, so the lead system is monstrous…
3. During this 16 Days of May period, we’ve has added incredible sales bonus opportunities. From small to big, there’s a bonus opportunity for you from a $15 gift card to a $100,000 bonus…
4. And I’m a numbers guy so I have 9 months of proof - 24% average Click to Transaction conversion, $1.93 average Earnings per Click, $8.06 Click to Transaction value (transactions include any free signups), and 1.79% average refund rate.
5. We will have a real-time leader board posted on the site based on total commissions
6. Top 10 affiliates from current sales period to have a 300×250 pixel banner promoting THEIR product on the thank you page – it’s automated and will change each day based on the previous day’s cumulative leadership

Take the tour to see what’s in the MyNAMS Premium Membership site…

Nicole Dean, one of my favorite online marketers and good friends, did a quick tour of the MyNAMS membership site for her subscribers and I nabbed it.

Be sure to check out the video below to see what’s available in your premium membership.

This isn’t everything, but I bet you didn’t know all this is available to you. Check out the video here. Just click the embedded image and the short video will popup on the screen.

If You’re not a member yet, jump in while the price is low. Click the button below!

The Marketing Calendar Blueprint is a Success Plan for your business.

Join us and Learn

• Why you MUST have 2 calendars to achieve planning success
• Why an editorial calendar is a great list, but not a plan
• How to use search trends to plan launches, campaigns, conversations
• When to use editorial content to create social media engagement and when to house that content on your site
• Why a well crafted calendar will keep visitors on your site longer
• How to increase revenues by knowing exactly what people are already thinking about
• How to be on every social media site without automating or stretching yourself too thin

The Marketing Calendar Blueprint includes the steps you need to take to make your website flourish in the eyes of your community. You’re here to serve them. Let us help you do it better.

Dan Morris has been managing multimillion dollar projects for over 20 years and has established himself as a master project coordinator in offline real estate, direct response television and radio and on the web. In addition, he has taught business internet marketing classes at Vanderbilt and Belmont University, Chamber groups, this NAMS conference and several other internet marketing events. He’s even coveted by 5th Grade teachers to come in and teach business through the Nationally Acclaimed JA Program.

Please login or register for MyNAMS Monthly Membership or MyNAMS Annual Membership or NAMS7 Replay with 1-month MyNAMS Trial or MyNAMS Quarterly Membership to view this content.

How to Get and Keep All the Clients You Need

Get More Clients and Increase Sales with
This Cut-to-the-Chase Marketing System

Getting clients is not as hard as you’ve been led to believe. Yet it’s the number one roadblock small and solo business owners face. No matter how brilliantly you help your clients, if you don’t have enough of them you’re either stuck not making enough or you simply give up.

Imagine how elated you’d feel knowing exactly how many clients you could get each month…. and all you had to do was follow a marketing system proven to get those exact results. Look I’m sure you’re great at what you do, but have you mastered marketing and are you promoting your business enough?

You need a system! Janis Pettit, a well-known and respected small business coach, will demonstrate how to create a system that drives stellar results? You’ll discover:

1. Much of it can be put on autopilot
2. It’s based on today’s relationship and integrity based marketing model—not some outdated model
3. It focuses on making YOU one IN a million, not one OF a million
4. You’ll learn the marketing strategies that are used by six and seven-figure service businesses

What is the #1 reason small and solo businesses fail?

Coaches, consultants, authors, health practitioners, event planners, interior designers and a host of other service based businesses who are needlessly suffering call Janis weekly. They struggle endlessly trying to make a decent income doing what they love, not knowing that they are simply missing the boat on marketing – and that they could easily borrow a PROVEN marketing system, spend a bit of time implementing it, and be STUNNED by the results.

In this content-packed, no-cost webinar training you’ll learn —  

• Why you may struggle to get enough clients and what to do about it
• 3 dangerous marketing mistakes that can hold you back and how to quickly eliminate them
• 5 Simple Steps that will make you a Client Magnet
• What will turn your website into an Attraction to Action tool
• Tips for creating a Sizzling Sales page
• Online and Offline lead generation made easy
• How to grab attention in a noisy world
• I’ll share my Social Media and Traffic Generation strategy maps
• How to turn more subscribers into clients and more clients into repeat buyers
• How to stop wasting time and money on marketing that doesn’t work and learn a system that does

Please login or register for NAMS200: Get and Keep all the Clients You Need or MyNAMS Monthly Membership or MyNAMS Annual Membership or NAMS7 Replay with 1-month MyNAMS Trial or MyNAMS Quarterly Membership to view this content.

Learn How to Turn Your Passions into Profits Using the Power of the Internet and Knowing your Genetic Blueprint!

Now more than ever, professionals are re-tooling during economic downtime. What better way than to get re-calibrated doing something you love? Discover  how to use the power of your genetic blueprint to finally have thrilling and time-freeing success that leverages cheap and easy ways to make money online.

Take the Free online Assessment to determine your best business profile!

If you want to say goodbye to your boss forever (even if that is yourself), then you MUST watch this webinar and take the free assessment to discover Joey’s amazing research and ability to break this online phenomenon down to bite size chunks that are easy to understand and implement. You and your business will thank you for it.

Who is Joey Smith?

• Former CTO/CIO of Best Selling Author Dr. John C. Maxwell (21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership) 2000-2005
• Grew his List to Over 250,000 – Grew Online Sales to Over $250,000 Per Month,
• Assisted in Multi-Million Dollar Resale of His Company
• Microsoft Project of the Year 1999, 2003
• Voted Best Internet Marketer – World Internet Summit 2010, London
• 18 Years of Award-Winning Online Experience in both Technology and Marketing
• $1.2 Million Dollar “From the Basement” Product Launch, 2010 – EPIC Traffic Systems
• Six and Seven Figure Coaching Client Averages

Please login or register for MyNAMS Monthly Membership or MyNAMS Quarterly Membership or MyNAMS Annual Membership or NAMS7 Replay with 1-month MyNAMS Trial to view this content.

Not a member? Click here to sign-up…

Click the button above to Register for the Workshop!

Every Top Marketers Secret Weapon…And How YOU Can Profit From It Too

Top Camtasia video pros Lon Naylor & Michelle Schoen will demonstrate:

* How to develop your profitable Camtasia video strategy
* How to plan for exceptional bottom-line boosting results
* How to record, edit, and produce like a pro
* How to avoid costly mistakes and time sucking frustration
* And more…

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how successful online marketers are using this powerful tool to grow their mailing lists, increase their profits, and establish credibility and trust with their readers.

Sign up to join us Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 8pm Eastern time.

Michelle Schoen

After receiving an MS in Instructional Design Michelle has developed E-learning and Webinars for Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, AT&T and Kimberly Clark. She is better know now as the Virtual Assistant Demo Girl and specializes in helping her clients create compelling on-line videos and demos.

Lon Naylor

Lon specializes in video marketing using Camtasia screencast software and is regarded as one of the top experts in this field by some of the most famous names in Internet Marketing today. His successful ScreencastProfits.com membership site and product set the standard for high quality, highly effective sales and marketing videos using Camtasia and other top tools. His goal is to “Rid the world of lousy Camtasia marketing videos.”

Click here to view other upcoming events.

Three Excellent Reasons You’ll Be Podcasting Sooner or Later, with Kelly McCausey

(Kelly offered an incredible value exclusive to NAMS members. Visit Smart Podcasting and get a 6-week self-study course on podcasting with a 25% NAMS discount using the coupon code = NAMS)

Podcasting is a relationship builder that takes your content marketing to a more intimate level.  I will light a fire under those who’ve been procrastinating about podcasting and inspire those who’ve never given it any thought.

• Your target market wants audio as an option – are you giving it to them?
• Competitors love to cooperate with you when you have a podcast
• Podcasting is darned good for business!
• Podcasting is not a lot of extra work if you do it smartly

Kelly McCausey has built a thriving internet business doing what she loves; writing, creating, coaching and encouraging others.

With a goal to provide high value resources and services that help solopreneurs achieve dreams of a profitable online business, Kelly publishes a variety of blogs, podcasts, ebooks and audio products.

She got her start on the internet in 2002, began podcasting in 2003 and went full-time as an online marketer in 2006. She now has more than 350 episodes and gets ton of traffic from podcasts as her primary traffic source.

Please login or register for MyNAMS Monthly Membership or MyNAMS Annual Membership or NAMS7 Replay with 1-month MyNAMS Trial or MyNAMS Quarterly Membership to view this content.

Click here to view other upcoming live training events.

Are you a star yet? Do you want to be?

Would you like an opportunity to tell the world about your online business?

Quick Action: Click the link below to fill out a form to submit a brief description of your story below.

After you do that, we’ll evaluate your story and contact you with an interview time or a reason why it won’t fit for us right now.

I’m looking for a dozen people to profile who have been involved in NAMS workshops and MyNAMS for awhile. These articles are not about NAMS, but about you and your business.

NAMS will be the common denominator for all of them, but of course, you will have had additional influences. We all do. Even me.

And yes, I’ll ask you what the workshop has meant to your business.

Examples might be:

1. Chris Cobb came to NAMS1 after retiring from a business while she was in a transition period. NAMS helped her discover a passion for technology and marketing that surprised her and most of her friends.
2. Tracy Robertson approached me at NAMS7 and said that NAMS has changed her life because she was actually putting into practice what she learned and making enough money to nicely supplement her family income.
3. Susanne Myers told me that because of NAMS, she’s now a speaker. She had never done that, and she didn’t really understand how much she knew until she had to teach it. (And teach it well by the way!)

How many more examples are there out there among the NAMSters? I want to know about you and your business!

But more importantly, I want to tell the world about you and your business.

In fact, I want this for you so badly that I’ve hired a public relations team to tout your business to newspapers, magazines and blogs across the country, but we need good, qualified candidates for these interviews

The goal is to create quick profiles of you and your business to submit to:

• Local newspapers in your area
• National and local business publications
• Lifestyle and business magazines
• Television and radio programs
• Relevant blogs
• And all of the online press release sites

We’re looking for people who have stories who fill these categories:

• The economy sucked and I could not find a job, so I decided to create my own business! (Segment: Economy challenge!)
• I was laid off from job, and decided to turn lemons into lemonade by creating a business from my passion. (Segment: Downsized!)
• I’m a NAMS instructor, but my business has really grown because of the relationships I’ve created with other smart business people at NAMS. (Segment: Even more successful!)
• I’m not making a full time living yet from my online business, but I’m making enough that I can help make the house payment each month much more easily! (Segment: Part-time business!)
• I retired from a good career and needed a new challenge, and I found it in having my own online business. (Segment: Retired people!)
• My corporate job was good, but I really wanted to in charge of my own life so I quit that job and now have my own online business. (Segment: Quit the rat race!)
• I believe that God lead me to create a business to help other people using my skills and talents – and it’s been a blessing to me. (Segment: Spiritually lead!)
• My spouse and I decided that we wanted to work together, so we created an online business to spend more time together. (Segment: Husband & wife teams, partners in life!)

Do any of these describe you?

If so, then I want to interview you, but let’s be clear about a couple of things.

• You must have participated in NAMS or the MyNAMS site previously.
• You must have some demonstrable success and a story to back that up in the form of proof. No, I’m not talking about tax records, but a provable story. For example, you decided to start an online business to supplement your restaurant business and your growth is up XX%.
• You have to be able to point to something that was the big ah-ha for you from a NAMS workshop or a MyNAMS moment (live training event)…
• You must provide a picture of yourself with a bio.

Are you interested?

Click the link below to fill out a form to submit a brief description of your story below.

After you do that, we’ll evaluate your story and contact you with an interview time or a reason why it won’t fit for us right now.

This is a guest post by MyNAMS member Kelly McCausey. Kelly started her first online business in 2002, and was able to quit her day job in 2006 to work from home full time. She is an affiliate marketer, membership site owner, product creator, and author of several online business guides. She’s also an expert marketer, and loves to use podcasting to expand her market reach. Kelly will be teaching about podcasting on April 25 as well, so don’t miss it!

Podcasting Makes You A Valued Expert

It doesn’t matter what your business or business model is, you are better positioned for profit when you’re a recognized expert in your niche.

Developing a respected reputation is a challenge and podcasting is a powerful pathway to earn that valued expert status.

What is Podcasting?

Technically, podcasting is delivering media content via RSS. It can be audio or video based. These days the word podcast is often used to refer to any online show.

When I got my start in internet audio, podcasting hadn’t been invented yet. I recorded my show and made it available for listening on my website. I emailed my little list on Monday morning and invited them to come listen. There were (and are) a few internet radio networks out there and I syndicated my program on a couple of them as well.

About a year later podcasting erupted on the web and my pal Lynette Chandler helped me set up an RSS feed for the show. I submitted the feed to iTunes and voila – instant additional listenership!

Podcasting Gave Me a Trusted Voice

People interested in my content found it in a variety of ways. They searched the topic in iTunes, they Googled, the found me on forums, they heard about it from friends and listeners. I couldn’t believe how many complete strangers wrote me to comment on a show, ask a question or just thank me for providing info.

This is 2004, I did not consider myself an expert about anything. My business was young. I still worked full time. On my show I never pretended to be anything other than what I was. Still, listeners felt like they could trust me. They wanted to know what I thought about this or that.

As the years went by, my expertise developed and the flavor of my show changed. I believe I grew into the expert status that many already attributed to me.

Podcasting Created Relationships

Having a podcast gives you free reign to invite just about anybody to be your guest. Chatting with so many successful experts turned into more than podcast episodes. I met people I would one day brainstorm or joint venture with. When listeners found their favorite marketers and authors on my show, they assigned me added respect by association. It’s all a bit mysterious how it works, but it does happen.

Podcasting Creates Depth and Intimacy

I like writing and do a lot of it. There are times when writing feels like an incomplete mode of communication. It’s hard to convey the full breadth of emotion and excitement in words without going overboard with exclamation points and bold text. When I talk into the microphone I say it like I mean it. I raise my voice, laugh, express frustration, be angry or get quieter – whatever the topic calls for. Nothing gets my listener’s attention and drives feedback like emotion.

When I meet people in person they often say they feel like they already know me. My favorite coaching clients are those who have listened to my show for years because I know they ‘get me’.

After eight years and more than 350 episodes I can say this for sure: Podcasting has been the best use of my time and contributed the most to my status as a recognized expert.

Are you ready to put this content marketing strategy to work for your business? Sign up for my six week course, Smart Podcasting Skills and I’ll walk you through everything with step by step directions that take you from idea to program launch and beyond. NAMS members can save 25% of the cost of the podcasting course with this coupon – NAMS. Yep, that’s the coupon code for 25% off – NAMS.