Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

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As you may know, my new book is coming soon... and I need your help...

If you pre-order the book today, you will get over $747 in business-building bonuses RIGHT NOW and LATER, you'll also get a minty-fresh book jam-packed with savvy marketing, sales and business development strategies, tactics and tools. (You'll be among the first to take delivery of the book the moment it is released - on or about June 5.) 

To check out the pre-order bonuses you'll get immediately when you buy today, visit: 
http://doitmarketing.com/book-bonus 

I'd love your help in climbing the amazon charts today - even before the book is released. Is it a good book? Obviously I think so... but fortunately, I'm not alone! Here are just a few other people's opinions...

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"One of the most practical marketing books you will ever read - so what are you waiting for?"
-- John Jantsch, author of "Duct Tape Marketing"

"Do It! Marketing is a complete system for effective marketing. It is a fun read and the ideas, tactics, strategies and exercises it provides will set you apart from your competition."
-- Mark Sanborn, author of "Fred 2.0" and "You Don't Need a Title to be a Leader"

"A terrific book packed with a gazillion smart ideas you can use immediately to supercharge your marketing. But beyond all those great ideas, Do It! Marketing shares key concepts and simple systems that will bring you more business with much less struggle." 
-- C.J. Hayden, author of "Get Clients Now!"
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When you pre-order today, you'll get more than $747 in instant-access bonus material from some of America's TOP business experts. Everything is waiting for you here:
http://doitmarketing.com/book-bonus  

-- David

p.s. Why should you buy today even though the book won't be out till June? Because in addition to the $747 in bonuses you'll get immediately when you pre-order today, you will also be invited to a series of private teleseminars, you'll get pre-order only bonus ebooks such as the Do It! Marketing Manifesto I'm creating for 800-CEO-READ, and more pre-order only gifts and surprises. As you know, I'm incredibly generous with folks like YOU who are fabulous enough to support my work and I tend to OVER-deliver like crazy. So pre-order the book today and then pop over to http://doitmarketing.com/book-bonus to claim all your goodies.
 
Thank you in advance for your help!

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing success, thought leadership marketing, marketing book, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, success tips, small business marketing, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, sales and marketing, social media marketing, small business marketing coach, best business books

77 Books That Changed My Life and 3 Recommendations to Help You Read More

77-Books-LifeHack.jpg

If you want your life to be different… READ!

Words are thoughts that when shared are accepted as good ideas or bad ideas. Every single word you hear or read consciously or subconsciously shapes your beliefs and therefore they shape your life. Below you will find seventy-seven books from my personal recommended reading list. These books have changed my life. I am grateful to each author whose words shaped my soul. If you want your life to be different… read!

Allyson Lewis’ Top 10 Must Read Books

Lone Survivor book-jacket-lone-survivor-hi-res
 
  1. Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Acct of Operation Redwing & the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Lutrell
  2. Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankle
  3. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
  4. The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge
  5. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
  6. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
  7. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
  8. The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John Mann
  9. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
  10. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Biography

Who do you admire? Imagine what you can learn from reading the biographies of some of the best and worst men and women in history.

 

 

 

    1. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
    2. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
    3. Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Major (Ret.) Dick Winters & Cole C. Kingseed
 
  1. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose
  2. D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches by Stephen Ambrose
  3. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
  4. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
  5. John Adams by David McCullough
  6. Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris
  7. Abraham Lincoln (Pocket Biographies) by H. G. Pitt
  8. Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden
  9. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
  10. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
  11. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

Attention / Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity: the brain is plastic or changeable. Do not miss this section! Yes, some of these books read like text books.   The brain science of neuroplasticity has fascinated me since the moment I first read about how you can re-wire your brain to increase your attention span and sharpen your concentration and ability to focus.

Personal Development

You can be different tomorrow than you are today. Reading books is one of the best ways to learn from the wisdom of others.

 

 

 
Psychology

Happiness, sadness, creativity, logical thinking, planning, dealing with anxiety, stress, depression, courage, motivation, new challenges. This set of books will inspire and educate you.

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Business

The business world changes at the speed of light… but, some of these books are decades old. 

 

Fiction

What novels will you read to sweep you away?

Faith

We all believe something. These are books that have inspired hundreds of thousands. Slow down and enjoy a book to reconnect with your soul.

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Three Recommendations to Help You Read More

As a time management strategist I offer three recommendations to help you find the time to read more books.

1. Read 10 Pages a Day

Books are not usually intended to be read in a single setting. Create a daily reading strategy, set a time where you will read ten pages of a book every day. If you want to learn more about leadership, read ten pages of a biography a great leader. I you want to be inspired, read ten pages of an inspirational book.

2. Listen to Books

Some people have difficulty sitting and reading.  Therefore, my second recommendation is for you to download books to your smart phone or to your computer and list to books as you exercise or clean house or while you are waiting in a doctor’s office.  Many libraries now allow you to download books electronically for a couple of weeks at no charge.  And, there are several other great ways to download books like Audible.com.

3. Read Books Aloud

This is one of my favorite recommendations to help you read more books.  This idea came from a friend of mine, Lindsay Penn, who said when she and her husband go on a trip she will pick a book and read it aloud. I have strong memories of my elementary teachers reading books aloud to our class and when reading time was over we would collectively beg for her not to stop reading.

 

See the original article here at Lifehack.

17 Tips to Create Audio that Rocks

doitmarketing 17 tips for audio that rocksAs you may know, I just finished recording the audio book version of the Do It! Marketing book.

The audio book will be published by Gildan Media - the same folks who publish audio books from Brian Tracy, Simon Sinek, and Mark Goulston... and distributed through Hachette Audio - the same folks that distribute audio books for authors like Malcolm Gladwell, David Sedaris, and Scott Turow. Not bad company... and who knows, maybe they need someone like me to carry their luggage!

It was a great experience - and you can see some photos from the studio recording here on Facebook... 

My audio engineer on this project was the fabulous Joel Metzler at Milkboy the Studio in downtown Philadelphia. Great facility and Joel was the consummate pro - a total pleasure to work with! If you need a killer studio facility and you're anywhere near Philly, Milkboy is the place to go. Just sayin'.

17 Tips to Create Audio that Rocks

I've done a lot of homebrew audio - on my laptop - with a Zoom H1 digital recorder - and with my trusty Blue Snowball microphone and Audacity on my Mac. And I've also done a fair amount of studio recording in studios ranging from the scary to the awesome (aka Milkboy).

Here are 17 tips for speakers, authors, consultants, and independent professionals who want to create better sounding, more professional audios for their podcast, radio show, audio products or voiceovers. 

1. Stand up when you record - it makes a HUGE difference to the way your voice sounds. For example, I recorded the entire 12 hours of the Do It! Marketing audio book standing up. (Wear comfortable shoes!)

2. Speak close to the microphone - you want to get right up in that bad boy's face. Somewhere between 4 to 8 inches from the microphone. If you're doing this at home, test different distances and use the one that sounds the richest, warmest and most clear. 

3. Use a pop filter. You will totally thank me later. It's going to be the best money you spend if you're serious about creating great audio.

4. Don't overinvest in equipment. You don't need a lot of fancy gear to sound great. A good USB microphone, a mic stand, a pop filter, and some basic recording and editing software like Audacity (free at this link) will go a long way. 

5. Don't skimp on studio time, either. If it's an important project where production quality counts, find a great local recording studio near where you live. Top notch studio time is surprisingly affordable these days. Expect to pay between $75 and $125 an hour for a top-notch facility and technical staff who can help you produce top-notch work.

6. Don't overprepare. If it's a big project especially - it doesn't make sense to overprepare. You should be familiar with the material (if you wrote it, you will be!) and that's about it.  

7. Don't underprepare. If you've never done an audio recording before, paid studio time is not the place to learn the ropes. Invest a few hours with "practice recording" at home. Your studio time will go that much more smoothly and quickly. 

8. Read - but don't "read." In other words, don't make it SOUND like you're reading. Speak naturally. Pretend you're talking to a friend so it's not boring.  

9. Mix it up. Use vocal variety - just as professional speakers and seasoned storytellers know how to vary their pace, tone, pitch, and volume to keep an audience engaged in what they're saying... YOU should use the full range of your vocal variety to emphasize key words, transition between points, and underscore important ideas. 

10. Use your body. Since you're standing, you'll have the ability to do more physical movement. Use it! It's amazing how the voice and the body are connected. Have you ever seen actors like Robin Williams or Whoopi Goldberg or Tom Hanks in those "Making of" special features on the Disney movies that they do voice acting for? They are gesturing wildly with their hands, bouncing on the balls of their feet, making silly faces, leaning into the microphone, sometimes even jumping up and down. And it's for a VOICEOVER. That's because your vocal energy is tied to your physical energy. Use it - and your voiceover range and variety will improve dramatically.

11. Remember the art of the pause. Listeners need a pause to comprehend the last thing you said. Think of pauses - some short, and some not so short (for dramatic effect) - as the punctuation in your audio. If you never pause, you exhaust your listeners who lose the thread of your long sentences or complex ideas. If you use pauses to insert "natural phrasing" into your script, it makes it much easier for your listeners to understand, absorb, and they WANT to keep listening!

12. Take it one page at a time. For the Do It! Marketing audio book, I had to get through 60,000 words and 280 pages. If I had thought about it that way during the recording sessions, I might never have made it! I took on the task one page at a time. Do longer recordings with this mindset, and you'll sail right through faster than you ever imagined. I cruised through 150 pages on Day 1 (6.5 hours) and 130 pages on Day 2 (5.5 hours). And it was fun!

13. Have a "keep going" mindset. Voiceover professionals know that their main task is to "get the job done" - and that momentum is their friend. Don't think about stopping. Don't take too many breaks. You're in the studio (yes, even your home studio) to crank out the work, not to obsess over minor details or do endless retakes. Keep going!

14. Flaws are good. Good professional audio editors will take out every inhale, smooth over every rough patch, edit out every vocal aberration. GREAT editors will leave in just enough of those same aberrations to make the voiceover pro sound human. When we chat in coffee shops, over breakfast or lunch with friends, or in front of prospects or clients in meetings, our vocal and verbal delivery is never 100% perfect. There's a difference between sounding professional and sounding sterile and robotic. So leave a few "personality flaws" in your audio. Maybe 5-10%. It makes all the difference and you'll sound like a REAL human.

15. Pause whenever you need to. Ah, the magic of editing. Whenever you screw up a line, swallow a word, stop to fix a typo in your script or for any other reason (sneeze, cough, get a drink of water) - keep the audio rolling and pause. Then pick up where you left off. Most professional audio engineers will mark the script at that point to help the editor, but you just pause as long as you need and jump right back in when you're ready. You don't need to ask permission, you don't need to apologize, you don't need to get flustered. Pause so you can GO!

16. Eat! And drink tea, bring lozenges, avoid dairy and coffee and bring water. Don't forget to eat breakfast on the day you're recording. Why? Because stomach grumbling is audible on good audio equipment. Yes, really. Avoid coffee - it dehydrates you. Drink tea - especially lemon tea or ginger tea that has a little bit of acid to clear and soothe your throat. Bring lozenges with you in case you need a midday vocal recharge - I like the Ricola classic Swiss herb cough drops. Avoid dairy products like milk or yogurt which tend to generate phlegm and block up your throat. Also, bring a water bottle so you have plenty of water available in the booth as you record. Water is your friend! 

17. Personality not included. No matter how great your script, it doesn't have any personality until you pick up the script and put YOUR personality into the words you've written. Don't be shy - in fact, if you don't bring your full personality to the recording, you'll miss out on the biggest opportunity that audio programs and products present - the opportunity to connect and build rapport with your listeners and have them experience what it's like to have a warm and personal conversation with you! If you're loud, be loud. If you're a little edgy, sound edgy. Don't hide your personality for the sake of a "professional sounding" recording. There's no such animal - the whole point of recording audio is so that you CAN marry your content with your personality.  

 

Grab your FREE copy of the Do It! Marketing Manifesto

And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas to create audio programs that rock!

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, consultant marketing, thought leadership marketing, business coaching, marketing book, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, marketing coaching, product development, professional speaker marketing, marketing ideas, marketing coach, motivational speaker marketing, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, content marketing, audio products

26 Time Management Hacks

Just came across this Slideshare - it was too brilliant not to share with you. Check it out:

Please use the COMMENTS area below to share YOUR advice, insights and recommendations on packing maximum VALUE into minimum TIME...

doitmarketing, marketing speaker, marketing coach

Tags: marketing for speakers, business coaching, professional services marketing, marketing expert, marketing coaching, small business coach, success tips, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, small business marketing coach, business coach

When Talent Meets Versatility

This video clip speaks for itself (you should have your audio/speakers turned on):

What can YOU do that will impress people with YOUR versatility and talent?

These days, "being good" (or even great) is merely table stakes - you need to MASTER your offerings so your audience knows they're in the hands of a professional good enough to deliver A+ work while being confident enough to have fun.

Grab your FREE copy of the Social Media Traffic Boost Cheat Sheet!

And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas above.

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing concept, thought leadership marketing, business coaching, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, success tips, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, business coach

Marketing Coach: Your Ideas Are Sold by Weight, Not Volume

doitmarketing five words recite

Ya dig?

Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on packing maximum VALUE into minimum WORDS...

doitmarketing, marketing speaker, marketing coach

Tags: marketing speaker, consulting firm marketing, thought leadership marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing professional services firms, marketing strategist, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, content marketing, brand strategy

Marketing Coach: Entrepreneurs Change the World

This video is one of my all-time favorites.

And if you're an entrepreneur, you'll immediately see why:

Have a great weekend - and then next week, get back to the business of changing the world!

Tags: marketing for speakers, thought leadership marketing, trusted advisor marketing, entrepreneurship, small business marketing expert, small business coach, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, small business marketing speaker, doitmarketing, small business marketing coach, business coach

Marketing Speaker: 5 Books You Oughta Buy NOW

doitmarketing, top five business books, best business booksHere are my Top Five Business Books of the Week - but these are not just any old business books.

They are...

Fire starters...

Game changers...

Show stoppers...

Books that will transform the way you think about your work, about your business, and - yes - about your life.

Get your amazon shopping cart ready for some racing stripes - here we go: 

  1. Be the Best at What Matters Most: The Only Strategy You will Ever Need by Joe Calloway 
     
  2. Create Distinction: What to Do When Great Isn't Good Enough to Grow Your Business by Scott McKain

  3. Fred 2.0: New Ideas on How to Keep Delivering Extraordinary Results by Mark Sanborn

  4. Running the Gauntlet: Essential Business Lessons to Lead, Drive Change, and Grow Profits by Jeffrey W. Hayzlett and Jim Eber 

  5. People Buy You: The Real Secret to what Matters Most in Business by Jeb Blount

Tags: marketing for speakers, thought leadership marketing, business coaching, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, entrepreneurship, coaching, professional speaker marketing, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, business book review, best business books, business strategy, public speaker marketing

Marketing Coach: Master the Cold Call Once and for All

doitmarketing, marketing speaker, marketing coach

You hate cold calling, yeah, yeah, I know BUT...

Truth is, nothing beats having a voice-to-voice conversation with a real prospect. And when you reach prospects, you have less than 30 seconds to interest and engage them. Make a mistake and there are no second chances.

You need to have a solid, proven plan to engage your prospects by phone and consistently win them over so that more sales happen.

Join me as I interview Wendy Weiss, the "Queen of Cold Calling," for this empowering call where you will get specific answers to:

  • Why cold call at all? Is it old-fashioned? Does it even work?
  • Haven’t e-mail and social media replaced cold calling?
  • How do I know whom to call?
  • What should I say? 
  • What is a good generic script?
  • How can I convince prospects to speak with me without giving them the feeling I’m trying to ‘sell’ them something? 
  • How do I deal with voicemail? Should I leave a message?
  • Why doesn’t anyone ever call me back?
  • And a whole lot more...

We'll have room on the teleseminar line for 100 people so take 10 seconds to register now so you don't miss out.

Tags: marketing for speakers, consultant marketing, thought leadership marketing, keynote speaker, business coaching, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, sales rejection, sales prospecting, marketing coaching, marketing coach, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, sales and marketing, lead generation

Marketing Coach: Motivational Speaker Eric Thomas

Awesome video - wanted you to experience this for yourself:

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, business coaching, marketing expert, marketing coaching, professional speaker marketing, marketing coach, success tips, speaker marketing, marketing for authors, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, success, business strategy, business coach, becoming an expert