As an entrepreneur, one of the most important skills you can have is the ability to take your ideas and knowledge and put them onto paper — yet very few people ever learn how to do this effectively.

If you’ve ever sat down in front of a blank piece of paper or the dreaded blinking cursor on an empty computer screen, you know how it feels to get stuck when trying to create outlines or content.

A lot of people dream of writing a book or creating powerful marketing content, yet never get around to it because the process seems so scary and heavy.

It doesn’t have to be when you understand how to use this very simple approach to creating content that virtually eliminates “writer’s block” and allows your creativity and ideas to flow easily and naturally.

In this session, you’ll watch “over my shoulder” as I show you an incredibly simple but powerful tool that will transform the way you brainstorm and think creatively.  This is the key strategy that I use to create what many consider a massive amount of content, and I also used this exact approach when I wrote my best-selling book a couple of years ago.

You’ll watch me create the outline of a book from scratch in less than 10 minutes, and see how you can use this same approach to come up with new ideas and concepts for your business.

I’ve used this exact strategy to write a best-selling book, to create dozens of effective marketing pieces and website pages, and to create entire training products and programs that have generated millions of dollars in revenue.

The secret is that it allows you to brainstorm and create the way your brain naturally works – and that explains why it’s so effective.

The video is only 15 minutes long, so enjoy and be sure to post a comment below to let me know what you think!

Our conversation turned to what the future of business looks like, and the information marketing world specifically .. and why a lot of online marketers are having challenges in their business.

Why is it there are a handful of people doing really well, while most are suffering?  Why are product launches not as effective as they once were?  What is the market really after?

Dan’s response to this issue was perhaps one of the most important things that you need to understand as an entrepreneur, if you’re interested in growing your business.

If you’ve read the special report that I wrote a few months ago, “The iEffect“, you’re already familiar with my belief that people are not looking for more information.  You can literally go on “the Google” and get the answer to virtually any question you could possibly ask.  All for free.

As I said in that report, it’s no longer about information.  In other words, it’s not about content any more.  We’ve reached a tipping point in the world where more is not better.

For what it’s worth, I do think of ‘content’ as being more than just information.  It’s specifically oriented information that’s presented in a way that it solves a specific problem or challenge that someone has, as opposed to just being ‘information’ that isn’t organized, packaged or presented in a certain way.

But think about it — does the world really need more content?  Do we need another real estate investing program that teaches someone how to flip houses or become a landlord?  Another course on how to help coaches get more clients?

I really don’t think so.

Of course this begs the question ..

If content isn’t what it’s about
any more .. then what?

This is where “the Professor of Harsh Reality”, Mr. Dan Kennedy comes in.

In Dan’s view, content is no longer king, and content is not what the information marketing business is going to be about in the future.  It’s what he calls “the punishment of free“, where the idea of ‘intellectual property’ is caving in around us right now.

And this parallels what I’ve been teaching for a couple of years now – the Google era has virtually eliminated the ability to maintain a competitive advantage based purely on “knowing more” and having more information or content than others.

In other words, your ability to build a company or sustainable advantage because you have a better concept or better content is over.

That’s pretty profound, and a little scary – because if it’s not about the content and information, what IS it about?

In Dan’s view, it comes down to 2 fundamental things that you need to focus on and build which will lead to success as an entrepreneur.

He said to me, “if people don’t develop a profound personal preference for you and your company, you’ll always struggle to grow the business or even survive at all.”

Put another way, you have to be positioned so that your client or prospect feels like they know you, and that they have a relationship with you so that they literally are choosing you because they know and like you.

In other words, it’s about the relationship that you build with your community and the people in it.  When you have that relationship, it’s very difficult for anyone else to get their attention, or to attract them away from you.

And I would say that our company tries to model this.  We’ve never just relied on trying to have better information and content than others in our space (though we certainly do try to have great content).  We’re told we have among the best training in the world, but we also know that’s not good enough.

We’ve always looked at trying to create a more authentic and transparent relationship with our community, and involving them in our lives to some degree.  I talk about my personal life and the important people in it, and that’s because I want people to know me.

I don’t hold back my opinions for fear of being judged or alienating people, because when you hold back who you really are, it’s impossible to create any kind of authentic connection.

So, building an authentic connection and relationship is the first key to the future of business.

The second key is developing a unique and compelling offering that generates significant “pain of disconnect”.

Put another way, your ability to attract, maintain and deepen relationships with your clients relies on creating a service or offering that solves a major problem they have.  That’s just good basic business .. but today, that’s not enough.

The second part is to determine how you can create “pain of disconnect” when someone decides not to continue as your client.

Here are a couple of examples of companies that have done that:

• Once you join Facebook, it’s almost impossible to leave .. because you abandon your entire “life history” and cannot take it with you.  I literally do not know one person who isn’t on Facebook today, and those who have tried to leave seem to always quietly) slink back on, realizing the pain of disconnect is too significant.
• Apple has massive pain of disconnect if you try and go back to PCs.  Most people won’t bother trying, but their incredible smart design and entire branding causes you feel to a pain when considering using PCs.  And I know this from experience, because I was a lifelong PC diehard until last year.  I’m now a complete Mac convert, 100%.  And it gives me a headache just thinking about life without my Apple products.

Ultimately, if it’s painless and easy for your clients to go somewhere, don’t be surprised when they do.  You need to spend time thinking about how you can create services and offerings that your clients “can’t live without”.

That can mean the emotional or feeling they get when dealing with you.  It could be about how they feel important or recognized by you.  It could be that your service or offering solves a major problem for them, and they fear not being able to solve their problem going forward without you.

Your challenge is to come up with products, services and offerings that you can provide to your clients where it is painful and difficult for them to leave.  Much like a cable company or electricity utility company, you want to be selling utilities that they cannot live without.

When you get to that point, you’ve got a compelling, powerful business model that is almost impossible to defeat by a competitor.

In the end, your clients will NOT stay because you have “better content”. 

The days of content ruling the world are over – so the secret is to focus on the relationship you build with your community so that they TRUST you (which is a key lacking element in the world today).

Follow that up with a service that they tell themselves they can’t live without, and you’ve got the recipe for a high growth company in 2012 and beyond.

What do you think?  Post a comment below and let me know your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree!

In this interview, Brendon Burchard shares several of the rarely-discussed insights that have allowed him to go from zero to a $10 million dollar business in only a few years, and you’ll hear Brendon and Greg discuss the difference between being an expert and an authority, and how Brendon’s used the very same strategies and concepts to launch his own career that he teaches to others.

Click the play button to listen to the interview ..

Be sure to take notes, because Brendon truly is one of the leaders of the industry, and his information and training is among the absolute best in the world!

As we get ready to take a break for the holidays and usher in 2012, I want to sincerely thank you for being a part of our community, and allowing me and our entire team to do what it is we do.

I also wanted to share a very special story with you — something that you’ve played a part in, even though you may not have known about it.

This may just be one of the proudest moments of my entire career, because we’re about to bring to life a dream that I’ve had for some time — and it’s thanks to all of the incredible people who support and follow me.

As with most entrepreneurs, I love to serve others and help people get the clarity and confidence they’re looking for.  Part of being an entrepreneur is this deep-down sense that you have the potential to really have an impact on the world, and others.

When you own your own business, you’re literally creating new opportunities, new things in the world.  That’s one of the things I love about being an entrepreneur, and also having the opportunity to inspire and educate so many others.

One of my core values is contribution, but for the past couple of years I’ve been struggling a bit with this.

The reality is that we’ve been so busy with our business, adapting to the changing market and focusing on what needs to be done .. that I didn’t consciously focus on feeding my core value of contribution.

So at the beginning of 2011, I said to my business partner (and best friend) Kourosh that this was the year we needed to step up and make an impact. 

I didn’t know what that would be, or how, but we both committed that this was the year we’d find a way to really make a contribution that would affect people for the better.

I’ve always believed that writing a cheque to a charity is sort of empty for me, because I like to see the results of the impact I’m having.  To me, doing something “hands on” is infinitely more powerful, especially for your spirit when you get to witness the impact.

Both Kourosh and I are parents, and feel grateful every day for having healthy, happy kids that never want for anything.

We decided to set an ambitious goal that would involve changing the lives of many children, their families, and their entire community for the better.

Earlier this year, through the Just Like My Child Foundation, we committed to building a new school in Uganda, Africa.

In 2012, we’re going to travel to Africa, along with many of our team, friends and partners, to experience the opening of this school.

These are some of the kids that will benefit from this brand new school that is now under construction — a school that will literally change their lives, and open up opportunities they would have never otherwise had.

This LITERALLY would not have been possible without the support and trust of our clients, subscribers, marketing partners and associates.

I want to thank YOU, because the fact you’re reading this means you are part of our community, and I genuinely appreciate your trust in me, and what we do.

The greatest outcome of owning a business ultimately is being able to create a ripple effect in the world, and that’s what I’m excited about for this school.

We’re literally helping children get an education that they would otherwise never have a chance at, and changing the world begins with education.

I am so humbled and grateful to be able to play a part in this, and I can’t help but reflect on how blessed we are to never have to worry about access to education, or even access to basic health care or food.

I hope that over this holiday season that no matter where you are, what you have or what’s going on around you .. that you take a few moments and count your blessings.

And know that my entire team and I are deeply appreciative of having you in our little universe, and I look forward to continuing to inspire, educate and challenge you in 2012 and beyond!

What happened shocked me a bit, since I found sort of a “kindred spirit” in Mike Dillard.

You’ll definitely get MASSIVE insight from hearing Mike’s story and how he was able to build a multi-million dollar business from a standing start, with no industry or inside experience.

But I think what’s more powerful is hearing his message, and watching that it all comes back to a passion and a desire to serve others that is driving him today.

I also get Mike to talk about what he sees coming from an economic perspective (and not only is it UGLY, I agree with his projections).

So consider this a double-dipping interview, because you’ll get some great business insight, as well as some key economic understandings that you need to pay attention to.

Enjoy it.

Be sure to post a comment and let me know what your biggest takeaway was from this interview, and what you think!

If you’d like to hear more content and training on economics, the financial crisis and how to protect yourself financially going forward, let me know that as well – it’s a topic I like to discuss, and it’s relevant to every entrepreneur.

Building a business is about CREATING wealth, but if you don’t understand how to KEEP it, your efforts are mostly wasted.  I’ll share more insight on that if it’s something you’re interested in.

Becom

At our most recent live event, my friend and marketing genius Vishen Lakhiani from MindValley shared an absolutely incredible strategy for quickly creating a money-making blog in any market or niche.

In this video, he lays the strategy out step by step, and gives you real-life examples that he’s created, and generated over a million dollars of revenue from in less than 2 years.

If you’re looking to create a new income stream for yourself, or you’d like to add another sales process to your existing business, watch this video.

It’s only 17 minutes, yet it’s a complete strategy and possibly the single most effective way of building a revenue-generating website that I’ve ever seen.

The back story: at our live event, I challenged several of my friends and colleagues to do a 17-minute “TED Style” presentation that delivered a specific marketing strategy to the audience.  Of all the presentations, Vishen’s was voted as the most powerful and that’s why I’m sharing it with you.

Vishen won a $5,000 donation prize  that we awarded to the top presentation as voted by attendees, and he donated the money to Shine On Sierra Leone, and AIESEC.

Watch the video and PLEASE post a comment below to let us know what you think!  If you like this video, I’ll continue to share more videos and content that allow you to quickly build up a new revenue stream from scratch.

But what if I told you that any entrepreneur who does marketing to build their brand, create awareness or exposure, or get their name out there is wasting their money?

Let me tell you what I really think — brand building is for entrepreneurs who HATE their money.

Here’s why.

You’ve heard a lot of the traditional advertising beliefs and mantras:

“You have to get your name out there.”
“Someone needs to see your message 7-20 times before they buy.”
“Brand building is what marketing is all about.”
“Your brand is the most important asset you have”.

Excuse my Irish, but that’s a complete bunch of bullshit.

Not only is this advice WRONG, it’s dangerous to the future of your business.

Why Most Entrepreneurs
Fall For This Lie

When most entrepreneurs go into business for themselves, they don’t have a lot of marketing experience or knowledge about really works.  So they do what most people do when they don’t have the knowledge themselves .. they look around and see what other companies are doing.

Unfortunately, most of the advertising and marketing we see are from major companies and brands.  Apple, McDonald’s, Starbucks and the car companies are good examples of this.

Go to the bookstore (or Amazon), and most of the books written on the subject of brands are all about the big companies and how they created billion dollar brands.

You’re told that your brand is all-powerful, that you need to “build it”, and that your marketing is all about creating that awareness and exposure in the market.

So, you do what makes sense — you put marketing out there that “builds your brand”, and spend thousands of dollars doing what you’re told to do – getting your name out there.  And the results are less than spectacular.

In fact, they suck.

They’re zero.  Nothing.  Nada.

You’re hundreds or thousands of dollars lighter, with no new clients or sales.

This is the reality for most entrepreneurs until they discover this dirty little secret ..

You’re Playing The Wrong Game

Let me reveal why it is that most entrepreneurs go broke, and how it can be that all of this “branding” advice you’ve heard is wrong.

Here it is: the big brand companies are playing a different game than you and I are.

The difference is that big brand companies can afford to do dumb, generalized marketing intended to do nothing more than position their brand in the market, and to “buy” market share.  They can afford to spend millions of dollars, beating their brand into the mind of the consumer.

Their hope is that eventually, the market sees them so often, when they finally have a need for what that company offers, they’ll think of them first.  That’s called “top of mind awareness” (a buzzword from the big brand marketing world).

They blanket the market, hoping that a few people from their target market will respond – so 98% of their advertising dollars are literally wasted on people that will never buy what they sell.

The argument is that they’re “building their brand”, and eventually some of those people who see their ads will eventually become clients.  That’s the hope anyway.

And There’s More Bad News ..

Not only are you and I playing a different game than the big companies, the marketing industry is completely built around this useless, “brand building” mentality.

One of the companies I used to own was in the business of providing audio and video production to ad agencies, so I’ve seen this from the inside.

Most advertising and marketing firms are more focused on creating “cool” ads and winning industry awards than actually generating results for their clients.

In fact, they HATE it when clients want to track actual results back to their marketing.  They fall back on this “brand building” idea, and say it’s impossible to accurately measure the effect and impact of marketing.

This is because they don’t WANT you to be able to track their results .. they know you’ll probably fire them if you realize how little in sales or results they’re actually generating.

Here’s How You Can Win
The Marketing Game

Smart entrepreneurs don’t waste their money on “brand building” advertising.  Instead, they implement a different kind of marketing called direct response marketing.

Instead of blanketing the masses, the secret is to really understand your market and then target only the people likely to be interested in what you do or deliver.

Direct response marketing is intended to get your target market to “put their hand up” and engage with you, so that you can spend the vast majority of your time creating value for them and demonstrating that you’re able to help them with a problem you have.

Here’s my rule when it comes to successful marketing as an entrepreneur or small business owner:

“Building Your Brand Is The By-Product Of
Great Marketing, Not The Purpose Of It.”

In other words, I believe that building your brand is the RESULT of great marketing .. not the primary purpose of it. 

My company has developed a great brand within a number of niches, but I’ve NEVER spent a dime doing “brand building” marketing.

Our marketing connects with our target market, engages them and creates sales .. and in the process, we’re building a powerful, premium brand.

In other words, our marketing makes us money – it doesn’t cost us money.

Anytime you’re about to do some marketing because you (or someone else) is saying that it’s to “get your name out there” or build your brand .. STOP.  Because you’re about to throw money away.

Instead, implement marketing that generates immediate results and sales, and builds your brand as a by-product (and for free).

It’s the dirty little secret that the marketing world doesn’t want you to know, but now you do.  So use it and break free from the foolish “brand building” mantra that destroys so many small businesses.

I’d LOVE to hear what you think — please post a comment below and let me know if this article has helped open your eyes to what marketing is really all about!

It’s official.

I cannot STAND whiners and complainers.

One of the major influencers for me to spend more (or less) time with someone is to the extent that person exhibits a negative or defeatist attitude .. or if they practice the power of positive expectancy.

It’s incredible how many people expect or assume that things won’t go their way .. and then they’re disappointed and surprised when they turn out to be right.

This is the mentality of victims and losers, and something that has no place in my world.

It’s something that I’ve never tolerated since I had a very powerful “a-ha!” about a decade ago.  Truth be told, part of the breakthrough I had was the realization that I was one of the best whiners and complainers the world had seen.

It was one of those things that I had never been conscious of, until I was reading a magazine that spoke about negative attitude, and suggested that you keep track of how many negative thoughts you had about other people, things and situations.

I did this for a few days, and was shocked at what I found.

When I spent a few days actually being conscious of when I thought something negative, or said something negative, or was expecting something negative to happen, I was astonished.  I was doing it dozens of times a day, and had never been aware of it.

This was part of my journey, and doing this simple exercise helped me become aware of it.

Around that same time, I read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.  If you’ve read the book already, you know that the underlying “secret” of the book is that what you focus your thoughts and attention on is what you create and expand in your life.

These 2 things came together for me, and instantly caused me to become much more aware of when I was being negative.  What it also did was made me realize how many people I spent time with that were constantly negative, judgmental, and chose to be victims instead of in control of their lives.

Being Deliberate Changed Everything For Me

I decided to start being deliberate about who I spent my time with, who I learned from, and what I focused my attention on.  Coincidentally (or not), my income started to explode, my life became a lot more fun, and I think I became a lot easier to be around as well.

I would say that this shift in my thinking and attitude is the single biggest reason that I’ve been able to change my entire world – not just financially, but also with the many important relationships I have in my life.

The best way to describe this shift is what I call the Power of Positive Expectancy. 

After working with thousands of entrepreneurs, investors and business owners, I’ve figured out that I can determine the likelihood of someone’s success in business with only a few key indicators.

One of them is their practice of Positive Expectancy.

What do I mean by this?

Words are very powerful,
and what you say matters. 

When I listen carefully to the way that someone speaks, and I observe what they’re focusing their attention on, I can quickly determine what path they’re on, and whether they’re going to create and attract success into their life, or more struggle and misery.

Let me give you a couple of examples of this.

As you may know, we recently completed a very successful launch of my signature program, The Trusted Authority Formula.

We had millions of people become aware of this program, and hundreds of thousands of people view our videos, training and materials.  The amount of positive feedback and gratitude was overwhelming.

But what I found interesting was that, as always, there were those people who acted like no matter how much value and free training they got, they somehow deserved or were entitled to more.

They literally acted like it was MY job to hand them everything they needed and wanted, and that somehow I was responsible for their happiness.

I spent a LOT of time (and resources) creating a very powerful series of free training for people to enjoy, what many people said was the best training series they’d ever seen (and which many people said was better than things they had paid for).

It actually made me laugh several times out loud, just because I could not believe that there are people with attitudes like this out there.

The truth is, I felt sorry for these people because they are never going to be successful.

Here’s a little secret:
The world owes you NOTHING. 

You don’t deserve other people’s value, help or support .. until you EARN it.  Part of earning it is having the right attitude of gratitude, openness and positive expectancy.

Until someone really “gets” this and absorbs it – and practices it – they’ll wander around feeling left out, screwed and defeated.  But when it does sink in, your entire attitude and view changes .. and magically, you begin to get the things you need and want!

So back to the training, and another example.  When we started the program last week, even though the overwhelming majority of people in the program were excited, grateful and positive, there were a small handful of people who had nothing but complaints.

The training wasn’t going fast enough.  The website didn’t work (even though almost everyone else was using it fine).  That they weren’t getting what they needed (even though we hadn’t even started the main program).

Thankfully, this was less than 2% of the people in the program .. but seriously, what a HORRIBLE way to live your life, being such a negative thinker and energy sucker!

Wow!

My friend Harv Eker has a lot of great sayings, but this is my favorite one:

How do you anything is how you do everything.

Amen, brother!

What’s amazing to me is that people who are like this never stop to realize that NO ONE wants to spend time with this kind of negative energy and attitude.

So that’s what I’m hoping this article does – to help a few more people out there with crappy attitudes to think about the impact they’re having not just on themselves, but on others in the world.

In today’s world, we have a crisis of leadership.  There’s SO much negative attitude and  entitlement mentality, it can be depressing if you let it get to you.

OR.. you can be part of the solution.  You can choose to be optimistic, open-minded, and willing to be responsible for your results.  You can choose to have Positive Expectancy, and just expect things to go your way.

EXPECT good things to happen to you.  They will, simply because the more you focus on positive outcomes, the more that you’ll manifest for yourself.

Life is 10% what happens to you … and 90% how you react to what happens.

This “success attitude” is infectious.  Try it for just a few days, and you’ll see people in your life start to notice it and react to you differently.  Don’t be surprised if they push back, joke about it or tease you.  Don’t let it get to you.

I would LOVE to hear what you think of this article – whether you agree or not – so please post a comment below and tell me whether you practice positive expectancy, or if you think this is all just “woo woo” nonsense. 

It’s ironic, because my first computer I ever owned was an Apple IIc that my dad bought me after relentless begging and whining.

I was 14 years old, and about to enter the information age.

It was on that IIc that I learned how to approach the world through a keyboard and digital thinking.

That computer took me into the world of computerized bulletin boards, where I would connect to hosted chat forums and file servers and “meet” others around the world I’d otherwise never cross paths with.

I met one of my best friends and the best man at my wedding Lyndon Ward through that computer.

But as the PC emerged and became popular (because of Microsoft’s clever marketing strategy for DOS), I only ever owned that one Apple.  I switched to PCs, and never looked back.

I had no idea how impactful Apple would later become on me .. and here’s how it did.

I loved computers and was often the one to turn to for my family and friends when they ran into a computer problem.

Over the years, if I could have figured out how to charge tech support for my dad, my wife and my mother-in-law, I would have been set.

My friend Lyndon went on to become a graphic designer and bought every new Mac that came out.  I thought he was crazy.  Who would want to own one of those?

No one did.

Unless you were a graphics geek, or a real glutton for punishment (because everyone made fun of you).

Of course, that was true during the time Steve Jobs had left Apple.

And so it was for almost 25 years, my commitment to PC and distaste for Apple.

But when Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he put into motion the strategy of creating a new company.  It was 90 days from bankruptcy, and few people even gave it a chance.

His “big idea” was that if he could make computers so that they were not only beautiful from a design perspective, but that they simplified the computing experience, there was a market for that.

At the time, PCs had become so complicated, bloated and frustrating to use, you could get the “blue screen of death” every hour almost like clockwork.

He saw a gap in the market.  And he set about filling it.

Jobs mobilized the Apple movement to focus on amazing design, wrapped around a product that actually made it easier to do what you wanted, not harder.

Unlike Microsoft, which relied on its near-monopoly status and a complete lack of commitment to real innovation, Apple decided it would do things to improve the future, not just to sell products and software.

And my collision course with Apple was set into motion.

Apple became known for innovative designs, amazingly simple and intuitive interfaces, and began to get a lot of attention through the tech bubble and beyond.

They released the industry-changing iPod along with iTunes, which together completely reformed the core of the music industry.

Above all else, Apple products were cool.

From a business perspective, they took the high end of the electronics market.  Their pricing was 100% non-negotiable, and you always knew that their product was going to be the most expensive of any of the options.

They communicated “we’re the best” on every level, without bragging about it.

Their stock continued to rise, and you could almost feel an “Apple movement” take shape through the first decade of the new millenium.

The legendary Apple vs. PC ads began, and focused on what most people thought about computers – that Apple was easy, and PC was hard.

Which of course, was true.

But I was still resisting.  They hadn’t won we over.  Yet.

And then finally in 2007, they released the iPhone, which truly was a revolution in the communications world.

I bought my first iPhone, and immediately fell in love with the interface.  It was so easy to use.

It felt like this was the way it was supposed to work, and I had just waited all this time for someone to give it to me.

And I became an iPhone fan.  I bought each version that came out, excited about the new interface, features and capabilities.

I even convinced my wife to get one after watching her get so frustrated with her Blackberry.  And as soon as she made the shift, she “got it”.

She was a convert (and I do need to point out, was smart enough to have bought Apple stock several years ago when it was about $25, just before they launched the first iPhone.)

And then they announced the iPad.

And I thought to myself, “who on earth would buy a little video player they can haul around for hundreds of dollars?”

I thought it was crazy.  I had a laptop and if I ever wanted to surf the internet or watch a movie, I could do it on that PC.

And this revealed the true brilliance of Apple – they created completely new categories of products we didn’t even realize we wanted.

The moment you touched an iPad, you saw the magic and simplicity.

And you wanted one.

As it turns out, I was wrong.

Apparently, people did really want this product – including me.  Today, I own 3 iPads (driven in my part by my wife Raylene and my son Cooper falling in love with it as well).

With my iPhones and iPads, I was still holding out on the computers.

And in March this year, I finally made the switch to “the dark side“.

I’m writing this article on my MacBook Pro, which I love.

I’m now a complete Mac fanatic. 

I coerced my business partner and best friend Kourosh to get a MacBook Pro.  I’ve almost convinced my wife.

I just wish I would have switched a long time ago.

I LOVE it.

And the reason I love it is this:  it makes my life easier.

I know that sounds dumb, but it’s true.

My devices all easily connect to each other.

My iPad is helping teach my 3 year old how to read, how to solve puzzles and getting him interested in music.

My iPad kept us sane during the l-o-o-o-o-n-g car trip to the cabin this summer (as Cooper watched all his favorite movies).

In fact, as I write this, Cooper is lying beside me, watching Kung Fu Panda on his iPad.

I now spend far more of my time on doing working and creating than I do screwing around with software glitches, virus software and waiting for my computer to start up.

While Steve Jobs did a lot of things for this world, I think the ultimate gift he gave me was that he literally made my life easier.

He helped the world realize that technology didn’t have to be complicated and frustrating.  That it could actually make your life better, not more frustrating.

Steve Jobs has been a hero of mine for many years, and it was a sad day this week when I learned of his passing.

But I am tremendously grateful for the impact he had on me.  And on my family.

Without him, I may not have met one of my earliest best friends.

I wouldn’t be easily capturing photos and memories as my son grows up far too fast, and catching my wife in moments of simple grace and appreciation.

The ultimate impact Steve Jobs has had on our world is that he left it a better place, and allowed us to focus on the things that matter most – innovation, simplicity, and connecting with those we care about.

Ultimately, he guided us through the Information Age, and I believe he helped us realize that technology’s greatest ability is to help us get the transformations we want in our life.

No tribute article would be complete without a quote, so this is my favorite quote from Steve Jobs (among many great ones):

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

They somehow already know what you want to become.”

Thank you Steve for all that you’ve done for me, and the world.  You’ll be deeply missed.

Getting your written material published through a massive distribution system like iTunes is one of the most powerful, yet least used marketing strategies that I know.

Whether you’re looking to sell your book, or to publish it and distribute it for free as “content marketing”, this is a fantastic marketing strategy that very few people are using.

And after watching this video, you’ll know exactly how easy it really is to do (and for free!)

Make sure to read the important notes below the video after you watch it!

By the way, if you’d like to download my version of Think and Grow Rich (for free), you can do so at this link:

Free copy of Think And Grow Rich on iTunes

Important Notes:

• Matt mentions that Apple PAGES is the only way to export EPUB format – and at the time when we shot this video, this was the case.  However, now there are a handful of Apple approved iBookstore Aggregators that can handle this now (links below)
• As you’d guess, Apple wants you to be using a Mac to create a book for their platform, and it’s definitely a LOT easier if you have a Mac.  However, even if you don’t have a MAC, there are still ways to create and upload your book. Go to this FAQ on Apple’s website for more information on doing this, and for any support or help you need.
• We cannot provide any kind of support or technical assistance for you — if you have any technical questions or need support, PLEASE go to the Apple site and post your questions there (NOT here)!

Here are some important links for you to get started.  You should also note that there are a TON of free resources, websites and blogs that discuss some of the technical requirements and details around publishing books using the ePUB format.  In addition to the important links below, you can also do a Google search for terms such as “ePUB”, “iBook publishing”, etc.

iBookstore Aggregators:

https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa/wa/displayAggregators?ccTypeId=

iTunes Download Link:

https://apple.com/itunes/download

iTunes Connect Account:

https://itunesconnect.apple.com

So, what are YOU going to publish first?  Leave a comment and let me know what you got from this video!