Welcome to another episode of my Inside the Success podcast. Today, I chat with Johnny B. Truant. You’ve probably read his work on Copyblogger, Problogger, or some other highly successful blog. Johnny does a lot of good stuff on the web, but most importantly, he’s at a sweet spot in his success. Meaning, he’s comfortable making the amount of money he wants doing what he wants (you’ll find out more about him in the interview – run time, 30 mins.).
In this interview you’ll learn;
How to create a “win, win, win” situation for your customers
What it really takes to make money online
How to maximize social media to create your own third tribe
Johnny’s 5-figure salary success story.
A unique hair product for people without hair
and much more!
Check out the interview, it was a lot of fun, and we’ll definitely be teaming up again to deliver more great ones in the future. You can find Johnny on his blog, guest posting around the web, or on Twitter. Don’t forget to check out past interviews on my Blogtalkradio page.
Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations
take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company,
Kirby Enterprises.
Follow Rod on Twitter here.
Watch this video and I promise to share something powerful with you after the jump!
Question: If God placed a dream in your heart and He promised it to you, does that mean that it will come to pass automatically? Survey says,
“Nope!” <add buzzer sound here>
The truth is, God will give us the tools we need to succeed, but we’re still obligated with working the dream and protecting it. “From what?” You ask. We have to protect it from the destruction of our circumstances, nay-sayers, debt, jealous family members, even our own disbelief. In short, anyone or anything that would come against you and your destiny.
Like a new mother you’re going to have to protect your baby from the harsh elements of the world. How do you protect your dream? Here’s a hint, control your senses and control your destiny!
1. Close your Eyes – You can’t dwell and meditate on the reports of the economy, crime, rampant disease, and other distractions that bombard your eyes on the evening news. Look past your current economic circumstances and peer into the future! Keep your focus on the dream and have the courage to continue pressing toward it. The clip above is from one of my most favorite movies, The Pursuit of Happyness which illustrates the amazing success story of Chris Gardner. If you haven’t seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to have it in your DVD collection. Close your eyes to ill reports and watch something that will truly inspire you!
Final Thought: The things you see determines what you want, so if you see nothing but the economic recession then you want to participate in it. (Yes . . . you have a choice!)
2. Tune-out what you Hear – Have you ever been told that you couldn’t do something or “that’ll never work.”? In the clip above, Chris Gardner (Played by Will Smith) said to his son, “Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something . . . ” You have to have such a passion for your dream that you won’t allow people to tell you it won’t be successful. Your mind is a radio station playing all kinds of music. You’re the DJ, so it’s your job to keep the positive tunes pumping. One way of doing that is by reading books that will inspire, empower, and equip you for success. I highly recommend Chris Gardner’s new book,
Final Thought: The things you hear prompt your actions so make sure that you’re only listening to people who will give you good feedback, strengthen, and empower your ideas.
3. Watch what you Say – Did you know that the power of life and death are in the tongue? I believe that what we say forms the atmosphere around us. If you say, “My business will never take off because I just don’t have any funding,” then it won’t because you’ve created an atmosphere of failure. As an entrepreneur I have good months financially and I have not so good months, but I thank God in advance for them all. Why? I want to be set-up for success! It’s that simple.
Final Thought: The things you say affects your attitude which ultimately will determine if you’ll even take a step on the road to success. Watch over your words and make sure you’re always speaking life and never death for your dreams.
Let me hear from you! What dreams and aspirations do you have? Are you “working” them or letting the dreams sit on the back burner? Are you protecting your dreams? Login using your Facebook or Twitter accounts and sound off below!
This article was originally written for my “Success Tips!” newsletter subscribers, but I really wanted to share this with the entire community. Please subscribe to “Success Tips!” here if you don’t already. Also, if you receive my newsletter and this is your first time visiting the Success Center, subscribe and receive blog updates, news, and more!
Don’t forget to purchase your copies of my highly recommended books and DVDs below;
Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations
take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company,
Kirby Enterprises.
Follow Rod on Twitter here.
Welcome to a special preview of my new E-book, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter Success. Due to the overwhelming response I received from my article, of the same name, it prompted me to put this together. It’s a labor of love and I poured a lot of information that will benefit beginners and advanced users alike. You’ll be able to download it free of charge tomorrow morning.
This portion comes from the third chapter entitled, “My Twitter Success Story.”
3 Steps to Cultivating a Quality Twitter Community
My blog, The Success Center has grown tremendously since I re-launched it on June 15, 2009 (it was originally a WordPress.com blog). Take a look at its stats according to Alexa (the web information company) below.
The Success Center's Alexa Rankings
Other than my hard work, blood, sweat, and tears I owe a part of the site’s success to my Twitter community. I actually joined Twitter in January 2009 and didn’t use it much until I started my blog. Since then the traffic, readership, community, and relationships built have been incredible.
According to my Google Analytics account, Twitter is my #2 referrer of traffic second to Stumbleupon. However, I know for a fact that Twitter is my #1 referrer of quality traffic. Look at the screen-shot below and let’s break it down.
Referral Statistics
First, you’ll notice Stumbleupon as sending me the most visits with 1,599. However, look at the average time those visitors spent on my site, only 8 seconds! With a bounce rate of almost 87% (a bounce rate is how frequently people leave your site or when they “bounce” on to their next web destination).
Google Analytics
Now, look at the average time people from Twitter stayed on my site and how low the bounce rate is in the screenshot above. See the difference?
“A quality Twitter community will generate quality traffic to your blog or website.”
What’s a quality Twitter community?
These are the people that consistently retweet you, answer your questions, share your posts, participate in your Twitter activities, and present the most value to your Twitter stream.
Out of the 200 or so people that I follow, I know that all of them are a part of my quality Twitter community. I don’t follow them just for the heck of it and they don’t follow me just because I followed them back.
How Do You Cultivate a Quality Community?
First,you have to understand why your followers follow you. Do you present something valuable to them in their stream? Are they actively following or just following in the hopes of getting you to follow back?
Second,you have to create a valuable Twitter presence. Do so by engaging with others, sharing good content, and by being personable (that means you are approachable and down-to-earth).
Third,you have to be consistent in the presence you portray. Don’t share for a straight week and then fall off for a month. Don’t hold Twitter church only to let curse words fly out of your stream on your off days.
Create your own Twitter success story by sharing the stories of your followers. Every tweet in your stream is only a part a story your followers are trying to tell. By engaging with them you can better assist them in telling that story. This is the ultimate key in cultivating a quality community on Twitter. What ways are you cultivating a quality community following on Twitter? Share your thoughts below.
Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations
take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company,
Kirby Enterprises.
Follow Rod on Twitter here.
You all know I love a good success story. Every time I see read or hear about someone that started small and made it big I ask myself, “could that be me next year?” I think we should constantly ask ourselves that. It keeps us in great expectation and reminds of how the benefits of our hard work. Enjoy this short video, be inspired, and put yourself in his shoes. When you’re done watching it, let me know if you could see yourself successful like this next year. I do. . .
Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations
take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company,
Kirby Enterprises.
Follow Rod on Twitter here.
which illustrates the amazing success story of 
