(Listen to this episode via itunes, audioboom, or stitcher.)

Are you leveraging the hottest tool on social media?

If you’re not using video for your book, brand, or business you are missing out on increasing your influence, impact, and income.

The truth is though, most of us are scared or at least a little intimidated to enter the brave new world of video or vlogging.

There is a solution. I invited special guest, the queen of vlogging, Amy Schmittauer, to join us.

Her #1 Bestselling book—Vlog Like a Boss—is sweeping the globe. She has now captured the word VLOG on all of Amazon.

Amy is here to show you how to kill it online with video blogging. With a collection of strategies and tactics from years of experience in online video, Schmittauer shares time-tested, proven methods to creating brand awareness with vlogging that will build a loyal community for years to come.

Listen in and learn. Your future clients will thank you.

And to learn how I can help publish you through Author Academy Elite like I helped Amy, watch our FREE author training for a limited time.

(Listen to this episode via itunes, audioboom, or stitcher.)

Are you ready to sell your first online product or program?

Using our latest Elixir Project Experience launch, I share the backstory behind all of our Transformation Invitations (sales pages). Integrating these 6 tips will make yours a much smoother experience:

1. Pain
2. Proof
3. Picture
4. Process
5. People
6. Purchase

(Listen via itunes, audioboom, or stitcher.)

Audiobooks are on the rise

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve probably heard of audiobooks. Maybe you’re even one of the millions of people who use an audiobook subscription service? Places like Audible are getting smarter. They remove all the risk by giving you a 30 day free trial with audiobooks included.

The “Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks“ offer got me started on audiobooks a few years ago. Now I’m hooked!

Like many people, I found my margin for reading getting smaller and smaller. Yet, I also realized I had unencumbered time when I was driving, running, and doing errands. Rather than wasting this time, I popped in my bluetooth earpiece (when driving) OR wore some inexpensive headphones (when running). {There are hundreds of options for both, including the pair I use for driving and running.}

Business guru Brian Tracy reveals what’s possible in our daily “drive time.” He says:

The average person drives 12,000 to 25,000 miles per year which works out to between 500 and 1,000 hours per year that the average person spends in his or her car. You can become an expert in your field by simply listening to educational audio programs as you drive from place to place.

After a short amount of time, I found myself working out my brain and my body simultaneously. Since then, I’ve consumed many quality books and kept my edge physically, emotionally, and professionally—even as a husband and father of three little ones.

I’m not alone. Audiobook downloads have doubled in the past 5 years.

3 Reasons why audiobooks are exploding

In episode 96, I share several reasons why audiobooks are quickly becoming the preferred medium (listen via itunes, audioboom, or stitcher).

1. Audiobook players (a.k.a. smart phones) are always within our grasp.
2. Audiobooks create an entirely different experience. (The spoken word adds a new dynamic.)
3. Audiobooks allow us to do two things at once (1 cognitive and 1 non-cognitive).

Heather Masters, the narrator of Elixir Project, joins me on the Igniting Souls Podcast.

We reveal key business principles like:

• How to attract top level talent to work with you and for you.
• Why your first email to top talent says everything about you.
• How vision-casting is essential to drawing out the best in your teammates.
• Why you should treat the people you hire as your clients.

Enjoy episode 96 and click HERE to  Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks. Who knows? Elixir Project might be one of two you choose.

(Listen via itunes, audioboom, stitcher, or click on the pic below.)
There comes a time when the stakes are so high that you need to lay it all on the line.
This is that time. And this is that episode.

Are you with me?

• P = Party
• O = Order
• G = Group

(Listen via itunes, audioboom, stitcher, or click on the pic below.)

In 2012, I bombed big time. I sat outside a big corporate office in our minivan, dressed up in a suit and tie. I had just tried pitching my first corporate client and I had made a fool of myself.

I held a big 3 inch thick binder full of someone else’s content. I talked way too much. I listened way too less. I stumbled and bumbled along with the worst presentation known to humankind.

On the verge of tears, I told myself all kinds of lies:

“I’m not cut out for this.”
“I’ll just stay stuck in my day job the rest of my life.”
“No one will ever hire me.”

I stood at the plate, taken the biggest swing of my life, and struck out big time. I felt hot and sweaty from embarrassment and I wanted to crawl under a rock for the rest of my life.

In this raw and candid episode I tell this story for the first time.

If you want to track my progress over the past 5 years, this was one of the lowest points. But then something changed. I made one major tweak and then literally overnight my results shifted. I began to super rocket my success as an author, coach, and speaker.

I think you’ll find encouragement in this episode as you realize you can make this one tweak too.

And if you want more on this topic, after listening to this episode, check out this special webinar. It’s only a limited time replay though and it expires November 7th.

(Listen via itunes, audioboom, stitcher, or click on the pic below.)

In this candid interview with Chris O’Byrne of Jet Launch—the interior designer of ELIXIR Project—we discuss several key topics including:

• How to leverage live events for maximum impact
• The costs of getting hacked personally and professionally
• Pros and cons of self-publishing and traditional publishing
• A brave new way of publishing

And much more.

Episode 92 concludes with a sneak peek of chapter 9 from ELIXIR Project.

Sienna meets Phoebe, a woman full of fire and mystique. She seems to know quite a bit about the girls.

(Listen via itunes, audioboom, stitcher, or click on the pic below.)

Becoming Unhackable – the event

In the first part of the podcast, enjoy a play-by-play breakdown of #IgnitingSouls16 from this past weekend. You’ll experience a plethora of coaching nuggets that will help you level up own book, brand, and business.

Some important announcements:

• Igniting Souls 2017 = Don’t miss out on our super early bird rate for #IgnitingSouls17. It expires on Friday, October 28th. Click here.

• Join our Global Team = Our teams attract some of the best people in the world and we’re looking to certify a few more speakers, coaches, and trainers. Although our teams are closed most of the year, a few times per year we take new applicants. Apply to become a Your Secret Name, Deeper Path, or Dream Job speaker, coach, and trainer. Doors close on Tuesday, November 1st.

Other cool links:

• Post-workout leadership lesson with Chet Scott of Built to Lead
• Igniting Souls 2016 Photo Album

Becoming Unhackable – the book

In the second part of the podcast, experience Elixir Project, the book. In chapter 8 of Elixir Project Sienna and her friends realize a little more about why they’ve been kidnapped.

Maybe my Uncle Cai has been protecting me, even now?

“College kids.” McNultey shakes his head. “You’ll get your new names soon enough.”

“Tonight, at the Name Change ceremony,” Kiran replies. “Of course, you’re going to need some work before you make your grand entrance to the worldwide audience.”

“Excuse me?” Chloe says. “Did you say world?”

“Why, yes. London is in shambles and humans have now been hacked. ELIXIR must respond with swift action or the whole planet will be thrown into chaos,” Kiran explains. “Why else would we go through all this trouble—kidnapping as you call it?”

I still don’t understand what Kiran is saying.

“What’s ELIXIR’s strategy, McNultey?” Darren asks. “Got some kind of secret weapon you’ve been hiding here on campus?”

“Wise guy, hey?” McNultey replies. “Of course we have a secret weapon.”
“What is it? A rocket? Supercomputer? Nuclear weapon?” Nick asks.

“More powerful than all those combined,” Kiran replies.

“What could be more powerful than a nuclear weapon?” Chloe asks.

“Why, that’s simple, dearie—you. You’re the secret weapon.”

Get your chapters 1-8 absolutely FREE by clicking here.

Ready for more neuropathways?

In the first part of this episode I discuss why live events are so powerful. Simply put, it’s because they stretch us. This phenomenon is called nerouplasticity. Experts used to believe this process ended in our childhood.

However, the latest studies reveal that we can carve new pathways into our brains well into adulthood. One of the ways we do this is by being exposed to new settings, circumstances, people, and experiences. In these situations we’re literally being stretched in ways.

Ready for more conspiracies?

In the second part of the episode, we find Sienna and her friends in a difficult situation facing a difficult decision. Here’s a sneak peek:

“Drink this,” McNultey orders. His eyebrows squish together at the top of his forehead just below his hair. Streaks of silver give away his age. He points to four vials of orange liquid on a high-top table in front of us. The clear glass cylinders rest on a simple glass tray.

“What is it?” Nick holds one vial between his right index finger and thumb. He lifts it up to the single lightbulb overhead, trying to identify the contents.

“Come on, people,” the senior officer growls, tapping his foot on the hard floor. “We have to move.” He places his hands on his hips, one hand near his stun gun.

Will Sienna and her friends follow McNultey’s orders or will they choose to disobey and suffer the consequences?

Read chapter 5 now by clicking here. Each week we’re releasing another free chapter of Elixir Project, no strings attached. It’s yours for the taking and for the reading. Click on the pic below to get caught up to the most current chapter.

And don’t forget about this week’s FREE Igniting Souls Fellowship: How to go viral with your book, brand, and business. Register here.

Clear Coaching

Clear Content

Clear Choices

Each week we’re releasing another free chapter of Elixir Project, no strings attached. It’s yours for the taking and for the reading. Click on the pic below to get caught up to the most current chapter.

(Listen via itunes, audioboom, stitcher, or click on the pic below.)

Engage early

Without a doubt, writing a fiction book was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my entire adult life. I’m not exaggerating one bit. It tops grad school, writing a dissertation, and starting a global business and non-profit.

Part of the struggle was knowing how to start ELIXIR Project. My first few attempts were slow, boring, and too deep. With a near future thriller this was not my goal.

As a result, I shifted everything and went for a scene that sucked readers in. Here was the result (not the final edited version below):

Engage often

I’ve always enjoyed “smart movies.” A few examples are Matrix, Inception, and Equilibrium. Each of these required me to remain engaged, just to make sense of the movie.

Part philosophical, part sci-fi, with a blend of technology, these are the movies that stick with me longer after the closing scene. I like brilliant character development, cool fight scenes, inner conflict, and epic stakes involved.

It’s one thing watching this type of world unfold, it’s another thing creating a version all your own. I wanted ELIXIR Project to include believable characters, original plot lines, and near future integration.

Here’s a little more of a peek:

Engage unexpectedly

Pace is everything…in life and in literature. I like twists and turns. Give me a big dose of surprises and I’m a happy reader.

I don’t want to see it coming, even though I try with all my might AND all my mind. ELIXIR Project is chocked full of the unexpected. Here’s the first of many:

Engage now

Each week we’re releasing another free chapter, no strings attached. It’s yours for the taking and for the reading. Click on the pic below to get caught up to the most current chapter. Enjoy getting engaged in ELIXIR. Just remember:

Everything can be hacked, even the truth.