Are you online? 

The Washington Post says you’re on 9 hours a day if you’re a teen. CNN reports it’s 10 hours if you’re an adult. Simply put, we’re online for a large portion of our day. As authors, coaches, speakers, and entrepreneurs, the real question isn’t are we online, but rather what are we doing online?

If we’re serious about growing our influence, impact, and income, then we need to be adding value to others everywhere we go, including online. But with so many options available, what’s a good strategy for business building? In this post I’ll share one strategy that’s working for many people around the world.

Are you on YouTube?

My guest Brad Burke is a humble guy. But in some circles he’s also known as a YouTube celebrity. His videos have earned over 21 millions views and his 150,000 subscribers consider him a creative genius. Although most of us don’t have any plans to do what he has done, creating a gaming channel on Youtube, in regard to your own business, it’s wise NOT to write off the second most popular search engine in the world.

Bottom line, your future fans, followers, customers, and clients are using YouTube, right now. The only unanswered question is, Will they be able to find you there?

Are you maximizing your online presence with YouTube?

In our own business, last year we reviewed our content creation as a whole, including our channels. It didn’t take long for us to realize that we weren’t leveraging YouTube as best as we could. Looking in the mirror is never fun, but the truth hurts only when you don’t learn from it. So I immediately contacted Brad and asked him for help.

With just a couple tweaks, we optimized our youtube channel and subscribers started coming in slow and steady. I was so impressed with Brad’s advice I asked him IF he could help the Igniting Souls Tribe with their own YouTube integration. He generously agreed. Enjoy our unedited and exclusive podcast interview.

In today’s podcast you’ll discover how to maximize your online presence using YouTube. (Listen to this episode via itunes, audioboom, or stitcher).

The Sponsor Of This Episode Is the Igniting Souls Conference

The past few weeks we’ve received many unsolicited requests from experts who want to speak at the Igniting Souls Conference. They send our team resumes and videos of why they should speak on our stage and how they’re qualified to do so. Most of these requests simply get filed away. We’re not interested in picking popular speakers. Rather, we’re intentional about picking thought leaders that will equip our attendees with practical and tactical tools to help them start or scale their businesses.

The more I learned about Brad, the more I knew he would deliver the goods. As a result, I’m happy to announce that at Igniting Souls Conference 2018 Brad will be sharing a powerful process for leveraging video to increase engagement for your book, brand, and business.

We still haven’t done any public promotion for Igniting Souls Conference 2018 tickets. However, that hasn’t stopped insiders. They’ve already gobbled up over 1/2 the tickets. If you’ve thought about coming, now is the time to secure your regular ticket OR VIP ticket. Our hotel block is limited and these rooms are almost full too. If you want to CLOSE THE    GAP, personally or professionally, you need to come. Failing to attend will cost you and your business time and money. Enjoy the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=ZSPWG9V2g6s

Check Out This Resource Mentioned

We often think we need to hire experts to help us, including with the topic at hand—YouTube. We can, but I learned a powerful truth early on:

The more successful we are, the less accessible we become. 

This means hiring top experts for their time will cost you. When I first began our business, one of the ways I leveraged experts was through buying their books. Most experts put years and years of content into a resource that costs less than $20. A well-written book is literally a roadmap for solving your problems. Even if we could hire experts for an hour to pick their brain, most of the time, their book is a better option. Here’s why:

• You can reference a book again and again.
• Books follow a logical flow, beginning with a problem and ending with a solution.
• Most books include documentation and other ancillary materials.

I’m thrilled Brad Burke put his brain into his new book—The YouTuber Journey. As an author I know firsthand that he’ll be able to reach many more people because of this resource. Author Academy Elite, our publishing company, had the privilege of serving as Brad’s publisher. (Learn about our publishing model and apply to become an author by clicking here.)

If you pick up the YouTuber Journey, you’ll discover how to:

• start from ground zero and build an audience based on your passions
• understand YouTube as a platform and use it fully to your advantage
• overcome the fears and self-doubt that prevent people from creating
• deliver quality videos regardless of your budget and skill
• use YouTube as a launching point for a lucrative career

More about Brad’s Journey:

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Comment and Share

Please consider rating the podcast with 5 stars and also leaving a one- or two-sentence review in iTunes or on Stitcher. This helps tremendously in bringing the podcast to the attention of others. I am also mentioning the names of all who rate the podcast with 5 stars in future episodes.

We encourage you to join the Igniting Souls Tribe on Facebook. It’s a community of like-minded influencers as well as listeners of the Igniting Souls Podcast.

Furthermore, you can tell your friends on Twitter about the podcast by simply clicking this link and sharing the tweet you’ll find at the other end.

And, by all means, if you know someone you think would benefit, please spread the word by using the share buttons on this page. Finally, thanks for listening and remember, “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”

The Truth about Conferences

Someone—who hosted his own conference—once warned me:

Doing your own conference is going to be one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences you’ll ever do. You’ll lose money, but you’ll also gain a community.

While there could be some truth to that comment, I disagree with several points:

• It doesn’t have to be hard. (If you assemble the right team.)
• It might not be rewarding. (If you don’t include certain essential elements.)
• You don’t have to lose money. (And making money doesn’t mean you need to score sponsors or settle for a pitch-fest.)
• You might not gain a community. (If the “main show” is on the stage, then community is much harder to build.)

After doing more than 100 live events over the past decade, I’ve discovered the good, the bad, and the beautiful of hosting your own conference. This post and podcast is dedicated to save you time and money and increase your chance of successfully hosting your own conference that is both memorable and profitable.

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

The Good about Conferences

=> Clear Theme:

I’ve said it a ton of times. Clarity attracts. Confusion Repels. This year we picked a clear theme: set fire to your business and brand.

Here’s what it meant for our conference and context:

FEEL THE FIRE: In the beginning all we see is ourselves. We feel the heat from our own fiery trials. The majority stays here forever. But our breakthrough is just on the other side of awareness—when we realize the obstacle is the way.

SEE THE FIRE: Looking outward, we now see others in need. Their struggle feels strangely familiar. Our former pain will become their future cure. With courage and clarity we do deep work so we can create deep impact.

BE THE FIRE: By leveraging our hurts into a helpful framework, we open a new way and a new world. Through serving and storytelling, people embrace the solution and experience success. As we show up filled up, we set fire to our business and brand.

As the conference host it’s your responsibility to set the theme. This is often the most important step. It’s something I do first and foremost before anything else.

=> Intentional Takeaways:

Don’t make your attendees guess what they’re going to get. We tell our people exactly what to expect. If they’re going to hop on a plane or into a car it’s up to you to create a culture of intentional takeaways. We told our people:

=> Dynamic Community:

We could have packed more people in the room—the business center told us so. They said if we put people in rows and not round tables we’d fit at least 100 more. It took us 2 seconds to come to a clear decision. Our answer? “No thank you.” Although we could have scored more cash, community is king at our event—not the other way around.

We call it the Igniting Souls Conference, but around each table of 8 people, a spark began to appear on day one. At the end of day 2 that spark was a fiery blaze. Friendships were forged. Collaborations were created. And in some cases partnerships were primed.

The Bad about Conferences

=> Confusing Benefits:

Too many times conferences brand themselves with unclear benefits. People don’t know why they’re showing up or what they’re going to get from attending. The reason why we have sold out events—year-after-year—is because we let people know ahead of time why coming will help them personally and professionally.

=> Disjointed Speakers:

Ever been to a conference that had zero alignment? Each session felt completely random and disconnected from the previous one? This type of conference is a liability, not an asset.

At igniting souls conference each speaker is completely aligned with the other speakers.

* We didn’t contradict each other. We built upon each other’s content.

* We didn’t compete with one another. We edified each other on and off stage.

* We didn’t sell the crowd. We served the attendees. 

=> Wasting Time:

I’m not a fan of wasting time. I don’t want to attend a conference to massage someone’s back, dance in the aisle, or listen to a 2-day pitch-fest. At our conference we don’t waste time in any of these obvious ways. But, we also don’t waste time in subtle ways too—like doing irrelevant exercises, prolonged table times, or even waiting in food lines. (Listen to the podcast above if you want more insider tips and tools.)

The Beautiful about Conferences

=> Life Change:

The stories of life change keep rolling in. Just when we think we’ve heard them all another one pops up. Besides the 20+ linked below, here’s an entire page of two dozen more recorded long after the conference ended.

If you’re looking for hype you won’t find it. Rather, you’ll find true transformation via our attendees and their new courses launched, retreats planned, books outlined, websites built, and businesses started. Watch them here.

=> Beautiful = Unplanned Magic:

We love to include a few surprises each conference. This year we invited Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion wrestler Kyle Synder. Besides being the best wrestler in the world, it turns out he’s an amazing speaker too. He shared what it takes to become a champion. He was joined by Tom Ryan the NCAA national champion coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Both men added a ton of value and our attendees enjoyed getting pictures with them.

Each year we have a photo booth. In the past attendees became boxers, swimmers, and this year firefighters. Besides creating laughs, this element also created a bonding experience for each of the tables.

=> Beautiful = Souls on Fire:

This year we launched 46 of our authors into the world. Each of them are graduates of Author Academy Elite. Not only do we help them write, publish, and market their books, but we also let them speak and sell their books in our bookstores. This is the program I wish I had when I first became an author back in 2004.

The authors did an amazing job on stage. Each talk literally blew me away. And their books are each a beautiful work of art—inside and out.

We’re looking for our next authors to publish. Although thousands will express interest and hundreds will apply, we can only accept 25. If you’d like to be considered please register for our live webinar on November 8th. When you do you’ll get my new e-book immediately: How to Turn your Book into 18 Streams Income.

This year over two dozen attendees wrote about their experience at the Igniting Souls Conference. I’ve included their unedited thoughts below. (A few of them settled for provocative titles and headlines—Thanks Mike Kim.)

Some were written with tears and others contain a ton of humor. Some include pics and others are text heavy or video based (some could load and some could not and need to be clicked).

All in all I think you’ll enjoy the variety and a 360 degree view of the event. If this post or podcast sounded intriguing, we’d love to have you join us at our next Igniting Souls Conference.

Attendee Reviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_5rkwgCC5Q&feature=youtu.be

• Comparison Can be Good (by Renee Vidor)
• Kary Oberbrunner, Exposed! Behind the scenes at the Igniting Souls Conference 2017 (by Karen Creamer)
• 3 Reasons Why Most First-Time Authors Will Fail (by Chris Borja)
• Kary Oberbrunner Revealed! (by Nanette O’Neal)
• The One Thing that Will Make the Difference in Your Affair Recovery (by Becky Hadaway)
• 5 things you need to know about Igniting Souls Conference 2017 (by Dennis Riley)
• Igniting Souls Conference (by Kathy Binner) {VIDEO}
• What to do when your dream has lost its fire…. (by Tony Colson)
• KARY OBERBRUNNER AND THE IGNITING SOULS TRIBE EXPOSED A BEHIND THE SCENES TELL ALL (by Daphne V. Smith)

• #Igniting Souls 17 (by Donna Reiners)
• Believing In Your Dream Changes the World: Don’t Hold Back (by Kirsten Samuel)
• Igniting Souls (by Joni Wolf)
• A Tribe is More than a Buzzword (by Brenda Haire)
• The Igniting Souls Conference: Go Again for Same Old—Same Old? (by Dvora Elisheva)
• Kary Oberbrunner Exposed! A Behind The Scenes Tell-All From His Igniting Souls 2017 Conference (by Becca Brinkman)
• IGNITING SOULS: MOVING FORWARD (by Angela Bonfante)
• Kary Oberbrunner’s Tribe Exposed (by Donna Shepherd) {Linkedin}
• Can We Really Trust Attending Conferences? – Like Igniting Souls Conference? (by Cardiff D. Hall)
• I struck gold (by Kelly Renee Baker)
• What Difference Can a Day Make? Try Adding Fire to Your Next Run (by Brian Wagner)
• Kary Oberbrunner Exposed (by Michelle Weidenbenner)
• BE THE FIRE (by Michele Stanford)
• How to shrivel up and die after a traumatic life event (by Laura J. Diehl) {VIDEO}
• What If Your Spouse Doesn’t Support Your Dreams? (by Tiffany Godfrey)
• My top 6 takeaways at the igniting souls conference (by Allison Kraft)
• 5 Healthy Benefits of a Soul On Fire (by Frances Capoccia)
• How to Ignite your Soul (by Catharine Freeman)
• Time to Fly (by Ruth Peirce)
• An Inspiring, Informative, Fun, and Fulfilling Igniting Souls Conference (by Trish Benedict)
• Igniting Souls Conference (by Debra Hayes)
• Igniting Souls Conference (by Lisa Moser)

View Conference Photo Album Here

Set Fire to your Business and Brand

==> 1. Feel the fire

In the beginning all we see is ourselves. We feel the heat from our own fiery trials. The majority stays here forever. But our breakthrough is just on the other side of awareness—when we realize the obstacle is the way.

==> 2. See the fire

Looking outward, we now see others in need. Their struggle feels strangely familiar. Our former pain will become their future cure. With courage and clarity we do deep work so we can create deep impact.

==> 3. Be the fire

By leveraging our hurts into a helpful framework, we open a new way and a new world. Through serving and storytelling, people embrace the solution and experience success. As we show up filled up, we set fire to our business and brand.

Does it work?

Do I want you to come too? Of course!

In fact, I believe if you don’t come you’ll waste years of your life and tens of thousands of dollars. Don’t take my word for it though. Listen to the podcast  you’ll see what I mean.

• Learn cutting edge tips, tools, and tactics from industry-leading experts getting real-time results.
• Connect and collaborate with a global community of authors, speakers, coaches, and entrepreneurs committed to your success.
• Discover the clarity and courage you crave to craft an action-oriented plan that achieves your ultimate dream.

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”
—Ferdinand Foch

What’s your CHIEF desire?

Sex? Money? Fame? Nope…not even close.

I agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Our chief want in life is someone who will make us do what we can. (Tweet This)

So now the bigger question…what CAN you do?

Without a doubt, I know you CAN be a better and stronger version of yourself. You’re soft. And you’re playing too safe and too small. I know you’re not putting in your best effort. I know you default toward laziness, cutting the corners, and mediocrity.

WHY?

Because I know what’s inside me…and I know what’s inside you. Last time I checked it’s called human nature. Our default has always been self-preservation. When we were being chased by lions in the jungle this was a good thing. But today our threats don’t have four legs and razor sharp teeth.

Today our threats look like complacency, settling, consuming, chronic pain, and going through the motions.

How do we wake up to the better version inside ourselves?

Two words: TRUTH TELLER.

You need one and so do I. Providentially, in 2001 I met a TRUTH TELLER who called me out and shut me up. He leaned into me and forced me to look at my own blindspots.

Chet Scott of Built to Lead, coached me through a powerful process that literally shifted my entire life. I realized by numbing my pain I was also numbing my potential. Sure the experience wasn’t always fun. But by inviting acute pain, I overcame a life of chronic pain. And in the process, I discovered my purpose…IGNITING SOULS.

The majority of people invest more time designing a 2-week vacation, than designing their entire lives. But without a plan, we coast through life, feeling lost and directionless. The result? We’re dead….we just haven’t made it official. It’s easy to ignore these costs.

But according to Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung:

The most damaging thing in the life of child, is the unlived life of the parent.

Your perspective matters because you don’t see things the way they are, but the way you are. If you feel defeated, discouraged, and disengaged…the world reflects a similar image right back at you. And although you were meant for more, the world isn’t going to hand you your purpose on a silver platter. It’s your responsibility to become a master in the art of living:

Master in the art of living: Someone who draws no sharp distinction between work and play; labor and leisure; mind and body; education and recreation. They hardly knows which is which. They simply pursues their vision of excellence through whatever they’re doing, and leave others to determine whether they’re working or playing. To themselves, they always appears to be doing both.

In episode 69, I set up the interview with Chet. I talk about the benefits of becoming Built to Lead. Then, for the next 30 minutes, I ask Chet to let it rip. It’s not sexy. It’s not polished or plastic. It’s the real “steak and potatoes” of what it takes to become a high performer.

I believe in you.

I know it’s time you became a better version of yourself. And here’s a little secret. Our loved ones love us—don’t get me wrong. But they wish we could become better versions of ourselves too.

Why?

Because they’re waiting for someone to show them the way. They want you to help them become better. But they don’t want to hear it…they want to see it. And your transformation will wake them up to the idea of their own transformation.

So what are you waiting for? Get busy building…yourself!

—————-

QUESTION: Do you think people want to hear the truth?

(Please comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you know someone who needs to read this, please encourage them by sharing this post) 

LINKS:

Chet Scott of Built to Lead
Igniting Souls Conference
Kary Oberbrunner Author FB Page 

I believe you have what it takes. You may just not have the tools…at least not yet. Click on the pic below to discover more about Becoming Unhackable. We have multiple sessions on how to become a better version of yourself.