Could you be earning more influence, impact, & income?

If you’re a content creator (speaker, blogger, authors, podcaster, etc.) and you’re not certifying people to speak, coach, and train on your content, then you could be leaving massive amounts of influence, impact, and income on the table.

Over the past 5 years we’ve issued well over 100 certifications for our 3 teams: Your Secret Name, The Deeper Path, and Dream Job Coaches. The crazy thing is, we’ve never publicly promoted our teams. 

Instead, people who went through our coaching programs and experienced massive life change asked us to be certified. They wanted to create life-change in others through their own speaking, coaching, and training.

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

One of the Best Decisions We Ever Made

I had reservations at first. The issues centered around ego, control, and fear. Family members even advised me against it. But then, I woke up and realized the massive benefits for the team members and our mission—Igniting Souls. Today looking back, it’s one of the best decisions we ever made.

In this episode, I share: How to Become a Thought Leader and Certify People on your own Content. I share the quick backstory below.

And for the first time ever, during the next 7 days we’re taking applications for new team members. If you’re interested in learning more, please watch this 2 minute video here. After you do, you can then check out whichever team you’re interested in applying for: Your Secret Name, The Deeper Path, Dream Job Coaches. Here’s just a few of our team members.

Should you Certify People Your Own Content?

I get it. As content creators, we’re often scared to “let go” of our message. It’s our baby after all.  Will people represent our message well? Will they take care of it?  Six years ago issues of ego, fear, and control kept me from ever considering it.

But then I woke up and I’m so glad I did. On the podcast and below I share more about the story and process. However, here’s 7 quick reasons to help make the decision easier.

C – Coaches: You don’t have enough hours in a day to help all the people that need it.

E – Empowerment: Your message won’t reach its potential if you protect it.

R – R.O.I. : Your team increases their impact and income AND yours.

T – Trainers: You can’t train all the people who need your content.

I – Influence: Your influence will grow as you grow your team.

F – Focus: You can only do a few things well and you have more content to create.

Y – Yawp: Your need barbaric YAWPERS that make the message even better.

How it All Happened

Almost 6 years ago Your Secret Name—my fourth book—released in September, 2010. In a matter of weeks we realized this book was special without much of our own doing. The book touched on an issue common to many adults and teens alike—identity. I blended my story overcoming self-injury with the reader’s journey of discovering who they were created to be.

My friend Gabe created an interactive website that combined free tools with support from our growing community. My friend Josh produced a beautiful book trailer, and we began getting emails from people of various backgrounds and struggles. They told us about their newfound freedom and how they discovered a connection with their Creator, their community, and their core.

Stories of victory over suicidal thoughts, depression, prostitution, workaholism, anorexia, and low self-esteem poured in. We continued sharing the message as best we could, but we’d clearly reached our capacity. Back then my day job brought its own set of challenges and commitments. And although I entertained thoughts of jumping into my dream job full-time, book sales alone didn’t come close to paying the bills.

Then it happened. I received an email from Desiree Arney, a stranger in New Jersey touched by the message. Long story short, after a couple chats David and I asked her to join our “team.”

The word team was a bit presumptuous. Although we wanted to change the world, we didn’t have a plan, a platform, or a paycheck. We figured passion was enough so we kept moving forward. A few months later we decided to have a conference and over one hundred people showed up. Toward the end of the conference we blocked off an open mic time for participants to share their thoughts about the day.

The stories of transformation people shared blew us away. Feeling momentum and divine favor, we created the Your Secret Name Team. Clearly we needed a way to multiply our impact and fund our efforts. I knew I couldn’t accept every gig, and although I felt a little guilty turning down some opportunities, my family and day job took precedence.

In no time we added a dozen members from all over the world, including Europe and New Zealand. Additional team members trickled in, and our impact and income increased slowly but steadily.

Benefits of Passive Impact

Even better than the passive income was the passive impact.

I remember one chilly Ohio afternoon playing with my three children on the living room floor. I think Isabel won out with her game choice—sleeping giant. Our stomachs were full from a scrumptious Sunday lunch and the wood in the fireplace crackled and popped. Snowflakes fell softly outside and my wife and I smiled at each other as we tried to keep up with three active kids.

Later that evening I checked our Secret Name Facebook group. Thrilled to read the posts, I learned how that weekend three separate team members had conducted Your Secret Name events in their own cities.

I smiled. While I enjoyed my loved ones in the comfort of my home, our passive impact business was igniting. Our team was communicating this message of hope to people who needed healing. It hasn’t stopped since.

 Want to Join our Team of World Changers?

What about you? Do you want a business or ministry in a box? Do you want to join a Team of World Changers and increase your influence, impact, and income?

For the first time ever, during the next 7 days we’re taking applications for new team members. If you’re interested in learning more, please watch this 2 minute video here. After you do, you can then check out whichever team you’re interested in applying for: Your Secret Name, The Deeper Path, Dream Job Coaches.

Here are just a few of our team members. I’d love to read your application and see if we’re a good fit. It’s time to Ignite Souls.

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QUESTION: Are you planning to launch a book, brand, or business sometime in the next 5 years?

(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) 

Why would I speak over 50 times for FREE?

I’m either crazy (don’t answer that question) OR I’ve discovered a way to increase my influence, impact, and income while giving back to my community. It’s called Igniting Souls Fellowship.

Many of you have asked me recently, “Kary how can I create my own version of your ‘Igniting Souls Fellowship’ where I live.” Others have “borrowed” my model. Daphne created “Third Thursdays” and Kathy created “Mentoring Mondays.” Great job ladies.

In this week’s episode I teach you: How to grow your business locally with a TRY BEFORE YOU BUY STRATEGY. In it I unpack 4 years of Igniting Souls Fellowship. (Structure, flow, strategy, pros, cons, wins, failures, and much more.)

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

And because I’m committed to helping you, this week I took action and made a live video in front of a live audience. I filmed our June Igniting Souls Fellowship. (BTW: You’re always invited to this FREE monthly event, my gift to you.) WATCH IT HERE.

Already it’s reached thousands of people (see pic below). I admit it was a little out of my comfort zone, filming it live, because I usually speak on video OR to a live audience. I’ve rarely done both at the same time.

IGNITING SOULS FELLOWSHIP TOPIC BELOW 

Fact! You’re more powerful than NASA

What is this amazing power you have?

Believe it or not, it’s in your pocket? Want to guess what it is?

Try…your smart phone!

Back in 1969, NASA computers cost $3.5 million a piece and were the size of a car. Each could perform several hundred thousand additional operations per second, and their total memory capacity was in the megabyte range.

Your smartphone today is millions of times more powerful that all of NASA’s combined computing in 1969

Who cares? And why does this matter?

Over the past couple years I’ve recorded over one hundred videos that have received hundreds of thousands of views from people all over the world. (A few here)

These videos range from a guy who stole my shopping cart TWICE in the same day to one with my friend Tom Ryan, coach of the Ohio State Buckeye wrestling team that got over 55,000 views.

Again, who cares? And why does this matter?

Because many of you have asked me how you start making your own videos on your smart phones. You asked me questions like:

* What types of videos should I make?
* How do I make them?
* Does the title of my video matter?
* How can I get people to share my video?
* Should I post it to YouTube or Facebook and why does it matter?
* How can I change the thumbnail for my video?
* Did Chewbacca mom really make $400,000 from one 4 minute video?

If your brand new to smart phone video OR if you’re a pro, you might enjoy the FREE training. I’m leaving it up for a little while longer. I teach you how to make powerful videos from your smartphone by using my framework:

V = Value
I = Impact
D = Direct
E = Emotional
O = Original

Cool Surprise Coming Next Week:

I’ll share more next week. But if you want a sneak peek you can watch it HERE now.

You coming to Igniting Souls 2016?

Igniting Souls Conference (October 22-23 – Becoming Unhackable) Ticket Price Increases today June 13th!

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!

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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.

I think if we’re honest, most of us are guilty of it…making mistakes on social media.
Maybe you wish you:

• Could take something back.
• Hadn’t posted when you were mad.
• Didn’t come off with so much self-promotion.

Or you might be the opposite. Maybe you haven’t made mistakes.
Rather, you wish you could just get more people to:

• Like your posts.
• Be more engaged.
• Buy your stuff.

Ever see someone’s posts and cringe? 
Ever think…what were they thinking?
Ever wish you could give someone a social media makeover?

I know, I know. It’s always those other people, not us.
They need the makeover, but we’ve got our stuff together.

Right?
Maybe not.

I think we could all use a few more points added to our SMQ = Social Media Intelligence.

Trust me when I say, I was the “poster boy” for all the wrong moves on social media when I first started. But today I’m glad I made them. Funny thing is over the years some corporations have even hired me to help them NOT make my mistakes.

I coach my clients to do the same:

Leverage your past pain into future influence, impact, and income. (tweet this)

In episode 68 I teach you how to give yourself a Social Media Makeover by focusing on 8 components. I list them below and unpack them on the episode. Get ready for a fun and enlightening experience.

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

Give yourself a social media makeover by focusing on:

M = Mission

Is your mission clear? Clarity attracts; confusion repels….especially on social media.

A = Awareness

Ignorance isn’t bliss; it costs you big time in the end.

K = Keenness

Forget “street smarts.” Focus on “social media smarts.” It can be caught and taught.

E = Engagement

I’ll say it again. Marketing is storytelling. Draw them in a brilliant story.

O = Others

Selling is serving others, not yourself. Social media doesn’t ruin you; it reveals you.

V = Value

Any money ethically earned is a direct result of value creation. No value. No money.

E = Emotion

They remember how you made them feel, not what you said.

R = R.O.I.

Don’t believe the lies. Social media done well should pay dividends, a return on investment.

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QUESTION: Am I missing any? If you had to add one more, what would it be?

(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:

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 take your social media to the next level—personally and professionally.

Did I really say the “ONLY” THING?

As is in: One? Uno? Single? Sole? Lone?

Yep. It’s true.

There’s only one thing you need to become an author.

But that’s not what the Internet says?

The Internet says you need an agent, a proposal, and a platform. It says you need a big book advance and huge budget with a savvy publicist who’s a social media ninja master on twitter and Snapchat. It says you need a tour bus wrapped from top to bottom with a color version of your book cover (purple is best). And a plug from Oprah…and billboards too. Yeah, billboards of your face help a ton too.

WHATEVER? 

Last time I checked, to become a mom or dad you just need one thing—a kid. You can buy all the baby stuff you want: strollers, car seats, bottles, pack-and-plays, onesies, diapers, changing tables, and cribs. But none of that stuff makes you a mom or a dad.

And billions of moms and dads all over the world have NONE of that baby “stuff.” Zero! Zilch! Nada! Zip! All they have is the one thing that actually counts…the baby!

Stop arguing for what you don’t want

Most “aspiring authors” never become an author because they overthink the process. They believe the lie, the hype, and the myths. They worry, stress, and freak out about what step #5013 might look like and so they never take step #1.

“Aspiring” authors fall into a trap—arguing for what they don’t want. Of course they say they want to write a book…82% of the population does. But sadly, 99% never do  because they get caught up in all the other stuff…just like “aspiring” parents and “aspiring” homeowners. All talk…no action.

The first step is the hardest…and the easiest

I’ve written 6 traditionally published books, 1 indie book, ghostwritten 3 others, and coached/consulted hundreds of authors. Every book required only one single thing. That’s it.

Trust me. I’ve had some strikes against me. I’m bald. I have a girl’s name. I was labeled by professionals as “learning disabled” in elementary schools for a severe stuttering problem. I overcame an addiction to self-injury as a teenager and in my young adult years I finally pushed through a decade long battle with on-and-off depression. I understand Resistance.

Sure I was scared to take the first step, but I’m so glad I did. Today I get messages from all over the world. People tell me how my books changed their lives. Most of these people I’ve never even met.

As one of my mentors told me:

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. (Tweet this)

Here’s the only thing you need

I love the movie Inception. In it the main character Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio’s character explains,

“What’s the most resilient parasite? An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.”

I’ve had the privilege to coach hundreds of authors, through their own Resistance and into their dreams of becoming an author. I always begin with the first step…helping them create a killer book idea.

Want me to help you create your own killer book idea?

Over the years many people have emailed, tweeted, called, and sent smoke signals asking me to help them create their killer book idea too. I hated to say no, but I had no other choice. I was busy coaching my own clients and managing my own writing career.

Saying no to all these aspiring authors was bugging me—big time! And so a few months ago, I blocked off a couple days down in West Palm Beach to shoot a FREE 7 day video course. It’s called My Book Hook.

Already thousands of aspiring authors have gone through the course and used it to begin their own writing career. In the course I teach you how to create your own killer book idea.

For a limited time, you can get the full course FREE. Just tell us where to send it by clicking here or on the pic below.

Then for the next 7 days I’ll show up in your inbox. There’s even a place where you can shoot me your questions. I’ll personally respond with my thoughts and advice on your book idea.

Nothing fires me up more than helping aspiring authors become real authors.

The only question is…when can we start? I’m ready. Are you?

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POST BELOW: I’d love to say hi to you. Please let me know your name where you’re from.

I believe you have what it takes. You may just not have the tools…at least not yet. Click on the pic above to get instant access to my free 7-day system for creating your killer book idea.

( And if you know someone else who needs to read this, please encourage them by sharing this post.) 

Sales and marketing?

Those two words sound like cuss words to most of us creative folks. (BTW…you are a “creative folk” in my book, regardless how you feel on the topic.)

But without effective sales and marketing the best product or service doesn’t have a chance of survival. So what’s an entrepreneur to do?

• Do we focus on sales and marketing and go against our gut?
• Do we ignore sales and marketing and die a slow death?

How about neither!

I chose to redefine sales and marketing instead. For the past several years I’ve redefined sales as serving and marketing as storytelling.

Smart entrepreneurs view sales as serving and marketing as storytelling.
(Click to Tweet)

So does it work?

The results speak for themselves. Our business has doubled every year the past four years. I never focus on “selling” any client. Rather, I focus on serving them instead. In the process, many end up buying (remember Jonily’s own testimony from episode 53?)

Sadly, most businesses aren’t using social media intelligently. Unfortunately, they’re making some simple, but costly mistakes. In this week’s episode of the Igniting Souls Podcast, I unpack why most marketing I see on social media ISN’T WORKING.

I also share practical steps on how to make the switch effectively. I want you to maximize AND monetize your message to its fullest potential. (Click on the play button below to listen.)

If you want to change your marketing results you must change your marketing strategies. Listen to episode 61 and run circles around your competition.

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QUESTION: What do you think is more effective feeling sold or being served?

(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) 

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 how to get busy living. See yourself through new eyes and begin creating the life you want.

What if you could predict the success of your idea BEFORE you launched it?

What if you found a map to help you steer through all the minefields?

• Imagine the time and money you’d save.
• Imagine the embarrassment you’d avoid.
• Imagine the insight you’d gain.

But crystal balls don’t exist and no one knows for sure anyways, right?

Up until now, maybe this were true. But what if you did have a 5-step framework, chocked full of case studies, stories, examples, and insights that told you otherwise?

• Will that beef jerky subscription company succeed?
• What about leveraging your design expertise into an educational online experience?

In WILL IT FLY, these real life ideas and many more are pushed through a specific paradigm. On the other side, you’ll see why these ideas experienced success.

Wisdom advises us to determine if our idea will fly or flop BEFORE we launch it. (Click to Tweet or Share on FB)

Forget “luck” and “chance” or “knowing the right people.” Just like airplanes fly because of certain universal laws relative to flight, so do effective business ideas.

In this candid conversation, I sit down with serial entrepreneur Pat Flynn and unpack the finer points of WILL IT FLY—a manual for how to test your next business idea so you don’t waste your time and money.

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QUESTION: What’s your cool idea?

(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) 

Do you need help launching your book idea?  If so, be sure to access these FREE tools immediately. Click on the pic below.

In this episode I take a deep dive into the Living Forward phenomenon via an exclusive chat with authors Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy.

Living Forward starts out by addressing THE DRIFT.

The DRIFT is the tendency to arrive at destinations you don’t consciously choose. The DRIFT is facing life in a reactive way and happens when you’re:

1. Unaware
2. Distracted
3. Overwhelmed
4. Deceived

No one wakes up and says:

“Today I want to DRIFT.”

However, if you’re not living a life according to design, then you’re living a life according to DRIFT.

So how do you change direction and snap out of the DRIFT? Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy reveal that the average person spends 5 hours researching and shopping for a new car. The average bride-to-be spends 40 days planning a three-hour wedding. However, the average person never spends 1 day planning his or her life.

Why?

The reality is most of us don’t know how to plan our lives. Besides, it sounds daunting and out of reach.

“People who’ve lost their way are people who’ve lost their why.” (Click to Tweet)

Thankfully, Hyatt and Harkavy close the distance by demonstrating how to do a life plan. Even better, they provide examples of real Life Plans from real clients. These individuals come from a variety of backgrounds and life stages so readers of all kinds can relate.

The book is broken into 3 main parts:

1. Understand Your Need
2. Create Your Plan
3. Make it Happen.

It literally walks you though the Life Plan process in a step-by-step fashion. The Life Plan is facing life in a proactive way.

As you read this book you’ll answer 3 powerful questions:

1. How do I want to be remembered? This is your legacy.
2. What matters most to me? These are your priorities.
3. How do I get from where I am to where I want to be? This is your action plan.

Design your own “Regret Free” life by crafting your Life Plan.

• The Life Plan creates clarity. It acts as a GPS.
• The Life Plan creates courage. It acts as a filter.
• The Life Plan creates commitment. It acts as a motivator.

Page 154 says it all, “This may sound grandiose, but we are out to change the world.”

In Living Forward authors Hyatt and Harkavy do just that. They change the world one person at a time by challenging readers to create greatness one life plan at a time.

Living Forward is a fantastic tool to design the life you want and then clarify the steps you need to take to get there.

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QUESTION: What’s one thing you’re looking forward to?

(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) 

Are you getting the results you desire? If not, click on the pic below to discover how to begin creating the life you want.

If part of your Life Plan includes a writing a book someday, be sure to access these FREE tools immediately.