The Media Training Bible by Brad Phillips - Book review

The Media Training Bible

101 Things You Absolutely, Positively Need To Know Before Your Next Interview

By: Brad Phillips

Published: November 29, 2012
Format: Paperback, 254 pages
ISBN-10: 0988322005
ISBN-13: 978-0988322004
Publisher: SpeakGood Press












"Media training requires that spokespersons are equipped for traditional and new media", writes blogger at Mr. Media Training Blog and president of Phillips Media Relations, Brad Phillips, in his comprehensive and very hands on book The Media Training Bible: 101 Things You Absolutely, Positively Need To Know Before Your Next Interview. The author describes how media spokespeople can prepare for today's complex media world where old and new media are entwined, and how to present your message the right way for both traditional and social media audiences.

Brad Phillips recognizes that media spokespeople must understand the fundamental differences, as well as the similarities, of presenting their message to the various types of media. The author provides the background to working with different types of journalists, including those who work in traditional media, and those who report through blogs and other forms of social media. At the same time, Brad Phillips shares proven techniques for crafting and delivering a positive media message in print, on television, and on radio. The author also demonstrates the importance of the unspoken message given through body language, voice tone, gestures, clothing choices, and a sense of confidence when responding to very difficult and challenging questions.

Brad Phillips (photo left) understands that there is much more to a media appearance than the words spoken by the media representative. The author shares proven techniques for mastering the non-verbal messages carried in the speaker's body language, clothing, and tone of voice. Brad Philips points out that while these cues are very important in any media interviews, they are absolutely critical during a crisis when even the slightest error in message delivery could spell disaster for the media spokesperson and the organization.

Brad Phillips guides media spokespeople through the following main areas of media presentation to ensure a successful interview. Those topics include:

* Eight ground rules for working with the media
* Messages and message supports
* The interview
* Answering the tough questions
* Body language and attire guide
* The different media formats
* Crisis communications: The ten truths of a crisis
* Final interview preparation

For me, the power of the book is how Brad Phillips combines a comprehensive overview of all aspects of media presentations, with the practical strategies and techniques to achieve success in all interview situations. The author demonstrates clearly and concisely how media spokespeople can present their message in a positive and well accepted manner across both traditional and new media. Brad Phillips offers proven advice for ensuring that the interview is handled properly whether on television, radio, print, blogs, or other internet based media format.

The key is that Brad Phillips understands that what is the best form of presentation for one type of media may not be effective with another. This recognition of differences is especially important during times of crisis when the questions become more challenging and the responses are very often incomplete at the time of interview. The author provides real value for the readership by offering a complete assessment and series of recommendations for those crucial interviews given during a crisis. The author enhances the concepts and best practices shared in the book through a series of case studies that illustrate the techniques being used effectively.

I highly recommend the very complete and extremely useful book
The Media Training Bible: 101 Things You Absolutely, Positively Need To Know Before Your Next Interview by Brad Phillips, to any business or organizational leaders, managers, executives, entrepreneurs, or anyone who may be called upon to provide an interview in any format of media. This book will ensure that you share your message positively and accurately regardless of the media or the circumstances surrounding the interview.

Anthony Flynn & Emily Flynn Vencat: Custom Nation - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio

Founder and CEO of YouBar, Anthony Flynn, and internationally known freelance writer Emily Flynn Vencat, co-authors of the revolutionary and very practical advice filled book Custom Nation: Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It, describe how customization of products and services is the trend of the future, replacing the traditional mass production business model. The authors provide the background to how customization is transforming the marketplace in every industry, while also returning domestic manufacturing from offshore locations. The authors demonstrate how entrepreneurs can establish and market a successful custom based business. They also share ideas for existing firms to move toward customization as well. The authors show business people how customization will differentiate brands and their parent companies from the competition. At the same time, you will learn how customization increases market share, boosts profit margins, and enhances customer loyalty.

Anthony Flynn and Emily Flynn Vencat are my internet radio show guests on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Thursday, January 31, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Founder and CEO of YouBar, Anthony Flynn, and internationally known freelance writer Emily Flynn Vencat, co-authors of the revolutionary and very practical advice filled book Custom Nation: Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It, describe how customization of products and services is the trend of the future, replacing the traditional mass production business model. You will learn:

* Why customization is such a fast growing trend

* How to establish a custom based business

* How to add a custom based division to an existing company

* What the future holds for custom based and traditional manufacturing firms

Anthony Flynn (photo left) graduated from the University of Southern California with a business degree in 2006, and founded YouBar, the world's first customized nutrition bar company, with his mother, Ava Bise. Since then, Flynn has grown YouBar to seven-digit annual sales and employs 30 people in an 8,000-square-foot facility in downtown Los Angeles.

Flynn frequently gives television, radio, newspaper, and magazine interviews about YouBar and food customization. He has appeared on Fox, ABC, the Cooking Channel, and NBC, among dozens of other television stations. He has also given interviews for The New York Times, Women's Health, DailyCandy, the Today show, E! News, the Nutrition Business Journal, Good Morning America, and National Public Radio's Marketplace.

In addition to this, Flynn gives lectures on how customization is changing the food industry, and he consults to companies launching customized food products. Among his numerous talks, he has been a guest speaker at USC, UC Berkeley, and UCLA.

Emily Flynn Vencat (photo left) graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University with a degree in English Literature, and moved to London in 2002, where she began her journalism career at Newsweek. Vencat worked as a London-based Newsweek correspondent for five years, where she covered major economic trends, including the international housing market, the global luxury trade, and the effects of global warming and the green movement on big business.

After taking over as Newsweek's London-based business writer in 2006, Vencat wrote more than 100 articles in two years, including five cover stories. Later, as a business writer on staff at The Associated Press, Vencat wrote blow-by-blow coverage of the 2008 global economic meltdown, with her articles being picked up by newspapers around the world, including the International Herald Tribune and USA Today.

Vencat has interviewed some of the biggest names in the business world, including Virgin boss Richard Branson, Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll, Celtel founder Mo Ibrahim, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, and The Carlyle Group founding partner David Rubenstein.

My book review of Custom Nation: Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It by Anthony Flynn and Emily Flynn Vencat.

Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with Founder and CEO of YouBar, Anthony Flynn, and internationally known freelance writer Emily Flynn Vencat, co-authors of the revolutionary and very practical advice filled book Custom Nation: Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It, describe how customization of products and services is the trend of the future, replacing the traditional mass production business model. The authors provide the background to how customization is transforming the marketplace in every industry, while also returning domestic manufacturing from offshore locations. The authors demonstrate how entrepreneurs can establish and market a successful custom based business. They also share ideas for existing firms to move toward customization as well. The authors show business people how customization will differentiate brands and their parent companies from the competition. At the same time, you will learn how customization increases market share, boosts profit margins, and enhances customer loyalty on Blog Business Success Radio.

Custom Nation by Anthony Flynn & Emily Flynn Vencat - Book review

Custom Nation

Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It

By: Anthony Flynn, Emily Flynn Vencat

Published: November 15, 2012
Format: Paperback, 224 pages
ISBN-10: 1937856100
ISBN-13: 978-1937856106
Publisher: BenBella Books










"America is becoming a nation of customizers. And the new rule for successful businesses across the country is simple: Customize for your clients", write YouBar founder and CEO, Anthony Flynn; and internationally known freelance writer Emily Flynn Vencat, in their revolutionary and very practical advice filled book Custom Nation: Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It. The authors describe how companies are moving from the long established mass production model to one based on customizing products and services to fit the needs of individual customers and clients.

Anthony Flynn (photo left) and Emily Flynn Vencat recognize that era of mass production, and one product for every customer era is drawing to a close. The authors point out that the older business model, that long considered customization to be too small scale and suited only to niche markets, is now the outdated one. in its place, is a growing sense of customization to fit the individual needs and desires of the finely targeted and segmented customer based. in this new long tale oriented marketplace, the custom product is big business. The authors also make a very compelling case that customization is a model that is applicable to any industry, product, or service regardless of the size of company.

Emily Flynn Vencat (photo left) and Anthony Flynn understand the important and game changing fact that in the custom demand based economy, any entrepreneur can enter the customized product marketplace. Whether an existing company or a start up venture, the opportunity for customization creates a built in product advantage for brands. With customization comes automatic differentiation for products to stand out in the marketplace from their competition. The authors demonstrate how to establish a custom based company, or how to add a customization component to an existing company.

The custom business can be developed with ease and with a boost to the bottom line and the overall customer experience: The authors share the following principles for becoming part of the customization nation:

* Launching your new custom business
* Adding customization to your existing business
* The seven crucial lessons of customizing
* Customize your marketing
* Keep growing your custom business

For me, the power of the book is how Anthony Flynn and Emily Flynn Vencat combine a strong theoretical background of the new reality of customization, with the practical strategies and techniques for building a successful custom based company. The authors structure their assessment of the changes in consumer demand and tastes well, as they demonstrate how the twentieth century mass production model is losing viability in the twenty-first century. The authors provide proven techniques for building either a new company based entirely on customization, or for adding to and even transforming an existing organization to one based on custom products and services.

The case is bolstered through interviews and the real world experiences of industry innovators and leaders who have applied the principles of customization to their own firms. In many ways, the authors share the concept of customization as a leading edge form of disruptive innovation that can take over a market while the traditional mass market company is left behind and rendered irrelevant. With the younger generation of customers already seeking out customized products, the trend toward customization will only increase in the future. This trend also bodes well, according to the authors, for domestic manufacturing and production.

I highly recommend the the strategy packed and fresh thinking based book Custom Nation: Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It by Anthony Flynn and Emily Flynn Vencat, to any business leaders, marketers, and entrepreneurs seeking a clear and concise guide to building a profitable and innovative company based on the premise of customization. This book will change the way you think about custom products, and about mass production, forever.

W.H. Auden - Musée des Beaux Arts

W.H. Auden - Musée des Beaux Arts

Musée des Beaux Arts

By: W. H. Auden

About suffering they were never wrong,
The old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position: how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

David Fishof: Rock Your Business - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio

Entertainment producer, founder of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp™, and author of the engaging and practical advice packed book Rock Your Business: What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll, David Fishof, describes how the proven techniques of the world's biggest rock stars will work to make your business successful too. David Fishof shares the stories and the strategies employed by the superstars of music to achieve their enduring popularity. Through a series of basic principles, David Fishof demonstrates how to apply the lessons from the music industry to any entrepreneurial venture. David presents concepts for how to dream bigger, attracting an audience, overcoming enormous obstacles, and taking it to the next level. David points out how these business strategies are proven to work in the real world of the highly competitive entertainment industry. Learn how to operate your business like a rock star and achieve the lasting adulation of your own customers, employees, and fans.

David Fishof is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Tuesday, January 29, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Entertainment producer, founder of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp™, and author of the engaging and practical advice packed book Rock Your Business: What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll, David Fishof, describes how the proven techniques of the world's biggest rock stars will work to make your business successful too. You will learn:

* Why the strategies of the music industry have proven so successful

* How to transfer the success of rock stars to your business

* How entrepreneurs can run their business like rock stars

* How to create ideas, attract fans, overcome obstacles and reach for the stars

David Fishof (photo left) has earned a reputation as one of the most creative and innovative entertainment producers in the world. Fishof reunited The Monkees and introduced them to a new generation of MTV fans, which led to some blowout tours. While working with Ringo Starr, Fishof helped create the All Starr Band concept, producing 8 All Star Band tours around the world.

David Fishof has also produced a variety of concert tours, including Dirty Dancing: The Concert Tour, Dick Clark's American Bandstand Tour, The Happy Together Tours, Classic Superfest, American Gladiators Live Tour, Mortal Kombat Live Tour, and the British Rock Symphony with feature vocalists Peter Frampton, Roger Daltrey, Alice Cooper, and Jon Anderson.

After years of producing rock tours across the globe, Fishof got the idea for the one-of-a-kind Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp™. His goal was to give music fans the opportunity to see their rock dreams become reality by learning from some of the most influential artists in the industry. That dream came to fruition when Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp™ hosted its first event in 1997. Since that time, Fishof has been giving individuals—whether they have musical ability or not—once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to live like a rock star and jam with their idols.

Over the years, Fishof has brought some of the world's top rockers to Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp™—Bill Wyman, Bret Michaels, Brian Wilson, Cheap Trick, Dr. John, George Thorogood, Jack Bruce, Joe Satriani, Joe Walsh, Jon Anderson, Levon Helm, Max Weinberg, Meatloaf, Mickey Hart, Nick Mason, Nils Lofgren, Randy Bachman, Roger Daltrey, Roger Hodgson, Slash, Steve Vai, Steven Tyler, Todd Rundgren, and Vince Neil among them.

In the sports world, Fishof has represented legends such as NFL greats Phil Simms, Mark Bavaro, Vince Ferragamo, and Jack Reynolds, and baseball stars Lou Piniella, Dave Magadan, and Randy Myers.

My book review of Rock Your Business: What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll by David Fishof.

Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with entertainment producer, founder of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp™, and author of the engaging and practical advice packed book Rock Your Business: What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll, David Fishof, as he describes how the proven techniques of the world's biggest rock stars will work to make your business successful too. David Fishof shares the stories and the strategies employed by the superstars of music to achieve their enduring popularity. Through a series of basic principles, David Fishof demonstrates how to apply the lessons from the music industry to any entrepreneurial venture. David presents concepts for how to dream bigger, attracting an audience, overcoming enormous obstacles, and taking it to the next level. David points out how these business strategies are proven to work in the real world of the highly competitive entertainment industry. Learn how to operate your business like a rock star and achieve the lasting adulation of your own customers, employees, and fans on Blog Business Success Radio.

Rock Your Business by David Fishof - Book review

Rock Your Business

What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll

By: David Fishof

Published: September 4, 2012
Format: Paperback, 288 pages
ISBN-10: 1936661454
ISBN-13: 978-1936661459
Publisher: BenBella Books











"In the world of rock and roll, things work a little differently, and I think these differences will be very powerful in your business", writes entertainment producer and founder of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp™, David Fishof in his engaging and practical advice packed book Rock Your Business: What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll. The author describes how the concepts and strategies employed successfully in the music industry are readily transferable to any business to achieve success.

David Fishof recognizes that the innovations and business acumen, displayed by the most successful rock and roll bands of all time, are a powerful source of competitive advantage for any company. The author draws a compelling parallel between the activities of a successful rock band with the strategies needed to achieve entrepreneurial success. David Fishof points out that bands are fundamentally an entrepreneurial enterprise and the music and the band members are the product. With this foundational principle in mind, the author guides the entrepreneur through the entire process of creating a hit record or a holding a profitable concert, and how those same practices and innovations can be employed effectively by any business.

David Fishof (photo left) understands that the music industry, and the bands and artists who comprise that industry, are in business. With that basic premise firmly in mind, the author demonstrates how the highly effective and innovative business practices utilized in the world of rock music can transform any business into a successful one. For the author, the simple fact that the music industry is about the people, including the larger than life superstars, provides a key insight into the heart of any company. Success revolves around the people within the organization.

The author presents a series of very powerful principles that develop chart topping and long lasting performers within the music industry. These business oriented pillars are as follows:

* Dream bigger
* Attract an audience
* Overcome enormous obstacles
* Take it to the next level

Fir me, the power of the book is how David Fishof develops and presents the correlation between the enormously effective creative and promotional practices of the music industry with the operation of any successful company. The author offers the similarities between a band finding an idea for a song or album, and how the process is taken from idea, through the studio, to the market in many different forms. These same underlying principles can be applied easily to any entrepreneurial venture.

The overarching concepts are illustrated by the author's inclusion of examples of bands putting the ideas to work in the real world. The engaging and fascinating stories and photographs of music's biggest stars also add to the appeal of the book. David Fishof makes reading and understanding the ideas easier for the reader by providing brief chapter summaries for further reference.

I highly recommend the fascinating and business success oriented book Rock Your Business: What You and Your Company Can Learn from the Business of Rock and Roll by David Fishof, to any entrepreneurs, business leaders, marketers, and anyone seeking an entertaining, insightful, and hands on idea filled guide to building a more profitable business. This book will take your company to new heights, and change your business to one consisting of rock stars.

Likeable Business by Dave Kerpen - Book review

Likeable Business

Why Today's Consumers Demand More and How Leaders Can Deliver

By: Dave Kerpen

Published: October 9, 2012
Format: Paperback, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 0071800476
ISBN-13: 978-0071800471
Publisher: McGraw-Hill









"This book is for everyone who is a customer. who agrees that organizations need to be more likeable and wants to be part of the solution, online and offline", writes social media expert and co-founder and CEO of Likeable, Dave Kerpen, in his strategy filled and results oriented book Likeable Business: Why Today's Consumers Demand More and How Leaders Can Deliver. The author describes how to be a likeable company through an obsession with customers, having employees create a superior experience, and through a new type of leadership.

Dave Kerpen understands that in today's highly connected, internet based and social media driven world, companies that are not superior in every possible way are likely to fall by the wayside. Mediocrity in today's wired business environment spells disaster. The author points out that while a bad customer experience is shared instantly through the various social media platforms, great customer service can be spread to others in the same way. Dave Kerpen offers the insight that it isn't enough to be only concerned about the company's customers. Employees, colleagues, and others who interact with a company must also passionate about the business, its products, and its services.

Dave Kerpen (photo left) recognizes that being likeable requires a total commitment to excellence from the top leadership to everyone within the organization. The author also provides evidence that customers are also important elements in building a likeable company. Through the social media channels, interested customers can share their own experiences, good or bad, with the company. Knowing what was done right, and where improvement is needed, are powerful data points for any organization.

The author shares his eleven principles for creating a likeable business. Those eleven pillars are as follows:

* Listening: One mouth, two ears, many opportunities
* Storytelling: Tell, don't sell
* Authenticity: Just be yourself
* Transparency: The truth shall set you free
* Team playing: There's no I in team or culture
* Responsiveness: Taking listening one step further
* Adaptability: Change or perish
* Passion: Love the work you're with
* Surprise and delight: Every mistake is an opportunity
* Simplicity: Remove the clutter
* Gratefulness: The ROI of thank you

For me, the power of the book is how Dave Kerpen combines a comprehensive theoretical framework, for establishing a likeable business, with the practical strategies and tactics to make that vision a reality. The author presents his case for creating a likeable company, through engagement on the various social media, in a clear and concise manner. Not only does Dave Kerpen offer evidence of the importance of utilizing social media effectively, but carries the concept of a likeable company much deeper into the organization. The author shares the concepts of not only engaging customers, but also the company employees in an entire cultural change.

Dave Kerpen offers what amounts to a manifesto for establishing an entirely new vision of how an organization should operate and behave at every level. To bolster his case, Dave Kerpen presents case studies, complete with illustrative photographs, of companies utilizing the eleven principles of a likeable company under real world conditions.

I highly recommend the organizational transforming book Likeable Business: Why Today's Consumers Demand More and How Leaders Can Deliver by Dave Kerpen, to any sales and marketing professionals, executives, leaders, customers, and anyone within a company who truly believes in the power and importance of being likeable. This book will guide your business toward a fresh vision, a more engaged company culture, happier customers, and a stronger bottom line.

PBS Digital Studios "Inventors" Martin Goetz

PBS Digital Studios’ biweekly series called "Inventors," features portrait videos by filmmaker and photographer David Friedman, chronicling the work of contemporary inventors from all walks of life. It offers rare glimpses into the inspiration for their creations, which range from the first digital camera and first video game console to a drive-able amphibious ice-fishing vehicle. Martin Goetz, the inventor of the first patented software, is the subject of this week’s video,

There's a good chance that you've heard about the controversy around software patents, but you probably don't know the story of Martin Goetz, who got the very first software patent in 1968. Today, some people say that software patents owned by big companies end up stifling innovation in small companies, but the first software patent was a tool that enabled a small company to compete against a big corporation.

Marth Giffen: Be Social Be Rich - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio

Social media expert, blogger, CEO of Best Kind Marketing, and author of the clear and concise book Be Social Be Rich: Social Networking Your Way to Endless Profits!, Martha Giffen, describes how to leverage the power of social media to connect with your ideal customer. Martha Giffen provides advice for building quality long term relationships with customers and clients, including where to find and engage your target audience, Martha shares her proven strategies for using social media effectively, and offers tips for building an attractive and engaging social media presence. Martha presents the techniques that have built her business, and offers insights into how other business people have boosted their business success through utilizing social media. Martha demonstrates how to use social media the right way for establishing long term customer engagement and loyalty. You will also learn how to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that can derail a social media presence, and even lead to a loss of online reputation and customers.

Martha Giffen is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Thursday, January 24, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Social media expert, blogger, CEO of Best Kind Marketing, and author of the clear and concise book Be Social Be Rich: Social Networking Your Way to Endless Profits!, Martha Giffen, describes how to leverage the power of social media to connect with your ideal customer. You will learn:

* Why social media is a powerful netwerking tool for business

* How to use Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn effectively

* How blogs, forums and seminars can create more connections

* How to engage others online authentically with the real you

Martha Giffen (photo left) is the CEO of Best Kind Marketing Co. and has built a successful online business using social networking to connect "one person at a time." She began her biz in 2008 and quickly became a favorite blogger with a large following.

The spunky, former stay-at-home Mom soon found herself at the helm of a profitable enterprise. Martha dishes out plenty of southern charm as she helps entrepreneurs build their own lucrative businesses using her proven formula to Be Social Be Rich: Social Networking Your Way to Endless Profits!.

Speaker, Social Media Diva, and Online Biz Success Coach, Martha Giffen is an All-Around Happy Person!

My book review of Be Social Be Rich: Social Networking Your Way to Endless Profits! by Martha Giffen.

Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with social media expert, blogger, CEO of Best Kind Marketing, and author of the clear and concise book Be Social Be Rich: Social Networking Your Way to Endless Profits!, Martha Giffen, as she describes how to leverage the power of social media to connect with your ideal customer. Martha Giffen provides advice for building quality long term relationships with customers and clients, including where to find and engage your target audience, Martha shares her proven strategies for using social media effectively, and offers tips for building an attractive and engaging social media presence. Martha presents the techniques that have built her business, and offers insights into how other business people have boosted their business success through utilizing social media. Martha demonstrates how to use social media the right way for establishing long term customer engagement and loyalty. You will also learn how to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that can derail a social media presence, and even lead to a loss of online reputation and customers on Blog Business Success Radio.

Be Social Be Rich by Martha Giffen - Book review

Be Social Be Rich

Social Networking Your Way to Endless Profits!

By: Martha Giffen

Published: May 13, 2011
Format: Paperback, 144 pages
ISBN-10: 1461164710
ISBN-13: 978-1461164715
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform









"Being social creates the 'who you knows' that propel you forward in business or in life", writes social media and networking expert, CEO of Best Kind Marketing, and author of the clear and concise book Be Social Be Rich: Social Networking Your Way to Endless Profits!. The author describes how business and professional people can utilize the engagement and connecting power of social media effectively to build their overall network to increase their business.

Martha Giffen understands the basic premise of social media is to build quality and long lasting relationships with customers and clients. Through the connection opportunities afforded by the various social media platforms, online forums, and blogs, a business person can engage current and future customers in real two way conversations. Since people do business with those who they know, like, trust and share a connection, Martha Giffen shares the right way to engage those potential customers online. The author offers her insights into the unlimited networking potential of social media, and presents not only her own proven experience, but that of other leading social media guides as well.

Martha Giffen (photo left) recognizes that success is not achieved alone, but through connections with others. She provides the tools and techniques for expanding that important circle of people you know, through open and authentic social media engagement. Martha Giffen starts with the basics of successful social media networking, and guides the reader through the entire process of becoming an effective and trusted social media networker.

Martha Giffin shares her insights in the following social media networking areas:

* Creating and using an effective elevator speech
* How to use Twitter the right way
* The effective use of Facebook
* How to get more from LinkedIn
* Going social in online forums
* Putting the power of blogs to work for you
* How to network at seminars
* Shares key insights fromWarren Whitlock, Christina Hills, and Dabney Porte

For me, the power of the book is how Martha Giffen combines the key theoretical framework, for effective social media networking, with the practical techniques to put those basic principles to work for you. The author shares her ideas in an an engaging way, with a nice blend of basic concepts, best practices and good humor. Martha Giffen stresses the importance of building relationships with the ideal customers for any business, and how to find that target audience through social media. This advice not only saves time and energy, but establishes more mutually beneficial connections with like minded people.

The author emphasizes the importance of authenticity and putting forward the real you, to build credibility, be seen as likeable, and establishing trust. Indeed, Martha Giffen demonstrates that being real is critical to social media success, and that being authentic is the real key to being an effective social media networker. The author bolsters her own concepts with added special guest chapters from well known social media guides Dabney Porte, Christina Hills,and Warren Whitlock.

I highly recommend the engaging and results oriented book Be Social Be Rich: Social Networking Your Way to Endless Profits! by Martha Giffen, to any business or professional people seeking an easy to understand and no nonsense guide to effective social media engagement. This book provides you with the techniques to utilize the networking and connection building power of social media the right way.

John Keats - Ode To A Nightingale read by Benedict Cumberbatch

John Keats - Ode To A Nightingale read by Benedict Cumberbatch

Ode to a Nightingale

By: John Keats

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,—
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim:

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:
Already with thee! tender is the night,
And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays;
But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;
White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;
Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves;
And mid-May's eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain—
To thy high requiem become a sod.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?

Jude Bijou: Attitude Reconstruction - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio

Therapist, educator, and author of the inspirational and life transforming book Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life, Jude Bijou, M.A., M.F.T. describes the importance of expressing and releasing your emotions to transform your life. Jude Bijou provides evidence that understanding your emotions to remove sadness, anger, and fear will change your thoughts, intuitions, speech, and actions. Jude presents the concept of Attitude Reconstruction as a process to address and overcome any challenges and problems in your life or work. Jude offers practical and readily applied techniques to break through or bypass your emotional obstacles. Jude Bijou points out that you already possess the inner tools needed to reset your emotions and rewire your thought process to achieve change in your behavior that is both effective and lasting. Learn howo to be more effective in communicating with others, addressing challenges, and reaching more productive decisiona and outcomes.

Jude Bijou is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Tuesday, January 22, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Therapist, educator, and author of the inspirational and life transforming book Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life, Jude Bijou, M.A., M.F.T. describes the importance of expressing and releasing your emotions to transform your life. You will learn:

* Why identifying and expressing emotions constructively is important

* How to identify and express your emotions to change your thoughts and behavior

* How to apply the five tools of Attitude Reconstruction to your life

* How to transform the limiting emotions of sadness, anger and fear

Jude Bijou (photo left) is a licensed marriage and family therapist (MFT), an educator in Santa Barbara, California and the author of triple finalist, Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life (Riviera Press, 2011).

As the daughter of a famous pioneer in the field of behavioral child psychology and applied behavior analysis, Jude’s upbringing sounds like it would be pretty cool. There was just one problem: she was miserable.

Earning a BA in psychology from Reed College and a master’s in psychology from Carleton University, she became a marriage and family therapist. Success was attained, yet something was still missing. Looking eastward, she immersed herself in the world of meditation and Vedic philosophy. The result: an integrated, truly holistic approach to viewing ourselves and our relationships with others. Her award-winning system, Attitude Reconstruction was birthed into the world.

In 1982, Jude launched a private psychotherapy practice and started working with individuals, couples, and groups. She also began teaching communication courses through Santa Barbara City College Adult Education. Word spread about the success of Attitude Reconstruction, and it wasn’t long before Jude became a sought-after workshop and seminar leader, teaching her approach to organizations and groups.

The culmination of Jude’s groundbreaking work can now be found in Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life. These simple principles have impacted countless clients, seminar participants, and students. And Jude promises this: if we can learn to harness the tools we’re intrinsically born with, creating a life full of joy, love, and peace is truly possible, right here, right now.

My book review of Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life by Jude Bijou.

Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with therapist, educator, and author of the inspirational and life transforming book Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life, Jude Bijou, M.A., M.F.T. as she describes the importance of expressing and releasing your emotions to transform your life. Jude Bijou provides evidence that understanding your emotions to remove sadness, anger, and fear will change your thoughts, intuitions, speech, and actions. Jude presents the concept of Attitude Reconstruction as a process to address and overcome any challenges and problems in your life or work. Jude offers practical and readily applied techniques to break through or bypass your emotional obstacles. Jude Bijou points out that you already possess the inner tools needed to reset your emotions and rewire your thought process to achieve change in your behavior that is both effective and lasting. Learn howo to be more effective in communicating with others, addressing challenges, and reaching more productive decisiona and outcomes on Blog Business Success Radio.

Attitude Reconstruction by Jude Bijou - Book review

Attitude Reconstruction

A Blueprint for Building a Better Life

By: Jude Bijou, M.A., M.F.T.

Published: November 1, 2011
Format: Paperback, 315 pages
ISBN-10: 0983528772
ISBN-13: 978-0983528777
Publisher: Riviera Press







"Our poor attitudes and rocky relationships are caused by unexpressed anger and fear", writes licensed marriage and family therapist, educator, and student of Eastern philosophy, Jude Bijou, in her inspirational and life transforming book Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life. The author describes how as children we expressed our emotions freely, but as we grew to adults we were told expressing emotions was inappropriate and unacceptable. Jude Bijou provides evidence that identifying and expressing our emotions is crucial to overcoming challenges, changing our behavior, and attaining happiness in life.

Jude Bijou understands that emotions are part of our nature as human beings, and that attempting to stifle them only leads to deep seated behavioral problems. As a result, the author provides an alternative approach to overcoming life's challenges and changes in our behavior, through identifying our emotions and expressing them in positive and natural ways. Jude Bijou points out that the emotions of sadness, anger, and fear should be expressed and released for our own emotional and physical well being. To address these emotions, and to begin the process of overcoming problems, behavioral transformation, and attaining happiness, the author shares her concept of Attitude Reconstruction.

Jude Bijou (photo left) recognizes that societal and parental pressure have taught people to ignore and hide their emotions. She points out that expressing emotions is often considered inappropriate, and is discouraged despite the the damage it does to a person's life and behavior. The author's principle of Attitude Reconstruction is a complete process for overcoming and working past emotional barriers and obstacles.

Jude Bijou offers evidence that people already possess the essential tools to achieve an emotional breakthrough, and offers the techniques and practices for refitting your emotions and rewiring your thought process. The Attitude Reconstruction tool kit is comprised of the following five tools:

* Emotions: Expressing them physically and constructively in a safe place
* Thoughts: Replacing destructive thoughts with new truths
* Intuition: Utilizing the wisdom in your own heart
* Speech: Changing your choice of words and tone of voice
* Actions: Change old behaviors to new one in small and steady steps

For me, the power of the book is how Jude Bijou combines a very strong theoretical framework for behavioral change, with the hands on tools and practices to make that transformation a permanent one. The author shares the latest findings and practices in psychology, therapy, and conflict resolution to provide background and real world experience and results for her concepts. The key idea that understanding and expressing our emotions constructively is a powerful principle that liberates people's thoughts and mode of behavior. The idea that it is a good idea to express emotions freely and constructively, and in the right place and time, gives people the freedom to overcome their emotional blockades.

Jude Bijou presents the practical tools for addressing each emotional challenge, and to replace and transform the debilitating sadness, anger and fear onto positive and life changing emotions. The book is structured so the reader can navigate the chapters and problem solutions in any order, providing a free flowing system for understanding these groundbreaking principles.

I highly recommend the very hands on and wisdom filled book Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life by Jude Bijou, to anyone seeking a real world based and well grounded book for overcoming even the most daunting and persistent emotional barriers. This book will not only liberate your emotions, but transform the way you think, act, and behave when confronted by any emotional challenges, or personal and career setbacks.

Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech August 28, 1963

Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech August 28, 1963

Percy Bysshe Shelley - Ozymandias read by Sir John Gielgud

Percy Bysshe Shelley - Ozymandias read by Sir John Gielgud

Ozymandias

By: Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".

William Butler Yeats - Sailing to Byzantium

William Butler Yeats - Sailing to Byzantium

Sailing to Byzantium

By: William Butler Yeats

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
—Those dying generations—at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

Robert Frost - The Birches read by the poet

Robert Frost - The Birches read by the poet

Birches

By: Robert Frost

When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust—
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed
So low for long, they never right themselves:
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows—
Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,
Whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter, and could play alone.
One by one he subdued his father's trees
By riding them down over and over again
Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer. He learned all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It's when I'm weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig's having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:
I don't know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Joan Wood: The Influence Matrix - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio

Speaker, consultant, founder of Leadership Edge, and author of the strategy based and very hands on book The Influence Matrix: Strategies for Engaging Others to Get Results, Joan Wood, describes the concept of developing personal stories to establish a matrix of reality for interacting with and influencing others. Joan Wood provides a complete guide to the strategies for become a master influencer, starting with developing greater self awareness. Joan presents practices for improving clarity in communication with others to prevent misunderstandings and the use of vague dialogue. Joan shows you how to engage others with stories and actions the build and establish trust. Joan demonstrates why building influence in today's rapidly changing and unpredictable business climate is essential for success. In a time when the old command and control management structure is breaking down, it is more critical than ever to become an effective leader within your own matrix of influence.

Joan Wood is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Thursday, January 17, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Speaker, consultant, founder of Leadership Edge, and author of the strategy based and very hands on book The Influence Matrix: Strategies for Engaging Others to Get Results, Joan Wood, describes the concept of developing personal stories to establish a matrix of reality for interacting with and influencing others. You will learn:

* What an influence matrix means and why it is important

* How to use personal stories to define your personal influence matrix

* How to engage more effectively with others to enhance influence

* How to become a master influencer and a more effective leader

Joan Wood (photo left) has over twenty years of experience in the areas of organization development, leadership training, and management consulting. Her expertise is in executive coaching and leadership development. She specializes in assisting clients with identifying and implementing change strategies to achieve critical business objectives. Her approach is to equip individuals with the skills, knowledge, and attitude required for attaining organizational goals. Joan's clients value the way she partners with them by providing the clarity and power that comes from strategic thinking and honest dialogue.

Utilizing customized training programs and team building methods, she moves groups toward enhanced performance and bottom-line results. Her technique empowers clients to generate new initiatives for continuous revitalization of the organization's competitive edge. Joan's strong facilitative style and her innovative ability to deliver needed messages bring dramatic insights for her clients.

Her resume includes management and consulting positions with a number of companies including Frito-Lay, The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, Siemens (formerly SMS), Human Dynamics, and Pritchett.

My book review of The Influence Matrix: Strategies for Engaging Others to Get Results by Joan Wood.

Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with speaker, consultant, founder of Leadership Edge, and author of the strategy based and very hands on book The Influence Matrix: Strategies for Engaging Others to Get Results, Joan Wood, as she describes the concept of developing personal stories to establish a matrix of reality for interacting with and influencing others. Joan Wood provides a complete guide to the strategies for become a master influencer, starting with developing greater self awareness. Joan presents practices for improving clarity in communication with others to prevent misunderstandings and the use of vague dialogue. Joan shows you how to engage others with stories and actions the build and establish trust. Joan demonstrates why building influence in today's rapidly changing and unpredictable business climate is essential for success. In a time when the old command and control management structure is breaking down, it is more critical than ever to become an effective leader within your own matrix of influence on Blog Business Success Radio.

The Influence Matrix by Joan Wood - Book review

The Influence Matrix

Strategies for Engaging Others to Get Results

By: Joan Wood

Published: November 15, 2012
Format: Paperback, 138 pages
ISBN-10: 1604948418
ISBN-13: 978-1604948417
Publisher: Wheatmark











"As organizations have become flatter through mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, and downsizing, people are being asked to do more with less - and with less power. Everyone is expected to lead within his or her sphere of influence, regardless of job title", writes speaker, consultant, and founder of Leadership Edge, Joan Wood, in her strategy based and very hands on book The Influence Matrix: Strategies for Engaging Others to Get Results. The author describes how leaders at all levels must establish their own matrix of reality through their personal stories and beliefs, in order to engage or disengage with others and their matrix, to influence positive outcomes.

Joan Wood understands that the old command and control management model is no longer effective in today's rapidly changing and globalized business environment. With this complete transformation of the external world, the author presents the necessity of changing one's internal world as well. To cope with these rapid changes, people must look within themselves and discover their inner creativity and power, in order to influence others, Joan Wood offers the concept of shifting one's internal world to work more effectively with the changing and uncertain external world. The author shares the strategy of developing stories that define one's personal beliefs and what is truth and what is predictable to establish a personal matrix of reality to form a base for self awareness.

Joan Wood (photo left) recognizes that understanding one's own matrix of reality, when compared with that of another person, is the spot where complexity and ambiguity can arise. It's at this point where communication efforts can break down and influence is decreased as a result. The ability to understand these frictions and complexities, and move them to a productive level, is what Joan Wood refers to as influence. An individual, who has achieved personal self awareness, establishes engagement with others, and who conducts themselves professionally in every way, is well on the way to becoming a master influencer.

Joan Wood shares her proven strategies for achieving the skills that are essential to becoming and acting as a master influencer. The author provides the following ten strategies for achieving master influencer status:

* Know thyself and be accountable for how you influence others
* Say what you mean
* Be visionary and observe your thoughts
* Take strategic action
* Demonstrate authentic power
* Move through resistance
* Relinquish control
* Create alignment
* Connect spiritually
* Keep it simple

For me, the power of the book is how Joan Wood combines a complete strategic plan for developing a personal influence matrix, with the practical techniques and practices to put it into action. The author provides a very practical guide, that doubles as a workbook, to support the reader as they develop their own self awareness and influence matrix. Joan Wood offers useful work sheets in every chapter to help with the self assessment and learning process. One of the key elements of the book is the section of questions that accompanies the strategy, to help the reader establish their own personal stories and influence matrix.

The chapters include practice strategies that enhance the ability to influence through practical applications. They also increase clarity of vision to provide for clear and meaningful dialogues with others, regardless of their personal influence matrix. The exercises ensure that the influencer achieves a positive engagement with others that develops and strengthens the level of trust.

I highly recommend the very useful and idea packed book The Influence Matrix: Strategies for Engaging Others to Get Results by Joan Wood, to anyone seeking a fresh and readily applicable approach to engagement and influence. In the ever evolving business climate of today, these concepts provide clarity and predictability that are essential to becoming a master influencer.

BlogBloke: Blogging Advice That Works - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



Long time blogger BlogBloke and I discuss the basics of creating and maintaining a successful blog. We offer some ideas that develop a blog that provides great content, ranks well on the search engines, receives good traffic, and lasts for the long term. We share ideas for writing blog posts, some suggestions for frequency of posts, and even for the length of posts. We present our thoughts on some pitfalls that can derail an otherwise great blog, including some of the challenges faced by business and company bloggers. We will also talk about company blogging policies, and utilizing social media to extend the reach of your blogs. Learn how to be a better and more effective blogger with some proven strategies and techniques to utilize for your own blog.

BlogBloke is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Tuesday, January 15, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Long time blogger BlogBloke and I discuss the basics of creating and maintaining a successful blog.

* How to establish an effective blog that attracts visitor traffic

* How to create and maintain conversations on your blog

* How to provide great content that visitors want to read

* How to rank well in the search engines with your blog



BlogBloke (avatar left) has worked in journalism and as a programmer in the computer industry before most had heard of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. A crusader at heart, he switched to law and soon made a name for himself as a successful litigation expert and mediator, helping folks who under normal circumstances can't afford justice.

A geek in every sense of the term, he carried his passion for helping others and computers into blogging that he helped pioneer. In those days there was no such thing as Wordpress or RSS newsfeeds for blogs. Having created the "Blog Tips" niche, his blog is an outstanding resource for helpful blogging tips and how-to tutorials. He has a reputation for being a straight shooter, his sharp wit and an outspoken champion for online ethics. He is bullishly pro blogging, social media, an outspoken advocate for online rights, security and technology issues.

Tech Editor and Author, BLOGBloke has been quoted in the Washington Post, New York Times and CBS News. Here are just a few of the comments that his readers have made:

Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with long time blogger BlogBloke and I discuss the basics of creating and maintaining a successful blog. We offer some ideas that develop a blog that provides great content, ranks well on the search engines, receives good traffic, and lasts for the long term. We share ideas for writing blog posts, some suggestions for frequency of posts, and even for the length of posts. We present our thoughts on some pitfalls that can derail an otherwise great blog, including some of the challenges faced by business and company bloggers. We will also talk about company blogging policies, and utilizing social media to extend the reach of your blogs. Learn how to be a better and more effective blogger with some proven strategies and techniques to utilize for your own blog on Blog Business Success Radio.