Foolproof Flow: A 7-Part Series (Part 2)
Part 2: The DWMQA Cadence: How to Prevent Your Business from Breaking “I’ll make the sales calls after I update my website.” Those are the famous last words of a struggling business. The problem isn’t that you don’t know what needs to be done; it’s that you don’t have a set and prioritized cadence for…
Foolproof Flow: A 7-Part Series (Part 1)
Part 1: The Solopreneur’s Paradox: Why Discipline is the Only Path to Freedom We’ve all been there: It’s 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, and you’re out running errands. You tell yourself it’s the “perk of being a speaker”—the flexibility, the freedom, the “creative” lifestyle. But then you realize you haven’t hit your booking numbers for…
Is Your Manuscript Really Ready for Publication?
You did it. You finished the first draft of your manuscript. That alone puts you in a very small (and very impressive) group. But now comes the question every author eventually asks: Is my book actually ready to go out into the world? Before you send your manuscript to a publisher or editor, this is…
How I Wrote, Produced, and Published “Recoded: Transform Your Business DNA with AI”
A Step-by-Step Process Guide Google AI Certified Keynote Speaker | AI Business Strategist | Author The Big Picture Most people think writing a book is the hard part. Turns out, publishing one is its own adventure. Here is exactly how I went from raw keynote recordings to a finished book on Amazon, an audiobook on…
Professional Speakers: How Can You Get Regular and “Real” Feedback?
Management guru Ken Blanchard often shares a simple truth: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” If that’s the case, the question becomes: how often – and how well – are you, as a professional speaker, being fed? For many speakers, the honest answer is not enough. And more importantly, not the kind of feedback that…
How To Accomplish the Impossible: 3 Steps to Push Through Any Obstacle, Challenge, Roadblock
It’s been a week – a stressful, exciting, and incredibly rewarding week. After five days on the road speaking, I came home for less than 24 hours last Saturday, did a little laundry, repacked my suitcase and headed out for one of the most adventurous trips of my speaking career. I was headed to speak…
Lessons from 20 Years in the Speaking Business
Our business is a tricky one. The past 20 years have taught me a few things. For starters, I’ve learned that change is constant. Speaking topic trends and event planner expectations always seem to shift. The contacts you make and the relationships you build continually evolve. In fact, change is so frequent that it is…
Creative Ways to Get Your Fee (Even When “There’s No Budget”)
Every professional speaker hears it eventually: “We love you… we just don’t have the budget.” It’s tempting to either walk away or cave in to a lower fee. Neither is a great long-term strategy. Discounting your fee without intention erodes your market positioning and creates inequity with clients who do pay full price. But walking…
I Wrote a Book in a Weekend. Here’s What Actually Happened.
If you’ve ever said, “I should write a book, or another book,” and then looked at your calendar and laughed, you’re not alone. I’ve written a lot of books, 14 so far, and I know the process. Outlining, writing, rewriting, editing, second-guessing. It’s not a weekend project. Except… this time, it kind of was. Before…