Personal branding is basically the way you market yourself to the world. Your personal brand is what other people think of you. In some ways it’s outside your control, but you obviously have some influence over it. Personal branding is unavoidable. As others interact with you, they’ll automatically form mental associations that connect you with certain labels, often within [...]
Starting a blog is very easy these days. You can start your own blog in a matter of minutes if you want. Many web hosts will even install a blog for you or provide an easy installation process. And of course you can always use a hosted service like WordPress.com or Blogger to get started. [...]
Recently I competed in Toastmasters International’s annual humor speech contest. I wrote and delivered a speech titled “39-1/2 Winks,” which was based on my polyphasic sleep experiment. The Toastmasters humor speech contest has 4 levels: club, area, division, and district. I won at the club level but lost the area contest. Technically I came in last place because I was disqualified for running [...]
Authenticity has become the modern currency of blogging. Unlike traditional media sources, most bloggers aren’t beholden to any puppeteers. To some people this is a whole different kind of problem, but it’s also clearly a key strength of the new media. With 175,000 new blogs launching every day, blogging is becoming a popular alternative to the filtered, agenda-driven drivel that passes as [...]
Today I’m happy to share an exclusive interview with David Brooks, an award-winning professional speaker and trainer who has taught more than 10,000 business professionals to speak and write clearly, concisely, and confidently. Recently David came to Las Vegas to give a presentation for Toastmasters, and I was so impressed with his content that I immediately approached him about doing [...]
The review of the 2007 I Can Do It! Conference concludes. Day 4 – Sunday Group Meetup Steve: About fifteen people showed up to our 8am meetup. Not everyone stayed for the duration, although most did. Fortunately the concourse was not at all crowded and was fairly quiet during that time, so we had a good spot all [...]
The review of the 2007 I Can Do It! Conference continues. Day 3 – Saturday Bill Phillips – Transformation: You Have the Power and Ability to Change Steve: After a heart-warming welcome by 80-year old Hay House founder Louise Hay, Bill Phillips took the stage to talk about transformation. Years ago I’d read his popular book [...]
The review of the 2007 I Can Do It! Conference continues. Day 2 – Friday Brian Weiss, M.D. - Same Soul, Many Bodies Steve: Friday began with a six-hour workshop on past life regression therapy from Dr. Brian Weiss, author of Many Lives, Many Masters. The main reason I opted to attend this workshop (there were 9 to choose [...]
Last weekend Erin and I attended Hay House’s 2007 I Can Do It! Conference at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas. This was my third year attending this conference and Erin’s second. You may have seen our review of the 2006 seminar. Keynote speakers included Dr. Wayne Dyer, Bill Phillips, Doreen Virtue, Christiane Northrup, and Deepak Chopra. I [...]
Since I receive many questions about this topic, I thought it would be fun to share a candid insider’s look at the reality of being an A-list blogger. These are my personal observations, so I’m not saying they’re true of other high-traffic bloggers, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some of these patterns held up. While I normally [...]