Nerv with Ryan Williams

Hi, I am Ryan Williams. My life is divided into two life spans: Before Breathwork (BB), and After Breathwork (AB).

Join the FREE Breathwork with Ryan email community

Support Breathwork with Ryan on Patreon for BONUS episodes

Have you been feeling stressed out with family, over-exhausted from the never-ending pandemic, or seeking a way to treat your insomnia? If you are curious about the type of impact Breathwork can have on burnout, stress, and emotional exhaustion Breathwork teaches us to release stress in a natural way – through exhaling.

You're going to love this Breathwork for Beginners episode!

If you live in Southern California, you’re invited to the next Breathwork with Ryan full Moon outdoor class on Feb. 5th! We are doing it on every full moon.

RSVP to Full Moon Breathwork here on Feb. 5th (Sunday) at 6:30 pm in West LA!

Why join the Breathwork with Ryan community?

Come join this community and practice Breathwork if you are:

- Looking to drink less caffeine, alcohol, or sugar drinks

- Crafting a vision around finding more meaningful work

- Wanting to sleep more deeply and to "doomscroll" less on your phone before bedtime

- Building a new routine around fitness, exercise, or decreasing stress

- Channeling more creativity and releasing the blocks around your artistry

- Complimenting work you’re already doing around mental and nervous system health 

- Relieving dating app obsession, clarifying your vision of a loving partner, and you are tired of inappropriate dating matches

To practice Breathwork you lay on your back, breathing in a rhythmic breathing pattern. Music is playing in the background, and your goal is to relax your body. 

***Please do not practice breathwork while operating a vehicle. If you are pregnant or have any known health issues, please consult your doctor before performing Breathwork. If you feel unsafe during the meditation, have a history of trauma, or feel overly activated, you can stop, breathe through your nose, and open your eyes and stop the practice. 

It goes like this:

  • Inhale in the chest

  • Inhale in the belly

  • Exhale it all out

You breathe in two deep inhales. First in the belly, then in the chest. Then you exhale it all out. It's a lot of fun, thanks for joining!

Direct download: Breathwork_Episode_1_-_2223.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30pm PDT

Hi, I am Ryan Williams. My life is divided into two life spans: Before Breathwork (BB), and After Breathwork (AB).

Join the Breathwork with Ryan email community

I am a writer, Breathworker, teacher, social media marketer, and podcast host.  I am a certified as a Breathwork teacher, Yoga Nidra teacher, and meditation instructor. You may be familiar with my first book, "The Influencer Economy," and podcast of a similar name.

After working in stand-up comedy, social media for Disney, Machinima, and many tech startups to help spread their stories, I now use my skills to further my mission: helping people learn how to heal themselves.

Support Breathwork with Ryan on Patreon

Why join the Breathwork with Ryan podcast community?

Come join this community and practice Breathwork if you are:

- Looking to drink less caffeine, alcohol, or sugar drinks

- Crafting a vision around finding more meaningful work

- Wanting to sleep more deeply and "doomscroll" less on your phone before bedtime

- Building a new routine around fitness, exercise, or decreasing stress

- Channeling more creativity and releasing the blocks around your artistry

- Complimenting work you’re already doing around mental and nervous system health 

- Relieving dating app obsession, clarifying your vision of a loving partner, and are tired of inappropriate dating matches

What does Breathwork feel like?

In Breathwork you breathe with intention, which helps to calm down the nervous system. Intentional breathing helps to relax, since many of us spend our days breathing in fear, worried about our job security, or even anxious about missing traffic lights. We are burned out, Breathwork retrains us on how to breathe in a more healthy and even fun way.

To practice Breathwork you lay on your back, breathing in a rhythmic breathing pattern. Music is playing in the background, and your goal is to relax your body. You breathe in two deep inhales. First in the belly, then in the chest. Then you exhale it all out.

It goes like this:

  • Inhale in the chest
  • Inhale in the belly
  • Exhale it all out

Listen to the podcast

Feel free to subscribe to the Breathwork with Ryan podcast for Breathwork classes, conversations, and workshops. You can follow me on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

If you have any questions, leave a comment below 👇🏼 or DM me on Instagram.

Direct download: Breathwork_with_Ryan_Trailer_01_03_23_-_1323_5.41_PM.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:46pm PDT

Paul Jarvis is the author of Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business. What is the key to success in business was to work for yourself, book your own work hours, while becoming profitable at the same time? If you want to listen to our archives, click here!

Paul is a software designer, author, online course developer, and even worked with Shaquille O'Neal to develop one of Shaq's first websites. he's worked for himself for 20 years. He doesn't work 80 hour weeks to make tons of money. He works hard on the right things, at the right time, to control his own schedule. 

In this episode we talk about:

  • Finding purpose with how we make money
  • Why we need to generate profits now and can worry about projected growth later
  • How working for yourself can provide you more freedom to do what you want
  • Why growth hacking is a stupid term and doesn't work for everyone's company

 Read Paul's book, Company of One

Paul's website is here.

Direct download: Paul_Jarvis_Episode_121.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:56pm PDT

Want to listen to a FREE chapter of my book: How to launch your idea, share it with the world, and thrive in the digital age: In The Influencer Economy? I'm excited to announce that my book is now available on Audible, click here to check it out! You can also buy it on Amazon, click here. To celebrate I'm giving you a free chapter during this episode.

 We will outline the bold vision of the book, and the platform that got me to this point. I want to thank you the listener for all the support, and feel free to leave an honest iTunes review here!

The book's framework is:

Step 1: Launch

Chapter 1: Craft a Big Vision Chapter 2: Pick Your Platform Chapter 3: Book Your Own Gigs—The Jay Z Effect Chapter 4: Adopt New Technology Early and Often

Step 2: Share

Chapter 5: Strive for Authenticity Chapter 6: Collaborate Chapter 7: Capture Lightning in a Bottle

Step 3: Thrive

Chapter 8: Open Doors for Others Chapter 9: Meet People In Real Life (IRL) Chapter 10: Give Your Community Ownership

Direct download: FREE_Book_Chapter_influencer_economy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:34pm PDT

Rand Fishkin, the founder and former CEO of Moz, tells the secrets and tricks about how traditional Silicon Valley "wisdom" leads far too many companies to struggle.

Did you know only 5% of startup businesses make it?  95% of startups fail, lose money, and never succeed. But if you read any book about Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs will glamorize the highs and ignore the lows. 

I hate the word hustle and grind, and it's refreshing to see people like Rand tell the truth about how startups can actually succeed.

Buy Rand's book: Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to Launching a Business.

Direct download: Rand_Fishkin__Lost_Founder.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:46pm PDT

Roman Tsunder is the CEO and Founder of the membership communities of WORLDZ and PTTOW! He wants his company to save the world. He thinks you should include that mission into your business too. In this episode he tells an epic story about how he booked the Dalai Lama at one of the first PTTOW! events. 

Listen to our podcast archives with guests like Seth Godin, Brian Koppelman and Troy Carter: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Roman brings together influential minds and brands in the world with the goal of shaping the future of culture.  WORLDZ is a global summit and community of leaders and dreamers.  More info:http://worldz.us/

Follow Roman: https://twitter.com/romantsun

 

Direct download: Roman_Worldz_PTOWW_120.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:59pm PDT

Dorie Clark, a successful entrepreneur and author, has done it all. And in Entrepreneurial You she provides a blueprint for professional independence, with insights and advice on building your brand, monetizing your expertise, and extending your reach and impact online. Her site: https://dorieclark.com/

Sign-up for our FREE email newsletter for 99 actions to grow influence for your business and life: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

Direct download: Dorie_Clark_Live_Show.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:05pm PDT

Seth Godin is a best-selling author of books like Linchpin, The Dip, and Tribes. You can find his work here: https://seths.blog/

The Influencer Economy hosted by Ryan Williams includes rare interviews with best-selling authors, Oscar nominated filmmakers, and business leaders in the new economy. For a free download of 99 Actions to Grow Your Influence. Click here: http://influencereconomy.com/

 

Direct download: Seth_Godin_Best_Of.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:23pm PDT

David Spinks delivers a master class on how to build amazing, loyal, and collaborative communities. I get a lot of questions from listeners asking "do I build a community first, and then a product," or "do I build a product and then find a community." David votes for community first, and we dive deep into that. Listen to all our archives with authors like Seth Godin, Dan Ariely, Brad Feld, YouTubers like Franchesca Ramsey or Freddie Wong: http://www.influencereconomy.com

The 4 steps in community engagement are:

1. Identity
The member’s identity aligns with the identity of the community.
2. Trust
The member develops trust in other members and in the community as a whole.
3. Participation
The member takes action to participate in the community.
4. Reward
The member gets value from their participation and wants to experience it again.
Direct download: Dave_Spinks_Ep_117.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:36am PDT

Nicole Walters calls herself a "hot mess." She once quit her high power insurance job via a livestream, with 10,000 people watching. She now helps others "monetize thyselves" and has some epic stories to share.

 

Influencer Economy: http://www.influencereconomy.com/ryan-williams-storytelling/

Nicole Walters: http://www.nicolewalters.tv/

 

Direct download: Nicole_Walters_Influencer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:23pm PDT

Noah Kagan is the anti-guru guru. He has a wealth of marketing and business advice, as founder of Sumo.com. Noah Kagan shares how he has deal with depression, what it take to build a winning team, and how to thrive in a high pressured environments. Listen to all 100 episodes of our Influencer podcast: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

Direct download: Noah_Kagan_115.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:59pm PDT

Eric Barker (@bakadesuyo) is the best-selling author of Barking up the Wrong Tree: Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong. Eric is like a myth busters for conventional wisdom and science.

Influencer Economy Quick Hits:

  • How your biggest weakness might actually be your greatest strength How Navy SEALs find grit and self-talk their way to success
  • How our negative qualities can be used to help us succeed
  • The 4 pillars of work life balance
  • How 20 minutes of expressive writing can help us sleep better
  • Why it's NOT who you know, it's WHO knows you
  • Why self-compassion beats self-confidence
  • How deliberate practice helps you to become an expert f f 

Eric Barker's book: https://www.amazon.com/Barking-Wrong-Tree-Surprising-Everything/dp/0062416049/?tag=spacforrent-20

Listen to our 100+ podcast archives on our site: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Direct download: Eric_Barker_Influencer_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:37am PDT

Celeste Headlee (@CelesteHeadlee) is a best-selling author & her TED Talks have been viewed over 10 Million times.

We talk about how to:
Master the art and science of conversation
Become a better active listener
How simple questions give us complex answers
Avoid using email to communicate
Use small talk to make us happier


Find Celeste Headlee at her website: http://www.celesteheadlee.com/

 

Direct download: Celeste_Headlee_115.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:17pm PDT

Imagine that you're fresh out of college, touring with your rock band, and you meet Puff Daddy at backstage at your show. Sounds surreal, right? Well that what is what happened to D.A. Wallach. After graduating from Harvard, he toured the country with his rock band Chester French. And the likes of Puff Daddy showed up at his shows.
 
Years later, D.A. has become a bio tech investor. He's pivoted his career many times. Chester French was a rock band like the Beatles, with a sensbility and style of Outkast.
 
If you like Ryan Williams' podcast, please leave an honest review on iTunes!
 
As a freshman at Harvard in 2003, D.A. joined the band Chester French as its lead singer. Coincidentally, Mark Zuckerberg was also at Harvard that year. Lucky for D.A. he was one of the first 2,000 users of Facebook. D.A. and his band road the first wave of social media. D.A. explains that an early adopter, his band's use of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter were the central factors in the rock group's early success.
 
Sign-up for the influencer economy email list for a FREE Chapter of Ryan Williams' Influence Book: 
 
They were trying to figure out how to build audience on campus via the social network. Their curiousity lead them to book tours and meet fans though social media. He realized that in many ways, his fans were like him. And social media helped him to literally meet tens of thousands of friends.
 
While growing up in Wisconsin, D.A. recalls downloading every David Bowie album through Napster. Years later, as a musican, he watched the music industry get eviscerated. As his days of rock touring were slowing down, a small company named Spotify was preparing for its U.S. launch. That's when D.A. made his first pivot.
 
 D.A. is now investing in biotech companies, as he's fascinated by humans relation to biology and is interested in driving an enhanced understanding of the connection. New powers and insights can be gained as the future of biology and technology gets defined. He is now looking for businesses that are taking cool scientific ideas from academia or the lab. He wants to turn concepts and technologies into businesses for entrepreneurs. 
  
D.A. Wallach on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dawallach
 
D.A. Wallach website: http://www.dawallach.com/
 
 
Direct download: DA_Wallach_Influencer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:58pm PDT

Noah Kagan (@NoahKagan) was employee #30 at Facebook and employee #4 at Mint.com, and the founder of Sumo.com and AppSumo. He's a superstar in the world of tech and entrepreneurship. He also hosts the podcast Noah Kagan Presents. He's done a lot in his life, and you'd think everything was rosy with his career. Based on his resume, you'd think that it's all been rainbows and unicorns for Noah. But you're wrong.
 
But like me, Noah has experienced bouts of depression in his life. 
 
We're not just talking about having a bad day, or even a tough week. We are talking about consistently thinking about bad things for years.
We talked about our own techniques for dealing with depression. He's also got some great techniques to help improve your mental productivity.
 
Influencer Economy Quick Hits:
  • How to use mental productivity to increase your energy
  • How to find an accountability buddy who is always in a good mood to help-out
  • How finding a mind coach helps you change your negative perceptions
  • How to manager your office team when you're in a crappy mood
  • How not to bring in your bad mood to work.
Noah runs his own company and designs his work life around his mental fitness. He hates going into the office. Literally, he hates it. So he factors in working from home and working remotely into his professional diet.
 
Noah Kagan Presents Podcast: www.okdork.com/podcast/
 
Noah Kagan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/noahkagan

Sumo: https://sumo.com/

App Sumo: http://www.appsumo.com/

Ryan Williams on Stories from The Influencer Economy: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

 

Direct download: Noah_Kagan_Sumo_113.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:06pm PDT

Court Coursey and I spoke during the week of the Milken Conference in Los Angeles, an event that brings around some the biggest name in corporate giving from around the world. Amazingly $20 Trillion dollars in wealth represented at the conference. Almost 1/4 of the world's wealth was at the conference. Court calls these types of conferences "aggregators" where you can book 6 months of meetings into one week. He held 54 meetings in a 4 day period.  

SIGN-UP for our EMAIL list for a FREE Influencer Collaboration Handbook:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Court isn't just another guy who says they're a serial entrepreneur. He founded his first business at 14 years old and is the real deal. He started his first business to broker t-shirts for his local church basketball league. Decades later he still has that entrepreneurial fire, and has built a number of successful companies over the past 20 years. Court is now managing partner of TomorrowVentures, LLC, a Palo Alto-based investment firm that provides capital and counsel to help build successful businesses. He works closely with Erich Schmidt Executive Chairman of Alphabet, Inc (Google) in the fund.  

If you LIKE our podcast - Please leave an iTunes review: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-from-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

From politics to finance to working with Michael Jackson's business to health to the auto industry to broker t-shirts, Court has done it all. He's mastered the art and science of building business relationships

 Influencer Economy "Quick Hits" from the podcast episode:

  1. What an aggregator conference is, and how you can go to conferences to connect and re-connect with business partnerships
  2. Learn how Court is able to create a database of contacts to maintain connections with thousands of people from his network
  3. Court explains what makes a great leader, teammate, and how to collaborate with entrepreneurs
  4. Advice on the keys on how to find mentors if you live anyone from Des Moines, IA (where I grew-up) to Los Angeles to Atlanta
  5. How to surround yourself with A+ teammates
  6. How to keep friendships warm and work relationship current in the digital age

Bio: Court Coursey is managing partner of TomorrowVentures, LLC, a Palo Alto-based investment firm that provides capital and counsel to help build successful businesses. TomorrowVentures deploys capital for several high net worth families in investments ranging from venture to private equity to distressed assets. The firm has more than 110 direct investments around the world that include consumer technology, media and specialty finance, among others. Separately, Coursey serves as co‐founder of Rundell, Coursey & Co., a strategic consulting firm that provides advisory services to family offices, as well as the development and strategic planning for companies in a variety of industries.

Court Coursey's website at Tomorrow Ventures: http://tomorrowvc.com/

 

Direct download: Court_Courtsey_115_Podcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:18pm PDT

All of us have ideas. But how do we turn our idea into a brand that people will love? That's a question I get asked often and this week branding expert Dorie Clark shares her tips and secrets on how to stand out in the modern economy.

In episode 110 of the podcast, we'll find out how to build a brand that people will love.

We'll answer questions like: 

  1. How do we make our ideas pop and take off?
  2. What makes a brand that people love:
  3. How do we find influencers to champion our ideas on our behalf?
  4. Do good ideas always win?
  5. How do we get traction for our brand?

Dorie Clark's Stand Out book: https://www.amazon.com/Stand-Out-Breakthrough-Following-Around/dp/1491552115

Dorie Clark is the author of "Reinventing You" (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013) and "Stand Out," which was named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine. A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, she is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Entrepreneur, and the World Economic Forum blog. Recognized as a "branding expert" by the Associated Press, Fortune, and Inc. magazine, Clark is a marketing strategy consultant and speaker for clients including Google, Microsoft, Yale University, Fidelity, and the World Bank.

"Standing out is no longer optional Too many people believe that if they keep their heads down and work hard they'll gain the recognition they deserve. But that's simply not true anymore." - Dorie Clark

Direct download: Dorie_Clark_Influencer_110.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:10pm PDT

My guest this week is Adam Grant, the author of the New York Times' best selling book:  "Give and Take:  A Revolutionary Approach to Success."  Adam is a professor at Wharton, and their highest rated teacher ever.  His research around giving and taking has revolutionized how people can achieve business success.  Listen to hear more about how "giving" actually helps everyone achieve more success in the long run.

Signup for a free e-book on "how to launch your idea, collaborate with influencers and build a thriving business on our Influencer Economy website. http://www.influencereconomy.com/ 

 Adam broke down with Ryan the three key styles in the work environment: 1) Giving 2) Taking 3) Matching.  

Givers are the types of people who show-up early at work, mentor others, and stay late to help-out.  They give without expecting anything in return.  Takers are the types of people who "take" and look out for only themselves.  While matchers are the most common type of person at work.  Matchers have the philosophy: "You help me, and I'll help you" (tit for tat).

Buy Adam Grant's Book here

Follow Adam on Twitter

Listen to our archives at http://www.influencereconomy.com/ 

What you'll learn from this episode:

  • How to learn more about giving, and how this is greater for you in the long run
  • The characteristics around the key styles in the work place:  giving, taking and matching
  • How to take the long view in business, as life is NOT a zero-sum game
  • That takers have a short view towards life and work
  • How takers can learn to become givers 
  • How five minute favors and making 3 intros a day changed Adam Rikin's life (and the lives of others)
  • How givers like the venture capital investor David Hornik succeed more by giving

Listen on iTunes Here

Listen on Stitcher Here: 

Direct download: Adam_Grant_v2.0_Influencer_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:38pm PDT

Brad Feld has had dark moments as an entrepreneur. He lives fast paced life as an entrepreneur and startup investor. Hailing from Boulder, Colorado, Brad has struggled with depression throughout his life. This episode he and I get real on the struggle that we go through when we're depressed. It's a truthful and honest chat into the world of depression and obsessive compulsive disorder OCD.

How common is the issue of depression in the world of entrepreneurs? Well, it's more common than you think. In fact, struggling with depression as a someone who is starting a company is more likely than you'd realize. Why? Because being a founder or entrepreneur is a lonely job. It's also very intense, with highs and lows that are un-common to those working more corporate and stable jobs.

Entrepreneurship is also a thrill. That's why we pursue the challenges involved. Brad Feld came on the podcast to chat about depression and his own bouts with it, and how he has fought through his own battles of obsessive compulsive disorder.

Brad is a world-class entrepreneur and investor. Having started Techstars, Foundry Group, he's invested in hundreds and hundreds of companies. He knows the hustle and flow that entrepreneurs go through and we dig in this episode on:

  • How to cope with depression
  • How to find support from loved ones when dealing with depression
  • The signs of depression and OCD
  • How Brad takes time off the grid to keep himself energized

Brad Feld's article on depression: http://www.feld.com/archives/2015/04/bringing-depression-shadows-startups.html

 

Direct download: Brad_Feld_108_Influencer_Techstars.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:02pm PDT

I love the excitement behind startups, and how driven invested individuals can become. I also understand the failures involved in working for a startup. I lived it all - Whether it's negotiating hard for equity, understanding that 90% of startups fail and dealing with the stresses of startup work.

This week I answer audience feedback questions, based on failures that I have had at startups.  I want you to learn how to negotiate and win at a startup. I have been burned by startups before. Whether it was losing money on stock or getting no stock at all, I've been burned..

This week you will hear a question from my my audience and I'm trying something new. I will spend the entire episode sharing my experiences, wins and losses to help answer your questions..I want to help you since you have helped me so much.

This week you'll learn:
  1. How to negotiate equity at startup
  2. How much equity do you ask for 
  3. What happens if the company fails
  4. How much time should I allocate when I negotiate equity
  5. How to make money for products sold vs. a flat fee
 
 
Signup for our FREE Influencer collaboration work book at: http://www.influencereconomy.com/
 
 
Direct download: Coaching_Friday_Ep.1_Influencer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:37pm PDT

Patrick McGinnis, author of the 10% Entrepreneur asks the question: "Do you want to live your startup dream?" Patrick wrote the playbook on how to live your startup dream without quitting your day job. Entrepreneurship is overrated. In this episode Patrick teaches you how to invest just 10% of your time and resources, to become an entrepreneur you can keep a stable day job. And that is how the modern day startup founder finds a winning formula.

If you want a FREE Influencer Economy Collaboration Workbook, Sign-up Here for 100 Actions and Lessons to Collaborate with Influencers: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

The dot com era is over. Startups are dead. Hedge your bets and only invest 10% of your time with startup ideas. The startup entrepreneur version of the "American Dream," is a myth. Launching a side project, side hustle or side business is the new startup. What we'll teach you about on this podcast episode:

 

  1. The Five Types of 10% Entrepreneurs
  2. One Job Is Not Enough
  3. All the Benefits Without the Pitfalls
  4. Making the Most of Time and Money

More about Patrick: Patrick J. McGinnis is a venture capitalist and private equity investor who founded Dirigo Advisors, after a decade on Wall Street, to provide strategic advice to investors, entrepreneurs, and fast growing businesses. In this capacity, he has worked in a range of settings, from building startups from the ground up in Silicon Valley to acting as an expert consultant to the World Bank in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

Buy the 10% Entrepreneur: http://patrickmcginnis.com/buy-the-book/

Visit Patrick McGinnnis online: http://patrickmcginnis.com/

Follow Patrick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pjmcginnis

If you dig this podcast please rate and review on iTunes. It's super easy and takes two minutes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-from-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

 

 

Direct download: Patrick_McGinnis_Influencer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:03pm PDT

Serein Wu is YouTube beauty vlogger who is helping to reinvent beauty norms in an every growing industry of online beauty. Listen to Part I of this episode to  learn about her career. She is also a courageous person who shares her own experiences with depression to heal her and others. And YouTube literally saved her life.

In this episode Serein talks in depth about how she overcame depression and the techniques and methods she used to do so. More importantly she had a YouTube community rally around her depression to help through the difficult times. She is creative, inspiring and shares personal stories for how to manage depression, anxiety and battle your own negative thoughts.

Sign up for my Influencer Economy email list for a FREE Collaboration Workbook to launch, collaborate and thrive in the new economy: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

She writes, edits and stars in videos for millions to watch that are about beauty, fashion, depression and whatever is on her mind. Some episodes she will try on make-up products, giving product demos. In other episodes she will talk about trends in fashion to give her viewers a cool discount or deal recommendation, overall she wants her audience to feel their best. 

Serein is authentic, which is one key to her success. Her "realness," is why beauty vloggers like her a disrupting the multi-billion dollar fashion industries. She has built an amazing trust wither he community. Serein will never sell-out as she has a partnership with the community. She makes money by endorsing beauty products, but only promotes products that she likes and uses.

Disruption, Authenticity and  Reinventing the Beauty Industry with Serein Wu.

What you'll learn:

  • How to be authentic online
  • Why you need to only endorse products you love
  • What is the massive growth industry of beauty vlogging
  • How Serein and other YouTubers build community
  • How beauty vloggers like Serein make videos to help their community to feel good about themselves

Serein Wu's Dress Yourself Happy YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/DressYourselfHappy

Follow Serein Wu: https://www.instagram.com/sereinwu/

Behind the Beauty Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-beauty/id1151361145?mt=2

Sign up for my Influencer Economy email list for a FREE Collaboration Workbook to launch, collaborate and thrive in the new economy: http://www.influencereconomy.com/ 

Direct download: Serein_Wu_Influencer_Ep_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:33pm PDT

Serein Wu is YouTube beauty vlogger who is helping to reinvent beauty norms in an every growing industry of online beauty. She writes, edits and stars in videos for millions to watch that are about beauty, fashion, depression and whatever is on her mind. Some episodes she will try on make-up products, giving product demos. In other episodes she will talk about trends in fashion to give her viewers a cool discount or deal recommendation, overall she wants her audience to feel their best. 

Sign up for my Influencer Economy email list for a FREE Collaboration Workbook to launch, collaborate and thrive in the new economy: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Serein is authentic, which is one key to her success. Her "realness," is why beauty vloggers like her a disrupting the multi-billion dollar fashion industries. She has built an amazing trust wither he community. Serein will never sell-out as she has a partnership with the community. She makes money by endorsing beauty products, but only promotes products that she likes and uses.

Disruption, Authenticity and  Reinventing the Beauty Industry with Serein Wu.

What you'll learn:

  • How to be authentic online
  • Why you need to only endorse products you love
  • What is the massive growth industry of beauty vlogging
  • How Serein and other YouTubers build community
  • How beauty vloggers like Serein make videos to help their community to feel good about themselves

Serein Wu's Dress Yourself Happy YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/DressYourselfHappy

Follow Serein Wu: https://www.instagram.com/sereinwu/

Behind the Beauty Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-beauty/id1151361145?mt=2

 

Direct download: Serein_Wu_Episode_105_DressYourselfHappy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:47am PDT

Danny Iny is the leader of the new movement of creating online courses. He has built a million dollar business helping others to create their own courses. In his book Teach and Grow Rich, he outlines how to create, market and sell your first online course.

Danny Iny is also the founder of Mirasee, host of the Business Reimagined podcast, best-selling author of multiple books including Engagement from Scratch!, The Audience Revolution, and Teach and Grow Rich, and creator of the acclaimed Audience Business Masterclass and Course Builder's Laboratory training programs, which have together graduated over 4,000 online entrepreneurs.

Online education is a massive billion dollar industry, and it's only growing. With the expensive of college to student debt, the internet can create an ocean of opportunities to launch a course.

Danny dropped out of high school to start his first business and has spent years crafting his method for helping others launch their courses. Anyone can share their business vision with their audience to launch their first course.

Read Teach and Grow Rich: https://www.amazon.com/Teach-Grow-Rich-Knowledge-Freedom-ebook/dp/B01N10K344/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Danny Iny's website: https://mirasee.com/

 

Direct download: Danny_Iny_Mirasee.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:32pm PDT

Kate Talbot is a social media expert, digital marketing consultant, and content creator who has been involved with online networking since its very early days. She has worked as a social media manager for both Kiva and Virgin America and has consulted with many other businesses and organizations regarding their social media presence and digital marketing strategies.

Most recently, Kate is the author of Oh Snap! You Can Use Snapchat for Business, a bestselling guide to using Snapchat as a marketing and advertising tool. The book offers strategies for businesses and organizations to move beyond merely participating in social media and instead take charge of that influence to build brand recognition and ultimately to increase revenue.

Please leave an iTunes review for the Ryno Lab Stories from the Influencer Economy, it really helps us gain more listeners! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-from-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

This interview is a sort of "master class" on the strategic use of Snapchat. With their usual sharp irony, Millennials love Snapchat because of both its ephemeral nature and its sharable format, and companies can take advantage of both. Content is too dynamic to get stale on Snapchat, but it is also perfectly designed for constant evolution and infinite personalization. Millennials also favor Snapchat for its immediacy and authenticity. The very design of the platform strongly encourages straightforward, honest content, which in turn builds trust and allows companies to connect with their communities on a one-to-one basis.

 Snapchat is demonstrably changing the way social media works and it is crucial for influencers to take advantage of those changes. Every major social media platform is aligning more closely to the Snapchat model. Even the established titan of social media, Facebook, recently revamped their Messenger program to work like Snapchat does. And these changes won't stop any time soon. In addition to its well-known Lenses, Filters, and the recently released Spectacle, Snapchat is actively developing plans to further integrate virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence into its platform, and others will certainly follow.

Listen to all The Influencer Economy archives: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Quotes from the interview:

"You are defined by your social presence. But with Snapchat you can just be you and you don't have to be that perfectly curated person.... People crave authenticity and the idea of curation and perfectionism, which was huge on Instagram, was going to decline. People can't keep that up long term." 

"You want to send your friends ugly selfies. That means you have a true friendship. This is a key point from a millennial point of view."

"It's advertising at its best. It's not a banner ad that you're, like, 'Ugh, I don't want to see it.' You're literally becoming the ad and sharing it with your community. It's bottom-up and it's great. People save it, they share it on other social channels, and the advertising ROI on Snapchat is huge."

Links:

Official website: http://www.katetalbot.me/

Book: http://amzn.to/2bLpnmJ

 

Direct download: Kate_Talbot_102.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:56am PDT

Dan Ariely is the James B Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He's also a best-selling New York Times author. Dan does research in behavioral economics and "tires to describe it in plain language."

Dan gave a TED Talk in October 20 called “What Makes Us Feel Good About Our Work?" and ultimately turned his talk into his new book Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes our Motivation.

Dan survived a horrific burn as a younger man, and he realized during his recovery treatment that he was fascinated by user motivation and psychology. He shares this story at the front of the book and it sets the table for a fascinating book for anyone looking to understand behavior in relationships.

What Dan has studied as a writer and teacher at Duke business school comes out in this book and Dan is a true influencer in the world of motivation and logic. The stories and research around how money incentivizes our work performance, or how human connections can sometimes go along way in working with others, are super interesting for anyone out there.

In this Influencer Economy episode, you will learn:

  • Can giving employees bonuses harm productivity?
  • Why is trust so crucial for successful motivation?
  • What are our misconceptions about how to value our work?
  • How does your sense of your mortality impact your motivation?

Dan's work has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Scientific American and CNN.

Dan's book: https://www.amazon.com/Payoff-Hidden-Logic-Shapes-Motivations-ebook/product-reviews/B01CO34D12/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_srt?

Dan Ariely's website: http://danariely.com/

 

Direct download: Dan_Ariely_Ryno_Lab_Influencer_100.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:14pm PDT

Helping people without expecting anything in return is the best business model for life. And today's guest, Jon Levy, practices that mantra. He has a new book out called,The 2am Principle. LISTEN TO EPISODE 97 for Part 1 with Jon Levy.

Jon Levy (@JonLevyTLB) is behavioral scientist studying influence and adventure. 

If you enjoy this episode, please leave an iTunes review! It really helps Ryno Lab get discovered by new listeners. Click here to leave a Ryno Lab iTunes review

In this Ryno Lab episode, you'll learn:

  • How to connect and help others to bring yourself joy
  • Where influencers can help you launch your business
  • How to build a community of influencers
  • How to take advantage of 'weak ties" to build your network

Jon is also the founder of The Influencers Dinner, a private community and dining experience in which twelve thought leaders and tastemakers across industries prepare dinner together. Look for part II of this episode coming soon!

Jon Levy's: The 2 AM Principle book: https://www.amazon.com/AM-Principle-Discover-Science-Adventure/dp/1942872690

Jon Levy: http://www.jonlevytlb.com/

 

Direct download: Ryno_Lab_Jon_Levy_Part_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:36pm PDT

Jon Levy (@JonLevyTLB) is behavioral scientist studying influence and adventure. His is the author of The 2 AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure.

Jon was in Spain running with the Pamplona bulls, his back had just been trampled by a bull, and he was woozy waiting in a hospital for a nurse to attend to him. He wondered to himself, "What was I thinking?" But this is what Jon Levy does, he gets himself into interesting situations. Jon grew-up a self-proclaimed nerd, but the older he got, the more he realized that he loved the challenge of an adventure. He has written the playbook to help you learn how to find that adventure as well.

If you enjoy this episode, please leave an iTunes review! It really helps Ryno Lab get discovered by new listeners. Click here to leave a Ryno Lab iTunes review

In this Ryno Lab episode, you'll learn:

  • The importance of seeking adventure in your life
  • How to push your boundaries
  • How anyone, living anywhere can find their edge
  • How to take a risk, and why you don't need to drink to stay up past 2 a.m.
  • The steps to no longer limit yourself and your freedom

Jon is also the founder of The Influencers Dinner, a private community and dining experience in which twelve thought leaders and tastemakers across industries prepare dinner together. Look for part II of this episode coming soon!

Jon Levy's: The 2 AM Principle book: https://www.amazon.com/AM-Principle-Discover-Science-Adventure/dp/1942872690

Jon Levy: http://www.jonlevytlb.com/

 

Direct download: Jon_Levy_Influencer_Ep98.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:47pm PDT

Max Joseph is a filmmaker, director, and the co-host of Catfish, which has just completed its fifth season on MTV. This is Part 2 of my interview with Max Joseph. Go back to episode 95 to hear the first installment of our chat  

Max got his start in online video but has also worked extensively on documentaries and feature films. He is the creator of the powerful and beautiful promotional videos Make It Count (for the Nike FuelBand and starring Casey Neistadt) and Follow the Frog (for the Rainforest Alliance) and he also directed the 2015 feature film We Are Your Friends, starring Zac Efron.

This week Ryno Lab is episode 97: Negative Press, Overcoming Rejection and Following Your Gut with Max Joseph (Part 2)

If you like this episode, please leave an iTunes review, it really helps us to find new listeners. 

Max was really honest about topics like rejection, dealing with negative media, and what happens if your influencer community doesn't follow you to a bigger and more mainstream project.

Go back and listen to episode 95 for my background info on Max. Thanks again Max, for coming on the Ryno Lab podcast.

Remember to sign-up for my email list at http://www.influencereconomy.com/ to receive The Influencer Economy Guidebook and Action Lesson Plan on how to "Launch Your Idea, Collaborate with Influencers and Thrive in the Digital Age."

Max opens up about questions like:

  • Can influencers go mainstream?
  • What's it like if your influencer audience doesn't follow you to a bigger project?
  • How do you you deal with negative press?
  • How do you deal with rejection?

Links:

Official website: http://www.maxjoseph.com/

We Are Your Friends trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZzAeYWXFpk

Max Joseph's epic videos:

Make It Count -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxfZkMm3wcg

Follow the Frog -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIkOi3srLo

Direct download: Ryno_Max_Joseph_Influencer_Ep2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:58pm PDT

Jenny Blake is an author, career and business strategist and speaker who helps people organize their brain, move beyond burnout, and find the careers they love. After leaving what many consider to be a dream job at Google, she helps people find meaning and focus in finding their next job. In other words, she helps people pivot their careers. 

Visit our Influencer Economy Website for my information on the book and podcast: http://www.influencereconomy.com/ Sign-up for our email list and I will send you an article: The 7 Habits of Influencers and an Influencer Economy CheckList for launching your business.

Jenny Blake's new book is called PIVOT: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next OneIn Pivot, she helps people create a new mindset and framework for how to find their next career move. In the era of The Infleuncer Economy, all of us want to build build sustainable and dynamic careers they love. Jenny wants to push people into the right direction to find their own career paths and pivots.

Drawing from Jenny's experiences and her research talking to other successful pivoters, She has created a four-stage framework that teaches anyone how to seamlessly and continually:

  • Double-down on existing strengths, interests, and experiences 
  • Find new opportunities and identify skills to develop without falling prey to analysis-paralysis and compare-and-despair 
  • Run small experiments to determine next steps 
  • Take smart risks to launch with confidence in a new direction 

 

If you like our podcast, please leave a review on iTunes - it really helps new listers discover our work. We are independently produced and appreciate the support! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-from-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

Learn more at Jenny Blake's website on Pivot: http://www.pivotmethod.com/

Follow Jenny Blake on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Jenny_Blake

Direct download: Jenny_Blake_Ryno_Influencer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:28am PDT

Max Joseph is a filmmaker, director, and the co-host of Catfish, which has just completed its fifth season on MTV. Max got his start in online video but has also worked extensively on documentaries and feature films. He is the creator of the powerful and beautiful promotional videos Make It Count (for the Nike FuelBand and starring Casey Neistadt) and Follow the Frog (for the Rainforest Alliance) and he also directed the 2015 feature film We Are Your Friends, starring Zac Efron.

Max grew up in New York City, the only child of hardworking parents who were creative at heart. He grew up hoping to enjoy his day-to-day work more than his parents did, and was inspired by his cousin, who worked for Jim Henson, to follow his creative dreams. He realized at the age of 15 that he wanted to be a filmmaker. To this day he considers himself first and foremost a filmmaker (regardless of whether his work is released online or in theatres) and he calls his time on Catfish "a fun detour in an otherwise obsessive moviemaking career". He considers himself a "dreamer" (in contrast to people like Casey Neistadt, who he calls a "doer") because he sees his job as developing a creative vision which he can then hire and direct other people to develop into a reality.

On this episode of the podcast, Max discusses his philosophy and methodology for great filmmaking. He generally gets started with a general concept or even just a "vibe" and a general end goal, and then follows his creative urges to build a great product. He believes strongly in the idea that great concept + great execution = great art and follows this principle in his work. He talks, for example, about how the Make It Count video was built around a very simple concept -- use Nike's money to travel the world and thereby "make it count" -- and thoughtful execution, carefully blending video clips, music, text, and more to create a powerful flow of ideas from start to finish. In short, Max's goal is always to make "the coolest thing ever", no matter how he has to go about doing that.

Max is also a strong proponent of working together with other creative minds to build stronger, more balanced, and more interesting products. He discusses his own experiences with mentoring, collaboration, and other ways of learning from the people around him. He has worked with clients, professionals, corporations, and nonprofits and has learned the best ways to make any collaboration successful.

If you're interested in taking the art of filmmaking, online video, or any other creative pursuit to a higher, more successful, or more fulfilling level, you need to hear this podcast. You'll learn about following your curiosity, asking the right questions, getting paid to learn your craft, which things are better learned in a classroom, connecting with the right mentors and collaborators, and much more. Join me in this conversation with Max Joseph and let your creative spirit soar!

Quotes from the podcast:

"I like putting puzzles together. I started editing and I love just being in a room and playing around with pieces until they fit together in the right way. And once I get them right, that's when I'm in my flow creatively and that's when I'm probably most happy."

"Guilt is not viral. Making people feel guilty when they watch something is not going to end in them wanting to share it with anyone. You don't want to share something that bums out your friends. You want to share something that makes them smile.... There's a way to marry the two, though, so it works."

"That feeling of 'You are not alone' is maybe the most important part of any video or piece of content because that's where the audience gets on board. And then once they're on board you can take them on a wild ride."

"Follow your curiosity. If you have an idea... do it, and do it with all your heart and soul."

"Do weird jobs. Get paid to learn your craft and treat each exercise as a challenge to make... the most awesome, best thing ever, despite any challenge that anyone's giving you. The more constraints and challenges, the more you'll learn how to get around them."

Thanks to our contributor Edi Gonzalez for writing this description!

Max Joseph Links:

Official website: http://www.maxjoseph.com/

We Are Your Friends trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZzAeYWXFpk

Also, if you want to link the videos in the first paragraph, they are at:

Make It Count -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxfZkMm3wcg

Follow the Frog -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIkOi3srLo

 

Direct download: Max_Joseph_Influencer_Ryno_Show.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:18pm PDT

Srinivas Rao likes to surf and in the early 2000's he was at a crossroads in his life. As a recent business school grad, he could conform to the rest of society and get on a hamster wheel of a career, doing what he had been programmed to do for his entire life. Or he could surf, play in the ocean and ultimately learn how to become an unmistakable creative person, picking and charting his own path for success. He chose the latter and talks about it today.

Srinivas Rao is an influencer in the podcasting community. He's written numerous books, including Unmistakable: Why Only is Better Than Best, which is a playbook for anyone harnessing their creative ideas and pursuing a career that they define, not the other way around. 

Srinivas spent 8 years interviewing five hundred creative people on his Unmistakable Creative podcast was the ultimate education. He heard how guests including Seth Godin, Elle Luna, Tim Ferriss, Simon Sinek, and Danielle LaPorte blazed their own trails.
 
In this Influencer Economy podcast, we talk about his advice to not "be just one among many—be the only. Be unmistakable." And how we need to define our own success, not rely on what others deem successful.  
 
As Srinivas says "Whether you’re a business owner, an artist, or just someone who wants to leave your mark on the world, Unmistakable will inspire you to create your own path and define your own success."

Listen to the Unmistakable Creative podcast: https://unmistakablecreative.com/\

"Stop trying to beat everyone else. True success is playing by your own rules, creating work that no one can replicate. Don’t be the best, be the only."

Srinivas Rao

 

Direct download: Srinivas_Rao_Unmistakable.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:09pm PDT

Kevin Kelly is a blogger, author, editor, student of technology and future systems, and self-proclaimed "packager of ideas". He is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine and has written for the New York Times, Economist, Science, Time, the Wall Street Journal, and other national and international publications.

Kevin's current focus is the future of technology and its cultural and psychological effects. He predicts that the world as we know it, including human thought and behavior, will be transformed over the next few decades just as dramatically as it has been due to the rise of internet culture. Kevin has outlined this transformation in his new book, The Inevitable, in which he lists twelve technological forces that he believes will shape our lives over the next thirty years. If you're working to build a successful and fulfilling future -- and who isn't?! -- I highly recommend that you read The Inevitable immediately.

Kevin also writes several blogs on a variety of topics. His technology blog, The Technium, contains one of my personal favorite posts, entitled "1000 True Fans". This post describes a big part of Kevin's theory on success and networking in the digital age. He states that almost any content creator in any genre can make a solid living by using some basic strategies to build a base of 1000 "true fans". He defines a "true fan" as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

The theory is that if each of these 1000 true fans each spends even $100 per year on content and merchandise, the creator will have an annual income of roughly $100,000. In today's podcast, Kevin acknowledges a few necessary tweaks to this plan but explains how, in general, it can work for anyone.

More broadly speaking, on this episode, Kevin Kelly discusses his thoughts about the future of technology and how it will affect our lives. He goes into particular depth about the ideas of accessing and sharing, two of the twelve principles covered in The Inevitable. Kevin believes that accessing (renting or borrowing physical tools, substituting digital tools for physical ones, using free or open-source software, contracting for services, etc.) will be far more efficient and useful going forward than possessing (owning physical tools or software, hiring long-term employees, etc.). Similarly, he believes strongly in the importance of sharing, in terms of both collaborative content creation and freely-shared products. He points out that the world that we take for granted, from Wikipedia to Uber and far beyond, would not be possible without these two principles.

One of Kevin's main talking points is the importance of experimentation in our lives. Because he believes that the most important technology of the next 30 years hasn't been invented or even imagined yet, he knows that it's not too late for anyone. Any one of us could be the one to have the next world-changing idea. However, that idea will only come from curiosity, exploration, experimentation, and an open mind. You can begin today to build that mindset -- or strengthen and inform it if you've already begun -- by listening to Kevin Kelly's episode of The Influencer Economy now!

Written by contributor Edi Gonzalez

Quotes from the episode:

"There's one thing that I'm pretty sure about, and that is that the most important product in 30 years, the thing that is kind of running people's lives, does not exist right now.... And the larger point is that that's great news because it means that you could be the creator, the innovator, who comes up with that technology, and that none of us are late. Great opportunity is all before us."

"I would encourage anyone... to do something silly. Do something that is sort of basic science and research... that has no obvious practical value, because we know that eventually this kind of work will become the most essential and practical thing possible. What I recommend people... to do is something that is really, really interesting to them. I'm a big fan of being unproductive in a long-term productive way."

"If you're too many steps ahead, that's just as terrible as being twenty steps behind. But what I want to emphasize is that you want to take that appropriate minimal step in the right direction. We are gonna do more sharing, more collaboration, more accessing, so all things equal, if you're heading in those directions, that's a viable direction."

"The only thing that's not increasing in this world of abundance... is our own attention, which is fixed. And not only is it fixed, but we also have to spend it every day. We can't bank it. We can't store it up. We have to expend our 24 hours every 24 hours and we have no more than that. And so we need technological tools to help us navigate and manage this exponential abundance of stuff."

Links:

Buy Kevin Kelly's books on Amazon by clicking here. (http://www.amazon.com/Kevin-Kelly/e/B001HCY1LE/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1466622579&sr=8-2-ent)

Kevin Kelly's blogs, including The Technium, Cool Tools, and more: http://kk.org/

 

Direct download: Kevin_Kelly_Influencer_Economy_Podcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:31pm PDT

Brent Bushnell is the co-founder and CEO of Two Bit Circus, an educational entertainment company that provides a wide range of high-tech and hands-on experiences. The company's goal is not only to entertain but, more importantly, to inspire participants to become involved in engineering, computing, inventing, the arts, and other creative pursuits. Brent is himself an engineer and an entrepreneur who has founded a number of tech endeavors, including Doppelgames, a mobile game company; Anti-Aging Games, building games that reduce the risk of early memory loss; Syyn Labs, which creates content for entertainers and large corporations; and Tapcode, which provided self-service and entertainment solutions for the hospitality industry. He was an on-camera inventor for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and he also works as a consultant and mentor for game development and entrepreneurship. Brent is the son of Nolan Bushnell, a gifted engineer and innovator and the founder of both Atari and Chuck E. Cheese.

Read The Influencer Economy Book: influencereconomybook.com

Brent believes strongly in the importance of the STEAM paradigm, which integrates the
arts (A) with the more traditional "teaming" of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). He works hard to expose young people to STEM topics in creative, engaging ways that will inspire both their intellect and their passion and thereby lead them to become inventors and creators themselves. He targets young people largely through his project called STEAM Carnival, a traveling event that includes a giant high-tech game arcade, a battling robot band showcase, a wearable technology fashion show, and much more. In Brent's words, it's "kind of like Cirque du Soleil for games".

Listen to the archives: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Leave an iTunes review if you'd like to support us, it really helps us get discovered for new podcast listeners. Click here for the link.

All of Brent's projects emphasize collaboration and interaction, and his advice for creators is no different. He has built his own companies and projects by listening to his passions and by seeking out collaborators who have similar passions and are willing to take risks. For example, when Brent started Two Bit Circus, he and his co-founder Eric Gradman started out knowing only the general direction they wanted to take. They spent the next few years experimenting with a wide variety of ideas. They funded their endeavors with entertainment consulting events (many of which allowed them to test their innovations) and invested the profits in further development. Only when they felt that they had sufficiently refined their vision did they seek out investors to accelerate their growth and mature into an established company. 

In this episode, Brent encourages listeners to "get their hands dirty" and make physical things. As an engineer and high-tech entrepreneur, Brent certainly appreciates the value of digital solutions, but he also understands the importance of physical solutions in a physical world and fears that our current education system is alienating young people from that kind of thinking. Inspiration isn't just for the young, however. This podcast will inspire all of us to trust our imaginations, follow our passions, and build our dreams.

Quotes from the episode:

"There's no shortage of hard problems. And, frankly, no shortage of capable humans. But what we do have a shortage of are inspired, tool-capable, invention-capable humans to go out and solve those hard problems.... We've got this perfect storm of needing it badly [and] the tools are easier than they've ever been; we just need people to be aware."

"I love online creation. My background is software. But I think we got carried away with the success of the internet and [thought] that all of the great innovations are gonna be apps. And that's just not the case because there's some things you can't solve with apps. You need other stuff."

"I think that humans are really naturally creative and that our school system kind of beats it out of us in a very heart-wrenching and terrible process, and that what we need to now do is sort of unwind that.... The thing is to not get too much in your head about it. Just start doing stuff!"

"Failure's rad! The second you fail, that means you've been out there trying and that's fantastic!"

"If your motivation is to try to make a buck, you're doing it wrong."

Links:

Personal Website: http://brentbushnell.com

Two Bit Circus: http://twobitcircus.com

STEAM Carnival: http://twobitcircus.com/productions/steamcarnival

 

Grand Challenges for Engineering: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/

United Nations Key Issues: http://www.un.org/en/sections/priorities/

Y Combinator Request for Startups: https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs/

 

Direct download: Brett_Bushnell_influencer_economy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:12am PDT

The Influencer Economy is a movement and book to help you to launch your idea, share it with the world and thrive in the digital age. What I realized early in the process of writing this book and creating my podcast, is that in order to thrive in the digital age, you don’t need to go to business school. You don’t need an Ivy League degree. You don’t need to know celebrities. And you don’t need to have a lot of money. You just need to learn the new rules of success from the emerging leaders of the Influencer Economy.

Sign-up for the FREE Influencer Economy Action Guide:  

http://www.influencereconomy.com/

I wrote this book from my own perspective as a creative entrepreneur, bootstrapping my ideas and vision without any large budget. I’m imagining you’re in a similar boat—it’s you and maybe a co-founder out there working on your idea, and it’s a lonely slog. I want this book to move your journey along and help you build a community and platform around your idea, even if your idea has yet to launch.

When I began attending VidCon, Comic-Con, South by Southwest (SXSW), TechCrunch Disrupt and other tech and fan- geek conferences, I noticed two remarkable things: these events were celebrating geeks, technology, and modern social media; and no one was telling the stories of the awesome people embracing this new form of influence and the wildly successful businesses they were creating. I was on the front lines of what I called the Influencer Economy, and this movement was permeating all tech- nology and media-based businesses, from California to New York to London to Mumbai.

I was inspired and went on to launch a podcast dedicated to interviewing the Influencer Economy pioneers. After speaking to more than a hundred artists, experts, and entrepreneurs—from world-famous YouTubers to New York Times best-selling authorsto the most creative start-up founders and investors on the plan- et—I reverse engineered their careers, to understand the stories behind their success, and now present everything I learned in The Influencer Economy: How to Launch Your Idea, Share It with the World and Thrive in the Digital Age. You can listen to the podcast here: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 
Direct download: Launch_Share_Thrive_Influencer_Economy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:45pm PDT

Keith Bulluck (kbull53) is a retired NFL football player turned startup entrepreneur. Keith is a former NFL All Pro with the Tennessee Titans. He was drafted by the Titans 30th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft after attending Syracuse University. Keith was a leader on the defense for the Titans, leading the team in tackles for 5 seasons. He played his undergrad seasons at Syracuse and was their MVP his final seasons in 1999. 
 
After Keith retired he kept investing in himself and in 2014 he got his Masters in Business (MBA) at the George Washington University School of Business.
 
<>Please Review our podcast on iTunes, it really helps us get discovered in iTunes by new listeners. :) Click HERE to review our podcast.....AND to buy The Influencer Economy Book Click Here. <>
 
Growing up Keith never met his father, his mother was in an abusive relationship, and he ended up spending 6 years living with a foster care family in New York. Years later has gone to raise thousands of dollars on an annual basis to benefit children in foster care as well as underprivileged children. We talk in detail how being adopted shaped his life and how he gives back as a graduate for foster care now.
 
Keith is now a Managing Partner at Transition Sports & Entertainment, a sports media marketing and business company. 
 
What you'll learn from former all-pro Keith Bulluck in Ep. 90:  Life After NFL Football, Leading on the Field, and Giving Back with Keith Bulluck
  • What do NFL players miss after they retire from playing in the NFL?
  • What was it like competing every week in the NFL?
  • How does an NFL player transition into retirement after their career?
  • How did Keith Bulluck lead his teammates on the field?
  • How does Keith lead his business team mates off the field in deals now?
  • How did Keith become a startup entrepreneur?
  • How does Keith Bulluck prepare for his day?
Keith's website: http://kbulluck.com/
 
Follow Keith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbull53
 
Direct download: Keith_Bulluck_Influencer_Economy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:51pm PDT

When Ryan Williams began attending VidCon, Comic-Con, South by Southwest (SXSW), TechCrunch Disrupt and other tech and fan-geek conferences. he noticed two remarkable things: these events were celebrating geeks, technology, and modern social media; and no one was telling the stories of the awesome people embracing this new form of influence and the wildly successful businesses they were creating.

---If you can't tell by now, this is my official book description and media release. As always thanks for the support  You can buy the book on Amazon here: http://influencereconomybook.com/ I work hard and focus in giving out practical advice and actionable insights throughout my podcast and career. This a big moment both my career and business life, I would love your support in buying the book, or giving it away to a friend. <3 Much Love, Ryan <3

Ryan Williams is a former stand-up comedian turned tech entrepreneur. He was a founding team member at DigiSynd, a pioneering social media marketing group, acquired by Disney in 2008. After leaving Disney to join the Machinima.com, a YouTube video network for the gaming generation, he drove network growth to over 4 Billion video views a month, focused on influencer-driven YouTube video creation. As a start-up marketing executive, he has lead go-to-market product launches for global companies such as Disney, Microsoft, Activision, and Warner Bros.

In 2014, Ryan went on to launch a popular podcast dedicated to interviewing the pioneers of what he calls the Influencer Economy. After speaking to more than a hundred artists, experts, and entrepreneurs--from world-famous YouTubers to New York Times best-selling authors to the most creative start-up founders and investors on the planet--he reverse engineered their careers, to understand the stories behind their success, and now presents everything he learned in The Influencer Economy.

The three primary steps to success in the Influencer Economy -- launch, share and thrive -- can be applied to both business and life. Ryan tells the fascinating stories of more than a dozen people who turned their visions, ideas, and hobbies into influential and profitable digital media empires. He provides the "Influencer School Lessons" derived from each of these individual's journeys. As well as specific actions that readers can take to follow on the way to launching their own ideas into the online universe.


In order to thrive in the digital age, you don't need to go to business school. You don't need an Ivy League degree. You don't need to know celebrities. And you don't need to have a lot of money. You just need to learn the new business framework from the leaders of the Influencer Economy.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Ryan Williams is an entrepreneur, writer, podcast host and former stand-up comedian. He is the Founder of Ryno Lab; a collaborative influencer-based studio that helps brands and entrepreneurs create digital products, build networks and thrive in the digital age. Ryan's professional experience includes 12 years in marketing, business development, and entertainment. He was an early team member at the venture-backed startups DigiSynd (acquired by Disney), Machinima.com and State.com. He hosts Stories from the Influencer Economy podcast, featured in Apple's "New and Noteworthy" in 2015. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and two daughters.

Direct download: Influencer_Economy_Ryan_Williams_Book_Podcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:18pm PDT

Seth Godin is a marketer, entrepreneur, and best-selling author. He's one of my favorite public speakers and an inspiring figure in the marketing world. I have talked about him a lot on the podcast.

Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, an interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in 1998. Seth worked as VP Direct Marketing at Yahoo until 2000, whcih is when his career pivoted in the direction of authoring books, public speaking and and blogging.

-If you want to help The Influencer Economy, please leave an iTunes review for the podcast. Click Here or search directly in iTunes for our feed. And pre-order The Influencer Economy book on Amazon by clicking here. 

Seth Godin speaks in depth about the iizard brain which is something that holds us back in reaching our goals and is an irrational part of our human behavior. Have you ever wanted to accomplish something but there's a voice of anxiety telling us to go slow or be careful? That is the lizard brain, which is a pre-historic lump that is responsible for rage, fear and our reproductive drive. And now it gets in the way of us shipping our work, products or ideas.

Seth Godin explained to me that this happens when we say we want one thing, then we do another. Like when we say they want to be successful but then sabotage a job interview. Or we say that we want our product to come to market, but we sandbag their shipping schedule. Or we want to be thin, but never work out. He quotes Steven Pressfield, who calls this process the resistance. "The resistance is writer's block and putting jitters and every project that ever shipped late because people couldn't stay on the same page long enough to get something out the door." It's something we all face.

And if you have not read Seth Godin's The Dip, Linchpin or Purple Cow, I recommend that you stop listening and buy them from Amazon.com.  The Dip is a favorite book of mine that helped me move on from a job that I wanted to quit. I eventually was laid off from this job, which turned out to be one of the best career moves of my life. 

-Sign-up for our email list and I'll send The Influencer Economy Work Book: 7 Habits of Influencers. http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Quotes about The Dip from Seth Godin:

"The only way to become the best at one thing is to quit something else. And the thesis of the book is that we live in a culture where supposedly quitting is a bad thing. But people quit stuff all the time.”

“You need to figure out if you quit or stick,” but you also need to know that the Dip is “a temporary setback that can be overcome with persistence.”

We also talk about how Brad Feld invested in Seth's startup, and how Seth's company published Derek Sivers' book Anything You Want.

Seth Godin's The Dip: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/

Seth Godin's Book List: http://sethgodin.com/sg/books.asp

Seth Godin's Blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

By Seth Godin's books on Amazon, click here.

Direct download: Seth_Godin_Influencer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:50pm PDT

Hrishikesh Hirway is a musician, story-teller, and podcast host who hosts Song Exploder, a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, telling the story of how they were made. He has had inspiring and loved musicians such as U2, Björk, Postal Service and Spoon on the show. Hrishikesh is a podcast mastercraftsman and we talk in depth about his creative process and how he launched his idea to the world. We dive into how he created one of the most successful music podcasts.

As a podcast listener Song Exploder invites you into the mindset and framework of some of the bigger touring acts and indie artists in the music world. You can hear Wilco's Jeff Wilco explain what inspired him to write the song Magnetized. Or U2's The Edge breaking down the process for how the music was written for U2's song Cedarwood Road, and Bono looks back at his life growing up in Dublin where he was inspired to write the song. And Postal Service's Jimmy Tamborello shares the District Sleeps Alone Tonight, and talks about his instruments, his influences, and accidentally making a loop out of Jenny Lewis's backing vocals.

Please Review our podcast on iTunes, it really helps us get discovered in iTunes by new listeners. :) Click HERE to review AND to buy The Influencer Economy Book Click Here.

Hrishikesh doesn't ask the artists about their big hit singles or world-wide hits. The songs are often personal and intimate tracks, composed and created by the artist. Song Exploder is an intimate and personal window into the world of how artists create, write, and score the songs that people love.

Hrishikesh talks in depth about how he created the idea for Song Exploder, launched it to the world with the help of Jesse Thorn the Maximum Fun (a podcast network) and is thriving as part of the Radiotopia network.

And I want to give a high five to my friends Kerri Hoffman and Maggie Taylor at PRX

 

If you like this episode, feel free to tag @songexploder (https://twitter.com/songexploderon Twitter to give Rishi some love.

Song Exploder: http://songexploder.net/

RadioTopia: http://www.radiotopia.fm/

PRX:  http://www.prx.org/

Ryan Williams' Influencer Economy website: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

 

 

Direct download: Hrishikesh_Hirway_SongExploder.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:53am PDT

Hank Green is one half the YouTube creators The Vlog Brothers, who he co-creates with his brother John Green. Hank is the entrepreneurial brother who has the leadership role on many of their co-ventures and has launched several of his own innovative charitable and education-based projects. But going back to 2006, when Hank and John Green first started to collaborate, YouTube was the dominant platform. And that’s where they first emerged as pioneers in the Influencer Economy.

“It was 2007, YouTube had been around culturally and people had known of it for about a year,” Hank said of his origins on the platform. So they just started making videos, creating Brotherhood 2.0, a year during which the Green brothers communicated daily with each other by video instead of by phone, e-mail, or text messages. “A fun, jokey, trying-to-one-up-each-other brother project” is how Hank explained it.

One of his vlogs to John, a musical tribute to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, made the front page of YouTube. Many fans attribute their discovery of the Greens’ yearlong experiment to that “Accio Deathly Hallows” song—coming across the video and then binging on the rest of the vlogs. After their successful year of Brotherhood 2.0, the Greens honed their vision and created their new Vlogbrothers YouTube channel with similar content and shared it with a growing community that they called “Nerdfighters.” This online community of Vlogbrothers’ supporters joined forces with Hank and John, and their vision evolved over time.

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Here’s how Hank explained what Nerdfighters are fighting for: “I do like the idea that a goal of humans is to decrease suck and increase awesome. That was a saying from early Vlogbrothers. But those are two different things. It’s so objectively better to decrease suck. You know, people have awful lives. People die of preventable diseases, hunger, wars . . . These are problems we can solve. The only reason we aren’t solving them is because we haven’t applied the right amount of resources, both cognitive and monetary. And that’s messed up. But you can’t go through life just playing defense. You also have to do interesting things. You have to send a rover to Mars and have the World Series. These things are good. They help us lead full lives and allow us to apply ourselves to other goals.”

I first knew Hank and John as the creators of VidCon, the largest conference for online video world, bringing together over 20,000 video content creators, the web video online community, and industry executives to an annual conference in Anaheim, California. It’s my favorite conference in the world because it’s the only conference where the community, creators, and companies all hang out under one roof. I have attended VidCon since its inception, when it was just a couple hundred people hanging out at a hotel bar and ballroom in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Even before VidCon, the Vlogbrothers understood how YouTube-wide collaborations could help to improve lives. Since 2007, their Project for Awesome (P4A) has been an annual call for videos from fellow YouTubers and Nerdfighters that highlight charitable causes in everything from education and health care to food insecurity. In December of each year, thousands of people post videos on the across YouTube, where both influencers and the community promote and raise funds for these charities. Video creators are instructed to tag the videos with P4A in the video descriptions in order to help The Vlogbrothers and others discover each video.  Joining forces with the crowdsourcing website Indiegogo, the 2014 and 2015 Project for Awesome managed to raise over a million dollars.

By 2013, Crash Course and SciShow had both outlived the start-up money provided by YouTube. This got Hank thinking that it was time to roll out a voluntary subscription service that enabled fans to fund his education programming and the work of other online creators. “It’s tied into this idea that we want to help creators create professionally. We want to do that for ourselves and for other people because it’s a great job.” He and his brother launched the crowdfunding website Subbable, which was enormously helpful to more than 20 artists and creators, as well as the fans who love their work. Patreon, the San Francisco–based crowdsourcing company, acquired the website two years after it went live. Hank said both companies started at about the same time and have obvious similarities. “When Patreon launched, we were like ‘Whaaat?!’ because, of course, we had been working on it for six months. I called [Jack Conte, the founder] because I had known Jack before then and said, ‘Just so you know, I’m about to launch the exact same thing, but we’ve spent so much money on it that we can’t not do it.’”

It’s hard to say if Hank and John will also end up saving the planet. After all, this is still the early days of the Nerdfighters’ fight. But just from the vibe at VidCon alone, it already looks like the world sucks a little less. For Hank personally, the conference and his other enterprises have at least become rewarding in ways that he never anticipated. “Running a business is a creative thing, like dealing with people and getting the best work out of them. Understanding their motivations aren’t the same as your motivations. It’s all a bunch of moving parts, a piece of artwork in its own way. The fact that I get to do 20 different things, and that Monday looks nothing like Tuesday, is just really satisfying to me. It’s allowed me to build up a toolkit  of both personal skills and, you know, having all of these great people who work with me—it allows for creativity on a level that I never believed I could have access to."

Hank and John Green's Vlog Brothers YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers

Don't Forget to Be Awesome: http://store.dftba.com/

Hank Green's website: http://www.hankgreen.com/

VidCon: http://vidcon.com/

Project for Awesome: http://www.projectforawesome.com/

Crash Course: https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse

SciShow: https://www.youtube.com/user/scishow

 

 

Direct download: Hank_Green_Influencer_86.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:31pm PDT

Franchesca Ramsey went viral. Her video Stuff White Girls Say to Black Girls (I addd a euphemism with Stuff) took off like a rocket ship. She was an early adopter of YouTube and created regular videos, but that one video really went viral. Imagine if your video was picked up by MSNBC, Mtv, the BBC. Even Anderson Cooper, who had a network show at the time, came knocking at her door for an interview.

We all have choices about what to do when the work we love gets super-popular. Franchesca eventually thrived as she now works as a writer for The Nightly Show with Larry Willmore on Comedy Central. But she hit a lot of bumps on the way. She is a great example of the influencer economy because she put in the work to become successfull. She wasn't solely focused on fame and money, like many people are in the digital economy.

 Listen to the Stories From The Influencer Economy archives with entrepreneurs like Brad Feld, Troy Carter and Burnie Burns of Rooter Teeth at our Influencer Economy website: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 
Please leave a review on iTunes - it really helps us get organically discovered on iTunes by new listeners. And be honest: http://www.influencereconomy.com/itunes/

Early on in life Franchesca a teacher of hers asked her what she wanted to be known for later in life. The teacher asked her to list three characteristics, and Franchesca wrote down she wanted to be known as 1) honest 2) smart 3) funny and when she was older Larry Willmore and the team @ The Nightly Show hired her for those traits.

Franchesca Ramsey's website:

http://www.franchesca.net/ 

Follow Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

 

Direct download: Franchesca_Ramsey_YouTuber_85.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:34pm PDT

Rand Fishkin was depressed and anxious for around a year. He had trouble sleeping and got trapped in the loop of "regretting decisions from the past." He felt sunk and felt that nothing useful was coming from his business, Moz. Meanwhile the company was a $20 Million revenue business at the time, and has grown even more since 2013 when he was fighting through his dark period.
 
Rand speaks regularly about Moz and is an expert in online marketing. At the time, Rand was giving talks about marketing around the world. But it didn't matter while he was depressed. After giving inspiriting talks to marketing audiences, people would approach him afterwards to compliment him. Audience members would say "it' so great to meet you, I've been a Moz customer for years. I love your tools and software." And Rand felt so bad, he tried to convince the attendees that his talks were truly bad. And he even tried to prove to these paying customers that his products weren't working properly.
 
Many of you know that I am a former standup comedian. And many of you don't know is that I struggled with depression in my early 20's, while performing stand-up. There was days I never left my room except for comedy and my day-job. I went through a dark phase and it was really hard talking to people about my own challenges with depression and anxiety. I discovered that there was a real stigma around depression amongst my friends and colleagues. People saw it as a stigma and thought that I was "weak." In fact most people told me to "suck it up," and deal with it. I've never told anyone outside of my close friends this story. 
 
Listen to our archives with entrepreneurs like Brad Feld, Troy Carter and Burnie Burns of Rooter Teeth at our Influencer Economy website: http://www.influencereconomy.com/
 
Please leave a review on iTunes - it really helps us get organically discovered on iTunes by new listeners. And be honest: http://www.influencereconomy.com/itunes/
 
In Rand's case, startup founder depression is a real thing. And creative people are highlight likely to go through depressed periods in their lives. Talking about depression can be a hard conversation to have. It's not easy. But it's okay to be depressed. It's okay to tell others openly and honest about how crappy you feel. Severe depression and anxiety doesn't last forever. Any sort of self-loathing or misery that you feel is temporary. 
 
What you'll learn from this episode:
 
  • How to identify traits you may be experiencing as a depressed person
  • How to cope with bouts of depression and anxiety
  • How to share your feelings with friends during a dark period
  • How the stigma of depression of often prevents people from asking for help
  • How depression is often temporary and that people can get through it
  • How startup founders can fight through depression
  • Where to look for help if you're a startup founder depressed (start with friends and family)
 
Rand Fishkin's Moz article: The Long Ugly year of Depression that is Finally Fading
 
 
 
Rand Fishkin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/randfish
 
 
Follow Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill
 
 
 

 

Direct download: Rand_Fishkin_MozFounder_Depression.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:24pm PDT

David Nihill like many people, was terrified of public speaking. But unlike most people, to conquer his fear of speaking in front of groups, David spent a year studying and performing stand-up. After performing at The Improv, The Comedy Store, & Cobb's he realized that anyone can be funny when giving a talk. Yes, that means even you, or someone that thinks they aren't funny. He also learned that even people who hated public speaking like himself, could also become a great public speaker while being funny.

David has created a 7 step framework to help normal people become better and funnier public speakers. His books is called: Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker. David studied Stand-up comedians, the group of people who are the best public speakers in the world. And what he learned is that we all can be funny giving a public speech, even people who are deftly afraid of crowds. 

I'm a former stand-up comedian and I know how terrified I was performing in front of crowds. But to this day, I give better presentations to bosses, work crowds better during talks and I give funnier speeches based on my stand-up comedy practice. I'm not recommending you go sign-up for open mic comedy nights to get funnier and more comfortable in front of crowds. Instead, I recommend listening to this episode and reading Davd's book. In this episode you will learn:

Listen to the Stories from the Influencer Economy archives: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Please leave a review on iTunes, it greatly helps us get our podcast discovered on iTunes with new listeners:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/influencer-economy-ryan-williams/id820744212?mt=2

  • How to write funny material based on your own experiences to be funny when giving a talk
  • How to open your talk with a funny story or personal anecdote
  • How to connect with audiences to improve your story-telling style
  • How to draw on real-life experiences to get a crowd to laugh at the beginning of your talk
  • How to use David's tips to create a "memory palace" to remember every part of your story when on stage
  • A simple secret to using "call-backs," which means you make a mention of a topic previously covered when giving a talk
  • How to rehearse spontaneity by practicing jokes that will appear to be "off the cuff" to anyone watching you talk
  • How to get the host to sell you when making your introduction before your talk
  • How to deliver the right balance of jokes to control a room of people
 
83: Finding the Funny, Delivering Jokes and Adding Humor to Your Public Speaking with David Nihill
 
David's Funny Biz Conference: http://funnybizz.co/funnybizz-conference/
Direct download: DavidNihill_Ep83.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:17pm PDT

Jay Samit (@JaySamit) is an entrepreneur and the author of the bestselling book Disrupt You! Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation.   

The modern world is changing is at a fast rate and we all have to adapt. We are all one click away on our mobile phones from reaching 6 billion people. And your job will be disrupted at some point in your life, no matter where you are in your career. You have to adapt. Jay believes that you need to find purpose with your job and life. Why give up one day, month, or year to a job that you don't enjoy?  Finding purpose is what helps adapt to the changing economy and landscape.

Jay has worked with a diverse group of companies and clients throughout his life. He brought innovation to the music industry early in his career. He has also helped launch global companies like LinkedIn & Ebay, and has even worked with The Pope.

Quotes From Jay:

“You have a choice: pursue your dreams, or be hired by someone else to help them fulfill their dreams.”

“Insight and drive are all the skills you need. Everything else can be hired.”

“Would you rather work forty hours a week at a job you hate or eighty hours a week doing work you love?”

PLEASE HELP US and leave a review in iTunes to help spread the word about the show. It really helps spread the word about Stories from The Influencer Economy.  Also please check out the archives on http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Follow Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

To follow Jay Samit:

Jay website:  http://jaysamit.com/about/

Jay on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jaysamit

Jay's Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31dhZuLfADg

 

Direct download: Jay_Samit_Ep_82.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:11pm PDT

Netflix's Making a Murderer is a show that I have been obsessed about. Like many, including our guest Jen Yamato, I binged on the Netflix show during the holiday break. This emergency podcast on Making a Murderer I speak with Jen Yamato, who has written about Making A Murderer, interviewed Steven Avery's lawyer Dean Strange and is an expert on the show

Jen writes for the Daily Beast and is a former editor/reporter at Deadline Hollywood, Movieline, and Rotten Tomatoes.

Listen to all the Stories from The Influencer Economy archives:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

What we discuss:

  1. Making a Murder as a series, asking about the justice around the cases of both Steve Avery & Brendan Dassey 
  2. The Wisconsin's media's impact on a fair trial during the trials
  3. The impact of Netflix binging, Reddit, online culture, and all the recent media coverage for Making a Murderer
  4. Jen's conversation with Steve Avery's lawyer Dean Strang

 

Read Jen Yamato's work at The Daily Beast: http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/jen-yamato.html

Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jenyamato

 

 

 

Direct download: MakingAMurderer_Ep81_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:24pm PDT

Veronica Belmont is a renaissance woman who does it all. She's like the Jay-Z for the tech world, a true hyphenate. She's a producer/host/present for all things digital and television. Since 2006, she has worked on projects for Gizmodo, CNET, Discovery Digital, Sony Play Station, the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary pre-show.

I have attended SXSW for years and met Veronica this past year in Austin, TX. She was hosting a meetup for Sword and Laser her genre fiction podcast with Tom Merritt. In this episode we talk about the importance of meeting your community In Real Life (IRL). It's critical for people to meet their customers, fans, & community and face to face.

Veronica is a former World of War Craft gamer who has met her gamer friends off-line for years. Veronica equates fan meet-ups to seeing the gamers IRL that she used to meet for drinks and happy hours in her gaming days.

Veronica also wanted to be an expert at something from an early age. She's now an expert in numerous areas including technology, genre fiction and internet culture. We talk about an early life experience, and how she chatted with her Mom about cultivating her expertise shaped her career in more ways than she realized. 

Veronica has years of technology, business and marketing advice that she shares in this episode of The Influencer Economy. Our website: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Links of topics we discussed:

You can watch Veronica on her current weekly show: Dear Veronica for Engadget

The Sword and Laser podcast with Tom Merritt:Sword & Laser

Vaginal Fantasy Book club: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62938-vaginal-fantasy-book-club

Tom Merritt:  http://www.tommerritt.com/

Emerson College: http://www.emerson.edu/

 

Direct download: Veronica_Belmont_Ep_80.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:02pm PDT

Derek Sivers is writer, entrepreneur, programmer, musician, and student. He lived in NYC as a musician before creating and founding CD Baby in 1998. CD Baby eventually went onto be a leading seller of independent music online and he sold the company ten years later, in 2008 for $22 Million. And what did he do? He gave the proceeds to a charitable trust for music education.

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Derek Sivers has one of the most popular TED Talks "How to Start a Movement," which alone has amassed over 5 million views. In his TALK he details how we all focus on leadership in life and business, but in reality it's about being "the first follower," and that following is critical when starting a movement. If you haven't watched the video, it's worth a view: https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement?language=en

After amassing over $100 Million in sales at CD Baby for over 150,000 musicians, Derek sold the company and currently lives in New Zealand. He is both a father and business man and we candidly talk about both family and work. 

We talk about how people can find "the compass in your gut," and that you need to be honest with yourself about what works for you. That compass can move in two directions and often people don't take inventory about what is 1) thriving in their life or 2) what is draining them. 
 
After selling CD Baby in 2008, Derek realized that he had spent the better part of his life focused on making money. And that when we focus on different parts of our lives, like making money, finding romance, pursuing a skill, freedom or seeking intellectual stimulation - sometimes things change and that he needed to update his priorities.
 
For him, making money had runs its course. It was something that he focused on from the ages of 18-38, and he had to break the habit of doing things for money. Which is of course a great problem to have. Now at 42, he is a father and his priorities have changed.
 
Derek believes that we all have control of our lives. At CD Baby over 85 people reported to him and he was frustrated about life. And his friend called him out and say "you don't have to do anything in life. There will be consequences, but you don't have to do anything." And Derek felt a deeper understanding that he could control his life. He believes that people who feel trapped need to realize they have control of their life.
 
Derek is a writer and his book "Anything You Want" is a universal best-seller. Derek puts himself out there as a blogger and writer, and has written over 34 books. He first got into writing when musicians asked him for advice when he was at CD Baby. He started writing and found his voice over time. 
 
Overall his writing is conversational in tone and Derek aims to be useful to other people. It's easy to lay low and hide out and not put yourself on the line, but that's not very useful to others. People often lay low and wonder why the world isn't rewarding them with cash an fame. Overall you need to put yourself out there and add value to the world.

https://sivers.org/

https://sivers.org/a

 

Direct download: Derek_Sivers_79_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:28pm PDT

Paul Jarvis is a writer, podcast host, author of multiple best-selling books, creator of online courses that have made hundreds of thousands of dollars and a master of empowering people to kick themselves in the butt to harness their creativity.

 Paul calls himself a freelancer evangelist. In the 1990's he launched a freelance web design business that has survived several economic downturns. He's worked with companies like Microsoft, Yahoo and MTV, plus entrepreneurs with massive digital empires, including Danielle LaPorte, Alexandra Franzen, Marie Forleo and Kris Carr (and a whole bunch of big-time folks in between).

Sign-up for our Influencer Economy Newsletter: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Over time Paul was hungry for more creative work, defining his professional time on his own terms. He started writing and grew an audience of readers. Outside of publishing best-selling books like "Everything I Know," and "Write and Sell Your Damn Book," Paul publishes a weekly email to his email list about creativity. 

His writing reaches over 100,000 people every month and now he teaches creative freelancers how to run their businesses better through Creative Class—with over 1,600 students, increasing daily.

He also has pet rats, tons of tattoos and lives in a remote island in Canada. This was a fun conversation, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Direct download: Paul_Jarvis_78.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:55pm PDT

James Altucher is an entrepreneur, angel investor, author, and blogger. He is the author of the best-selling book: Choose Yourself: Be Happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream. He also hosts two successful podcasts:  "The James Altucher Show" & "Ask Altucher" show with his wife and co-host Claudia Azula Altucher.

James is an honest and open book with his writing. He speaks equally about falling on his face in business as much as he talks about winning and making a lot of money.  

In this episode of Stories from The Influencer Economy, we talk in depth about James views on business, giving, helping others, building relationships.  We also dive into the process of how James wrote Choose Yourself, and the principles of the book.

Ultimately James and his values fit into The Influencer Economy. It's an era where disruption is ripe in business and it's up to us as creative people to survive. If we want work, we have to make our own career. If we want a career we have to build the relationships with the right people. It's all on us.

James has also written for TechCrunch, the Wall Street Journal and his blog JamesAltucher.com has attracted more than 20 million readers since its launch

Choose Yourself on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Choose-Yourself-James-Altucher/dp/1490313370/

Ryan Williams on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Sign-up for our Influencer Economy email list for a FREE chapter of The Influencer Economy book:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

 

Direct download: James_Altucher_Ep77.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:56pm PDT

Chris Yeh is an entrepreneur, investor, blogger and author of the best-selling book: The Alliance. He wrote the book with Founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman and Ben Cassanova.

The connected technology world is changing constantly. We are needing to think like entrepreneurs if we want to survive. And the The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age is all about trust, honesty and partnering with your employer to succeed.

Chris talks about a "tour of duty" where you work on a project with a company, versus working at a company your entire life. Employers are not your family because they can lay you off at any time. You need to partner with your employer if you want to win as an entrepreneurial thinker.

There is a new project-based era for work, and Chris teaches how The Alliance book's framework empowers people to work with your boss and also is important for managing your employees.

Chris shares advice for anyone who owns their own company or wants to start a startup.

He advice is to NOT quit your day job if you're building a startup. Oftentimes when you work a full-time job you can create runway for your startup to launch and build the company's Product Market Fit over time.  Quitting your day job only gives you 4 hours extra a day, not 8 hours a day. Because it's often you are daydreaming about your startup for 4 hours a day while at your day. And it’s rare that the thing you set out to do is the final thing you build.

His advice is to make and keep promises to your employees if you want to build trust as a founder and boss.  Building trust is the key to building long term relationships in life and business...

Chris Yeh's Blog:  http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com/

The Alliance Book website: http://www.theallianceframework.com/

Buy The Alliance Book:  http://www.amazon.com/Alliance-Managing-Talent-Networked-Age-ebook/dp/B00JTJ84EW/

 

Direct download: Chris_Yeh_The_Alliance_2.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 11:43am PDT

Ep. 75: Billions of YouTube Views & Bigger Than Fox News and MSNBC with Cenk Uygur from The Young Turks News network.

Cenk Uygur is the main host and co-founder of the American liberal political and social news network, The Young Turks (TYT). They are a massively successful YouTube network and recently raised over $400,000 to crowdfund their recording studio in Los Angeles, where I went to interview Cenk.

Cenk is a former MSBNC Commentator, CurrenTV host and founded Young Turks in 2002. How does someone build a YouTube Channel for over 2 billion views? We talked in depth about their strategy and execution for growing a monster YouTube network. And how they galvanize and build their fan-base.

The Young Turks online:

http://www.tytnetwork.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTurks

https://twitter.com/TheYoungTurks

https://twitter.com/CenkUygur

 

Direct download: Young_Turks_Cenk_Podcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:02pm PDT

Troy Carter is a well-known manager of artists like John Legend and Meghan Trainor, as well as a new guest 'shark' on Marc Cuban's TV Show Shark Tank, and the founder and CEO Atom Factory investment and talent management company in Los Angeles.
 
This is a new segment called The Prequel, where we get the pre-story where we talk to someone well-known about what life was like before they were successful. 
 
In this case Troy Carter talks Philly, technology, getting kicked-out of L.A., investing in startups like Uber and Lyft, managing John Legend, hearing a hit song in the studio, the soulful connection between entrepreneurs and musicians, and much much more. 
 
Quote from Troy:
 
"In life in general, there are no guarantees.  Failures are a part of life.  As cliche as it may sound, the way I look at it as there are no rewards without taking risks.  We take a risk every time we step out the door, every single day.  Life is full of risks and failures, but at the same time life is full of triumphs and happiness."    
 
Follow Ryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill
 
Troy Carter on Twitter: https://twitter.com/atomfactory
 
 
 
Influencer Economy website: http://www.influencereconomy.com/
 
Meghan Trainor: http://www.meghan-trainor.com/
 
Direct download: TroyCarter_ThePrequel.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:37pm PDT

The Loud Speakers Network is an awesome podcast network, featuring prominent voices of the hip-hip generation, and Chris Morrow is the CEO and co-founder. This week he joins me on Stories from The Influencer Economy.

Chris Morrow and Combat Jack (Reggie Osse) started Loud Speakers Network together and quickly they have become a podcast force. Morrow started as a fan of Combat Jack, and later after realizing that they had friends in common, they hit it off. Now they have over 15 podcasts as a part of their growing mini-empire. Combat Jack is like the Dick Cavett or Charlie Rose of hip-hop. It's an interview show that often has old school rappers on as guests. 

Morrow has also published 4 books with Russell Simmons, including multiple NY Times best-sellers.  He first met Russell in 2005, and we talk about what it's like co-authoring books with Russell, and their creative process in authoring books.

Chris has worked in radio and bee in a writer for years. Chris's success as an entrepreneur and the Loud Speakers Network co-founder comes from his ability to under-sell and over-deliver. He also strives for #authenticity when looking for talented podcast hosts, and focuses on being real in business and in life.

 
Links about what we talked about:
 
LoudSpeakers Network Podcasts on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LSNpodcasts
 
Combat Jack Show:  http://thecombatjackshow.com/
 
Loudspeaker's Network: http://loudspeakersnetwork.com/
 
Chris Morrow on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/mrchrismorrow
 
Loudspeaker's Network on Twitter:  
 
Chris Morrow's website:  chris-morrow.com
 
 
 
 
 
Direct download: LoudSpeakersNetwork_Chris_Morrow.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:31pm PDT

In this episode of The Pivot: A series documenting the stories of tech startup founders who pivot their careers from another industry, I speak with Farbod Shoraka, founder of BloomNation a technology startup based in Los Angeles, which is similar to Etsy but for flowers.

Farbod is a reformed former investment banker who pivoted his career into launching his company, taking part in the Mucker Lab Accelerator and raising venture capital from firms like Andreesen Horowitz

Farbod changed careers after seeing a larger gap in the flower market. When working as a banker, he did a business deal in the flower industry, and he was shocked that the industry was so inefficient.

After talking to his Aunt Sharine, who was in the floral industry…He realized that he could solve a big problem in the industry that large companies like 1-800-Flowers were not adequately meeting.

With seed funding that came from a co-founder who was a world class poker player, Farbod and 3 friends jumped into the tech economy.

I hope some of what we discussed surrounding his "pivot" can help you, whether trying to pivot yourself, working with start-ups or already a start-up.

In less than three years, more than 2,500 florists in about 3,000 cities have signed up to use the site.

The company is a marketplace for local florists to list their labors of love -- and for consumers to purchase them directly from these designers.  The emphasis is on local and handcrafted. Think of it as Etsy, but for flowers

I recently visited BloomNation’s new headquarters in Santa Monica to talk to Farbod, the CEO of the company. The space overlooks Third Street Promenade, bustling with shoppers and street performers. Inside though, it’s a picture of calm and playfulness. A ping pong table is the first thing you see walking in. There are flowers everywhere, not exactly a surprise.  

And part of the conference area is laid with Astroturf. Farbod Shoraka said they did that to make people feel like they are outside while they are inside the office.  To create a place where people can sit on the grass, have a conversation, to get their creative juices flowing. When we sat down to chat, I first asked Farbod to tell me more about him and his cofounders, and how they got the idea of BloomNation off the ground

What we learned: 

  • How Farbod went to speak with local florists all around Los Angeles proving their idea out for Bloom Nation
  • How important it was Farbod to get feedback from his potential users before he built the product
  • How non-coders can launch an internet tech business
  • How the founders of BloomNation raised their initial funding from a poker match at the Commerce Casino
  • How a startup accelerator can help your startup

 

 

 

 

Direct download: Farbod_Bloom_Nation.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:34pm PDT

Brad Feld is an author, blogger and he invests in early stage technology companies. In fact he has invested in over 1,000 companies between his Techstars accelerator, his Foundry Ground investment firm, and his own deals. He is our guest on The Influencer Economy podcast this week.

Imagine a world where the only media channels were TV, radio, print magazines, and newspapers. And if you were a start-up entrepreneur, you had to do P.R. in order to get someone's attention for an article or any media coverage. When Brad started his first company Feld Technologies in 1987, while an undergrad student at MIT in Cambridge, that was the world for Brad to gain any media coverage for his company.

This is one of the reasons why Brad was an early adopter for blogging back in 2004. In this episode Brad details his early motivations for blogging and writing on the web. In addition to his how and why he wrote his first book: Venture Deals.

We talk about how often people think too much about their goals and sometimes it's worth starting something to figure out if it's a good idea or bad idea. When he started Techstars with his 3 other co-founders he had no idea if it would work, but figured it was worth a shot. And at the very least he would make some new friends. We chat about how people need to experiment as start-up founders, bloggers, podcasters and sometimes when you don't reach your goals, another less obvious goal emerges which can lead you down the right path.

Brad and I both believe in the "Give Before You Get" model and helping people is all about giving in the system. And that oftentimes we meet people who are takers and over time you realize you spend less time with people who take. Often when Brad meets startup founders, he develops relationships with the founders in advance of investing. And he gives to founders before realizing if he'll invest in their ideas or not.

Brad also pursues 20% of his life where he allocates his days to random things. He'll do a fake VC Day or a fake CEO day where he does stuff that allows his universe to be open to different connections.

Brad's Blog Feld Thoughts: http://www.feld.com/
TechStars:  http://www.techstars.com/
Sqord:  https://www.sqord.com/
SXSW: http://www.sxsw.com/
Jeff Ullrich and Earwolf:  http://www.earwolf.com/person/jeff-ullrich/

Direct download: Brad_Feld_Techstars.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:44pm PDT

This week Nerdist Industries President, Adam Rymer stops by the podcast. Adam runs the media company founded by pioneering Nerdist podcast host, Chris Hardwick.
 
In 2015 geeks and nerds are kings and queens of the internet and Nerdist Industries at the center of this geek cultural revolution. Everyone who watches a Nerdist video or listens to one of their podcasts has a geek passion, whether it playing Minecraft, watching the latest Batman movie, or attending ComicCon in full cosplay mode (costumes). 
 
Often on the internet, bullies and jerks can rule the comment sections of websites. And Nerdist works hard to avoid that type of fall-back. The focus of Nerdist is to avoid the lowest common denominator of the internet by not acting like a jerk. People who not only work at Nerdist but also their fans have ben bullied in the past. They get it. Nerdist embraces the positivity of being a geek.
 
Adam is a UPenn MBA with a focus on finance, and also went to Undergrad at Harvard. And now he runs business strategy and the company Nerdist. We live in an awesome world....
 
 
Adam on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/NoRymeNoReason
Nerdist's website:  http://nerdist.com/
 
Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/
Direct download: Nerdist_Adam_Rymer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:08pm PDT

Omar Zenhom from the $100 MBA Show stopped by The Influencer Economy Podcast this week. He's at the forefront of education and entrepreneurship and we talked at length about his story.
 
Omar dropped out of Wharton Business School to start $100 MBA, after talking to a teacher who inspired him to start his own company.  The $100 MBA is a podcast and online educational resource that helps people build their own entrepreneurial businesses. As a former teacher, Omar leverages his educational background to give business people a playbook for building their own companies.
 
Graduate school and MBA's are very expensive in 2015 and often people go into debt to pay for a graduate degree. Programs like Omar's are super-relevant while also up and coming as they give people a chance to learn a lot through more inexpensive ways.
 
Additionally Omar loves a good webinar and as a firm believer in the medium. he and his partner Nicole Balduni launched a company WebinarNinja recently launched and I attended his conference this weekend. 
 
Webinar Ninja: http://webinarninja.co/
 
$100 MBA: http://100mba.net/show/
 

 

The Influencer Economy site:

http://www.influencereconomy.com/  

Direct download: 100_MBA_Omar_Zenhom.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:22pm PDT

Jim Louderback stopped by The Influencer Economy this week. Jim a world-class CEO, and former Head of Revision3, a pioneering online video company. He currently runs the industry and track of VidCon, the 20,000 person online video geek conference in Anaheim, CA.

Jim is an expert at the intersection of geek communities and business. He understands the culture of online geeks, and how to build companies and support business around people's passions and interests.

Jim's Revision3 company was acquired by Discovery Networks in 2007, and Jim worked at Discovery prior to his time at VidCon.

What we talked about:

  • How VidCon connects the "virtual space" to the "meet space" where online communities can connect IRL (in real life)
  • It's not about the fanbase anymore, but about the 'friendbase'
  • How YouTube creators are the fulcrom for online communities, ut not necessary the focus
  • How VidCon is as much about community members meeting other community members, as fans meeting the creators.
  • How everyone on the internet has a home and there are people 'like them' around their geek passions
  • How Revision3 built-out hugely popular geek communities online, and how Discovery acquired their network

 Jim on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jlouderb?lang=en

 Jim's website: http://louderback.com/

VidCon:  http://vidcon.com/

Influencer Economy website: http://influencereconomy.com/

 

Direct download: Jim_Louderback__VidCon.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:22pm PDT

This week I talk to Brendan McDonald, producer of WTF with Marc Maron. We talk about the finer points of producing a world-class podcast, including booking the President of the United States, Barack Obama on their show.
 
Brendan is the yin and Marc is the yang in making WTF get made. Brendan explains in details of the operations and production around creating their podcast, how they work together, and how booking President Obama was a year in the making.
 
Additionally we learn about how collaboration is key when building a successful podcast, and how having no agenda when creating a show like WTF is what makes it stand-out in the podcast world.
 
Great quotes from Brendan
 
“Having the White House reach out to us is the reason that (the interview) happened. We wouldn’t have been so bold as to go the other way. I think that was just a huge win for podcasting in general. He has his pick of media outlets, a lot of options at the disposal of the President if he wants to communicate to the country and the world. So it’s very validating to know that podcasting had achieved a level of acceptance in the media landscape.

“That kind of yin and yang makes the relationship work—not just as professional colleagues. We’ve been friends for eleven years now.”

“In the six hundred plus episodes we’ve done, we won’t do promotional interviews for the full episode... Mark will graciously have his friends over sometimes and do ten minutes at the beginning of an episode to help somebody that has a book out or a movie out, or something like that. His feeling about that is it’s kind of like an everybody can help everybody out situation. It’s not that we go requesting promotional stuff. It’s that people were gracious enough to appear on our show, which helped raise our tide quite a bit, so of course we’re going to pay the favor back.”

Find out more about The Influencer Economy book:
 
http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

Direct download: Brendan_McDonald_WTF_Ep67.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:53am PDT

Scott Belsky knows the secret for making your ideas happen. And today I chat with him about his book "Making Ideas Happen," his company Behance (that sold to Adobe) and his passion for helping to empower the creative world. Scott offers insights and advice for anyone aiming to launch and executve their ideas.

Come see The Influencer Economy Live at The Apple Store Santa Monica. RSVP Here for September 22nd: https://concierge.apple.com/events/R051/tbd/6042760684243419656/en_US

In the influencer economy we all have ideas. And every day we are all executing on our businesses ideas, while also building ourselves as businesses. Scott and I discuss how there is no such thing as "idea meritocracy" and that ideas don't happen by accident. Ideas happen by a series of forces. While big ideas happen when a team executives and sticks together.

We also dive into the importance of building a solid team and how Scott executes his ideas like the 99u conference. In the end, Scott oversee roughly 70 employees at Adobe/Behance and his team is critical to getting his ideas to happen.

In the world where everyone and anyone can launch a product, blog, podcast or new company, why do some people's ideas succeed? While others' ideas fail? We talk about Scott's advice for early idea creation. Scott advises "to make something that needs to exist." And know the difference between a feature and a business. He also suggests bootstrapping your idea "incrementally" can behoove you and your business. Rather than going to raise a bunch of investment money.

Like many in the influencer economy, Scott is mission-centric and his ideas manifest in different products, but the message is always the same. Behance, 99u and Making Ideas Happen have the same values and are all cut from the same cloth. That helps him launch many ideas in different mediums. I know it sounds obvious, but unless you see it in action it, it's easier said then executed on.

To get book announcements, FREE chapters, and exclusive videos - sign-up here:  http://www.influencereconomy.com

We covered a lot of ground:

  • We talk about doers and dreamers - and how they need to collaborate with one another
  • And how doers need to kill off 97% of new ideas for companies and groups brought by dreamers
  • How you need to build the right team in order to make your ideas happen
  • How Scott launched the 99u conference and makes it happen because of his team
  • How the 99U is a conference NOT about ideas. It's about making your ideas come to life and talking about how you made your idea.
  • Why Scott thinks business school is overrated
  • How "Genius is "1% inspiration and 99% Perspiration" (A famous Thomas Edison quote) 
  • How creative people have great ideas but they look for media attention or raise outside capital too early and their idea fails.
  • The Creative Compromise
  • How we all have the ability to make our ideas happen

 

Quotes from Scott:

"Creativity is genuine interest combined with initiative."

 "When you optimize for (Press/Media) headlines, you will optimize yourself to the ground."

"You have to build something sustainable that has its own culture and spirit. That's what takes the team coming together."   

"We get too involved in ideas themselves. We are fascinated or too much in love with ideas themselves. We need to declare war against excessive creativity."

Scott on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/scottbelsky

Behance:   https://www.behance.net

99u:  http://99u.com

Direct download: ScottBelsky_Ep66.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:19pm PDT

Hey everyone, I have never done a solo podcast before and thought I'd give it a try for this episode. Hope it sounds good. :)

Firstly, I'm inviting everyone in Los Angeles to the Apple Store Santa Monica on September 22nd. I'll be hosting a very special event called:  "How to Launch a Start-up in Los Angeles" featuring an old friend Scott Dudelson. Come to the show and afterwards we'll all go out for drinks. I'll be bringing the live show to more cities this summer - please email me if you would like the show to come to your town.

To upvote our SXSW Panel by Friday Click here:  http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/48622

I'm also making a few key decisions involving The Influencer Economy book & podcast that I wanted to announce. Thanks for everyone's support already.

I'll soon be re-naming and re-branding The Influencer Economy podcast later this month. Take a listen to hear more about what's happening. If you have any name suggestions - I'd love to hear them. There's a few we are throwing around now.

Overall, thanks for everyone who's given the show a listen, it's been amazing to have you along in this journey. Nothing much will change on iTunes, Stitcher, etc. - but a new name will be coming soon!

The archives: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

My email:  Ryan@influencereconomy.com

 

Direct download: Ep_65_SoloEpisode.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:36pm PDT

For the archives and to sign-up for book updates:

 

http://www.influencereconomy.com/book/

 

Brian Koppelman joined Stories From the Influencer Economy as this week's guest. I originally recorded this episode at Brian's office in New York City last fall.  We talked in detail about creativity, podcasting, and finding that curiousity for what gets you motivated and inspired.

 

Brian is the co-writer of films such as Rounders and Ocean's Thirteen, as well as the co-director of the Emmy Award winning "30 for 30," film on Jimmy Connors This is What They Want. 

 

Brian is an avid podcast listener and"loves the intimacy of the conversations ." He talks about how Marc Maron's WTF inspired him to get into podcasting. Brian also details how he connected Bill Simmons and Dave Jacoby of Grantland, and how The Moment podcast came to be.  

 

He was invited on the show to talk about his creative process around filmmaking, and his embracing of social media in the digital age.  As a creator, he has launched many big ideas online...

 

Brian also created the extremely popular "Six Second Screenwriting Tips" on Vine.  The Vine series came out of questions received from Twitter.  He created one Vine every day (for 300 days), and one Vine has over 20 million loops.  The videos were focused on the idea of “giving yourself permission to create.” 

 

He recently completed a TV series with Paul Giamatti for Showtime called Billions.  Billions, the setting is the financial industry in New York.  He collaborated with his long time writing/directing partner David Levien and Andrew Ross Sorkin. 

Quotes:

 

“I’ve never calculated one part of my work. I’ve always just led with what fascinates me.  That’s why having the conversations is easy too. That’s what led to every movie… All this came from only being obsessed with chasing down my passions and being unrelenting with the desire to be able to tell my children that I fought to live the creative life I wanted to live and that they could do the same.” 

   “I want all the things that I say to be things that I believe and have some value.”

   “I actually don’t think that there is such a thing as remarkable people; people are the result of the actions that they take and then how they process the feedback from those actions.”   

   "A blocked artist is probably a bad wife or husband.”   

 

Connect:

   Brian on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/briankoppelman

   Brian on Vine:  https://vine.co/briankoppelman

   Brian's website:  http://briankoppelman.com

 

   At the end of the show, he suggests that you watch his film Solitary Man: http://www.solitarymanmovie.com

Direct download: Brian_Koppelman_Moment.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:35pm PDT

Sign-up for exclusive content and announcements for The Influencer Economy Book due out December 2015:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/book/

We are really excited to share this interview with Nir Eyal that I recorded a few months back. Nir was in Los Angeles for a start-up speaking engagement, where he explained the Hooked Model to 100 + entrepreneurs in Santa Monica. I was lucky enough to chat with him right before he went on stage.

His Hooked Model has changed the game for product creation and product management. We talk at length about the 4 principles of the Hooked Model and how it applies to everyone building products.

The average person checks their cell phone over 100 times per day. And Nir explains why we are all so obsessed with Facebook, WhatsApp and Pinterest. His expertise is in consumer psychology and applying principles from writer's like B.F. Skinner to modern technology. 

Nir also self-pubished his book, blogged for years and eventually launched Hooked as a NY Times best-seller. He shares what it's like seeing your book at an airport bookstore.

 

Nir's website and his Twitter:  http://www.nirandfar.com/ https://twitter.com/nireyal

 

  • How Nir started writing his blog to answer his own questions about how products create habits
  • How hearing Mark Zuckerberg speak when Nir was in Stanford business school inspired his curiosity around the hooked model
  • How Facebook & WhatsApp nailed the Hooked model
  • The difference between vitamins (nice to have) and pain killers (must have) when building products
  • A guide to the 4-Step Hooked process: 1) Trigger 2) Action 3) Reward 4) Investment
  • How podcasts apps. like Stitcher form habits for their listeners
  • The GEM model (Growth, engagement, monetization)
  • How Nir’s career transitioned from entrepreneur into story-teller
  • How Nir reach the NY Times best-seller list with the help of his community of blog readers

 

Direct download: Nir_Eyal_Hooked.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am PDT

As mentioned on the podcast intro. Please vote! For our SXSW Panel on podcasting.  My friends Jemele Hill and Tom Merritt and I are trying to host a panel "Podcasts Grow-Up:  Community and Monetization.  They are both great people and former guests of The Influencer Economy.  If we get enough votes, then we'll be at SXSW next year.

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/48622

For this week's episode, I spoke to Alan Sepinwall the writer of the wildly popular online TV recap column, What's Alan Watching?" and the best-selling book "The Revolution Was Televised.  On this week's show, Alan details how he originated his career as a TV writer, how he wound-up writing for Hitfix.com, and the keys to his successful self-published book.

Funny when I listen to this episde, I realize how much better I have improved at interviews. But what strikes me the most proud is that I stayed focus with Alan and got the conversation that I hoped for. He was a fun and insightful guest and we had a lot of ground to cover in 1/2 an hour. Hope you enjoy this!

Listen to our archives:  http://www.influencereconomy.com  Follow Ryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Alan's history as a TV writer dates back to the 1990's. He's a pioneer in the TV journalism industry, specifically in defining and shaping the category of online TV Show recaps.  He is a great example of a successful creator in The Influencer Economy, as he self-published his book, selling it directly to his community.  He has built an incredibly loyal following from writing online, and was able to deliver a book that his community wanted to read.  He details his unique model of self-publishing which we can all learn from. 

Alan's column:  http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching

Alan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/sepinwall

Alan's original What's Alan Watching blog:  http://sepinwall.blogspot.com

From this episode you'll learn:

  • How Alan launched his writing career writing online in the 1990's about NYPD Blue
  • The history of Alan's "What's Alan Watching?" TV Recap column
  • The background of how Alan went from working for the NJ Times Ledger to writing for the entertainment website Hitfix.com
  • The secrets of how Alan self-published his book and got the attention of traditional publishers
  • The origins of Alan appearing on Bill Simmons' BS Report

 

 

Direct download: Alan_Sepinwall_Influencer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:32pm PDT

Harrison Barnes grew-up in Iowa, played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels, and is now an NBA player for the Golden State Warriors. This past June he won an NBA Title, when the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers.

He is a world champion.

I spoke to Harrison before he won the title, during the Warriors regular season. We had a candid converation about sports, fans, media, college, SnapChat, United Airlines customer service, and much more. 

There's a lot of great stuff in here, for fans and listeners alike who want to hear a modern day athlete's persepctive about the media landscape in 2015.  We originally aired this episde last fall.

Sign-up to buy The Influencer Economy book:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/book/

Harrison Barnes on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/hbarnes

Harrison on Instagram:  https://instagram.com/hbarnes/

Direct download: Harrison_Barnes_Warriors_Fin.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 1:00pm PDT

Super-influencer and connector John Corcoran had me on his Smart Business Revolution Podcast a few months ago. John is one of the smartest guys in the business podcasting game. He was gracious enough to give me the podcast to post on The Influencer Economy feed.

We talk about how Adam Grant's book Give and Take has both affected our busineses. We even dive into how my childhood in Iowa and attending boarding school helped inspire The Influencer Economy.  We also chat all things marketing and social media.

John has spoken to people like Dan Pink, Michael Port, Gary Vaynerchuk, Marie Forleo and Guy Kawasaki on his podcast. And it's an honor to be in a class with that group.

John's Smart Business Revolution is: "A Top 10 Podcasts for Entrepreneurs to Learn Personal Finance From" from Inc. Magazine and a "Top 100 Small Business Podcasts 2014" from Small Biz Trends.

I'd like to thank my Mom for listening to my interview with John, who planted the seed for me to re-post this episode for everyone to hear.

John's website:

http://smartbusinessrevolution.com/

John's podcast:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-business-business-revolution/id573440689

Direct download: Smart_Business_Revolution_TIE60.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 8:59pm PDT

Somethings in life start with a great dance party and for Amy Poehler and Meredith Walker, that's how they began the start of their Smart Girls company. Meredith is a veteran of Saturday Night Life and met Amy, her best friend while both were working on the show. Meredith was a talent executive and Amy was a cast player.

I met Meredith Walker, Co-Founder of Amy Phoehler Sart Girls, for literally seconds at SXSW this year. We were both at the Nerdist Party down in Austin, and I was lucky enough to chat for just a moment with her. We clicked and she's the guest this week on the podcast.

What's inspiring about Smart Girls is how they are cultivating a positive community for content around Smart Girls, while also actively speaking to young people around the world.

You'll learn how best friends Meredith Walker and Amy Poehler’s were inspired for Smart Girls.  How Meredith Walker met Amy Poehler while working together at Saturday Night Live and the story behind the company. 

They have an inspired look at life, and are helping to shape awesome web content for girls and boys of all ages. And don't forget importance of dance parties.

Their website:  http://amysmartgirls.com/

 

Direct download: MeredithWalker_SmartGirls_.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 2:34pm PDT

Tom Scharpling is an OG radio host and podcaster. He started to host and produce a radio show called "The Best Show" on WFMU back in 2003. The show featured call-ins from listeners, stories and special guests like comedian Patton Oswalt.

In 2014, The Best Show went off the air, and re-launched as a podcast.

Tom has paved the way with his old WFMU show for Marc Maron and WTF, to Chris Hardwick of Nerdist, and many other comedy podcasts in the modern day.

Listen to the Best Show:  http://thebestshow.net/podcast/

Buy Tom's Best Show merch and tickets to his live show:  http://stereolaffs.com/

Buy Rock, Rot and Rule:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QZUBKS

What we learned on the show:

  • The origins of The Best Show
  • How he and John Wurster collaborate on The Best Show
  • How hosts like Howard Stern inspired Tom
  • Where Tom sees the future of The Best Show going
  • What it's like transitioning from radio to podcasting

Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Follow me on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill 

Direct download: Tom_Scharpling_BestShow.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 10:32am PDT

Jonah Keri came on the podcast in December and he was a fantastic guest. He was so good, that I wanted to re-publish this episode for all the new listeners to the show.

He's a writer at ESPN's Grantland, NY Times best-selling author, and one of the smarter minds around baseball analytics in journalism.

We get into a lot o great topics here.  Specifically how he started his journalism career, where he got his first big break as a writer, and how Bill Simmons picked him to write for Grantland.  Side note, I interviewed him when Bill Simmons still worked for ESPN, so I wasn't able to ask him about Bill's recent exit!

Subscribe and Leave a review:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-from-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

Our archives:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Jonah Keri's website:  http://jonahkeri.com/

Direct download: Jonah_keri_FIN2.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 9:58pm PDT

I was really excited to sit down with Cenk from The Young Turks. He's one of the pre-eminent political voices online, and his TYT YouTube network is a mini empire on YouTube.  I went to his office and studio in Culver City to speak to him on the podcast. They were kind enough to host me in their newly built studio, on The Young Turks set.

What's remarkable about Cenk and his team, is how deep their community connection runs. In many ways, their community is an additional host and correspondent on the Young Turks Network. The Young Turks have a continual open dialogue with their audience and it's destroying the TV model of network filtered news. 

Cenk is building the next CNN, but better and much improved. We talk at length about their shows, political beliefs and the old networks and out-dated models in news and politics.

Our older acrchives:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes: 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-from-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

The Young Turks:  http://www.tytnetwork.com/

Find the TYT on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTurks

Cenk:  https://twitter.com/cenkuygur

Cenk's background:

Cenk Uygur is the host and co-founder of The Young Turks online which is the largest news show on the Internet.

Uygur is the former host of The Young Turks on Current TV, MSNBC Live and has appeared numerous times on CNN, CNN Headline News, E! Entertainment Channel, Al Jazeera, ABC News, Voice of America, NPR and even Fox News Channel. He is one of the most popular bloggers on The Huffington Post, and also a contributor to Daily Kos and Politico.

Uygur is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and Columbia University Law School. He worked as a lawyer, television writer and television host before co-founding The Young Turks.

Direct download: Cenk_The_YoungTurks.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 10:10pm PDT

What if you were a writer who let it all hang-out.  What if you wrote about failure and not just success. And what if you approached topics such such as wishing that your daughter becomes a lesbian or listing your business failures for all to learn from.  That's what James Altucher does.  James is a writer, investor, start-up founder, podcast, father, and literally an open book when it comes to his creation.

I was excited to have him on the show to discuss all things Choosing Yourself and the art and science about how he professionally self-published his own best-selling book.

In this episode you'll learn:

  • How James embraces failure and success when living his life
  • How James asked former Twitter CEO Dick Costello to write the forward for his book Choose Yourself
  • Why it's important to choose yourself in the modern economy
  • The art of asking people for help and favors (and why it can be agonizing)
  • The importance of joining part of a "scene" where you have peers and partners when it comes to your creative and entrepreneurial endeavors
  • Why James writing sometimes invokes criticism from friends and non-friends

Our archives:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

James on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jaltucher

James' website:  http://www.jamesaltucher.com/

James' book "Choose Yourself": http://www.amazon.com/Choose-Yourself-James-Altucher-ebook/dp/B00CO8D3G4 

 

Ideas and people mentioned:

  • James Hadfield on James' podcast:  http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2015/06/the-benefits-of-being-a-total-zero/
  • AJ Jacobs Global Family Reunion:  http://globalfamilyreunion.com/
  • Tucker Max's Book in a Box:  http://bookinabox.com/
  • Jayson Gaignard MMT:  http://www.mastermindtalks.com/
  • Adam Grant's Give and Take:  http://www.giveandtake.com/

 

 

Direct download: James_Altucher_Ep55_.mp3
Category:management and marketing -- posted at: 11:17am PDT

Jemele Hill is a podcast host, TV show host, and modern day multi-platform journalist. She works at ESPN, hosts the His and Hers TV show and podcast with her show partner Michael Smith. And she's an overall social media maven and an old pal from SXSW and other digital sports event.  

Note: We had some static on the skype line during parts of the episode with Jemele. We worked hard to edit out the reverb as much as possible and spent considerable time touching it up. We think this is an episode that you'll enjoy, and thanks again for listening.

Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Follow Ryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Jemele on Hill:  https://twitter.com/jemelehill

Jemele at ESPN:  http://search.espn.go.com/jemele-hill/

What we talked about: 

  • How she hosts and created a TV show: His and Hers while also hosting a podcast of the same name
  • The importance of accuracy in journalism
  • The importance of being natural in your podcast
  • The secrets of success for the Her and Hers Podcast and TV Show
  • What it's like working at ESPN when big athletes come by the campus
  • How she interviews guests like Triple H on His and Hers
  • The art of using Twitter to go off on tangets, cracking jokes, and hanging out on Twitter.
  • Building chemistry like Stockton and Malone with her co-host Michael Smith
  • #BlackTwitter and the shared experience and levity of the community on Twitter
  • How she started working in journalism after graduating Michigan State, and how she wanted to be a journalist at a young age
  • How podcasts are all about authenticity while the TV show is about grabbing people's attention in 5 minutes
  • How she builds her own culture around her podcasts, and how she avoids talking about sports 
  • Why The Roots are her Spirit Animal in finding the right audience for her podcast (and being cool with if not everyone listens or messes with your show)
  • How to get people to believe your podcast, and how the essence of podcasting is truly getting to know someone and getting an entry point in their lives
  • Her top hip-hop artists of all-time (she doesn't lke these questions but answered it anyway!)

Links we mentioned:

Blogs with Balls:  http://blogswithballs.com/

Anthony Saleh:  https://twitter.com/dude_br0

 

Direct download: Jemel_Hill_His_and_Hers.mp3
Category:management and marketing -- posted at: 12:59pm PDT

John Corcoran is a lawyer, former writer for The White House, and even had a stint working in L.A. in the entertainment industry. He is now the purveyor of Smart Business Revolution, a multi-media business company. His work as at the forefront of the new generation of business media brands, where people actually help each other succeed.

John or "The Relationship Doctor" as I like to call him, is one of the most well-networked people in the podcast business community. He's part of a new breed of entrepreneur, building his company off of his content. He sells online classes on "How to Connect with VIP's," offers webinars on connecting with influencers, hosts a weekly podcast, has an immensely popular email newsletter, and is the ultimate business connector.

John shares stories about how he make $1000 from a single Tweet, how he snowballs his income buy selling products to his audience, and he years of secrets to connecting with VIP's and influencers. 

John's website: http://smartbusinessrevolution.com/

 John on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/johncorcoran

Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Follow Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Direct download: John_Corcoran_business_podcast.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 2:22pm PDT

Greg Goodfried joined the show this week for Episode # 52.  

 

Greg was a trailblazer in the online "viral video" world back in 2006, when he created the epic online videos series: LonelyGirl15. This was back when "viral videos" were a big thing. He then went onto be a founder of EQAL, one of the first digital media companies to partner celebrities with major brands. 

 

He's now a digital agent at UTA in Los Angeles, and we stopped by the his office to this week for Stories From the Influencer Economy.

 

Greg is passionate about partnering with YouTubers, Viners, and Instagram creators, and helping them grow and monetize their business opportunities.  He manages online talent, helping them to build out long term financial opportunities from their work.  

 

We talked in detail about how YouTubers and online creators collaborate build their audiences and what habits make a successful YouTuber. We also talk about how the normal person can grow their own social media and video followings. And we agree that "being a good" person goes a long way to create success in the online world. Greg also shares stories about working with YouTubers like Shane Dawson and iJustine, and how he created a web phenomenon with LonelyGirl15

 

Ryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

 

Influencer Economy website: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

Greg on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/GregGoodfried

 

Greg on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/greggoodfried

 

Listen to all our The Influencer Economy episodes and subscribe on iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-from-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

Direct download: Greg_podcast_business.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 9:22am PDT

Our buddy Flula came on the podcast last year. He was a favorite guest of the show, and even prouced our intro theme music. He's also featured in Pitch Perfect II, so we thought we'd re-post the episod for everyone to learn more about Flula!

lula in Germany is here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxKivzjCFNg  

Flula on YouTube:  http://youtube.com/flula Flula on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/flula Flula on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/flula Flula on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/flula  

Ryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Ryan on Instagram:  http://instagram.com/ryanjwill 

 

Direct download: New_Flula.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 12:08pm PDT

I was excited that Veronica Belmont stopped by to talk about her hit shows Sword and Laser and Vaginal Fantasies, while diving into her overall creative process. She's an old school podcaster and we talk about how she got her career start after graduating from Emerson College back in the day. 

 

Veronica on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/veronica

Sword and Laser:  http://swordandlaser.com/

Vaginal Fantasy:  http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62938-vaginal-fantasy-book-club

Direct download: VeronicaBelmont051915.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 9:40am PDT

AJ Jacobs is a N.Y. Times best-selling author and hosting the world's largest family reunion. He's also cousins with both Hilary Cinnton, Barack Obama and Kevin Bacon. He's probably cousins with you too and out to show the world we have a lot more in common than we may realize.

In this podcast, we dive into AJ's writing process, book history, and his upcoming family reunion. 

Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Ryan on Twitter:https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Please leave a review on iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/influencer-economy-ryan-williams/id820744212?mt=2

AJ on Twitter and his Global Family Reunion Website

https://twitter.com/ajjacobs

http://globalfamilyreunion.com/

 

 

Direct download: AJJacobs051815.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 8:18am PDT

Adam Grant is world class. Not only is a successful professor at Wharton, a best-selling author of the book Gook Give and Take, but he has proven that givers succeed more in life than taker.

Adam's book Give and Take has shaped my business philosophy more than any book in recent memory.  I learned a lot from this interview and decided to re-post it for new listeners to hear. We originally recorded this a year ago.  Enjoy!

Ryan Williams on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Influencer Economy archives: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Leave a podcast review on iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/influencer-economy-ryan-williams/id820744212?mt=2  

Adam Grant's website:  http://www.giveandtake.com/

You can read the first chapter of Give and Take: http://media.wix.com/ugd/955681_868b6e15f9384955b6206c41fd73483e.pdf

 

Direct download: AdamGrant050515.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 11:36am PDT

Hey guys, I had Jeff Ullrich on the show for this week's episode. I'm excited to be re-publishing this episode from last year, where I interviewed Jeff.  Earwolf and Midroll media are two the pioneering companies in the podcasting biz and I wanted everyone to hear Jeff's story.

Jeff's passion in the world that intersects media, entrepreneurship and art is unparalled in the new world of the influencer economy.  If you haven't heard this episode yet, it's a good one IMO. (Remember it originally aired last year, but it's still 100% relevant now)

 

Our site: http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Please review and sub in iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/influencer-economy-ryan-williams/id820744212?mt=2

Jeff on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jeffullrich

Earwolf:  http://www.earwolf.com/

Direct download: Jeff_Ullrich_043015.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 11:39am PDT

Anthony Saleh is a talent manager, investor and avid sports fan. He manages artists like Nas and also serves as a founder of Queensbridge Ventures investment firm. We talked a lot about the culture around investing, managing talent and how in life there is no reward for being a jerk.

We talk a lot of sports on top of our philosophies around business.  

Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Follow Ryan:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Queensbridge Ventures:  http://qbvp.com/

Anthony on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Dude_Br0 

 

Direct download: Anthony_S_TEST1.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 8:34pm PDT

We are excited to have Tom Merritt on the show this week. He's a host, producer and a modern day renaissance man in the video and audio world. He is an old school radio guy and now hosts among his many popular podcasts:  The Daily Tech News Show, Sword and Laser, and Cord Killers.

Tom is in inspiration to many in the world of DIY creators, we can all and should learn from him.

He hosts the popular Daily Tech News Show

Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Follow Ryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

The Daily News Tech Show:  http://www.dailytechnewsshow.com

Tom on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/acedtect

Direct download: TomMerritt040715.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 12:46pm PDT

Bryan Alvarez is the hardest working man in the wrestling and MMA audio business. And we were excited to have him join the show this week.

Bryan is a former wrestler who he started making internet radio back in 1999. In other words he is old school in the podcasting business.

Bryan's work covers the world of the WWE and MMA and he covers those topics like no one else online  His background story is inspiring and I can't wait for you to hear it.

We also talk 80's and 90's  wrestling from Hogan to Andre the Giant to the Hart Foundation.  It was a fun one to record, and we're excited to post it for everyone to hear.

Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Bryan's website: http://www.f4wonline.com/

Bryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/bryanalvarez

 

Direct download: Ep_44_BryanAlvarez_040115.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 9:46am PDT

We took this week's show on the road and attended an event called #Tubeathon in Hollywood, CA.  Shira Lazar, the host of this charity event, is an old friend of the show, and we covered the red carpet (or blue carpet actually).

We talked to some heavy hitter YouTube creators asking them the secret to success as a YouTuber. We got some insightful and smart answers, as well as getting some fun conversations around the YouTube space. I even freestyle rapped with DeStorm on the red carpet.

We also supported a great cause at #tubeathon. Every time someone hashtagged #tubeathon on a social media, $1 was given to the Covenant House homeless shelter in Los Angeles.

We try to answer - "What is a YouTuber," "How do YouTuber creators make money?," "How do brands work with YouTubers," and "What is the future of YouTube?"

http://www.influencereconomy.com/

 

Direct download: Tuebeathon_Fin_033815.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 9:44am PDT

Sarah Weichel is one smart cookie.  She manages some of the biggest YouTube creators on the planet and helps them build-out long term businesses.  She is extremely wise and there is a lot to learn from her. As a business manager (talent manager) for some of the biggest YouTuber creators in the world (like Hannah Hart), she has executed some amazing things.  This includes helping Hannah's book "My Drunk Kitchen" become a NY Times best-seller.

This was a fun episode, hope you enjoy it. Sarah is an optimistic person who is paving the way for YouTube creator's launching big companies and big ideas.

The first 2 people who email me ryan@influencereconomy.com - I'll send a FREE copy of the book My Drunk Kitchen to:  ryan@influencereconomy.com

Our website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com

Please subscribe on iTunes and leave a review.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

Want to start a podcast?

Email ryan@influencereconomy.com for his "Podcast Marketing Tip Sheet"

Direct download: SarahWeichel_Fin_032315.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 11:37am PDT

Hey guys - thanks again for downloading the show.  If you want a free podcast marketing tip-sheet - email me: ryan@influencereconomy.com

Please subscribe on iTunes and our website is:  http://www.influencereconomy.com 

 

Direct download: EzraCooperstein.output.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 10:59am PDT

For this week's episode, we go back to where it all began:  Episode 1 with Burnie Burns. It's only appropriate to re-post the Burnie episode, which kicked this whole podcast off.  Burnie's company Rooster Teeth is an online video and media juggernaut.  He is an inspiration to many creators like Barbara Dunkelman (who works at Rooster Teeth), Adam Kovic & Bruce Greene (who now work at Rooster Teeth), Freddie Wong, and Shira Lazar - all who are past Influencer Economy podcast guests. 

We talked about the origins of Rooster Teeth, Red vs. Blue, and his advice to up and coming creators.  This is one you won't want to miss.

I also spend the first few minutes talking about the past year of the podcast, where it's going and what I've learned.  And my baby daughter gets a few shout-outs.

Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-influencer-economy/id820744212?mt=2

Sign-up for our email list and get a free podcasting guidebook:  ryan@influencereconomy.com 

Direct download: Burnie_Repost_021915.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 10:32am PDT

For a free podcast marketing tip sheet:  ryan@influencereconomy.com

Tucker Max details his successful career as a book author in this episode. He also gives advice to aspiring authors and talks about his new business venture:  Book in a Box. Tucker opens up in this interview, and you won’t want to miss it. Tucker has been sued about his blog, was initially rejected by the publishing industry and has even been cheap-shotted by Shane Battier during a pick-up basketball games. He talks about it all.

Download and Subscribe on iTunes

Did you know that only 3 writers have ever had 3 books on the NY Times best-seller list at the same time? Tucker Max, Malcom Gladwell, and Michael Lewis are the only authors to have reached such a level of success.

Tucker pioneered the model of “owning your audience and controlling your book sales distribution” when he published his first best seller “I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell” in 2006. Back then, writing on the web for free was frowned upon by the publishing world. Now it’s the norm.

In 2015 everyone wants to write a book. Smart business people see the value of a book serving as a ‘calling card.’ Books can promote your business, help increase your public speaking rates, and even develop one’s authority in a business category – it’s never been this easy to write and publish.

We talk about why people should write books, the current state of self-publishing, Amazon, and even when and how Tucker was sued by Miss Vermont a few years ago.

What you can learn from this episode:

  • What it’s like taking cheap shots from Shane Battier in a pick-up game
  • The importance of luck and hard work in his writing success (and how many people don’t talk enough about luck)
  • The current state of book publishing and professional self-publishing
  • How Tucker would have started his career if Snapchat, YouTube, and Twitter existed when he became an author (hint –he wouldn’t be a writer)
  • What happens when he advises start-ups in taking venture capital from “the man”
  • Why you’re better off wearing sweat pants than a really bad suit in a meeting
  • Why having a book sends signals to people and why the amount of copies you sell doesn’t matter

Links mentioned the conversation

 

   Book in a Box: http://bookinabox.com/

   Tuckermax.me (Tucker’s blog)

   All of Tucker Max’s books on Amazon

   Tucker Max on Twitter | LinkedIn

   Machinima;  www.Machinima.com

   David Marquet’s Turn the Ship around:  http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Ship-Around-Turning-Followers/dp/1591846404

   Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing about Hard Things: http://www.amazon.com/The-Hard-Thing-About-Things/dp/0062273205

   Bethany Motta:  https://www.youtube.com/user/Macbarbie07

   Nir Eyal’s Hooked:  http://www.nirandfar.com/hooked

   Adam Grant’s Give and Take:  http://www.giveandtake.com

Direct download: TuckerMax021915.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 9:45am PDT

Sign-up for the email list ryan@influencereconomy.com 

Jordan Harbinger – From #1 Business Podcast to the Art of Charm Academy

 

Jordan Harbinger details how he started The Art of Charm podcast, and built a successful media company around his show. He shares how he launched the Art of Charm Boot Camps in Los Angeles, helping men to gain confidence socially and in business.   College is becoming less relevant when it comes to defining what career you want to have and Jordan’s education alternative is part of an emerging industry of cool ways to learn. 

We chat about the podcasting industry, how to market your podcast, and the BS that comes with marketing your content on Twitter.

 

  • How Jordan turned his podcast into a big media brand
  • The secrets of how Jordan helps ordinary guys become extraordinary men via the Art of Charm
  • Why Twitter is over-rated in marketing your web content
  • Why podcasts have 10x more conversion than other media properties
  • How the podcast helped Jordan launch his Art of Charm Academy and Bootcamps
  • How Jordan built a school and bootcamp around the Art of Charm
  • The importance of helping correct people’s mindsets
Direct download: ArtofCharm.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 12:19pm PDT

For a free "how to launch your podcast" tipsheet:  http://www.influencereconomy.com or email ryan@influencereconomy.com  or me on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Paul Jarvis is a best-selling author, writer, web designer, podcast host and also the chief of “giving you a gentle kick in the pants” to get over your fears.  Paul Jarvis dropped by the show to talk about creativity, building audience and working on your own projects. He details his writing process, online course creation and general theories about finding your “rat people” in your community. 

 

 

What you can learn from the show:

  • How to create a process for making a living from being creative
  • The important steps in getting from idea to execution
  • How to make money based on the skills that you have
  • How people can shape the future of online learning and education
  • The framework for making a living from your art
  • How habits create constancy and how Paul writes for ½ hour a day every day, 7 days a week
  • The importance of building an audience before selling a product
Direct download: Paul_Jarvis.output.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 10:09am PDT

Sign-up for the email list and I'll send a FREE podcast marketing tip-sheet:  http://influencereconomy.com/

Guest ideas, want to attend a marketing/podcast seminar, or just want to reach-out?  ryan@influencereconomy.com 

Dan Pashman details how he buit the Sporkful podcast into a massively successful food brand. He recently partnered with WNYC for his show, and also has written a best-selling book:  Eat More Better.  I even got the chance to pretend like i was on the show, talking about L.A. BBQ. And he gives a hit-list for how to create something that people will love. 

The Sporkful:  http://www.sporkful.com/

 

Direct download: Dan_Sporkful_Part2.output.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 3:36pm PDT

Sign-up for a free "How to Launch Your Podcast Guidebook:  http://influencereconomy.com/

Subscribe on iTunes:  http://bit.ly/1CNwfWV

ryan AT influencereconomy dot com

Dan Pashman, host of the podcast The Sporkful and author of the book Eat More Better stopped by the show.  Dan details the secrets of how he built his successful food podcast that is ‘For eaters, not foodies.”

Dan says that every meal is an opportunity for greatness, and his quirky and irreverent style has won over millions of listeners on iTunes.  Dan was an independent podcast creator, up until last year when the legendary public radio station WNYC picked-up the show. 

Direct download: DanFINAL.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 2:00pm PDT

Jayson Gaignard dropped by to detail how he created his MasterMind Talks Series, and has built lifelong connections by introducing influencers and experts via "Mastermind Dinners."

Jayson is a black belt in networking, building community and relationships. We go deep into the value of connecting like-minded indviduals and helping others always comes back to you.  Jayson is adding a deep knowledge-base for listeners, and will help you understand the value of buiding bridges for others.  Learn how you can book your own influencer dinners and cultivate more meaningful long term relationships in this episode.  

Stories From the Enfluencer Economy website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

What we learned this episode:

  • How a Seth Godin talk changed Jayson's life
  • How relatiionships and people are the safest things you can invest in
  • How Jayson lives his life "in business you either stand for something or you stand for nothing"
  • The wealth of relationships and connecting people
  • The benefits of the "anchor guest" model and "The moving up the food chain" strategies for planning influencer dinners
  • How Jayson follows Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger's advice to:  "Eliminate one area of ignorance every year"
  • How money is the derative of the value you give people
Direct download: Jayson_Mastermind_FIN.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 10:45am PDT

Author Nir Eyal joins the podcast for a discussion around his NY Times best-selling book “Hooked:  How to Build Habit Forming Products.”  Nir explains the 4-step process around building products that capture people’s attention.  From Facebook to WhatsApp to Pinterest – Nyer has spent years contextualizing academic research, applying it to help entrepreneurs build habit-forming products. 

Our website with all the archives:  http://www.influencereconomy.com/

Nir is a pioneer when it comes to self-publishing.  He details the journey of his book becoming a best seller and how his blog, community, and self-published e-book helped land his book on the NY Times list.  It’s an amazing story that all writers can learn from.

  • How Nir started writing his blog to answer his own questions about how products create habits
  • How hearing Mark Zuckerberg speak when Nir was in Stanford business school inspired his curiosity around the hooked model
  • How Facebook & WhatsApp nailed the Hooked model
  • The difference between vitamins (nice to have) and pain killers (must have) when building products
  • A guide to the 4-Step Hooked process: 1) Trigger 2) Action 3) Reward 4) Investment
  • How podcasts apps. like Stitcher form habits for their listeners
  • The GEM model (Growth, engagement, monetization)
  • How Nir’s career transitioned from entrepreneur into story-teller
  • How Nir reach the NY Times best-seller list with the help of his community of blog readers

Nir's website and connectig wtih him on Twitter:  http://www.nirandfar.com/ https://twitter.com/nireyal

Ryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Sign-up to receive Ryan's "How to Guide for Launching Your Podcast" - http://influencereconomy.com/

 

 

 

 

Direct download: Nir_Episode_FIN.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 11:06am PDT

Ty Hildenbrandt joined the show this week, to talk all things Serial.  Ty has been hosting podcasts since before it was cool, back in 2007.  His show, The Solid Verbal is one of the largest sports podcasts on the planet. 

We wrapped up our own theories on the show.  And talked about why people were addicted, and how it hooked the listeners.  Ty also weighs in on his take on the future of podcasting, and how Serial will affect and inspire new creators.

 

Check us out on iTunes!

Follow Ty on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/tyhildenbrandt

Follow The Solid Verbal on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SolidVerbal

 

Listen

Direct download: Ty_Serial_Serial.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 1:14pm PDT

Alan Sepinwall the writer of the wildly popular online TV recap column, What's Alan Watching?" and the best-selling book "The Revoluation Will be Televised.  On this week's show, Alan details how he originated his career as a TV writer, how he wound-up writing for Hitfix.com, and the keys to his successful self-published book.

Listen to our archives:  http://www.influencereconomy.com  Follow Ryan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Alan's history as a TV writer dates back to the 1990's. He's a pioneer in the TV journalism industry, specifically in defining and shaping the category of online TV Show recaps.  He is a great example of a successful creator in The Influencer Economy, as he self-published his book, selling it directly to his community.  He has built an incredibly loyal following from writing online, and was able to deliver a book that his community wanted to read.  He details his unique model of self-publishing which we can all learn from. 

Alan's column:  http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching

Alan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/sepinwall

Alan's original What's Alan Watching blog:  http://sepinwall.blogspot.com

From this episode you'll learn:

  • How Alan launched his writing career writing online in the 1990's about NYPD Blue
  • The history of Alan's "What's Alan Watching?" TV Recap column
  • The background of how Alan went from working for the NJ Times Ledger to writing for the entertainment website Hitfix.com
  • The secrets of how Alan self-published his book and got the attention of traditional publishers
  • The origins of Alan appearing on Bill Simmons' BS Report

 

 

Direct download: Alan_Sepinwall_1.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 2:30pm PDT

Jonah Keri is a NY Times best-selling author, sports writer for ESPN's Grantland, and told me some fantastic stories on this week's show.  He has been a paid journalist his entire professional life and he details his journey as a writer. Jonah dives into how he started his podcast, writes his best-selling books, and how he wound-up working for Bill Simmons at Grantland.

Great Jonah Keri quotes:

“Somebody is always paying attention to what you’re doing somewhere.”

"One of my favorite quotes is by Branch Rickey: 'Luck is the residue of design.'  Meaning you need a lot of luck in life, but if you work hard and you have a baseline level of skill - things will come to you."

What you'll learn from this episode:

  • Jonah's book writing process, how long it takes him to research and interview subjects  
  • How his girlfriend helped him get back into baseball during Major League Baseball's '94-'95 season
  • How he bookd early guests like Rickey Henderson, Evan Longoria, and Death Cab's Ben Gibbard for his podcast
  • The story behind his first job as a sports writer
  • How posting on baseball message boards helped him land his first book deal
  • How he connected with Bill Simmons to start writing for Grantland 

Connect with us:

  • Find me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill/
  • Stories from The Influencer Economy website:  http://www.influencereconomy.com

Connecti with Jonah:

  • Jonah writes on Grantland:  http://grantland.com
  • Find Jonah on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jonahkeri
  • Joah Keri’s “Extra 2%” NY Times Best-seller: http://amzn.to/dmz0hk 
  • His new Montreal Expose book “Up Up & Away!”  goo.gl/EwWQtS 

 

Direct download: Jonah_keri_FIN.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 2:03pm PDT

Freddie Wong joined me on the podcast to talk about his hit webseries Video Game High School.  Freddie's series has been watched over 85 milion times online and his YoTube channel RocketJump has over 7 million subscribers.  Freddie also have crowdfunded over $1.3 Million for the series via IndieGoGo and Kickstarter.

Our website: http://influencereconomy.com/

We talk at length about how he built his audience and fans online.  And how he raised crowdfunding dollars, and his 7 million YouTube subscribers.

Direct download: Freddie_Wong_1.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 12:30pm PDT

I was excited to have Troy Carter on the podcast.  He is the founder of Atom Factory, and the conversation was inspiring to say the least.

Troy and I talked about hip-hop, entrepreneurship, life, failure, success and finding passion around your work.  Troy used to work with Bigee Smalls and Puff Daddy back in the day and we started talking about the paralelles of technology entrepreneurs and hip hop music artists.  And the conversation turned into so much more afterwards.  

A great quote from Troy: "In life in general, there are no guarantees.  Failures are a part of life.  As cliche as it may sound, the way I look at it as there are no rewards without taking risks.  We take a risk every time we step out the door, every single day.  Life is full of risks and failures, but at the same time life is full of triumphs and hapiness."  

 

Direct download: TroyCarter.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 5:32pm PDT

In this episode I talk with Willie Geist, co-host of the TODAY Show and Morning Joe, and a multiple time NY Times best-selling author.  Willie is an old friend from Vanderbilt and I enjoyed interviewing at his office in NYC a few weeks ago.

Willie chats about his book Good Talk, Dad:  The Birds and The Bees…and Other Versions We Forgot to Have  that he co-authored with his father Bill Geist.  Good Talk, Dad became a NY times best-seller, without having any orders pre-sold through Amazon. This is a big deal, because the bulk of book orders in this modern day come from pre-ordering on Amazon’s website.  Willie details why and his Dad wrote the book together, and how they marketed it to their audiences around Father's Day. 

Additionally, we dive into various chapters of the book. This includes reminiscing about the famed Big Sky Basketball Tournament @ Vanderbilt University that we both played in back in college. And a funny chapter he wrote about taking his daughter to a Harvard/Columbia football game. 

Willie also talks about how what it’s like crossing over to other shows like Andy Cohen’s Bravo Show, Joel McHale’s The Soup, and working with The Olympics with Brian Williams and Michelle Beadle. Andy Cohen and other friends were instrumental in helping to market “Good Talk. Dad,” helping it reach best-seller status.

Buy Willie and Bill Geist’s book “Good Talk, Dad”: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Talk-Dad-Conversations-Forgot-ebook/dp/B00EXTVSMI

Follow Willie Geist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/williegeist

Watch Willie on the Today Show: http://www.today.com/

 

Direct download: Willie_Geist_2.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 8:29pm PDT

Lance Ulanoff is Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large at Mashable.  He joined the Stories From the Influencer Economy, to detail his work as a journalist, and discuss how the journalism industry is evolving in the era of social media.

We also discussed how journalists can build their personal brands on platforms like Twitter & Vine.  Lance has covered Apple since his days writing PC Mag, through the current job at Mashable.  He also has makes regular appearances to talk tech and products on shows like Fox News, the Today Show, and Good Morning America. 

I had Lance on the show to discuss: 

  • How journalists can market themselves, and find their POV
  • What type of content journalists can create to stand-out in the media world
  • What’s it like covering Apple event in 2014, vs. 1990

 

Follow Lance on Vine: 

 

What you’ll get out from this episode (Show notes):

 

  • How Lance uses Vine animations to tell stories via journalism 
  • The importance of having a personal brand in social media 
  • How Lance went from writing a column for PC Mag, to creating social media stories at Mashable 
  • How social media creates real-time news at Mashable
  • The differences between news rooms in the late 1990’s to today
  • What its like covering the Apple iPhone launch events
  • What it was like writing 20 page features on technology compared to his work today in journalism
  • How he connects with Levarr Burton, William Shatner and other influencers via social media
  • Lance’s advice to journalism students for “how to get into writing for a living”
  • What’s next for Mashsable 
Direct download: LanceUlanoff_.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 8:45pm PDT