Wed, 23 March 2016
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: Follow Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill
|
Thu, 17 March 2016
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:
Rand Fishkin's Moz article: The Long Ugly year of Depression that is Finally Fading
Moz: https://moz.com/
Rand Fishkin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/randfish
Follow Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanjwill
|
Tue, 8 March 2016
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
83: Finding the Funny, Delivering Jokes and Adding Humor to Your Public Speaking with David Nihill
David's Funny Biz Conference: http://funnybizz.
David's speaking blog: http://www.
David's Do You Talk Funny book: http://www.amazon.com/
|
Tue, 26 January 2016
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
|
Tue, 19 January 2016
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:
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
|
Tue, 5 January 2016
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/
|
Tue, 22 December 2015
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. The Influencer Economy Archives --> Sign-up for our email list and I'll send you a free "how to start a podcast" tip sheet: http://www.influencereconomy.com/ 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.
|
Wed, 16 December 2015
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. |
Tue, 8 December 2015
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/
.
|
Tue, 1 December 2015
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/
|
Nerv with Ryan Williams
Categories
generaltechnology
management and marketing
careers
Archives
FebruaryJanuary
January
December
November
October
June
May
April
March
January
December
September
August
July
May
April
March
February
January
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
Syndication
