Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders with Jon Cook

There’s a good chance you’re listening to Keynote Clarity because you have an Alexa device, like an Echo, an Echo Dot, or an Echo Show. You may even be wondering, “How do I create and launch my own flash briefing?” Over the past six months, our team at Keynote Content has created a turnkey flash briefing production system. There are three key phases in our Flash Briefing development: Phase 1 is where we focus on your overall flash briefing strategy: what’s the name of your new flash briefing, who is it for, what are the daily themes, and how do I know which equipment to use to create a great audio experience? Phase 2 is about your initial buildout and test month. We do all of the work to produce your flash briefing and walk with you every step of the way through your launch. The only responsibilities you have is paying for your hosting provider and providing raw audio files for us to produce, schedule, and populate to Alexa devices around the world. Phase 3 is where the ongoing monthly production of your flash briefing. Just like with Phase 2, the only thing you have to do is provide us with a month’s worth of raw audio files we can use. If you’d like to learn more, you can check out alexaflashbriefings.com to see our process and sign up if it looks like a great fit for your message. Again, go to alexaflashbriefings.com and check it out today to see how our team can help you create, launch, and grow your flash briefing. The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Jon Cook, host of Keynote Clarity. 

I started recording videos using a teleprompter about six years ago. At first, it was tough. There’s a learning curve to using a teleprompter, and for me, it took a few videos before I was comfortable enough to truly be myself without looking like I was just reading a script. Can a teleprompter actually help you make better videos? The answer is it depends. I know, that’s a cop-out answer, but it’s the truth. There are many factors to creating a great video, and a teleprompter is only one of these factors. Other factors such as the script you’re using, the lighting, the sound quality, your outfit, your body language, those are just as important as the teleprompter. In the end though, I have more confidence creating videos if I know what I want to say and it’s on the screen for me. If you haven’t tried a teleprompter before, I recommend starting with bullet points instead of an actual script. It gives you an idea of where you want to go next without having to read every word and stay true to how you show up on screen. Give it a try and good luck! The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

When I went to launch my first online course five years ago, I focused so much on the design of the sales page. What button color should I pick? Is that the ‘perfect’ image for this section? What color should the headline be? I thought I hit save on the draft of the page, but by chance, I accidentally published my sales page. It stayed up for an entire weekend, and I didn’t know my mistake until I saw a sale come through. It occurred to me that people were willing to overlook half-baked design or even bad design if they connected with the message on the page. Now, I’m not saying design doesn’t matter at all - of course it does - but it’s more important to focus on the copy. Is it absolutely clear the value you’re offering through your sales page? Clarity in your copy will lead to conversions on a bland-looking sales page. Focus on your message first, then add in great design. If you have to choose though, go with a simple design and a great story to tell. You will generate more sales with great copy and a bad design over bad copy with a great design. The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

Picture yourself waking up this morning. What motivated you to get out of bed? Was it inspiration or obligation? Your audience needs to know why you do what you do. If you’re like many speakers, coaches, and consultants, you constantly face the question of “Is this all worth it? Why do I keep doing this?” Think about your audience, the people you get to serve. Think about how their lives and businesses, marriages, families, mindsets, finances, schedules, whatever area you impact, think about how your clients have better lives because of you and your Message. That’s what I want you to hold onto today: you are making a difference. Even if it’s only one person, you changed their life. Now, go find someone else today that you can help with your Message. You don’t have to make a life-changing impact, but you do have an opportunity to make a difference. Hold onto that inspiration - you are making a difference - and keep pushing forward! The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

If you want to get to know your target market better, you need to make multiple connections every day. This may be reaching out to someone you know or want to get to know on LinkedIn. See who your second-level connections may be and send a message introducing yourself and asking how they met your mutual friend. You can also send a well-written message to a new colleague. Take a few minutes and look through their website. If something jumps out to you, make mention of that to your colleague. It shows you took the time to get to know their business better. Another idea is to reach out to one of your strategic partners and set up a call to catch up and trade ideas.  Whatever step you take, focus on building a better connection. We can’t serve and connect people we don’t know or understand. Give generously of your time, focus on adding value, and you will start to build a more meaningful network of great connections. Reach out to at least one person today to create a better connection for tomorrow. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

xWe're wrapping up our episode interview series with Sam Horn of Intrigue Agency. Thank you again, Sam, for your generous insight and time. Jon Cook: Sam, if somebody wants to connect with you, what's the best place for them to go and continue a conversation with you and your team? Sam Horn: Thank you so much. They are welcome to go to my website, which is intrigueagency.com.  Jon Cook: Fantastic. Thank you so much, Sam Horn. To people who are listening to this, be inspired. You already have a message burning inside you. You have something that's aching to get out, that's jumping at the chance. Don't wait for the some day. Start today. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episode interview series featuring Sam Horn of Intrigue Agency… Jon Cook: We also have what I call the unwilling, captive audiences that were in the elevator. Sam, what's your take, your approach to getting rid of elevator pitches and replacing it with something more meaningful? Sam Horn: Thank you. I have a post on LinkedIn that's gone viral, has hundreds of thousands of views, and the title of it is “Why Never To Give Another Elevator Speech And What To Do Instead”. I also spoke about this at Inc 500. So, a woman from Oklahoma, she was Entrepreneur of the Year for her state, and I said, "Colleen, what do you do?" *Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah* At the end of 60 seconds, Jon, no one in the room knew what she did, and she was a CEO. And now, think of the lost opportunity cost, right? I mean, these are some of the top entrepreneurs in the country, but no one's going to talk to her, partner with her, et cetera. So I said, "Colleen, can we talk more?" She said, "Sure." I said, "Okay, #1, what do you do that we can see, that we can smell, that we can taste, that we can touch? Instead of, “I have a platform for blank,” and it's conceptual and confusing, we can't see it, we don't get it? So she said, "I run the facilities that run MRIs and CAT scans." I said, "Good. Don't tell people that." She said, "Don't tell people that?" I said, "If someone says what do you do, and you say, 'I run the facilities that run MRIs and CAT scans', what are they going to say?" That's the end of the conversation. We don't want to end conversations. We want to open conversation. So, I said, "Turn it into a three-part question." She said, "What's this about a three-part question?" I said, "If you say, 'have you ever had an MRI or CAT scan?' And they say 'No,' hah, we're back to a conversational cul-de-sac, right?" [inaudible 00:01:52] like an interrogation. The person is backing up because it's like, "Whoa." But if we say, "Do you know anyone?" Could be yourself, could be a friend, could be a family member. You see where we're giving them control of the conversation? They get to go wherever they want, whatever's most relevant for them or recent. "Who's had an MRI or CAT scan?" They'll probably going to think about it and they'll say, "Oh, well, my daughter had an MRI. She hurt her knee playing soccer." Now we simply paraphrase what it is they said with what we do. "Oh, that's what I do. I run the facilities that offer MRIs like the one your daughter had when she hurt her knee playing soccer." So the steps of this are, from now on, when someone says, "What do you do," don't tell them. That's infobesity, oh, end of conversation. Instead, ask a three-part question. Do you know anyone? Could be yourself or friend or family member who has, and then put in the real world results of what you do and stop talking. [inaudible 00:03:00] say something, even if, well, I haven't, but my wife has, or, yeah, well I, and then simply paraphrase what they said with what they do, because that's confirming the connection. It's under 60 seconds. Now, we have a meaningful, mutually rewarding conversation and we're off and running instead of, “What do you do,” “This,” “Oh…next.” -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episode interview series featuring Sam Horn of Intrigue Agency… Jon Cook: There's almost this lie, this trap that we fall into as authors is saying, "writing my book, I need to find the secluded space." And then we almost like work on our craft, our art in the dark. And then when it's ready, which is relative, then we bring it out for the world to see. But it's been created in an echo chamber. There's been nobody else speaking into your manuscript, your message, the thing that you want to share with the world. From an art standpoint, it may be beautiful or it may be well-intended, but just not well constructed. Sam Horn: Writing is supposed to be an empathetic exercise, not an intellectual exercise. Do you know who had writer's block for eight years? Sting, the musician - the words wouldn't come. So what did he do? He went back home and he grew up in Newcastle with these big ships and so forth. And he went and he interviewed people and he ended up writing a Broadway play, a Broadway musical that won a Tony and once again it never would have happened if he hadn't gotten up and outside and connected with the people he wanted to write for. Well, I had an epiphany when I read that because I was working on my next book and I loved to write. I was very busy at the time and writing had become a grind. I would look at what I had written and it did not sing. And when I heard that I thought, "Of course it's not singing. I am isolated, I am thinking it up." I got up. I went over to my son's high school, I interviewed teachers. What do you say when, when kids say you have favorites? Principals, what do you say when teachers come to you and say, I quit? Kids, what do you say when someone's bullying you on the bus? And I connected with the people I wanted to write for, and their words, and their stories, and their concerns, and their worries filled my mind. And when I came back, I sat down and the words flowed out so fast, my fingers couldn't keep up. So if you’re a writers who’s come to a halt, just as you said, Jon, we're probably isolated. We're trying to think it up. It's become an intellectual exercise. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episode interview series featuring Sam Horn of Intrigue Agency… Jon Cook: So, how do I find my crowd? How do I find the people that I really want to serve? Sam Horn: I'm so glad you're asking that, Jon. People can't jump on our bandwagon if it's parked in the garage, right? So how can we get our bandwagon out of the garage? Well, once again, I will give a real life success story because I think there is nothing more powerful or persuasive than a real life success story. When we know that someone else has done it, then we start believing that we can too, right? As Maya Angelou said, we can't be it if we don't see it, but here's this success story and then I'll tell you how I help clients do that. James Rollins came to the Maui Writers Conference. He was a veterinarian in Davis, California. Now he's working six, seven days a week. He's a busy man. He comes home on his 40th birthday. He's so exhausted. He sits down, he turns on the TV, but there is Tony Robbins and Tony Robbins says, if you have a dream and you don't get up off the couch right now and do something about it, it will never happen. Well, James got up, he walked over to the phone, he called his local Barnes and Noble because what he'd always wanted to do is to write sci-fi and fantasy fiction. And he asked, "Do you have a writer support group?" And they did every Tuesday night, so every Tuesday night he would leave his veterinary practice and he would go and he would get support for his books. Well, he came to Maui Writer's Conference, and at the opening orientation he heard someone talking behind him. Now we had what was called a manuscript marketplace, a guaranteed look by a top agent or editor or publisher. And this person was saying that he knew who was going to win the manuscript marketplace. In fact, he was so impressed with his writing, he was going to get him a two book deal with his agent and editor, and it was Terry Brooks, Sword of Shannara, one of the top fantasy writers of all time. That was James Rollins. He's talking about my work. James has gone on now to write 18 New York Times best sellers. And it once again, it never would have happened if he hadn't gotten up off the couch, walked over to the phone and called a group of people who would have this front and back, like-minded souls who have simpatico goals, who will encourage each other, support each other, give constructive feedback. So when I'm working with entrepreneurs or when I'm working with authors or speakers who are your peaks, where can you go so you're not going it alone? -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episode interview series featuring Sam Horn of Intrigue Agency… Sam Horn: So would you like another way that we can actually engage people ethically so that they are paying attention from start to finish? Jon Cook: Absolutely! Sam Horn: Okay. Use a dog on a tanker story, and you're thinking, "A what?" Well, several years ago, there was an article in The Washington Post about an oil tanker that caught fire 800 miles off the coast of Hawaii. Now a cruise ship happened to be going by and rescued the 11 people on board, and the captain gave a press conference. He talked about how grateful he was to be rescued. All he can think about is his dog left behind on the tanker. That press conference goes viral, and thousands of people from around the world are sending in money. $5, $500. The U.S. Navy changes the exercise plate of the U.S. Pacific fleet to search the open ocean. They find the tanker. They send a C-130 to fly low to see if there's any signs of life. Here's this brown and white blur racing up and down the deck of the tanker. The amount of quarter of a million dollar rescue mission to get Hok Get and bring him back to the islands. Now, Jon, you and listeners may be thinking, “What does that have to do with me and content and capturing and keeping people's attention?” Well, here's the question. Why did people from around the world mobilize to save one dog when there are thousands of people in their own cities going without food, water and shelter? It's because of something called the empathy telescope. And the empathy telescope says, we can put ourselves in the shoes of one person, or one dog, we cannot put ourselves in the shoes of many. We cannot put ourselves in the shoes of an idea or an organization. So when we're communicating, if we're talking about all the people this affects or if we're talking about all the customers we've served, it's so distant and far away or so overwhelming, people don't relate to it. It is when we have one person who had a problem and bought our product and is now better off, one company that had a challenge and couldn't solve it until they hired us, then we scale out from the one. The question is, what is your idea or the point or the product, what's your dog on a tanker story? Start with your dog on your tanker story. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episode interview series featuring Sam Horn of Intrigue Agency… Sam Horn: When we finish telling our where story or our signature origin story, we don't stop, because that's not enough. People go, "Well, good for you. What's that got to do with me?" right? So after every true, real-life example, we hook and hinge back to the audience with three you questions: "Have you ever had a goal and worked toward and didn't work out the way you wanted? Did you ever try something and people laughed at you?" Do you see, when we tell a story and we come back with, "Where has that happened for you? Have you ever been in that situation?" Now, I don't care whether it's a multimillion-dollar CEO, whether it's the recent college grad, they are relating what you're saying to their circumstances, so it is relevant to them and they're a lot more likely to relate to it and get some epiphany, some Socratic epiphany, and act on it. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

I recently had the chance to sit down with Sam Horn, the founder and CEO of the Intrigue Agency. She is the former Executive Director of the world-renowned Maui Writers Conference and Pitch Coach for Springboard Enterprises, which has helped entrepreneurs receive $8.8 billion in funding. She has helped hundreds of clients create quality books and high-stakes presentations for TED-MED, TEDx, SXSW, Wisdom 2.0, Google and Facebook. We had a chance to sit down for about 30 minutes and I was honored to ask Sam several questions about how she helps entrepreneurs like yourself better position their Message. Now, I want to give you a front-row seat to hear those questions and Sam’s brilliance… Let’s get started. Jon Cook: The world is noisier than ever right now so how do we, with a powerful message, how do you guide people with that powerful message to break through the noise and connect with their audience better? Sam Horn: We're going to start with something I call a "Did you know?" opening because most people start their presentations or a book or a blog by explaining, right? We've been taught to tell people what we're going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what we told them, right? That makes us a bore, snore, or chore. So here's a quick example and then I'm going to give you three steps they can use to make their first 60 seconds so compelling that people put their digital devices down and get their eyebrows up, okay? And I don't care whether you're writing, whether you're speaking, whether you're doing a podcast, like Jon is, start with three "Did you know?" questions. Did you know this? This? This? Then, go to the scope of the problem you're solving or the issue you're addressing or the need that you're filling. Now, where do you find the startling statistics? You Google that stuff. Just go online, put in what are surprising statistics about blank and put in your topic, put in your problem or your issue or your industry. Up will come things even you didn't know. And if you don't know them, chances are your decision-makers won't know them. You've just earned smart people's attention's time because they're smarter than they were 20 seconds ago. Second step, use the word "Imagine." The word imagine pulls people out of their preoccupation because they're not distracted now, they're picturing your point, or they're seeing what you're saying. So, think about your decision-makers. What are they concerned about? Worried about? Well, imagine a one-use needle instead of re-use. Imagine painless inoculations instead of painful. Imagine a fraction of the current cost instead of really expensive. You see how in a world of infobesity we distilled into one sentence? Who wouldn't want that? And then, third step, you don't have to imagine it. We've created it. Now come in with your testimonial. Now come in with your example or your product demonstration to prove it isn't a pie in the sky or speculative. It's a done deal. And you do all that in 60 seconds. That's how we earn people's attention in a world of infobesity. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're wrapping up our episode series with John Lee Dumas of EO Fire. Thank you again, JLD, for your generous insight and time. Jon Cook: We want to say thank you so much to John Lee Dumas, Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast. The link will be there in the show notes, all the information. What's one product or experience or opportunity that we can share to help promote you and your message further? John Lee Dumas: Well, to me, all the magic happens outside of your comfort zone. So what is going to get you outside of your comfort zone? What that is is your big idea. You need to have one big idea that's scary, that's audacious, that scares you, but still makes you passionate, fired up. All of those things need to be happening. So if you don't have your big idea, well, you need to get that. I have a completely free training that's called yourbigidea.io. That'll get you there. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episodes series featuring questions I got a chance to ask John Lee Dumas of EO Fire… Jon Cook: What's something that you are passionate about, a cause, a movement that you're passionate about that isn't directly tied to Fire Nation, but you're able to leverage your platform to say, "We can make this difference -- this impact -- in the world?" John Lee Dumas: Well, to me, honestly, it'd be more vague than that in a way because I consider it the ripple effect. And that's the fact that this interview right now is going to be experienced by people who would never have heard of me before or know of entrepreneurs on fire. But because you have an audience and because you have different people who are watching and consuming your content, now maybe they're going to hear something from me that inspires them to go and do something. And then that person's going to do something that then inspires a whole new trope of people that so on and so forth, that ripple effect, that trickle down effects, that snowball effect of just now, this one interview impact thousands and thousands of people, all because it started by just impacting one person, who then impacted 10 people. And those 10 people then impacts, and then it can so quickly make a difference in this world. So, I love the ripple effect. That's the cause that I believe in. That's the passion. That's why I do what I do. That's why I do my social media. That's why I do my podcast. That's why I spend one day every single month doing 25 interviews on other shows. I mean, this is one of the 25 interviews I'm doing today on another show because I'm putting in the reps, because this might be the podcast, the show that impacts somebody, that goes off and does an incredible, crazy thing. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episodes series featuring questions I got a chance to ask John Lee Dumas of EO Fire… Jon Cook: I think for a lot of people that they wonder, “What if I pick the wrong niche?” Or “What if I niche too far and I'm almost too niched to actually connect with my crowd?” How do you walk somebody through right sizing their niche? John Lee Dumas: Like if you use the wrong niche, then learn from it. Say, okay, good stuff. I've identified a couple of things that I did wrong going down this path. Now I'm going to readjust, pivot, and move in a different direction and there's no problem. There's no harm, no foul there. You need to be taking action and trying things. And so if you get into a wrong niche, like congratulate yourself for actually getting into any niche at all. And now you asked another question about if you find yourself in a niche too far. To me, that's impossible. It is absolutely impossible to niche down too far because if you've niched down all the way to the bone where there's only one person in the world besides yourself that would ever consume your content, that's still one person in the world. And you start there, you engage that person, you jump on a video call with them, you learn their biggest pain points or struggles or obstacles or challenges, and you improve based off that feedback, and then you broaden that a little bit. Then you broaden that. Now you have two listeners and four, eight, 16, 32, 64 and keep going and going, so on and so forth. Until now you've gotten to a more comfortable niche, so going too deep, impossible. Just recognize that that's an opportunity to really engage, to really go one-on-one, to really learn more about your avatar, your perfect listener, consumer, client, customer, fan, and then broaden out after that. -- The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episodes series featuring questions I got a chance to ask John Lee Dumas of EO Fire… Jon Cook: When I think about Fire Nation, it's evolved so much. I've been a part of the Fire Nation for the past three years now and continue to see how different parts of your audience, and your message, has evolved over the last three years. What's something that's surprised you about Fire Nation just in the past year? John Lee Dumas: I'd say what's surprised me most about Fire Nation in the past year is their just quick adoption into what I call the micro-niche. Back in 2013, '14, '15, it was all about being broad and vague. Trying to capture as big of an audience as possible. Entrepreneurs On Fire worked because it worked back in that timeframe, but if you launched Entrepreneurs On Fire with an unknown name in 2019, it doesn't work because it's one of a million shows. But it worked back in 2012 because it was unique, it was different, and it was rare. There just wasn't that much in the way of competition.  The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

We're continuing our episodes series featuring questions I got a chance to ask John Lee Dumas of EO Fire… Jon Cook: When we think about how our message continues to evolve, think about these smart home devices: Google Home, and Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, and even the technology of Alexa. How are you leveraging that technology and those smart devices to continue to share your message beyond podcasts? John Lee Dumas: I think this is the world of voice right now. The reason why voice is winning at such a high level is because it gives you back time. You can now go running and listen to an audio book. You can now be driving your car and listening to a podcast. You can be folding laundry and consuming great audio content, so you're getting time back. Before when those were like dead times, like listening to some song on the radio or just whistling Dixie to yourself as your folding laundry. Now, you can actually be using that time in a beneficial way. I mean like I literally used to hate to dry dishes, but now, I'm almost like, "I don't really care because I'm just going to be like" ... I might as well be doing something while I'm listening to a podcast. It's just another way to consume great content, so it's giving you your time back. Like when I walk into my bathroom every single morning to brush my teeth I say, "Alexa, what’s in the news?" and she starts playing my news. Like, "What's the weather?" A Gary Vaynerchuk clip. Another podcast. This and that. Boom, boom, boom. Now I'm doing my things in the morning and I'm consuming this content automatically. Then I'm just like, "Alexa, order me more toothpaste," and boom- she orders me more toothpaste. That's giving me back time, something that I don't have to go to my computer, or open Amazon, or go to Amazon, and click “Order,” and buy. I don't have to do it, so it gives you back time. I also have The Daily Refresh, which is my Alexa flash briefing, so I mean I've bought into this whole thing of creating short-form content that people can consume on a daily basis. Make it part of your daily routine, so in under three minutes, if you subscribe to The Daily Refresh you get a quote to inspire the minds, gratitude to warm the soul, and guided breathing to energize the body. Boom, two minutes and 45 seconds later it's over and you're off to do your day. So that's a great way, in my opinion, and what I've been seeing, that's really been working in the voice world. The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”

I recently had the chance to sit down with John Lee Dumas. He is the founder and host of EO Fire, an award-winning podcast where he interviews today's most inspiring entrepreneurs, seven days a week. With over 1,400 different episodes and seven figures a year in revenue. JLD has shown the world the power of podcasting. Prepare to ignite!  We had a chance to sit down for about 20, 30 minutes and talk through some of the top questions I wanted to ask him as one of the most influential podcasters in the world. Now, I want to give you a front-row seat to hear those questions and see how JLD is positioning himself for the future. Jon Cook: Different industries, different messages, people change from year to year. We're constantly evolving. How has your message, even the way in which you share your message evolved and changed over this past year? John Lee Dumas: So, one thing that I'm really passionate about is keeping my finger on the pulse because things are changing so quickly in this world. I mean, a lot of people are saying, "I missed the podcasting thing." And like whether they're right or wrong, it's just kind of the wrong attitude because there's always that next thing that's just right over the horizon. And like people that identify that next thing and they jump on it, boom, they make it happen. So I can tell you for within the past year, I really never took Instagram seriously. It's been around for a long time. I never took it that seriously. But about a year ago, maybe even like eight or 10 months ago, I'm like, "Wow, this is a special platform." I'm like, "I'm getting a lot of engagements. I'm crossing 100,000 followers." I really am seeing a way for me to get my message out. And even maybe more on a micro message way, like not a long-form podcast, but maybe more like a short-form, one-minute, little inspirational clip, maybe cutting that up into four Instagram stories. I’m seeing great engagement in the direct messages, like another inbox right there with really being able to communicate with people. So that's an area that I'm really seeing is kind of been exploding for me this past year. That's, you asked me two years ago, I'm like, "Now Instagram is for like photographers." The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing is presented by Jon Cook, founder of Keynote Content. Jon and his team help thought leaders, namely speakers, coaches, and consultants, craft and share their messages to better serve their audiences. Connect with Jon and his team at Keynote Content by visiting keynotecontent.com. You can subscribe to The Keynote Clarity for Thought Leaders Flash Briefing by visiting bit.ly/KeynoteClarity and enabling it there. Then, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”