The Three Month Vacation Podcast: Online Small Business|marketing Strategy Plan| Sean D'souza | Psychotactics

When your client picks up your report, can you guarantee they'll read it from start to finish? No matter how good the content, there are precise elements that cause a client to completely consume the report. This episode delves into three of the most important elements that makes your report stand out—and more importantly—get read. In this episode Sean talks about Part 1: What makes a report powerful? Part 2: What are tiny increments? Part 3: How to empower your reader Right click here and ‘save as’ to download this episode to your computer.   Useful Resources and Links Dart Board Pricing: How To Increase Prices (Without Losing Customers) The Headline Report: Why Headlines Fail The 70% Principle: Why It Knocks Procrastination Out of the Ball Park The  Transcript Back in the year 2003  I wrote an article where you just had to take three steps to write a great headline. You could test the headline and you could find out in minutes that it worked for you, and it also got the attention of your customers.

How much is enough? And where do you stop? It's easy to get all wrapped up in this whole concept of passive income and how smart it seems. Yet, you can work yourself crazy if you're not careful. You can work too much, do too much?but even vacation too much. Understanding the power of enough allows you to have a great business plan and a great vacation plan. Whether you're in online marketing or just have a small business, your strategy should be about "enough". ========== Some goodies To find more podcast options, go to http://www.psychotactics.com/podcast To get a short, yet beautiful headline report on "Why Headlines Fail", go to http://www.psychotactics.com ======== Transcript: Power of Enough Sean D'Souza: There's a comic strip called Calvin and Hobbes. Obviously, many of you have read it. In one panel, Calvin is ramping up for Christmas and so is Hobbes. Calvin asks Hobbes, he says, "What did you get on your list for Santa for Christmas?" Hobbes says, "I asked him for a tuna sandwich," and Calvin goes b

Vacations are like a project. There's a before-vacation and an after-vacation period that needs to be carefully managed. After years of taking vacations?and that too thrice a year, we have to do a lot of planning. So how do we make sure everything works when we're away? How do we make sure we don't get tempted by e-mail and work while on vacation? And how do you manage a smooth re-entry back to work? These super-duper secrets are yours for the taking in this super-duper episode. Contact Me: On Twitter: seandsouza On e-mail at: sean@psychotactics.com http://www.psychotactics.com (For all notifications and super-duper newsletters). In this episode Sean talks about Part 1: How to handle the recurring elements of a business—newsletters, podcasts and membership sites Part 2: Finishing of projects Part 3: How to handle coming back to work. Right click here and ‘save as’ to download this episode to your computer.   Useful Resources and Links How To Increase Your Pricing— Dartboard Pricing Why Headlines Fail—The

Is FREE worth it? Or should everything be paid for? How does a person go from free to fee? And how do you stand out in a world where so much is free? There's a simple strategy that needs to be followed and once you do, you'll find client will happily move from free to paid clients. Tah-dah?the strategy follows! Notes To access this audio + transcript: http://www.psychotactics.com/42 Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com Twitter/Facebook: seandsouza Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic -------------------- In this episode Sean talks about Part 1: The Reason Why Your Free Should Be Non-Crappy Part 2: How Do You Go From Free to Fee? Part 3: How Do We Get Over This Fear? Right click here and ‘save as’ to download this episode to your computer.   Useful Resources and Links Amazing Cartoons for your ebooks, presentations, blog: Cartoon Stock Series How To Avoid Boring Testimonials : And Get 1000-1500 Word Stories Instead The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy And Why They Don’t The  Transcript Th

How much time does it take to do research? Yup, those zillions of hours go down the drain and get us exhausted. And that's because we go about doing research the "wrong way". Most of us do our research once we sit down to write an artilce, create a webinar or podcast. A zillion hours later, the content is still not ready and the hours have flown away needlessly. That needn't be the case at all. Almost all research needs to be done in advance and stored away. But how do you find it once it's stored away? That's where the power of "opposite" tagging", default notebook and the phone and iPad come along. Find out how to reclaim those zillions of hours back—right now! -------------------- Useful Resources To access this audio + transcript: http://www.psychotactics.com/41 Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Twitter/Facebook: seandsouza Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic -------------------- Time Stamps 00:00:20 Finding Money In My Jeans 00:05:31 Table of Contents 00:06:08 Part 1: How To Take Pic

Success is good. Focus is good. Until it's bad. Incredible as it may seem, focus can cause a massive blindspot in our business. So what's the option? Surely it can't be distraction? Actually it's a mix of both that's required. Using the concept of "spinning plates", you can avoid the blind spot of success and the mindlessness of distraction. -------------------- Useful Resources To access this audio + transcript: http://www.psychotactics.com/40 Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Twitter/Facebook: seandsouza Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic -------------------- Time Stamps 00:00:20 Introduction 00:02:20 Part 1: The Rip Van Winkle Effect 00:08:17 Part 2: Chasing Everything In Sight 00:10:03 Part 3: Spinning Plates 00:13:24 Summary 00:14:00 Action Plan: The One Thing 00:14:20 How We Add Plates 00:19:26 End ----   Sean:            This is the Three Month Vacation. I'm Sean D'Souza. Once upon a time in New York's Catskill Mountains lived a man called Rip Van Winkle. You've probably heard of

What makes one presentation far superior than the next? What makes you want to binge-listen to some podcasts and just reject the others? What makes one book so readable while the other one is boring? It's the concept of info-tainment. Where information is used to get attention, but entertainment is used to keep that attention. Find out more in this episode. -------------------- Useful Resources To access this audio + transcript: http://www.psychotactics.com/39 Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Twitter/Facebook: seandsouza Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/ -------------------- Time Stamps 00:00:20 Start / 00:01:57 Table of Contents / 00:03:09 Part 1: Analogies / 00:09:45 Part 2: Case Studies / 00:10:00 Case Study: Shantiniketan / 00:13:19 Part 3: History Lessons / 00:17:14 Case Study: Shantiniketan / 00:17:14 Summary / 00:18:14 Final Notes /  ---------------------  Sean D'Souza:            I'm Sean D'Souza. Every morning whe

We ask for testimonials and we get them, but are they any good? Or are they the usual sugary stuff that no one really reads. How do you get testimonials that are "journeys" and weigh in at 800-1000 words? Find out in this episode on "how to plan—and yes—get outstanding testimonials.   Oh, and I'm at sean@psychotactics.com. --------------------   Useful Resources Twitter/Facebook: seandsouza Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/       This is the Three Month Vacation. I'm Sean D'Souza. It's August 13, 2008. The time? It's 9:56 AM. Olympic champion Michael Phelps is standing behind his starting block. He bounces. He bounces lightly on his toes. Then the announcer calls his name and he steps onto the block. Michael always waves his hands thrice; he's done that since he was a kid. He then steps on the block again. He gets his position, and then the gun goes off and he jumps into the pool.        

You've told yourself you shouldn't be a perfectionist. Yet time and time again we head back to getting things done—perfectly. And in the process we get nothing done. I get into that trap a lot, and the only way out of the trap is to use a combination of three methods: external deadlines, internal deadlines and the "version system". Interestingly, one of the most effective tools you have at your disposal is a timer. Find out how to use these methods—and yes—the timer. --------------------   Useful Resources Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Twitter/Facebook: seandsouza Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/ -------------------- Time Stamps 00:00:20 Introduction: The Great White: The Ultimate Predator? / 00:05:19 Table of Contents / 00:06:00 Part 1: External Deadlines / 00:11:34 Part 2: Internal Deadlines / 00:14:11 Part 3: Versions / 00:16:49 Summary / 00:18:06 Actiion Plan: The ONE Thing / 00:18:28 Final Wrap Up /    This is t

Most of us wait until a job is completed to ask for testimonials. Admittedly that's a good time, but it's also much harder to get a testimonial from a client at that stage. Then we have to get all needy when asking for the testimonial. There are three points when you can get testimonials, and get them long before the client has finished with your product or service? Where are these points located? And can all of us get testimonials at these points? Find out in this episode?and get to the points sooner than later. What I'm listening to on audio books Anti-Fragile by Nassim Taleb The Brain's Way of Healing by Norman Doidge Useful Resources Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com Twitter: seandsouza / Facebook: seandsouza Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic / Time Stamps 00:00:20 Start / 00:02:41 Table of Contents / 00:03:18 Bear Point No.1: Getting Agreement In Advance / 00:05:45 Bear Point No.2: In Progress Testimonial / 00:09:58 Bear Point No.3: Tail End of Project / 00:12:09 Summary / 00:15:36

-------------------- It's easy to just want praise, but that's not how nature works. Nature roots out the fragile and keep only that which is anti-fragile. So is anti-fragility just a factor of "resilience"? No it isn't. There's a big difference between being resilient and anti-fragile. And the key to anti-fragility is to be like a "hydra". Find out more about how you can root out the namby-pamby factor and become anti-fragile.   Useful Resources   Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/   -------------------- Time Stamps 00:00:20 Introduction: Anti-Fragile / 00:00:33 The Trip To New Zealand / 00:02:26 The Stockdale Paradox: Good To Great / 00:05:43 Table of Contents / 00:06:15 Part 1: Chaos / 00:09:33 Part 2: Twice as Strong / 00:13:37 Part 3: Brutal Feedback / 00:20:06 Summary / 00

When we're writing a book, creating a workshop or giving a presentation, we go hurtling down the path of HOW-TO. Except it seems that HOW-To is only part of the picture. We're missing out on a crucial element, which is why our clients get confused. Learn how to use the HOW-NOT-To in your online and offline marketing and training. --------------------   Useful Resources Dartboard Pricing Excerpt: http://www.psychotactics.com/prx Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/   --------------------   Time Stamps / / 00:00:20 Introduction / 00:03:34 Table of Contents / 00:04:01 Part 1: How To / 00:06:41 Part 2: Why HOW NOT to Works / 00:08:03 Part 3: Bringing in HOW NOT to. / 00:14:09 Summary / 00:18:27   ==== Sean D'Souza:            This is the Three Month Vacation and I'm Sean D'Souza. T

When you have a product or course online it seems it's easy for competitors to copy it. Yet, being in online marketing isn't the only place things can be copied. The fashion industry, for one has people that can copy. Competitors can copy whatever they feel like, because there's no law that prevents them from doing so. So whether you have an offline business or online, you'll want to stay ahead of the competition. But how do you do so?   --------------------   Useful Resources Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/ --------------------   Time Stamps 00:00:20 Introduction 00:02:35 Table of Contents 00:02:50 Method 1: Updates 00:07:04 Method 2: Branding 00:11:20 Method 3: Personality 00:16:11 Summary 00:19:43 Final Announcements ----------   Ever since I was a kid, I always liked to

Most of us make a fundamental mistake when dealing with the first few paragraphs. We put too many problems in, right away. And it's a mistake. A big mistake! It's like an air traffic controller letting three planes land on the same runway. So how do we avoid this problem? And is the problem over once the "plane" lands? Or is there more to worry about?  --------------------   Useful Resources   Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/   -------------------- Sean D'Souza:Imagine you are an air traffic controller and you've got three planes circling the airport. Are you going to land all three at once?  Hi. This is Sean D'Souza from the Three Month Vacation. Today, we're going to be talking about how you need to dwell on a single problem instead of several problems when you're writing

Whether you conduct online courses or workshops, there's something we fail to consider. It's called the Safe Zone. If we just want to play Internet guru, we don't care if the clients can actually implement the information or not. But if we're keen to be real teachers, it's the ONLY thing we care about. Find out how the safe zone helps clients to consume and apply your material. And that's what makes them come back for more. In a world filled with "experts", you're creating a true learning experience. -------------------- Useful Resources   Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/ This episode is available at: http://www.psychotactics.com/31 --------------------   Time Stamps 00:00:20 Introduction: Getting Attention with the Problem 00:01:36 Previous "Attention" Episode / 00:02:30 Tabl

Most of us use benefits or solutions when presenting our products or services?and not the problem. So why bother with the problem? Will it actually improve the conversion on our sales pages? Will it improve our e-mail marketing? Will it get more attention when we're making our presentations? The answer is yes, yes and yes. And you can do it without being negative in any way. So how do you do it? Let's find out in this episode. /   -------------------- Useful Resources   Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/ -------------------- Time Stamps 00:00:20 Introduction: Getting Attention with the Problem 00:01:36 Previous "Attention" Episode 00:02:30 Table of Contents / 00:02:53 Part 1: Underestanding Solutions 00:05:29 Part 2: Creating the Problem 00:10:47 Part 3: Sticking to the Problem

When you're making a presentation, how do you fire up your audience? There are many ways to get that Powerpoint or Keynote presentation going. But one of the most effective ways is to issue a challenge. The audience then waits for you to succeed (or fail). But you can't fail, can you? You're a magician who has practiced the tricks to perfection. This episode is about creating a challenge?then bringing the entire audience alive with the magic trick. ------------------ Useful Resources Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com / Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic / / Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc / Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver / / For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/ / / -------------------- 00:03:48 Creating the Challenge 00:07:48 Space Between Challenge and Demonstration 00:09:04 Never Let The Heckler Win 00:11:01 Summary 0:12:52 Maryland Workshop on Info-products   ------------------ Why Creating and Meeting Challeng

The Three-Month Vacation, that's one of the things that make me really happy. But what else is required to keep that happiness level up? The key lies in identifying the obstacles. When we remove the obstacles, we know how to get to happiness. This may seem like a weird topic to take on, but check it out for yourself. Happiness isn't some weird pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It isn't some Internet marketer promising you endless clients. It's reachable, you know. So check it out. -------------------- Useful Resources Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com  Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic   Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver   For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/   -------------------- Time Stamps 00:00:20 Introduction: The Secret of Happiness 00:01:23 The List, the list, the list 00:03:56 Obstacle 1: Inefficiency 00:07:07 Obstacle 2: Greed 00:09:32 Obstacle 3: Self-doubt 00:11:30 Sum

It might seem that it's impossible to get ideas for your articles. And it is. You go completely blank. Of course, there's a reason for all this blankness. And just as you can go blank, you have more ideas than you know what to do with. Wow, can this really be possible? Can you really have tons of ideas? Yes, you can. Provided you use all, or at least one of these systems. But hey, find out for yourself. -------------------- Useful Resources Email me at: sean@psychotactics.com Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic Finish The Book Workshop: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc Meet Me In Denver: http://www.psychotactics.com/denver For the Headline Report (Free): http://www.psychotactics.com/   -------------------- Time Stamps 00:00:20 Introduction: Where To Get Ideas 00:02:05 Table of Contents: Input, Brainstorming, Client Questions 00:02:46 Element 1: The Importance of Input 00:07:46 Element 2: Brainstorming 00:10:39 Element 3: How To Get Clients To Pitch In 00:16:00 Summary 00:17:13 Announcements

We are prone to think that the opposite of success is failure. And it's not. It's decay. The opposite of moving forward, isn't standing still. It's decay. Like a pool of water that gets stagnant, we decay. Our businesses, whether we're in an online business, or offline?it decays. So how do we overcome this decay? Contact Details and Links To e-mail me: sean@psychotactics.com For the crazy newsletter: http://www.psychotactics.com Finish your book: http://www.psychotactics.com/dc (yes, that's the workshop) Chaos in your life? http://www.psychotactics.com/chaos Time Stamps  00:00:20 Introduction 00:01:58 What's The Opposite of Success? 00:02:53 Table of Contents / 00:03:10 Part 1: Learning Decay / 00:06:03 Part 2: Fitness Decay / 00:09:24 Part 3: Achievement Decay / 00:13:46 Summary / 00:15:36 The One Thing You Can Do Today / 00:16:26 Final Announcements + Workshop DC Transcript: Sean:Hi. This is Sean D'Souza from Psychotactics.com and you are listening to the three-month vacation podcast. This podcast isn't