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

We often believe that stories have a sequence. First this happens, then that happens and then something else shows up. And while that belief is generally true, the heart of the story is the "stuck point". You know it's powerful because the audience sits up upright. If you were stop, or even pause long enough, they'd be asking, "what happened next?" Do you get the "what happened next" with your stories? To get a consistent "what happened next" we need the power of the "stuck point". Let's find out more in this podcast.

When you hear someone tell you about their vacation, you try to be interested. All that exotic food, that astounding accomodation—it's all boring. Yet there's a reason why it's boring. We aren't really hearing stories, but instead we're just getting a sequence of events. The magic to making boring is when you hear the sound of Thumpity-Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump. Yes, like falling down stairs. That's what storytelling is all about.

When people ask what we do, we are often unsure what to reply. Sometimes we may have a script that we've practiced over and over again. Yet we don't often have success with scripts, because somehow we haven't gotten the attention of the prospect. How can we bypass the tedious answer and create a small 2-minute sales pitch that gets the prospect involved? Learn how to use the twin powers of contradiction and demonstration to instantly get and keep attention.   Next Step: Once you finish listening to this podcast, listen to: How To Turn An Average Elevator Pitch Into One That Gets Consistent Attention

Ever wonder what Writer's Block happens to be? It's a form of choking under pressure. When we're called upon to speak, to write, or to do something under pressure, we almost always seem to struggle. This choking happens even with professionals who normally breeze through their work. The big reason for this choking under pressure is partly because of the lack of the right preparation. Instead of training under Lucy Moments, we train under Charlie Brown moments. Let's find out how to avoid the choke and to avoid the sticky moments completely.   Next Step: Read or listen to—Writer’s Block Series: How A Lack of Energy, Not Time, Causes Writers to Stall and Crash  

The hardest part of writing is usually the first few lines. However, the ending can also be quite a vexing problem. Unless of course, you use a simple method called "sandwiching". When you use a "sandwich", it closes the loop, leading to a very satisfied sort of finish. How do you learn how to sandwich? Well, listen to this story taken from The Moth Podcast and you'll see how it can be done.

Why do you have a bloated story? It's often because there are way too many facts in the information you've put down on paper. Even if we know we have too many facts and figures, how do we separate the information so that we don't lose the power of the story? Let's find out in this episode. Once you finish listening to this episode head over to listen or read the series on—How To Keep Your Reader Locked Into Your Article.

When we sit down to write a sales page, we run into a problem almost instantly. We know that the client is usually looking to solve one problem, but which problem should we choose? How do we know if the client is simply going to ignore the headline and not look at the rest of the sales page? Should we stuff our headline with three separate problems or is that a really bad decision on our part? The answer is that the headline and the first problem isn't as crucial as most copywriters would have you believe. Follow these steps and you'll notice your sales page will come together in a less stressful, and more specific manner.

When we sit down to write an article, or create an information product, we often have a sinking feeling. We look around and find that it's "all been done before". That we have nothing new to add to the conversation. Why should we keep going despite these odds? More importantly, why is our hesitation driving clients to competition?

As I sat down to write a sales page for a course, I wasn't stuck. However, my progress was so slow that it was driving me crazy. A sales page consists of well over a dozen elements. However, to get started, it's important to get two core sections right. The first section to work on is: What you want to cover. The second section is: what are clients looking for? And as always, you need to start with me, me, me. Hence I started with the first section and here's my story.

When we write an article, we tend to get one point across. Yet, what if we were to disagree with our "one point" and do a complete u-turn? It doesn't seem logical to flip flop, does it? And yet that's what the client needs to create a more complex, more interesting version of an article. Let's find out why u-turns are crucial when writing articles.

Usually when we're stuck, we want to get out of the mess in a big hurry. As a result, we end up digging a bigger hole for ourselves. How do you—that's you and I—systematically get unstuck? There's no precise formula, but there are stages of getting unstuck. And we have to do it slowly. Let's find out how.

This week there is a promotion for The Brain Audit version 3.2, but there’s a place where it all began. And you can compare the progress over time.

Is giving better than receiving? Maybe not. If you've tried to give something to someone and they won't accept it, you know exactly how it feels. We're not talking about something creepy here. The stranger off the street is wary even if you're handing out $100 notes, as giving has to have some trust involved. Even so, receiving is highly underrated. Let’s find out why.

A random piece of advice isn't supposed to stay with you for years, and yet it does. In this episode we zig and zag into India (where I lived for a chunky part of my life) and then into New Zealand, where I had to start anew and with little or no help from anyone.