When do we stop learning ?

Ask any expert in any given field and they will stay that learning never stops.

At the Impact event, I was sitting right next to Frank Sousa. Now, Frank has attained a level of success that makes him an Internet Millionnaire. Traffic Geyser is a fantastic cash cow and is a business that will be worth millions in a few short years.

On stage, was Felicia Slattery talking about the importance of a having a "signature" speech and how you can promote your business by doing a simple thing such as giving a short speech at your local Kiwanis club or chamber of commerce.

At this very moment, I could sense an "Ah Ha! Bling" going in Frank's head. Something had hit home. During Q&A, he commented on his "revelation" and, if I am not mistaken, I believe he recorded a video testimonial for her later that day.

It was a simple thing, something some would consider obvious but for Frank, it was a slap on the forehead "Why didn't I think of that". Frank speaks at conferences but never thought about packaging a speech designed to bring local offline businesses online by reaching out to local clubs such as Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, etc...

How much could this simple tip bring in cashflow to Frank in months to come is unknown. But, as he says himself " I always come out of these conferences with way more than it cost to attend".

In Frank's case, it was through one of these events that he met his Traffic Geyser partners.

As for me, I got two orders for producing promo videos. In my case, it's bartering, but that will give me two samples and two testimonials. More so, I could create an info product on how to make slideshow movies ;-)

Do you know the secret to networking ?

You hear it.
It is constantly being repeated to you.
Despite all of the technological advances, even tech savvy virtual entrepreneurs (i.e. Internet Marketers) can't get enough of live seminars.

The warmth and strength of real physical contact is very strong. Maybe it is because we generally live isolated lives, alone with our computer, that we are so open during live seminars.

The more I go to seminars to better the relationships develop.

At my first seminar, 18 months ago, I was hanging out with newbies and can't say that I pusrsued much relations with attendees after the event was over.

By the time I hit my third seminar, this past July, I was already hanging with the speakers at lunch or dinner.

This time around, at the Impact event, I developed a good relationship with Frank Sousa and he even promoed me to Sanyika over my great imagination in coming up with ideas for videos. She is looking for a great video to promote one of her products.

Sanyika's specialty is personal finance but she promotes her business heavily using Television appearances as a financial expert. This prompted her to develop a product teaching people how to prepare for TV appearances.

There is no way in the world that I could have sold Sanyika on my video expertise without the totally spontaneous endorsement of Frank. Actually, producing videos for others is not what I do right now but then, I did study film making and actually have one movie I worked on that was shown at the Cannes film festival as well as other award winning films. Yeah, twenty or so years ago, I had expertise. Then again, if you've read one of my recent posts, I am planning a "film" comeback, at least on the web, nowadays they are not called films but You Tube videos :-)

Day 2.5 of the impact bootcamp

Our mision is to create a campaign to raise funds for various groups involved in teen suicide prevention.

As I write this, Dr. Ron Capps, the "Niche prof" is giving a vdeo testimonials for Expert WordPress.

And in the next room, a green screen is being set up.

It is really a bootcamp here. We are working from 7AM til midnite.

I now gotta set up a ning acount so that my group, headed by Frank Sousa, of Traffic Geyser fame, can produce some videos.

Who's seen Frank Kern's new video ?

Or should I say: "Who hasn't seen Frank Kern's new video ?"

Price tag for the website by Matt, the marketing moron ? $10K or the equivalent of what Frank can make in 2 minutes on product launch days ;-)

Boy, am I glad I have a friend who does those $200,000.00 infomercial. At least I can get great video expertise for cheap.

But fear not, although Frank uses two $3,000.00 + cameras; fancy final cut pro editing; great splash page with flash, a great video website can be made for a lot cheaper.

First off, for web video, a $300.00 camera can do as good a video as a more expensive one.

Frank's video does not use fancy cuts, transistions and effects, just straight cuts and B&W footage, easily doable with Windows movie maker.

Slip in a little camtasia screen capture, host the video on YouTube and other such video share sites, put a link on your blog or whatever, and voila!

Sure,it may not look as slick as a fancy flash website but, if the message is right and addressed to the right audience, it will get the clickthroughs.

If you follow Frank on Twitter, there are some tips thrown in. For example, Frank got his inspiration from the movie "The Last Waltz". Just think of a movie or TV show or even a magazine layout that you like and use that as your theme or anchor. This will give you the flavor, the look, the feel. From there, put in your message.

Notice how Frank used something highly personal and put it in his video. The guitar is what tied the whole thing together: The Last Waltz theme, the introduction to John Carlton (Frank is intimate with the tops in the field) and the secret tips that has made him and others millions.

Credibility and social proof established just from one guitar ... Kewl.

Yeah, I'm about to do shit like that myself . . . watch me.

Now, how about you?

Busy summer

This summer has been busy with live seminars.

Kicking off with "The System" in June, followed by "The Masters" in July, and now,coming up in just over a week, The "Impact Bootcamp" in Philadelphia.

I am preparing a launch that will coincide with that event.

Stay tuned ;-)

Wilie Crawford

Continuing on with my Master's Seminar series that was interrupted last week, when life caught up with me ;-)

Another speaker I met and spent some time with is Willie Crawford.

I had heard the name but did not really know him. From hanging with a bunch of invited speakers, I heard he was a veteran of the marketing business to the point of legend status.

I caught up with him when he was chatting with a few other attendees. He was asking if he could get an instant transcript from two people on the phone using Naturally Speaking's Dragon dictate. I told him that unless both parties have their own configured version of dragon dictate, that would be impossible because the software has to be trained by each individual user. Glad I could provide Willie with some info.

It was sunday evening, the seminar was offically over so, about fourteen of us, including Willie, went out to Giordano's, the italian restaurant next to the hotel, for a famous Chicago style deepdish pizza.

I was sitting right across the table from him. It seems that he has an answer to just about every problem or issue concerning marketing.That is because of constant learning and putting to practice.

Besides his encyclopedic knowledge of Internet Marketing, he is also pretty well rounded in many other unrelated fields. Willie was a martial arts expert, traveled to over 40 countries. He is about 60 years old and is intent on keeping active for years to come.

For some reason, the waitress made just one check for the entire table, Willie picked it up, no problem -- Thanks Willie :-)

Oops, we are sunday

I did make an announcement on thursday, as promised, but it was a rather private announcement.

I was on a Skype call with a fellow masterminder and I told her that I had created a master mind community on Ning. The thing is that something happened during the creation of teh community and I could not access it.

The following day, the situationwas settled and I was able to finish configuring "Master Mind Central".

The project is still in its infancy but over time, others will join in and various cellswillbe created so that, depending on where you are in your business or personal development, or whattype of business you are in, you will find teh master mind group that best suits your need.