Review

The book teaches readers how to turn their life experiences, knowledge, and passion into a successful business by sharing their message with others. Burchard emphasizes the importance of positioning yourself as an expert, building a loyal audience, and creating value through various forms of content and services.

Who would have thought – I am doing exactly that right here 😀

Key Takeaways

The 20% that gave me 80% of the value:

• The expert industry share their advice and knowledge with the world and get paid for it
• Becoming an expert is simply a matter of positioning and packaging who you are and what you know so that you can help the greatest number of people in your target audience
• Anyone can create and distribute valuable how-to content that helps other people
• Most people tragically undervalue what they know. People will always need help.
• Expert types:
  • The Results Expert (someone who’s been there done that and can help others)
    • You’ve come further than others, and the lessons you’ve learned are valuable to them
    • You’ve built accidental expertise
    • There are people who will look at you and want to pay you for what you already know
    • What have you gotten in life and business?
    • Do you have motivation, leadership, financial, business, marketing, relationship, spiritual, style or productivity advice?
  • The Research Expert
    • Experts are students first.
    • You can research a topic and become an expert
    • You don’t have to have done anything but research a topic to become an expert in it
    • What if you interviewed the top 20 people in a field, and distilled their lessons into a 10 step system?
    • Choose a topic → research it → interview others → synthesize what you learn → offer findings for sale
  • The Role Model
    • People listen to those they trust, respect, admire and follow
    • If people believe you’re a good person, they’ll ask you for advise
    • Leaders in every field are asked for their advice
• Claim and master your topic: Pick one topic, learn it, master it, share it, become known for it, and make real money teaching it
• Pick Your Audience: You need to decide whom you want to serve most. You don’t have the time and resources to market to the entire world. Who will benefit? Who can pay? Who is underserved? Where are they?
  • Understand their ambitions, needs, frustrations, and learning preferences and you’ll be able to create targeted problem-solving how-to information that they will buy
• Define Your Story
  • Do you have a struggle people can relate to?
  • What have you overcome and how?
  • What did you figure out along the way?
  • What are you going to teach me that I can apply now to make my life better?
• Create a solution (a product or a program) your audience can buy is key to your success and spreading your message
  • First choose the modality (text, audio, video, live event, coaching)
  • Create the content
    • Figure out what your audience needs to know in order to move from point A to point B
    • What process or step-by-step approach will help them achieve their goals?
    • Thinking through that will help you discover your content and how to organize it
    • Drill down into each step and share examples, common obstacles, success secrets etc
    • Create a solution they can follow to success
• Provide valuable information to your target audience for free
• Grow your newsletter, the size of your newsletter is correlated to your to your income and influence
• A value-added campaign is best practice in our industry
  • send out a strategic series of communications that serves your audience with great free content
  • … and then say, “Hey, if you liked that, then you will love this.”
  • make sure your free information is truly valuable and actionable
• Give your best advice and ideas away for free → lead with your best work
  • You’ll be able to create more content → you’re always learning new things → you’ll get feedback from customers that’ll make you more effective
• The more you post, the more people will find you
• Get promotional partners
  • Find other experts in the community who have audiences that will like your content
  • Give and you shall receive. Add value for them first, then they’ll reciprocate somehow and someday.
  • Get them to promote your message and you amplify your message and income
• Be yourself, display your uniqueness and you’ll become more influential
• Know how you and your content are different
• Anyone can learn and master a topic AND anyone can organise that knowledge into helpful advice
• Mindset:
  • My life experience, message, and voice are valuable
  • If I don’t know it or have it, I will go learn it or create it
  • Student First, Teacher Second, Servant Always
  • Mastery is a way of life
    • Dabbling in dozens of topics leads to failure vs a life of mastery which leads to wealth
    • Stay focused, overcome hardships, become a true expert in your field
• Develop the skills you need (writing, presentation, copywriting, facilitation, listening, influencing)
• Position yourself purposefully vs other experts.
• How do I explain how I’m different? Why is my content valuable? How much do I charge? What “level” do I want to play at? How distinct you are and how much you charge and stay connected with your peers is vitally important to your positioning in our community
• Present to the world a very organized, articulate, caring, credible, happy, and healthy person.
• Promotion:
  • Announcement marketing never really worked well, and these days it’s completely useless.
  • Instead add value to your consumers for free by actually teaching and training them on your topic. Send out free content pieces then say ‘if you like those things, you’ll love my new program’
  • The key to doing well with your promotions is to understand buying behavior and sales psychology.
  • Elements in any good sales message:
    • Claim: a bold promise about what your product or service can help others accomplish
    • Challenge: Show them that your audience’s world and their problems. Highlight their struggle.
    • Commonality: If you haven’t been through it, they won’t listen to it.
    • Credibility: I’ve already reached the destination, and I’m here to shorten your learning curve and your path to success. I’ve done it and I’ve helped others do it, and here’s proof.
    • Choice. Present product, program, or service in such a way that it is obviously different and better than anything else out there.
    • Comparison Pricing: Make them feel that they are getting a great deal
    • Concern: Obliterate objections through sales messaging
    • Close and call to action. Make a strong close and call to action.
      • Stack benefits and bonuses. Reasons to buy now
      • Offer a guarantee → more people will buy your offerings because of the guarantee than will abuse it
      • End with scarcity or urgency messaging
• Very few products or programs can stand the test of time. So deliver new value and information. Challenge yourself to continue delivering new ideas, distinct stories and perspectives, and cutting-edge information
• Sharing your voice will help you grow and help you contribute to society