ChrisDucker.com

Helping Entrepreneurs Go The Distance In Business… And Life!

How to Create and Promote a Blog Post ‘Perfectly’ Every Time

Important Note: The ‘Process Blueprint’ featured in this post is one of our monthly deliverables at Youpreneur.com. These workflow process documents, along with other exclusive content, as well as our private mastermind forums make up the Youpreneur Community. It’ll all help you build your business better! For more info click here!

When I think about creating and getting a new blog post out there into the world, I look at four main areas that need to be covered, pretty much in the same way, every time. Creation, Layout, Promotion and On-Going Marketing.

It’s true, almost the entire process can be delegated to a virtual assistant, but the creation side of things is all done by you. It has to be handled by you – after all, your community / audience is tuning in because of you, your expertise, your voice and what you’re all about – as well as the value that only you can bring to them.

Like most pieces of content that you’ll produce as an online business owner, blog posts are much easier to research, create and design when there’s a system, or process in place. Not to mention how to actually promote a blog post when it’s finalized! So, I thought it might be helpful for you to check out the Process Blueprint below, so that you can take your blogging to the next level.

You can use this workflow as a guide for yourself to follow, or simply hand off to a team member – once you’ve written that content yourself!

blog post process

It’s following processes and systems like the blueprint above that’s enabled me to grow my online brand, reputation and community faster than I ever would have been able to – if I was just knocking things together as and when I felt like it.

It’s this methodic approach to building a business, as well as the focus on surrounding yourself with the right, like-minded people that we’re all about inside of the Youpreneur Community.

If you found this post helpful, I’d love for you to kindly share it with your friends and followers on social media – just click any of the buttons below! Thank you.

The Importance of Bringing Your Community Together in Person

Important Note: The ‘Chit-Chat’ video interview clip featured in this post is one of our monthly deliverables at Youpreneur.com. These training videos, along with other exclusive content, as well as our private mastermind forums make up the Youpreneur Community. It’ll all help you build your business better! For more info click here!

One of the best things I’ve done, and you can do, as an entrepreneur that has online businesses (as well as more traditional, brick n mortar ones, too!) is focus on bringing your community together, regularly… in person!

Yes, I mean in ‘real life’. In the same physical location, together.

One of my favorite ways to do this is when I team up with my good friend, Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income to hold one of our 1-Day Business Breakthrough events.

In this video, which was filmed before our latest live event in San Diego, myself and Pat talk about the importance of taking our communities offline, bringing everything into the real world through live events, and why live events are so successful.

Entrepreneurs can live very lonely lives when it comes to their work, so these meet-ups and events can be a chance to connect.

You get the chance to share experiences (dinner, a drink) or conversations with like-minded people. You can walk away from a live event with something as simple as good advice, to something like an amazing partnership or friendship that can last years (ex. Pat and I, and our families being together – literally seeing our kids grow up together. So cool!

Another reason why live events and the act of bringing your community together are so successful is that when you are the person facilitating the meeting, it elevates you and your brand by creating a ‘culture’ which can help you create even more fandom and that ultimately leads to more spreading of your ideas, wisdom and ultimately, your brand and business.

It’s this approach to community and business building, as well as the focus on surrounding yourself with the right, like-minded people that we’re all about inside of the Youpreneur Community. Hop over and check it all out – it might turn out to be just what you need to take your business to the next level… and beyond!

If you found this post helpful, I’d love for you to kindly share it with your friends and followers on social media – just click any of the buttons below! Thank you.

The Power of Understanding Your Customers Motivations!

Important Note: The ‘Tropical Think Tank’ clip featured in this post is one of our deliverables at Youpreneur.com. These live training videos, along with other exclusive content, as well as our private mastermind forums make up the Youpreneur Community. It’ll all help you build your business better! For more info click here!

Back in May 2015 I held the second annual Tropical Think Tank conference in the Philippines. It was a brilliant week full of amazing masterminding, lots of fun and games, and a boat load of business learning.

One speaker who was a real hit with our attendees was Darren Rowse, from Problogger. In this short clip, he urges you to ‘dig deeper’ and beyond just mere demographics. By identifying your audiences needs, problems, desires and fears, you can find out what is meaningful for them and understand how you can help them better.

It’s all about understanding your customers motivations.

He also talks about how the best blogs aim for more than just providing something useful to their readers, they aim to leave a mark on their readers. Darren does a marvellous job of encouraging everyone to identify what their readers are when they arrive on their blogs and more importantly, what they will become when they leave.

We know the power of creating avatars for our online audiences – those people that we ultimately want to market and sell to – but, by creating ‘future avatars’, you gain not only more ideas on content, but you also strengthen your message and how to monetize your blog.

It’s watching world class leaders, such as Darren in action that’ll propel your business growth online. I’ve learned so much from listening to him myself, and I know I’ll continue to do so – he’s THAT good!

It’s this never-ending approach to building a business, as well as the focus on surrounding yourself with the right, like-minded people that we’re all about inside of the Youpreneur Community – come check us out.

If you found this post helpful, I’d love for you to kindly share it with your friends and followers on social media – just click any of the buttons below! Thank you.

5 Quick Ways to Develop Successful Relationships

develop-relationships

In my 24-years in the business world – the last 12-years of which have been as an entrepreneur, I’ve come to the conclusion that one of the key factors that separate the struggling from the uber successful, is the ability to create, cultivate and develop successful relationships.

As much as we enjoy hearing about the ‘self-made’ man or woman, the reality of things is that collaboration and connection will always play a role in our success. Bottom line, without others, dreams remain dreams.

And the same goes for you.

That means whatever you’re pursuing, whatever you’re wanting, whatever’s keeping you awake at night because you just can’t stop dreaming about it… you’re going to need to enlist the help of others to get it.

However, before you begin making a list of everyone you plan on recruiting to help and what you need from them, I suggest reading the rest of this post first!

Here are five ways the uber successful build lasting, profitable relationships.

1. Have a Long-Term Mindset

This may sound a bit counterintuitive, especially for new entrepreneurs who feel a strong sense of urgency, but having a long-term perspective with your relationships will set you up for future success.

This means:

  • Don’t change who you are to please someone. True relationships are built upon honesty and integrity (you know, all that good stuff our Mum’s taught us!).
  • Accept the fact that relationships go through seasons and evolve. This means accepting that sometimes you’ll be close, and other times you’ll find yourselves not speaking to each other for weeks, or even months. But the best relationships which stand the test of time are those that are able to pick up right where they left off (which means no getting butt-hurt if someone doesn’t get back to you).
  • Value your current relationships. It’s easy to take our current relationships for granted and always be about cultivating new ones, but you’ll find that successful people have deep relationships that have been cultivated over years of mutual investment.

Simply put, remind yourself this is LIFE – and the relationships you build will be with you for a long, long time.

2. Put a Premium on Developing Yourself

As you build your network never forget that YOU are also part of someone’s network too.

So with that in mind:

  • What value do you bring to your network?
  • Have you made a choice to continually grow?
  • Are you trying to take more than your give?

Successful people like to be around successful people.  That means if you plan on finding yourself inside one of these social circles it’s important to have something of value to contribute.

Just look at any Instagram feed of a celebrity, or successful entrepreneur and you’ll see their comments filled with people who are trying to get something from them (such as an endorsement, a partnership or free consulting / coaching). And do you think this works? Of course not!

Now think about this – that same celebrity, or entrepreneur goes to work everyday and collaborates with other people who have developed their skills – and provide something of value.

And let’s face it, developing skills takes time – it’s not easy, but it’s a surefire way to finding yourself in the company of success.

YOU-BANNER

3. Seek to Give, More Than You Receive

If you’ve spent any time following entrepreneurs online then you’ve probably stumbled across my good friend, Lewis Howes, host of the wildly popular School of Greatness podcast.

What you may not know however, is that Lewis began his rise to entrepreneurial success by choosing to host an enormous amount of networking events. His mindset was that if he could help connect others, and shake as many hands as possible his life would be enriched.

But what’s important to note is that he began from a place of giving. Lewis was not concerned about profiting from these events, or seeing what others could do for him.  He simply wanted to be a connector of people.

Let’s not forget, the path of entrepreneurship is built upon the economical concept of providing value to your customers and prospective customers – like I do every time I broadcast on Periscope.

Think of it simply solving a problem. And what’s great is that it also applies to relationships, too.

4. Develop a P2P Mindset

“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man,
or the president of the university.” – Albert Einstein

People are People.

  • They are not ‘followers’.
  • They are not stats.
  • They are not open-rates.
  • They are not subscribers.
  • They are not staff (aka ‘butts in seats’).

They are people.

Yes, they can be represented by the terms listed above, but if you approach your relationship building from a more intimate philosophy, or as I call it, the People-2-People (P2P) mindset, you’ll find yourself building more meaningful and lasting relationships.

That means:

  • Never underestimate the value of a sincere “Thank You”, or “I’m Sorry” to your clients, guests or members.
  • Always thank your staff for what they do. The verbal affirmation is just as important as compensation – something I go into in great detail throughout the pages of Virtual Freedom.
  • Remembering the special moments of someone’s life with a simple phone call, or card – yes,those things you write on! 🙂

In the business of building relationships, it’s truly the little things that make the biggest difference.

So don’t forget to be a P2P entrepreneur.

5, Be Intentional with Your Actions

Nothing great happens by accident. It’s always intentional. Always.

Despite having a jammed packed schedule, I’ve always made it a priority to connect with my network and staff on a personal level. This can be as simple as an email thanking a member of my team for helping to wrap a project ahead of deadline, or as detailed as having a baby shower gift sent to someone in my network.

Either way, it’s intentional – which means planned and executed.

And thanks to today’s online tools it’s much easier to do this type of thing than you probably think.

Here’s a few ways you can be intentional about your relationship building:

  • Identify the top three people in your network and brainstorm ways on how you can deliver huge value to them. Keep in mind the most important point here is something THEY value.
  • Always acknowledge the life events of your network. This includes marriages, new additions to the family, career advancements and anything else of importance that may show up in your Facebook, or Twitter newsfeed.
  • Let’s think more ‘real-world’. Use your lunch, or breakfast time as an opportunity to connect with someone, by having them join your for a meal. It’s a great way to catch up while also taking a break from your workday.
  • Attend a seminar, or conference you wouldn’t normally go to. This will place you in a different context and force you to develop your social skills, and as a result, new relationships.
  • Set aside time each week to call a few people from your network, for the simple goal of just checking in to see how they’re doing.

So, there you have it. Five ways that you can focus in on to help develop successful relationships that matter.

Quite amazing at how much sheer common sense is included, isn’t it? This is my point, and the reason why I felt compelled to pen this blog post this morning when I woke up.

People have started to pick-up sloppy habits when it comes to developing the right type of friendships. They’ve started to take people way too much for granted – and as a result, get confused when those that they thought were their ‘friend’ let them down in one way or another.

Don’t let that happen to you. Be the person that enjoys your relationships and growing them – not just ‘using them’ for your own advantage.

If you enjoyed this post, I’d love to hear what you thought of it on Twitter, or my Facebook Page. I’d also be equally thankful if you felt like sharing it with the people you know, love and trust!

12 Ways to Use Periscope to Build Your Personal Brand! [Infographic]

If you’re focusing on building a personal brand, you simply MUST get active on Periscope!

I’m on Periscope. Follow me @chrisducker

You might be thinking, “Wait a second Chris, I was just getting a handle on incorporating Instagram and YouTube into my brand building strategy and was even considering the idea of doing a podcast – and now I need to learn Periscope?!!”

Well.  Yes… and No.

NO because you don’t need to ‘learn’ Periscope, because there’s really nothing to learn. As you’ll soon see from this post, functionality is quite easy and there’s no reason why we can’t have you doing your first live broadcast (if your a newbie) in 15-minutes from now!

YES because the only thing you need to say YES to is actually ‘doing’ Periscope. It’s in the consistent doing of periscope that you’ll find traction with your brand building.

What’s This Periscope Thing All About?

For me, Periscope is about intimacy and simplicity.

  • No editing.
  • No webinar slides.
  • No countdown timer.
  • No commercials.

And if done correctly and consistently I believe Periscope will become the go-to platform for personal brand builders who wish to deepen their relationship with their audience. But wait. There’s more…

It also means that emerging brands now have an opportunity to build an intimate and loyal following with a global audience too. And even faster than ever before.

I truly believe this is truly going to be a game-changer. And it’s all happening right now – in real time.

Periscope is about living in the moment, candid and unscripted. In fact, the more candid and unscripted it is – the more engaged your audience will become and the more hearts you’ll get – you’ll love those bloody hearts, trust me – they’re addictive! So whether you’re a brand builder, a speaker, an author, or an emerging entrepreneur looking to bring your innovation to market – you’ve got to get on Periscope. You can download the app on iOS devices, or on Andriod, too.

Interested? Good!

Here are twelve ways that you can use Periscope to build your personal brand! 

PERISCOPE

#1 Keep it Candid

Don’t stress about trying to come up with the perfect topic to discuss.  Be you, and be vulnerable.  In fact, why not have your first broadcast be about the fact that it’s your FIRST broadcast!?  Seriously.  This is a perfect way to turn the tables on your viewers and make the show about them.  Ask them what kinds of broadcasts they like to see, and what they feel makes a good or bad broadcast.

#2 Entice with Your Title

What’s amazing about Periscope is that no topic is too small.  Even people with broadcast titles like “I’m bored” are getting a live audience.  Yes, it’s cra-cra… I know.  So take a few extra moments to think of a title that would entice you to want to join in.  (And don’t’ over think it).

#3 Acknowledge Your Viewers

Unlike a webinar which requires you to have content you’re teaching, with about 10% given to Q&A, a good Periscope session is all about hanging out with your audience – and that begins with personally  acknowledging the profiles that enter your broadcast.

#4 Ask Questions

Some of your viewers will only be there to watch, and some will be there to be a part of the conversation.  Help draw out these viewers by asking questions.

#5 Don’t be Afraid to ‘Go Off’ on Tangents

Periscope is all about being authentic and REAL, and the reality of intimate conversations is that sometimes they get off topic or go down a path of reminiscing on a story from your past.  So don’t be afraid to keep it real.  Go off on tangents and enjoy where the conversation takes you.  Even if your broadcast topic is about teaching a specific thing, still have fun with it.

#6 Ask for Some ‘Love’ and ‘Shares’

Hearts are currency on Periscope. The heart count shows how much people are enjoying what they’re watching and your total hearts received (which Periscope refers to as “love”)  will be displayed under your profile, becoming somewhat of a social vanity metric.

Likewise, we’re all more adapt to acting on recommendations from people we know, than complete strangers. Because of that – ask for people to share your scopes – they WILL do it, and it WILL help grow your Periscope following!

#7 Follow Those that Show You ‘Love’

After your broadcast is over you can view vital stats, such as how many total viewers you had, how much ‘love’ you recieved, etc., and even WHO sent you love (right down to the # of hearts they sent). This is a great opportunity to follow those that like you.  It’s also a great opportunity to offer a follow back for those people that show you the most “love” during a broadcast.

#8 Build a Following by Broadcasting Often

I have no doubt that the most successful broadcasters on Periscope will be those that broadcast often. How many times is ‘often’? At this point in the game I have no idea, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see 10-20 broadcasts a day coming from popular personalities. I’m averaging one a day, but sometimes pop on for a second when I have some downtime.

#9 Play ‘Show and Tell’

You can never go wrong playing ‘show and tell’. So give your viewers a full experience of your broadcast by showing them a 360 degree view of your surroundings. This includes introducing them to people near you, along with showing them any interesting items that happen to be there.

I’ve shown people around my home office, discussed items such as podcast mics and even dragged my wife (affectionately known as Mrs Quack online!) onto a couple of broadcasts, which has always got a nice burst of hearts… I wonder why?!

#10 Act Like You’re Hanging Out with a Friend

Think about the last time you and good friend got together. Did you feel as if you had to have an agenda? Did you worry about whether or not they would laugh at your jokes? Did you feel as if you couldn’t pause the conversation to get a drink of water? All of these things that might be seen as unprofessional in a webinar are 100% the ‘standard’ on Periscope.

That doesn’t mean you can’t teach anything or have an agenda of what you’d like to discuss, but don’t hold too strictly to it. Periscope is all about living in the moment – and communicating that to your audience.

#11 Explore With “Me’

Sharing exciting, or engaging experiences is typically how strong friendships are born. Now just imagine being able to have that kind of power on-demand, with the entire world! Yeah, pretty powerful stuff right?

So the next time you explore something new like trying new food, seeing new places, meeting new people… or even using new gadgets – take the world with you. It will bring a human element to your brand and give your viewers a deeper connection since they are truly sharing this moment with you in real time.

#12 Learn From Your Replays

Great athletes watch themselves on tape in order to get better.  And since Periscope saves your broadcasts you can use this feature to your advantage by taking a look at your own performance to see how you could improve. Don’t be harsh on yourself. This is a work in progress, especially if you plan to be in business for the long haul it’s all about incremental improvement. And if you don’t like what you see, you can easily delete it, or simply wait for Periscope to delete it automatically… 24-hours after you end your broadcast.

How Does Any of this Help with Brand Building?

Here’s the Paradox of Periscope…

While I don’t see Periscope becoming the go-to place to generate more leads and sales for your business (not directly, anyhow), I do see Periscope becoming an accelerator to helping your existing leads convert – and a lot of the time, faster.

Why is that?

To put simply, the mere fact that your audience can tune in and see you live will prove that you’re real, and demonstrate that you care enough to connect with your audience, customers and prospective customers.

None of this means you should stop posting YouTube videos, Instagram, or Twitter. It just means you should consider sharing a few of your private moments with the world – it’s all about P2P… People to people.

So, don’t waste anymore time. Download the app, connect with me and other people, watch, have fun, interact, give some love and then start broadcasting yourself.

And be sure to follow me @chrisducker – see you soon!

What did you think of this infographic? I’d love to hear from you. Please drop me a tweet, or a quick message on my Facebook Page! And, as always, if you know of someone that might benefit from seeing this, please do share it with them – they won’t be mad at you for providing them value. Promise!

7 Email Hacks That’ll Turn You Into an Insanely Productive Entrepreneur [Infographic]

Let’s face it, there isn’t an entrepreneur on this green earth of ours that wouldn’t want to cut down the time they have to spend managing their email on a daily basis.

It’s a subject that I’ve blogged about countless times, as well as covered on the podcast, too. Yet, for some reason so many ‘productive entrepreneurs’ continue to be bogged down by the never ending abuse that their inboxes battle with – and not all that productive in the process!

Nowadays, email has become the go-to source of communication. Some of us have learned to handle it in ways that doesn’t stun our productivity, some haven’t.

To help in the struggle, I decided to put together this infographic with my top tips and hacks to help you manage the inbox madness and become an insanely productive entrepreneur in the process.

If you enjoy it, please consider sharing it with your other business buddies!

EMAILHACKS

What do you think? Grab any new tips?

Again, email is a tool – it’s not something that should control your day.

Keep that in mind, practice some of these hacks and I promise you’ll be spending more time on the things that really matter, both business and personal related. Being a productive entrepreneur is one thing – but, being a productive father, mother, husband, wife, mentor, coach, boss… whatever… is even better!

If you liked this post, please reach out to me on Twitter and let me know!

I’d love to hear from you.

Tropical Think Tank 2015 [Full Event Review]

DON’T DELAY: ATTEND NEXT YEARS EVENT – SECURE YOUR SLOT TODAY!

WOW. Where do I even start!!!?

A few of weeks ago myself and my team held the second annual Tropical Think Tank event here in the Philippines and it was a rip-roaring success!

I wanted to get around to publishing this update a little sooner, but a trip to Hong Kong straight after the event with John and Kate from Entrepreneur on Fire, client visits, funnel build-outs and spending time with my youngest before he goes back to school full-time, have taken up most of my attention!

However, here I am, finally getting around to writing it – but, first, here’s the video highlight reel from this years event – please watch for a really good idea on the type of vibe the event is all about!

The First Time it Was Personal!

When me and my team held TTT14 last year, it was ‘for fun’. The speakers were made up of some of my closest friends, and the attendees were a collection of my biggest online buddies, private coaching clients and the audience that had become the ‘Chris Ducker Community’. We knew we could put on a good event and with 25 attendees and 8 amazing speakers it was a big success, selling out in 27-hours and changing the way that smaller business events are put together and executed. It was a slam dunk all the way!

This Time it Was Business!

ttt15-group

The Full TTT15 Family All Together!

This year however, we wanted to do things even better. But, I also needed to take a clear stance on the fact that if we were to do it again, we’d have to not just do it for the reason of getting people together in a cool place to hang out and talk business for a week. We’d have to go bigger, better and bolder – with every aspect. So, the price was increased, and the number of attendees was doubled to 50. And we sold out.Again. Granted, it took a little longer to sell all the tickets this time around, but we were confident that we were going to hold the most important event in the attendees lives, and as a result we were confident that we’d fill the slots. This isn’t 10 people hanging out in a beach house for a few days. This is a full blown business conference / mastermind experience. World class speakers. Amazing mastermind sessions, with plenty of goals set and a boat load of action taken. Couple all that together with evening dinners and other activities such as a sunset cruise and our now infamous White ‘Closing’ Party and you’ve got a life-changing experience. As a result, we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback from all the attendees – with just over 50% of them placing a deposit down for next year (tickets go on sale soon).

Highlights from TTT15

There were so many remarkable moments from this years Tropical Think Tank – way, way too many for me to document here. Those that were there… know. But, there were a few attendee-focused moments that I wanted to mention, because they really embody what the event is all about. First up there’s TTT14 alumni attendee, Brian Creager. This year, while at the event he did what he’d been planning for quite some time. After working hard on his side hustle since last years event, he finally sent in his resignation letter and quit the corporate job he’d been enduring for years – complete with a photo of himself on the beach – now that’s taking control of your life! Charles and Esther Anderson celebrated their wedding anniversary whilst at TTT15. Esther asked to have the stage for a few minutes to tell the story of how Charles and her met, and to tell him just how special he is to her and what being with and working with him means in her life. There were many couples at the event together, and these two were a big hit with everyone! Then there’s Tanya Van Rickley-Herrera, a single mother from the US. She recently launched a new business and brand and has been making great strides on building her client base and overall business strategy. Seeing her taking all the action she has been since the event is all I need to see, to know she’s gonna be killing it very, very soon!

Returning TTT14 alumni, Katie Wardrobe hit the stage as part of our ‘Alumni Spotlight’ (you can watch her entire 9-min presentation above) series throughout the event and shared with everybody how she set a target of $10,000 for a product launch and subsequently smashed the target in just two days and finished off with a launch week total of over $34,000 – all as a result of the plans she put in place following attending the event last year.

And finally, another couple Ant and Kelly Exeter from Australia. These guys are so loving towards each other and everyone else. Even I was moved to slight tear when, in the middle of Lewis Howes’ closing keynote, Kelly took to the microphone and shared with the group that she wished they could work less, and for the chance to be able to have their evenings and weekends back as a couple (and not have to work to lights out!) and specifically for Ant to not have to suffer the amount of stress he does, as they run their business together.

Lifestyle is important to me, and hearing Kelly talk like that really resonated with me and my wife, Erz. When I burned out in 2010 – she was there to support me, and figure out a way to get things back on track – just as Kelly is for Ant. And I know that by TTT16 they’re going to be in a totally different position.

#TTT15 Reviews Online

It’s best to hear more about the event from the people that attended… so, the following is a collection of other reviews from TTT15 attendees and speakers. They are a mix of blog posts, video diaries and podcast episodes.

We Just Had Our Minds Blown at Tropical Think Tank, by the Merry Maker Sisters

Full Recap (Podcast & Blog Post), by Kate Erickson at Entrepreneur on Fire

Part 1 (of an expected 3-part series), TTT15 Takeaways Report by Amar Ica

From 80-Hour Weeks to Following Your Path (Podcast), by Cas McCullough

What I Learnt at Tropical Think Tank (Podcast), by Michaela Clark

5 Reasons Why Tropical Think Tank Alumni Can’t Fail, by Tanya Van Rickley

We’re So Much Closer Than We Think, (Learnings from TTT15) by Kelly Exeter

Sun, Sea and Tropical Think Tank, by Karen Hardie

The Power of a Mastermind, by Lane Kennedy

My Five Biggest Takeaways from Tropcal Think Tank, by Zach Swinehart

Amy Schmittauer’s Video Recap of Tropical Think Tank 2015

Gary Griffiths’ ‘Jerry Maguire Moment’ How TTT Changed My Life

Other Things That Happened at TTT15

Mothers Day happened to land on the first day of the event. As I opened the event up, I realized this and got my team to fly into action and find 25-odd red roses, package them up nicely, and then later in the day we distributed them to all the Mum’s in attendance. To see them so surprised and happy with worth the extra effort – and THAT’S what makes a great event, in my book – the extra bits and pieces you do to create memories.

ttt15-sunset-cruise

Small Group of Attendees on our TTT15 Sunset Cruise

The sunset cruise was a real highlight of the event for me. We hired three bunker boats, complete with music, bean bags, snorkel gear and coolers filed with drinks and snacks and headed out to one of the most beautiful marine sanctuaries in the neighbouring islands. A late afternoon full of laughter, fun, conversations, more brainstorming and lots of swimming with the fish ensued, and we came back to the resort, just as the sun was setting.

ttt15-white-party

Our Closing ‘White’ Party – What a Way to End an Amazing Event!?

Following the cruise we all hit the sack for an hour or so, and then hit the beach bar for pre-party cocktails – before heading to our last party together – the Closing ‘White’ Party, where all attendees and speakers rocked their best all-white outfits and partied the night away. Myself and speaker Michael O’Neal also jumped up to the band and jammed a few numbers with ’em, myself on vocals and Michael rockin’ out on the drums – the evening ended with fireworks and lots of dancing!






In and among all the craziness that was the event, I somehow found time to record a batch of exclusive videos for an upcoming project I’ll be launching in August – my mastermind community. These videos are not interviews, they are unscripted expert chit-chats where people like Darren Rowse, John Lee Dumas, Pat Flynn (recorded in San Diego in April), Lewis Howes, Amy Schmittauer and many more share candid tips and tactics to grow your business and create an abundant entrepreneurial lifestyle.

I can’t wait to share them all with you soon.

Side Note: If you’re a podcaster, and you like the idea of attending an event similar to Tropical Think Tank, on a cruise ship, hosted by one of the best podcasters in the business, John Lee Dumas, then you might like to check out his Podcasters Paradise Cruise, which is taking place in November. I’ll be on stage with peeps like John, Chris Brogan, Andrew Warner and more. It’s gonna be a blast.

In Conclusion

Going into this years event the entrepreneur in me was already planning next years – and with 100 entrepreneurs in attendance. However, on the second day of the event this year I changed my mind. 50 attendees, plus our speakers, plus our team is enough – in fact it’s more than enough. It’s perfect.

Above and beyond everything else, Tropical Think Tank is all about intimacy. The intimate, non-stop access to world class experts. Access to the other entrepreneurs (some of which can easily be classed as ‘experts’ in their own fields) that you spend time with. Access to all the social activities, along with the friendships and memories that are created as a result – everything.

We’ve found our sweet spot.

I’m so excited about this part of my brand. It’s easily become my most favorite event to host, and doing it in such a beautiful environment tops everything off perfectly.

I often say that ‘your vibe will attract your tribe’, and I believe it. The people that come to Tropical Think Tank take their businesses seriously. But, they also take life – and enjoying it to the maximum seriously, too – and that, my friends is a thing of beauty.

I hope to see you at next years Tropical Think Tank!

6 Ways to Make Money While Building an Online Business

I’ve worked with thousands of entrepreneurs over the years. Coaching, consulting, speaking engagements, workshops, masterminds, through my Free 7-day ‘New Business’ Bootcamp (if you’ve not signed up for instant access yet, do so today – it’ll be gone soon!) – you name it, I’ve done it.

And from all the struggles and fears that I’ve come across, there’s one that crops up more than others on a regular basis… lack of income.

Actually making money while you’re in the process of building an online business is not as easy as many online will have you believe. However, it is possible – if you play your cards right, hustle a little, and position yourself in a market where there are people that need what you have to offer.

Notice how I said need what you have to offer – not want. That’s the biggest ‘secret’. Creating something that people truly need – something that solves a problem.

To solve the problem of coming up with ideas to work on, to help create income while building an online business, I put together this infographic, which I hope serves as a little inspiration, as well as practical guide to making money online – a topic I generally stay away from, in the broad sense of the term.

Bottom line is that this is business – we do need to be seen to sell and to be a successful business owner, you’ve got to make money – that simple.

passive-income-streams-online

I believe that creating revenue and earning a profit while building an online business is possible. I’ve done it myself – I’ve helped many, many others do the same.

It all comes down to knowing who you’re helping, what their problems are, and most importantly – creating a solution to a problem that they will happily part with a little hard earned cash for.

Feel free to grab and share the infographic with your entrepreneurial buddies and if you have any questions, or fancy giving me feedback / ideas on this, or for future graphics I might put together, I’d love for you to hop over to the Facebook Page and interact with me directly there! Thanks for stopping by today.

Walking Through the Redesign of Chris Ducker Dot Com

Unless you’ve visited this site for the first time in the last month or so, you’d have noticed some big changes… like the way the entire site looks and feels!

I recently switched over from a WordPress theme based site to the Rainmaker Platform, which is the latest offering and now the main focal point for the Copyblogger Media team – and wanted to show you the reasons behind WHY we made the changes we did.

In a nutshell, Rainmaker is a one-stop online publishing and business building platform – and it rocks!

I’ll publish another walkthrough post in the near future showing you all the bells and whistles that Rainmaker provides online business peeps like us, but for this post I wanted to answer a whole load of questions that have come in via email and Twitter, asking for details and insights on how we went about the redesign process. So, here ya go!

Out with the Old, in with the New!

The old site had been in the same design form since 2012 and had served me very, very well indeed, helping me grow my mailing list to over 35,000 subscribers, attracting and serving an ever-growing online audience and generally just being my ‘home’ online – a home I was very proud of.

But, if you looked at the site on a mobile device, although responsive, it wasn’t all that great.

Also, the design elements themselves, like the fonts, colors, etc., were out of date, as you can no doubt imagine.

Along comes Brian Clark and his team at Rainmaker and everything changes… As you can see, a LOT of work went into the redesign of the site and I am over the moon with the way it ended up.

Design DOES Matter!

It drives me crazy when I hear people say that design doesn’t matter – that’s complete BS.

Design most certainly does matter.

When someone visits your site for the first time, you have 4-5 seconds to convince them to stay. That’s it. If your design is crappy, they’ll leave. If it’s awesome, they won’t. It really is that simple.

Obviously, following ‘good looks’, what really does matter is how you’re helping them by being on the site – but, that first impressions does count and you only get one chance to make it, so you have to make sure it’s a good one.

What did you think of the redesign of ChrisDucker.com – like, dislike? I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a Tweet and let me know, and if you have blogger and entrepreneur friends that are active online, or thinking of upping their online game soon, please share this with them on Facebook – I’m sure it’ll help them out a little.

10 Reasons to Love Being an Entrepreneur!

love-being-an-entrepreneur

When I realized I’d had enough of working for someone else, it hit me between the eyes – BHAM!

I was at 35,000 feet coming back from a month in Miami, where I had been working alongside the last ever person I would call ‘Boss’ (except the wife, obviously!). Deep down he was a nice guy.

However, as a boss he was a terrible, micromanaging fiend. To the point where he would receive a copy of every email I received – sometimes even replying as me – ridiculous, right?!

After that month with him, I’d simply had enough of the BS. I wrote my resignation letter on my laptop and when I landed in Hong Kong for my connecting flight, I hooked up to their brilliant free wifi, and hit ‘Send’. Never looking back.

A month later I launched my outsourcing business, and I’m still operating that business with now almost 300 employees and have expanded into two different verticals, plus launched my own personal brand in the process, too.

With Valentines Day approaching, I thought I’d play on the ‘love’ angle a little, and condense some of the reasons why I love being an entrepreneur into a blog post and share it with you, my beloved online community for some fun, and maybe a little inspiration.

Here are the ten reasons why I love being an entrepreneur so much!

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