ChrisDucker.com

Helping Entrepreneurs Go The Distance In Business… And Life!

10 Lessons Learned Writing My First Book

virtual-freedom-is-comingWe all have a book in us.

Ever heard that? I had, a lot.

In late 2011 I got offered my first book deal. I turned it down. I wasn’t ready. I was busy doing other ‘stuff’. I simply didn’t know enough about the topic. Who would buy a book written by me, anyway…?!!

You name it, I came up with every excuse under the sun to NOT write the book.

Then in late 2012 I teamed up with a literary agent, and put together my first ever book proposal document for a project entitled ‘The Freedom Factor’ (what was I thinking…!!!?). After a few name changes, Virtual Freedom was born and sent out to 16 publishers.

…

READ POST

The Easy-to-Follow Guide to Building an Online Brand

building an online brand

Nowadays more than ever before, being a successful business owner is about making sure that your company name, identity, brand and even your personal brand (if you want to make it part of the attraction of doing business with you) can be found in every nook and cranny online.

Just over 4-years ago I launched this blog.

It wasn’t my first blog, but it was my first real step into personal branding. I knew and appreciated that a personal brand is something thats needed in today’s market, and did spend a bit of time on building my online brand throughout the few years prior, but never really focused on truly building my own unique brand online.

Since then I’ve landed opportunities for myself in the speaking industry, consulted and coached many amazing entrepreneurs, landed a book deal, started my third company and spent more than enough time replying to over 60,000 Twitter followers, 18,000 Facebook fans and an average of 120,000 readers to this blog every month, not to mention enjoying 300,000+ downloads to my podcast.

And, I have to say – I freakin’ love it all..!!!

…

READ POST

Mastermind Update: How One Entrepreneur Got Razor Focused, Launched a Podcast and Dominated an Entire Market!

Bernd Geropp

Not so long ago, I featured one of my coaching clients here on the site, Fern Camacho. He attended my New York Mastermind in July this year and since then has been making some serious moves in his business.

There were so many positive comments on that post, that I decided to invite another of my mastermind tribe to come onto the site, and tell his story.

Enter Germany-based leadership coach and entrepreneur, Bernd Geropp.

I originally ‘met’ Bernd when he signed up for one of my coaching sessions last year. We then met in person at New Media Expo in January, and then he attended my London Mastermind, in May. Bernd is a guy that takes action, this is clear – but following the London session I had no idea just how much action he was going to take!

…

READ POST

Don’t Wait for the New Year, Start Planning Your 2014 – NOW!

Screen Shot 2013-10-14 at 6.08.32 PMWhile a lot of people wait for the New Year to come around to plan out what they want to achieve in the next 12-months, I plan for the upcoming  year in the last quarter of the current year. It’s something I’ve done for a long time, and it’s always served me well.

A lot of business owners leave the planning of a fresh, new year of opportunities until the beginning of it.

I believe, however, that planning a full quarter in advance (if not longer) has been the difference for me becoming more successful in my pursuits, as well as more rounded and experienced from a business ownership standpoint. I just love seeing any type of plan that I put in place come to life, and thrive.

As as example, here are the last few years for me:

…

READ POST

The Top 10 Small Business & Entrepreneur Blogs of 2013

TOP 10 BUSINESS BLOGS 2013As a small business owner myself, I know how important it is to stay up-to-date with the ever changing trends that the business world throws at us.

I watch very little TV and I don’t read the newspapers. I rely entirely on the internet, and my iPad to stay up to date with whats going on in the world. When I want to focus on business, and the developments that affect me as a small business owner myself, I turn to blogs. Bloggers have the ability to express themselves in somewhat ‘real time’. They can keep their content fresh, and their opinions can be heard quickly.

However, in the world of business blogs there is a lot of noise. A lot of people are trying to get your attention, and with only so many minutes a day to devote to learning and consuming content (personally, I put aside around 30-45 minutes daily), you’ve got to be very strict with who’s content you make time for.

This is the reason why I’ve put this list together. This is not about online business, or online marketing. That’s another list entirely. This collection of blogs are my personal favorite / go-to people in the world of small business blogging. Individually they strike a chord with me enough to keep me coming back for more – over and over again.

Note: These blogs are listed in no particular order of preference, or influence. 

…

READ POST

Mastermind Update: How One Business Owner Got Clarity, Gained Confidence and Started Taking *REAL* Action!

fernIn July this year I had the pleasure of holding two of my ‘Ducker Mastermind’ sessions in the USA, while I was there for the month attending a few events, handling a couple of speaking engagements and generally hanging out a little.

Both LA and NYC were fantastic mastermind events. I mean, serious stuff. There were so many highly enthusiastic and super smart people in attendance that I genuinely felt humbled to be the guy leading the discussions on both days.

There is something about getting a bunch of likeminded people together, in one room, for the day – and talking about nothing but business! Things happen. And for one particular entrepreneur that was part of the NYC session, a lot of things have happened since that day. And I wanted to give you all an update on his progress, so that you can see what happens when you embrace the power of taking action.

…

READ POST

6 Reasons to Hire Virtual Staff Closer to Home (Instead of Overseas!)

homeI often get asked if I only use Filipino VA’s, being that I am based here in the Philippines, and that I do employ a lot of local staff. The answer is a simple ‘no’.

There are certain things that I pretty much always look to outsource overseas (in reverse to the ‘norm’!), and in this post I thought it might be a good idea to discuss the main reasons why I ‘go overseas’, and the reasons why sometimes it’s a good idea to stay closer to home.

Before I get into things let me state very clearly that there is no right, or wrong way to outsource, as a ‘standard’. You’re going to do whatever you think is best for you, your business and your bank balance, at the end of the day. So keep an open mind, understanding (and respecting) that everyone has their own way of doing things.

…

READ POST

Think Like a Business Owner FIRST, a Blogger Second (You’ll Make More Money!)

Get to WorkThe internet is hammered with ‘make money online’ articles, podcasts and videos on a daily basis and only a very few of those that claim to be making ‘real’ money online, are actually doing it – the rest are all-out lying.

I’m a blogger.

But, I’m a business owner first.

And no matter how successful I (hopefully) become online, and no matter how much money I make online, I will always be a businessman first, a blogger second. Why? Because it’ll help me make more money – plain and simple.

If you’re trying to make a living online, don’t get me wrong – this post isn’t about beating you up, or to try and deter you from achieving your goals. No. In fact, this post is about giving you a wake-up call, of sorts, and hopefully helping you realize that having the ‘professional blogger’ mindset won’t enable you to make a lot of money.

…

READ POST

4 Ways to Work with Virtual Assistants to Build Your Online Personal Brand

chris-ducker-tbex-speakerA couple of days ago I presented at TBEX, the worlds largest Travel Blogging Conference, in Toronto, on the subject of working with virtual assistants to make the transition from ‘blogger to business owner’ as easy and productive as possible.

One of the talking points was the importance of building a personal brand.

Building a personal brand online with the help of a virtual assistant is a start way to add value to your online presence. In fact, it’s needed into today’s business landscape, more than ever in the history of business and entrepreneurship.

A ‘personal brand’ is synonymous with your reputation, and refers to the way other people see you. Ask yourself what you want people to say about you when you’re not around – the answer is directly related to your personal brand.

It takes time to build up a reputation and become a trusted authority, or expert in your field – which is necessary when building any type of successful brand. However, there are certainly a few simple first steps to building a personable image, creating rapport and gaining trust as an online entrepreneur that you can have virtual staff handle for you.

…

READ POST

By Demand: Private USA Mastermind Sessions Coming this July! (Limited Seats)

usa-flagAt the beginning of May, I ran the 1st and 2nd Chris Ducker Dot Com Mastermind Sessions in London, comprising of 20 people in total, which sold out in less than 48-hours.

For many of those that attended, it was their first mastermind ever.

Being in an exclusive setting with other likeminded entrepreneurs to discuss business for an entire day was memorable enough, but once you add-on the time spent enjoying drinks together afterwards, the experience turned into something completely different.

Friendships were formed. Alliances were created. Joint ventures entered into and even businesses have been started-up. Here are some of the actions that London attendees have taken in the last few weeks, post Mastermind:

…

READ POST