I’m going to go out a limb today, my friends. I’m going to assume that if you follow my blog, you’re interested in starting or scaling a business.

Now I KNOW that’s rather presumptuous of me, but let’s just go with it for one post, shall we? Let’s assume that you’re here because you’re either at the beginning or in the middle stages of your entrepreneurial journey, and you’ve heard somewhere that blogs are a great place to get advice about where to start and what to do next.

I might be biased, but of course I agree that blogs and online sources are great places to learn about building a business. And this right here happens to be an especially good one if you want to build a business around your personal brand!

There are so many things that entrepreneurs need to learn about before they can start or grow. And from the logistics of setting up a business to tax info and outsourcing, it’s no wonder that so many would-be business rockstars get stuck in the overwhelm and end up never getting started or never scaling up. Or… believing that they can’t get free personalized business advice.

That fact, I love being an entrepreneur. And I think you do, too. Or at least you WILL, once you truly, truly understand what I’m about to share with you.

The Problem With Advice From Blogs

Every day, thousands of entrepreneurs look to blogs for the answers they need about business. And the problem with that isn’t what you may think. After all, blogs are GREAT sources of information for everything entrepreneurial, including:

• How to quit a day job
• How to start a business or a brand
• How to manage unpredictable changes and pivoting
• When it’s time to scale
• How to outsource core tasks

But there’s a very simple dilemma at the core of using blogs to get all your information:

Blogs give general advice.

Now, don’t get me wrong. All the above info is important when you want to start and scale your business. All of it provides valuable information that can help you get where you want to be as an entrepreneur. I have my own list of blogs that I turn to when I need motivation and inspiration, and you probably do, too.

But it would be a mistake to stop there. If you want to start or grow a business, you need more than blogs to get you there!

Over the years, I’ve learned that the entrepreneurs who actually end up taking action in their lives and businesses are doing something a bit different from everyone else. Okay, they’re actually doing a LOT of things differently, let’s be honest, but for our purposes today, here’s what’s interesting: the entrepreneurs who succeed don’t stop at blogs for their business advice.

They may start there, especially those with online businesses, and they certainly use blogs to supplement their knowledge… but, they also intentionally seek out PERSONALIZED business advice. They go to the blog owners directly. They reach out to the business owners and entrepreneurs who’ve been there, and they ask for specific advice.

And that makes all the difference.

Why Personalized Advice Makes All The Difference

If you really want to get serious about succeeding in business, you need more than a list of seven tips on a blog (mine or anyone else’s) to get you there. You need to get your specific questions answered by someone who’s a bit (or a lot) further along the business continuum than you are. You need an opportunity to describe your situation in your own words, and then have someone respond directly to you.

But how on Earth is a struggling entrepreneur supposed to get highly personalized advice that applies specifically to their reality, their concerns, their struggles and challenges? And how are they supposed to afford that?! (As if modern entrepreneurs didn’t have enough to worry about.)

Well, my friends, I’m so glad you asked. Because starting soon, I’m going to be calling on my 12-years as a serial entrepreneur and 25-years total in the sales and marketing world to do exactly that.

For you. For free.

Enter The #DuckerZone

As I mentioned briefly in my last post, The Ducker Zone is my new Q&A-style YouTube show. It’s definitely not my first rodeo in terms of being on video (I’ve got Periscope and webinars and countless other video training series to thank for that!), but it IS exactly what you’ve all been asking me to do for years: create a library of evergreen, actionable, searchable, and well-produced content that gets you the answers you need for your own business. Not anyone else’s—yours. It’s the first time I’ve ever offered this type of free personalized business advice, giving you direct weekly access to me and everything I know, channeled specifically into answers for your most burning questions.

I’m working tirelessly behind the scenes right now to get it all ready for your eyes and ears, but here’s what you need to know right now about one of the biggest ventures I’ve ever taken on:

• You’ll get a new episode every week. I get so many questions about entrepreneurship and business, and I can’t WAIT to start tackling them in this new, regular format. Every week, there will be a new episode with advice that directly answers one entrepreneur’s biggest question. That entrepreneur gets free, actionable advice from someone who’s been there and done that over the last 12 years, and everyone else gets the benefit of learning right along with them.

• It’ll be real, uncensored, and straight from the heart. Everyone in my Youpreneur community knows this already, but I can be pretty direct at times. To me, it’s a waste of time to dance around the real issues and realities of entrepreneurship, so you can expect that The Ducker Zone will be an opportunity to get the benefit of that in a whole new way. To me, the show is the natural next step in the evolution of my personal brand, which is all about helping you succeed doing the thing you love for the people you want to serve.

• It’ll be unlike anything out there right now. There are many YouTube shows that’ll answer viewer questions across a number of industries and niches. However, I want to go one step further. I’ll be giving shout-outs, using screenshots to showcase the businesses of those who submit questions, and giving viewers a genuine way to reach out to you after the show—should they wish to do so. Plus, we’ll have funky intro music—so, it’ll be a ‘winner’ all round!

• I need you to make this a success! Everything I do on this blog, on social media, and in my mastermind community is focused on you. Until recently, that “you” has been more general in nature, but as I get more specific with who I want to serve and how I can help, I realize that the “you” is getting more specific than ever. If you’re reading this, YOU ARE THE “YOU”! I want to help you make 2017 the best year ever for your business, and I’m sitting on the line right now waiting for your questions. Seriously. I’m not doing this show for my own benefit. Submit your questions on social media using #DuckerZone—I’ll have nothing to talk about if you don’t! 🙂

The best part about getting personalized advice is this: when we hear specific solutions delivered to our fellow entrepreneurs, our powers of critical thinking come into play, and we can always find nuggets of wisdom that work for our situations, too. That’s why my One-Day Business Breakthrough workshops with Pat Flynn were such a success, and that’s my plan and my commitment for The Ducker Zone—to answer specific questions that will help ONE entrepreneur to supercharge their business, and in the process to inspire and motivate others to think about things in a new way. This new show will empower you to make things happen, succeed as never before, and, of course, ask your own questions for a future episode!

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask

Why don’t more entrepreneurs seek out personalized advice?

I think it’s because they’re afraid.

They’re scared to put themselves out there with their idea and questions. Because that makes it REAL, doesn’t it? Once you share your business idea or struggles with someone—especially another entrepreneur—you’re accountable to that person. That person will know your idea or problem exists, will have offered specific advice, and will be expecting you to act on it.

But I know this community better than that. I know you’re ready to take your business to the next level (or even the first level). And now you know exactly what you need to do to get the personalized business advice you need, for free.

You’re welcome.

Starting NOW, submit your questions on social media using #DuckerZone.

And then tune in when we launch on YouTube soon. I can’t wait!

Lastly… anyone have any personal advice for me about what colour shirt I should wear for the first episode? 😉