If you've ever been a part of a Facebook group, you've probably seen someone post a Poll, usually asking questions like... Who should I host my podcast with? Polls are great if you really are looking for people to vote on the answers, and you want to be able to quickly know the results and find a winner, or a trend, at the end. Unfortunately, neith…

I see a lot of new podcasters doing this: They have a website, and they're hosting it with a regular web host like Godaddy or Dreamhost or Hostgator etc. And their current web host is probably promising them unlimited bandwidth and tons of storage space. So they're like: Why can't I just host my podcast audio files on my own web host, and use a plu…

I recently saw a post on twitter from @Matineegirl, in which she wrote: Read because you want to. Read whatever floats your boat. Read as quickly or as slowly as you do. Read books only with orange covers if you want to. Read 1 book or 500 books a year. There are no rules. Just read. That's so awesome! I loved that tweet. So I re-tweeted that by ad…

How can I help you? In general, that's a great thing to say to someone in most situations. Like, if you're a company owner or an employee, and you get a call, you can pick up the phone and say, "Hi, How can I help you?" Except... that's probably the worst thing to say on social media to a stranger who has just accepted your friend request. Listen t…

Think about these 3 lines from that Wikipedia fund-raiser email: * "This is awkward to admit, but I have to be honest: 98% of our readers don't give" * "they simply look the other way." * "You are part of the 2% of readers who donated to support Wikipedia" Listen to the show for the rest. https://CutToTheChase.fm…

You know the saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? That rings very true especially when it comes to mission critical systems like your website or computer software. And it is EVEN MORE true when it comes to making big changes - or even small changes - on a Friday. Listen to the show for the rest. https://CutToTheChase.fm…

If you are a digital creator, it is absolutely critical that you Own Your Platform. Listen to the show for the rest. https://CutToTheChase.fmBy Ravi Jayagopal

I recently saw someone ask this in a Facebook group: Who will be the king of Podcast Streaming in the battle between Spotify vs Apple? So here's my answer... Listen to the show for the rest. https://CutToTheChase.fmBy Ravi Jayagopal

The saying goes that people judge a book by its cover. That is still true to some extent. But what's even more today in the age of endless stream of content and information and noise, is that your book is no longer being judged by just its cover, it is judged by its table of contents. So if someone were to look past the cover of your life, and look…

When selecting lighting for your home or office, other than just brightness, there's one other very important thing you need to consider: And that's the "temperature" of the light. Warm white lights are those that have a very warm, orangey or yellowey tinge. Also know as soft white. Cool lights are more bright, more white, and have a cool bluish ti…

One of the best ways to overcome anxiety or nerves that you may have when recording a live video on Facebook or YouTube or Periscope, is not to not do a live video at all. I don't mean "don't publish live videos". I'm saying "don't do it live". Confused? Listen to the show for the rest. The 2 biggest tools you need to true live video, or "fake-live…

Keep the video short. I call this the micro-tip strategy. Create a short 30 second to 1 minute video with a short and sweet tip about your niche. So for eg, in my niche, which is digital marketing, creating membership sites and online courses, a micro tip would be: "Hey, don't use YouTube for hosting your sales and promotional videos, because start…

Ryan has a YouTube channel called Ryan Toysreview , which has 18 million subscribers, and over 26 billion video views, and an article in Forbes, says "earning him $22 million in the 12 months leading up to June 1, 2018". Do you think this little kid started a channel with the intention of making money? Of course not. Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/…

Have you watched Better Call Saul, where the main character Jimmy specializes in Elder Law, befriends the residents of a senior citizen home and plays bingo with them, and turns them all into clients? You could say he is being a bit manipulative there, or you could see the other side of it, that Jimmy is actually genuinely interested in the seniors…

Building influence, and earning the trust and respect of your audience is easier said, than done. There are so many different things you have to do, for an extended period of time, in order to earn those. I'll name a few things here... Listen to the show for the rest. And to listen to older episodes of this show, visit https://CutToTheChase.fm…

Influence is not built simply by sharing cool or interesting or funny stuff online. We see this every single day on every single platform - people sharing really funny videos, heartwarming videos, heartbreaking videos, baby and cat and family videos, and crazy memes and breaking news. So what if you got a lot of likes or comments on that 3rd party …

During my recent launch of my online course, titled DOPE: Do Once, Publish Everywhere, I did something called a Dime Sale. A dime sale basically means the price goes up every so often. The original concept of the dime sale, was that it would go up by 10 cents every hour. And hence the name dime sale. So I decided to something similar. Listen to the…

The name of my new course is DOPE: Do Once, Publish Everywhere - https://SubscribeMe.fm/dope/ So why is it important to publish your content on multiple platforms? The biggest issue facing every digital marketer and content creator today, is getting their message out in front of the biggest possible targeted audience. So if you don't already have a…

Back when I was still living in India, my late father R.N. Jayagopal was the Vice-President of the (Asian) Indian version of ASCAP, called IPRS - Indian Performing Rights Society. I've seen up-close and personally, what a nasty hassle copyright issues can be, for both the creator and the user. Listen to the show for the rest. And to listen to older…

Someone recently asked on Facebook: What's the law around having short clips from songs on a podcast - like a music podcast where we are discussing the songs? I'm not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. There is no black-and-white answer to this. Even with all of my thoughts I'm about to share with you, there's going to be a lot of "it depends"…

You can sell a lousy product with great marketing. Heck, you can sell a product that hasn't even been created yet, with great marketing. Marketing is critical even to raise funds for a non-profit. Or run a successful crowd-funding campaign for a good cause. Creating more content, is not content marketing. So stop creating, and start promoting. And …

There are 3 basic pieces of content that you need today, in order to sell something online. 1. Your Sales Page 2. Your Sales video. 3. Your Ad Video And here's how you can save a lot of time, effort and headache, by creating one epic piece of content first, and then repurposing that into the 3 major pieces of content. And to listen to older episode…

You have probably heard of WIIFM - What's in it for me. Now, normally empathy is a problem for most people, even me. Doesn't matter how much we talk about looking at something from someone's eyes, or walking in someone's shoes, or being in their shoes, all of that is great, it's not just the idea that matters, but how you position it matters. So ev…

Here's the problem with a lot of entrepreneurs and digital creators. They spend a lot of time creating an elaborate online course, or a video series, spend months working on the content, setting up the website, and the membership site, and they launch it to their list, and get... crickets. So instead, sell first, and then create later. It will save…

It was Mahatma Gandhi who talked about going from Beliefs to your Destiny Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny. Listen to the show for the rest at https://CutToTheChase.fm…

Newsletters are different from direct response emails in the following ways: The goal of a Newsletter is not to get the reader to click on one link. In fact, there could be multiple links in a newsletter. The word "news" in newsletter means you're offering something that is newsworthy. Listen to the show for the rest. And to listen to older episode…

A direct response email is defined as something that is written to evoke an immediate response and compel the reader to take a very specific action - and usually, that is to click on a link in the email. There's just one goal for that email - just one call to action. To get them to click on a link. But such emails are just one side of the email mar…

It would be such a waste if you’re not keeping an archive of all this barrage of content you’re generating for your audience, fans, followers and customers. And that’s why, I recommend that you create a text file on your computer - I call it Social Posts.txt. And then, on a daily basis, every time you write any piece of content for any platform, ju…

One of the biggest skills you need as an Entrepreneur and Digital Creator, is ability to be the “Subject-Matter Expert” (SME). And if you wish to be the face of your company, or build a personal brand, then you have to be able to create a ton of content. There are so many ravenous, insatiable platforms today that constantly need your attention. Con…

Probably the single biggest burning question today on every single entrepreneur and creator's mind. Building an audience from scratch is one of the hardest things to do, whether you have an existing business that's trying to enter a new market, or you're a brand new entrepreneur who's building a following for the very first time. That's why it is e…

There are really 3 basic ways to grow your business (or get better at anything, for that matter). 1. Spend Time 2. Spend Money 3. Spend a Bit of Both Time And Money And that's what I talk about on today's episode. Listen to the show for the rest. https://CutToTheChase.fmBy Ravi Jayagopal

For promoting my book, I bought "1001 Ways to Market Your Books". Long story short, there's a reason why it has 1001 ways to promote a book, because it lists every dang method there is, however basic. So if a list is showing you 1001 of ways of doing something, then that list is usually full of obvious things, and so watered down, that only 5% of i…

When you're first getting started, it's ok to say "I don't care if I make money with this", to not care about monetizing your craft. But as we age, things change. Our wants, needs, priorities. So while it may have been ok to not care about making money with your craft when you're younger, at some point, the bills come calling. So you will have to m…

Know that inspirational quote that goes, If a baby falls down a 100 times learning how to walk, then it doesn't care about failing. It is meant to motivate people, inspire them to not worry about failure. And to get right back up each time they fall. As a fun sidebar, I was thinking about the other side of this quote. What happens if the baby has n…

Yes, some things are really painful if you have to keep doing them month after month, year after year. And that's what happens when you sell one-time products, rather than recurring products. Listen to the show for the rest. Keep listening to this podcast at https://CutToTheChase.fm and my other podcast about membership sites and online courses at …

On today's show, I wanted to mention some of the greatest quotes that people never said, but are so good, that I wish they would've said it. Here'probably THE most famous one: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - attributed to Albert Einstein. But he never said it. There's more.…

Here's one thing I've noticed across different platforms where there's a star rating system. Normally, you would think that a 1-star rating is like the absolute worst right? Of course, 1 is the worst, and 5 is the best. So if you get a 1-star review on Amazon, it must mean it's the end of your content, because now no one else is going to buy or sub…

You know Maslow's hierarchy of needs? I have created a new pyramid similar to that. I call it "Ravi's Hierarchy of Entrepreneurship" (aka "Pyramid Scheme" LOL!). This pyramid I'm about to describe is easier to follow if you can see the actual image. Go to my Instagram account at https://CutToTheChase.fm/instagram and that should take you to my pers…

So say "YES" to more things when you're younger. And if you have a younger one in your life, be sure to make them listen to this episode. And some day, you have go to say "NO" to more things, so that you can excel at the few things that you've already said "YES" to. And if you're not sure what to say yes to, and what to say no to, check out my Roya…

What if you spent 3 days thinking ONLY about how to create a better lead magnet? And how about you give me an epic piece of knowledge, that I can use right away? Something that will just wow your subscribers? I call these "Epic Value Bombs". Listen to the show for the rest. And to listen to older episodes of this show, visit https://CutToTheChase.f…

A lot of websites I come across, don't publish an email signup for on their home page. Even if they do, it's probably buried somewhere towards the bottom of their page. And the headline usually says something super dull and boring, like "Sign up for our newsletter". That has GOT to be the world's worst call to action. To check out all of the tools …

Do you know what are some things that will NEVER EVER show YOU the money? Likes and Loves and Wows and Sad Faces on your posts, Comments, asking me to respond to your post with a GIF showing you how I feel, asking your followers to guess which one of the 10 concerts that you've never been to, asking me to post the 8th photo from my camera roll. And…

There are literally thousands upon thousands of quotes from accomplished people all over the world, who have talked about how they became an overnight success, and here are a few. Notice a pattern here? Yeah. Every "overnight success" story actually took many many years to create :-) I started selling online in 1997. That's 21 years ago. And I stil…

When you give a lot of value, and have been doing it for a long time, you have a great offer, a great value prop, good positioning, and clearly articulate the benefits of what you're selling, and how you can help people, and on top-of all of that, if you can also GUARANTEE results, you can get a huge win. To learn more about the coaching program th…

I don't believe too much in all the woo-woo books and secrets and seminars that tell you all you need is to believe in yourself, say all the affirmations with great conviction and great things will magically start happening for you. In my opinion, there are only 3 ways to make money... Listen to the show for the rest. To check out my "Guaranteed Re…

You might have seen questions being asked of experts, like: "If you were given 30 days and a starting budget of just $500, and you had to make $5000 dollars in those 30 days, what would you do? Oh, and you can't use your list or products. If you stripped away everything else, 2 things you need 1) A product that people want, and will pay for, and #2…

It is an old English saying that means, it is important to know that different people are suitable for different activities because everyone has different skills. So basically, what might be good for one situation, might not be good for another. You could say the same thing about being an entrepreneur: Not all methods of marketing, not all tools, t…

Turns out, the right way to pronounce it is: Meme. And according to the dictionary, a meme is a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users. And back in September 2018, the European Union passed a new Copyright Directive. And the directive's Article 13 has been calle…

Many new entrepreneurs are frequently confused about copyright. You cannot use an image that you found on a Google image search, or on somebody else's website, or some commercial stock photo website. You cannot use that photo or image in your articles, in your blog posts, or in your videos and so on. Same thing goes for Audio or Video. The general …

So if you are a podcast hosting company or a video hosting company, you could give away say, a podcasters' studio kit, or a YouTuber's video kit, which includes microphones and stands and mixers, or just those items separately, without necessarily being a bundle. If you are in the photography niche, you could give away DSLR cameras or camera kits a…