Today, that vision becomes reality with the launch of Good Life Project™ (GLP) and GoodLifeProject.com.

So, what is it?

GLP is a movement. A set of shared values. A community. A creed, bundled with a voracious commitment to move beyond words and act. First, as a manifestation of your soul. And then as a quest to have the adventure of a lifetime, and to leave the world around you changed.

Good Life Project™  is based on a simple proposition…

People who embrace the 10 Commandments of Epic Business create legendary stories, build world-shaking businesses, earn whatever they need to live well and give well, have way more fun, cultivate high-levels of freedom, touch more lives, leave bigger legacies and, straight up, live better lives.

To build what we’re here to build, we need three things:

1. Knowledge.

We need to learn how to:

• Build a peak-state mindset
• Align who we are with what we do
• Craft hyper-effective business models & growth strategies
• Master the psychology of influence and behavioral change
• Re-envision service, sales and marketing from the position of delight
• Hand craft a deliberate culture of joy and embrace soul as a business ideal
• Do a deep dive into the 10 Commandments of Epic Business

2. Hands-on, Individualized Mentoring.

We all need regular, direct access to a mentor with a proven track record, both of success in business and success in teaching, guiding and mentoring, who takes a deep interest in your success, not just in business, but in life. Someone to provide honest feedback, insights, deep knowledge, hold you accountable and speak truth when everyone around you won’t. And, maybe most important, someone who defines success not just in money and power, but in bigger “good life” terms (joy, fun, presence, lightness, impact, connection and, yes, enough money to live well and give well).

3. Circle of Champions.

We all need a close-knit, like-minded group of people with a deep, enduring connection who agree to support, rally behind, teach, help, inspire and serve as powerhouse sounding boards, collaborators and confidants.

What if you could experience these 3 critical pieces of the puzzle right now?

The mindset and business strategies needed to flourish like never before. The direct input of a trusted mentor. And the support of a small group of driven, compassionate world-shakers and friends?

And what if you could do this while traveling to some of the coolest locations in the Western Hemisphere? Immersing yourself not only in knowledge and support, but a whirlwind of transformational experiences and challenges in some of the lushest and most adventurous places on the planet?

What might your business look like a year from now? After you’ve filled your tank with the knowledge needed to build business on a whole different level, encoded a visionary mindset, and had the adventure of a lifetime with an intimate group of friends that have become your biggest champions? How will that affect not only your business, but your life?

If this sounds even remotely interesting, I’ve made something very cool & fun for you to watch…

And it all starts with a man, a trampoline, and a single question, the answer to which may well determine your success and happiness in business and in life.

Click here to learn all about it out now

(Even if you have no interest at all, head on over and watch the first 20-seconds, it’ll leave a giant smile on your face for the rest of the day!)

Big love, big happiness & big success!

Inspired and humbled by the legendary annual reports of Berkshire Hathaway founder, Warren Buffet, I decided to expand my exploration into a full-blown 2011 Annual Report and give it a theme—”Serve, aspire, transcend.”

As you read the Annual Report, I’ll bring you deeper into my life and what I call my “business engines.” I’ll also share something that’s more personal than ever before. Not so much because I want to, but because to omit it would leave a gaping hole in the context around many of my recent business and life decisions. It’ll also provide answers to questions I’ve been asked, yet have never answered publicly.

So, get yourself a latte and some dark chocolate, this craft is taking flight…

Click here to download and read

And if you find it compelling, I’d be grateful if you’d share it around.

P.S. – The report is formatted as a PDF document, and designed to read easily on an iPad or a computer. It’s very visual, so the file a little bigger than a regular document (around 4MB). It’s also 35 pages long, so if you’d like to print it, just remember to check the box when you print to shrink it to fit the page size you are printing on.

After checking the box that cancelled the service, I was pushed to a page that made me a “one-time” offer.

Re-activate my subscription immediately and I could lock in a monthly price that was 20% less than what I’d been paying. The same screen also told me this was a one time offer that would go away and never come back once I clicked away from the screen.

Can we all say “ick” together?!

I was annoyed. Why would this solid company with a good product treat a departing customer better than a loyal user?

This left a really bad taste in my mouth. So bad that, if and when I need a similar service, I’ll now spend more time exploring this company’s competition. And every time someone asks me about the service, I’ll tell them the service was good, but also add in this story. Even though I have friends in the company (who are about to get an email from me, btw).

The same tactics used to be used by phone service and credit-card companies. You’d call up to cancel and they’d say, “oh wait a minute, will you stay if we lower your rate?” The tactic was so well known that many people would call automatically after a few months of usage and claim they were going to cancel simply as a vehicle to ensure they were getting the best rates available.

Note to businesses of all sizes, when you play games like this and what you are doing becomes public, it makes you look like a schmuck and it makes your loyal customers feel like morons and marks.

Don’t treat your best customers like second class citizens. Treat them the way you’d want someone else to treat your mom (making some assumptions here, lol).

Your most devoted customers should get the best you have to offer without having to threaten departure or begging for something better.

Instead of offering a 20% discount to customer who threatens to leave after a year, offer a surprise 20% reduction to a customer who’s been with you for a year. Talk about fueling word of mouth expansion. Do that and you’ll create an army of super fans and evangelists who’ll pre-sell everyone they meet with a killer story about the company who did them right and they’ll stay with you forever.

Straight up, total goofball, do not do this at home fun. Because life’s too serious to be, well, serious all the time!

Buy 10,000 books (yes, that’s not a typo, my dignity will cost you, lol) and I will shave your company’s logo on my head and dye my hair to match your brand.

Then, I’ll film the whole thing, have it professionally produced by my crack team of editors—which happens to include a gaggle of improv comedians, a Chihuahua named Doug, a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Justin Bieber and a disembodied unicorn head—and have it posted online for maximum fun and exposure.

And, of course, an offer like this deserves its very own, super-cheesy, over-the-top, whiz-bang-animated, movie-trailer-voice-over video. So, here it is…

If you want to be the one to lock up my head, do NOT wait. This is grade-A noggin real-estate people!

Do like the video says and email head@theuncertaintybook.com for the details.

Huggies & butterflies.

+++

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them:

“When you dress properly and look clean, people treat you better. They’ll think you’re smart. And that you come from a good family with money. They’ll be nicer and pay attention and help you more. Don’t you want that?”

After I’d spoken, I fell silent and felt guilty. What an awful, biased, discriminating thing to say – and worse, I’d said it to my six-year-old daughter.

Some role model I was, right?

But I hadn’t been thinking when blurted that out. I’d been frustrated and irritated because I needed to take my daughter to the hospital, and she’d been (loudly) refusing to brush her long, curly hair.

I don’t blame her. She’d been sick, it was tangled, and it hurt.

Here’s the problem: No matter how much we wish the world to be a fair place that judges people for their inner worth and not their outer appearance… it just doesn’t work that way.

Sad, but true. Clean, well-dressed people are perceived to be more educated, skilled or experienced. And they get better treatment because of it. Disagree with me? Go stand next to a beggar and ask the first person to pass by for some help or a few dollars.

In business, things are much the same – and we know this. We dress well, have nice websites, and put our best foot forward for our clients. We realize (sometimes intuitively) that our appearance directly influences our reputation, our potential, and our chances of making the sale.

We want to look capable. We want to create a good impression. We want prospects to think, “This could be the guy we’re looking for.”

Let’s take things online, shall we?

Online, there aren’t any face-to-face interviews. It’s all websites and blogs and newsletters and emails. Sure, you have some Skype calls and videos thrown into the mix, but for the most part, people learn more about you and your business through written communication.

And how you present yourself in words means everything to your success.

It starts with design. People land on your website and in seconds, decide whether it looks appealing enough for them to stick around. If they like what they see, they start to read.

And they start making all sorts of judgements about you.

They decide whether you’re smart. Whether you’re sassy or friendly. Whether you’re professionally skilled or specialized in your field. Whether you’re experienced enough for what they need. And whether you’re nice.

They haven’t met you yet. They have no clue who you are. But they make decisions and assumptions about you and your business based on how you present yourself… in writing.

That means that what you write and the way you write it directly influences people’s perceptions – and in turn, how they treat you and whether they should buy from you based on those perceptions.

If they think your home copy sounds expert, they’ll assume you’re a good choice for their project. If your About page sounds personable, they’ll assume you’re a nice guy. If your Services page is clear and concise, they’ll assume you’re on the ball.

And if your sales copy speaks to them… they’ll trust you with their money.

They don’t even know who you are. Or whether you can do what you say you can do. Or whether your product is going to work or break.

But if you write compelling, engaging words… they’ll believe you’re everything your writing conveys.

The problem is that most business owners don’t know how to write in a way that reflects the image they want to present to readers. They might write well enough, sure, but does their writing create trust, build a bond and convey the right image to pull in sales?

Very often, no.

And if you’re writing your own business content, you’ll want to think about learning better techniques. Why? The answer is simple: If your copy is awkward, if your blog post is clunky, if your newsletter is boring… you’ve lost a sale. Probably several.

You’re leaving money on the table.

That’s not something you want to do, so here are 3 tips (and a bonus!) on how can improve your copy to instantly improve your business credibility – and of course, get better results.

Focus on “you”, not “I”

When businesspeople write about their company, what it does, and why it’s a good choice, it’s tough to write using a “you” focus. But the alternative is writing “we” all over the place. “We do this, we do that, we, we, we.” That gives readers the impression your business is arrogant and doesn’t care about them much. Go through your copy now. Rewrite every “we” so that it reads “you” instead – and see the difference yourself!

Cut the fluff

Most business people are long winded, especially when it comes to writing their own web copy. They think longer sentences sound more professional. But short, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand words create a better impression – yes, even if your visitors are high-level executives. Why use 20 words when 5 will do? Cut out all the fluffy words and trim your content down so that even a teenager could read it – your bottom line will thank you, and so will your readers.

Add some spunk

Some people think that “professional writing” means informative, bland and devoid of personality – but people (and customers) much prefer seeing a more human side, even in business. So go ahead and add personality to your web copy, with little phrases that make people smile or a bit of witty prose. Not too much, though: Personality is a seasoning best used with gentle moderation.

Cut back on the catchwords

Some people use so many catchwords and trendy phrases that it’s nearly impossible to figure out what they’re talking about. (Normstorming? Sounds cool, but what the…??) Trying to be too cool with your copy ends up losing you customers who think you’re just crazy. Be clear, never clever, and make sure you use simple phrases that site visitors understand at first glance – without having to think about it for 10 minutes.
Your online success directly hinges on your content and copy. So learn the techniques. Improve your writing skills. Put every chance on your side.

Because just like my daughter’s brushed hair and clean clothes got her better treatment, your polished words and well-written content bring you better sales and business results.

+++

Men with Pens’ famous writer James Chartrand recently launched Damn Fine Words, the game-changing writing course for business owners.

Then, last week, I announced a mad-cool 3-book pre-order bundle and a whole lotta people took advantage of the offer.

But, then I got a lot of emails from others saying:

“I’d love to be able to pre-order 3-copies of Uncertainty and give two to friends, but I’m a bit short on change these days. Any chance you could do something special for me if I pre-ordered a single book?”

Short answer…YES! Not only that, I’ve created a bunch of new bundles, give-aways and just posted the first two chapters to read.

Download the Intro & first chapter now.

You can now read the introduction and first chapter of Uncertainty. You don’t need to give me an email or anything. It’s available as an instant PDF download. So, go check it out, read it and share it around. Click on the download link to the right of the video here.

1-Book Pre-Order Experience.

One key element of the 3-book bundle I announced last week was a 6-week training with me. Every week, once a week for 6 weeks, starting around October 15th, you and I will come together on a live conference-line (or webcast for those who prefer it). I will take you deeper into six key areas in the book, explore the strategies and practices on a real-life/implementation level, share updated research with you and spend as much time as I can answering your questions.

What’s the value of something like that? Well, an hour Skype Borrow My Brain consult with me these days starts at $1,000. A skype lunch-n-learn starts at $2,500 and a 1-hour keynote starts at $12,500. And, you’re getting 6-hours of me for around $17, or whatever it costs for you to pre-order your copy of Uncertainty at any bookstore or website that works for you. Click here to learn more & claim your spot.

100 & 500 Book Pre-Order Experience.

Is your company, organization or group getting crushed by a lack of creativity and innovation? Are your people suffering more than they’re creating? If so, the very things you’re doing to try to spark creativity and innovation may be shutting them down. This book, the ideas and strategies in it, and the training experience I can deliver around it may well be your answer. So, I’ve created two special bundles for organizations.

When you pre-order 100 or 500 books now, you will essentially save your company between $2,500 and $10,000 and get me, a boatload of books and a set of strategies and practices that will change how your people live, create, relate and innovate. But, there are only 5 of each offer available. Click here to learn more & claim your event date.

Insane 10,000 Book Mystery Offer –

This is still double-top-secret, but you’ll know in a few days. You will not want to miss the video for this puppy! Even if you have no interest in the offer. Trust me on this…

Let’s Make a Deal –

A bunch of people have asked me if I could create some kind of custom pre-order bundle or experience. I thought about it, then decided, “hey, why not?” So I’ve also added a place for you to make me an offer. Maybe you work with a group of 25 artists or lead a small business or run a book group for the inmates in your cell block. Whatever it is, you can now make me an offer and, hey, we can talk about it! Just click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

The cool thing about each of these pre-order “experience” bundles is that you’re no longer just buying a book, you’re enrolling in an experience, one that not only brings the book to life, but illuminates the ideas, practices and strategies on a whole different level, while allowing you to ask me questions about how to make it all work in your own quest to create great art, business and life.

I love being able to create bigger experiences like this for you guys! Makes me feel good to be able to give you more.

If you feel like sharing these experiences, I’d be grateful.

But the first few sentences of two of the pitches I got over the last few months were too good not to share with you and turn them into a mini-lesson of what never to do.

Both were unsolicited. Pitch one started.

Hi Jonathan,

It’s small business week and I sure you and everyone else at Awake At The Wheel are sick of getting pointless pitches but I think you might like this one.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs tend to suck at planning and forecasting the success (or not) of their business.

So, let’s see what we can learn from this…

• “It’s small business week and I sure” – now you guys know I iz a disaster when it comes to typos, but when you’re mass emailing a bazillion pitches to people who don’t want them, be sure to double-check. Bloggers are like resume screeners, dying for a reason to say no as fast as humanly possible so they can get on to the stuff they want to say yes to.
• “…you and everyone else at Awake At The Wheel” – First, I dropped the Awake @ The Wheel moniker from my blog more than a year ago. But I know that my contact information still has it in certain massive PR databases. Which is yet another sign that I’m only one of a bazillion people being gifted with this admittedly “pointless pitch.” Second, if you read me regularly, would you really say “everyone else?” Who exactly would be on that massive team?
• “sick of getting pointless pitches but I think you might like this one” – Really? REALLY? If you think I’m sick of getting pointless pitches, why would you own that and in the same sentence introduce me to one? Really?!
• “tend to suck” – I write in a very casual way with you guys. My tribe. My regulars. And I’m guessing, on occasion, I’ve even written the word “suck.” But I’m still old-school when it comes to being professional in a pitch. Maybe I’m just cranky, a lot of all-growned-up bloggers I know are the same. Once we’re friends, say whatever you want. But until you know me, and know how I prefer to be communicated with, keep it respectful and professional. Or else you end up sounding like a 12-year old gamer in a 22 year old PR intern’s ill-fitting suit.

Okay, email #2 – first few sentences:

I am currently following you on twitter @[redacted/witness protection]

I would like your assistance with something; I would like you to write a blog introducing me to your ‘’Tribe’’ and maybe a couple of tweets endorsing me.

I know that that is a strong paragraph to open this email with but here me out.

First line, okay, this person introduces relevance, it’s a person who follows me on twitter. I do a quick scan and am pretty sure said person has never interacted with me in any way on twitter. But, like I said, I’m old and I forget stuff, so who knows?

Second line – you know that bloggy thing you’ve worked for years to cultivate? That tribe you’ve shared so much value with and to whom your word is really important? Well, you need to feature my “I-don’t-care-about-your-tribe-beyond-my-ability-to-take-money-from-them-and-I-can-prove-it-cuz-I’ve-never-so-much-as-said-boo-in-a-comment-or-read-a-single-post-I-can-reference-in-my-email-to-let-you-know-I-have-any-real-clue-who-you-are” self on your blog, then tweet about me…like pronto, like. Do I really need to say more?

Third line – “here me out.” Typo. Plus, no. Do ya think I did?

Now, let’s contrast these first two with a third one that came in shortly after.

Here are the first few sentences:

Hi Jonathan,

I was reading your blog today and saw your offer from Blogworld East. I was just speaking with a girlfriend today about how we both wished we could go. (We’re both in [city name] and our bosses have been unsympathetic to our pleas!)

I thought it was great that you offer things like that to your readers. The thought crossed my mind, perhaps you and your readers would find value in a membership to [Company Name]? Our business model is based off a $129 per year fee. However, if you think it would benefit your readers,  we could create a custom landing page with your logo and a custom promo code that would let your readers in free to all of the [Company Name] events for one year. (I bolded this just in case you scanned the email and thought I was trying to sell you when you saw $129)

Relevant. Shows knowledge and involvement in my content and my tribe. Expresses gratitude for my interest in sharing special perks with my readers. Offers to create an opportunity where they do all the work to give my readers relevant value for no cost.

Did I do it? No. But, at least I was far more open to the conversation and the offer. And if it was more on-point, I very well may have.

Five rules for pitching bloggers on, well, anything…

1. Know the hell out of the pitchee. Understand what they like, don’t like and what they cover and stay relevant to that and only that.

2. Engage first. Interact with the pitchee in a way that adds value to their ecosystem first, frequently and long before you ever ask something of them. They should already know who you are and believe that you care before an ask is made. And don’t do it just because you want something from them, do it because you both care about the same things and you want more people in your life like that.

3. Make every ask a give. Create an experience that gives more than it takes.

4. Make it easy. Offer to do the work for them, make it as easy as saying yes.

5. Un-pitch. If you do rules 1 – 4 exceptionally well, you won’t have to pitch. You can just ask a colleague or friend who very often will have already made a standing offer to help you out if you ever need it.

Bonus rule – speelhceekx

These rules may be a bit different outside of social media. But, social media has now matured to a point where the potential to do it right has evolved into the expectation that you will do it right.

P.S. – Please understand, my intention is in no way to denigrate or flame the people who sent me these pitches. That’s why I don’t publish names/identities with posts like this. Not my style. My sole purpose is to use occasions like this as teaching moments, to help those trying to build a brand and strong relationships understand how to better approach the people whose help you’d like.

That’s it.

Huggies & butterflies…

Power, freedom, control, respect and, yes, even moolah (I know, you’re not supposed to mention money in the same sentence as art, right?), are there for the taking…if you get what’s really happening and are willing to act on it.

Doesn’t matter if you’ve never published or you’re an established author. Nor does it matter if you’re a writer’s writer or a business person wanting a book to use as a business card. You don’t need to censor, cannibalize or sell-out to benefit from the revolution. In fact, it’s more important than ever to write a phenomenal book.

But if you want to benefit from the extraordinary change in the publishing world, rather than get pummeled by it (which many authors are), you need to do one giant thing…

Become an enterprise.

What exactly does that mean and how do you do it without feeling like a slime-bag sell-out or having the “enterprise” side of things kill your ability to actually write great books?

That’s what I’m talking about over at the just-launched Tribal Author Camp book marketing page.

If you’re an author or aspiring author who’s not happy with:

• The direction your career is going,
• The number of books you’re selling,
• The interest you’re getting from publishers, readers and press,
• The advances your getting from publishers or income your earning self-publishing,
• The level of control, freedom and respect your getting as a “writer” in a world where everyone “has a book”

Or, if you:

• Don’t understand what the basic author business models are,
• Need to figure out whether to go with traditional or self-publishing,
• Want to amass enough power to do either and earn a nice living, and
• Need to learn how to create a highly-tactical book launch campaign without the marketing and platform-building side of things taking over your life…

Go check out the information and see if it resonates.

Which leads to a whole lot of shtick. Goofy “leave-behinds,”  like squeeze balls, popsicle sticks or M&Ms with your name printed on them. Or events designed purely to get attention.

Problem is, in a world filled with attention-hungry noise, it’s not enough.

Shtick doesn’t stick.

It may be cute. It may provoke a momentary “cool!” or “cuuuute!”

But for a stunt or attention vehicle to lead to business, you need to bundle it or better yet, replace it, with an experience of not only pattern interruption, but relevance, reason and resonance.

• Relevance – the attention-mechanism is actually intrinsically-relevant to the need or desire or the person or company
• Reason – it gives them a reason to (a) prefer your solution over another’s, and (c) buy, and
• Resonance – the impact of the attention mechanism resonates deeply with the recipient and provides independent value.

Anyone can come up with some kind of shticky event or doohicky that stops someone for a moment.

That’s not the challenge.

It’s what they experience and whether they’re compelled to act in a way that benefits both of you after your “intervention” that turns an attention-mechanism into impact and business.

Now, where’d I put that personalized bobble-head order form?

[This is what was hot on the blog a year ago today]

When I work with a new marketing client, one of the first things I do is go deep into their business model.

This intrigues some…and pisses off others.

“Listen up,” I’ll hear, “we’re not paying you to fix our business, we just need more people coming through the door.”

To which I reply:

Let me ask you a question. In my car, I have a box. Actually, it’s a very sophisticated machine. Downright visionary. It took a boatload of money to create and a few years of work by me and my team. I believe in it wholeheartedly.

Now, this machine, it’s got a slot on the top with a printed label next to the slot that reads ‘Insert $100.’ And, here’s the fascinating thing, every time you insert a $100 bill, it gives you back $90. Now, didn’t we know this machine would end up doing this until we’d actually finished creating it. It was supposed to give us back $120 for each $100 we put in.

The first time we tested it with a $100 bill, we thought it was just a calibration error. So, we dropped in another…same result. So, here’s my question, knowing what you now know about this machine, would you keep feeding it $100s?

For some people, it clicks right away. Sometimes, it takes a few beats.

Many businesses think they have a marketing problem, but what they really have is a business model problem. They’ve created what I call a greedy beast. It may be based on a fundamental solution or idea that was sound, but somewhere in the execution, things went astray.

And, left unchanged, their greedy beast eats money for lunch, leaving them losing money with each sale.

If that was your business, would you want to drive MORE traffic, MORE prospects and MORE sales?

The obvious answer is…HELL NO!

Because the faster you feed a greedy beast, the faster it eats itself and you alive.

The less apparent answer, though, is…maybe.

If the reason you’re losing money on each sale is because you can’t bring your cost structure down to a level where each sale is profitable until you scale to a certain volume, and you’re capable of hitting that tipping point, you might be well served by sucking up the losses in the name of a viable longer-term equation.

Problem is, many businesses never do this analysis.

They assume they need to feed the beast more aggressively, without understanding when and why the beast either giveth…or taketh.

So, what’s the takeaway?

Before you go running to ramp up or fix your marketing, take a bigger step back and ask whether your problem is really a business model problem. This is especially important if you’re in a business that did well for years, but has seen a recent decline.

Demand changes over time, the need for solutions evolves, pain points move and even established businesses need to move with them.

Make sure you fix the beast before you end up feeding it its own limbs.