I recorded another video for my YouTube channel. This time I was doing something differently. I recorded the video in my living room, so I didn’t have to hold the camera in my hand (which can be a trouble after 2 x 10 minutes of recording). (Don’t believe me? Try it.)
Another news, the microphone I bought already broke down, so I ordered a new one from Amazon. Hopefully this one will actually work at least a year. This things aren’t that cheap…
I only made 1 recording of The Sales Bible, so it’s not really perfect, but I had to keep moving so we’re going to have to suck it up, and let it be. It’s not so much that I didn’t travel in the past two weeks (although my car is in the workshop for the past 7 days #IncompetentMechanic), it’s just that I wanted to keep recording, I already read books, so I already have other in the pipeline. And I wanted to see how it would work with indoor videos, lighting, and especially sound now that I am without a microphone.
The book itself was great, and I actually listened to it twice (I sometimes do that) in two weeks. And as you’ll see from the video, the whole point of sales is to do what you learned and move forward, not just read and think. You have to act. Actually, that’s common with every book, but that’s especially evident when it comes to learning a new skill, like sales.
In short, the five takeaways are:
1. Failure is an event, not a person – Zig Ziglar. Failure is not about insecurity, it’s about lack of execution.
2. When asked a buying question, move in to close the client.
3. Selling is not telling its asking questions and listening.
4. The 10.5 Commandments of Sales Success.
5. One of most repeated word throughout the book was rapport.
P.S.
Oh yes, I also wanted to showcase the new T-shirt that I got from Permia. I just couldn’t wait for warmer days to show it to you.
It’s no surprise I am interested in four letter .com domains. Compared to three letter .com domains, they are like the silver (trading mostly in low hundreds). The three letter .com domains would then be like the gold, trading in low to mid five figures.
So that got me thinking, how does real gold work? Why some of greatest financial minds advise investing in gold? Last year I read Tony Robbins, Money: Master the Game where Ray Dalio shared his formula for accumulating wealth, known as the all seasons strategy.
Among other things, gold was in his portfolio and he also explained how 50% stocks and 50% bonds isn’t necessarily the right asset allocation. Why? Because history has shown that stocks handle 95% of the risk and bonds only 5%. So the percentages should be different, and there should be some gold in there. Why? I’ll give you sneak peak on one of my takeaways, since the US Dollar is off the gold standard, price of gold per ounce went up 3000% since 1971.
Anyway, I thought to myself… Gold, that sounds easy, it’s a simple chemical element. Hence James Rickards, The New Case for Gold and my 5 takeaways after listening to this audiobook.
As for the recording itself, I was in Crikvenica and my microphone died after barely few months and 10 videos… I recorded this video without the microphone, what can I say, show must go on.
Few years ago I watched Eric Thomas on Youtube, and his words made a lasting impact on me. When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful. Wow… Don’t let nothing stop you!
I enjoyed Eric’s book The Secret to Success, and while I was in Ljubljana, Slovenia I was able to record my 5 takeaways. When I first started doing these videos I would freak out when I saw that somebody is about to walk by me while I was filming, and I would be anxious… But I want to stay true to my cause, valuable takeaways from a great book with a significant background. In this video I could sense the progress I’ve made with my confidence since I was standing in the middle of the a square in downtown Ljubljana with two buses of tourists just coming out. And here are was filming my 5 takeaways! Haha! If someone told me this couple months ago I wouldn’t believe it.
I know which book I am reading, but where do we make the next video?
New book, new city, new video, new post!
This time I was listening to an audiobook by Daymond John, The Power of broke. I liked the book, and I had no problem finding 5 takeaways, and I am looking forward to integrating them into my business. If you are a fan of Shark Tank like me, Daymond John doesn’t need an intro. If you are not, then suffice it to say Daymond John is the founder of Fubu a billion dollar clothing company, investor to dozens of startups and an advisor to US president Obama.
As for the recording of this video, I was able to make some progress by buying a cable extension for my microphone, so finally the microphone is under the shirt, not flying around (finally!)! Since my first video I couldn’t have imagined standing on a square with so many people and recording a video, but I am getting more and more comfortable in front of the camera (while people are walking by). This helps with the recording, takes less time and I am able to say what I actually intend to say. Also I am seeing progress with not reading so much of the screen. Earlier I was using my iPad as a clutch for reading, now my old iPhone does the trick.
I also changed the YouTube thumbnail just a little bit. For this video (and perhaps future videos as well) I’ve decided to start with the title and put my company’s logo at the bottom with a “sponsored by” tagline instead of just a dash. Here’s the video!
I just posted a new video on my YouTube channel. I finished listening to an audiobook called Be Obsessed Or Be Average by Grant Cardone. Although a good book, I liked his The 10X Rule more.
What I’ve improved in this video is the nagging microphone cable. It’s pretty short, so when I put the camera (aka my iPhone) on the stick, I run out of cable, so I couldn’t tuck inside of my shirt. Well, no more. I was able to find and purchase an extension cord (it was just a few US dollars), so now the wire won’t dance around while I am making the video.
In this video I was able to keep the reading to a minimum (if any), but there’s still a lot of progress to be made. I also liked the fact that this was recorded in one take. Meaning, walked to the peer, setup the camera and microphone, “shot the scene” and I was done.
I already finished listening some audiobooks, so I have to pick the right shooting place, and get the camera rolling.
After a short break on my YouTube channel due to 2 books that didn’t meet my standards, and since I stopped reading after 40-50 pages, I was able to pick up the pace with Grant Cardone’s The 10X Rule!
Again, in my humble opinion, I was able to improve my video. This time by shooting with the new iPhone (what an improvement from my old iPhone). I also dropped my WhoAPI pitch that was first at the begining of the video, and then later at the end of the video. It just doesn’t add value to the video, but it makes it much longer. I’ll try to deal with this in the future, but for now I’ve decided to proceed without the hard pitch inside these short videos.
I already have some improvements planned for my next one, but let’s first enjoy this one.
I just published a new video, this time I recorded my 5 takeaways from Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life by Brian Tracy. I was in Moscenicka Draga, I often go there because of a beautiful beach.
Anyway, I made some progress again. I dropped the sunglasses,I mention WhoAPI at the end, and I’ve added custom thumbnails to all my videos. This was one of the most difficult videos to record so far. I was interrupted several times, it was very hot, and I changed the intro sequence to which I was just getting used to…
Next I am thinking about hiding the mic wire under my shirt (OMG can’t believe I didn’t see this sooner) I just hope the wire is long enough. I would like to read less from my notes. Also, perhaps try using a tripod and record with a back camera to get better video quality. But both of this could/would involve some editing, and/or help from a second person.
Today I published my 7th book review on my Youtube channel. Changes I’ve made / noticed since my first video:
– Bought a small mic
– Bought a selfie stick
– Thinking about using a tripod (because of image shaking, and front iPhone camera), but this won’t allow me to show different angles (I don’t want to spend time editing the videos, yet)
– I don’t freak out (as much) in front of the camera
– I should memorize at least the first part of the video
– I should do at least 2 takes, and then pick the winner (I did this with only two videos)
– This is actually the first video I can watch without cringing