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7L: The Seven Levels of Communication (Book Review)

By Christian

You know I don’t do reviews often. Hardly ever. However, a new book has come along that has real merit. It deserves all the exposure it can get, and YOU deserve to know about it.

A good friend Michael Maher has worked hard on The Seven Levels of Communication for over a year. Candidly, it’s a serious asset to the world of small business. I call em like I see em.

Since I had the pleasure of talking with Michael several times as he went through the process of writing this, I can give you my direct, personal impression of where this book is coming from:

Unlike many books in this genre, 7L was not written for the purpose of acquiring money or fame. It was not written to upsell something else. It was not written to fulfill a contract. Michael Maher wrote this book with passion. He wrote it as a means of contribution. He wrote it for the purpose of giving back. It’s a book of substance, written from a place of genuine authority.

The Seven Levels of Communication shares directly from Michael’s personal success in small business, and if you’re a small business owner, he’s someone you’d do well to emulate. This is a guy who walks the walk, and the reason he’s able to teach the concepts in this book with such conviction is because he knows from personal experience that they work.

This book is awesome if you want an engaging, informative read on how to grow your business in a human, social and effective way. It’s not just informative, it gives you a SYSTEM that you can put to work in your business immediately.

I originally had received an advanced copy of this book, and after I read it, I was positive it would do well. He’s released the book since then, and it’s currently climbing in Amazon. It’s #22 in it’s category right now, and I expect to see it continue to thrive.

In my conversations with some of you on Twitter and elsewhere, I’ve compared this book to Emyth, which is a classic in the small business genre. I think that comparison stands. It’s that good. The Seven Levels of Communication gives small business owners a concrete way of looking at sales and marketing from a socially-focused point of view, in a way that transcends Twitter…or whatever the “cool” social platform of the day happens to be.

You may not be familiar with Michael, because he’s a first time author. If you’re a regular reader here, you may know that my primary internet marketing niche has been real estate for the past three years, and that’s how I’ve come to know him.

Michael is an accomplished sales professional, business owner, speaker, real estate broker and team leader. This book is written from the point of view of a real estate broker, so any of my clients who are in real estate should get this book without hesitation. If you want to take your real estate business to the next level right now, this book gives specific and proven tactics for making it happen.

However, don’t let the real estate background of the author make you think this book is only applicable to real estate professionals. Nothing could be further from the truth. The principles here are valuable and can be applied directly to any business that works with people…which of course is EVERY business. In other words, if you sell stuff you should read this book. It will change the way you look at your business, and it sheds some much-needed light on how to achieve growth whether the market is up, down or sideways.

Is the economy down? Are people just not buying? Are your clients or customers full of excuses? I hear ya. 7L shows you exactly how to power through these obstacles.

There’s a lot of talk about relationship marketing, the value of relationships, the power of social media, blah, blah, blah. Michael Maher gives you a clear roadmap in this book; he shows you how to approach relationship marketing deliberately and effectively. I can tell you one thing I’ve seen first hand, Michael knows how to take action and get crazygood (that’s my word now) results, and this book is a clear example of that.

I hope you check this out; I’d love to hear what you think. Get it.

Taking Things to the Next Level

By Christian

skys-the-limit — The sky's the limit, baby! Products are leveraged and will allow me to reach more people. What are you doing to grow your business this month? I'd love to hear your plans!

This past week, and for the next few weeks or so, I will be focusing on creating a few new sites and corresponding products to take things to the next level. As many of you know, I started out with consulting and continue to do that more than anything else. It works well, but the thing about consulting is that there is only so much time in one day, you know? So as a result, I am taking the same ideas and concepts I go over with clients on a consulting business, and I’m recording them via audio, video and written tutorials, to be shared via information products.

This will allow me to share the same ideas with a lot more people…for a significantly lower cost. I love meeting and consulting with you; I really do! But if I can offer you the same information for significantly less, wouldn’t that be a great deal? That’s what I’m doing. Consulting will remain available of course, but after a few of these products are in place, we’ll be able to reserve consulting fees for only the truly custom jobs.

I will continue sharing ideas and posting to Next Level Blogger, but I just wanted to give you heads up on what’s in store. This is what I’m doing to take things to the next level this year. Leverage! I’d love to hear what you’re up to also! What are you doing to grow your business this month? Have a great weekend!

A New Tool for Disclosing Affiliate Links on Twitter

By Christian

As I’m a follower of @unmarketing and @copyblogger on Twitter, I was lucky enough to see a cool discussion just now regarding the disclosure of affiliate links on Twitter. It’s an important topic. Are you revisiting how you disclose your compensation as a blogger? If not, it’s time to do so. The new FTC guidelines are old news by now, but it’s easy to let certain things slip to the back of our minds. This just isn’t an area where I’d recommend slacking. Make sure your disclosures measure up.

I want to thank Scott Stratten for sending out a link to https://discl.us/. With new FTC guidelines looming with regards to how we disclose affiliate links and such on Twitter and other social media platforms, this is a great tool to consider using.

How exactly are you to disclose to your followers on Twitter that you’re sending out an affiliate link in a tweet? Since you’re limited to 140 characters…some form of shorthand simply must be invented. As @copyblogger pointed out in this conversation, the FTC does not differentiate on their policy from one platform to the next. Bottom line, if you’re use social media for business, there’s a good chance you use affiliate marketing as a part of your income strategy, and if you’re linking to an affiliate, or if you’ve received compensation of any type, it must be disclosed.

Scott made a great point that maybe the best solution is to simply link to a post on our blog, which in turn links to an affiliate. This way, we have ample space for disclosure. Another tool for disclosure is https://discl.us/. It provides a way of disclosing right within the tweet itself.

Will it stand up in court? Ha. Don’t even ask me. But it’s a nice tool. I will consider using it, and I wanted you to be aware of it as an option.

For more information on this important topic, I recommend reading Brian Clark’s article “How to Turn Affiliate Marketing Disclosure Into a Selling Point“.

A Conversation with Best-Selling Author John Rowley

By Christian

I just got off the phone with best-selling author John Rowley. He’s the author of “Climb Your Ladder of Success Without Running Out of Gas”. John has a truly inspiring story of hard work and triumphing over adversity. I’ve learned a lot from him, and it’s been awesome getting the chance to talk with him.

The reason I wanted to mention my call with him is two-fold. First of all, I just love having the opportunity to mention his story and his book to you. I recommend learning more about John and getting his book if you haven’t already. He’s an accomplished business owner, a best selling author and an engaging and dynamic speaker. Anyone interested in taking their life or business to the next level (that’s you!) can learn some valuable lessons from him.

Secondly, as always I’m exploring the options for taking my business to the next level, and as such I’ve been looking at the possibilities of putting out a book at some point. That’s what I wanted to talk with John about.

One of the reasons I wanted to meet Gary Vaynerchuk in Chicago recently is the same thing…I wanted to meet someone at a book tour in real life and get a sense of it. Do I want to put out a book at some point? I am on the fence. I’m not in a position to do it right this moment of course, but should it be part of my long term plan? That’s what I’m trying to answer.

My conversation with John was about that…what’s the deal with putting out a book? What’s the value in it? What’s the schedule like? How do you get it done? And of course…should I do it?

Here are a few things I learned:

Putting out a book is a massive time commitment, for which you will likely be paid little or nothing.
If your first book is very successful, writing your second or third book MIGHT be a good way to “make money”.
John was committed to getting published. He got turned down well over 300 times before getting a publishing deal.
Even though it didn’t net him a ton of money, it has opened up a lot of opportunity that would otherwise not have happened.
John described a best-selling book as “the ultimate business card”. It’s simply a way to brand yourself in a powerful, convincing and authoritative way. It can open up larger opportunities for down the road.

I’m naturally a pretty low key guy and just like running my niche business. Gary Vaynerchuk has the ambition to own the Jets and basically become a billionaire. John Rowley wants to put out more books, have his own TV show and run other businesses. These are both awesome guys that I learn a lot from, but I just like building sites and marketing them! I like selling, and I like interacting with my community. I honestly have no personal interest in having a show of my own. It’s just not my bag 😉

So should I write a book? To me right now, it seems unnecessary…which really is not what I expected. It seemed like an obvious next step for me in about a year or two. You never know what direction things will go, and I’m definitely not ruling it out. But currently, if I have to choose between putting out a traditional book or launching a new internet marketing project…I’m gonna stick with internet marketing…at least for now 🙂

One thing I wanted to point out in case it’s not already obvious…John Rowley was very gracious to give me some of his time. We talked on the phone for a good 20 minutes or so…something he did not have to do. He did it purely out of generosity, and I’m very appreciative. I’ve been repeatedly amazed at how generous and forthcoming the top achievers in my network are. Thanks again John!

Speak Your Mind

By Christian

I just wanted to thank you all…everyone who has taken a minute to respond to my user survey for Next Level Blogger. One of the key things I preach to clients is to get all the data you can from your visitors, customers and clients…and then don’t skip the crucial next step: FOLLOW THROUGH ON IT!

Don’t just get information from your visitors and then fail to implement it into your plan! You guys and gals are AWESOME for speaking your mind and letting me know what you think about Next Level Blogger. I want to confirm with you that I AM listening to your feedback, and I am already in the process of following through on what you’ve shared with me 🙂

So far, you’ve given me input on what type of issues and concerns you’d like to see addressed here, and you’ve given me some awesome ideas for upcoming articles on blogging, monetizing, internet marketing and more, so be on the look out for them!

If you read my articles or ebooks, and you haven’t submitted a survey yet…please do so! It will take you about one minute. Seriously…and I absolutely WILL read your input, and I absolutely WILL follow through on it 🙂 Speak your mind! Let me know what you love about Next Level Blogger, what you hate and what you’d like to see next. Thanks again!

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