The Digital Entrepreneur

Recent research shows that the human brain can detect confidence in your voice in 0.2 seconds — faster than the blink of an eye. And it’s confidence that influences the listener to give you attention and perceive authority. It’s an interesting finding, especially with the mainstream emergence of podcasting. We’ve already discussed how audio is... Listen to episode

It’s the new thing: 1. Start a podcast. 2. Attract an audience. 3. ??? 4. Profit! Sounds a lot like blogging in 2006. Problem is, with the exception of a few huge sites, it didn’t really work out that way for most bloggers. Which is why thinking in terms of content marketing and developing your... Listen to episode

The online education industry will rake in 107 billion in 2015. And with the sale of Lynda.com to LinkedIn for $1.5 billion, the commercial sector is leading and pulling away from traditional institutions in the “just in time” education market. People want online courses, and they’ll clearly pay for them. And if great content marketing... Listen to episode

One day we’ll look back at this period in history as the big swindle known as social media marketing. But on the upside, we’ll also view these times as the point where companies big and small realized the importance of owning their own home base and enticing prospects not only to visit, but to experience.... Listen to episode

The world of marketing is being turned on its head. Instead of messaging that promises an experience, effective marketing must itself begin the experience ...

What can digital media producers learn from “old” media and the people who’ve been creating it for decades? Almost everything. One of the recurring themes we talk about around this company is the critical importance of becoming the producer of your own media, building your own media asset, building your own audience. Why? On one... Listen to episode

In previous episodes, we’ve discussed the “why” of starting a podcast (or podcast network). In this one, we talk about the “how.” As many of you know by now, it has been almost two weeks since we launched this on-demand audio network called Rainmaker.FM. Thanks to you, things have gone pretty well in that time.... Listen to episode

Your email list is the most valuable asset for an online business. There’s a lot to consider when maximizing the number of people who sign up, but sometimes you have to also focus on getting enough people to see your opt-in the first place. Noah Kagan has spent over $2 million on Facebook ads while... Listen to episode

Back in 2005, I came up with the idea for Copyblogger, a site that taught people how to create text content and copy to sell products and services. Right … everyone knows that. But did you know a competing idea was to instead start a podcast? To say that would have been the wrong move... Listen to episode

I vividly remember the first time I heard Black Flag. It was in a kid named Mike Goodman s bedroom, and the record was called Damaged. That s how it was pre-Internet in suburban Houston. If it wasn t on the radio or MTV, it was invisible–unless some cool kid turned you on to something new (who probably... Listen to episode

What’s the reality of search engine optimization after the Google Hummingbird update? Can someone destroy your business with negative SEO? Did Google kill the concept of AuthorRank when it eliminated the Authorship initiative? For these types of questions, there’s no better person to ask than Danny Sullivan, founder of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land,... Listen to episode

Brian and I have been talking about his new email newsletter lately, and I thought it’d be interesting to have a similar conversation with someone in a completely different topical market. It’s about one person writing and curating a topic he knows and cares about, building a massive email audience over a period of four... Listen to episode

This week, Robert and I put on our commentary caps to take on subjects that have been in the news. Plus, we reveal what’s in the very near future for Rainmaker.FM (think big). The main story this week is all too familiar … short-cut marketers are the reason we can’t have nice things. Now, apparently,... Listen to episode

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~ Mark Twain That Twain guy was pretty smart. But he had to rely on the intuition that comes from years of writing to choose the right word, and even then it was still a... Listen to episode

Today we tackle the eternal question: how do you get traffic to your curation site so you can build an email list? The answers may surprise you ...

This week we focus on the essential element of a smart content curation project, and what you must do before investing serious resources in driving traffic.

People appreciate content curation and will sign up by email ... if you make sure you're doing these five things well.

2014 was a pivotal year for Copyblogger Media. We … Launched a Pilot program for our Rainmaker Platform using a podcast Evolved the platform to version 2.0 during the Pilot phase Arrived at the 8-figure level for annual revenue, up 34% For an added twist, we tried things, observed, learned, and made changes on the... Listen to episode

Seth Godin is the author of 17 bestselling books. He’s the founder of email marketing pioneer Yoyodyne, and the charity-driven publishing platform Squidoo. And he’s the selfless dispenser of daily wisdom via the most popular marketing blog on the planet. But if you had to sum Seth up in one word, it might well be... Listen to episode

Michael Hyatt is the former Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the U.S. In fact, Hyatt has been involved in the traditional publishing business his entire working life. Not the typical profile of a do-it-yourself blogger, right? And yet, in 2012 when Thomas Nelson was acquired... Listen to episode