Making life easier and more geeky all the time! Awesome!

business achievement

Sabah Ali: The Double Major Entrepreneur – How to Combine College Life and Business Achievement (AoL 083)

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College can mean different experiences to different people.

For me, I lived two lives. One, when I was an undergrad, where I was studying all the time and worrying about why I sucked so bad at taking tests and feeling like I had to plagiarize just to pass my classes. I never felt comfortable in my own skin, let alone think about doing anything extracurricular.

And then, in grad school, things changed dramatically. I was suddenly forced into the front of the class – 6 times a week – and found myself in all kinds of clubs.

This had a profound effect on my perspective of life and I finally started emerging from my shell.

But that was just my take on college.

Some people go into college knowing precisely what they want to do. They also have a mission to do as well. Laila’s story was like that as we’ve come to learn. So is today’s guest, Sabah Ali.

Sabah is simply crushing her college career. Not only is she double majoring (yeah, that’s hard enough right there!) but she’s finding time to do a ton of extracurriculars. Writing and publishing a bestselling book. Starting a podcast. And even going to various conferences with mentors and various connections.

In this session’s chat, we find out more about this path of hers. Where the inspiration for the book and podcast came from, and how she’s successfully balancing everything.

As always, thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What was Sabah’s life before he got started as an entrepreneur? 10:24
  • What inspired her to get into fashion? 11:57
  • Why did she double major in fashion and business? 14:16
  • What inspired her at an early age to want to start a fashion business? 17:05
  • What is Sabah currently working on (as of this interview)? 23:19
  • How has her background knowledge of achieving goals helped her create her book? 29:07
  • Why did she write a book in one are when she’s wanting to build a business in fashion? 35:05
  • What’s the story behind the event that Sabah is putting on at Iowa State? 39:28
  • If she could change the world anyway she could, what would she help other people go? 42:19
  • What can people expect from Sabah and Dan’s podcast? 44:53
  • How do they position the podcast? 47:09
  • 3 Influencers that have helped Sabah get to where she is today 51:16
  • What’s the hardest thing that she’s had to say no to? 51:49
  • Something she used to believe in as a 18 year old and doesn’t now? 52:14
  • If she woke up as her 10 year old self and all of her memories were still intact, what would she do? 52:47
  • What’s the secret to achieving personal freedom? 53:20
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Hector Santiesteban interview:

Hanging Out while a new Spring Semester gets Started:

Thanks from Sabah:

Dorm Rooms to Conference Rooms – Pivoting in Your Life:

sabah ali
sabah ali
sabah ali

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

first client

Make a Living From Your Passion: Finding Your First Clients & Introducing the Sales funnel

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Last month we talked all about freebie items that you can use for yourself and your business.

But even with free stuff, there’s not much point in calling what you’re doing a “business” if you’re not making regular income with it.

Sure, you can call it a mission, a calling, a passion project, even a “nonprofit”. But until you’re actively trying to make an income with it, it’s not a business.

It becomes a business when you get that first client – someone that actually pays you to do something.
Whether they pay you a $10 on fiverr for your services, or $14.95 through Amazon, or $300 for help with a website, only then can you say you’ve started your business.

Have you made your first sale?

No?

Let’s get on that!

 

The Basics: Who?

In recent years, there’s been lots of talk about this thing called “an avatar”. An avatar is basically a figure of a person who is your ideal client, audience member, etc.

This is the person you’re looking to talk to or help when you’re making your content or products.

As an entrepreneur, it’s your job to get your products in front of people through marketing and then make the sale.

Remember that marketing is simply about getting the word out. It’s not the same thing as sales which is answering questions in a way that influences a final buy.

The better you can communicate how your product can help or add value to a certain group of people, the less problems you’re going to have selling it.

So spend plenty of time getting to know your audience, potential clients and customers.

Where?

Alright. Now that you have your ideal person figured out, here comes the next piece of the puzzle.

Where can you find these folks to help them? Because you have to get in front of them if they’re going to find out if you exist.

What channels can you find them using?

Are they online? If so, where can you find them? Do they use social media regularly? Do they respond to email marketing over social media marketing?

If they’re offline, where can you find them? Farmer’s markets? Art shows?

You’ll have to think of how to get in front of these folks so they know you exist.

 

Temperature of Prospect

The third thing we need to consider is the temperature of our prospect or leads. Meaning do they trust us enough to want to actually buy something?

A hot prospect does.

A hot prospect knows and trusts you enough that they believe that what you’re selling them is going to help them. They’re very easy to sell to as long as your product is somewhere in the ballpark of what they need.

Think of this group as your “A Listers”. Often times this might be friends and family when you’re first starting out.

 

However, before a prospect knows and likes you enough to be a hot lead, they’re in a zone where they’re called a “warm” prospect. These are folks who might be interested in what you’re offering to help them with, but because they don’t know who you are or exactly why they need your product, they’re merely curious.

Your job with warm leads is to simply educate them enough about what you’re offering a bit more to get either a yes or a no (by the way – this is sales).

These are “B Listers”. Acquaintances and everyone else you know besides close friends and family members usually go here.

 

Finally, you’ve probably heard of marketers “cold calling” prospects. They’re called cold calls because there is no relationship or trust built between the marketers and those prospects. Very rarely do those marketers get sales because, frankly, those prospects have to be in the right state of mind to buy right then and there.

These folks are your “C Listers” because you don’t know them yet.

 

Making C’s into A’s – Intro to Sales Funnels:

When you’re first starting out, it’s going to be hard to get more sales after you exhaust your beginning list of A listers and B listers. You’ll eventually have to rely on a steady flow of C listers into your business.

But how do you do that if they don’t even know you exist?

You create a system where they CAN get to know you.

That’s what a sales funnel is all about. It’s a system that’s put in place to have a C Lister eventually turn into an A Lister – making it easy for them to buy from you.

Interestingly, progressing your cold C Listers into A Listers who are ready and willing to buy from you is fairly straightforward. Many times this process is called a sales funnel. And, today, with the help of the internet, we can set it on automatic.

Here’s a simplified example of what that might look like in 10 steps:

 

  1. You get in front of them in a channel, like Facebook, for the very first time.
  2. They check out your content, realize they like it and want to know more about it.
  3. They make it over to your website.
  4. After awhile, they look at you as an authority and know what you’re talking about.
  5. You offer a free something that piques their interest.
  6. They provide email to get that free something.
  7. They now get more regular updates from you in their email.
  8. Eventually you offer them a product and/or deal that’s too good to pass up.
  9. The benefits you give them match up with what their pain is.
  10. Sale is made.
  11. Optional, but good practice is a Followup – give them access to a community of other users using the product or yourself so they can build relationships.

first client

 

From that group, you can get ideas for “spin-off” products and start the process all over again.

What’s great is that this group you have now is actually one that’s already bought from you. If they liked what you provided before, then they’re more likely to buy from you again.

Oh, and there’s the side perk that they’re probably going to tell other people about what you’re up to and about.

 

Action Steps:

The above model is overly simplified. But, really, that’s all there is to it. In the next post, I’ll give you a bit more about how to start hacking this system. But, in the meantime, I want you to start identifying your potential first clients from your A and B Listers.

If you’ve already had your first client, can you remember what it was that made them your client in the first place? Could you duplicate it you had to? If not, I want you to also think about how sales funnels can play a part in your business. What would that look like?

free phone apps

Freebies to Use for Your Business: Free Phone Apps For You and Your Biz

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In the blog this month, we’ve been looking at freebies (or very inexpensive items) which will help you build your business. They are all things that I’ve used myself and will continue to use in the development of my content and in the content itself.

Again, this all came about when I posted a piece about working with others through the cloud – efficiently and for FREE. It primarily discussed cloud storage apps such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and one I use that not many Americans know about: MEGAupload.

In this post, the freebies we’re looking at are apps. Phone apps and web apps. 

Like most apps, most of these will have a free version and premium version. However, just like the cloud storage apps, you can get by with just the basic version.

 

Applications – Not Just on Your Computer Anymore:

Applications are not all on your computer these days. The days where you’d buy a CD or DVD and install your new program on your hard drive for it to completely work on your computer are, for the most part, long gone. In fact, when I don’t have an internet connection, it’s almost a chore for me to remember which applications I can actually use during that down time.

These days, most apps have an online portion – especially if they have a free tier. How else can they collect your data and emails? That’s essentially what you’re paying when things are “free”. But hey, that’s a pretty small price to pay to get all of this good stuff to help you out, right? 🙂

Anyhow – here’s a list of business apps that you can use mobile and on your pc or Mac.

 

Business Apps:

IFTTT:

If there’s one app that I want you all to know about that I believe will save you a ton of time it’s IFTTT. IFTTT (pronounced like “gift” without the “i”) stands for “if this then that” — is a service that lets you create different recipes for streamlining your online activities. For example, you can create a recipe that saves all the tweets of a particular person and saves them on your Google drive in one spreadsheet. Or, if you want to transition your pics from Instagram to Twitter, you can do that too. Ta-da! Countless squinty-eyed hours saved scouring the Internet.

 

Social Jukebox:

Social media can be a pain in the rear – especially if you’re busy making things! Let Social Jukebox help you out. Just like a music jukebox holds and plays music randomly, it holds a bank of messages you can send out via social media. Its free plan will post to your Twitter up to 4 times a day. And if you subscribe to the premium membership, you’ll get to post to Facebook and LinkedIn as well.

 

Doodle.com:

Scheduling 1 on 1 calls and/or meetings is pretty straight forward with something like calendly.com. But what if you have multiple people you’re looking to get together for a meeting? You can’t use calendly for that (at least I don’t think you can). So what can you do? You could start an email thread and waste half a day tracking replies, or you could use Doodle. Doodle helps you effortlessly set up polls for scheduling. And one big awesome thing to me is that respondents don’t even have to join to answer a poll. Doodle cuts down on needless email and streamlines scheduling big time.

 

Slack & Ryver:

Here’s a couple more tools you can use to remove a ton of the emails that you regularly have to make if you’re part of a team. I’ve used both of these in the past on various projects and I’d say they’re about the same in what they do. And what they do, they do well. If you’re familiar with the old chat rooms that were made popular by AoL, Yahoo, and numerous other sites up until social media came around, then you’ll understand how these tools use channels to contain certain conversations between your team’s members.

 

Personal Development Apps:

Not all apps are geared towards making a business in itself. Sometimes they’re geared in developing you.

I mean, a mechanic can only upgrade his tools so much to do a certain job – because eventually, those tools might go outside of his current ability. In that case, the mechanic needs to get better to keep up with the tools themselves.

There are plenty of apps out there which will help you become a better version of yourself. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Habitica:

There’s so many habits that we want to develop to make ourselves better in our craft. But the catch is that you have to put in the work to get it done. That’s where Habitica comes into play. It’s a habit building and productivity app that treats your real life like a game. With in-game rewards and punishments to motivate you and a strong social network to inspire you, Habitica can help you achieve your goals to become healthy, hard-working, and happy.

 

Headspace:

If you’re looking to learn how to meditate and the price tag on the Muse is a little out of your reach, then I’d say Headspace might be your next bet. It’s first level is entirely free and includes 10-minute sessions for each day that will help you get into the habit of meditating regularly. There are reminders, and you can choose to focus on aspects like foundation, health, and performance. If you want to go deeper, you can with the premium service.

 

Happier:

In AoL session 79 with Barbara Ireland, we talked about how important it was to get rid of your negative thoughts. Part of doing that is to start developing an attitude of gratitude – focusing on what’s good in your life. With the happier app, you can start collecting happy moments throughout the day to add to your mental journal. (I use this because the 5 Minute Journal still hasn’t come to Android yet. If you’re a iPhone user – pick that up here.)

 

Headout:

A lot of us who are in the the creative space work from home. So sometimes we don’t get out and about our own cities like we should. I mean, all work and no play doesn’t make anyone any better, right?

What’s cool about this app is that it features “incredible experiences on demand,” which is a trendy way of saying it has “the best activities, events and tours happening in town.” You can find and book last-minute deals if you’re feeling spontaneous. Paired along with Field Trip, you should always have new things to discover.

 

Reddit Is Fun:

Ok, so this one is kind of a cop out, because it’s a reddit browser. Reddit is the front page of the internet – so that means that pretty much everything that you can find online is on there. However, that said, there are subreddits that you can use to make your life better. Download the app and then check out these subs to get an idea of what I’m talking about: r/stopgaming, r/selfimprovement, , r/entrepreneur, r/getmotivated, r/iwanttolearn, r/lifeprotips, r/productivity, r/zenhabits and r/selfhelp.

 

Action Steps:

Ok, so there you go, guys. Ten apps that I use on a regular basis for my business and to improve it. I recommend checking them all out and seeing which ones fit you. There’s a few other ones that I could have added, but these are the ones that I’ve used the most. 

If I’m missing any that you think should have been on this list because YOU use them all the time, I’d love to hear about it. Drop the name of it below and I’ll check it out!

podcast discovery center

Scott Doucet: The Podcast Discovery Center – A Safe Haven for Podcasters to Master Their Craft (AoL 080)

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As we heard in the AoL session with Chris Ripka, podcasting has been around for quite awhile – just not the form that we’re all used to.

However, it seems that only recently it’s been catching on as a popular medium. I mean, for me, it’s still hard to believe that 36% of all people 18 years old or older have listened to a podcast sometime in their life. I still find myself explaining what it is to most people who don’t know what AoL is.

But once I do describe it, they’re blown away by it’s potential and many even ask “how do I get started?”.

Currently I’m working on a solution for that question, but in the meantime, I often tell them to check out Facebook groups – especially the Podcast Discovery Center (PDC).

As co-founder of the PDC, today’s guest is dedicated in making the members of the PDC feel like they’re part of the family. As you’ll find out, Scott Doucet has had plenty of experience in other larger podcast groups, and what he and his co-founder Anthony found out is that many times those groups like to push an agenda.

The only thing that the PDC wants to push is the success of your show.

In this conversation, I ask him more about how he got started as a podcaster, more about that foundation of the group, and we also find out more about his own business and how he can help you if you’re looking to create a podcast for your business.

As always, thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How did Scott get into podcasting? 6:00
  • What was behind starting the Podcast Discovery Center (PDC)? 9:35
  • What kind of creative influences did he have growing up? 11:34
  • How did Scott and Anthony hook up to create the PDC? 12:24
  • How exactly is the PDC setup to be different than other podcast groups? 14:47
  • Has the themed format that the PDC utilizes day to day worked in creating engagement? 16:17
  • What is Scott’s recommendation for starting a group with a similar spirit to the PDC? 19:50
  • How did he build enough business as a podcast consultant in a matter of months that he now has a waiting list. 21:48
  • What worries Scott about the future of podcasting? 32:58
  • How would he recommend to a podcast purist to monetize their show? 38:49
  • How to find out who’s listening to your show? 43:31
  • What’s coming up for Scott in the rest of 2017? 46:41
  • Scott’s top 3 favorite influences? 49:42
  • Hardest thing he’s had to say no to? 50:53
  • Something he believed when he was 25 but no longer believes today? 51:30
  • What are three truths he’s learned over time? 53:06
  • What does it mean to live a life of abundance? 54:45
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Editing Guru Cody Boyce on using an iPhone as a pretty good mic:

Carey Green giving a few tips in how to make your shows easier to find:

Arne Giske’s promo of the Millennial Entrepreneur Podcast Session 8:

Scott does some admin work:

scott doucet
podcast discovery center
scott doucet
podcast discovery center

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

Freebies to Use For Your Business: Non Copyright Music Sources

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Last week we saw how relatively easy it is to get stock images for free. I mean, with the abundance of resources that are out there, why pay for one again? Unless you’re very specific in your search, I really can’t think of a good reason.

In this week’s post, I’ll share with you the places I’ve found free stock music. If you’re wondering what stock music is useful for, then my quickest response is “what medium isn’t it useful for?”.

To this day, even on national TV, I see commercials that are using stock music.

Whether it’s in the background of a short clip of a speech, to being used in a podcast, to even being used behind GTA and Halo montages on YouTube, stock music can be useful in adding a bit more flare to the medium you’re using to convey your message.

What is Stock Music (aka Non Copyright Music)?

Like I did in last week’s post, I want give a short description of stock music is and isn’t.

Stock music, known by many names including non copyright music or production music, is the name given to recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in TV, video (movies or online), radio and other media. Traditionally, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries.

If it is owned by a music library, then the user will have to pay a license fee to use that music with their media.

However, with the advent of the internet, stock music artists, like independent artists, can create and release their own music.

This was the main reason that SoundCloud became so popular and why MySpace is even still around. Both of these mediums have been used significantly to get music out into the world.

So that’s what it is.

However, the difference of the two is that stock music is specifically released to be the background of media, whereas other music, while it might be used as background music, is designed to stand alone. Many times, you’ll hear traditional music altered to be background music – especially in commercials with a lot of production value on TV.

Stock Music Examples

Here are a few examples of what I’m talking about if you’re still a little fuzzy.

Here’s a few examples of stock music in a YouTube video:

Here’s something you might hear on the radio – but you won’t because it’s copyright free:

And here’s a sample of stock music that’s not only used for a commercial for Plus Benefits, but it’s also used at the beginning of Ryan Moran’s podcast:

Plus Benefit’s Commercial:

Freedom Fast Lane Podcast w/ Ryan Daniel Moran:

If you ever find the name of this piece, I’d love to know what it’s called!

Using Stock Music

Ok, so like last week with the images, it’s relatively easy to tell if something is stock music. In fact, many pieces of stock music that you can sample will have the name of the library that you’re sampling it from right in the middle of the sample. Obviously, like watermarking images, it’s there to detour you from using it.

In the following piece you’ll hear a slight whisper of “Audio Jungle” repeated over and over. That’s what I call an audio watermark.

Just like I said about images…

DON’T USE ‘WATERMARKED’ MUSIC!

For one, it’ll make whatever you’re doing sound ridiculous, and two, you’ll probably get a cease and desist letter if not a potential lawsuit.

Another way to realize if you need to pay a license to use music is whether or not it can easily be downloaded. If you have to pay something to download it, then it probably has specific details in when it can be used as well.

If you want to read more about the different types of licensing and usage methods – here you go.

It’s not really relative to the next part though! 🙂

Where to Find Free Stock Music

So here’s the part you’ve been waiting for. Where can you find free stock music to use with your media? Well, my top 3 places are…

  1. FreeMusicArchive.org
  2. YouTube
  3. Reddit

The Free Music Archive has just about anything you want. So that’s generally where I get most of my stock music. Like images, you want to make sure that you give credit when it’s asked for and when it’s due. I make it common to acknowledge the artist in all of my work.

If for some reason, you can’t find what you’re looking for in the Archive, then YouTube has a decent source. The Verge did a decent review about what you can expect in there when their library was launched in 2013.

Finally, the third option I find as a potential place to find pieces, but I haven’t quite used anything from here yet, is Soundcloud. As mentioned, this type of work is what helped its popularity. If you want to see what’s available on Soundcloud (or other places around the web), there’s a great resource via reddit that might be able to help you find good stuff: No Copyright Music Subreddit.

Like last time with the images, if you want even more free music, I have a couple of links for you:

20+ Websites to Download Creative Commons Music For Free

And it’s sequel:

20 (More) Websites To Download Creative Commons Music For Free

Also, if you happen to be a DJ and want more specifics in finding music for your work, check out this post from Robert Calabrese over at Home DJ Studio.

Action Steps:

So there you go. Plenty of sources to get free music to ramp up your videos or podcast sessions with. Now you have no excuse to not add a bit of atmosphere to your next project.

If you find anything great via these resources, let me know below! I’d love to hear about your discoveries and even a little show and tell about what adding this music has done for your work!

best free stock photo sites

Freebies to Use For Your Business: Best Free Stock Photo Sites

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Last month, I wrote a piece on free cloud services that we can use to host our files. I mentioned that I used three different services because I use them for different tasks.

That triggered a number of questions from various folks asking if I knew of other free services that new online creatives could use while they were growing their business.

Here were the 4 main requests:

  • Free stock images
  • Free music
  • Best free business advice (if they couldn’t afford Fizzle at $35/mo)
  • Free apps I use to make my life easier and more productive.

This week, I’m going to start with discussing free stock images.

I’ll be visiting three vital things to know when you’re dealing with free stock images:

  1. What they actually are.
  2. How to know if you can use them in your project.
  3. And, where you can find them.

 

What Are Stock Images

Stock images are one of those necessary evils that many of us will have to use for our projects one time or another.

Stock images are images that are created by a photographer or illustrators in order for them to be used in commercial content.

Most of the time, they’re available in a huge libraries such as Shutterstock, 123RF, and iStockPhoto.

However, not all images that are used with commercial content are stock. Stock simply means the image is generic and people can use it for pretty much anything.

For example, Pat Flynn opts to use images that are illustrations of the topic, whereas I personally tend to use stills from real life.

types of stock images

Different types of Stock Images used in Blogging and Posts Today

 

In fact, most of the time I’m using images of people doing something. In my mind it makes it more relatable.

Again, don’t confuse images that were created generically with images that were made specifically for a certain purpose.

For example, even though they might look like they’re stock shots, the cover images of the Unmistakable Creative look like generic outlines, but in reality, they play a vital part to their marketing and brand.

How to Know if You Can Use a Stock Image In Your Project

There’s two things you want to consider before using an image for your next project.

  • What kind of license does it have?
  • Does it have a watermark on it?

Licensing:

Licenses for stock images are generally divided into two types:

  • Royalty free
  • Rights-managed

Royalty free means that once someone has purchased a license to an image, they can use the image multiple times without having to pay again to do so. If the image is free (like we’re talking about in this post), then that means that you’ll be able to use it as many times as you’d like.

Rights-managed images are generally restricted in terms of usage – limitations may include industry, geographic location or the duration for which the image can be used.

If you’re going to be paying for a license (which I’m not sure why you’d do that after today’s post) and/or you’re unsure what type of license you’ll need to purchase for a particular image, be sure to contact the company who owns it and ensure you’ll be covered.

 

Watermarks:

The easiest way to identify a stock image is to look for a watermark on the image itself. This watermark will often indicate the source of the image.

Here’s a ridiculous example of watermarking vs what you’ll normally see:

Examples of Watermarks that you might see on the web today.

Neither one you’d want to use in your work. Let me repeat that…

NEVER USE WATERMARKED IMAGES IN YOUR WORK.

It doesn’t matter how small the watermark is. If it’s showing that’s a huge no-no.

That said, it can be difficult to determine if images are stock. One way to check is to use reverse image search platforms like Google Images or TinEye.com. On their native sites, they  allow you to upload the image and search it against billions of others. (If you use Chrome like me, though, there’s a plugin you can use that will allow you to check with a single click.)

If the image doesn’t turn up, chances are it’s original.

Alternatively, if it’s used everywhere, there’s a good chance that it’s royalty-free. It’s up to you to find the source of the image though.

This may sound like a lot of work, but in reality, it all boils down to just a few extra minutes of your time. And with all of the effort you put day in and day out into making your business a success, it’s certainly worth it to ensure you’ll be able to use your new design, hassle-free, for years to come.

 

Where Can You Find Free Stock Images

Ok, now that I got that legalese part out of the way, here’s the meat of this post.

What sites do I use to find my royalty free images?

Here are the top 3 that I use:

Pexels tends to have some of the coolest shots I’ve seen, but have somewhat of a limited selection. If I can find an image there, I’ll often use it.

If I can’t find something at Pexels, I’ll use the other two to find what I’m looking for.

And if that’s not enough sources for you, then here’s a good list provided by Entrepreneur.com:

14 Amazingly Free Stock Photo Websites

One by Bryan Inness over at Who Is Hosting This

Free Stock Photos: 100+ Free (& Nearly Free) Libraries

And another one of “Non-Stock” Photo Sources:

The Free High Quality Non-Stock Photo Sources You’ve Always Wanted

Make sure you give credit if it’s required!

Action Steps:

Ok guys. So there you go. If you’re ever in need of an image again for your content and don’t want to or can’t take a good image yourself, there’s really no reason why you should have to pay for a good one.

In fact, there’s a site that’s all about killing stock photos altogether: Death to the Stock Photo (they’re not exactly 100% free, so I didn’t use them in the list above).

However, if you do find yourself paying for image that you simply must have for your work, then make sure you abide by the rules of the license. You could be slapped with a huge fine if you don’t.

Also, just for bonus – here are some good do’s and don’ts when it comes to finding good images for your next project:

10 Do’s and Don’ts for Using Stock Photos in Your Marketing

podcasting trends

CJ Ripka on the History, Future, and Trends of Podcasting – It’s Raw and Real! (AoL 077)

/by

Podcasts are one of the most used ways to get your message out there. Whether it’s for fun, you’re syndicating as a radio show, or you’re using it to deliver content for your business, podcasts are gaining popularity all the time.

For me, I’ve been listening to them since 2010 and producing them since 2013.

However, today’s guest, has a heck of a lot more experience in this world than I do. In fact, he’s been around the media a good part of his life.

In this chat with Chris (aka CJ Ripka on his podcast Raw and Real), I wanted to find out more about the medium itself.

Where it came from, why it’s called a podcast, ways people are being successful with it today, and some of the things he believes are in the not too distant future for the medium.

As usual, I also find out how he got the wealth of knowledge he has. If you have similar interests and you love podcast tech, then hopefully it will shed some light on what your next steps might be!

As always, thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • When did Chris get into media production? 5:48
  • Where did the interest come from in working with media? 8:30
  • How did he start with podcasting? 12:16
  • What’s his thoughts in there being different perspectives in how podcasting production should be done? 13:48
  • Where the term podcasting come from? 17:10
  • Who are some of the early podcasters that are still around? 21:30
  • Why Chris believes that some of the niches that exist in podcasting are going to dissolve soon. 25:15
  • What are some things that any podcaster should think about and/or consider when they want to tweak their show? 27:56
  • What are some ways to build a larger audience? 31:54
  • Who is one of the more memorable guests that Chris has had on his live stream show, Raw and Real? 33:02
  • What’s going on in the rest of 2017 for Chris? 35:06
  • Who are three influencers who have helped him get where he is? 37:20
  • What is the hardest thing that he’s ever had to say no to? 39:55
  • What would be something you’d find in Chris’ edition of the Creative Entrepreneur’s Handbook? 40:28
  • What advice does he often hear adults giving to children that he calls bs on? 41:21
  • How can someone be a difference maker in their community? 42:12
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Raw and Real Episode 3 with Dr. Rob Garcia:

Current Facebook Live Format interview with Rob:

Chris is Interview by Dennis Langlais of the Five Minute Bark Podcast

Finding Your Place After the Military Interview:

how old is podcasting
where did the name podcast come from?
nothing happens over night
national guard production engineer

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A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!