The one online tool that has kept my business alive

Here’s a question I’ve been getting asked a lot lately so I figured I would share with you via LIVE!

Audio transcription (some errors are to be expected)…

The one question that I have been gained as a lot lately, and you’re about to find out here what it is, and the answer, so stick around.

Hello, Hello, everyone. Welcome to Ed Talk TV conversations worth having. I’m your host, Ed Troxell. And if we haven’t met before, then this is the episode for you to be tuning into. Welcome. Lately, I’ve been getting asked this one question quite often in a few interviews that I’ve been having, and a few presentations that I’ve been giving. So I figured, why not jump on here and share it with all of you live? Because many of you probably are new to me, and have just found me. So why not share it? The one question I keep getting asked is, how did I get started with my online business?

First off, I started with always being fascinated by tech! Tech has always been my thing. If we work together, you know, that I make tech, quote, stupid, easy. I mean, I even got a trademark for stupid easy. That’s just how crazy it is. So I start with tech, right. And my first part of the business was actually building websites, believe it or not, I was interning at a web design agency, being able to learn the tricks and everything of how to really build websites that are easy for people to manage. And I was doing that while working full time at Apple. And prior to that a few part-time jobs. But I did that. And then when I realized that I had a bigger calling than just full time at Apple, I decided why not go all-in on entrepreneurship.

So what I did was, I took the tech skills that I had, I took the information that I knew I wanted to share with people. And I put it together, I did what I call planning your exit strategy, which is really thinking about when you’re leaving your nine to five, or thinking about leaving your nine to five, planning that exit strategy, not just Well, I’m going to quit and figure it out. Like, that’s just not how I that’s not how I roll. Maybe you do but not me.

I planned my exit strategy.

And the universe kept telling me, you know, and you got to leave like you got to go like apples great. And this is a good job, you got benefits you got, you know, good pay, you have everything that most people want, right in terms of the full-time security job. And I just wasn’t being fulfilled enough, though, I knew that I needed to take it to the next level. And so that’s when I decided to go all-in on entrepreneurship. And it’s something that’s been a passion of mine, I’ve had businesses before, my first business was actually a magazine, where I created and produced 4 issues of MIX IT UP magazine.

The first two were in print all 4 are online.

I took the skills that I’ve learned over the years, from journalism to advertising and marketing and all of the things, and packaged together into creating my business now, which is Ed Troxell Creative, which is what you’re seeing here online.

I started with websites because that’s what I knew. That’s where I had a mentor. And that’s where I was going with everything. And I just wanted to save business owners, because too many were getting frankly screwed over by certain web designers who were just in it for the money verses in it to help people and to really take their business to the next level and really hold their hand as well. I started with that, but I knew that there was still media involved. There was still photography, there’s still videography, there was still that marketing aspect, right? And so for me, what I did was, I packaged that all together and thought, how am I going to make this work for my business?

How am I Ed Troxell, and Ed Troxell Creative going to stand out, online? Because I can have a cool name. I can have my branding on point, like all these things that we’re supposed to have and that we should have. But we have to really understand like, what are we really wanting to do? And how are we going to stand out? or, in this case? How are we going to market differently, right? If you’ve ever been to my website, you know, I’m all about marketing differently. And how do we do that? We do it through live video. And why is that because that is what I built my business off of that when I first started over five years ago, I was the guy who was behind the camera, I was telling everyone else to be in front.

I was directing, I was doing all that stuff, right. But I didn’t want to be in front of the camera. Doing this was not my thing. I’m an introvert at heart, trust me, I may not appear to be now, but I am totally an introvert, especially in the beginning.

I knew that I had to get comfortable with being in front of the camera, it’s that uncomfortable feeling that I knew I had to step in front, I knew I had to shine Just a little bit brighter, right? Because what good is it? If I’m staying behind the camera, as people need me to hear what I have to say people want to hear what I have to say, just like they want to see you and they want to hear from you as well. Which is why I’m so passionate about live broadcasting. And so when I came to terms with I had to be in front of the camera, which was very hard, very hard.

I still remember sitting in the backyard, telling myself, I was looking at my phone, I was gonna pick up the phone, I was looking at my phone, and I was telling myself, Ed, you have got to get good at this live streaming stuff. Because your business depends on it. Simple as that you’re not going to survive if you cannot get good at this live streaming stuff.

And that’s when periscope came out. And I started with Periscope, I started watch, I started to see what was happening, right? That’s that market research we always hear and talk about. And then from there, I decided, how am I going to fit into this mix? How am I going to test this out? So of course, you know, I’m testing things out and, and doing episodes here and there. But I needed a plan. And no one was really, at that time or even now really teaching a structure around it. Right? I mean, even now you hear everyone just says we’ll just go live. And it’s like, oh, okay, but what does that mean? What is like, I know that I can just hit a button on my phone and, and say go live. But what does that really, really mean? Right? And so I’m thinking of these things in mind you this is back at least five years ago. And I’m thinking about all these things. And I like to have a plan.

So what I did was I studied the market.

And I realized that live streaming was where it was at because it’s not just about live streaming, it’s about being on camera. And being live on camera is a whole another ballgame. And it’s so important for businesses then now and for the future, which is why I’ve built my business off of live streaming and pivoted this year to really focus on that. That’s why you see the new Coaches Go Live program which just launched, because I’m all about helping you get good at this live streaming stuff. Because it’s not just about going live. It’s about going live with a plan. And so that when I first started, I had to have a plan. And that plan was to create my show, my show at Ed Talk TV. And when I first started out, I was going live five days a week, because I wanted it to be a talk show. That’s where this show came from is based off of talk shows, I studied what was out there. And I took what I liked. And I made it into what I wanted for my business and for my show. And that’s how Ed Talk TV started. That’s how I got started with live streaming. And as the years have progressed, I’ve been able to have guests on the show, which I love having. And if you want to be a guest on the show, even if you’re afraid to be on camera, trust me, I can help. Let me know. But I’ve been able to have guests on the show. We’ve talked about different topics around business tech, and just being online in general, because that’s my life. And that’s what I love to help people with.

The show has also not only helped me both personally or sorry, professionally, with growing my business, getting clients having sales, but also personally, I’ve been able to be more confident with being on camera as well as off camera. I’ve been able to just go live and talk about things like I don’t have to always be on schedule or in what I call season, right? So it’s all these things that going live does for you. And it’s not just about that hitting that go live button. It’s not just about am I going to get a sale right after this, this live or during this live. Like those are all things that come later.

So what I want you to understand is that going live is a powerful transformation that you too can go through and it’s something that is going to benefit you both personally and professionally. And the beauty of it is is that it helps you work smarter and as helps you create the systems and processes that are going to be beneficial for you both now and for the future. Because as we know, it’s all about video. And it’s all about live video, because we know from the data, that it gets more engagement, that people stick to live broadcasts longer than they do to any other post. And video gets more engagements than any other posts. And so there’s lots of data around that it’s not just, you know, this, this new guy that you just found, who maybe has decent pair, you know, it’s not just what I’m saying. It’s these statistics that are out there, which we can totally nerd out on that later, if you want to just let me know.

I’ll send you some because I got a lot. But I really wanted to just come on here and share with you the power of live broadcasting, when it’s done for me and my business, what it’s done for my clients, you know, the clients that I’ve worked with, over the years, before starting this new program with Coaches Go Live, and even the clients that I have in there, right now, they’re all experiencing these different growth opportunities. Some are experiencing new sales, some are experiencing the confidence that they didn’t think they had. But now they do. I have clients that are showing up on video. And again, it doesn’t have to be every day, it doesn’t have to be every week for the rest of your life. Like there’s endpoints, understand that there’s endpoints, but you have to have a plan. When you go live with a plan, you understand what happens before, during and after. That means that that plan also helps you with your mindset. And knowing what you’re going to talk about, and how to go live, as well as what to do with that live video afterwards.

Because it’s gold.

This right here is gold on so many levels, both during the live broadcast when you get to connect with your viewers like Nikki and misty, and all of you tuning in, who are what I call my secret followers, where you’re watching slash listening, but you’re not really commenting or sharing or liking or whatever. Okay, I see, I still see you and I’ll still I’ll still, you know, we’ll still be friends. But it’s something that it goes past just being live on video. It’s such a powerful piece of technology. And I’ve always been the person that encourages you to use the tech that you have available. Because I know tech can be scary, I know it can be stressful, it’s overwhelming. And you just want to throw your hands up and say forget it. I mean, that’s how we feel about social media most of the time, right. And I’m here to be that voice of reason to remind you that you have to shift your mindset just a little bit. Understand that this is an amazing marketing tool. It’s an amazing tool that’s right there in your pockets, you don’t have to have all this fancy equipment. In fact, I teach my clients what not to have. Because there’s all these different levels of going live, right. And so I want you to understand that to that. It’s not just that going live, but there’s different levels. So if you’ve been going live, awesome, I would love to hear about your experience.

If you haven’t yet started, I just want to encourage you to at least be open to the idea. And if you need help, please reach out because again, it’s not just about hitting that go live button. It’s about going live with a plan and understanding that there’s so much more to it than just being live on Facebook, or YouTube or periscope or LinkedIn or wherever it is that you go Instagram. That’s just that’s just a small piece of that puzzle. There’s video that you get there. There’s audio, there’s an inspiration. There’s that know, like trust factor that you built with your audience. There’s that credibility, that that authority that you’re building, even when you’re not live, that’s why you’ll see me throw up a social media post that says build authority in your sleep because this carries on. So understand that it’s just so much more. And it’s so powerful, what we have at our fingertips, literally at our fingertips. And thankfully you have options. Whereas when I first started, I didn’t there was nobody teaching there was nobody helping with the plan. Now you have options. Even if we don’t work one on one together, you still have resources that I can point you to right. And my goal is to see more of you going live because I know that you’re going to experience those those growth opportunities. I know that it’s going to lead you to more success in your business and in your personal life, which is awesome.

Why can’t see it because I have my fancy camera on. There we go, show up delivering, engage will be like that, we’ll come back to focus. Right now Mini, there we go.

So that’s why I always like to say show up, deliver and engage. Those are the three keys to your success both in business and in life. So I hope that this was helpful sharing this question and answer with you. I’m looking forward to getting back on a normal schedule because I’ve been in my quote offseason. But we’ll be getting back into a normal schedule here soon. With going live if you need anything. Head over to the website, Ed troxell.com. I have a chat on there. So you can chat with me and it will come to directly to me versus you know, social media. When you use messenger, Instagram, DM and stuff like that. Sometimes it takes a while because there’s all kinds of things going on and all the other notifications. So just use the one on my website and I’ll put that in the comments for you. There you go. And hey, even if you don’t need me, I would love a referral. So let people know because I’m here to help you and people that you know, make their lives easier here online and to market differently and find their voice. That’s what it’s all about is helping you find your voice so you can chat a little bit brighter and your audience is out there. They’re waiting for you. So let’s not keep them waiting any longer. Okay, have a great day, everyone. Take care

Transcribed by https://otter.ai