When I was 14 years old, I was inspired to get into radio because I loved listening to “American Top 40”. It was a countdown show of the 40 most popular songs on the radio each week, hosted by Casey Casum. This week, I'm sharing the top 40 podcasts I listen to, with a little explanation of why you might want to check them out.

I will also identify the podcasts I absolutely do not miss, ever. And I'll share the 3 very popular podcasts I instantly did NOT like. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…

• How to get Jeff Walker's new book, Launch, for free!
• An interview with Strategic Living Podcast host Brian Holmes.
• Contest where you can win our recent $797 training for FREE…

Announcements:

• If you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the show. A big thanks to Christopher Reid and Jeff Payne for giving us a review on iTunes this week.
• We're holding a contest this month. Out of all the entries, we will draw one winner at random of our $797 training we just completed called, “How to Profit From What You Already Know”. To enter, you need to (1) subscribe to the podcast in iTunes and (2) give us an honest rating. Be sure you either put your website URL in your review, so we can contact you… or email us AFTER you have published your rating. That way if we draw your name we can contact you and let you know you won. You can also enter by leaving us a voicemail (at the bottom of this post, or click here.) We will have the drawing on June 15th.

Tip Of The Week 

You can get Jeff Walker's new book, Launch, for free right now. This is a limited time offer, as he is… er… LAUNCHING his book! You get some very valuable bonus materials just for requesting a free copy. You do have to pay the shipping fee (it's less than $7.) Click here to get Jeff Walker's book for free.

Spiritual Foundations

This week's Spiritual Foundations segment is an interview with Brian Holmes, the host of the Strategic Living Podcast.

Feature Segment:  Ray Edwards' Top 40 Podcast Countdown

These are my Top 20 Podcasts. This list is entirely subjective, and it will undoubtedly change. Every week I am trying out new podcasts, so every week a few may drop off this list and a few new ones may rise up. But the top 5-7 have remained remarkably stable, with one notable exception.

1. This Is Your Life by Michael Hyatt.
2. Podcast Answerman by Cliff Ravenscraft.
3. 48 Days by Dan Miller.
4. Smart Passive Income by Pat Flynn.
5. The Portfolio Life with Jeff Goins.
6. Online Marketing Made Easy by Amy Porterfield.
7. Converge by Dane Sanders.
8. Christ Is All by Frank Viola.
9. The Charged Life by Brendon Burchard.
10. Beyond The To Do List by Erik Fisher.
11. The Tim Ferriss Show by Tim Ferriss.
12. The Joseph Prince Podcast
13. Bethel Sermon of the Week
14. Social Media Marketing Podcast by Michael Stelzner
15. Social Triggers Insider with Derek Halpern
16. The Lede by Copyblogger Media
17. Internet Business Mastery with Jeremy Frandsen and Jason Van Orden
18. Rise to the Top with David Siteman Garland
19. Mixergy with Andrew Warner
20. Lighten Up! with Ken Davis
21. The Fizzle Show with Corbett Barr, Chase Reeves, and Caleb Wojcik
22. Ask Pat with Pat Flynn
23. Read to Lead Podcast by Jeff Brown
24. The Robert Plank Show by Robert Plank.
25. Radiolab from WNYC.
26. This Week In Tech by Leo Laporte.
27. The Tech Guy by Leo Laporte.
28. The Strategic Living Podcast with Brian Holmes.
29. Eventual Millionaire by Jaime Tardy.
30. The God Journey by Wayne Jacobsen
31. Entrepreneur On Fire by John Lee Dumas
32. The Joel Comm Show by Joel Comm
33. Starve the Doubts by Jared Easley.
34. The Audacity to Podcast byDaniel J Lewis
35. The Dave Ramsey Show.
36. 99% Invisible by Roman Mars.
37. TED Radio Hour.
38. The 5AM Miracle Podcast by Jeff Sanders.
39. Conversion Cast by LeadPages.net
40. New Rainmaker by Brian Clark

The 10 Podcasts I Never Miss

1. This Is Your Life by Michael Hyatt.
2. Podcast Answerman by Cliff Ravenscraft.
3. 48 Days by Dan Miller.
4. Smart Passive Income by Pat Flynn.
5. The Portfolio Life with Jeff Goins.
6. Online Marketing Made Easy by Amy Porterfield.
7. The Tim Ferriss Show by Tim Ferriss.
8. Converge by Dane Sanders.
9. Christ Is All by Frank Viola
10. Radiolab from WNYC.

The 3 Podcasts I Instantly Disliked… And Later Changed My Mind

1. The Tim Ferriss Show by Tim Ferriss.
2. The Charged Life by Brendon Burchard.
3. Entrepreneur On Fire by John Lee Dumas

Listener Questions

1. Jon D Harrison asks about how to start fresh with a new direction.
2. Bill Thomas had some comments about Podcast Episode 113.
3. Jevonnah Ellison had nice things to say about the show.

What To Do Now

Here are some steps you can take to put this week's episode content to work for you:

1. Click here to request your copy of Jeff Walker's new book, Launch, for free.
2. Check out some fresh new podcasts to renew your thinking.
3. Rate and review the show on iTunes to have a chance at winning our $797 training for free.

Question: What are podcasts do you never miss? Click here to leave your comments.

What if you could automate success? What if you would set a few things in motion that, if not guaranteeing your success, would automatically increase the likelihood of success … in all areas of your life?

In today's episode I share how controlling 5 “environments” greatly increases the odds of your success. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…

• A proven way to turn your blog into a business, and a powerful strategy for writing posts that go viral.
• What do we do when God seems silent?
• Contest where you can win our recent $797 training for FREE…

Announcements:

• If you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the show. A big thanks to Andrew Gommesen of the Speaking4Him Podcast, Stephen Shell from StephensWeightLoss.com, ArbMan85, Jonathan Harrison, Vincente Cotto, Jamison from Creative Church Leadership, TodMon26, and Bryan from Engaging Missions for giving us a review on iTunes this week. You can also find the podcast on Stitcher.
• We're holding a contest this month. Out of all the entries, we will draw one winner at random of our $797 training we just completed called, “How to Profit From What You Already Know”. To enter, you need to (1) subscribe to the podcast in iTunes and (2) give us an honest rating. Be sure you either put your website URL in your review, so we can contact you… or email us AFTER you have published your rating. That way if we draw your name we can contact you and let you know you won. You can also enter by leaving us a voicemail (at the bottom of this post, or click here.) We will have the drawing on June 15th.

Tip Of The Week 

If you would like some very practical help building up your blog as a business, you should consider attending the Buzz Seminar, which is hosted by my friends Frank Viola and Mike Morrel. In this show, I interview these two, and Frank gives away a very powerful tip on writing blog posts that go viral (and he certainly knows how to do that!)

Spiritual Foundations

What do we do when it seems God has gone silent, and we're not hearing his voice?

Many have suggested you should look for some hidden sin in your life, that explains why you have been “cut off” from God. I have a different idea about what is going on, and how you can re-establish communication with your Father in Heaven.

1. Have you fallen victim to the lies of the Accuser, and are you wallowing in self-condemnation?
2. What was the last thing God did say to you?
3. Have you actually been taking time to listen?

Feature Segment:  The 5 Environments That Automate Success

What if you could automate your own success? While that is not totally possible, you can indeed set up your life os that your odds of success are greatly improved. You do this by intentionally controlling 5 major “environments”.

The importance of the environments you operate in cannot be over-emphasized. In the show audio, I explain why this is true. The 5 Environments are:

1. Physical Environment
2. Mental Environment
3. Emotional Environment
4. Financial Environment
5. Transportation Environment

When you consciously engineer your 5 Environments to support patterns and states that lead to success, you will enjoy more success than before… automatically.

Listener Questions

1. Roger Whitney asks about how I choose my topics for the podcast, and how far in advance I know what the topic will be.

2. David wants to know how a successful real estate appraiser could transfer their knowledge into an online, passive income business.

What To Do Now

Here are some steps you can take to put this week's episode content to work for you:

1. Enter our contest by subscribing and rating the show in iTunes… or by asking a question using our voicemail system (look below).
2. Consider attending Frank and Mike's live training seminar in Florida over the July 4th holiday.
3. Make a written plan for one step you can take to shape each of your 5 Environments.

Question: What elements in your current Environments are not supporting you, and how will you change those elements? Click here to leave your comments.

We entrepreneurial types tend to be graded starting things and leaving other people to clean up the details. Our staff, virtual assistants, and colleagues may find it difficult to deal with us.

There's nothing wrong with you, you just need to realize what you're good at, what other people are good at, and how to negotiate the handling of tasks so that both of you are operating in your “zone”. So today, I'll explain to you how to work with other people without driving them crazy. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…

• One of the best books on selling I've ever read.
• How to stop “spiritual sweat disorder”.
• What to do with the information in this episode…

Tip Of The Week

I'm a little behind the party on this one, but I just got a fantastic new book called To Sell Is Human by Daniel H. Pink. Pink gives a brand-new look at the art and science of selling. His insights go against what most of us have been taught about selling, but he has a lot of social science to back them up. This is a practical book, not just pie-in-the-sky theory. Pink has no less than six alternatives to the classic “elevator pitch”, and gives specific tips on how to perform other functions of the sales process in a more persuasive, more humane, and more profitable way.

Spiritual Foundations

Don't be fooled by the “work ethic” that demands you pour out the sweat before you get the reward. Earning your living by the “sweat of your brow” was actually part of the curse!

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:26

Feature Segment:  How To Work With Other People Without Making Them Crazy

Entrepreneurs possess certain personality traits that make us hard for other people to understand, and sometimes make it even harder for other people to work with us. In their perception, we create a lot of chaos, take a lot of risks, and behave capriciously. Our codebook for how to communicate and succeed is different from the codebook they are using.

If you've taken any of the personality type assessments, you may have discovered that you, as an entrepreneur, tend to be a Starter, and not so much a Finisher. I've known this about myself for quite some time, and the remedy is to surround yourself with people who are good Finishers, people who are good at doing the details and follow-up… and then letting them do that without micromanaging or driving them nuts.

That last part has been hard for me. I have found my interaction with other workers in my business, especially outsourcers, to be frustrating at best (with a few notable exceptions, among them being my stellar Assistant Kathy!). When things were not working so well, their work came in late, or not done correctly, or they disappeared on me when I needed them again. I read about a method of communication that, as far as I know, was developed by Rob Berkeley. It's called the Circle of Commitment, and has made a huge difference in the way I work with people.

1. Request: you make a request of someone else, asking them to do a particular task or job.
2. Negotiation: you mutually arrive at an agreement on what the completed work will look like, and when it will be done.
3. Performance: the employee, or outsourcer, does what they agreed to do and delivers it to you.
4. Acceptance: you communicate whether the job they did was satisfactory, and if it is you congratulate them, and if it is not you explain what needs to be done in order to complete the task. Rinse and repeat until the job is finished.

This may not seem like a big deal, but it has really revolutionized my life and eliminated a lot of stress for me. Probably for the people who do work for me as well. Because after reading about this in Perry Marshall's Renaissance Club Newsletter, I realized I was pretty horrible at every step except the first one. I was good at asking what I wanted done, not very clear when I was negotiating exactly what would be delivered, mostly oblivious to the performance of the task, and once the deliverables showed up I did an abysmal job of communicating that I had received the work and what my evaluation of it might've been. Not pretty.

Since becoming conscious of these four steps and using them as I work with others, I've become laser-accurate in my communications. I even received feedback from one of my writers, who expressed, with a great deal of relief, how exciting it was that I was finally letting them know that I had received the pieces he had written for me. I always assumed that he knew my silence meant everything was fine. Woops.

Just being clear in these four steps will make a huge difference in how you work with other people

What To Do Now

So here's your assignment that will help you turn this week show into profits, put the tips and action, and make your life better in the process.

1. If you've never taken an assessment of your personality, such as the Kolbe A,  do so. And then get every member of your team to take the same assessment. Make sure you've got the right people doing the right jobs, and that you're not out of balance somewhere or missing a key personality type.
2. Post the Circle of Commitment somewhere prominent so that you will remember to practice it diligently.
3. Whenever you negotiate and agree upon work to be done by someone else, make a note in your calendar or planning system so that you can follow through on the Acceptance step.

Question:  How do you ensure better communication with your team members? Click here to leave your comments.

Many a professional, and many a freelancer, find themselves asking, “How can I get more clients?” May I suggest this is the wrong question?  in fact, it is precisely the wrong question.

A better question to ask would be, “how can I build a business where clients come looking for me?” We will explore the construction of such a scenario in today's episode. Plus, here are some additional reasons to keep listening…

• The greatest headset I've ever used for doing tele-seminars.
• The very first thing you should do every day.
• And how to turn this episode into money…

Announcements:

If you’re tired of not making any money with your online business and you’d like to finally just get things jumpstarted… I’m getting together with a small group of serious entrepreneurs here in Spokane in July. Were going to spend three days and just build your business from the ground up. Or rebuilt it if what you’re doing is not working. It’s not cheap, and the only way to get in is to pass through and ” interview”  with me personally. We have 12 seats, two of them are already spoken for, and I promise you every single one will be filled. I do not promise to ever do this again. If you think you would like to be part of this group, to finally stop “talking” a big game and asked a start PLAYING the big game, click here and fill out this application in full. If your application seems to merit further consideration, my assistant will set up a call between you and me.

Tip Of The Week 

I just got a new wireless headset for use with my telephone, and I absolutely love it. It has crystal clear sound, a noise canceling microphone, 10 hours of battery life, and incredible range. It's the Plantronics Savi 740.

Spiritual Foundations

Living a life of joy and peace is not difficult.

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:31-33

Feature Segment:  Stop Trying To Find Clients

Constructing a business so that clients seek you instead of vice versa is a lot like farming. First you have till the soil, then you have to sow the seeds, and then you cultivate the rows. Only then can you begin to see the harvest. At every year you must repeat the cycle, because the year you don't, there will surely be no harvest.

Think in terms of three different crops. The crops each take a different amount of time to bear fruit.

1. The short-term crop: you can plant and harvest in the next 30 to 60 days. Of course the still takes time, and you may be hungry today in which case you have to resort to hunting instead of agriculture. I get that. But if you spend all your time hunting and no time planting, you will never harvested crop. So hunt today if you must, and also each day be busy about working on that short-term harvest.
2. The medium-term crop: this is where your thinking and 1 to 3 year harvest times. It's the result of consistently doing a podcast like this one, writing guest posts on high-profile blogs, publishing books and speaking at seminars and workshops. It may be hard to see, but you definitely can do work today that will pay you until three years from now.
3. Long-term crop: this is 3 to 5 years or more in the future. Work you did, people you worked with, project she worked on, relationships you've built, have a progressive momentum. Those were all dominoes that were tipped in the past, and each domino is a little bigger, and one day five years later what started as a tiny handheld domino is you knocking over a massive victory the size of a small skyscraper. It's the famous client, the multimillion dollar product launch, the New York Times bestseller, etc. that never would've happened without you plugging away for five years or more. Won't feed you today, but may feed you for the rest of your life.

What To Do Now

1. Grab three calendars, or three different-colored markers for one calendar, or whatever floats your boat. You're going to make three timelines.
2. For each of the three different crops, put an activity every week on the calendar for that specific crop: short-term, medium-term, and long-term. Make these action items that you can do, measure, and point to and say, “that is done.”
3. Do two activities every week in the short-term and medium-term timelines. That will put more income in the pipeline for you over the next six months, and give you capital to finance the long-term campaign.
4. And finally, a rule of thumb: on the farm, there is no such thing as “a day off”. While I do believe we need free days, where we can rest and recuperate every week, make it a point each day of the week to either (a) do something or (b) make sure something is being done that cultivates future business. Every day. Without fail.

If you do as I recommended, you will very quickly find yourself no longer hunting for clients. Clients will be hunting for you.

Question:   What activities will you commit to in each of the three different time frames? Click here to leave your comments.