Ray Edwards Show
Ray Edwards is a sought-after Copywriter, Author, Speaker, and Communications Strategist. His clients include Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Jeff Walker, Robert Allen, and more. On this show, Ray helps you start, run, and grow their Internet-based businesses. The show includes interviews with well-known experts like Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, Dan Miller, Cliff Ravenscraft, Michael Stelzner, Amy Porterfield, Don Miller, and many others.

Social media marketing is here, it's here to stay, and it's bigger than ever. But who can keep up with the trends, the new networks, and the shifting sands of strategy and tactics? How do you know what to spend your time on, and what's a waste? Who could possibly sort through this mass of possible opportunities or pitfalls?

You- that's who! All you really need is the 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. In today's episode, I'll tell you where to get it, why it's important, what to look for, and how you can use this valuable piece of marketing intelligence to catapult your social media marketing forward in the remaining half of the year! Other reasons to keep listening include:

  • How to write a $10 Million sales page…
  • Why you can have hope no matter how big your challenges…
  • And your last chance to get a free training video on how to start, run, and grow a business that changes the world.

Spiritual Foundations

You Lose Nothing Because God Restores Everything

No matter what situation you find yourself in, you can be assured that God sees you, cares for you, and will provide for you… and beyond that, he will restore what the enemy has stolen, and set you up better than you were before!

In the Old Testament, God protected Hagar and her son Ishmael when she was cast out from Abraham's house. Hagar called Him “the God who sees me”.

While Job was severely tested, God did restore everything he lost and more.

When Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, unknown to them he rose to rule over all of Egypt. He was not bitter, but said, “What you intended for evil, God intended for good, so that I could save your lives and many others.”

And in Romans 8:28 the Apostle Paul tells us “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good…”

So remember, no matter what may come your way, God is for you and not against you, he will restore you to better than you were before.

His grace is bigger than any setback, problem, or circumstance, even the ones that seem impossible.

He sees you.

He restores and heals.

What the enemy intends for your evil, God will repurpose for your good.

And He makes ALL THINGS work together for your good!

Tip Of the Week

Would you like to know how to write a $10 Million sales page?

I'm going to show you just that next Tuesday, June 2, 2015 in a special free Masterclass. This is a live training, so I'm sorry – if you're listening to this after June 2, 2015, this opportunity has already passed you by. That's why it's a good idea to listen to the podcast every week, and subscribe to my email newsletter!

We only have 1,000 seats available for this Masterclass, so register now at https://rayedwards.com/masterclass.

Feature Presentation: The State of Social Media Marketing

The 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report is out. The purpose of the report is to show how marketers are using social media to grow their businesses.

The report is authored by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner.

It's their 7th annual report, 52 pages, and over 80 charts. It's all easy to understand and digest, and Mike takes the time to point out the “not-so-obvious” findings.

Over 3,700 marketers responded to the survey that produced this report, and I don't know of any other source from which you can get this kind of data.

Why This Report Is Of Value To You

I highly recommend you get the report for yourself and start digesting it. Most of your peers will probably ignore it… and of those who download it, most will not read it… and of those who do read it, only a small, single-digit percentage of them will actually take the time to understand it and reason through the implications. Place yourself in that small minority, and you give yourself an enormous success advantage you can start capitalizing on immediately.

I'll give you a top line taste of what can be gained from this report in moment, but let me echo some advice form the report itself. This information is for you regardless of your experience level with social media marketing.

If you're experienced with social media, compare yourself against other marketers, see which platforms they're looking at next and determine whether you're achieving the same benefits as your more experienced peers.

If you're a beginner (or really any level), take a look at the time commitment, benefits and platforms that your peers are using.

• The time commitment: The report examines the weekly hours marketers invest in their social media efforts. This analysis will be helpful for marketers just getting started or those seeking support staff.

• The benefits of social media marketing: This section of the study reveals all of the major advantages marketers are achieving with their social media efforts. It also looks at how weekly time invested and years of experience affect the results.

• Most-used social media platforms: Discover which platforms marketers are using and how their usage will change this year. The report also examines which platforms experienced marketers are using.

Other interesting, and more advanced topics in the report include…

• Social media networks people want to learn more about: In this section, you'll discover the social platforms that marketers are most interested in learning about.

• The report also examines the role of content in social media marketing, paid social media and how marketers respond when new networks emerge.

• Plus questions such as how business-to-business (B2B) companies differ from business-to-consumer (B2C) companies and whether the size of a business has any bearing on results.

• Perhaps most interesting of all, the report also highlights significant changes since last year's study.

I Know What You REALLY Want… Here Are The Top Nuggets From The Report

Okay, I know how it is. You're busy and you want me to read the report FOR you and give you a summary. And that's what I'm going to do. But it would be a huge mistake for you to leave it there. You see, there is a very deep and valuable advantage and opportunity for you in the report, but to make it work you're going to have to get the report and mine this particular pot of gold for yourself. I'll explain all that shortly, but for now, let me satisfy your curiosity with some of the primary findings…

• Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn hold the top spots for future plans: A significant 66% of marketers plan on increasing their use of these social networks.

• Marketers want to learn most about Facebook: While 93% of marketers are using Facebook, 68% want to learn more about it and 62% plan on increasing Facebook activities.

• Video becoming important: A significant 57% of marketers use video in their marketing; however, 72% want to learn more about video marketing and plan on increasing their use of video.

• Podcasting on growth trajectory: Only 10% of marketers are involved with podcasting, yet 26% plan on increasing their podcasting activities and 43% of marketers want to learn more about podcasting.

• Facebook and LinkedIn are the two most important social networks for marketers. When allowed to only select one platform, 52% of marketers selected Facebook, followed by LinkedIn at 21%.

• Most marketers aren't sure their Facebook marketing is effective: Only 45% of marketers think that their Facebook efforts are effective.

• Tactics and engagement are top areas marketers want to master: At least 91% of marketers want to know the most effective social tactics and the best ways to engage their audience with social media.

The Hidden Opportunity I Spoke Of Earlier

Perhaps the most opportunity-rich information in the report are the top 5 social media questions marketers want answered.

The top social media questions marketers want answered can be summarized in the following keywords: tactics, engagement, measurement, audience and tools—in that order.

But do not stop here. If you are a social media marketing provider or agency, if you are a consultant or coach, or i you train people in social media marketing, this is the vein of pure gold you're looking for. Here, in this section of the report, you will find the topics for your next consulting sessions, online courses, blog posts, and podcasts!

My advice: go beyond the obvious top line conclusions, spend some time reading an digesting, and think. Think about the following:

How can you take advantage of the trends for promoting your own business? How can you model the best behavior for you clients and students?

What connections can you draw that take data from different areas of this report and tie them together into new strategic and tactical approaches to marketing incorporating social media.

And then dig deeper: how can marry your specific knowledge of your target market with the trends and current needs of marketers revealed in this report, and use that mixture to create new rocket fuel for marketing programs? Thinking of this nature will give you an advantage your competitors will not even understand, let alone duplicate.

For those of you intrepid enough to actually heed my advice, you'll find more than 80 charts that visually convey some fascinating findings. For example, the report looks at which social networks are used by those who invest the most time in social media marketing, the benefits achieved by those who've been at this for years and how marketers respond to new social networks.

There's much more to be mined from this report. I've only scratched the surface.

What most will fail to realize is what a generous gift Mike Stelzner gives us with this report. In fact, I am honestly going to try and convince him to charge for this. An independent study, commissioned to retrieve the same level of response, exactness of data, and rigorous construction of the questions to yield unbiased, statistically reliable results would surely be a minimum six-figure investment.

You get all this for free. At least until I can talk Mike out of the crazy tree, and get him start charging something for this treasure chest… which is filled with treasure maps to other treasure chests!

Someday. But in the words of Aragorn, son of Arathorn, not this day. For now, it's still free, so go download your report now at:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/report2015/

What is the most interesting and useful insight you got from the new report?

May I Ask A Favor?

Subscribe to the show in iTunes and give us a rating and review. Go ahead and subscribe now, and give us your star rating and review on iTunes. We will definitely mention you on this show.

We are also BACK on Stitcher.com, so if you prefer Stitcher, please subscribe there.

If you don't already get the email newsletter, sign up for that and get the new free video: “3 Keys to Change the World and Make Your Business Grow.” I'll be taking this video down soon, so if you want to get access to it, do it now!

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn.

Get The Transcript

Click here to get the transcript. Transcripts provided by SuccessTranscripts – a great solution if you need your podcast, sermon, speech, or other audio transcribed.

 

Direct download: REP167.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:00am PDT

Have you heard the phrase, “Information is power?” Well, it's not true. It's not even close to being true.

The idea that “information is power” is misleading, and causes many people to create roadblocks to their own success. And it's about more than just the distinction that “information applied is power” – even that variation has problems. I'll explain how to transform the lead of “information” into the gold of “transformation” in this episode.

Spiritual Foundations

You Have Everything You Need

Steve was a coaching client who had everything going for him. He was a web designer with extraordinary talent, a great reputation, and a constant stream of people who wanted to do business with him.

But Steve didn't feel successful. One day he told me, “Ray, everybody thinks I'm a success, but I feel like a total failure. I haven't hit any of my goals this year, I'm feeling discouraged, and I'm not even sure my heart is in my work any more.”

I asked him, “Steve, how can you say that? You're extremely talented and succesful.”

“That's just it, Ray. I don't even know if that's true. My work seems mediocre to me, when I compare it to (and here he named another well-know designer.)”

Suddenly, a light came on in my head.

“Steve, it sure seems like you're aware of a lot things you don't have… your goal weight, your goal income, your dream house, the talent that so-and-so has…”

“Exactly!”

“What about what you do have?” I said.

He snorted.

“Yeah, I know, Ray. I should count my blessings.”

I smiled.

“That's a good idea,” I said, “But not what I was going to say.”

He seemed curious, so I pressed on. I quoted this to him:

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.'”
~ Psalm 23:1 (NIV)

He skepticism returned.

“Yeah, but I don't have…” and he proceeded to make list of all the things he wanted, but didn't have.

I interrupted him gently,”So is the Scripture right, or are you right?”

He stopped talking. I had thrown him a curve ball. I knew what he was thinking: he believed Scripture, but his experience wasn't matching up to it.

I said, “God is saying that from His perspective, you don't lack a thing.”

Steve said nothing.

“So if you lack nothing, what do you have, Steve? The Scripture also contains the answer for that.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
~ 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

Steve said, “I know that's true. So why am I so miserable?”

“Because you keep declaring what you DON'T have! That's what your focus is on. And what we focus on tends to grow. As you focus on lack, you begin finding more and more of it in your life.”

“So what do I do to to change that?” he asked.

I told Steve this…

“Steve, God has given you everything you need to live the destiny you were created for. And He did create you to fulfill a great destiny! And the power to access that destiny is in God's Word.”

“A good place to start is by watching your self-talk. What are you saying to yourself all day long? If what you're saying is, ‘Look at all the things I don't have. Time, money, peace, love, security…' Then you will find that to be what you experience.”

“But Psalm 23:1 says you ‘lack nothing.'”

“What if you replaced all your victim thinking, and victim-oriented self-talk ,with the Word of God over your life? Paul wrote to Timothy that Scripture is provided so ‘that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.' So say to your self: ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing! I am complete! I am equipped for every good work!'”

“In Romans 8:28 it says, ‘…we know that all things work together for good of those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.' So if it's not good yet, it's not done yet!”

I told Steve that every time one of these negative thoughts came to his mind, he should not speak it out loud, but should declare the truth of what God says about him. And that he should do so out loud, in a strong voice, as if he meant it.

We worked on his coaching plan for the next month, he promised to do as I suggested, and said he would report back on our next call (in 30 days.)

In less than 10 days, I got a call from Steve.

“Ray I'm so excited I couldn't wait to tell you what's happened! I began doing just was we agreed, and in just a few days things started changing. I started to have more confidence. I started waking up in the morning in a good mood. Two new clients signed on at the highest rates I have ever been paid. And I am much more happy now that I'm not constantly thinking about what I don't have!”

What worked for Steve can work for you, too. Stop telling yourself stories about what you don't have. Remember that your words have power to change reality. So speak the truth of the Scripture out loud. Put it into your words, but base it on God's Word.

He has promised us we lack nothing, we are equipped for every good work, we have everything we need, and He is working things out for our good.

So say to yourself…

“I am called to God's purpose for my life! He is making everything work out for my good. I am equipped with everything I need to overcome any obstacle! I am more than a conquerer. God is giving me the desires of my heart!”

I give you the same challenge I gave Steve: do this for 30 days, and report back to me here, and let me know what God has done in your life, as you focus on the truth that you lack nothing!

Tip Of the Week

Well, I have my voice back, and so the release of my brand new Copywriting Course,  rolls on this week. You can get access to all the free stuff we're giving away, just by going to RayEdwards.com/formula.

Feature Presentation: Information Is Not Power

Power is the “potential ability to do work”. Information is not power. Action is not power. Right Action is power.

You can become more powerful (accomplish more with less effort) by remembering these three points:

  1. The transmission of information does not equal the creation of understanding. If you need to get people to understand you, more is required than a mere “information dump”. This will only overwhelm, and actually diminishes understanding.
  2. More time does not usually create better decisions. Waiting longer, to get more information, usually results in poorer decisions, not better ones. Get the required information – then make a rapid decision based on your first reaction.
  3. The message you are preaching is not nearly as persuasive as the message you are living. You will replicate in others who you are, not what you say.

What do we do with this? How does this apply in life, and specifically in our “information marketing” businesses?

  1. Give instructions, not explanations. Teach “how to”, not “what do”.
  2. Gather the MRI (Minimum Require Information) to make a good decision. Guess at the MRI if you must. Sometimes you will be wrong. To make better decisions, make more decisions. Faster.
  3. Demonstrate  and embody what you want to see in others. Don’t HAVE a message – BE a message.

Put these to work, and share your results below in the comment section,

May I Ask A Favor?

Subscribe to the show in iTunes and give us a rating and review. Go ahead and subscribe now, and give us your star rating and review on iTunes. We will definitely mention you on this show.

We are also BACK on Stitcher.com, so if you prefer Stitcher, please subscribe there.

If you don't already get the email newsletter, sign up for that and get the new free video: “3 Keys to Change the World and Make Your Business Grow.”

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn.

Get The Transcript

Click here to get the transcript.Transcripts provided by SuccessTranscripts – a great solution if you need your podcast, sermon, speech, or other audio transcribed.

 

Direct download: REP166.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:00am PDT

The single most important thing you can do to boost your social media engagement is right better headlines. If you don't get the click, you certainly don't get engagement.

Old-fashioned headline templates are no longer enough. You need a smarter, stickier strategy. In today's episode I give you a sample from our brand-new copywriting course-I'll share five amazing tricks for perfect social media headlines.

Tip Of the Week

COPYWRITING COURSE NOTE: You may be wondering, “Hey Ray, where's that link to your copywriting course?” Well, this episode was recorded a few weeks ago… and this week I got a nasty case of laryngitis that really threw us off schedule. As soon as I get my voice back, we will open up the course. Sorry 'bout the delay!

Spiritual Foundations

No Other Gospel But This

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul continuously refers to the gospel as “the gospel of grace” or “the gospel of peace”.

In fact, he had to defend himself against those who accused him of preaching “too much grace”. These people wanted to put God's church back under the law, just to “keep things in balance”.

Paul was so persecuted about this that he had to offer a defense for his grace teaching in the book of Romans. Many accused him of promoting a gospel that would cause licentiousness… Or license to sin. To which Paul responded:

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Romans 6:1-2

Interestingly, the very Gospel that Paul preached, the “Gospel of Grace”, is the one seen by many in the church today as the aberration. Paul warned against this, both in his day and for our day:

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8 NKJV)

These days, many persecute those who preach the gospel of grace using the same verse. Ironically it was against the very same kind of “anti-grace” people that Paul originally wrote this verse.

My point: there is only one gospel, and that is the gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. The radical, scandalous, wipes the slate clean, your sins are forgiven once and for all, past present and future, liberating gospel of grace.

If you're not being persecuted for the same things which Paul is persecuted and criticized about, perhaps you're not preaching the same gospel Paul was preaching.

Feature Presentation: 5 Tricks For Perfect Social Media Headlines

  1. Use Numbers
  2. Keep It Short
  3. Use the “Rubberneck Effect”
  4. Shocking Juxtapositions
  5. Promises, Promises

Will you put these headline tricks to work, and post a link to your most shared Social Media content?

May I Ask A Favor?

Subscribe to the show in iTunes and give us a rating and review. Go ahead and subscribe now, and give us your star rating and review on iTunes. We will definitely mention you on this show.

We are also BACK on Stitcher.com, so if you prefer Stitcher, please subscribe there.

If you don't already get the email newsletter, sign up for that and get the new free video: “3 Keys to Change the World and Make Your Business Grow.”

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn.

Get The Transcript

Click here to get the transcript.Transcripts provided by SuccessTranscripts – a great solution if you need your podcast, sermon, speech, or other audio transcribed.

 

Direct download: REP165.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:00am PDT

Want to know the secret to writing well? Write a lot. Want to know the secret to writing a lot? Write fast.

Not only does writing fast help you write better, it also allows you to make more money (if your income is dependent upon your writing). In this episode…

The O.D.E.S.S.A. Secret To Writing 10X Faster (And Better)


Tip Of the Week

Today we are releasing the first in a free video series called, “Magic Words That Make You Rich” (hat tip to  Ted Nicholas). You can watch the first video by clicking here, or in the image below. In it, I will share the secrets of writing captivating headlines… plus the master framework I use to write copy for my world-famous clients. You can start using it yourself, today.

2015-05-06_07-16-57

Spiritual Foundations

No Ifs Ands Or Buts

Do you believe that God is all-powerful? Do you believe that Jesus Christ has saved you and made you his own? Do you believe his promises to heal you, to prosper you, to bless you? Do you?

I find that many believers seem to have a lot of “ifs, ands, or buts” when it comes to what they believe God can and will do for them.

  • “Yes, I believe God can heal me, if he wants to.”
  • “Yes, I believe God will restore my family, and it will take a lot of work on our part to make it happen.”
  • “Yes, I believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today, but only for a few people and only in extraordinary circumstances.”

These beliefs sound reasonable. But they carry an inherent flaw, and that is they are not biblical. Let's explore..

  1. God can, “if” he wants to. In the book of Exodus, God gave us one of his names: “I Am the Lord Who Heals You.” When asked if he was willing to heal, Jesus said, “I am willing.” When asked if he was able, the Lord said, “all things are possible for the one who believes.”
  2. When it comes to God “and” something else to intervene in our lives, God's grace  (his unmerited favor) “is sufficient”. We don't need to add anything to it. Our part is simply to receive.
  3. When it comes to God and “butts”, there are no “gotcha” clauses. Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow”. He said “come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden”… He said we will “lay our hands on the sick, and they will recover”… He said we “are the righteousness of God”… And that our faith “has been counted to us as righteousness”. We all have the same Holy Spirit, the same father God, the same elder brother, Jesus Christ.

God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him, and who are called according to his purposes. That's you, and that's me. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Feature Presentation: The O.D.E.S.S.A. Secret To Writing 10X Faster (And Better)

Want to write 10 times faster, and write better in the process? Use the following steps of the  O.D.E.S.S.A. method to speed up your writing, and improve its quality at the same time.

  • Outline
  • Dictate
  • Edit
  • Share
  • Speak
  • Apply

Will you try the O.D.E.S.S.A. method, and report back here with your results? Include a link to what you wrote!

May I Ask A Favor?

Subscribe to the show in iTunes and give us a rating and review. Go ahead and subscribe now, and give us your star rating and review on iTunes. We will definitely mention you on this show.

We are also BACK on Stitcher.com, so if you prefer Stitcher, please subscribe there.

If you don't already get the email newsletter, sign up for that and get the new free video: “3 Keys to Change the World and Make Your Business Grow.”

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn.

Get The Transcript

Click here to get the transcript.Transcripts provided by SuccessTranscripts – a great solution if you need your podcast, sermon, speech, or other audio transcribed.

 

Direct download: REP164.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 4:00am PDT