The ExperTease

How To Stop Feeling Overwhelmed So You Can Finally Make Progress Towards Your Goals

Today is the first Monday of Q2. Can you believe how quickly the first three months of the year have flown by?

I feel like I've accomplished so much in such a short amount of time -- so far I've made two trips to North Carolina, two trips to Athens, I had an unexpected family trip to Oklahoma where I was born, and of course, spent a lovely weekend in San Diego with my marketing coach, Frank Kern, and company. Yet with all this travel and an ever growing list of goals and projects, at times it's felt as if my head would explode from information overload.

  Thankfully it hasn't yet which means I still have time to get it all done. I can still implement the follow-up and productivity strategies I learned from Frank and Dean Graziosi. I can still write all the blogs and promotions on my marketing calendar. I can still secure more partnership funds for the company I work for. I can still have an active social life. And I can still be fully present for my friends and family. Wow! Writing this paragraph makes me realize just how much I'm trying to cram into each day.

Oh, shoot!  That reminds me, I haven't set Q2 goals yet! And what about the ones from Q1 that I'm still working on but haven't quite finished yet? Is it just me, or does it seem as if there's never enough time to get it all done?

  I know this feeling all too well, unfortunately. It's called overwhelm and it's crippling. It causes you to hesitate when you should be taking action. It casts doubt and uncertainty over areas where the course of action should be crystal clear. Worst of all, it enables the most wicked excuse in the book: the need to "figure it out" which is really code for "I'm overwhelmed and don't know what to do so instead I'll just do nothing and wait."

Sound familiar? Or is it just me?

  (Quick Side Bar: I want to give special thanks to Bawo aka Onassis from UrVision Entertainment for helping me with this photo shoot. It was a journey getting to the location, but the pictures came out amazing! This was the definition of a #SquadGoal, and if you like the shirt they are available for sale in the LxVE Shop.)

>>> click here to order yours now <<<

OK.... back to the regularly scheduled program.

The End of overwhelm

I know that things can get a bit overwhelming sometimes.

It's not easy getting all the stuff swirling around in your head to settle down long enough for you process it clearly and take action.

It's not easy to put yourself out there. 

Not to mention, there are lots of added stresses from things like work deadlines, to your personal relationships, or financial strains to name a few, that can make you feel even more bogged down.

It can be frustrating. REALLY frustrating. And The worst part about it is the fact you KNOW that you are capable of doing it all and more.

You know how I know? Because I've been there.

I'm still there... Battling the same battle. Every. Single. Day. It's an ongoing battle.

But I've got good news...

Based on the time I spent with my coach and internet marketing legend, Frank Kern, and a mix of conversations I've had with business owners, music artists, and other creative individuals, as well as my own personal experiences, I've decide to create an e-Course that will not only help you get past the debilitating effects of overwhelm, but will also give you the tools you need to jump start any project or business endeavor on social media over the next 90 days.

If fact, by the time you get to the bottom of this article alone, you will have everything you need to take that burning frustration you feel and transform it into a blissful feeling of satisfaction from a job well done. 

However, in order to make the most of this course, we need to get clear on a few things.

Here's the deal... 

If we take the same energy we use to focus on the fact that we are overwhelmed and frustrated and instead place it on the causes of the overwhelm itself, it can make a huge difference in the results we get. 

So what are the causes of overwhelm you might ask? 

According to Frank, these are the culprits:

lack of clear-cut objectives

lack of clearly defined time targets

lack of planning

lack of focus

lack of a system for productivity

distractions

I agree with the list completely. And after having it laid out so clearly, it is easy to see what areas of our lives must improve in order to decrease the amount of negative emotion we feel from being overwhelmed. 

We're going to cover each of these during this course, but... 

Of all the factors that contribute to being overwhelmed, in my opinion, improved planning is where you will get the most leverage.

Simple things from planning when you'll block time to work on your goals, to more long-term planning for savings and big ticket purchases and committing to the plan is an excellent way to add the structure needed to sustain focus over time.

We'll come back to planning in a moment. =)

For now, let's take an objective look at where we are currently so we can make a plan for positive change.

Fortunately, everything you need to start making those changes is already inside you...

You already have some goals you want to accomplish. Since you are reading this it is safe to assume that you have the desire to make positive changes to your situation. And you know that you need help getting it done... 

So it makes sense to implement the most effective method I've found for attaining results affectionately called... a "check-in."

Now I know what you make be thinking... A check-in couldn't possibly be the solution I'm recommending, but stay with me. This is unlike most check-ins you've ever done in two ways:

First, the objective of this kind of check-in is not to be judgmental or beat yourself up about what is not getting accomplished. Instead, the idea is to take an objective look at your results and identify areas to focus on. 

(see note above about lack of focus... It causes overwhelm.)

Secondly, when applied consistently, a daily, weekly, or monthly check in like the one outlined later in this article is the best method of accountability I've ever found because it combines two important success principles:

what gets measured gets improved.

what you focus on expands.

The question you may be asking yourself is what should I be measuring and focusing on? And if so, then you are smart.

Here's my answer: Focus on crafting the best plan possible and measure your ability to accomplish the steps of the plan. 

A plan, by definition, is the outline of the steps one intends to take in order to reach their desired outcome. So logically, it makes sense to dedicate the time to ensure your plan is solid and gets executed effectively. 

Here's how to do it:

  First, think about the list of goals that I mentioned earlier...If you are like me and have a lot of them, choose the top 3-4 that would make the biggest difference in your life over the next 90 days and focus on these first.

Take a moment to reflect on the time you spent working in these areas. 

Were you able to make any progress towards accomplishing any of them?

If so, how did you do?

How much time did you dedicate to each goal on your list this week? 

Is there anything that prohibited you from getting started or continuing to take action? 

What's one thing you can celebrate about what you've accomplished already? 

Where can you stand to improve? 

What are the first steps you can take immediately to start getting better results?

Take an objective look at each of your goals as you run them through this filter and write down your responses. You are going to need this list as we move forward in the next step to create the plan to get you where you need to be.

 Here's where many people go wrong...

It's easy to look at your list and begin to feel bad about what appears to be a lack of results. But as I mentioned earlier, that's an excellent example of putting your focus on your frustration and what's not working. 

Instead, we should do our best to separate our emotions from our decision-making process so we can look at our productivity with a clear perspective. 

Remember, the goal isn't to judge how well we've done; it's to identify what we have done so we can create a plan to do it better and more effectively in the future.

This one little mindset shift is what allows us to move past the frustrations we feel when things aren't going the way we'd like and identify what we should focus on to fix the source of the problem. 

The beauty of this process is that once you have learned how to control your focus and how to place it on the things that really matter, you are able to apply it to any area of your life... Business, relationships, finances, you name it!

ACTION STEPS

So, with that being said.... I encourage you to find a moment where you can quietly reflect on the week that just passed and write down the responses to the questions I listed above. In the next session, we will use your notes to create an action plan that will make it easy for you to start seeing improvements in your results really quickly. 

Lastly, if you are in need of some assistance or would like to chat with me about the results you're getting, I've opened up my calendar to help as many music artists as I can create their own success strategy.

How four Atlanta-based creatives inspire crowds through music and art

By: Jonathan Tease

It’s 4:14 on a Saturday afternoon and I’ve been staring at the same four words on my screen for what feels like an hour. To say I’m stressed would be an understatement.

Moments earlier, I received a call from A.J. about a technical difficulty with the online store requiring my immediate attention. As I sat at my computer searching for a solution, I couldn’t help but get distracted by yet another barrage of gloom and doom, Trump news, and conspiracy theories on my timeline. This kind of thing tends to happen at an alarmingly high rate these days. Worse, I knew this wasn’t the time to be trolling through comments, but in some sick, masochistic way I was drawn to the negativity and radicalism.

If I didn’t know better, it would be easy to think the world was going to hell in a hand basket.

Eventually, I snap out of my trance as I realize I am in a race against the clock to get to the Arts Exchange. As I prepare to leave my apartment, my phone buzzes with a few last minute items our cameramen, Karl and Gregg, need to pull the night together. While racing through the city to find a pack of red balloons and a few touch lights a police officer pulls beside me only adding to the feeling of unease and overwhelm. Fear pulsed through my veins. Not because I was doing anything illegal, it’s just that guns, cops, and young black men have a poor history when used in the same sentence.

I finally pulled into the venue. My heart was pounding. I was tense and felt like screaming. However, all that changed the moment I stepped inside the door to LxVE Fest.

Upon entering, it felt as if I was being pulled towards something unique and different. Soothing blue lights tinted the hallway and traces of artwork led me along my path. A room with a bright light shining around the edge of the doorway offered the only detour leading to the Trust Ya Dopeness lounge where festival attendees could watch live interviews. However, something magical happened once I stumbled into the main room. It was like entering into a different world.

Individual stars were pressed against the charcoal black walls of the performance area forming their own galaxy with artwork by Aja Cobbs, Paul McPherson and E. Hood interwoven between mini-constellations. Light shows bounced off the ceiling and floor and a projector loop flashed images tied to the theme of the evening: United We Stand.

Almost immediately I felt the stresses of the day melt away.  And from the looks of it, I wasn’t the only person astounded by the decor and overall vibe of the event. In fact, over 250 people were in attendance at the climax of the show. It was there, standing among a sea of hipsters, that I recognized just how instrumental a change of environment can be to one’s happiness or success in life.

As much as I loved the way LxVE Fest made me feel, the biggest surprise of the evening was hands down the level of talent that took the stage. Every performance was top notch and the culmination of the entire show took you through a wave of emotions. 

Translee, Willie Hyn and AxJ headlined the show and poured tremendous energy into the crowd as their sets elevated your mind, body and spirit.

Two Dotz, and Blvck traveled across multiple state lines to make the crowd bounce with their traditional hip-hop sound.

Nai Br.xx and Elgin Nation and House of Fly captivated everyone with their eclectic vibes.

On several occasions I found myself staring in awe as each performer, one by one, took the stage and exercised their musical gifts.

During those moments, I felt a sense of relief from needing to constantly give energy to my phone or social media; but instead, share a moment of genuine connection with real people. That’s actually the secret to a LxVE event. There is a deeper meaning to each show than what meets the eye. LxVE Fest wasn’t just a music festival with a live podcast recording. LxVE Fest brought like-minded individuals together in a room and provided a platform that encouraged relationship building and supporting one another all hidden beneath the veil of a super-dope concert.

Wrapping up the night, I took the stage alongside AxJ to give our final remarks when it hit me. Hearing AxJ encouraging his peers to support one other was a vivid reminder that it is we who create the change we want to see in the world; and by failing to do so, we must live with whatever fate our inaction hands us. So be bold, be brave, and be unrelenting in the pursuit of your dreams because you never know what change they may inspire.

About the LxVE Collective

The LxVE Collective also organizes Rap Reel, iLxVE Art and educational workshops for Atlanta’s art and entertainment scene. Outside of events, the group continues its mission of inspiring forward thinking, entrepreneurial-minded creatives to pursue their passion through engaging content. You can look to www.wespreadlxve.com for features and interviews, short stories, new music releases and more.

A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO CONVERTING LEADS ONLINE

Here are two words I'm sure you probably would not have associated with your insurance business: intrinsic value. The concept of intrinsic value fuels curiosity and interest about a product and influences people's decisions to buy, whether they know it or not.

Think about it. If given the option to drive a Ferrari California T or a Honda Accord for a day, all things being equal, the Ferrari seems like an obvious choice. I'm sure you could imagine how cool, powerful, and all around awesome it would be to sit behind the wheel of such a well-crafted vehicle. This is what makes the intrinsic value of a Ferrari so much higher than that of a Honda. The supercar just seems cooler even though technically both will get you to your destination. Stated differently, the way people perceive you and your company determine how badly they want to work with you.

So how exactly do you build Ferrari-like desire for your insurance business? According to legendary marketing consultant, Frank Kern, the following formula can be used to create insane levels of interest for a product or service and attract customers who are willing and ready to buy: Positioning + Promotion + process = profit

Positioning - Your positioning is centered around what the marketplace thinks about you. Consider this question: what does your agency do better than anyone else? The answer is the key to creating strong positioning in the minds of your customers. Most agents highlight things like their friendly and helpful staff as their best selling factors. While your agency may indeed have a very skilled and knowledgeable team, that has become more of an expectation than an actual selling point.

A more powerful approach would be to highlight a personal connection to the industry or community in which you serve. For example, Do you know a niche market such cyber security like the back of your hand? Could you point out obvious risks that your client was unaware he or she was vulnerable to? If so, this could be an area to position yourself as an industry leader.

Promotion - Now that you've carved out your space in the marketplace, it's time to get customers excited about working with you. Perhaps the biggest opportunity that digital marketing provides businesses is its ability to create virtually an endless amount of inbound leads. Interacting with leads can be tricky, however, because up to 70% of customers begin their purchase process before they ever talk to an agent. Savvy marketers understand that online prospects are receptive to companies that show a willingness to genuinely help without being overly pushy towards a sale.

As the industry expert, it is vital to have resources on your website that inform prospective clients about the ins and outs of your area of expertise. In doing so, you've already positioned yourself as the person with the answers based solely on the resources you have available online. Links to these items should be shared on your social media channels and provide an excellent balance from the typical "buy from me" messaging most companies post. This is how you separate yourself from your competitors and drive highly qualified traffic to your website.

Process - Assuming you have a lead-friendly website that collects contact information from new prospects, you now have everything you need to move customers through your sales process. If a lead came in through your website or referred by TrustedChoice.com you now know details such as if your prospect is a personal or commercial customer, what type of insurance they are looking for, where they are located and so much more. This allows you to create interactions that are specifically tailored to their needs and can better direct them to the resources you have available.

Email is a highly effective tool for accomplishing this task and services like Mailchimp or Constant Contact will allow you to automate this process. For instance, in our cyber security example, you could outline the most common issues your clients face then create a follow-up campaign that helps them find the solution to their challenges. 

Super-creative marketing consulting, Jonathan Tease, explains the 4-step process some of the world's most successful brands are using to grow their online fan base and shows you how to apply it directly to your music career. 

Interested in the social media guide, audiobook & webinar mentioned in the video?

It’s here! It’s here! IT’S FINALLY HERE! I feel like a kid on Christmas as I write this blog. 

After many hours of writing, revising, graphic design, many late nights (and a few bottles of wine), I'm excited to share that Music Artists’ Guide To Social Media is finally complete and available for sale! 

Click here to purchase: https://gum.co/MAG2SM 

Included with every download is an 11-page crash course that details how to be successful on social media as a music artist, explains a simple 4-step strategy for turning strangers into fans that support your movement, and much so more.

Words can not express how much I appreciate everyone’s support during the process of writing my book. This is part one of a series of topics I intend to cover which will ultimately form a book tentatively titled Super Fans. But more on that to come... =)

For now, please comment with your feedback on the book and any suggestions where you think I should promote it.

Peace & LxVE,

Jonathan Tease

One of the most valuable business lessons I’ve learned comes in the form of an acronym for the word system. As the saying goes, a system will “Save You Stress, Time, Energy and Money.” When applying that principle to your business, I believe one of the easiest places to begin is with your marketing. Brendon Burchard, New York Times best-selling author and internet marketing guru likes to point out that “effective marketing isn’t a one-off promotional postcard, brochure or email blast that essentially says, “Buy my stuff!” Customers are bombarded with several messages like this daily and it drives them insane.” 

Alternatively, Brendon recommends creating a campaign that immediately adds value to your prospective customers. A value-added campaign is applied though an intentional sequence of messages that educate or tell a story about your brand. They are essentially a series of promotions strung together to influence a prospect to take action; however, the difference between a campaign and a singular promotion is that a campaign is repeatable, scalable and can practically work on its own once initially set up. In the perfect online marketing system, this process mirrors your in-person sales process as much as possible. 

The Four Main Phases of Digital Sales Funnel

Attraction – In a digital sales funnel, the attraction process is usually the first step in creating new business and consists of offering content specific to your area of expertise to your fans and potential customers. This content is often considered “bait” that entices readers to click on a link to visit your website in order to learn more about your product or service.

The content you create could be a blog post or article highlighting the benefits of working with you or it could be an interview on the radio, updates on social media or any other form of media. The fun is in unleashing your creativity here. The most important thing here isn’t what you send out, rather it’s making sure that you solve a problem and your prospects find it helpful. We’ll cover this in more depth in part two of the series.

Interaction – This is the second step of a digital sales funnel and a continuation of the attraction process. If you made a promise to share something of value during the attraction phase, here’s where you deliver on your promise. In order to get the most leverage from the interactions on website you should be intentional about one thing—getting the user to want to share their contact information in exchange for what you have to offer. The people who are willing to make this small commitment upfront are much more likely to make a larger commitment later when you ask for the business and therefore make decent leads.

Interactions usually happen on landing pages, forms, contact pages, etc. where it is acceptable to collect information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses and more. That information can then be transferred into a CRM or database of some sort for future follow up. The better you get at this step, the easier it will be to convert these visitors into customers in the next step.

Conversions – Getting conversions usually requires taking your leads through a systematic sales process that generates customers. I tend to think of this process as an educational progression that helps the customer find areas they feel need improvement and understand their options for getting the results they seek. Of course, one of their options should be to invest in your product or service.

In terms of communication modalities, nothing achieves this outcome better than a well written email.  Email is non-invasive and when implemented into a systematic outreach strategy, you can expect to build positive relationships with the members of your database and ideally generate new leads and new business. We have a complete lesson in our digital marketing series dedicated to writing emails that sell.

Satisfaction – Lastly, satisfaction is the final step in the digital sales process and happens after you close the sale. In the digital world, you don’t just pass your new customer off onto your admin team and wipe your hands clean of the interaction. Now, more than ever, your clients have access to you through your website, email inbox and social media channels so why not use these new phenomena to your advantage by offering exceptional customer experiences well after you’ve won the account? 

A quick word of caution: It’s worth noting that your digital marketing sales funnel is comprised of several tools that work together and each have distinct role in the marketing process. For example, social media makes is excellent for getting people to visit your website and sharing success stories with customers, but fails in comparison to email when looking to actually close business. Relying on the wrong tool to for the various parts of your sales funnel could severely limit its effectiveness.​

How To Use Social Media To Get New Fans

When creating content for social media there are three elements that contribute to the effectiveness of each post: the image, the text, and the call to action. 

How to create posts your prospects will want to click on

1. Use a compelling image – It’s impressive how simply adding an image can impact the number of people who interact with your company on social media. According to Emarketer, Facebook posts with photos accounted for 87% of all interactions last year and Social Examiner states that tweets that included visuals got 150% more retweets than ones that didn’t. The evidence is clear. Pictures are worth 1000 words. 

2. Write clear and concise text – Great pictures alone don’t get the job done. It’s also important to include an informative message that encourages potential fans to engage with you. Keep in mind your audience’s attention span is short and each platform has unique advantages and restraints. For example, Twitter's strongest asset is it's real time newsfeed. However Twitter only allows for 140 characters of text. Regardless of the platform, the goal is to be concise while clearly communicating your thoughts.

3. The Call to action – Lastly, each post should contain one clear call to action. Before you craft your next update, be sure you know why you are doing so and how you would like your prospective customers to respond. I recommend including a link to your website, music video, or even an album's sale page so they can make a purchase from you online. 

Case Study—Analyzing Your Results with Intention

Let’s look at some real numbers on a post from Latrese's page. 

The analytics reveal that 4,578 people were exposed to this boosted post. Of those 4,578 individuals, 328 endorsed the post basically saying to their friends, “Check this song out; it's awesome!” Considering that 4,578 people saw this post and 328 took action, one can see that this particular update had a 7.1% engagement rate1. Even better 145 of the people who liked, commented or shared the post also clicked the YouTube link and watched the video. Considering that 4,578 people saw the post and 145 watched the video this post had a 3.1% conversion rate2. 

To give some real value to this illustration, if Latrese spent $20 to boost this post then she is basically paying $0.14 per person for the chance to win new fans worldwide ($20 divided by 145 people that watched the video). This ratio is the ROI3 she receives from her social media program. Assuming Latrese gets these results consistently, she can now run calculations to see how much of a social media budget she needs to reach her marketing goal for her music video.

1Engagement Rate - The percentage of people who saw a post that liked, shared, clicked or commented on it.

2Conversion Rate - The percentage of visitors who take a desired action.

3Return on Investment - A profitability measure that evaluates the performance of a business by dividing net profit by net worth.