The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur Reading: October 17 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch on The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur – October 17

It’s time for another episode of The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur. Once a week, I’m sharing a reading from my new book, due out in October 2019. The book is structured around 366 daily meditations for entrepreneurs. They begin with a quote from some of the great authors of the mid-19th Century, which I then place in a modern context for today’s entrepreneurs and business owners.

The excerpt below is from the October 17 entry.

Today’s Reading: Creating History

“The student of history is like a person going into a warehouse to buy cloths or carpets. They fancy they have a new article. If they go to the factory, they shall find that their new stuff still repeats the scrolls and rosettes which are found on the interior walls of the pyramids of Thebes.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson – “Uses of Great Men” The Oxford Book of American Essays, ed. Brander Matthews (1914)

Spanish-born philosopher George Santayana popularized the adage, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In a 1948 speech to the House of Commons, Winston Churchill paraphrased the quote slightly when he said, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”

Both meant this as a warning to those who did not study the failings of past as a guide to the future.

What if you saw your entrepreneurial journey it in a much different light? What if by recognizing that your “new stuff still repeats” you created your own history?

Starting today, could you look at content creation and journaling in the way that a documentarian might? Could you start to document every aspect of your journey as a way to learn from yourself, learn from your mistakes, your triumphs, your daily observations of the mundane as well as the thrilling?

You have much to teach yourself by stopping and taking note, and there’s a very practical element from a brand standpoint. Sharing your journey and using your documenting practice is one of the strongest ways to connect with your audience and invite them to join you on your journey.

Challenge Question: What’s the hardest part about being an entrepreneur? (That might make a great blog post.)

Want to learn more about The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur? Click here.

Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please!

This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Ahrefs.

Whether you work for a big brand, run your own small business, or do freelance work—it doesn’t matter—getting traffic to your website is hard. Ahrefs is the all-in-one SEO toolset that makes it easy.

Ahrefs’ tools show you how your competitors are getting traffic from Google and why. You can see the pages and content that send them the most search traffic, find out the exact keywords they’re ranking for and which backlinks are helping them rank. From there, you can replicate or improve on their strategies.

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The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur Reading: October 10 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch on The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur – October 10

It’s time for another episode of The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur. Once a week, I’m sharing a reading from my new book, due out in October 2019. The book is structured around 366 daily meditations for entrepreneurs. They begin with a quote from some of the great authors of the mid-19th Century, which I then place in a modern context for today’s entrepreneurs and business owners.

The excerpt below is from the October 10 entry.

Today’s Reading: Abundant Trust

“He who is firmly seated in authority soon learns to think of security, and not progress, the highest lesson of statecraft. From the summit of power people no longer turn their eyes upward, but begin to look about them.”

James Russell Lowell – “New England Two Centuries Ago” Literary Essays (1865)

It’s funny how we scratch and claw and dig our way to the top, and then once we get there we spend an enormous amount of time looking back and around to make sure sure nothing is crumbling around us.

It’s sort of the nature of how this game is often portrayed. Beat the competition, win, cash the check (or some new kind of money).

Funny thing is, few things erode progress faster than getting stuck in Paranoiaville on what feels like your slippery summit. Want to pick up some momentum again? Start down the hill, release the breaks, fly on by, and start to trust again.

Trust in abundance.

Extend trust to those who believe in you and your dreams. People, customers, partners, team members, want to go on this journey with you, if you’ll let them. They want you to show them how you can help them. They don’t need you to have the answers or even a plan, they just want to know you care about their climb up the hill too. Mostly, get out of their way.

Want to win? Show up with a passionate community ready to eat marshmallows with you. (You know they’re made from horse hooves right?)

Today, turn your eyes upward, and hand out the marshmallows.

Challenge Question: If someone wrote a story about you, would you be the champion or the challenger?

Want to learn more about The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur? Click here.

Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please!

This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Ahrefs.

Whether you work for a big brand, run your own small business, or do freelance work—it doesn’t matter—getting traffic to your website is hard. Ahrefs is the all-in-one SEO toolset that makes it easy.

Ahrefs’ tools show you how your competitors are getting traffic from Google and why. You can see the pages and content that send them the most search traffic, find out the exact keywords they’re ranking for and which backlinks are helping them rank. From there, you can replicate or improve on their strategies.

They have a 7-day trial for only $7; head over to ahrefs.com to sign up.