Staying in action: The podcasts and webinars that keep me moving

(Each blog entry builds on the previous. Make sure to start at the bottom)

One of my worst fears in college was that when I graduated, I’d stop learning. That’s one of the few reasons I had 24 credits each semester … I tried to jam pack my brain with Women’s Studies classes, Sociology courses and a handful of other lectures that had nothing to do with my major. I wanted to know everything!

I seriously considered getting my Master’s and then possibly my P.H.D in Communications. But as I was in my 4th year of college, the thought of not ever having to write another paper again seemed like heaven.

I opted to graduate and get a job …

Fast forward to this moment of my life and I definitely feel behind. I’m not sure I  stayed up to date on the ever-changing technology and digital marketing. Was I focused on the wrong things? I really don’t know.

But not to get too down on myself, I did discover Ryan Deiss and his team’s amazing digital marketing event, Traffic and Conversion Summit. I attended two years in a row and each time walked away with some serious knowledge.

Attending this event, purchasing and tinkering with the tools that they offered and following all the other people this team suggested – really made a huge difference in my business, my knowledge and confidence level of understanding the digital marketing world. It gave me a great base of knowledge for my current “situation.”

So to get over my “I don’t feel I know enough and I’m irritated with myself” moment, I’m going to do only what I know to do … get into action, get myself educated and not only up-to-speed … but ahead. I want to be trailblazing and leading the way … it’s just a Gelie thing.

In the last month or so, I compiled myself a list of the things to dive into. Here is what I have done, am currently doing and am planning on doing. I would suggest the same to you if ever in a free fall or you just want to be in-the-know:

Subscribe to Podcasts – Find a few podcasts you enjoy and start listening to them. I sync the Podcasts I chose to my phone and listen to them on my Sonos (sound system) when I’m cooking or cleaning – which is bound to happen at least once a week (at least the cleaning part … cooking is optional, lol).

• Podcasts in my rotation …

• The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes – Lewis is just kind of a rockstar and if you don’t know who he is, you probably live under a rock 😉 I met Lewis years ago and have been following his fun journey ever since. Not only is his podcast seriously amazing, but the things that Lewis has accomplished are as well. You should just follow him in general.

• The Hustle Sold Separately by Matt Gottesman and Case Kenny – These guys are legit! Matt goes deep and cuts through all the B.S. which makes for a very entertaining interview leaving the audience wanting more. Their guests are people we want to hear and learn from. It’s all about the hustle, not just the success, which is great for those of us that are in the trenches and need to hear we’re not alone.

• Zero to Scale by Justin McGill and Greg Hickman – These two guys take you behinds the scenes, in detail, of what it takes to bootstrap a startup to $20k/mo and beyond. And I mean details … they’ll go through their task list and name off all the various tools that they use and much more. It’s great to hear the story of their progress and great if you don’t know which tools to use for what.

• Carey Pena Reports by Carey Pena – Carey is a dear friend of mine and a local celebrity who is making strides globally! She reports on topics that are timely, interesting and relevant to our lives. I was a guest on Carey’s show and was amazed at how well she pulled my own story out of me. Her show is a treat!

• Off the Charts Business Podcast by Nathalie Lussier – I’ve only listened to a few of her podcasts, but each was on the money! They are short and actionable. She lured me in with her Facebook ad which was an article titled “If I had to do it all over again” or something like that. It was an extremely educational well-written article and I’ve been a fan of Nathalie since.

Webinars – you just have to make the time, plain and simple.

• The most recent webinar that I watched was on ClickFunnels.com. The whole premise is how websites are becoming outdated and what the process needs to be if you sell anything online. The guy behind Click Funnels is a true genius and he actually shares a TON of great content and super duper educational information. Definitely 1.5 well spent! I plan on learning more from this company as they seem to have a webinar on every relevant topic of the moment. HIGHLY recommend this one; however, I’m not sure how you can get the replay link. Maybe visit their site and then they will retarget you with Facebook ads – that’s how it happened for me.

• Matt and Case run a webinar as well (mentioned above). I watched the replay and took lots of notes. I’d give you the link but I’m not sure if they are actively running it. Start following their movement and you’ll see how they do what they do. On IG @HDFMAGAZINE and @prsuit

• If you read my previous blog, then you know that I launched a new IG account, @follow_gelie.  I’m, again, doing that for educational purposes. I want to learn the platform, see how it moves, etc. I’m following a few people that run webinars on how to increase your followers on IG and I’m thinking about signing up for one.

Books – can’t forget this one!

• I have 3 copies of Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book “#ASKGARYVEE: ONE ENTREPRENEUR’S TAKE ON LEADERSHIP, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND SELF-AWARENESS.” Why 3 you might ask? Well, Gary was running an IG promotion that if you purchased 3 books off Amazon on a particular day then he’d do something special for you this summer. Yes, that’s how big of a fan I am … I decided to buy 3 books and see what Gary does next 🙂 I haven’t started reading it yet, but plan on doing that soon.

Follow others – I mean digitally stalk them!

• I like to observe, watch, reverse engineer and get to the bottom of “their” secret sauce. Everyone has a brand. Everyone has a way. Everyone has something I can learn from.

• I’m following people on IG that I want to learn from

• I’m clicking on the ads directed at me on Facebook and signing up for their lists because I want to know how they do it

• I’m placing myself in the same rooms with some of these people that I’m learning from

I face all my fears head-on. There is no other option for me and it will be the same in this situation. If I feel that I don’t know something, I will learn it until I can teach it; then I will teach it and then live it.

Back in college ,I didn’t know where I’d be in 10 years and I was uncertain, but I can assure myself now, that I will never stop learning or moving forward.