If you look around you, the obvious success benchmarks are usually money first, and then, at least a huge dollop of fame. But are our benchmarks of success skewed by Fortune Magazine or Inc or Fast Company? Are those blogs we read driving us down a path we didn't originally set for ourselves. We had to muddle around a fair bit because we too were confused. However, here are our benchmarks for success. Maybe it will get you to set your own, as well.

When we think of membership sites we tend to think just about "information" based sites. However, there are many ways of looking at membership sites. In this second episode we dig into the "limited membership site" (yes, one that lasts for a fixed time and then stops). And we also look at membership sites that are not membership sites at all. Yes, it's a weird trip. Come join us and see how your business model might find these types of sites quite suited to your way of life.

A membership site isn't just another site. Instead, it's almost like an inner circle where you draw your closest clients to you. Yet, which kind of membership site would suit you best? Should you hand hold your clients? Or should it be a membership site with content they can pick and choose—and with no input on your part? In this two part series, we look at the power of the hand held membership site and compare it with the content-only membership site. Which one is for us? Let's find out.

Clients may love our work. They may refer us on to others. And yet, when it comes to sales, we shrivel back almost in horror. We find sales techniques to be a bit over the top and often bordering on yucky. Is there a way to quickly get over this terrible feeling? How do we promote ourselves without feeling icky?

Do you find yourself loving your work, but knowing that you're getting a bit one-dimensional? You work, then work, then work some more. And when others around you protest that you're working, you say, "But I love my work" or "I'm not working that much". You find yourself justifying the importance of the work, both from a monetary point of view as well as something you want to do. And yet, you know that setting needs a slight recalibration. That there are these things called hobbies. Things that you do for no reason at all, but for the pure joy. Where there's no financial benefit at all, and yet it somehow seems magical. If you want to keep working endlessly, that's a call to make. But if you'd like to re-calibrate your life to include something more, here's how you go about it.

Which is the most frequently used method of evaluating someone you want to hire?Usually, the method used is quite bizarre. You tend to ask for references, probably some sort of resume and you're expected to make a decision based on those parameters. However, almost everyone will make sure they have a polished resume, which means you don't know if the person is really a good fit for the job. At Psychotactics, we've hired duds before. And in order to avoid the frustration of hiring and then having to let go of staff/outsourcers, we've devised a method that is surprisingly easy—and effective. And in this episode you'll find the three steps we take to get very precise hiring results. Listen away!

Imagine making one change in your pricing strategy. Then let's say you make two. But let's say we make three changes. With three tiny changes, we have not just made tiny little moves, but have created a whole pricing environment. Or a trophic cascade, where one thing leads to the other, and then the entire cascading effect changes the way you do business. Your revenue goes up, which buys you more time. Wouldn't you like to know how to create this cascade? That's what today's episode is all about and how to go about putting together the elements of the cascade.

Either your article is too long and bloated or it's much too skimpy. When faced with either of these situations we are at a loss as to what needs to be done. Well, worry no more because "examples" are waiting to rush to your rescue. Let's find out how to use examples to extend or reduce content in articles, books, presentations and just about any other media that goes out to clients.

When you run a business, there are three things that seems to come up. The first is "ungrateful subscribers", the second is definitely "pirates" and the third is the "competition. No matter how hard you try, these three pesky occurrences seem hard to avoid, but as you'd expect, there's a way out.

Clickbait headlines seem to be designed to get our curiosity. But what makes a clickbait headline so attractive in the first place? And how do we write "normal" headlines that are far superior in getting the attention of the client?

Often contrarian advice is precisely what the client needs. But how do you present the concepts to clients? Don't you need a lot of proof and research? Here's how you can get your client to not just listen, but also implement your contrarian advice.

It's one thing to say "be contrarian" but you can stick out too much. And anyway, we don't particularly care to disagree. Yet, being contrarian gives you a uniqueness factor that gets the attention of the client. What steps do we need to take to get to this attention? And how do we go about it systematically? Let's find out.

Do you know why the Tesla is such a big car? Think about it for a second. Tesla Motors only make electric cars. The bigger the car, the heavier it's going to be and the greater the drain on the battery. So why make a big car? Why not make it more compact like other electric cars? The answer lies in the battery. The entire base of the car is nothing but a battery. The bigger the battery, the greater the distance the car can go. The top of the line Tesla can go 400 miles (that's over 640 kilometres) on a single charge. How did Tesla come up with technology that far supersedes the range of a fuel-driven car? The answer lies in a concept of contrarianism. Being a contrarian means you're not like sheep, just following what has been done in the past. Being contrarian means you're creating an end point and working backwards, without even knowing how you're going to get to the "finish line". Find out how to use the power of being contrarian to your advantage.

When we think of making the transition to our own business, why do we freeze? It's simply because we're not sure where to start. A business has so many aspects to it. Yet, most business people never start up a business. Find out what you really should be doing.

When it comes to testimonials, we tend to end up with rambling, not so great testimonials? How do we get powerful experiences, instead of watered down testimonials? Here are three quick (and relatively easy) ways to go about the task of getting great testimonials.

The final rerun of six re-runs: Can you really double your sales of a product you've created a while ago? And why are satellite products so very useful to clients and profitable to your info-product business? In this episode we look at info-products as we'd look at a piece of software like Photoshop. Find out the magic that already exists within your info-product and why you don't have to keep crazily searching for newer clients all the time.

The fifth of six re-runs: Whenever you have a deadline, somehow you're able to stagger towards it and get the job done. But other tasks never seem to move forward. You fall behind on your reading, your fun projects, even that movie you'd promised yourself. In life we need to complete projects that are urgent, but also projects that are good for the soul. How do we get these projects going and how can we sustain them over the long term? Let's find out in this episode.

The fourth of six re-runs: It might not seem like tolerance is the root for success, but if you dig deeper, you'll find that small businesses struggle without these core concepts of tolerance. So how does tolerance play a part in something like a successful artwork, or music, or the next product or course you produce? Let's find out in this podcast.

The third of six re-runs: How do you know whether an idea is good or bad? Is there a system of validation for your info-products, courses and workshops, or do you just go with the wisdom of the crowds? And why do brilliant ideas like the Segway fail? This episode shows you exactly what causes one idea to fail and the other one to succeed. But what about self-doubt? Find out how to take on self-doubt as well as validate your ideas in this episode.

The second of six re-runs: One of the biggest hurdles in writing, has nothing to do with writing at all. It doesn't have anything to do with time, either. Instead, it's an understanding of energy. Without a clear view of how energy works, we're likely to start off strong and then find ourselves stranded. Is there a way around this energy hurdle? What causes an energy loss? Let's find out in this episode.

The first of six re-runs: Hype works exceedingly well, even when the client knows they're being duped a bit. But what if you can't stand hype? Does that mean you roll over and play dead? Here's how you can avoid hype completely, if you wish to do so. And if the hype is so great, that it can't be ignored, you can use the hype like mental judo to turn the tables and to achieve precise results for your clients.

When we think of mastermind-based concepts, we tend to isolate the ideas to a group of people. But what if you could use the very same concepts in courses, workshops and even in membership sites? Here are three steps to powerfully use mastermind concepts across the board.

It feels difficult to feel any gratitude when you're cooped up. Yet, these weeks in relative isolation have also brought unexpected joy. This is a small insight into how it has changed our personal live and even the structure of our online courses.

One of the most draining aspects of article writing is the research that we need to put into writing an article. No matter how hard we try, we end up spending hours, even days digging up for the right research. But what if there were a faster and better way to do research. What if that method was "accidental", yet super reliable? Let's find out how to go about it, shall we?

We've been told time and time again that our mindsets need to change in order to change our skillsets. But what if it's the other way around? Why are we still stuck despite making a change to our mindset? And are we fighting just a solitary mindset without realising there are multiple levels? Let's go past what's holding us back in this episode of mindset vs skillset.

When are you and I the most distracted? Often, it's right after you've finished one task and on your way to start another. You've planned your day well, but you lose your momentum and before you know it, you're in a big doom loop. How do you avoid this in between distraction so that you get tasks done and cross off all those boxes on the to-do list?

Imagine you are a prisoner of war. You're thrown into an isolation space, not just for a week, or month, but for an entire year. All the while you're being tortured and despair seems to be around you. Should you continue to stay optimistic? James Stockdale thought otherwise. The optimists don't do well at all. What does well, you may ask and how you keep going if you don't have optimism? Find out the paradox that made Stockdale survive and thrive.

Travel can be good, bad or even ugly. But in our travels through India in Feb 2020, we ran into a sense of warmth that needs to be shared. Get yourself a coffee or tea as you settle in for some really heartwarming stories.

We all get into argumentative situations. Yet, these situations almost always leave us worse off than before. How can we learn to negotiate instead of creating confrontation, and end up even better off than before? That's one of the three things I learned last year. To find out more, you know what you have to do. Listen to the podcast!

Many times when we are asked to show our work, we're quite reluctant. There's a reason for this reluctance. It's more than likely that the work is quite shoddy. And yet, what if we changed our perspective and had a goal to create a ton of "rubbish". If the concept sounds bizarre, it's not! In this short piece, you'll hear how top professionals encourage the steps to great work—by creating a fair bit of rubbish along the way.

Does a 100 year old book on advertising still apply today? In part two we explore the second of Hopkins' principles: tell your full story. If you ever tire of the slightly ridiculous drone of "hustle, hustle and hustle", you might want to step into the past over a cup of coffee and cake. And read the wisdom of yesteryear as the world hurries by.

Does a 100 year old book on advertising still apply today? In this two-part series we delve into concepts that are not just relevant, but crucial in marketing. Find out the principles that have lasted almost a whole century and how they can be useful to you, today. And tomorrow too. Probably the next decade or two as well.

Pre-sell is notoriously difficult for most entrepreneurs. It feels greasy and icky at times. And that lack of enthusiasm dooms the sale from the very start. But what if there were a way to sell without selling. Instead, all you'd need is a story. A simple story with tiny little details could easily achieve the goal of selling a product or service in advance. But how do you go about it? Let's find out.

Most of us are more than likely to get going by having a to-do list. Yet, we at Psychotactics do things a little differently. We start with the breaks, to begin with (and there's even a "Julia story" that explains why). Plus we also include a stop-doing list. To find out how and why this weird planning system may work for you, listen to this episode.

The first line of an article drives most of us insane. And as if that were not enough, we are called upon to write an interesting first line. How do you nail that first line every single time? Here are three—not four—just three methods that will excite and surprise you.

How do you find the most authentic food in a foreign city, minutes after you've landed? How do you find seats on a plane where people won't bump into you while you're sleeping? These and some other nifty tricks are what you're about to learn about in this episode.

Most of us have tried and are unable to keep up with the onslaught of information that comes our way. Add the deluge of distraction and it seems like a losing game. Or does it? You'll be amazed at how tiny tweaks can make a considerable difference to both learning and implementation.

Would you be able to write a newsletter on a weekly basis and keep it going for the next 20 years? How do you even get topics, let alone write consistently for all of this time? The answer lies in somewhat of a strategy, but mostly a structure. If you use a similar structure, you'll find that twenty years is just a starting point and that writing will be a joy, instead of a dread. Here's how we made it to the 20-year mark!

Would you choose between mastery or fluency? Many would opt for mastery, but it might just be the wrong choice to make. If, instead, you work with fluency, you can get incredibly talented while spending just five minutes a day. Is such a fabulous really possible? Let's find out.

How do you make your articles or sales letters more interesting? Analogies and stories always increase the drama and attention span. Yet, it's hard to find and craft interesting stories on a regular basis. Or is it? Find out how you can use three simple and effective ways to craft a ton of great stories and analogies.

Let's say you come up with what you believe is a great uniqueness for your product or service. How would you know if it's great or not? The answer is deceptively simple: every client needs to echo your uniqueness over and over again. But how are you supposed to hear that echo? Interestingly that echo is located in the testimonial. But not just anywhere in the testimonial, but in one really interesting area. Listen to find out and then do the same for your products and services as well.

Why do some books, courses or workshops end up becoming so addictive? Is it the teacher, the system, the information, or is it all of the above? In this podcast we look at why your business needs a bit of movement through three precise stages. Those stages are information, results and elegance. Elegance is hard to resist, but how do we get there and how long does it take? Is there any guaranteed way to get to elegance? Let's find out in this episode.

When we think of business, marketing tactics and strategy comes to mind, doesn't it? Philosophy does exist but it may be a bit on the back burner. Yet, for us at Psychotactics, philosophy looms large. Here are just a few nuggets that you can ponder over and see how they apply to you—and how you can use them in your life and business.

One of the most mind numbing tasks is to get a client to pay for the job you've completed. Clients tend to be slow with payments or just default. But is there a way to avoid such a mess? There's not just one, but three separate ways to go about it. Let's find out how you can get paid without all the bother—and well in advance, too.

We tend to believe that we're more overwhelmed than ever before. Yet look around you and you see people who are doing twice or thrice as much. It's hard to admit it, but often their work is of a higher standard too. How come they're not overwhelmed? Is it because they're more talented, or is there something that we're not quite seeing? Let's find out in this episode.

Remember when Google started? Or Amazon? At Psychotactics we started a few years after these giants. It’s perfectly normal to assume that we got in at exactly the right time. But you and I know there’s no right time, and that opportunities are always presenting themselves. Which is why when clients ask: What would you do if you were starting today—my answer is remarkably similar. Find out why the strategy of 2020 is not that different from 2000.

Most of us think we have to be incredibly special, or at least different to stand out in a crowded market. Yet, at least at the starting point, it’s the mundane that gets the attention. If anything, being unique or different seems to be backfire. How do you use the power of mundanity to break into a market and then how do you sustain that momentum?

If you and I look around, we see product or services just like ours everywhere. Instantly we get a feeling of having missed the bus. The market is clearly saturated and there’s little or no point in us having to create more content, or product or services. Or is it? One of the most surprising—even surreal—experiences is dropping into this seemingly saturated market, and finding out that it’s a big, fat myth. Why is it such a myth? Let’s find out.

If you’ve ever wondered if your headline is lacking some oomph, it might be because of an incredibly simple omission. It’s the lack of contrast. Contrast works in real life with colours, textures or flavours. Not surprisingly, it works with headlines too. Here are three common questions about headlines. And they have surprisingly interesting ideas.