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Posts Tagged ‘Influence’

Why Am I Here?

June 25th, 2010 by Michael Feil

Today I want to truly write a post from the heart. I have a ton of friends that I interact with on my blog and the social media sites that I frequent and I love the interaction that I have with every one of you. There is a lot of diversity and back grounds out there and I enjoy reading about you all and seeing where you really come from.

So why am I here? Good question. Actually it’s a question I have been asking myself for a while. Hey, I teach to be authentic with your posts and to be real, so I’m just being real. Many of you know that I’m a Christian and first and foremost I am here to serve God and honor Him.

1 Peter 5:2-3
2Just as shepherds watch over their sheep, you must watch over everyone God has placed in your care. Do it willingly in order to please God, and not simply because you think you must. Let it be something you want to do, instead of something you do merely to make money. 3Don’t be bossy to those people who are in your care, but set an example for them.

I honor God by helping people. It may be Biblically related it may not. I may help someone understand the real power of the cross or I may help someone understand the power of social media marketing. But in either case I’m doing it with a servant heart. I’m doing it because I like and want to help people. I want to make a difference in this world.

I’m here to be the best husband to my wife and father to my girls that I can possibly be. God has blessed me with a great family and being self employed I now have the luxury to even be more attentive to them than I did when I was working in Corporate America (except when we are doing a product launch!).

I’m here to be an educator of social media marketing and how to make money online. I love to do it and I enjoy doing it. I love making the connections, interacting with people online, and sharing the principles that have made me successful.

So here’s what I’m dealing with right now. What is my current call in ministry? Ministry is a huge part of my life. The Bible tells us to go out and share what God has done in our lives.

Matthew 28:19-20 19Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.

Believe me, I have done a lot when it comes to ministry. I have started up ministries from scratch, I helped plant a church, I have lead Sunday school, I have preached to my congregation, I have preached to youth, I have organized youth camps, I have volunteered my time for various ministries, etc.

I have seen some amazing miracles come from people fully turning their lives over to God and understanding that they can’t do it on their own. There have been miracles in my life that have happened because I know God’s hand was on me and guiding me. There have been struggles I have been gone through that I the outcome was hopeless and I tried everything I could to fix the problem or issue on my own and failed miserably, but when I went to God’s Word and finally asked for His help the problems were fixed and the outcomes were positive.

Romans 8:28
28We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God—those whom he has called according to his plan.

My dilemma is what is my real calling? Why am I really here? I know I have one! I thought my calling was this one certain ministry but it has been one frustration after another and there are some battle scars that I have with that ministry.

There is another ministry that I am also involved with that I enjoy doing and I know I’m making a difference in those people’s lives.

So I need to spend some time deep in prayer seeking God to see what he wants me to do…bow out of the first one and just focus on the second or fight through both of them.

So why am I telling you all of this? Actually, I don’t know! This has been on my heart for a while and I just needed to express this. Maybe this post will somehow put some things into perspective for you, or maybe this post will just help me think things through better, but either or I know God is in control and whatever the outcome is I’m going to serve Him to the best of my ability.

My life does have a purpose and I am so happy I serve a living God that cares for me, has lifted me up when I needed him, has shared my joys, and knows everything about me.

Matthew 10:29-31
29-31″What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.

People ask me sometimes, “Mike, how do you know God is real?” You know because of the experiences you have with Him. You know because you see positive outcomes in situations that were so hopeless and so negative you can only know that it’s God that carried you through those situations. You know because there is a joy in your life that you just can’t explain. You know because you can feel His presence in your life. You know…because you just know. It’s hard to explain if you’re not a Christian. It’s like an extra sense or an extra feeling that you have. I guess that’s the most easiest way to explain it.

So how to end this post? Well, I’ve been thinking about that for the past 20 minutes! I guess what I’m going to do is like I said spend some time in prayer about my ministry calling and seek direction from God. If anyone has any good books they can suggest I would appreciate that too!

If you’re still reading this I hope my post has somehow helped you out as well. I am human, I am normal, and I do have struggles just like everyone else does. I just take my struggles to God trust in Him that He will work things out.

I do want to leave you with a video from one of my favorite bands, The David Crowder Band. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I enjoy it.

UPDATE
After spending some time with God in prayer I have decided to stay in both ministries and go in a different direction with one of the ministries that I have been focusing on. I’m looking forward to the doors that are going to be open with this ministry and to see lives changed because of it!

I’m reading a great book now called In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day. It’s about how to thrive and survive when opportunity roars. Many people like to run when they see “lions”…I like to chase ‘em and defeat ‘em!

Tags: Character, Influence, Integrity, self-respect, serving
Posted in Leadership | 13 Comments »

Day 1 Of Empowered Tribe In San Diego

March 22nd, 2010 by Michael Feil

The masterminds of Empowered Tribe has never met in person before…until now! We have planned a week in San Diego, CA just to come meet each other face to face and work on our next big project together…all in one room! Unfortunately, Eric Goldstein, another one of our business partners couldn’t make it but we will be talking to him via Skype several times throughout the week!

I will be video documenting our trip throughout the week so make sure you come back and check out what we’re doing and have planned for you guys!

If you like what we’re doing please comment and retweet!

Tags: Influence, Internet Marketing, Leadership, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Tribe Mastery, Tribe Syndication, Tribes
Posted in Leadership | 9 Comments »

8 Keys To Success For Live Events

March 16th, 2010 by Michael Feil

Live events are great! It gets people offline for a bit so you can meet each other face to face and interact on a more personal level. Many people don’t realize that live events don’t just give them valuable information to help the person grow, but it actually helps their business grow. This is because the relationships and connections that you make at a live event can become very lucrative partnerships and joint ventures.

In this industry that we’re in many people go to live events but don’t really know how to get the most out of their experience there. I would like to give you some tips on what to do before, during, and after a live event.

1. Make a list of questions you want answered while you’re there. Before you go to the event you need to make a list of questions you want answered while you’re at the event. If you have questions about something specific you are working on or having trouble with then write down the questions you need answered and seek out those experts while you’re there.

2. Write down who you want to meet while you’re there and what you want to ask them. This is different from the above because the above questions are questions about your specific business and struggles you may be having with your business. If you know someone you admire or respect in the industry is going to be there write their name and some specific questions about their success like, “What’s the most 3 important things you did that got you to where you are today?” Or, “If you had to do it all over again what would you do different?”

3. Get on every speaker’s blog and see what they’re about before you go to the event. You may be going to an event with several speakers but you may only know one or two of them. Before you go to the event you will want to do some research on the speakers to see what they are doing and get a feel for what their niche is in the industry. A best place to do that is their blog. You can go there and see their “About Me” page and get some background information from them and then browse the rest of their blog to see what kind of content they are putting out. After you get to know them better from their blog they may be one of the people you want to meet and ask some questions to.

4. Find a live event buddy and hold each other accountable. This can be someone that comes with you to the event or it could be someone that you meet there. Many times at live events people are furiously taking notes and when they get home where do those notes go? On the bookshelf or in the drawer never to be seen again! Well, here’s a solution for that. Ask someone to be your event buddy so when the event is over you both can debrief before you part ways and tell each other what you learned and what you’re going to implement and what your actions steps are for when you get home. Then when you get home agree to meet on Skype of the phone once a week for a short meeting to see if you guys are completing your action items that you said you were going to do. This sometimes morphs into a partnership or a joint venture. So make sure you find a good buddy!

5. Craft your brand. When you go to a live event you need to brand yourself just like you want to brand yourself online. When you meet someone you want to tell them three things; 1. Who you are, 2. What you do, 3. Why you are here. For example, if I was going to a live event that will teach me how to blog I will say something like, “My name is Michael Feil and I am and I teach people how to market online through social media and tribe building principles. The reason why I am here is to gain more knowledge on how to get more traffic to my blog and meet other people in the industry.” So then people that might not be familiar with the tribe concept may start asking me, “What is a tribe?” Then we can start having a meaningful conversation instead of, “Where are you from?” Or, “Nice weather we’re having today!”

6. Get business cards made that has your information on the front and your brand on the back. So on the front of the card you will have your name address, email, phone, etc. Then on the back you can put your brand like we mentioned above. Or you can put the URL to your top three affiliate links. Or you can say something like, “Teaching people tribe building principles that will give them massive exposure. Call me for a FREE 30 minute consultation.” Remember the goal is not how many cards you give out but how many you get so YOU can follow up with them. If they don’t have a card write down their info so you can follow up with them.

7. Cross off each question as they get answered. Going back to point one, as you are at the live event and listening to the speaker many times he or she will answer your questions that you wrote down through their presentation. Whatever is left over you can then seek out the proper people to answer them.

8. Get the event early and stay late. Most likely you traveled far and paid a lot of money to come to the event so make the most out of it. Get to the event early and stay late if you can. By doing this you will have time to interact with some of the attendees there as well as a chance to speak with the speakers. Your time there is valuable there so make the most of it!

These are just eight of many different ways you can make the most out of a live event. The main goal there is learning but the value really comes by networking.

If you are interested in meeting some of the great industry leaders and peers that you see online every day, learning all the current principles on online monetization, networking, and coming to a really fun fundraiser with many surprises you will need to check out the event we are hosting. You can find all the details at http://TribeSyndicationRevolution.com

Tags: Goal setting, Influence, relationships, Social Media Marketing
Posted in Leadership, Social Media Marketing, Tribe | 21 Comments »

The Cycle Of Achievement (Pt. 3)

August 26th, 2009 by Michael Feil

If we continue to dissect the Cycle of Achievement from the #1 best selling book Launching A Leadership

Cycle Of Achievement

Revolution we’ll see that once we have our goals set we’ll need a Game Plan. So what is a game plan exactly? A game plan is a leader’s strategy or map that provides guidance towards the goal. If the Hunger provides the “why,” the Goal is the “what,” and the Game Plan is the “how.”

It is in the game plan phase that the leader develops the ability to think strategically, brainstorming on the methods of attack.

In the Movie Waterboy Henry Winkler plays coach Klein who got his playbook stolen by Coach Red Beaulieu. Before his playbook was stolen he was very successful and a great coach for a strong college football team; the University of Louisiana Cougars, but once his playbook was stolen he was lost, washed up, and got transferred to South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs that had a record of losing every game.

Coach Klein had a goal; to win a football game, but he didn’t have any direction or game plan so he went on for years losing…until he got his playbook back!

Here’s what you have to remember about goals and game plans; goals are set in stone and game plans are set in sand. The game plan must be fluid, adaptable to changing conditions, and able to be scrapped at a moment’s notice if it’s not working. Often it is necessary for a leader to develop multiple game plans over time before a goal can be reached.

Game plans change all the time. Think about Coach Klein’s playbook. It was a play BOOK not a play sheet with only one play in it. It has several plays in that book. Why is this? It is because some plans don’t always work and you need a plan “B” sometimes and you have to be flexible when your current plan doesn’t work so you can divert to your plan “B.”

One of the biggest advantages of a game plan is that it drives the process of setting priorities. A leader must think through and understand the question, what’s important next? Andy Stanley, author of The Next Generation Leader, wrote, “The ability to identify and focus on the few necessary things is a hallmark of great leadership.”

Game plans are best when effective thinking is first used. A leader’s quality of thinking will have much to do with that leader’s success. There is tremendous power in effectively thinking through a goal and how it might be attained.

One of the effective thinking processes is brainstorming which is the process where thinking is done in a freewheeling style, omitting any early judgments as to the merits of the ideas that result. Brainstorming is designed to pull all good ideas out of the head and into the game plan.

So now that we have our goal, have done some brainstorming to get our game plan or plans we are now ready to carry out our game plan and WORK which is what we’ll be discussing next.

If you have any help with trying to figure out your goals or game plans please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Also, If you like this post please Tweet it and leave a comment!

Tags: communication, cycle of achievement, Influence, Leadership
Posted in Leadership | 2 Comments »

What is True Leadership?

June 28th, 2009 by Michael Feil

Today I want to touch on what is leadership.

Let’s start off with a good definition of leadership from John Maxwell who says, “Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less. People have so many misconceptions about leadership. When they hear that someone has an impressive title or an assigned leadership position, they assume that he is a leader. Sometimes that’s true. But titles don’t have much value when it comes to leading. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from influence, and that can’t be mandated. It must be earned.”

So basically leadership is the influence of others in a productive, vision-driven direction and is done through the example, conviction, and character of the leader.

Your boss (if you have one) may think he is a leader but he is really a manager. Why? Because he has no influence. Yeah, he may tell people what to do and people may be scared of him, but that is not leading. That is poor management!

True leaders get people to do what they need to do by influencing them to do it by setting an example themselves, showing character, integrity, and respect for the people they influence.

Here is an example, suppose you are in a sales position and your numbers aren’t up to par this month and your boss sits you down in his office and says, “You need to bring up your numbers because if you don’t you will know what’s going to happen! We can’t afford to have underperformers here at this company! Now go get me some coffee!”

That is an example of a lousy manager with very poor leadership skills. If your boss was a true leader he would say something like, ‘I see that your numbers have dipped this month. What’s going on out in the sales field? Have you tried doing this ….? You’re one of our best sales reps and I know and trust you can bring your numbers up by the end of the month. What can I do to help you out? Do you think it would be beneficial for me to go on some calls with you? Let’s put together a plan for the rest of this month and see how we can get your numbers up to where they need to be.”

Big difference! You see in the first example the boss is flexing his POWER, showing his CONTROL, and is asking to be SERVED.

While the second example the boss is GIVING POWER (EMPOWERING) by saying you can do this. He is HELPING OTHERS FIX PROBLEMS AND MOVE FORWARD by strategizing with you to see how you can bring up your numbers. Finally, he is SERVING you by asking if he can help you in any way and seeing if he can go out with you into the field.

What it comes basically comes down to is communication and relationships. Leaders know how to communicate and they know how to establish strong relationships that will be a win / win situation. Just remember leaders empower, help others fix problems and move forward, and serve others. I just want to encourage you to think of how you can use these 3 important principles in your own life whether it’s at work or at home.

The leadership training system that I am teach stresses on the two things that I mentioned above….communication and relationships.