Ray Edwards Show

Latest Episodes:

From Unknown to Iconic: The Marketing Journey of Revel 77 Coffee Jul 22, 2023

Show notes

In this economic reality, you must bring your A-Game when it comes to marketing.
No more outdated websites...No more ignoring your "Shadow Brand", or your reputation on social media. You must strive to be Iconic in your market.
This week, we're talking about how my son and I are marketing the local coffee shop we co-own together, Revel 77.

Key Insights

The importance of stepping up your marketing game in the current economic reality and moving away from ugly marketing strategies.
Ugly websites no longer sell, as the competition now includes big players like Disney and AI technology, but this also means more opportunities for those who can create high-quality content.
Your website is not enough to attract customers, you need to provide a valuable experience and build trust before asking for a purchase.
Your online reputation, or "Shadow brand," is crucial for attracting customers, so it's important to provide the information they need to make a favorable decision about your business.
Revel 77 Coffee in Spokane, WA enjoys having control over their coffee product by roasting it themselves, allowing them to tailor it to their customers' preferences.
Build a sophisticated website and marketing hub to capture traffic and cater to the specific audience of your coffee shop, ensuring customer satisfaction and differentiation from competitors like Starbucks.
You must think about sales copy, photography, video, writing, and your brand, but the good news is you can watch us do it with our own business.
Revel 77 Coffee in Spokane, WA roasts their own beans, and if you want to order their delicious Morning Muse roast, click the link in the description.

Links

Revel 77 Coffee - Get the meticulously crafted flavor profile of your choice delivered to your door - Roasted in-house by our resident coffee genius, Sean Edwards.

Video And Transcript

https://rayedwards.com/630

How You Can Help

Subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will definitely mention you on this show.
Questions or comments?

Connect with Ray on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Visit Ray's community on Facebook – This is a friendly group of writers, entrepreneurs, and coaches who share ideas and helpful advice.

Start Your 1-Person Business Now Jul 14, 2023

Show notes

This week, I'm laying some groundwork for an upcoming series about building your own 1-person business.
A 1-person business isn't new territory for me - I ran a successful one for many years before I started building my team... BUT - The tools that are available now (specifically the AI-Powered ones) have made doing this on-your-own incredibly easy. You can now build your business by yourself, without neglecting every other aspect of your life...And it's AMAZING.
Let's talk about what's possible... And why YOU CAN (and SHOULD) do it NOW.

Key Insights

Building a one-person business that allows you to work only with people you want to work with, and on your own schedule, is not just a dream, it can be a reality.
The internet is "The Great Leveler", removing all barriers and providing equal opportunities for success.
Optimists generally have better lives, with more money, freedom, happiness, and better relationships, while pessimists have a more realistic vision but often end up less happy, wealthy, and with lesser relationships.
The internet removes gatekeepers and allows anyone, regardless of age, to create a million-dollar business.
The internet has leveled the playing field, allowing anyone to start a business and connect with potential customers, regardless of their social status or background.
Understanding that you are the brand allows you to be your authentic self and stand out in a way that is unduplicable.
There is an audience out of the 8 billion people on this planet that can only resonate with your unique perspective and personality, so be authentic and comfortable in being yourself.
Don't worry about the market being saturated, there is still room for you to start your 1-person business.

Links

Read This Or Die: Persuading Yourself To A Better Life - Click to find out how you can get a free gift when you order my new book: A 6-part mini-course where I personally walk you through the life-changing process outlined in the book.
ClarityScribe - The most powerful AI-Powered copywriting tool on the planet. Try it for free (no credit card required)

How You Can Help

Personal Brand: Are You More Than Your Niche? Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

In this episode of The Ray Edwards Show, we ponder on the balance between niching down and maintaining personal authenticity in a brand.

While specialized services and products offer a greater focus, personal charisma gives your brand its unique charm.

But which one should prevail? Let's find out.

Key Points

Defining your personal brand does not mean you have to stick to one specific niche.
While services should be hyper-focused on a niche, personalities should be diverse.
Ambition and products being pushed by vendors often cause the overwhelm and confusion in branding.
Everybody has their unique thing to sell, but none of them should dictate your brand's direction.
To succeed, your business and personality need to resonate with each other authentically.
Implement a strategy, set goals, and use the necessary tools for effective branding.
Also, consider having a guide and companions to help you along the way, but remember that it will take time.
Always keep being true to yourself and share your true passions with your audience.

Links

Video And Transcript

https://www.rayedwards.com/628

How You Can Help

Copywriting Q&A With Ray Jul 01, 2023

Show notes

This week is another Q&A with Ray episode where I offer my answers to these questions:

How do I get more people to open my emails?
Can I use copywriting on social media without seeming sleazy?
Are old-school sales pages dead?

Those are some great questions, to which I believe I have some helpful answers.
If you would like to win a free, signed copy of my new book, Read This Or Die: Persuading Yourself to a Better Life, check out the link below to get the code I mention in the podcast.
I'll be doing more prizes in future episodes, so make sure you're subscribed to my YouTube channel for an even better chance to win.

[00:00] Intro - More Q&A
[00:22] Question 1: How do I get more people to open my emails?
[03:25] Question 2: Can I use copywriting on social media to make sales (without seeming sleazy)?
[05:37] Question 3: Are old-school sales pages dead?
[07:51] Win a free, signed copy of Read This Or Die: Persuading Yourself to a Better Life

Links

Read This Or Die - Learn more about my new book, Read This Or Die: Persuading Yourself to a Better Life

Get the Video and Transcript

https://rayedwards.com/627

How You Can Help

Change Your Thinking & Create Magic Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

In case you're not familiar with Lee Cockerell, here's a quick snippet from his bio:
Lee Cockerell is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort. "As the Senior Operating Executive for ten years Lee led a team of 40,000 Cast Members and was responsible for the operations of 20 resort hotels, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shopping & entertainment village and the ESPN sports and recreation complex in addition to the ancillary operations which supported the number one vacation destination in the world."

When it comes to team-building and leadership techniques, Lee has one of the best resumés on the planet.
A few weeks ago, I received a note from Lee saying that he had read my new book, Read This Or Die, and enjoyed it so much that he purchased multiple copies to send to friends and family. To receive a note like that from someone I respect and admire was both humbling, and inspiring.
Lee also extended me the honor of being a guest on his Creating Disney Magic podcast (linked below), which is where this week's audio comes from.

[00:00] Intro/explanation
[00:14] Welcome back to the show
[00:45] How Read This Or Die impacted Lee
[02:39] The missing chapter
[04:11] It's about the reader's challenges...not Ray's
[05:44] Changing your input/output
[06:55] Your wife's review (The Cranial-Rectral Extraction Method)
[10:04] No need to wait for disaster
[12:42] A lesson in brain science
[13:48] A trip to Galaxy's Edge
[15:25] More about "The letter"

Links

Creating Disney Magic Podcast - Lee Cockerell shares his wisdom and experience from his time as the Executive Vice President of Operations for Walt Disney World. Along with host Jody Maberry, Lee discusses how you can apply lessons in leadership, management, and customer service to create magic in your organization.
LeeCockerell.com - The best place to get in touch with Lee. Learn more about his training, speaking, and mastermind group.

How You Can Help

The AI-Powered Secrets of a Million-Dollar Copywriter Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

In this Episode of the Ray Edwards Show, I'm going to show you exactly how I'm using AI every week in my workflow. How I am using AI in my business to make more money with less work, and produce better copy (meaning copy that converts better). And how you can do the same thing.
This episode is specifically made for business owners who want to write copy for their own business. Even if your business is a copywriting business – there is plenty of opportunity for all of us. These are the days of limitless opportunity.
But you certainly don't have to be a copywriter-for-hire to use this same workflow. This will work for any online business, including personal brands, authors, speakers, coaches, and course creators.

[00:00] My workflow for creating this podcast (and who this will work for)
[03:13] Step 1 - Research the topic most on the minds of my viewers/listeners
[04:17] Step 2 - Put my research into a working document
[04:35] Step 3 - Write my "Human Generated" outline of the episode
[05:10] Step 4 - Run my text through ClarityScribe
[06:31] Step 5 - Read the A.I. generated text out loud (seriously...do this)
[07:56] Step 6 - Record the video version for YouTube
[10:03] Step 7 - Polish up the video (See link below for TimeBolt)
[11:47] Step 8 - Run the audio through ClarityScribe's Podcast module
[12:18] Step 9 - Put the video through Opus Video AI (link below)
[12:55] Step 10 - Load Podcast post on YouTube, the blog, and socials
[13:27] Step 11 - Launch The Video

Links

ClairtyScribe - The ultimate copywriting A.I. not only generates copy for my podcast, but also parses the finished audio to create show notes, a verbatim transcript, social posts, and emails.
TimeBolt -This is what I use to "clean up" my videos. Removing any dead spaces, bad takes, and various stumbles. (affiliate link)
VidIQ - I use this software to analyze my channel and get the insights necessary to keep my content focused, and relevant to what my audience expects. (affiliate link)
Opus Clip -This incredible software will analyze your long form videos and create sharable highlights.
Jeff Walker - The inventor of the "Product Launch Formula" coaching program. You can find many of these principles and techniques in his book, called Launch!
My Content Creation Checklist - A summary of the process described in this episode in pdf format

How You Can Help

Get The Transcript and Video

https://www.rayedwards.com/625

Connecting to the Pain May 31, 2023

Show notes

I was recently interviewed for the Marketer of the Day Podcast, hosted by Robert Plank.
In this episode, we dig into some core marketing principles that I use and teach, and discuss how they relate to the system covered in my new book, Read This Or Die.

00:00 Intro
00:43 Nerves
01:48 Ray's Unique Selling Position
03:15 What's something unique that you've written copy for?
04:58 Where do people fall short in the copywriting process?
07:23 The importance of storytelling
09:38 "Well, you've got it...Now what?" (The pain of Parkinson's Disease)
12:03 The missing chapter
12:40 DBS
13:51 Any surprises?
16:17 Are you exploiting this?
17:54 Copywriting's role in the life-changing process
20:37 Have I missed anything?
24:00 Where do they go?
24:26 On that quote...
Links

Read This Or Die - Click to order your copy of Read This Or Die, and claim your free, 6-video mini-course that I created to accompany the book.
Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank - Get Daily Insights from the Top Internet Marketers & Entrepreneurs Around the World. Thank you to Robert for granting me permission to use this week's audio.

How You Can Help

Get The Transcript

https://www.rayedwards.com/624

How to Spill Your Guts: A Conversation With My Collaborator May 22, 2023

Show notes

This week, my friend and coauthor of Read This Or Die, Jeff Goins, joins me on the show for an in-depth conversation about the book, the collaboration, and the writing process.
[00:00] Intro - A Face For Radio
[03:50] Getting familiar with your own book
[07:15] Where is your Vulnerability-Meter?
[10:59] Describe our working relationship?
[12:08] Am I your first?
[14:56] What do you want the reader to get from this book?
[15:43] Wakeup call from my wife...
[17:00] How real change happens
[19:34] The sales letter of the same name
[24:49] Did you trust the process?
[28:08] The 3 Rays
[31:43] Why the denial?
[37:40] Facing the hard truth
[39:18] The ideal outcome for the reader

Links

Click Here to order your copy of Read This Or Die: Persuading Yourself to a Better Life

Get The Transcript and Video

https://www.rayedwards.com/623

How You Can Help

Rebuilding Life from Rock Bottom May 19, 2023

Show notes

I was recently interviewed on The Cliff Ravenscraft Show about my new book, Read This or Die.
Since this book is, by necessity, so deeply personal, this interview was equally personal and somewhat challenging to get through. However, I felt that it encapsulated the message of the book so well, I asked for Cliff's permission to use the audio on my own show.
My sincere thanks to Cliff Ravenscraft (a.k.a. The Mindset Answer Man) for making this episode possible. If you're not familiar with Cliff's work, I recommend you take a look at the links below.

Links

Read This Or Die: Persuading Yourself To A Better Life - The book releases on May 23, 2023. If you're reading this before that date, you can still claim a valuable free gift for pre-ordering your copy.
Cliff Ravenscraft - This is the main site for the Mindset Answer Man, Cliff Ravenscraft. I am a huge fan of Cliff's work, his outlook on life, and his passion for helping others. You'll find Cliff's notes (hah!) on this episode at this link.

How You Can Help

Get The Transcript

https://www.rayedwards.com/622

A Glimpse Behind The Scenes May 13, 2023

Show notes

This episode is definitely "off the cuff", but does have a clear inspiration. I've been listening to more intimate, less polished podcasts and started kicking around the idea of doing a secondary, more intimate, less polished podcast of my own.
I hope to gauge my audience's interest in such a thing based on feedback from this episode...then proceed as planned regardless of the results.
Have a comment to share about this idea? See the contact info near the bottom of this post.

Links

Train With Cliff Podcast - This is one of the inspirations I mentioned in the episode - definitely worth checking out.

How You Can Help

Subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will definitely mention you on this show.
Questions or comments?

Connect with Ray on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Visit Ray's community on Facebook – This is a friendly group of writers, entrepreneurs, and coaches who share ideas and helpful advice.

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