The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/CouchsurfingRadio-Couchcast-number-10-Hippyband-sxsw-pet-mountain-lions.mp3[/podcast]

All sorts of crazy, but you definitely want to catch the replay!  There’s a ton of awesome SXSW insider info on how to party for free, mingle with the stars, and all sorts of great reasons to go into town… with or without a badge.

My guest, Chase, talks about his pet mountain lion.

I tell jokes.

There’s a lot more– just listen, it’s fun!

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/CouchsurfingRadio-Couchcast-number-10-Hippyband-sxsw-pet-mountain-lions.mp3[/podcast]

I even include some music in this one– let me know what you think of it.

Tellman is the first person ever to run coast to coast barefoot.

I’m thrilled to bring you guys this interview with Tellman Knudson, while running, as he runs across the country barefoot to raise $100,000,000 to help fight youth homelessness.

Tellman Knudson is a really awesome person.  He’s driven, but chill.  He knows who he is, and lives according to that.  People like that are far and few.  He is a very successful marketer, and decidedto do a first.  In this video, he tells the challenges of finding a “first”,  about why he’s doing what he’s doing, and the challenges of it.

He’s gotten to meet my hero, Richard Branson… whose charity (Virging Unite) he’s raising the money for.

I can hardly fathom $100,000,000.00 — I don’t care what your cause is, that’s a lot of money, that can really make a difference! Hanging out with Tellman while at Matt Bacak’s & Mark Joyner’s Survival Tactics for Tough Times was very enlightening and humbling.  What do you think of what Tellman’s doing?

Thanks to Harris Fellman, who’s another successful fellow who’s fun, money was raised just from this jog.

A lot of you remember that I lost 28 pounds in 30 days, and everyone kept asking me how.

The answer is…

Click to see the before after

The Daily Juice.  It was at this place that I first sat down to chat with Craig Allen, and we ate and discussed raw food.

I had always been a brat about salads (ask my mom - she’s newly on twitter!).  I would not eat them (most veggies actually).  But that day, I tried the BBQ Coconut Burrito at Daily Juice.  Mmmmmmmm!!!!

Seriously! It was so good, that I was able to not only finish the meal, but also crush my disbelief that veggies can’t taste good without being fried (Tempura veggies aren’t healthy?? what?).  After that, I had gone on a 30 day raw challenge, and lost 28 pounds in 30 days.

I ran into my friend Lyn Graft, and told him about this contest I’m entering called Live Off Groupon (You get $100,000 if you can spend a whole year living off Groupons-  check their site to learn all about ‘em).  Turns out that not only did Lyn know all about Groupons, but his favorite Groupon Deal so far has been for Daily Juice.

I went in and chatted to one of the staff there today about the establishment, and their experience on Groupon. It was a lot of fun- check it out:

Now you know why this place is a healthy Austinite’s favorite hangout.  If you haven’t been, try it out.

Since I like to share marketing ideas, I recommend that you contact Groupon about being a deal on there. It would take you a long time to sell 1,000 smoothies (or whatever your product is)…. Groupon helps you get the word out about your business quickly. It’s tied into social media.  I even spoke about it as the marketing advice for Couchsurfing Radio Episode 9.

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

Everyone wants to know how Mardi Gras was…. Find out on the podcast!

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number9-February-22-2010-Hackintosh-Mardi-Gras-Groupons.mp3[/podcast]

Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

I also talk about some killer ways to save money based on group buying, and how to use that for your own advertising and marketing.  What the heck a hackintosh is, and how that’s going.  And of course, the latest trouble I’m looking to get into

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

My first broadcast from a cell phone, and the longest I’ve been on an iphone. I recorded this on the drive to Mardi Gras with Jason Moffatt and Randy Primm.

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number8-February-15-2010-riding-to-Mardi-gras-with-Jason-Moffatt-and-the-road-bandit.mp3[/podcast]

Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

The themes are collaboration, networking and… well, you should listen and find out!  Some decent marketing ideas in there too, so take notes

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

What did I do in Dallas?

Billboard climbing

Art fair

warehouse party

consulting

met new people

got a speaking and mc gigs for next month

played poker (learned to play poker actually)

There was more… and that’s why you need to listen to Episode 7.  You can hear what the listeners who got their consulting thought, and check out a funny conversation with Jason Moffatt.  That reminds me– this is the first episode to have the word “shit” in it.  I was wondering how long the G rating would last

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number7-February-08-2010-Jason-moffatt-dallas-adventures-art.mp3[/podcast]

Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

Didn’t make the show? That’s too bad, ’cause that’s where the information on how to get free consulting.

For this week’s show, I asked people what they wanted to hear, and gave it to them. The short version: My predictions on where tablet technology is going, ways to be more productive, P90x and fitness, a bit of consulting on the show, as well as giving away 3 one hour sessions of consulting for the next day. Need your problems solved? Catch the next episode, and follow @couchsurfingori on twitter… I’ll be posting when the next giveaway, and may do live consults as a regular part of the show.

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number6-February-01-2010-ipads-consulting-productivity-fitness.mp3[/podcast]
Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

Many people are often baffled by “What exactly is it Ori does?” and “How the heck does Ori pay for his journey?” – while these things are written in my book… my book isn’t out yet

I can tell you a bunch of things that I do, but I’ll use someone else’s words. Elizabeth Potts Weinstein wrote this after a short while of consulting with me:

“Ori is brilliant in so many things – photography, graphic design, web design, business strategizing, personal coaching, marketing – but those are just the tools he uses to express his creativity, to solve problems, to do what he really does … which is to pull the unique brand out from inside of you and give you the tools you need to express that brand to the world.

And I’m not talking about *thinking* your way into a brand that you “should” be or a brand you “wish” you could be … here I’m talking about a brand that is the expression of your personality, the uniqueness that you already are. Bringing together all your seemingly disparate passions into sync, figuring out the nexus that pulls everything together!”

I like that description. Everyone says it’s accurate. So, yes, I can do Read the rest of this entry »

I love Shankman's Shirt!

Want free advertising? Want more credibility than you get out of an ad?  You need to listen to Peter Shankman’s interview.

I frequently refer to Peter Shankman as a roll model, ’cause he’s a spaz, funny, adventurous, and successful.  Last night’s call was haunting, because it showed that there were a lot more similarities (even the listeners were commenting on that). We also spoke about many other topics, such as bucket lists, skydiving, flying all over the world, and much more. Have a listen:

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number5-January-25-2009-Peter-shankman-pr-skydiving.mp3[/podcast]

Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc..  listening.

[podcast]http://www.Couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number4-January-18-2009-Viralee-is-a-scam.mp3[/podcast]
Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

It seems the show just keeps getting better. The topics are pretty diverse- bankrupcy, falling for scams, fighting back, photography, facial expressions, PR, Peter Shankman, various jokes, and more!

Have a listen, leave a comment!  You can download this, and take it with you.

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

Make sure you catch tonight’s show! It’s at 11pm EST, on CouchSurfing Radio.

Good news: Tonight I will be less distracted! Through the magic of technology, a lovely assistant

I”m already getting momentum.  Peter Shankman agreed to do next week’s, Tony Hsieh is doing the show in May.  If you don’t know who they are, google them…. but both shows, you’ll definitely want to catch!

I haven’t really been preparing. Life goes on… but I did leave you guys with that cliff hanger, so I’ll have to tell the entire guitar story…

If you have questions you’d like answered, you can start sending them to me through the contact form, or facebook.

See you tonight!

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

Have you ever felt you were destined to be on TV or Radio?  Yeah… me either.  But I sure was told it often that I should have my own show.  At least for 10 yearas now.  So… here it is

I present to you CouchSurfingRadio, my latest creation. Right now it will be on Monday nights at 11pm EST, with replays available for your downloading pleasure (so you can hear it again and again… have it on as you clean, drive, work, jog, poop, etc..).

The show will cover many topics, but most of them will be what I often blog about: adventures, travel, incredible people and places, marketing, life lessons, motivation, design, jokes, and of course, my odd perspectives on everything.

Here is the very first episode.

[podcast]http://www.CouchSurfingOri.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-couchcast-number1-december28-2009.mp3[/podcast]
Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

It’s a great story… the forming of this radio show:  I felt like putting on a radio show, I tweeted and facebooked that in 2 hours I’ll be putting on a radio show, and then I put on my radio show.  Exciting, huh?  There was more to it than that, of course. I didn’t figure out how to log-in to the host number until (literally) 3 minutes before showtime. I was a distracted spaz.  I didn’t know how to read the questions that were coming in through the show’s chat-room, through twitter, and through skype. So.. yeah.. I was all over the place.

The feedback thus far has been great though!

For next episode, I will have a surprise guest, someone to filter the questions/chat for me, and segments… so, some kind of structure.

Take a listen, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the show (Leave a comment below please)

Gary Vaynerchuk and Kate Buck Jr. 2 REAL social media experts

Caution! There’s some cursing in here! Now you can’t complain that I didn’t warn you. This is a hillarious clip about what is going on in the world. There’s thousands (actually – there are 15,740 social media experts on Twitter, according to Mashable).  I’ve had my clients send me copies of their social media strategies (I helped with) get praised (Tito’s Vodka for example), and others just tell me thanks… ’cause business is doing better because they’re on social media.  But Social Media has become a buzz word. It’s gotten to the point where people have heard the terms, but don’t know what they mean… just that they need them (reminds me of Dilbert’s boss).  “I need some SEO!”  “I need an Opt-In!” “I need to tweet!” — you probably do, but that doesn’t mean that the guy who bought $80 worth of books at Amazon (Free shipping after $30, how can you go wrong?) justifies the $5,000 he’s charging.

Don’tbe intimidated by language and terms.  You can totally google them, or I can Google that for you! There are so many tutorials and courses out there.  Many of them are good content actually, but just like Law, you want to make sure you have the latest and greatest… A technique may be in a book that no longer works… or that works with consequences.

There definitely are social media experts out there.  For example, one of my close friends and one of my couches,.  Meet Kate Buck Jr. a REAL Social Media Expert. Kate can get you tweeted for, Facebooked for, and your customers dealt, educated, and cared for through Social Media. She actually has it down to a science how to get you more followers (that interact with you, not just follow-bots), and what time of what day gets the best retweets  or reaction.  She’s got many of “the gurus” as clients.  Why? ‘Cause she knows her shit, and to them reputation is more imporant, as is their free time. I know a few awesome people in social media. But don’t go putting “Social Media Expert” on your profile if you have less than 2000 followers. Anyways— screw it… I’ll get off my soap-box– enjoy this hilarious clip, and leave a comment if this seems familiar at all

One last thing… you can hire an expert… but remember- no one’s a guru… we’re all born crapping ourselves (We’re all human).

ebook cover design is fun

I have to pay for gas, food, gadgets, and fun…  I’m often asked “How do you make money when you’re on the road?”  I’m a male stripper of course.  Actually… that would probably be way cooler.  No, I’ve been called “The most highly skilled hobo in history” because I do marketing (ad-writing, graphic design, analytics, ppc, seo, website design, printing, videography, video editing, motion graphic design, branding strategies, social media strategies, local-search submissions), Photography, consulting, and the occasional workshop, and public speaking.  What?? I get bored easily

One of the websites I just designed is BeWellWithSue.com, a blog about healthy living, practical raw lifestyle, and healthy cooking.  It belongs to Suzanne Thomas, who I”m couchsuring with right now in Austin, TX. A little “Internet Marketing 101″ – Sue wants to build up her mailing list, so she is offering an “Ethical Bribe” to get people to give her their contact information, so she can continue to market to them on similar topics. This is called Lead Generation, though it’s often called an “Opt-in”.

A picture is worth 1,000 words, and a good picture that represents a concept well is worth dollars too.  One of the things I do is design. Since I created her theme (the way the site looks), and header, and logo, it only seemed logical to have me create the Ebook cover.  The ebook is called “28 tips for a healthier, skinny you!”  I believe the title, because Suzanne is the one who helped me lose 28 pounds in 30 days.

A lot of people hire designers to create e-book covers, regular book covers, flyers, and much more… Design is actually simple, and with Photoshop (free 30 day trial of Photoshop available), you can do it yourself fairly quickly.

I recorded the entire process of how I created this ebook cover, and you can do it yourself, and save hundreds of dollars of hiring designers.  If nothing else, you can show your designer EXACTLY how you’d like your cover to look.

Since I explained what an opt-in is, an ethical bribe, and lead generation…. let me give another awesome example!

Get my free video on how to create a ebook cover of your own!  Just fill out the (opt-in) form below with your primary e-mail and your name, and I’ll send you the video!  I hate Spam, and so I solemnly swear not to give your information away, or even sell it. I’ll just send you notices when I have additional awesome new training videos (they don’t ALL make it to my  blog). Trust me, I know a lot of really cool stuff!

Then you’ll get a quick e-mail you have to click on, to prove that you’re you, and then you’re good to go! I’d love to know what you think of the video, and what other topics you’d like to see me explain.

The very 1st

I’m so excited.  I got e-mailed this photo tonight from my 1st buyer of my BalloonBoyWear shirts.

Will is wearing this awesome design:

If it's on TV, it must be true!

My first Balloon Boy shirt Design

Maybe I haven’t done “Arts and Crafts” in a while… Yesterday I went  jogging through the woods, on the mountainbike trail, after the rain (so much fun! I was literally shouting “Wheeeee!” as I was sliding downhill, running off the walls of the trail, hurdling fallen branches, puddles, and small streams. While blasting music (usually it’s audio-books, but I needed a break), I got this idea that there’s already a bunch of people looking up Balloon Boy.  The 1st 2 shirts I saw were cute… but the design sucked.  Why not make a shirt that’s nice?  I mean… people are already looking for it, and I’m a marketer.

I called up two friends, and told them to make themselves available.  I”m pretty proud of the fact that neither one even asked what we were going to do… they know better.  I was excited.  As soon as I made it back home, I registered the domains http://buyballoonboyshirts.com/ and http://BalloonBoyWear.com.  It was a long night.  Heck.. I haven’t slept yet (and I am falling asleep while typing this).  But, you can’t launch a store, and not be ready for your clients.

So far, I have 3 designs.  Seriously, go check it out at http://BalloonBoyWear.com, and let me know what you thinkl  For the record, I’ve already gotten my 1st sale.  A major task for me has been trying to delegate.  So, I forced myself to, and offered my friend all the cash that I had in my wallet– $32 to make  Read the rest of this entry »

It's Falcon! The balloon boy!

This 6 year old kid, Falcon (I think that’s even more ridiculous– the kid goes flying, and his name is Falcon? Hmmm) climbs in his Dad’s helium baloon that looks like Jiffy Pop.  The baloon takes off.  The whole nation is talking about it.  Everyone’s tweeting and facebooking about it… I even know of a certain stay at home mom that got her drink on ’cause she was so worried about this kid.  I was already making jokes (If “He tried to go visit Michael Jackson one last time!” gets popular, just remember, I made it up! Funny enough– I just looked up the newsline, and there WAS a Michael Jackson single that just debuted online just the other day), and people were giving me grief, “Oh… you gotta at least wait till he lands safely!” People were telling me how they’re praying.  Wow.  What concerned people we have, it’s nice.  It’s also not nice, because they were bamboozled into being concerned.  What a waste of positive emotion.  Oh yeah… I forgot to mention, for those who haven’t heard, turns out that the kid was never in the baloon… he was hiding at home in the attic, in a box or something.  So… let’s take a look at what happened. Read the rest of this entry »

Meet Eirene

Just ONE of Eirene's designs.

One of my all time best friends, my business partner, someone I’ve learned from, is of course one of my couches.  David Gonzalez and I have gotten along superbly since we 1st met.  When I couch surfed at his place, I met his daughter Eirene. She’s adorable, smart, and mostly very well behaved.  I’ve gotten to sit in on some of the schooling that David provides her after school.  This kid will go far!  By the way, according to Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm states that the involvement parents take in their kids education and life will make a huge difference in the outcome of that kid’s values and success. This story proves that. Read the rest of this entry »

The most fun I’ve had on an interview so far has been with Ingrid Vanderveldt on her show On The Road With IV. I discovered her while CouchSurfing with Caleb Jennings in Phoenix. She was friends with him, and I saw her picture, and when asking about her, I found out that she’s just all sorts of amazing!  IV skydives, races motorcycles, starts businesses, and has her own show. I said hello, then I got interviewed, and I then had the pleasure of meeting her in person!  Here’s my interview of her! (I write more after the video, so keep scrolling dang it!)

I gotta admit – I have a theory or two about relationships.  I’ve dated some amazing women that were smart, gorgeous, funny, had a sense of humor (an absolute must when spending time with me), and were caring.  But, it’s never worked out (I’m still not married, and at the time of this posting, I just had a relationship end up).  My thought is that I need to date someone like me.  I often say, “Someone crazy like me.” Though, recently I realized that perhaps it’s not craziness, but rather all the girls I’ve dated have had jobs… perhaps I need someone who’s entrepreneurial.  Entrepreneurs by definition take more risks…  So, IV is one of 3 women whom I’ve met who are crazy like me.  She’s hot, funny, laughs at my jokes, runs businesses, travels…. so…  If you know someone just like IV, let me know!  I think that she’s awesome, and meeting her proved that I’m not hallucinating.. that this type of woman really does exist.

Now off to send this to my folks so they can know the type of girl I may travel with some day

I thought that my interview skills improved because I’ve been doing so many of them… It turns out that part of it is the chemistry that you have with the interviewer!

Meet Ingrid Vanderveldt: she’s hot, she races motorcycles, she starts companies, she jumps out of planes, she interviews famous entrepreneurs (like me   ), she laughs at my jokes!  What else can you ask for?  I got it– she gives great interview!  I learned that when you get along with your interviewer, you have a fun interview!  This is my most fun (set of) interview(s) thus far. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone always wants to know, “What is Internet Marketing?” I broke it down to a few simple concepts that anyone can understand- enjoy the video: Read the rest of this entry »

My 2009 “Non-stop” travels began with my trip to couchsurf at Perry Belcher’s place in Austin, TX. I met Perry Belcher at a marketing event that Matt Bacak was hosting. Matt Bacak introduced him as “You should all listen, because the following speaker has sold more product in the last 10 years than most people in here combined!” I found Perry to be hilarious, and even better… he made me feel dumb. Yeah… that’s right… Mr. Know-It-All had to quickly rip out his notebook, and ferociously take notes! This guy knew his stuff! That particular lecture was on copywriting, and was the VIP-day lecturer on social media (Perry is often in the top 100 twitterers on Twitter.grader, and has(at the time of this writing) 62,000 followers on twitter).   But… for me… I noticed his crazy shirt, his candor, and his humor.  This was a funny dude.  So… Read the rest of this entry »

Yes… I’m in my underwear…. but I had to leave town, and had to take care of something… Just watch & learn. Read the rest of this entry »

The lighting was great on my Valentine’s day adventure (video coming soon), so when told “It’d look good if you film something here,”  I figured that was a great time to film this lesson that I’ve been wanting to share with you guys.  Here’s a few simple things you can do to improve your business, as well as make happy loyal customers that generate strong PR for you. Read the rest of this entry »