Peak Performance Success Coach

Peak Performance, Peak LIFE

"Peak performance, peak LIFE" Coach, motivational expert, and deal-
maker, Bryan Hall, is an original Founding Member of iCop (the
International Council of Online Professionals) and is the Motivational Expert
for Neil Shearing's Internet Success Private Member Site. He has worked
with, partnered and influenced some of the biggest names on the web. His

newest site, Bryan Hall's Success Network (http://www.bryanhall.net),
vaulted into the top 4% of Alexa.com's traffic rankings in just weeks.

I had a very rare opportunity to interview Bryan this week. So "rare", in
fact, that he tells me this is his first full-blown, extensive interview since he
came online in 1995.

Joshua: Bryan, I'm so glad to have finally nailed you down here so
we can talk. You've both worked with and influenced some of the
biggest names on the web. Can you tell us a little about your online
background?

Bryan:

That's not so easy to answer in a few short sentences. But, basically, I
started out in 1995 with a site aimed at selling personalized children's
books. I quickly saw the opportunity to do what I've always loved - writing
and motivating people, helping them to achieve what they have

the potential to achieve in their lives.

So I started writing articles, geared them towards the Internet Marketing
crowd for exposure and "building brand", learned all I could (and never
stopped learning), and went from there. And I didn't play around. I always
went for the biggest and the best, in the contacts I made, people I worked
with through coaching, consulting, and representing.

Joshua: And what are you working on now?

Wow! Great question there, Joshua! Are you sure we have that kind of
time? LOL!

Let me see if I can break it down and give you the condensed version here
...

What I'm working on: Building my coaching business; writing three different
ebooks; running the Bryan Hall's Success Network membership site; setting
up live chats and webcasts; giving all the time and energy I can to the

Internet Toy Drive, close friends, and contacts/allies; and working in several
joint ventures.

There's a lot more, but, there's a partial list for you.

Joshua: I get the picture. Busy as ever. As a Success Coach, Bryan,
I'm very interested in learning what you consider to be the most
important factors in determining whether someone is going to
succeed online?

Bryan:

The most important factors? The most important factors in determining
whether someone is going to succeed online (or anywhere), would have to
be themselves. What I mean is, whether or not that individual believes in
themselves, conquers their fears, and allows their life to unfold and

to flow.

I could go on for days about this, but, essentially, it's one's belief in
themselves - or the lack thereof - which determines their success. And, of
course, how they deal with their fears. If you want the absolute truth of it all,

it's a matter of spirituality. I'll leave it at that.

Joshua: You know I'm not going to let you "leave it at that". That's
definitely a path I'd like to explore with you a little later. For now, let
me ask you this: Where do you see the 'internet' going? What
opportunities lay ahead?

Bryan:

I think it depends, really, on how you mean "opportunities". My opinion is,
the Internet Marketing arena needs a huge slap in the face of reality, for one

thing. And I won't even rant and rave on that right now unless you want me
to.

As a whole, though, I see the Internet heading more and more towards
relationships, "community", visual and audio technologies to connect people
in more "real" ways, and more and more people working to do good things
for others they can so easily and effectively touch through this means

of communication.

I see a lot of things, I suppose. But then, so much of "where it goes" in our
individual realities depends upon where WE go as human beings on our own
paths, including spiritual growth, motivational aspects, and the overall idea
of achieving peak performance and peak lives.

Joshua: Let's go back for a second, Bryan. "Slap in the face"? By
all means, "rant" on that a bit.

Bryan:

*laughing* Well, the fact of it is, I guess I see far too many people who
continue to seek out that magic pill for success. What people need is truth,
and motivation. They need to learn to believe in themselves, rather than

listening to all the self-proclaimed gurus. In my opinion, people also need to
stop thinking they have some kind of a right, as unrealistic as it is, to getting
everything they so choose for fr^e, or expecting so much more for their

dollar.

A dollar in the Internet Marketing arena is no different than a buck in the
real world. So, why do so many people tend to expect 3 dollars worth of
value for every dollar they spend? It's ridiculous. To me, that's just as bad
as an ezine publisher accepting payment from advertising clients when they
KNOW their subscribers aren't even opening the email and seeing those
ads, if those emails are even making it thru the filters to start with!

I could go on and on here.

Truly, though, I think what the Internet Marketing arena needs most is for
people to come to the realization more that it's not their bank accounts that
truly matter in this life. It's what you give of yourself and how you help

others.

Joshua: Speaking of dollars … and expectations … everyone is
interested in marketing strategies, Bryan. What have you found
works for you?

Bryan:

Well, what *my* strategies are is a LOT different than what others'
strategies probably are. See ... I don't "do" marketing. I create friendships
and help those friends in ways. When I need any "marketing", I have a list of

Masterminds, who are friends, and I simply resource that list for the help I
need. I give *all* of myself to those friends, and they return that love and
giving to me.

In the terms you're thinking of, though, I will say that one of the strategies
that works very well for me is posting in forums. And there's a lot of learning
behind that, of course. But, in my opinion, we're always learning

... or we're probably either dead or so indifferent that the lessons don't
affect us, anyhow. In which case, we might as well be dead.

Joshua: Can you tell us briefly about one of your 'success stories'?

Bryan:

A short one, possibly?

It was a few years ago - circa 1998, I believe. I was writing several articles
at that time and had developed a relationship with a guy named Larry
Martineau, who was in sales for a company that was called Sitematic. At
the time, I was going great guns with one of my old sites, Fast-Site.com and
had already made an exclusive deal with Sitematic to "frame in" their site
creation/building tool into my site, with a joint venture set-up.

Well, I had mentioned Sitematic in an article which appeared on
InternetDay.com, in reference to their online site creation tool. That article
generated several hundred sign-ups for them in a matter of hours, and the
next thing I knew, their PR lady was calling me.

About two hours after that phone conversation, I had an email from the
coordinating director for the first Kauai Net Expo, inviting me to speak at
their seminar in Kauai, Hawaii. I believe it was held in February, which, of

course, sounded awesome to me, because I live in Illinois.

But, for personal reasons (ah-hem ... EX-wife), I couldn't make it. So, with
Valerie's permission, I passed the invitation on to my best friend, Rick
Beneteau. But Rick couldn't go either, due to other commitments at the
time. So *he* passed the opportunity on to another friend, the infamous
Marlon Sanders, and Marlon went. I've never talked with Marlon about it,
but, I'm told it was one of the better moves of his highly esteemed career.

Consequently, Sitematic became GoBizGo, and they're now a NetObjects
company.

Joshua: It's remarkable how hard work often leads to unexpected
opportunities ... towards something beyond the original intention.
Let's talk for a minute about learning how to communicate
effectively online. You're widely viewed as a 'great communicator'.
How important is 'communicating' to online success?

Bryan:

Communicating - online, offline, in personal relationships, in corporate
business, or, truly, in any facet of our experience of life - is incredibly
important to our success. What's more important than simply doing it

(communicating) is HOW we communicate. And I don't mean, do we email
or phone? Do we say it this way or say it that way. I mean, do we
communicate from our heart ... or do we just "communicate"?

People tend to get too wrapped up in what's proper or not to say. They get
wrapped up in trying to say what everybody else is saying, or saying things
how the latest so-called "guru" is saying this or that. And they get too
wrapped up in their own fears of "What's the person on the other end

of this - the receiver, if you will - going to think of me if I say this?"

Let me share this with you and your readers, please, Joshua ...

Joshua: Please do.

Bryan:

I do this little exercise and it works every time: I close my eyes and say a
short prayer for the strength to overcome my fears or any inhibitions, and
then I just let it all flow. If what I say pours out like a river, then fine. If

what I say comes out like a trickling faucet, then that's fine, too.

And I rarely edit anything I write, because I rarely feel I need to. The
exercise goes a bit deeper than that, though, because it involves what I call
"soul speaking". The communication between your intuition and the words
you write or speak, and then simply delivering that to the person on the
receiving end.

Joshua: Bryan, this has really been a pleasure for me. Thank you.

Bryan:

Thank YOU, Joshua!! It's been a great pleasure for me, and I've really
enjoyed it!

Joshua: Any last comments or suggestions?

Bryan:

Sure! Thanks for the opening, my friend!

I tell people all the time: If you want to be successful, you have to believe in
yourself. You have to find what you LOVE to do, and deliver that, through
a product or service, to those who want it. And, very importantly, you
MUST be "you-nique". Put your heart and soul into what you're doing, and
make it uniquely YOU. If you master that, master your fears, and GIVE of
yourself, success will follow.