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Where the Heck have you been Vic?

Well that has been the question of the year for me!

I am going to answer for you, but first I’d like to thank everyone who kept tabs on me especially those of you who were concerned.  It’s funny, I know I have a lot of friends and contacts out there in the Internet world but, I never thought my disappearing for awhile from social media would cause such a stir.

So, where have I been hiding?   There has been a surprising amount of speculation.  But in this post, I’ll set the record straight and tell you what I’ve been up too.

So why now?

Well, the reason I’m just now talking about this is because I did disappear for about six months and after hearing some of the rumors circulating, I want to tell you what the real reasons have been. Trust me, everything is great and I have been finding success and gaining much clarity in my life.

With this post I will also clarify things like:

• Who is this guy?
• What does Vic actually do?
• Why do I even care what Vic does?

OK so let’s get started….

2009 was a great year. I traveled to nine different countries and throughout the USA speaking and performing.  After such a great year and one that I have not engaged much with my following, I finally understood why my friends keep asking me the same question.  What are you up to?

I have come to realize that I’ve been marketing online now both full and part-time for about five years and my interests and talents have been so many that my focus was lost.  My fellow marketers have told me time and time again that I’ve been doing it all wrong.   What they have been referring to is my branding.  I mean, I know it can get confusing.  I understand and I guess from a marketing point of view, I agree. After all here are a few of my so called titles.

• I am the Founder of The Personal Development Network.com (a Self-Improvement Community)
• I am a Comedy Hypnotist
• I am a  Success Coach
• I am  known as  Mr. Self Improvement
• I am  always talking about Business Process and Mindset stuff
• I have been called the Motivational Quote guy
• I have been called a “Product Spammer” (Yes that’s really true)
• I have been called the MLM / Network Marketing Guy

Any many, many more…………………………………

I have been on a journey so to speak for the last eight years. It has been a journey of self discovery and chance.  I’ve grown so much on a personal level and have experienced both huge successes and failures. Overall, it’s been a hell of a ride and to say the least, pretty freaking awesome.  I will be sharing that entire story in a future post.

Last year, while traveling and attending live events, the big buzz was all about total transparency. Meaning you and your business should be open and transparent. I mean come-on, who are we trying to kid?  Everyone knows that if you search hard enough you can dig up crap on anyone, so why try to hide things?  Be upfront and it will make your business more productive and successful.  Ok, I get that, and I have been transparent with my business.  But, what I didn’t get before was that it’s confusing and hard to be transparent when you’re all over the place as I have been!  I know it confuses the hell out of people because I was hearing this all the time. What is it that Vic actually does for a living?

As 2009 was coming to an end, I decided to drop out of site for awhile to reevaluate my business and direction. What I have found after some self discovery was really no surprise. I thought about my business and what I loved about it. Next, I thought about what my strengths and weaknesses are and then I discovered what I wanted my “End Result” to be from my business.

Here is what I came up with…

• I love Self-Improvement.
• I Love developing and implementing business processes and training programs.
• I have a unique and natural skill in being able to observe and individual or businesses and indentifying their current position. I am very good at then developing a process to help them reach their end result.
• I have a natural ability for developing teams and teaching them to use the same process.
• I am usually more comfortable in front of a crowd than I am one on one.
• I can be stubborn at times, but after given some time to think and process I am more understanding.
• I understand I’m not perfect but I am good at what I do.
• Happiness for me is being able to do what I want when I want to do it. I love warm weather and being outside. I have an adventurous spirit. My type of fun sounds like a Jimmy Buffet song line. One thing for sure, I am “growing older but not up” and I will always have a school boy heart.

So, resurfacing after my six month on-line hiatus, I’ve decided to re-brand my business.  I have gained much clarity and focus.  Here is what Vic Maranto will be now.

I am a Business Success Coach and Consultant.   It is that simple.  Within my business coaching I provide expert advisement and training in Team Building, Social Media Strategies and of course internet marketing and all other skills needed to run a successful business on and/or off line.  My philosophy is centered around my strong belief that a successful business must have a plan and processes in place.  Once you can identify your “end result” you only need the process to achieve it.

That is what I do, I will help you find the end result and gear my coaching around building processes to bring your business to a high level of success.

In addition to continuing my successful business consulting and coaching programs, I have also decided to embark in partnership with a company that is already where I advise businesses to be.  You see, in doing so, I can both help you become successful in your business while putting my expertise at work for myself, while I grow my own successful business.   This will simply allow me to do the two things I love most.  Growing the business of others and growing my empire as well.

I will be speaking of this new venture often.  I do want to point out that I am not an MLM guy as some have said.  I am simply in a business that will grow exponentially in today’s economic climate.  In the very near future I will be looking for National and Regional Managers.  So, keep a head’s up…and I will keep you posted.

For those of you who write to me often in regard to loving my self-improvement topics…please know that that part of Vic is simply who I am.  I will continue to share in that area as well through daily social media engagement.    Although I will no longer be coaching in the niche of self-improvement, it will of course always be included in all that I do.

I hope this has cleared the “where is Vic and what is he up to” issue.  I look forward to keeping in touch through this blog often.

Please check in often…because….Baby, I am BACK!

Coming Soon

Coming Soon

I’d like to share a cool experience I had over the Holiday Weekend.

I spent Thanksgiving weekend in Disney World with my girlfriend Dabney and her two kids.

This was a special trip for me not only because I went to Disney, but because I was able to spend the Holiday with my favorite girl and her children…this was our first trip together.

We had a lot of fun plans for the weekend and (if you have ever been to Disney you’ll know what I mean) a lot of activities to squeeze in over a short time.

There was one attraction that I didn’t know existed and it will stand out in my mind forever as one of the coolest things I have ever experienced.

I became a part of the American Idol Experience.

As I’m sure you are aware, the American Idol is geared toward the less seasoned adult. The age requirements for American Idol are 16 to 28 years and I’m just a little bit over that age bracket. Not that I’m old or anything. ;D

On Thanksgiving Day we made our way over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios where The America Idol Experience is a new and popular attraction.

Knowing how I love to perform and how her 10 year old daughter loves American Idol, Dabney talked me into auditioning to be on the show.

So, along with my manager (Dabney’s daughter), I was taken into the American Idol studio for my audition. I was quite impressed with their audition process. I had to sing 3 different songs for 2 different people.

I really didn’t think I would make the final three because they audition over 2000 people a day and only pick 21 people to perform at the park’s version of the show.  I know I can sing but let’s face it; American Idol is for people who are just a little younger then I am.

After I performed my third song, the producer asked me to watch the video screen where I received the news from Ryan Seacrest…I was going to be on the show!

Whoo Hoo!

I received the star treatment from the show. They set me up (and the other contestants) with a vocal coach, hair & make-up (High Def Video) and then had a chance to rehearse on stage.

I love to perform and looking out into that auditorium that seated 1000 people, I started getting goose bumps.

All I was thinking now is WOW, I wish I would have worn nicer clothes.  Really though, who knew? I was at an amusement park, right?  Who knew I’d be on stage in front of 1000 people singing on Thanksgiving Day?

After rehearsal, we had a show run through with the producer. Before I knew it, it was Show Time and I was first to sing. Here are the pictures capturing my experience.

My competitors and I really rocked the house and it was an experience I’ll never forget.

No, I didn’t win, the young 17 yr old guy did. I will say he was a good singer and a fine young man and I wish him all the best. This was his very first experience ever singing in front of a crowd. His parents were very proud of him.

So what’s the lesson here?

As a speaker and coach I am always getting people to think outside of the box and to look at life and business as one great big opportunity. The only limits we have are the ones we place upon ourselves. On this particular day,  I not only had an awesome time performing but I was able to share an experience with a little girl and show her what happens if you just take action and put yourself out there with no worries about the results.  You can achieve anything!

What a great time I had. It was kind of funny because after the show we ran right to the next ride on our list…The Hollywood Tower Hotel.  Along the way people were yelling they voted for me and telling me how much they enjoyed my song. Pretty Cool!

As for me, who knows??

I can add this experience to my portfolio.  Whatever happens, it was definitely a highlight in my life.

I can cross that off my list.

To see some pictures of my American Idol Experience Click Here

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