About The Rise To The Top

(see also About David Siteman Garland)

The #1 Badass Show, Resource & Community For Mediapreneurs

Welcome my friends. Here’s the deal.

The Rise To The Top is all about helping aspiring/rising mediapreneurs (mediapreneurs are personal brands, coaches, speakers, experts, Internet marketers/information marketers, authors, etc.) grow their biz like a weed & dominate online created/hosted by me (Hi, I’m David Siteman Garland) for you

I’m super passionate about helping mediapreneurs generate revenue (the bling bling…the right way!), build their online platform & grow their audience like a weed.

On The Rise To The Top you are going to find all kinds of delicious awesomeness just for badass mediapreneurs like you with new quick vids (DSG TV) every Monday and new episodes of The Rise To The Top (featuring, commentary, tips, unique, uncensored interviews & more) every Thursday available in video and audio format (and completely portable so take them wherever you want to go including the gym, car, a meeting where you don’t want to pay attention, etc.). Boom!

A huge component of the show is conversations with interesting mediapreneurs who have risen to the top who I track (errr…stalk) down to come on for an uncensored, uncut, unconventional conversation here on The Rise To The Top.

Also you are going to find blog posts, cool products and more all to help you.

And that is what The Rise To The Top is all about. Just a few years ago the only people tuning in to the show were my parents, but now over 250,000 passionate, amazing mediapreneurs (known as RISE Nation) tune in and for being one of them, I thank you and want to give you a big fat hug (warm fuzzy moment #1). Oh, and Mom, please do continue to tune in…thanks!

Products & Programs

I’m super passionate about helping mediapreneurs generate revenue (the bling bling…the right way!), build their online platform & grow their audience like a weed through my products and programs including:

Create Awesome Online Courses: The proven step-by-step system for creating, promoting & profiting from your own online course. Nab the free video series: How to turn your ONLINE PLATFORM (blog, web show, podcast, etc.) into REVENUE by creating your own ONLINE COURSE right here.

Create Awesome Interviews the #1 program to help folks create their own interview-based web TV show with hundreds of graduates creating shows on everything from inspired travel to car racing to healthy living.

The Blog & Resources:

On a less regular schedule than the show, you can find new articles, videos, resources, cool stuff to the blog often covering similar topics to the show. Some of the most popular include my crazy stories ranging from playing “professional fake hockey” and taking a “job for $0 to being thrown on the radio with no experience and expected to come up with a show to starting a TV show at 24 years old despite never really being in front of a camera. Also, you can check out RISE Recommends for products and services recommended by me.

The Rise To The Top Story:

The Story Behind The Story Behind The Story – Why I Do This

I actually CAN pinpoint that exact moment when I decided to become a mediapreneur (I know weird, right?). It was August of 2008 and I was at a coffee shop when I started “discovering” people that were making a living online via something they were passionate about.

Fitness. Health. Clothing. Business. Whatever.

And we aren’t talking about setting up 384858585.5 niche websites that each make 1 cent. I’m talking about people that developed an expertise and monetized it.

They worked from anywhere.
They wore what they wanted.
They were celebrities in their niche and spoke at events.
They wrote, blogged, created videos, web shows, podcasts, etc.
They were full of personality and weren’t afraid to show it.
They had really cool products, training and other neat (yes, neat!) stuff for sale.
They always popped up everywhere in the media. Online. Offline. New. Old. Everywhere.
They had very little overhead.
They were KNOWN.
They didn’t have a huge amount of employees to manage all day (in fact, many had no employees at all). Instead, they focused on their expertise and business.
They were making REAL MONEY (6 and 7 figures) talking about, writing about and teach on subjects they loved and knew a lot about…and a ton of this money was being deposited in their bank account as they slept. How freaking cool is that?
They lived life with passion and had incredible lifestyles (I’ve interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs and I gotta say the happiest, most fulfilled and just “people you want to be around” all fell into this tribe of entrepreneurship).

I wanted to be in THAT tribe!

So with no experience, I got started and I figured what better way than to interview people who were doing exactly what I wanted to do. That is how The Rise To The Top started.

And here are some of the results in just a few years (Shameless bragging? You betcha. Just kidding. I wanted to let you know about my results because I want you to have the same or BETTER).

• A passionate community of over 250,000 awesome people tuning in every month.
  A profit (not gross sales…profit) well into the six figures with multiple direct and indirect revenue streams in less than two years (and has grown exponentially every year!).
• The chance to interview (and perhaps more importantly form a relationship with) over 300 of the world’s top experts, personal brands, authors and big thinkers ranging from “The Millionaire Matchmaker” Patti Stanger to the author of The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body Tim Ferriss.
• A major book deal where I was approached by Wiley Publishing. Meaning, I didn’t do anything, they came to me and Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-Boring, Fluff-free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business came out to a big response in 2010.
• Even though I don’t do it anymore, Big companies (as well as individuals) that I would have no business with if I hadn’t created my show have called me to help them with special projects and consulting such as Google (yes, THAT Google) for top dollar.
• Incredible speaking, emceeing and live event opportunities at conferences, events and organizations (both online and off) where I’ve received high “celebrity-like” fees.
• Regular columns and appearances on a variety of traditional media and new media sources (over 100 in less than two years) including ABC, CNN, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and many more.
• I get to work when I want for how long I want where I want which is pretty darn cool. This has allowed me ridiculous freedom to really enjoy the heck out of life be it a mid-day pick up hockey game with friends, a spontaneous trip to Costa Rica or kidnapping (not literally) my wife for a romantic day of fun including massages, wine and cheese. And, with my newfound freedom I completely transformed my body from soft-ish to super fit.
• Possibly what I’m most proud of, is being able to hire my dad full time in the fall of 2012. Randy “Tron” Garland is now the VP of The Rise To The Top.

The fun (yes, business should be fun, right?) continues and evolves and I my mission is to help you do the same.

More importantly, I’m the most proud of you guys. RISE nation. Folks who I’m lucky enough to help, inspire and/or entertain in some small or big way.

Cool, right? Now let’s go dominate.

Thanks for tuning in!

Need a photo of me for a publication, interview, etc.?

Grab the official one right here

If you are interested in hiring me for various cool stuff you can find out more details right here.

About David