Journey of the Entrepreneur

We often hear about making an investment in our education, but how would it be to find an education that invests in you?  The world of traditional education may not be for everyone.  When financial roadblocks leave you on the sidelines, it’s important to recognize that there are other ways to become educated.   Take Lambda School, for example: a groundbreaking educational vehicle which is completely free upfront.  When you get a job that pays more than $50,000 per year, they take a small cut after you’ve reached that financial threshold.  “If it doesn’t work out for you, you don’t pay anything,” says Austen Allred, CEO of Lambda School.   Join Ryan and our new co-host Miranda Rose, as they learn from Austen and how he is successfully creating opportunities for affordable education and job placement.   In this episode you’ll learn about:   Investing in You Finding Solutions Getting Out of the Dreaming Stage Scaling Back Ideas Taking Action On Small Steps   Quotes:   Austen:   “The economic data is showing that people are stuck in jobs and don't have a way to move up. We hope to be a solution to that.”   “We're investing in you . . . So we're looking for folks that are dedicated and willing to live up to that investment.”   “Aligning the incentives of the school with the incentives of the student affects everything.”   “Get out of dreaming stage as quickly as possible”   “Scale back your vision and find one sliver of it that's actually doable today and start there and build up” Ryan   “You've now created an environment to help people dramatically increase their pay, by giving them a platform to learn and to grow and to experience it and in a lot of cases have a potential job ready for them when they're done”   “One of my favorite sayings in life is you're a product of the five people you spend the most time with”   “The industry is changing rapidly and there's a bigger need for qualified educated people in the digital space to take on what they're considering, what experts are saying 70 to 80 billion dollars in market shift from traditional to digital” Miranda   “I already like the piece of advice I got from you today, which was get out of dreaming stage as soon as possible, I think that's a place a lot of people can get stuck, and if they think about it too much they'll remain there and then their vision and dream dies with them, with the potential that it had on the inside of them never ever coming to fruition” ABOUT AUSTEN Austen is Co-founder of Lambda School and also Co-author of The Ultimate Growth Hacking Guide: Secret Sauce.  He’s been in the marketing world for over a decade and has helped grow many agencies and startups. Austen Co-founded Lambda School as the pathway of least resistance for people to transcend from lower or medium income to high income.  The goal of Lambda school is to expand funding to housing, to living stipends and to leverage enough cash to be able to pay people to go to school.  When things work out on the other side for students, they pay back their education. Currently they offer software engineer programs and are expanding to IOS, Android, cyber security, and UI/UX design. From there, they’ll expand to other models which work well in this format such as nursing and more.  The end goal is to build an affordable, sustainable education platform which invests in its students. CONNECT WITH AUSTEN   Twitter: @AustenAllred Web: Lambdaschool.com  

TURNING YOUR DREAMS INTO REALITY   What does it take to begin turning your dreams into reality?  It takes sacrifice, grit, and time. Creating time comes by evaluating priorities and eliminating anything that is not supporting your goal.   Dr. Scott Colonna is the first person in his family to graduate from college, but hard work and sacrifice were foundational in his upbringing.  He had to make a decision to sacrifice something in order to make his dream of business consulting become a reality. He set aside an easier path, and instead followed his passion for consulting.     Dive in to find out how you can begin turning your dreams into reality. TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Creating Time Sacrificing Working hard Finding solutions Delegating Building Relationships SCOTT SAID:   “we always want to be in a position to be able to help [clients] help their families”   “when you have that passion inside you, it doesn’t just stop at a certain time.  It overflows to your family”   “most people’s goals are very small. . .  I always proceed with, “Well, what’s you bigger goal?”   “I want to hire people in our companies that can bring new ideas and solutions to the table”   “I don’t undervalue experience” ABOUT DR. SCOTT   “Dr. Scott A. Colonna is a senior partner at Uppercut Consulting and Westminster Eyecare Associates. He is a native of New York City and received his Doctor of Optometry degree from the State University of New York College of Optometry in Manhattan, New York. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Lafayette College in Easton, PA. Dr. Colonna completed internships in primary care and ocular disease at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Newington, CT and infant and pediatric care at Beth Israel Hospital and SUNY in Manhattan, NY. While in optometry school he traveled with the Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity organization to provide eye care in Nicaragua. He has also been part of the Special Olympics Opening Eyes program which provides free eye exams to participants of the Special Olympics. Dr. Colonna has extensive experience in pediatric and infant eye examinations, primary care, contact lens, geriatric care, and ocular disease. He is an active member of Infant See, the American Optometric Association, and the Rhode Island Optometric Association. Dr. Colonna has been practicing in Rhode Island since 2001” (UpperCut Consulting.Com). FINAL THOUGHTS ON TURNING YOUR DREAMS INTO REALITY Plan for the marketing purposes and market your platform and get the word out sooner rather than waiting until everything is set up.     CONNECT WITH DR. SCOTT   Facebook: Scott Colonna Web: UpperCutAdvantage.com  

UNLOCKING THE SECRET TO CONNECTION   Did you know that unlocking the secret to connection is quite simple-just ask questions.     Connection doesn’t happen by trying to convince another party of your viewpoint or your product.  It is created simply by asking questions and listening.   Join Craig and Ryan as they discuss unlocking the secret to connection and how you can apply that in a powerful way to growing your business and improving your relationships one question at a time.   Whether it be connecting on a personal or professional level, “as humans, we are all in the people business.” TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Connection Authenticity Vulnerability The power of asking why, what if and how Avoiding the one dimensional trap The business of connecting   CRAIG SAID:   “Getting vulnerable causes other people to get vulnerable”   “In businesses, using [questions] to change company cultures”   “Imagine if you took a whole year, 52 questions, and really asked your employees what they would like from their company”   “These questions let you confront problems, anticipate the challenge at hand and try to understand it better”   “It’s possible to retrain ourselves to go out there and have authentic connections- it’s totally within our power.”   “I specifically help them connect to their brand, to their tribe and connect on social media”   ABOUT CRAIG   Craig Oborn is founder and CEO of Connect52, “Transforming families one engaging question and shared vulnerable answer at a time.” Connect52 was born from a combination of his diverse personal and professional background.   Craig has embraced the Benjamin Franklin quote, “nothing ventured, nothing gained” venturing to start a t-shirt company, convenience store, and food magazine. Craig lives life with an entrepreneurial curiosity, and a desire to leave the world a better place than he found it.   He became a mediator not to mediate divorce but instead to mediate marriages. It was his use of his mediation skill set, that inspired the creation of Connect52 when he asked, “what would my life be like if I were authentically connected to my family?” 52 questions and one year later an empathic connection was formed from the vulnerably shared answers. His family transformation is creating a Revolution in Human Connection.   Craig is a sought-out TEDx speaker and business consultant, connecting companies to their tribe and creating new authentic company culture. Craig is partner in a mortgage business, The Olsen & Oborn Team connecting REALTORS to their brand, marketing and clients. As humans, we are all in the people business. FINAL THOUGHTS ON UNLOCKING THE SECRET TO CONNECTION Gather people around you who you trust, who have had experience, who are successful and allow them the opportunity to ask questions and open up your mind at what’s possible. CONNECT WITH CRAIG Facebook: Connect 52 Facebook Page Blog: Connect 52.com

HOW THE ART OF THE HUSTLE IS CONNECTING   Did you know that the art of the hustle is connecting?  Hustle has both positive and negative connotations, but for “Kamanda,” Kate and Amanda, hustling is all about connecting.   If you’re hustling to create for your business, but no one is seeing what you’ve done, then you’re missing out on the power that connection brings to drive your business forward.  Connection is the secret to hustling effectively.   Dive in and learn from Kate and Amanda as they share their journey to success which led them to Life Intended International.   TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Connecting Being real Being vulnerable Influencing and impacting Hustling effectively Branding   KAMANDA QUOTES:   “You can’t have a successful business . . .  without having connection”   “There’s people that feel that they’re hustling [even though] they’re not telling anyone about their product”   “Our hustle is just hustling to make connections and make an impact” ABOUT “KAMANDA”   Meet Amanda Hodgson, Vice President of International Expansion, and Kate Pallot, Director of International Business Development, for Life Intended.  “Life Intended continues to astound audiences across the globe with its gatherings of elite training experts delivering insider information to help guide high-level entrepreneurs to collaborate, execute and elevate their skill sets and deliver monetized results. We have currently added coaches that have surpassed the requirements to join the Life Intended team. They want to help you truly become the one your results require. The view can only be changed by you, let's get started.”  (LinkedIn) FINAL THOUGHTS ON HOW THE ART OF THE HUSTLE IS CONNECTING Kate: Find yourself and be honest with yourself.   You have to be you so you’ve got to know you. Just go with it but don’t stop pushing. Amanda: Other people’s opinions don’t matter.   Put your message out there and don’t worry about the negative from the haters If you feel that burning desire to get whatever’s in there out-just start. It’s a pretty messy journey.  Through everything you discover more about yourself. CONNECT WITH KATE AND AMANDA   Web: Life Intended Facebook: Life Intended International  

Transform Your Business Into a Successful Machine   How can you transform your business into a successful machine?   Ron Carucci’s expertise is in transforming businesses into success-churning machines.  His holistic approach has been proven in more than 30 countries over the past 30 years.     Dive in an find out how you can transform your business into a successful machine!   TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Strategy Organization Leadership Identity Direction   RON SAID:   “The boundaries [of allocating your time] need to be driven by competitive work, competitive enabling work, and necessary work . . . where you put your money should be allocated the same way.”   “An organization is nothing more than an embodiment of a strategy; it’s the machinery through which you put your intention.”   “Your organization is perfectly designed to get the results you’re getting.  If you’re getting results you don’t want, it means your machine is not built to deliver the results you want.”   “The distance between intention and impact are wider than most leaders want to believe.” ABOUT RON CARUCCI   Ron Carucci is co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, working with CEOs and executives pursuing transformational change for their organizations, leaders, and industries.  He is also bestselling author of 8 books.     He has a thirty year track record helping some of the world’s most influential executives tackle challenges of strategy, organization and leadership.  From start-ups to Fortune 10’s, turn-arounds to new markets and strategies, overhauling leadership and culture to re-designing for growth, he has worked in more than 25 countries on 4 continents.   In addition to being a regular contributor to HBR and Forbes, and has been featured in Fortune, CEO Magazine, BusinessInsider, MSNBC, Inc, Business Week, Smart Business, and thought leaders.     Ron led a ten year longitudinal study on executive transition to find out why more than 50% of leaders fail within their first 18 months of appointment, and uncovering the four differentiating capabilities that set successful leaders apart. Those findings are highlighted in his groundbreaking Amazon #1 book Rising To Power, co-authored with Eric Hansen.     These findings are also summarized by Ron in the popular HBR article. HBR selected that research as one of 2016’s “Ideas that mattered most", and recently presented on their Live Series.   Ron is a 2-time TEDx speaker.  Click here to listen to his speech on power. FINAL THOUGHTS ON HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS ‘If you build it they will come’ only happen in the movies. Having a great story and telling a great story are two different things. I assumed that doing great work and having great work to offer meant that the right clients would find me. Set yourself apart and tell the world how you set yourself apart. You have to build your organization and that special thing you want to offer the world, then you have to build all the muscles around that so the world can find it. CONNECT WITH RON   Web: Navalent.com Twitter: @roncarucci Linkedin: Ron Carucci Offers:  Leading Through Turbulence Virtual Summit.  Free March 5-9!            Free Ebook: Leading Transformation: An Owner’s Manual  

Changing Your Paradigm   In today’s episode we talk about Changing your paradigm.  Paradigm shifts occur through learning, connecting and sharing experiences.  Much growth happens when we are open to learn how to learn and when we connect with and align ourselves with those who will push and challenge us.  Join Rebecca Bohman as she shares insight on changing your paradigm. TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Changing our paradigm Increasing our capacity to learn Being a self-directed learner Finding your own path (there’s no perfect path) Igniting your own learning Surrounding yourself with allies and mentors Being a continual learner     REBECCA SAID:   “How has your paradigm shifted over time and with experience?” “Everybody has learned something and they’ve grown some way.” “Real learning can give them that excitement and love of life, it can give them passion.” “Everything that we learn ends up moving our passions and our intentions and our businesses forward.” “You’re not put in a group that’s going to be perfect for you.. . you have to be very proactive in finding that group that can do that for you.” “[In] entrepreneurship you only learn from failure.” “We have these blocks of how we think things should be.” “Create this spark that invigorates our mind and just lights it on fire.” “See that failure . . . as a chance and opportunity to go back and continue learning.” “We can’t let the world define that success for us.” “People who learn how to make those connection with you. . . will be the entrepreneurs and business people that will survive.” “We don’t have to be perfect.” ABOUT REBECCA BOHMAN   “Creator of educational podcast and website designed to "Light your MIND on fire"​ as we work to change the paradigm about education. We strive to be a service to families, mentoring them in alternative education and options available to them. Our content ranges from homeschooling parents, educational professionals, tutors, curriculum companies, and motivational mentors. With a weekly podcast released on Tuesdays as well as an occasional audioblog called "The Spark". We manage several social media sites associated to our podcast. We would love our audience to hear your story! Check out our podcast by visiting our website theluminousmind.net and you can schedule an interview by going to theluminousmind.youcanbook.me.”  (Linkedin) FINAL THOUGHTS ON CHANGING YOUR PARADIGM Have more grace with yourself Be more patient and understanding Enjoy the journey Just start CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA   Web: The Luminous Mind.net Podcast:  The Luminous Mind | Changing the Paradigm of Educational Pedagogy Offer:  Click Here  to sign up and get a free pdf download: 7 Steps to Ignite Your Learning

HOW TO CRUSH YOUR NEW BUSINESS   Today’s episode discusses how to crush your new business. “Crushing it” involves finding clarity, taking the most effective steps, and measuring metrics that matter.  Doing so will bring the results you are looking for.  Join Amanda and Ryan as they discuss ways that you can crush your business starting today! TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Identifying your purpose Doing the most important thing right now Having a plan and knowing consequences Measuring metrics that matter Shifting your mindset Speaking with clarity Jumping in, then finding refinement Visualizing and overcoming obstacles AMANDA SAID:   “When you want make some massive change and you want to take on that big meaty goal [be] super clear on that why.”   “I view my own clarity as a big part part of my own job.”   “Clarity can also give you distinction as an entrepreneur.”   “Do that thing that actually matters.”   “[You] don’t need a business card to go and have a conversation with someone about what it is that you do or are aspiring to do.”   “Absolute clarity isn’t a requirement to get started . . .clarity comes over time and by jumping in.”   “Prioritize your energy level and relationships.”   “High performers don’t just visualize what success looks like, they visualize what obstacles look like so when they encounter them they know what to do.”   “We tend to measure a result . . . [instead] measure a behavior which will inevitably yield the result.” BIOGRAPHY   I am a personal effectiveness expert who works with high achieving executives to launch themselves into their next level of performance both professionally and in the rest of their lives. As a traveling strategy consultant, wife, mother, step-mother and co-parent, I started my coaching business to help other senior consultants deal with the often-overwhelming prospect of expanding their families or while still ascending the corporate ladder, all while out-performing their peers and building positive, lasting relationships with their teams, colleagues, leadership, and clients. Prior to formally launching my coaching practice, I spent a decade as a strategist, mentor, and leader for a high profile consulting firm, traveling all over North America to serve my clients, all while raising a young family and pursuing several personal goals at the same time. I offer a range of performance coaching and consulting services – from individual coaching, to workshops, and keynote speeches on the subjects of personal effectiveness, leadership, and balance. (Amanda Kaufman.net) FINAL THOUGHTS ON HOW TO CRUSH YOUR NEW BUSINESS Take action now. You’re not more secure in corporate.   CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA   Facebook: Kaufman Services Email: amanda@amandakaufman.net  Request a free 15 minute strategy session with Amanda!  

LIVING WITH INTENTION   Today’s episode discusses living with intention.  Choose to live intentionally by believing in yourself and taking action.  When you show up in your own life and live with intention, not only do you win, but others will also win. TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Understanding and harnessing the gifts you’ve been given Being the best version of yourself no matter where you are Starting now Putting in the work Making a “life list” instead of a bucket list Becoming the kind of person people want to spend time with Connecting with and being mentored by giants Kicking stress out of your life and focusing on the good Refusing to let anything into your world that does not speak your language Thanking others and sharing how applying what you learned has changed you Believing in yourself and taking action Living with gratitude daily DANELLE SAID:   “When life erupts you have two choices; you either give up or you create.” “The art of sales is just people skills.” “When people show you who they are, believe them.” “How long does it take?  It takes every day.” “A bucket list is ridiculous, why not have a life list?” “Once you go to your limits, they expand; you realize they aren’t really there.” “I wanted to get people to look at themselves and quit seeing the blockades, quit seeing the fears and to see if they just look within, they have a dream they’re designed to live and anything against that is not natural to themselves.” “If [you] don’t win today somebody else loses.” “You don’t serve a fight with fight, you serve a fight with greatness, with prayer, with goodness,  with ‘how can I help?’’ “People are so afraid of being authentic because they’re afraid of being attacked.” FINAL THOUGHTS ON LIVING WITH INTENTION Don’t dwell on the hard stuff.  Give it 24 hours or 7 hours or 7 seconds to deal with then move on. Learn to love the hard; hard is what makes you great. Choose joy everyday and take advantage of the greatness in your life. Life’s too short.  Be great to those who need it.  Don’t listen to what they say when they are hurting. BIOGRAPHY   Arising from the fires of life, the now serial entrepreneur Danelle Delgado began her journey when faced with raising her three small children on her own. Forced to make a change she went from working three jobs, 80-90 hours a week and struggling to survive, to an award winning success in business by persisting her way into alignment with some of the world’s most renowned business experts and gaining them as her personal mentors. After years of high level learning alongside them in business she went on to build multiple high-producing income streams and become an international training sensation and elite mentor to many of the worlds highest performing entrepreneurs. She has taken the stage with the likes of Grant Cardone, Les Brown, Darren Hardy, Lewis Howes and more, where her online marketing and branding techniques are unlike any other in the industry and the world has taken note. Danelle says “first it’s about building the person, then one can master the skills. Confidence and competence are quite the perfect combination.” Her 4th company, Life Intended, launched to massive success in 2015 and has never slowed down. Life Intended trains advancing entrepreneurs to maximize results, build profit and make winning in life an inevitable via live events, online training, global elite retreats and more! Life Intended now operates both in the US and Australia. Danelle is one of the most highly regarded training experts and is quickly becoming the go-to female to train sales, marketing and business strategy world-wide. (Adapted from Life Intended.Org)   CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danellebdelgado Join in every friday night at 8pm MST for a 1 hour training for entrepreneurs!

A Strategic Investment   Today’s episode discusses how to prepare and demonstrate to investors that your business is a worthy investment. Stuart Draper shares his journey of turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones as well as how to prepare for the conversation with potential investors.   TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Learning from adversity Getting funding for your business Surrounding yourself with good people Hiring the right people Remembering that talent is replaceable, don’t feel bad if someone quits Preparing for the conversation with an investor Working backwards from that huge vision and making it happen, one step at a time STU SAID:   “I decided I needed to go fix things and be the change for education so Stukent was born.”   “You may be onto something but you’ve got to do a lot of research to prove it.”   “Would you quit everything else you have and go for this?  Do you believe in this that much?” “When you raise funding as an entrepreneur, [investors] are betting maybe 10% on your idea, maybe another 10% on your traction that you already have and they’re betting 80% on [you as] the jockey.”     “If they can’t believe that you’re the [person who] can go execute then they won’t move forward.”   “It’s not about the idea, it’s about the execution.”   “Everytime you get to a roadblock you’ve got to go find a way;  jump over it, go over it, go around it, blast through it--whatever it takes!” BIOGRAPHY   Stuart Draper is the co-author of Digital Marketing Essentials, the bestselling text in higher education of its kind. He has experience doing internet marketing for companies that range from mom and pop shops to Fortune 500 companies. He successfully bootstrapped GetFoundFirst.com (acquired December 2015), and is now working on Stukent.com, a digital courseware company that provides the world's #1 digital marketing simulation, the world's first social media marketing simulation, and a variety of other texts, videos and projects. Stuart's work has taken him all over the globe. He has been to Romania, Mexico, China, Puerto Rico, Germany, and India to speak to audiences ranging from ten to north of 1500 people about entrepreneurship and digital marketing. (Source: Stuart Draper Linkedin)   FINAL THOUGHTS ON A STRATEGIC INVESTMENT Think a hundred times bigger than you’re thinking!   There’s so much more opportunity in this world than you're giving yourself credit for and it’s yours for the taking. CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA   Twitter: @Stu_Draper Linkedin: Stuart Draper Website: Stukent.com

Building A Winning Team   Sid Krommenhoek knows first hand how powerful it is to begin with building a winning team.  He has taken a startup from inception to marketing leader--across the US and China--to IPO, but it is not something he did on his own.     By carefully building a solid team filled with members who are competent, hard working, and passion driven, he has accomplished more than many entrepreneurs only dream of.     Join today’s episode to learn how Sid’s journey took shape and to gain insight on building a winning team. TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Understanding what it means to be a founder Understanding what it means to be a finisher Preparing for opportunities in order to harness ‘luck’ Surrounding yourself with the right people Knowing where you’re going Building your team Trusting your team Coupling your passion with hard work Sid SAID: “You have to have that why in what you’re doing.” “[Find] remarkable people to join [your] team.” “Good ideas have founders. . . great businesses have founders who have brought on finishers to that team.”   “Sometimes the founders are the finishers. . .” “[Every team needs] true finishers.” “When you. . . couple that obsession--where you are going to sweat and hustle and scramble as much as you need to because there is a problem so important to you---with that obsession to build an answer and a solution . . . that is fit for a king, but available to the common man.” “[You need team members who] are equally bought in and properly competent to build that beautiful thing.” BIOGRAPHY Managing Partner of Peak Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm founded in 2014. My M.O. is simple- startup is hard and life is short, so let's be authentic in working with people we enjoy (even if we don't always agree) and on problems that are worth solving. My approach has context from ventures I've been a part of and in the people who I've worked alongside, both as a startup founder and investor. (Linkedin) FINAL THOUGHTS ON BUILDING A WINNING TEAM You can’t trust everyone but you better be able to trust the ones you get in the boat with. If it’s going to work--and you have to believe it is--there has to be massive trust and support within your team, both in the rocky times as well as in the good times.   CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidkrommenhoek/ Instagram: https://medium.com/@krommenhoek Twitter: https://twitter.com/krommenhoek?lang=en

THE DIGITAL ADVISOR   Meet digital advisor, James Zolman, who has a proven record for scaling businesses online.  He has generated over $50 MM in revenue over the past 10 years. Through his journey, James shares expert tips for building relationships online, creating engagement, and building authority in order to increase business revenue.  In addition, James shares powerful reasons why a sales funnel and copywriting are two of the most effective ways to start growing your business.   TOPICS DISCUSSED TODAY Scaling business through lead generation Getting over your fear of taking action Knowing and speaking to your audience Creating relationships with your audience Building a curiosity factor into your ads Creating opportunities for follow up Establishing yourself as an expert Laying out a Sales funnel Copywriting   James SAID:   “Don’t be afraid of the ad networks.” ‘The biggest clutch in scaling small business is they’re afraid.” “You can control for your audience, especially on Facebook.” “. . .  you can control your budget a lot. . . and still get a little bit of traction. .  .” “Just dive in . . . see what happens . . .see how it works. . .  learn about it. Don’t be afraid of it.” “Focus on writing your add. . .and creating the path that captures [your] audience.” “Rather than display [just] a thank you page, find another way to add value and ask for a sale.” “You don’t have to sell, you just need to build a relationship.” “Speak to your audience. . . .[use] the right messaging. . . [get a] funnel.” “First. . . get over your fear. . . just do it. . .[connect with your ] audience, [then] make sure you have a funnel.” BIOGRAPHY OF THE DIGITAL ADVISOR   “I’m a digital advertiser who has built dozens of digital assets that have generated well over $50MM in revenue over the past 10 years. I specialize in Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, Google Analytics, copywriting, and conversion optimization. I owned an ad agency (sold my book of clients), developed quality score analysis software (sold it to an agency), hired multiple agencies, and purchased Enterprise pay per click advertising software. I understand agency-life because I have lived it as an agency owner and as a client!”  (Linkedin: James Zolman). FINAL THOUGHTS   Focus on copywriting because it a powerful tool which will pull people like a magnet through an entire funnel and you’ll be able to boost your earnings. Focus on copywriting early on rather than the technical aspects, which you can learn as you go.   FOR MORE ON COPYWRITING   Copy Chief Copy Blogger Smart Blogger Only One Mike CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesczolman/ FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/jameszol Website: http://jameszol.com/

Insights From a Budding Entrepreneur   Entrepreneurship is a simple enough concept even for even a child to understand yet whether one is new or seasoned in this world, the key ingredient for all entrepreneurs simply is hard work.  There are no shortcuts to success, but success does leave clues that can be followed, duplicated, and mastered over time.   Today’s guest took a leap into the world of entrepreneurship 2 years ago, when she decided to take her finances to the next level.  Her journey began simply by observing the example of her own father--an entrepreneur--as well as her mother and grandparents, who run a family business together.   Join Maddi Harris, an 11-year old entrepreneur, who shares her observations and insight on this candid, daddy-daughter episode entitled, “Insights From a Budding Entrepreneur.”     Insights From a Budding Entrepreneur   Profit, simply put, is gross income minus costs. Buy low, sell higher. Everything is negotiable. If you can help people understand the value of the item or service you provide--and how it would benefit their life--then you can sell anything. Goals bring purpose, enjoyment, and can motivate you to go even further. Networking connects you with other people and opens the way to connect with even more customers and people. Entrepreneurship is getting out in the world and talking to people, selling your own stuff, building your business, not being employed in the 9-5 grind. Be coachable. Listen to the experiences of others and learn from them. You’re more likely to learn and grow faster if you follow people who have had success in their lives. Listen to those who have gone ahead of you. Practices does not make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. We think we know more than we do, we become prideful, and pride can lead to business failure. Being an entrepreneur is not easy; it’s hard work. Remember to balance your time and relationships; focus on quality, not quantity. Set your mind to it and don’t quit.   Finish what you start, even if you hate it, even if it’s not fun, even when it gets tough; quitting is not an option     Final Thoughts From Maddi   Know your packaging pricing. Whether you make money or lose money, you still learn.

Journey of an Entrepreneur is never the same for any one person. We have gathered entrepreneurs from around the country to connect the pieces of the puzzle for you to help you along the way. Building Your Brand With Video Strategies Marina Simone has found how effective building your brand with video strategies can be.  Her story in business began at the age of 18, when she gained experience running her dad’s wholesale food distributing company, over the course of almost 7 years.   Eventually, Marina caught the eye of a third party company with Amazon, who observed how well she utilized her knowledge and skill set.  She took their job offer in corporate world, and effectively helped build their business from a 3 million per year to a 40 million per year business.   Marina was on salary so she didn’t get a cut of that growth in profits.  This caused her to realize that with her gifts for setting up infrastructure, systems, and building relationships and connections, she could venture out on her own.     Join Marina as she shares tips for building your brand by working from the inside out. Once you truly are at a point as a human being who is ready for success, building your brand with video strategies will naturally become more effective in promoting growth and success for your company.    Building Yourself   Are you where you need to be as a human being to have massive success? Are you more focused on making the next dollar or on making an impact? Does your why motivate you when you wake up? The more you are in alignment with who you are and what you represent, the more authenticity comes out. How is your self talk? Does it paralyze you with fear, doubt, etc? Are you a problem solver or an excuse maker? Put in the work to find creative solutions. If you’re ready to find your own answers, then you’re ready to become a leader. Get over the fear of sharing. You have a powerful message that people need to hear, even if you’re saying the same thing as somebody else.  Your experience and the way you tell it will connect with and empower others. Work on yourself. Stop making excuses. Take action.  Stay consistent. Building Relationships   Be proactive at making connections. Connect with people you want to work with. Connect with people you want to be friends with or hang out with. Connect with people in your target audience. Get the right people around you. Social media helps you connect with others. Video creates emotional connections to you. People get to know you, see if they like you and connect with you through video. Video allows others to feel more involved with you and what you are doing.   Building Your Brand With Video Strategies   Video structure: Identify problem or pain point. Tell your story or experience with this pain point so people can relate to you. Provide solution, tips, or info regarding pain point. End with a call to action: click link to watch full training, tell me how this works for you, click here to get $30 off, etc. 85-90% of audience needs education about who you are, your product, services, etc.   Be creative, think outside of the box. Break through your fear of getting in front of the camera.   Once you do FB live, don’t go back and watch, just move forward.   We fear getting in front of the camera because of a fear with our own limitations. Don’t try to be everything to everyone, but be something to someone. Speak directly to the one and it will resonate with many more.   Accept that if you can just impact one person, that person may be the one to impact a million others.  Who’s that one person who impacted Tony Robbins? Content comes from learning from others.   Share what you learn. Repurpose your content. Every time you do fb live, save it to camera roll and upload to youtube, edit pieces of it to put on instagram, use as a tripwire, send it to email list, etc. “Focused intensity over time multiplied by God equals unstoppable momentum.” We tend to share what we want to share, and not what people want to hear. Pay attention to which videos are getting the most views, shares, and likes.    Bridge the gap between what you want to talk about and what others want to hear. Final Thoughts From Marina   Let go of any stubbornness and listen to those who’ve had success and are trying to show you how to get to where you want to be.   It’s not about you, but you must invest in yourself by listening, learning, and improving your knowledge and mindset.   Connect With Marina   Facebook: Marina Simone Facebook: Moms and Heels

Gifts of the ADHD Entrepreneur   Nicholas Rizzo has found that the gifts of the ADHD Entrepreneur are often hidden within the struggles and behind the stigma.  His discovery and passion for helping others, led him to filling a niche in the entrepreneurial world for business owners who struggle with ADHD.  Through his business, Striven Life, he teaches his clients how to unwrap and harness the gifts that come with ADHD and turn them into tools for becoming the productive and successful business owners that they truly can be.   Come and learn a few valuable tips from Nicholas’ proven methods for unleashing the power of our gifts.   Gifts of the ADHD Entrepreneur   Intense amounts of drive and passion. They go all in without holding back. Insane amounts of creativity. Unique neurological wiring which lends to a fresh perspective. Natural abilities to think outside of the box and find ways to overcome obstacles. Plethora of big ideas. Harnessing Your Gifts   Become structurally unstructured. Structure is important, but too much structure drains energy and creativity. Schedule your day within time blocks, rather than hour by hour. Ask the right questions: What do I feel like I can be best at doing today? Where is my creativity pulling me? Which block of time will be the best for me to work on this? Cut out aspects for your business that suck the life out of you and are not necessary. Example:  Editing is nice, but may not be necessary.  Skip the edits or hire it out. Keep it simple. Try to understand yourself at a deeper level. Keep the purpose of your why at the forefront. Learn more about who you are and why you are the way you are. Learn more about how you work and what distracts and discourages you. Continuously evaluate yourself and your actions. Be willing to fail and to struggle because those are the best ways to learn. Find out why something isn’t working and keep trying to improve it.   Utilizing Accountability Methods   Set up daily check-ins with an accountability buddy or with yourself. Each night: journal or write down what was accomplished that day. This builds confidence and momentum and allows you to track progress. Plan and list in detail which actionable steps you need to take to get from where you are to where you’d like to be. Every week: Pick  20-30 of the most effective tasks to accomplish for that week. Every morning: Select 3-5 items from the weekly list to work on. Ask yourself: Where is my creative energy pushing me? What am i excited and passionate about? Be flexible in your choice of task.   Do something every day to help your business grow.   Final Thoughts From Nicholas   Don’t try to do it all at once. Various layers of your business such as Facebook posts, product launches, etc., don’t all have to be done as soon as you open your business.   Build your business one layer at a time.   Connect With Nicholas   Facebook: Striven Life Website: Striven Life.Com E-Book Download: The ADHD Entrepreneur Advantage Twitter: My Striven Life

Breaking Free From the “Norms”   Lindsay Judson is an example of breaking free from the “norms.”  Although she’s always been a dreamer, initially, she went the traditional route of securing a college degree.  Her profession in nursing was and still is a passion of hers, yet the ever present itch to chase other passions and to inspire her daughters to do the same, eventually pulled her away from nursing and into the world of digital entrepreneurship. Lindsay’s desire to follow her passion and to teach her daughters to be dreamers, to break free from the “norms,” and to harness the power of the mindset, is one of leading not only by word, but also by example.   Breaking Free From The “Norms” Often, we are programed culturally, either in society or within a family, to take certain steps and we follow them either without challenging them, or we spend our life wondering “what if?” The traditional route is not the only route. Breaking free from the “norms” allows you to follow your dreams. Things don’t have to be a certain way because a diagnosis, training, or culture tells you it’ll be that way. Our background and training often influence how we see the world, but we truly learn through experience, and by trial and error. Work hard, seek opportunities, and share what you’ve learned with others.   Harness the Power of Mindset   The power of the mind can override circumstances and predicted outcomes. Reprogram your thinking. Focus less on results and more on efforts.   Efforts dynamically change the nature of where we arrive and how we get there. Measure progress, rather than results. We lose desire to generate effort toward our passion when when we measure against perfection. More is learned from failures than from successes. Duplication is a principle, not a rule.   Duplicate in your own way. Dont quit in the process. Fail forward and do it everyday.   Lead By Example   Don’t stereotype others because of your background and experiences. Allow others to grow and learn in their own way. Praise efforts rather than results in order to inspire others to work harder and keep trying. Gently mold and grow others to help them to meet their potential. Provide opportunities to share your business with your children. Teach them what you have learned and how you have learned through failures. Be careful of the language used in front of your kids; focus on efforts rather than results. Allow hard work to be part of daily life. Encourage efforts and hard work; don’t give false praise. Final Thoughts From Lindsay Find what your thing is.   Jump in and figure it out later. It’s not about perfection;  it’s about effort and progress. Connect With Lindsay Facebook: Lindsey Judson Facebook Business: The Mama Bear Marketer  

Building Significant Followships Using Instagram   If you’ve considered building significant followships using Instagram, then Tony Huynh is your guy.  His passion for building businesses was ignited through his own shift toward wanting to grow a business in the fitness world.      Today, he teaches effective ways to grow your following on Instagram, and ultimately become a top influencer.  Join, Tony, The Instagram Guy, to learn a few tips and tricks to rapidly build your audience on Instagram. Understanding the Platform Instagram is a visual platform. Photos, videos, IG lives, etc. are what you’ll focus on posting. If you prefer to write, this may not be the best platform for you. Get clear on who your audience is. Post content which speaks to your audience. Check out hashtags and posts in your category and model content based on those posts. Example: in the fashion or makeup categories, selfies are huge and relevant. Share your own content, other’s content, and share viral content. Hashing Out Hashtags Hashtags are really the only way you can be found, so use them strategically. The image you choose must capture attention. Either long or short text can be used. Remember people consume info differently so change it up. Use search features to determine best hashtags in your niche. Pick those which have 100’s -10’s of thousands of posts rather than 10’s of millions in order to increase your luck at catching eyeballs. Instagram allows a max of 30 hashtags per post.   For aesthetic purposes, hashtags may be put in the first comment, but there is no right or wrong way to display them. Rotate through multiple groups of hashtags to determine which ones perform best. Shortcut:  go to keyboard settings → text replacement to set-up auto-complete on your phone so when you type in hashtag1, hashtag2, etc, it will autocorrect with a group of hashtags. Constantly switch 4-5 out of the 30 to gauge which ones work best. If you see huge spikes in likes and comments when using certain hashtags, you know you found good ones. Be aware that using the same hashtags all day looks a little spammy through the IG algorithm.   This may cause shadow banning--even though you can see your post, no one else can see it under the hashtag.   Building Significant Followships Get into Instagram Top Post & Latest Post categories by: Posting daily, as much as 6-10 times per day. The more you post the more you’ll get in categories within chosen hashtags that you're targeting in your niche, which will get you more views. Build your following, increase engagement, then funnel into product/service. Look at top influencers and viral content and model what they are doing in order to grow your instagram.   Working with top influencers is very cost effective with high roi. Consider what influencers are looking for and how you can leverage your time and energy to maximize reach. High engagement will trump large following number and will make you more appealing to top influencers. Consider if your product goes well with their audience. Negotiate: offer free product, comp a meal, etc. in return for a mention in their post. Ask to purchase x amount of posts in return for a plug for your product. Connecting with influencers: IG direct messaging or check for contact info in their profile.   Explain what you have to offer or invite them to check out (your restaurant, your climbing gym, your product, etc), then ask them to talk about it to their audience. Static vs my story: Static refers to a finished product such as a beautiful dish at a restaurant. My story shows the process behind the scenes from meeting the chef (if you have a restaurant), to watching the dish being created, plated, then served. Each story play connects with different types of audience so change it up. Final Thoughts From Tony   For beginning entrepreneurs, focus on getting those first customers and honing in on your product and service.   Doing so will give you confidence to move forward.   Consider offering product/service at a steep discount to get testimonials.   Logo comes later and much easier once you have customer base.   Connect With Tony The InstaGuy.Co: Special offer to our listeners- time doubled for free audit of your Instagram. The Fit Asian Man on Instagram tony@theinstaguy.co

Strategically Aligned Partnerships   Jared Warner built his business on the proven foundation of strategically aligned partnerships.  He’s been in the world of entrepreneurship since the late ‘90’s and has learned valuable lessons from both successes and failures.   His experience solidifies the fact that strategically aligning yourself with other businesses who are not competing, but who are drawing from the same customer base, will help grow your business faster and build long term relationships with both your customers as well as your referral partners.   Dive into this podcast to learn more about Jared’s story and how you, too, can integrate strategically aligned partnerships in order to grow your business for the long game.   Leap Strategically   Build your business on the side.   We all have the same amount of time;  don’t binge watch tv, or waste time when you could be building your business. We make a living between 9-5, but we can create a life between 5-9. We fail a lot, but must keep getting up. The best feedback you can get is from the marketplace.   Don’t let others tell you what you should/shouldn’t do; it’s not their money or reputation on the line, it’s yours.   Don’t quit your day job until you have continual provable income from your business. If your product almost works, then you’ll almost get paid. Don’t be the one who spends money to educate the marketplace so they’ll come around to your idea. You might be right, but do something else.   Align Strategically   Consider other industries that do not compete with yours, but that your ideal client also buys from. Everyone has other products and services they use. For example; chiropractors, pilates instructors, personal trainers, massage therapists, acupuncturists, or nutrition specialists, etc.,  are all people who may work with the same clients.   Marketers, software developers, web designers, video production specialists, etc., are all possibly working with the same client base.   After checking reputation/reviews of potential businesses, approach them and find ways to work with each other and refer to each other and build trust. Make sure they aren’t already referring to others.     Refer Strategically   Don’t just leave business cards; always find opportunities to work together. Consider seminars, workshops, or any event which allows you to talk to their people and vice versa.   Schedule weekly or biweekly 10 minute phone calls with each referral partner. What are 3 things I can do for you? What are 3 things you can do for me? What can we hold each other accountable for this next week? Play the long game and be authentic. If you have 6 referral partners, this only takes 1 hour per week, yet you instantly have access and connections with 6 networks.   Final Thoughts From Jared   Build your business with the goal of helping customers rather than looking at each as x amount of dollars you’ll bring in. Consider how you can really help your clients. Are you helping them or just asking for money? Take your head out of your laptop, get to events and shake hands in person.   Connect and have face to face conversations in order to build real relationships.   Connect With Jared   jared@123getfound.com 123 Get Found.Com (619) 678-0280

Building Relationships: From Platform to Personal   Meet mobile marketing rock star Amanda Read, who is passionate about the power of building relationships from platform to personal.  She knows that communication is a more effective form of marketing than sales because people buy based on how they feel about your business.  “If you don’t communicate authentically, you . . . won’t be successful.”     Her journey began when a text messaging marketing idea came across her desk; she instantly knew she was onto something powerful. Although she was ahead of her time in this marketing platform, she persisted and quickly learned how to rock this world of marketing through building relationships and trust, rather than pushing information and products onto customers.   Dive into our podcast to learn how to build relationships with your customers from platform to personal.     Determine Your Platform Choose a platform that will work for you. Remember technology doesn’t matter as much as strategy. No one will know the value of your business until you give value first. Understand opt-in regulations. Promote text to win contest for opt-in. Follow up with text thank you and valuable coupon. Open rates are close to 98% on text messages! This is real time marketing as open rate is 77% within 5 minutes. Give them something that allows them to spend time with your brand.   Build Brand Authenticity Give more than you ask for. Know your brand and your audience. Communicate to your audience as they would to each other. Speak in their language; are they moms, teens, professionals, grandparents, sports junkies, etc? Speak in a voice that resonates with them. Invite customers to events you put together just for them. Give value first. Communicate that they are valued. What is your brand voice?   Know your beliefs, values and what you want to portray. Hold to your brand voice; don’t shift your brand in response to what others say you should do.   Build Relationships Send text polls to learn what’s important to your customer. Polls might ask: do you prefer x or y? Then invite them to check out FB page for results. Add visual interest such as a graphic of results. Polls segment a list of preferences and then you can send a thank you and reward with an offer specific to that preference. This connects with them personally and builds the relationship. Remember your customers are real people with real concerns.   Sending info unique to them, not just generic info, helps them feel valued. Customers won’t care what you say until they know that you care about them. Your product is only as valuable as the perceived value. Final Thoughts From Amanda Remember that everybody isn’t your customer. Learn to move on and let go of the “no’s” even if your product will help them.   Focus on those who want what you have to offer.   Connect With Amanda Facebook: Read Mobile Marketing Youtube: Marketing Happy Hour Channel

  Meet Gaelle Lecourt, a food scientist/engineer in the flavor industry-turned business coach for women; teaching them how to “own your business so your business doesn’t own you.”     When aspects of her life created a shift in her perspective and goals, Gaelle was drawn to deeply ponder:  if my life were a blank page, how would I redesign it?   She felt she wasn’t progressing as much as the effort as she was putting into her job.  She wanted more flexibility to travel, a healthier lifestyle and also desired to provide more impact.     With those ideas in mind, Gaelle quit her job,  sold all that she owned, moved to Mexico, and took a step away from her busy life to sift out the signs that life had been sending her.  She recognized that her life experiences and gifts have been pointing toward coaching all along.     Dive into Galle’s journey to discover how she was able to take that leap and make a change, and how you can be sure you are owning your own business;  not the other way around. Is Your Business Owning You?   Have you heard yourself saying any of these? I don’t have enough time. I don’t have fun anymore. I’m working 7 days a week. These phrases indicate that your business is owning you.  If so, what are you to do? Create Infrastructure   Infrastructure becomes the solid foundation on which to build a business and leverage one’s time and long-term value.   Systems allow businesses to become scalable in order to increase productivity and profit. There are essentially two systems in most businesses that you can start automatizing early: On-boarding clients and keeping them accountable. Automating the client journey to free up your time and allow you to be in your “zone of genius.” Allow time to adjust and refine the process before setting up a system.  Once you are ready: Begin with the right tools, or you’ll end up having to redesign it all: Email, website, team members, systems, calendar, email crm, shopping cart etc. are all important tools that will need to be functional and serve your business long-term.  See link below for Gaelle’s list of favorite tools! Keep it simple. The more complicated the system, the more difficult it’ll be to adapt as your business evolves.   You can take tons of time reinventing a new method or simply build upon what is available. Progression, Not Perfection   Don’t aim to be super unique about how you build your business; be humble and open to learning. Continuously refine skills and update training Trial and error refine and optimize the system. Allow systems to evolve as work flow is developed. Success leaves clues. Replicate and streamline existing processes of successful businesses. Don’t reinvent; mirror and mimic. Hire a coach or mentor in the same field to find ways to improve business systems. Delegate. Delegate. Delegate.   Start by creating a clear standard operating process, which can be replicated and repeated. You must work through it first so you know how you want it done.   Create videos of the process in order to: Explain the flow and system and provide instructions, so you don’t have to take time to retrain those you hire. Establish expectation and communication channels. Explain any pet peeves and what to avoid. Once you have created a system, delegate. Delegating helps you fine-tune your processes.   In your head, you’ll always tweak your process, but writing it makes it real. Writing it also allows those you delegate to, to improve the process and ask questions. Take emotion out of the process and let go of things others can handle so you can work where you need to. Know there are other competent people who can help build your business.   It may be your ‘baby,’ but your time is valuable. Know Your Numbers   Know where you spend your time.   If your goal is 10 clients per week, that translates to 10 hours per week of coaching, plus 10 hours of review and assessment for total of 20 hours. Know your conversion rate. If your conversion rate is 50%, then calculate how many sales calls per month to meet your goal. Know what your time is worth. If you can make $200 per hour with a client, don’t spend your time doing anything you can hire out for less.  Spending your time scheduling, emailing, making calls, etc., on your own is the same as hiring someone to do those tasks for $200 per hour.   Know which items chew up your time, but are not profitable, and delegate those. Connect With Gaelle:   Website: Gaelle LeCourt Website: Apply for a discovery call today! Join the Facebook Group: Finding yourself abroad; Create your online business Her favorite online tools as a digital nomad: LeCourt's Favorite Tools  

Episode 12 : Purpose Driven Success   Sashka’s unique story began in South Africa, a highly creative and competitive country.  This environment helped Sashka hone in on her innate strengths and desires of becoming a big Hollywood actress.  She’s been in the performing arts industry for over two decades and has loved every minute of it.     Over time, Sashka found an intriguing parallel between successfully promoting her own acting career, and marketing.  Eventually she delved deep into the world of marketing and has created a signature system for branding and marketing .     She teaches that successful branding and marketing begin with finding your life purpose and comes from the inside out, rather than from the outside. Purpose driven success guides you to becoming the best version of yourself and to making the impossible, possible. The Power of Purpose:   Branding and marketing are more powerful when they stem from purpose and from being service-oriented. Purpose maximizes your value to followers and customers. Purpose creates laser-focus in you and strengthens your strategies.   Purpose keeps you on track. Purpose prevents both stumbling blocks and “shiny objects” from swaying you off course. Purpose empowers you to rise above challenges more quickly.   Purpose separates you from the competition and helps you stand out. Purpose creates consistent and authentic messaging across personal and professional platforms.   Defining Your Purpose:   Consider your dreams--they provide an aim which you can work towards becoming.    You have the answers inside;  you just need to ask the right questions. Sample questions to ask yourself: Who are my favorite movie/animation characters?  Why? Which types of characters do I identify with?  Why? What is it that they spark inside of me? What are my core values? What is my inner-burning? What would I love to do to serve others whether I get paid or not? Who is it in the core I want to touch and reach?   More questions and guidance on finding your purpose can be found in Soul'd Out. Write down your thoughts and experiences and recognize the patterns in your life in order to connect with your overall purpose. Be patient. Give yourself time to dig deep and tap into your core values.   Purpose Before Profit   Remember that business and personal life are not two entities; they are one. Align everything in your business and in your life around your purpose. Build your brand, logo, messaging, etc., around your purpose for a more powerful influence on clients and followers. Correlate your purpose with your business, then help customers figure out their purpose and correlate that in an authentic way. People are attracted to your values so show them. Become the tools of the trade rather than just using them. Profit is for everyone-we all want to make money, but focusing on your purpose before the profit will help you find a better way to relate and empower your followers. Look at each person as a purpose instead of as a profit to create more value and build long-term relationships.   Final Thoughts From Sashka:   Get out of your head!   Put everything onto paper.   Thoughts become things. Putting it onto paper helps you manifest what you want and need. Connect With Sashka:   Website: BrandSashka Twitter: Brand By Sashka Facebook: Sashka's Personal Page      Sashka's Business Page Book: Soul'd Out:  A Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose