Episode 78: Start a Small Scale Business to Test Your Idea | Ben Alexander, Founder of Balloon Distractions

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Ben Alexander is the owner of Balloon Distractions, who appeared on an episode of the Shark Tank. He didn’t get a deal with any of the Sharks, but he gained a lot of experience through the process. He talks with us about his experience on the Shark Tank as well as with his business. His … read the full article…

Episode 77: Thriving Out of the Recession | Richard McKinnon, President of System 1 Interiors

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Richard McKinnon is the owner and President of System 1 Incorporated. Because of Richard’s business sense, he realizes the importance on people to people interactions. That and advice from his father have helped him and his business get through the recession and thrive.

System 1 Interiors specializes in interior home remodeling including acoustic ceiling removal, plaster ceiling … read the full article…

Episode 72: The Social Golf Course Part 2

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The Social Golf Course was written by Zeb Welborn and John Hakim.

The Social Golf Course

In Episode 72 of the Defining Success Podcast we go through our book chapter by chapter and discuss the ideas presented in the book. At the end of each chapter we present a question in our book, which we encourage … read the full article…

Episode 66: Incorporate Mobile Marketing Into Your Business | Greg Hickman Host of Mobile Mixed

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The host of Mobile Mixed, Greg Hickman shares his insights into mobile marketing and how business owners must start to incorporate mobile strategies into their internet marketing campaign. Learn from the best when it comes to developing your mobile marketing strategy in Episode 66 of the Defining Success Podcast.

Greg Hickman

Greg Hickman is … read the full article…

Episode 65: Creating an Online Community with Zeb Welborn

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Creating an online community is no easy task.  The key ingredient toward building an online community of people who take action is consistency, persistence and greatness.

Bunkers Paradise

I came into contact with Bunker’s Paradise while working for Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills, CA.  Bunker’s Paradise is an online golfing community where … read the full article…

Episode 64: Pinterest and SEO | Cynthia Sanchez Host of Oh So Pinteresting Podcast

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In this episode of the Defining Success Podcast, Cynthia Sanchez shares her thoughts on Pinterest and how to optimize your website to take advantage of Pinterest and SEO.  She also discusses the importance of including proper descriptions so you can be found in the Pinterest search engines and reach more people.

Cynthia Sanchez

Cynthia Sanchez first … read the full article…

Episode 59: The Best Teachers Listen with Zeb Welborn

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The best teachers listen.  Vic Braden is one of the most famous tennis coaches of all-time.  When I interviewed Vic, he said the most important element to being a great coach was listening.  Learn how to be an amazing teacher.

Zeb Welborn

My first job straight out of college was that of a high … read the full article…

Episode 57: Blog Writing to Learn with Zeb Welborn

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I started my tutoring business back in 2009.  I was very fortunate because my sister was learning how to build websites at the time and she built a website for The Tutoring Solution.  6 months of blog writing opened up my world.  What many people don’t understand about social media … read the full article…

Episode 56: Unique Selling Proposition | Jeff Krantz from KrantzTraining.com

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Jeff Krantz is helping build better businesses and better sales processes for businesses across the country.  In this episode of the Defining Success Podcast, Jeff Krantz shares his expertise on developing a unique selling proposition and how you can use that to differentiate yourself in the marketplace and have your potential customers take notice.

Jeff Krantz lives … read the full article…

Episode 52: Build a Following on Pinterest | Author Jason Miles

Jason Miles has written six books and has been very active using social media on sites like Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.  Jason shares some insights on those social media platforms and how to set up your website to build a following on Pinterest.

Jason Miles Build a Following on Pinterest

Jason Miles

Jason Miles is a best selling author, VP of  advancement at Northwest University, & Co-founder of  Liberty Jane Clothing, in this podcast he will share his  story of how him and his wife found the little niche  everyone is looking for, and how they used social media to market their successful business.

Jason began a small at home business using his wife’s sewing skills creating doll clothes in 2008. In 2010 with the introduction of Pinterest his business “Skyrocketed”, and the word quickly got out. With this new demand in his product Jason Miles found another business opportunity in helping seamstresses that used his wife’s design patterns to sell their products on websites such as Pinterest, and Etsy.

Liberty Jane Clothing Logo

Liberty Jane Clothing Logo

After starting the blog that helped his readers market and sell their products online, Jason was contacted by a author from New York that was interested in working with Jason, an expert on Pinterest, to write 3 books called Pinterest Power, Instagram Power, & Youtube Marketing Power. After his initial book contract with McGraw Hill, he launched a series of three self-publishing books 2 of which are #1 Best Sellers on the Kindle Market.

Pinterest Power & Instagram Power

Pinterest Power & Instagram Power

“Instagram is a phenomenal tool for social media marketing, its like Twitter without words.” – Jason

Can you do direct marketing on Instagram? Will it result in traffic and sales? YES! Instagram has recently been utilized by businesses to promote a strong visual marketing campaign. By effectively combining two or three pictures into one, you can quickly grab the viewers attention and then present them with an offer. According to Jason another tactic is to use Instagram for free giveaways, this will not only grow your number of followers but also allow you to see the effectiveness of how Instagram affects your business.

Jason’s visual launch strategy includes using Instagram and Pinterest to create hype and buzz about new product launches. He releases sneak peaks of the new product he is creating, and once his followers can’t wait anymore he unleashes the products to them, creating lots of sales and revenue. A normal eBay auction has roughly a 100 visitors to the auction site, Jason’s eBay auctions have between 2500-3000 visitors to his auction, which tremendously drives up the sale price.

Some final words of advice from Jason Miles on Pinterest and Instagram

1. Pinterest – Don’t start on Pinterest, audit your own site, then utilize the PinIt tool to make sure the images that are used are effectively little ads, and have Pinterest do the rest.

2. Instagram – Have an editorial mission, take eye-catching images of your products in order to cater to your target audience, if done properly the images will work for themselves.

Jason Miles is currently a Senior Vice President of Advancement at Northwest he will be retiring in the next few months in order to focus all of his attention on his business. After having a 16 year career with a NPO charity and being a part of Northwest University for the past 4 years, Jason has finally achieved his long time dream of becoming a successful Entrepreneur. Social media has played a big part in his success by utilizing it as a strong marketing tool for his business.

As with any business its important to have a strong marketing campaign, social media will allow you to create one, just as it allowed Jason Miles to develop a small doll clothing business into a large brand. So use social media to go out there and find your success!

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • How do you use Pinterest?
  • How do you use Instagram?
  • How do you use YouTube?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • Marketing on Pinterest – “We’ve built a thriving business based on my wife’s design talent. We’re working hard to dominate our categories, build long-term brand power and get insanely good at delivering our unique products.”
  • Liberty Jane Clothing – “Jason Miles is the co-founder and marketer at Liberty Jane Clothing. He has a graduate degree in Business Administration, and undergraduate degrees in both Organizational Management and Biblical Studies. By day he’s the Vice President for Advancement at Northwest University, which leaves the evenings and weekends available for all things Liberty Jane!”

Success Quotes:

  • “Instagram is a phenomenal tool for social media marketing, its like Twitter without words.”

Special Requests:

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Episode 49: Just Show Up! | Photographer Chris Carlson from the Associated Press

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Chris Carlson has done photography in more than 40 different countries covering some of the world’s greatest sporting and political events.  He’s been involved in the business a long time but attributes his consistency and reliability to be one of the keys to his success.  Learn how to just show up in Episode 49 of the … read the full article…

Episode 48: Tap Into an Existing Audience | Shark Tank Podcast Host – TJ Hale

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In Episode 48 of the Defining Success Podcast, TJ Hale, host of the Shark Tank Podcast shares how he got the idea for starting his podcast and why he decided to name his show the Shark Tank Podcast.  Learn how you can tap into an existing audience to build a larger audience faster in this episode.

… read the full article…

Episode 44: Build a Buffer When Starting a New Business | Bridget Brady from TheVoiceGenius.com

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Bridget Brady can help you make money online and can help you improve your voice for presentations. She discusses how to build a buffer when you’re becoming an entrepreneur and finding a realistic way to starting a new business.

Bridget Brady

Bridget Brady runs two successful companies, moreonlineincome.com and thevoicegenius.com. She is a speaker, trainer, author, … read the full article…

Episode 42: Engagement vs. Automation | Rick Mulready from the Inside Social Media Podcast

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In Episode 42 of the Defining Success Podcast, Rick Mulready shares his thoughts and ideas on social media for small and medium-sized businesses.  During our conversation we discuss the pros and cons of engagement and automation.  We also discuss the power of social media and how building genuine, authentic relationships can help grow any business.

… read the full article…

Episode 41: Take Action and Adjust Along the Way | Lain Ehmann from Layoutaday.com

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Lain Ehmann does a lot of work online in the scrapbooking industry where she does online events, webinars, and has been able to monetize that to make a very successful business for herself.  In Episode 41 of the Defining Success Podcast Lain discusses how she’s been able to build a massive online following and been able … read the full article…