Monthly Archives: April 2013

Episode 19: The Importance of Learning from Your Mistakes | Brian Roberts from In-Store Radio

Brian Roberts, aka “The Voice,” is the announcer for the Defining Success Podcast, but he also manages his own business, In-Store Radio which are custom radio stations for retail locations. As an entrepreneur, Brian knows the value of learning from your mistakes and shares with us why making mistakes are some of the most important things you can do.

Brian Roberts

Thank you for visiting the Defining Success Podcast. Please download, subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909 Thanks for listening!Recap:

Recap:

Brian Roberts is the owner of In-Store Radio, which creates a customized radio station for retail and corporate locations. He also happens to be the voice you hear at the beginning of every podcast for the Defining Success Podcast.

Brian ran Goodwill Industries in Central Florida and at 33 Brian decided to come out to L.A. to become a rock star. His dreams as a rock star weren’t really working out and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his dreams and his family. Someone told Brian he had a great voice and suggested he be a voice actor.

The idea to run In-Store Radio came when he visited Walmart and Walgreen’s and listened to their customized radio station. He then began to think of the opportunity that he could create a customized radio station for smaller businesses and thus In-Store Radio began.

His association with Goodwill Industries got his business started and being somewhat of a computer geek, Brian was able to create a usable system for small businesses to have their own customized radio station inside their business locations. His love of computers, Goodwill and entrepreneurship helped him build the foundation for his business.

Brian was then able to set up a live radio stream into their business and as long as the location has access to the Internet they can get access to their customized radio station. Brian is trying to get into 1,000 locations by the end of the year.

A great success story Brian likes to share is that every year they had an event which never seemed to get a lot of visitors. The first year that they had Brian create a short advertisement and for the first year ever they sold out their tickets and the next year they increased ticket sales by 300% selling out again. For Goodwill Industries, Brian was able to encourage shoppers to donate and encouraged those who donated to become shoppers.

When talking about learning from your mistakes . . . Early on in his career, Brian offered a deal to a friend of his that was unsustainable. Once Brian realized he couldn’t deliver on the deal he offered his friend he told him he couldn’t do it and they re-negotiated. Brian felt awful, but he learned a valuable lesson that mistakes are acceptable and as long as you learn from your mistakes and move on that you can never fail. Learning from your mistakes is an important skill to have as an entrepreneur and business owner.

Brian has two children and Brian thinks it’s interesting that when his kids were younger they would constantly make mistakes and they were encouraged to do so, but that as they got older he became less willing to encourage his children when they made a mistake.

Brian’s mom was a teacher and he had a complex early on about asking teachers questions. And for his entire ninth grade year he was lost in Algebra and sometime during his junior year he finally raised his hand and said that he was completely lost and asked for help. The teacher helped him understand the material and afterwards many of his friends came to him saying they were having the same problems. It taught Brian a lesson that it was ok to ask questions because if you had a question, it was likely others had the same question as well.

Being an entrepreneur taught Brian that he can do pretty much anything he can put his mind to. It taught Brian that all along he had a unique gift that he could offer the world. Once he learned that he could make money as an entrepreneur it became very freeing.

Brian believes that he has certain talents and has developed particular skills. His singing ability has helped him become a successful voice actor. He was able to find the emotional connection in his writing just like he did when he was a singer. The computer has been invaluable to Brian’s success in business as well.

Procrastination and over-thinking got Brian in a lot of trouble early on in his business. The way Brian describes the way business should be done is “Ready, Fire, Aim.” Meaning that as an entrepreneur, it’s important to take action first and then analyze your results.

In-Store Radio

Engaging Discussion Questions:

What mistakes have you made?
What is the importance of learning from your mistakes?
Do you think “Ready, Fire, Aim” is a good strategy to use for entrepreneurs?

Links to Great Stuff:

In-Store Radio – Brian’s mission is to spread the “Good News” of not only Goodwill, but of ALL businesses throughout America and abroad through In-Store Radio. That mission will put a custom-designed and professionally-produced radio show into every retail store and waiting room around the globe.
Voice123.com/BrianRoberts – Brian’s voice is varied and strong. He has the ability to do all types of work from the “Classic Announcer” to “Young punk” and anywhere in between!
Goodwill Industries – “Goodwill® works to enhance the dignity and quality of life of individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people in need reach their full potential through learning and the power of work.”
Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce – “The Chino Valley Chamber offers a wide variety of opportunities for members to market their businesses, a strong legislative action committee, and a commitment to the continuing education of a diverse workforce. For additional information, check out our convenient links to city websites, selected businesses and current projects.”

Success Quotes:

“Success is being happy . . . Nothing matters unless you’re happy.”
“I really love helping people accomplish things they didn’t know they could accomplish.”
“I was perfectly content being an employee and letting someone else tell me what I was worth until the fire was lit.”
“I’m completely unemployable . . . because there is no possible way I can survive working for someone else.”
“There are a lot of people who are bound up by their fear of looking silly that they pay this horrible price.”
“The more mistakes you make the more money you make.”
“What business owners do better than the people that don’t own businesses is make mistakes and are ok with making mistakes.”
“The reason entrepreneurs succeed where other people don’t succeed is because they understand that as long as they didn’t quit, they didn’t fail.”

Special Requests:

Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast
Sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter.

Episode 18: Use Twitter to Build Relationships and Grow Your Business | Chris Reimer from Falk Harrison

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Chris Reimer used Twitter to create and build his T-shirt company, Rizzo Tees. He’s since used his knowledge of social media and Internet marketing to his advantage landing him a job as the Vice President at Falk Harrison. Chris is also in the process of writing his own book. Learn how Chris was able to use Twitter to build relationships to help him grow his business.

Chris Reimer

Recap:

Chris Reimer is an award winning new media strategist and is the V.P. of social media at Falk Harrison, a marketing agency in St. Louis, MO that specializes in branding, design, communications and social media. He’s also the founder of Rizzo Tees and was named the most influential Twitter User in St. Louis by STLTweets.com in 2010 and 2011.

Chris went to Marquette University in Milwaukee and graduated with a degree in accounting. He passed the CPA exam and became a CPA. His last accounting job was as the CFO of a non-profit in St. Louis, but in 2007 he became interested in starting his own business. His grandfather owned his own business and Chris developed his entrepreneurial spirit from his grandfather at a young age.

Chris jumped into the t-shirt business with his t-shirt company, Rizzo Tees. Once his site went live the world changed. He just heard about Twitter and Facebook, but he decided to start using Twitter in order to get the word out. He was out of money and he jumped on social media.

Once he started with Twitter he started using it to connect with other people and would at times he would meet people in person. Using Twitter to build relationships was a very powerful feeling. Chris became much more interested in doing Twitter than he was by working as an accountant. He was forced into using social media when he ran out of money to promote his T-shirt business.

Chris got into the t-shirt business when he was checking out funny t-shirts online and ended up ordering some for his birthday. When the packages came he looked at the brand, American Apparel, and the t-shirts felt awesome and he started thinking that he could do the same kind of things.

Gary Vaynerchuk Props to My Tweeps

Some of Chris’s best sellers are his “Props to My Tweeps” shirt, which he got Gary Vaynerchuk to wear on his wine library website. “I Hate Pants” took off because it landed on Buzzfeed and Break.com. Then he got known for his bacon t-shirts which became very successful. And then his other popular one is “Bacon You Like This” and he became known as the bacon guy. People tweet him everything related to bacon. Chris got some guys at Epic Meal Time to wear his shirts. Whenever he gets people with a big following, those have always helped to increase his sales.

Chris really enjoys helping organizations become successful using social media, working on his book, meeting people and doing interviews.

We get to work and a lot of the time we don’t get to work right away. We talk to each other to say how our weekends went and what our days were like and the ability to use Facebook and Twitter to let people get to know you. And when you meet more people, you have a larger opportunity to have an influence in other people’s lives.

Bacon You Like This

According to Chris, he uses the 80 – 20 rule when it comes to his tweets where 80% of his tweets are not aimed at selling his product. He also recommends Bob Burg’s book, The Go-Giver, and loves the message. He’s been living the philosophy of helping people to make him feel good and that what you give comes back to you. He would give presentations on social media, would educate others and occasionally he would tweet something about his t-shirts.

One of the things Chris learned early on is that sometimes what you think will be successful may not be the case. So listening to customer feedback and altering your strategies to improve your business is critical to the success of any business. He’s learned to adjust his strategies to the needs of his customers to help his business grow.

When Chris left his last accounting job, he got another job as a chief marketing officer for a small business and knew John Falk, one of the three owners of Falk Harrison for over 20 years. He then reached out to his friends and John thought they might be able to work together. The friendship that he had with John led to him getting the job at Falk Harrison.

The coolest thing Chris has done is won an award in some local social media contests and he was able to win an award for social media campaigns for some businesses he’s worked for. Falk Harrison ended up helping this company start their social media campaign and got them going using social media services and did an outstanding job. They won best in class for social media and won best in show for a marketing award in St. Louis.

Chris is currently working on a new book called The Human Team. The book is about the lack of civility in the business world in regards to employers and employees and how those relationships are managed. Chris always noticed how people treat each other at work actually effected the productivity of workers. He’s creating a proposal that should offer a change in the workplace for the better.

Chris Reimer

Engaging Discussion Questions:

How do you use Twitter?
Do you think the way employers treat their employees affect the bottom line?

Links to Great Stuff:

Rizzo Tees – Rizzo Tees has one employee, Chris. Chris operates Rizzo Tees out of his basement (henceforth known as “Rizzo World HQ” or “ManLand”). He has a full-time job, so he works on Rizzo Tees at night. He prints, picks, packs, and ships your order himself. He have four industrial shelves filled with 1,400+ shirts. His basement can hold a whole lot more shelving units, and his goal is to grow the business but never grow it out of my basement. He operates the whole business by himself on a MacBook Pro and a couple of printers.
Falk Harrison – “For 40 years, Falk Harrison has helped companies and organizations strengthen brand equity through a proven blend of strategy and design. We bring our unique perspective and a positive approach to consistently deliver results – connecting your brand to your audience and shaping your place in the market.”
StLTweets.com – “STL Tweets is a new way to keep up with what’s happening in St. Louis. We help you tap into local happenings focusing exclusively on St. Louis news, culture, people, business, and more.”
Gary Vaynerchuk – “Meet Gary Vaynerchuk, a 36 year old New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author who is also a self-trained wine and social media expert. From a young age, it was clear that Gary was a businessman. At 8-years-old he was operating seven lemonade stands in his neighborhood and by 10 he had moved onto selling baseball cards at local malls. In high school while working at his family owned liquor store, Gary started reading The Wine Spectator and wine books, and realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ wine store. Recognizing the importance of e-commerce in 1997, Gary launched Winelibrary.com and helped grow his family business significantly from $3 million to $45 million by 2005.”
BuzzFeed , Epic Meal Time and Break.com – Rizzo Tees has been featured on BuzzFeed, Epic Meal Time and Break.com.
Bob Burg – “Bob Burg shares information on topics vital to the success of today’s businessperson. He speaks for corporations and associations internationally, including fortune 500 companies, franchises, and numerous direct sales organizations.” He also wrote the book, The Go-Giver which Chris highly recommends.

Success Quotes

“Success is happiness and having fun.”
“Twitter is your 21st century education.”
“When you tweet a lot, you’re giving yourself the chance to be seen by more people.”
“It was really about being honest and transparent and letting people get to know me.”
“It’s about knowing what I like and how I think.”
“Everything is made easier when you have friends that you know well.”
“Buying myself a birthday present turned the light bulb on over my head.”

Special Requests:

Like the Defining Success Podcast Facebook Page.
Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast
Sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter.

Episode 17: The Flexibility and Price of Being a Business Owner | Jennifer Davis from Scrapbook Expo

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Being a business owner has its perks but it also has its drawbacks. Jennifer talks about the flexibility her job has given her, but also discusses the amount of effort and time she’s spent building her business. In this episode you’ll also learn valuable tips on how to build a following on Facebook.

Scrapbook Expo

Recap:

Jennifer Davis is the owner of Scrapbook Expo, the premier scrapbook show; Weekly Scrapper, a blog for every day scrappers; and, Party Solutions, a party supply rental company. She’s also extremly knowledgeable when it comes to Facebook as she has been able to amass a following of close to 110,000 likes on her Scrapbook Expo Facebook page.

Jennifer’s scrapbooking business started out as a hobby and it gave her an opportunity to get out of her job which she hated. She started out as a vendor at a Scrapbook show she attended and saw what the owner of the conventions were able to do and she thought she could do it so she started her own Scrapbook Expo.

She was one of the first scrapbooking businesses to start a new show. She put on her first show in San Diego and now she puts on shows in 17 locations. In the late 1990’s it was real easy for Jennifer to get support for her Scrapbooking shows because they would choose a location and word of mouth was really the only marketing they needed.

Weekly Scrapper

When the economy started to go down hill it became a lot more difficult to attract customers and she resorted tto learning how to market for her business. She started doing print advertising, email marketing and she finally turned to social media marketing and does almost all of her marketing online.

At a Scrapbook Expo scrapbookers would have access to 100 different booths related to scrapbooking to shop at. They hold workshops all day to learn different techniques to scrapbooking. There is also scrapbooking crops which are held at the show where scrapbookers get together to scrap all weekend long. Ladies get an opportunity to get together, share ideas and have a great experience. Different groups like different activities. A lot of the people who attend the shows are groups of four or five women who make a weekend getaway of the Scrapbook Expo. They rent a hotel room, they shop together, they sign up for workshops and they participate in one of the crops.

There are also make and takes which are very popular which is where they can visit a booth and take part in a project where they create a finished product within 5 to 10 minutes.

Jennifer was very instrumental in my success as she’s been able to help me in a variety of different ways. We first came in contact when she put out an ad for a tutor and I helped to tutor her son, Nick. After which, she became my first client for my Internet marketing business as I helped to build the online Twitter presence for @ScrapbookExpo. My sister and I have been working for Scrapbook Expo ever since from social media marketing to email marketing to search engine optimization (SEO) to website design.

Jennifer also mentored me and made being an entrepreneur accessible to me. I had never met an entrepreneur before Jennifer and her help and guidance helped encourage me to this path for which I will forever be greatful.

Jennifer doesn’t use Facebook personally and it took her a long time to figure out how to use it for her business. She knew that Facebook fit in well for hobbies. And she learned how Facebook was used to market her business and has found it to be very successful. Scrapbook Expo now has almost 110,000 Facebook Likes and is growing daily. Jennifer has really mastered the art of Facebook and has learned that Facebook should rarely be used as a sales tool, but mostly to build an online community.

Because Scrapbook Expo has such a high user engagement Scrapbook Expo uses Facebook to get access to users email addresses. Last month they gave away 100 prize packages, but had to give them their email addresses to get an opportunity to win those prizes. Because they were so respected through their Facebook presence it was easy for their fans to give their email addresses and during their giveaway campaign they gathered over 10,000 email addresses. They then can use those email addresses to sell services or products to customers.

Word of mouth is a huge benefit to using social media to promote Scrapbook Expo. Every customer who attends the show has the potential to reach dozens, and even hundreds of more people. If you can get one person to endorse you on social media you have the ability to reach more people.

Jennifer recommends not using social media to sell. Businesses who are failing in their use of social media is that they are not asking themselves what the customer wants. Businesses need to find out what the customer wants and they also need to be consistent.

Party Solutions

Jennifer also owns a party rental company, Party Solutions, and Scrapbook Expo started buying their own decor for the Scrapbook Expo and because they weren’t using their equipment throughout the whole year they figured they could rent out the equipment they had when it was not in use.

One of Jennifer’s mistakes in business was that she was not a good sales person. She was great at marketing and promotion but lacked in her ability to sale. At first, sales came easy, but after the recession hit she needed to learn how to sale or how to hire others who could sale. Now, Jennifer has hired sales people who are helping to grow her business and have more of an impact.

Currently, Jennifer has more than 100,000 emails of people who are interested in Scrapbooking and she’s currently marketing that list to advertisers.

Jennifer is very thankful for the flexibility that her business allows her. She says she works twice as hard as her wage working friends, but the results more than make up for it. As a single mother, being a business owner gave Jennifer the opportunity to take time off when she needed to in order to spend time with her son.

Discussion Questions:

What are you thankful for?
What is important to you?

Links to Great Stuff:

Scrapbook Expo – “Visit the Scrapbook Expo to find an Expo near you! Scrapbook Expo combines Scrapbooking, Paper Crafting and Stamping and offers YOU the crafter the most amazing crafting experience you’ll ever find.”
Weekly Scrapper – Interested in scrapbooking? Weekly Scrapper has regular updates on their blog providing tips and advice to scrapbookers all over the world.
Party Solutions – “Party Solutions has been part of the event planning industry since 1997. It is our goal to eliminate the stress in planning your next event.” If you’re holding an event contact Party Solutions for all your event and party needs.

Success Quotes:

“Success would be finding something that you enjoy and being able to turn a profit to support yourself.”
“If you make yourself an expert and you market yourself there’s a lot of opportunities and I see a lot of people who lack taking that first step.”
“The beauty of social media is it’s viral and word of mouth . . . is the best form of advertising.”
“The majority of what we post is useful posts that interest them as far as learning how to scrapbook.”
“On Facebook, if you have a hobby related business . . . it’s very easy to find and connect with other people who have that same interest.”
“You don’t go into business you grow into business.”

Special Requests:

If you’re interested in learning more about Scrapbooking or Scrapbook Expo, please visit Scrapbook Expo or Weekly Scrapper.
Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast
Sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter.

Episode #16: Taking Action on Your Great Idea | Steve Pennington from Complete Cambodia

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Steve Pennington came to us around nine months ago and I knew right away he was a man on a mission. His passion shined through in the way he talked about his new project. In just nine short months Steve built a website for his cause and traveled to Cambodia on two seperate occasions to help bring aid and remove landmines in Cambodia that were left over from the Vietnam War.

Steve Pennington from Complete Cambodia

Recap:

Steve Pennington is the founder of Complete Cambodia, an activist organization committed to creating a dialogue and raising funds to support landmine relief efforts in Cambodia putting an end to the continued casualties of the Vietnam War.

Steve has been an L.A. city firefighter for 12 years. He’s active in volunteering with the Best Day Foundation where they take special needs kids out to the beach. He’s also been a cadet post advisor, being a mentor to kids from 13 to 21.

One day Steve was running on a treadmill watching a television show with a bunch of guys who were doing crazy pranks and eating foods and he saw them blow something up and something about that visual stayed with him. Steve went online and researched landmines in Cambodia and what he found amazed him. Rather than just reading about it, he decided to do something and he decided to take action.

The first thing Steve wanted to do was to create awareness for the cause by sharing what he’s learned. Through friends Steve came to us and we developed his Complete Cambodia website. Once the website was built he knew that he had to actually go to Cambodia to have the kind of impact that he wanted to make.

The first trip Steve made to Cambodia was eye-opening. He spoke to the Mine Advisory Group which is actively removing mines in countries all over the globe and they invited Steve to join them. From the second he landed in Cambodia, he felt at peace and he knew it was a place that he needed to be. Everyone seemed friendly, happy and they loved everyone.

Complete Cambodia

Steve plans to head back to Cambodia this May and early June. He’s going to be helping to build schools and helping projects through their organization.

Steve has been in the mine fields in Cambodia when demining teams have found cluster munitions which were detonated in front of him. At some point, Steve hopes to be a paramedic to the demining team when he makes a trip to Cambodia.

Most of the mines that are in Cambodia came from the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian genocide, the Vietnamese would dig up old mines and place them in Cambodia, but most of the mines and explosives come from bombings at the hands of the United States during the Vietnam War.

The first thing Steve did was called Presents for Presence and he took 216 bags of goods to this village which contained little things to brighten up the day of those who received them.

Steve was given the opportunity to speak in front of one of these villages and he told them what he wanted to do in Cambodia. He told them that people from California cared enough to help them remove the mines. The village chief came to him and, in tears, told Steve how meaningful it was that Steve had come to help them with their problems.

Landmine Removal in Cambodia

One of the greatest moments Steve had was meeting Aki Ra, the mine ninja, CNN’s top 100 heroes, who has been demining in Cambodia for decades. Steve says he was demining with a pair of plyers, sandals and a stick when he first started.

Through Steve’s visit the first time he met Aki Ra and Bill Morris in L.A. and he’s become Steve’s hero. He funds an orphanage for landmine victims. They have a landmine museum. He still goes out for 26 day employments, still demining and Steve thinks he’s demined close to 50,000 mines by himself.

Through this process Steve has learned quite a bit about himself, the most important being that he knows that he can do anything. He had no idea what was in store for him when he first started his adventure, but the doors opened up once he made the decision to achieve something special.

We can create the lives for ourselves that we want. Opportunities will present themselves. If you can examine your own life and determine what’s important to you then it will be easier for your passion to present itself to you.

You may have no idea how you’re going to accomplish anything. But if you’re passionate about something you’re going to have an influence on people. People just want to help if you give them the opportunity to do so. Just striking up conversations about your goals and your missions, you never know who will be there to help you.

Each time that Steve has a conversation with someone he learns something that he can apply to Complete Cambodia and his efforts over there.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

What are you doing to change the world?
What is your passion?
Are you willing to help Complete Cambodia?

Links to Great Stuff:

Complete Cambodia – “Complete Cambodia is an activist organization committed to creating a dialogue and raising funds to support landmine relief efforts in Cambodia putting an end to the continued casualties of the Vietnam War. Complete Cambodia Goals: Generate awareness about this forgotten problem in a country that is still impacted by our war; Support humanitarian programs that positively impact Cambodian communities most affected and the families of landmine victims; Raise funds to support and accelerate Cambodia’s demining efforts with new, advanced technologies.
Best Day Foundation – “Best Day is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit (Tax-ID: 26-2223078) based in Santa Cruz, CA. The organization helps kids with special needs build confidence and self-esteem through safe, fun-filled adventure activities including surfing, bodyboarding, kayaking, snow-tubing and more. Best Day is run by an experienced team and supported by generous sponsors who help keep the programs free for all. Our Best Day chapters make a big impact in their communities.”
Mine Advisory Group – “Humanitarian Mine Action is not just about landmines. In many current and former conflict zones unexploded bombs, rockets, missiles, mortars and grenades still pose a risk of detonation. These dangerious weapons still threaten community safety decades after they were dropped. Most importantly, MAG works closely with affected men, women, and children – finding out what their priorities are and developing a response that best helps them to rebuild their lives after conflict.”
Welborn Media – We helped design the website for Complete Cambodia. We encourage you to check it out and let us now what you think.

Success Quotes:

“You’re a successful person when you’re doing what you love.”
“Be open to anything.”
“If you have an idea, move on it.”
“Can you imagine a world where people actually acted on pure ideas?”
“If people were taking action on pure ideas, this would be a completely different world.”
“How many amazing things could have happened in this world already if we would have just taken a chance.”
“I can do anything.”
“There are still 3 to 5 million bombs left in the ground in Cambodia.”
“It’s a significant experience to see them detonate a cluster bomb.”
“Even under the circumstances for a group of people that could understandably complain about their circumstances . . . they don’t.”
“Complete Cambodia is founded on the support of others.”
“I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew I was going to do something.”

Special Requests:

If you’re passionate and you want help with your great idea, email me directly at Zeb@WelbornMedia.com
Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast
Sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter.

Episode #15: Exposing People to Their Passions | Principal Collin Miller from Sparks Middle School

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Teaser: Collin Miller is extremely hard working and extremely passionate about education and works hard to improve the lives of his students. His passion shines through in Episode 15 of the Defining Success Podcast as he shares what he’s doing to improve the lives of the students that step foot in his school.

Exposing People to Their Passions Collin Miller Sparks Middle School

Principal Collin Miller from Sparks Middle
School

Recap: At 33 years old, Collin Miller is one of the youngest administrators in Southern California and was recently nominated as a new administrator of the year by the HLPAA. He started as a teacher at Sparks Middle School and he’s now the principal at the school he originally started working at.

Collin graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a degree in TV, Radio and Film and got a job with a multimedia company and he wasn’t sure if that wasn’t his passion. The only way he knew he would go anywhere in the industry, he knew he would have to move to Los Angeles.

He had a friend who was a second grade teacher who gave him the opportunity to teach a five-step lesson plan on soccer and he knew he found his passion. He then took all the necessary steps to become a classroom teacher and quickly moved into the classroom and up the ladder to administration.

When you’re young you have people you look up to and Collin had some great mentors who helped guide him to become an administrator. Collin loved exposing people to their passions and building relationships with them. He teaches in a low income area. As a teacher he saw how resilient many of his students were. As an administrator the same goes for building relationships with students and growing them. Collin now feels like he has the same opportunity to work with teachers and help them become better in the classroom.

One of Collin’s goals for Sparks Middle School is to help get more parents and partners involved with the school. Collin works really hard to get his students college ready. One thing Collin stresses to his students is that “Success is the only option.”

Principal Collin Miller from Sparks Middle School

I was actually fortunate enought to attend a career day put on by Collin at Sparks Middle School where I taught students how they can use the Internet to achieve their goals. Collin worked really hard to put on the event in order to show students how many job possibilites there were out there. Too often students don’t understand what options they have when it came to a career choice and his career day was designed to open the eyes of many students at his school.

One of Collin’s favorite things is to get a yearbook and have student’s sign his yearbook and his personal reflection is reading what student’s say and is his best evaluation of himself for that year.

One of the challenges Collin faces is that you’re always looking for what’s in the best interest of the students. And that’s challenging because we have feelings and mistakes are made and he always tries to learn from his mistakes and not make the same mistake twice.

Collin considers himself to be a great motivator and is very passionate at what he does which sets him apart from some other educators. Learn how Collin works tirelessly exposing people to their passions.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

How do we work on exposing people to their passions?
What can we do to help our schools and educators?

Links to Great Stuff:

Sparks Middle School – Sparks Middle School is located in Hacienda – La Puente in Southern California. Collin Miller is the school principal.
The Tutoring Solution – The Tutoring Solution tutors students in Corona, Chino, Ontario and across Southern California. Visit our website to learn more about our Share Your Passion scholarship gven to students who complete an essay about their passions and how they are using their passion to help others.
Welborn Media –

Success Quotes:

“Success is being involved with something . . . and seeing a greater result.”
“Living every day like you couldn’t have done anything else.”
“We want students to own their future.”

Special Requests:

Share The Tutoring Solution’s Share Your Passion Scholarship with any passionate individual in grades K-12 who is willing to share what they are passionate about with others.
Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast.
Sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter.

Episode #14: Build Your Business with Friendliness and Hospitality | David Kramer from Los Serranos Country Club

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Teaser: David Kramer discusses the importance of friendliness and hospitality to help build your business. His passion and devotion to his craft shine through as he’s able to demonstrate how being kind and hospital has helped his business grow.

David Kramer from Los Serranos Country Club

Recap:

The son of tennis legend, Jack Kramer, David is the Senior Vice President of Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills, CA which recently won the 2012 Golf Course of the Year by the California Golf Course Owner’s Association. He’s a lover of golf, tennis, sports, and recreation, but most importantly, he’s a lover of people.

David got his first set of golf clubs when he was 10 or 11 and he was fortunate enough to play golf 3 or 4 times a week when he accompanied his father on a trip to play in the Davis Cup in Australia. His father then got involved with Los Serranos Country Club of which David became a part in.

As a young man, David was interested in all kinds of sports and he was able to play any sport he wanted to. David worked at Los Serranos Country Club when he was 13 and 14 years old. He became General Manager in 1997 and was Assistant General Manager in 1992. He worked as a tennis professional and helped manage some tennis colleges and schools and has been very fortunate to be involved in recreation his entire life.

David talked about his dad, Jack who was a great father and a great parent. Jack lived a charmed life and he did what he loved to do and he became the top tennis player from 1947 to 1954 and after that he gave back to the game in a variety of different capacities. But his greatest accomplishment was that he wanted to make tennis more available to the public.

The best place to transfer values is through the family where there is love for that tradition or profession.

David still communicates with friends that he met in the second grade and his group of friends still have a large impact in his life today. In 1965, there were 51 people who graduated in his class and he still communicates on a regular basis with close to 25 of them. He’s been able to share a lot of experiences, stories and ideals with his childhood friends.

The advice David would give to someone who wanted to start a goal would be to work hard to become a better person and to grow as a person. And if you work hard at becoming a better person you will become better in business.

David and Andrew Kramer at St. Andrews Golf Course.

David loved working at Los Serranos Country Club because, as he says, “People come happy,” and he was just happy sharing and participating with the people who visited his golf course. He feels very fortunate doing something that he really enjoys and he truly feels that he’s living his passion.

You really have to find out what your duty is and what your skills are that you can use to deliver the goods. If you’re struggling at work then you’re probably not doing what you’re supposed to do.

Golfers have been coming to Los Serranos since 1925 and in 2012, Los Serranos Country Club was recognized as the Golf Course of the Year by the California Golf Course Owner’s Association for their contribution to the game. They are very involved in the community, youth, service organizations and their ability to manage a golf course to provide championship conditions at reasonable prices and provide valuable services to the members.

David feels success is a culmination of factors that basically comes in to finding the “sweet spot.” Meaning that when you’re doing great things and helping others a person can be successful. He advises others to use friendliness and hospitality in order to build your business.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

How can being friendly and hospitable help your business?
Do you think family has a role in the professions we choose?

Links to Great Stuff:

Los Serranos Country Club – “Set amidst 300 lush acres on the historic Don Lugo Spanish Land Grant and convenient to Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, Los Serranos Country Club offers an unparalleled Country Club experience at affordable prices. The two 18 hole golf courses are certain to appeal to players of all levels and ages. The world class facilities include championship golf, full practice areas, golf school and lessons, new Kids Course, and an award winning Clubhouse that features our elegant Montebello Ballroom, restaurant & lounge in the Racquet Room, locker room ammenities and Golf Shop. Los Serranos Golf & Country Club is the perfect complete Country Club experience for the entire family.”
19th Hole Media – With 19th Hole Media, we’re trying to grow the game of golf. Many golf courses are behind the times when it comes to marketing the game and we’re trying to build it at a grass roots level by helping golf courses develop a strong online presence for their business in order to attract more customers and encourage more golfers to visit their golf course and to do so more often.
Welborn Social Media

Success Quotes:

“Hospitality and friendliness comes from within.”
“The world is my family.”
“It’s good to know who you are. It’s good to know where you’ve come from. And it’s good to know where you’d like to go.”
“If you learn to love something as much as your mother and father loved something, that’s a great place to start.”

Special Requests:

Connect with us at 19th Hole Media if you’re in the golf industry or if you know someone who is, please send them our way. We can help golf courses grow by reaching out to more customers and encouraging them to play more often at any golf course.
Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast
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Episode #13: Adjust Your Sails to Increase Your Sales | Nick Ruiz from RecycledGoGetter.com

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Nick Ruiz made a name for himself in the real estate business and ran into some difficult times when the economy crashed around 2008. He’s now starting a new project called www.RecycledGoGetter.com where he helps you increase your sales. In this interview of the Defining Success Podcast Nick Ruiz shares his expertise on business and real estate.

Nick Ruiz

Recap:

Nick Ruiz is the owner of RecycledGoGetter.com. He’s obsessive. He’s passionate and he’s building a go-getter community online. Learn the subtle and “between the lines” language of psychology and human behavior to increase your sales, beat your competitors and become a better entrepreneur.

Nick Ruiz has always been passionate about selling. And at an early age he got involved with AmWay and loved the skills he developed while working for the multi-level marketing business. Nick is a firm believer in getting out of his comfort zone and working with AmWay helped him get out of his comfort zone and work on selling.

At 19 years old, Nick Ruiz saw an informercial featuring Carleton Sheets, No Money Down Real Estate, and he developed an interest in real estate. He bought the program for $299 and started researching real estate based off of the advice given in the program. He purchased his first property and he was making $500 a month profit by bringing in renters.

At 21 years old, Nick sold his first house and made a $22,000 and sold his second property and made $35,000 in one check. In his twenties, he bought 65 buildings and bought and sold over 100 properties.

In 2008, Nick’s world came crashing down as he had borrowed millions of dollars to fund his real estate investments and was put out of business and had to go through bankruptcy. Nick started buying, rehabbing and selling and he’s been mildly successful doing it up to this point.

Nick thinks the real estate market has bottomed out. He thinks that now we’re safe in real estate and that things are looking up. It is now no longer a buyers market and it’s shifted to have an even balance between buyers and sellers. It’s hard to find amazingly cheap deals because things are shifting.

Every community has a real estate investors group and Nick recommends you find a group like that and immerse yourself in that group. Real estate is a people business. He also recommends finding realtors who are also in real estate investing.

RecycledGoGetter.com

Nick recently started RecycledGoGetter.com and began learning online marketing and social media and he wanted to get into business. Nick’s goal was to develop a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and wants to help his entrepreneurs in any way he can. Nick uses video to get his content and message across to other entrepreneurs.

One of Nick’s favorite interviews was and interview with Robert Greene. Robert has written several books on mastery and how to master your craft. Robert and Nick had a lot in common and he really loved everything Robert had to say.

Nick believes everyone has an expertise that they should share with others. Most people think that they may not be experts but that they actually have something of value to offer.

Nick believes success is that if you can wake up and truly love what you’re doing…are passionate about it and make a difference in other people’s lives and get paid for it. Then you are successful. Check out Nick Ruiz’s page to learn how you can increase your sales.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

Have you ever had a period of struggle in your life?
What’s the BEST way to increase your sales?

Links to Great Stuff:

RecycledGoGetter.com – “Learn the subtle and ‘between the lines’ language of psychology and human behavior to sell more of your stuff, beat your competitiors, and became a better entrepreneur.”

Carleton Sheets – “Carleton Sheets is recognized as the best-selling author of the No Down Payment^® home study course as well as other successful real estate
books, video and audio programs. He has sold more than 3,000,000 copies of his
programs in the United States alone.”

Robert Green – “Three-time NYT best-selling author Robert Greene uses his site to reveal and discuss in-depth the dark side of our culture and relationships.”

Welborn Media –

Success Quotes:

“People don’t realize that even if you think you don’t have an expertise, you do.”
“The trick to getting a big following is to get in front of other people’s audiences.”
“There is a lot of content out there and you ain’t special so you have to find something unique and get that out there.”
“When times are good you party. When times are bad you ponder.” Tony Robbins via Nick Ruiz
“Immerse yourself around other successful investors.”
“I believe in getting scarred.”
“When the winds change you have to adjust your sails.”

Special Requests:

Please give feedback on the Defining Success Podcast by commenting on our blog, Facebook or Twitter pages. Let me know what you like and don’t like about the show.
Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast
Sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter.

Episode 12: Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made? | Steven Sashen from Xero Shoes

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Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made? Steven Sashen answers this question and many more in Episode 12 of the Defining Success Podcast. If you’re passionate about running, definitely check out this interview.

Steven Sashen from Xero Shoes

Recap:

Xero Shoes are a modern spin on the traditional barefoot running sandal – durable, stylish and affordable. Xero Shoes won the Groovie Award for Best Huaraches running Sandal and they appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank earlier this year.

Steven is not the owner of Xero Shoes, but currently works for his wife who is the owner of Xero Shoes. Steven loves working in a woman-owned company, particularly when that woman is his wife.

Steven was actually retired as a result of some wise investment decisions he made before the recession hit and could have been happy living in retirement, but the entrepreneurial bug hit and they were back it it with the creation of Xero Shoes.

Steven has been an expert at search engine optimization and used those skills to sell things online for quite a long time.

He began having an interest in running again after a thirty year break, but experienced some injuries while running. A friend then turned him on to barefoot running and the book, Born to Run, which he soon latched onto and shortly thereafter he created his new product.

He assumed that the running sandal would be a great product to test for his search engine optimization business and he figured that the companies who were on top of the search results were mostly there by accident and he thought he’d be able to dominate the market within three months . . . which he did.

Within in three months they realized that Xero Shoes became their full time job and within three months after that they had the former lead designers of Nike and Reebok trying to help them build their business.

The skills they had acquired in life fit perfectly for what they were doing and it all just worked out well.

Steven likes to learn how things work . . . by getting through what people are saying and what is actually true.

One thing that he’s amazed by is that these billion dollar shoe companies have been able to tell people that their shoes are better for people, when there are no studies done to support those findings yet the press and the media take these large companies word and disseminate information about the benefits of shoes when there is no factual evidence that supports that those shoes are better for people.

Steven has had many people who have told him how much using the Xero Shoes have helped to improve their health.

After Shark Tank Xero Shoes did three months worth of sales in one week and the overall sales have increased and some people have come on board to help Xero Shoes reach more customers. They had a three or four year development plan and they rolled that out in six months as a result of the Shark Tank.

Steven had some interesting things to say about his experience on Shark Tank, about how he felt, the experience and what came out of the experience. The most interesting thing was that they had planned extensively about what they were going to say and how they were going to react, but when the time actually came all that planning went out the window.

Kevin O’Leary offered 400,000 for 50% of the company which was unacceptable to them and they were offering 8% of the company and their valuation was devaluing their company by close to a million dollars.

Steven says that he has about 2,000 positive reviews of his Xero Shoes and that he literally gets a new one almost every day. One example that Steven likes to share comes from an 85 year old man who tried walking around barefoot and that within a week he stopped using his walker.

Xero Shoes

There is a lot of uncertainties in business and a lot of problems come up for businesses. Sometimes it’s the fault of the business owner for getting overextended, yet other times it can be just the circumstances of the situation. For Steven his biggest problem is hiring people on and managing growth has been a problem for him, but he’s managing it. Legal fees have also been a huge expense for Xero Shoes and sometimes you can never plan for the expenses that will lay out in front of you.

Steven seems to think entrepreneurs are born. Everybody has people who will tell them what they want to hear. It’s up to you to determine whether or not you have a viable business.

Steven goes through the same emotions as everyone else. He realizes that his successful friends aren’t necessarily happy, but they do realize that they don’t have to worry about how much things cost. Humans like to imagine the future and are really bad at predicting and how bad we are at predicting it. Don’t imagine living in an imagined future. Live in the present.

He’s living in the present and does have goals that he’s trying to accomplish. One of the things he’s trying to do is change the industry and although he has goals he’s not attached to getting those goals. If it happens he’s happy, if not he’s happy as well.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

Are entrepreneurs born or made?
What do you think about barefoot running?

Links to Great Stuff:

Xero Shoes – “Xero Shoes^® are a modern spin on the traditional barefoot running sandal — durable, stylish and affordable — and so light and low-profile it’s like you’re not wearing anything. Yet, you get a strong layer of protection, your feet and legs work the way nature intended, your posture can naturally realign, and you awaken your senses and stimulate your brain as you Feel The World™.”
Born to Run – “Isolated by Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher
McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his
readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks
across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing
their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper
Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s
incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you
realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.”
Welborn Media –

Success Quotes:

“Figure out where the money is flowing and get in front of it.”
“Try to figure out the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to see if you have your head up your butt.”
“If you’re going to go into a business, go into one where it changes lives.”
“There is not thought that you need in order to start a business other than . . . Why not?”
“That’s when all the neurons fired in the right order and it happened.”

Special Requests:

Please give feedback on the Defining Success Podcast by commenting on our blog, Facebook or Twitter pages. Let me know what you like and don’t like about the show.
Download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @DSuccessPodcast
Sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter.

Episode 11: From Social Media Opponent to Social Media Expert | Principal of New Milford High School Eric Sheninger

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Eric Sheninger is the Principal at New Milford High School and used to be a social media opponent. After reading an article in his local newspaper, Eric changed his tune and is now one of the biggest advocates of social media and technology in the classroom.

Eric Sheninger

Recap:

“Eric is the Principal at New Milford High School located in Bergen County, NJ. He is passionate about establishing and fostering learning environments that are student-centered, collaborative, flexible, and prepare all learners to succeed in the 21st Century.

As an educational administrator he firmly believes that effective communication, listening, support, shared decision making, and the integration of technology are essential elements necessary for the transformation of school cultures. Eric has emerged as an innovative leader in the use of social media and web 2.0 technology as tools to engage students, improve communications with stakeholders, and help educators grow professionally. Eric is a NASSP Digital Principal Award winner (2012), PDK Emerging Leader Award recipient (2012), winner of Learning Forward’s Excellence in Professional Practice Award (2012), Google Certified Teacher, Adobe Education Leader, ASCD 2011 Conference Scholar, co-author of “Communicating and Connecting With Social Media: Essentials for Principals” and “What Principals Need to Know About Teaching and Learning Science”, writer on education for the Huffington Post, co-creator of the Edscape Conference, sits on the FEA Board of Directors, and was named to the NSBA “20 to Watch” list in 2010 for technology leadership. He now presents and speaks nationally to assist other school leaders embrace and effectively utilize technology. His blog, A Principal’s Reflections, was selected as Best School Administrator Blog in 2011 by Edublogs.”

Eric fell into education by accident. He was planning on becoming a marine biologist and was working on his masters while he began teaching at the graduate level and he realized that teaching was his passion. He then went back to school to get his credential and became a full-fledged high school teacher.

After five years, Eric made the shift to become an administrator because he thought he could have a larger impact. As a teacher, he saw many things that he would like to change and that’s one reason why he decided he wanted to become an administrator.

As a teacher and educator Eric really wanted to promote student-centered learning where students are actually in charge of the learning process and teachers try to facilitate the learning process. As an administrator, Eric tries to develop a system of learning that relates directly to the students and aims to make them successful.

Eric explains that teachers would use direct instruction to where teachers would lecture to students and that’s how education was handled in the past which was great for an industrial society, but as we shift to this new economy in the 21st century, it becomes essential to alter the way we teach. As technology develops and becomes a part in the majority of lives, why not adapt the teaching styles to make it easier for everyone. As marking tests and assignments is a large responsibility for teachers, having them look into a free online grader, to help them through the assessment process. From scoring papers, scanning forms and giving individual feedback, a large portion of the teacher’s work is pushed along by the help of technology.

Another aspect Eric advocates is having students involved in activities that involve critical thinking skills, team work, problem-solving where students create their own solutions and the teacher assists them along the way to help promote the learning process.

Eric was a social media opponent.

Prior to becoming involved in social media, Eric read an article in the The Staten Island Advance, his local newspaper that changed his career path forever. Prior to reading the article Eric thought Twitter was a place where celebrities competed to see who could get the most followers and the people who were on there were posting meaningless things like what they were eating or what they were up to.

Eric realized that he could get real-time information to stakeholders and update them on what was going on at his school. He then began to see what other people were doing in the educational community and began to alter his ideology in regards to the type of education he wanted to take place at his school. Once he opened his eyes to social media, Eric then began to find more and more uses for Twitter.

Eric Sheninger

Eric has created what he calls as the six pillars of leadership 2.0.

Communications
Public Relations
Establishing a Positive Brand Image
Professional Growth Development
Student Engagement and Learning
Discovering Opportunities for His School

The ideas, the strategies, the feedback, the discussions and conversations that we’ve had with a global education community has forced us to look into a mirror to ask us if we’re doing the best that we can. It’s led to positive changes and positive transformations in the education community.

Prior to using social media, Eric had not achieved any recognition for his work as a principal, but after infusing himself in social media, Eric has achieved accolades, written books and all because he was able to use the tools of Twitter to create a better school for his students. Through social media Eric was able to share the story of his school and staff which helped gain the school recognition.

Eric has learned some personal best practice tips, has developed a strong global presence for his school, and has improved his school.

Eric’s been able to create a strong digital footprint for New Milford High School in the global education community. Anything he puts online is creating a brand for himself as a professional and for his school.

Sometimes Eric gets really excited about some things and has rushed to get the word out about it and he’s learned to make sure to tell people in person first before he posts things to the Internet that should be discussed with shareholders first.

Everyone is connected to one another via social media tools and the disconnect you face will make your business and your role more and more irrelevant if you’re not engaging with your stakeholders in the spaces that they’re in. Everyone is in social media spaces for businesses or professional purposes in some form or another. It’s about forming positive relationships where at the heart of those relationships are conversations on how we can do what we do better.

Eric thinks there needs to be more autonomy in the educational system today. School districts and states should be able to create learning environments that focus on learning skill sets like communication, collaboration, creativity, global awareness, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, and technological proficiency. And to create those structures to use those essential skills, you can’t do it when you’re in a system that you don’t believe in. There’s a big discrepancy in resources devoted to schools. The more oversight there is at the federal and state level, it moves us further away from the country we used to be.

Eric would recommend you not be a social media opponent.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

What changes would you like to see in our educational system?
What do you think about social media? How valuable is it?

Links to Great Stuff:

Eric Sheninger – “Eric is the Principal at New Milford High School located in Bergen County, NJ. He is passionate about establishing and fostering learning environments that are student-centered, collaborative, flexible, and prepare all learners to succeed in the 21st Century.”
New Milford High School – “Welcome to New Milford High School. Our mission here at NMHS is to provide your child with the best education possible in a way that is engaging, authentic, student-centered, innovative, integrates technology, and promotes an appreciation for life-long learning. We are an academic institution committed to excellence. This commitment requires not only respect for the differences in students and staff from widely diverse cultural, economic, social, racial, intellectual, linguistic, and educational, backgrounds but also a sustained effort to use that diversity to achieve this commitment.”
Staten Island Advance – SILive.com is Staten Island’s largest local website for news, sports, entertainment, jobs, autos, real estate and information. In addition to serving as the online home of the Staten Island Advance, SILive.com offers forums, blogs, and business listings on where to go and what to do on and around the Island.
Welborn Social Media –
The Tutoring Solution – Q & A with Eric Sheninger – Here is an interview I conducted with Eric Sheninger which I posted on my tutoring blog back in February 2011. It’s amazing how much can be accomplished in such a short amount of time.

Success Quotes:

“Success is defined as doing one thing extremely well, better than anyone else before moving on and trying to tackle another initiative.”
“The more people that get into social media spaces and have conversations about how we can improve our professions, the sky is the limit.”
“If you can engage one more person through social media that’s a win for me.”
“I want to be the best Principal I can for New Milford High School.”
“Extend my ideas out there to the world, to pick apart, to reflect upon, to borrow, to adapt and . . . we are now able to share all the great things that we’re doing here at New Milford High School.
“I firmly believe that (social media) has made me more effective at what I do.”
“Social media has really been a catalyst for change here at New Milford High School.”
“I had not had any significant achievements or accolades until I developed a social media presence.”
“Look at the world around you. Social media is the world.”
“I was adamantly opposed to social media, not just for professional purposes, but personal as well.”

Episode 10: The Business Breakthrough | Entrepreneur On Fire Host John Lee Dumas

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Fire Nation ignites seven days a week in John Lee Dumas’ Entrepreneur on Fire podcast. He has interviewed some of the most successful entrepreneurs and shares the takeaways from his podcast with us.

If people are telling you something is impossible, or you’ll never be able to do it . . . take that as a sign that that is something you should do.

John Lee Dumas

Recap:

John Lee Dumas is the founder and host of Entrepreneur on Fire, a business podcast that interviews today’s most inspiring and successful entrepreneurs 7 days a week. Entrepreneur on Fire is a top ranked business podcast generating over 150,000 unique downloads a month in over 140 countries. His lineup includes Barbara Corcoran, Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, Guy Kawasaki and hundreds more. All the magic happens at EOFire.com so be sure to check them out.

John went to college in Providence, RI on a ROTC scholarship. He spent 8 years in the U.S. Army as an officer with a 13 month tour of duty in Iraq. He tried corporate finance, residential real estate, commercial real estate, tech start ups. In June 2012 he started his passion of sharing the journey of other entrepreneur’s with the world where he interviews some of the most successful and inspiring entrepreneurs.

John Lee Dumas

American spend so much time commuting to and from work which is where John Lee Dumas had his AHA Moment for Entrepreneur on Fire. In 2009, he discovered podcasts and became hooked because he could find the content he was looking for and the content had zero commercials. He started listening to Wall Street Journal and found another unique podcasts to listen to. At some point, he ran out of content and realized that there wasn’t a podcaster who was posting a show once every day and he’s been posting it every single day since September 20, 2012.

Entrepreneur on Fire follows a format for his podcasts and John wanted to hear about the journey of successful entrepreneurs. Every episode starts with a success quote and how they apply that quote to their life. Then he discusses obstacles and failures they’ve had in the past and how they’ve overcome those obstacles. Then covering the AHA moment that turned them into successful entrepreneurs. Then they talk about their current business and what’s exciting them now and their plans for the future and then they have a lightning round which usually consists of five questions that pull out great information and resources for the listeners. The podcasts typically last 25 to 35 minutes.

John Lee Dumas has interviewed over 200 entrepreneurs and one of John Lee Dumas’s favorite interviews was with Barbara Corcoran who is on ABC’s Shark Tank. Hearing her story about how she was living in New York as a waitress and never thinking she was going to be more than that and how she had her AHA moment which led her to becoming one of the most successful entrepreneur’s in America.

The process began for Entrepreneur on Fire in June 2012. He quit his job and went all in deciding to start his podcast. He went down to a conference called BlogWorld in New York City where he met Pat Flynn, Derek Halpern, and Adam Baker who were willing to be some of the first guests for his show. He planned appropriately and had 40 guests lined up and ready to go by the time he launched his podcast in September, 2012.

Consistency has been one of John’s greatest attributes which have helped him build his following. “Fire Nation” has been a group of loyal listeners who have come to expect and appreciate the daily posting of podcasts by John Lee Dumas. As a result of his planning and consistency, he’s getting 175,000 downloads in over 140 countries every single month. Just six months after the idea of Entrepreneur on Fire John was asked to speak at BlogWorld as an expert in podcasting.

John says the most important thing you can do is to have a high level of quality. John has always tried to produce the highest quality of show that he can possibly do. And every episode he creates he produces higher and higher levels of podcasts. So when people come across his podcast they know that the podcast is high quality and that he is someone who is working hard to bring an exceptional experience to them.

When he’s talking about podcasting one example of how he strives to be the best is having high quality audio and the actual content has to be high quality. The guests and the topics have to be valuable to the people who will be listening to the podcasts.

One thing John points out in his interview is the existence of his “Avatar” or the target market for his podcast for John, his “Avatar” is 25 to 45 year old “Wannabepreneur” and they haven’t done it yet, or maybe they just started it. His goal is to help entrepreneurs by motivating them and giving them motivational boosts along the way. If you have a clearly identifiable target market it’s much easier to reach them. Asking for feedback from that group is also a great way to enhance your podcast to make it better.

Entrepreneur’s are very transparent and love sharing their stories about how they’ve overcome mistakes. At the beginning John was very nervous to reach out to entrepreneurs and he learned that it was okay to reach out to people. His big takeaway was that people in the online world are very friendly, welcoming and willing to help.

If you’re interested in podcasting, John Lee Dumas highly recommends buying Podcast Launch by John Lee Dumas. It goes through every step of the procees, it comes with 15 video tutorials, it’s $5 and it’s something John wish he had when he started podcasting. He wanted to come out with a book that was completely transparent about his process and he wants to further the brand of Entrepreneur on Fire by giving away great content and helping others. Right now, it’s the #1 podcast book on Amazon.

One of John’s greatest success stories came from a captain in the Marines who didn’t know he had a story to tell, but because of the podcast he had his own AHA moment who came out with his own podcast called A Dose of Leadership where he interviewed some incredible leaders all over the world. His name is Richard Rierson and he’s interviewed some successful leaders and is having his own impact and he started all because of Entrepreneur on Fire.

From Day 1, John always wanted to turn Entrepreneur on Fire into a business. And set out to become just a podcaster and now that he’s getting close to 175,000 downloads a month he’s getting sponsors who are providing a significant revenue for Entrepreneur on Fire. Once you have a big enough audience people start to take notice. Audible.com, Legal Zoom and SquareSpace.com are currently sponsoring Entrepreneur on Fire. But, John is also able to add books, products and services which have helped create a great income stream.

John’s determination has been his greatest asset. Many people told John that doing one podcast a day was not doable and he had tons of people who were telling him that he couldn’t and shouldn’t do it. John was determined, passionate and was able to take over his niche of providing daily content for “Fire Nation.”

Entrepreneur on Fire

Engaging Discussion Questions:

Have you had an AHA moment? What was it?
Has anyone told you something you wanted to do was impossible? How did you respond?

Links to Great Stuff:

Entrepreneur on Fire – “John Lee Dumas is the Founder and Host of EntrepreneurOnFire, a daily podcast that interviews todays most inspiring and successful Entrepreneurs. EntrepreneurOnFire tells the journey of the spotlighted guest, sharing their early failures, AHA moments, and insight into what is working for them now and why. Every show ends with a 5-question “Lightning Round” that pulls priceless nuggets of information from these incredibly successful Entrepreneurs. Subscribe to iTunes via http://bit.ly/RX3yMa and Prepare to Ignite!”
Podcast Launch – “Have you ever considered creating your very own podcast? Podcast Launch will take you through the entire process, from step one to step done. This book comes with 15 video tutorials where the author, John Lee Dumas, will walk you through the more technical aspects of podcasting. These tutorials will make your podcast experience enjoyable and stress free.”
Barbara Corcoran – “Barbara Corcoran’s credentials include straight D’s in high school and college and twenty jobs by the time she turned twenty-three. It was her next job that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country when she took a $1000 loan to start The Corcoran Group. She parlayed that loan into a five-billion-dollar real estate business which she sold in 2001 for $66 million.”
Seth Godin – “Seth Godin has written fourteen books that have been translated into more than thirty languages. Every one has been a bestseller. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything.”
Tim Ferriss – “Tim has been featured by more than 100 media outlets–including The New York Times, The Economist, TIME, Forbes, Fortune, CNN, and CBS–and has been a popular guest lecturer at Princeton University since 2003, where he presents entrepreneurship as a tool for world change and ideal lifestyle design.”
Gary Vaynerchuk – “Meet Gary Vaynerchuk, a 36 year old New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author who is also a self-trained wine and social media expert. From a young age, it was clear that Gary was a businessman. At 8-years-old he was operating seven lemonade stands in his neighborhood and by 10 he had moved onto selling baseball cards at local malls. In high school while working at his family owned liquor store, Gary started reading The Wine Spectator and wine books, and realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ wine store. Recognizing the importance of e-commerce in 1997, Gary launched Winelibrary.com and helped grow his family business significantly from $3 million to $45 million by 2005.”
Guy Kawasaki – “Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki is the author of ten books including Enchantment, Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.”
Audible.com – “We’re here to establish literate listening as a core tool for anyone seeking to be more productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully entertained.”
Legal Zoom – “Every year, Americans spend millions of dollars on routine legal needs, from incorporations and trademarks to last wills. Others put off creating essential legal documents because of the inconvenience and high fees. As attorneys, we knew there had to be an easier, more affordable way to take care of common legal matters.”
SquareSpace.com – “Whether you need simple pages, sophisticated galleries, a professional blog, or want to sell online, it all comes standard with your Squarespace website.”
A Dose of Leadership – “Hosted by Richard Rierson, the Dose of Leadership Podcast is the ultimate resource of inspiring & educational interviews with relevant and motivating leaders; real-life leadership & influence experts who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of the truth, common sense, & courageous leadership.”
BlogWorld – “The BlogWorld/New Media Expo Blog is a prolific new media industry news and information site that offers a diverse array of content – covering social media for business, blog, podcast and video content creation, distribution, and monetization, the latest social networking tool, tech and trends –– and also covering topics in all vertical niche areas of blogging (tech, business, parenting, sports, real estate, military, politics, etc).”
Pat Flynn – “I’m Pat. I’m a 30 year old dude from Southern California who makes a living on the internet. I consider myself the luckiest person on Earth.”
Derek Halpern – “I show people how to turn web traffic into leads and sales. And if they’re not getting any traffic, I show them how to get that, too.”
Adam Baker – “At Man Vs. Debt, we hope that by sharing a transparent and honest account of our own journeys to remove barriers – primarily our debt and excess clutter – we can empower and inspire others who find themselves on similar paths.”

Success Quotes:

“Success is the gradual realization of a worthy goal.”
“When you hear people talking strongly against an idea, that means it’s a great idea.”
“Once you have an audience in place, the sky is truly the limit.”
“The mission of Entrepreneur on Fire is to inspire millions.”
“If you want to make millions, you need to inspire millions.”
“The online world is a very friendly place. We are in this huge marketplace where helping people is only going to help ourselves.”
“Help spread the word and get more people motivated and passionate about following their dreams.”
“She definitely flirted with me quite a bit throughout the interview so I definitely enjoyed that.”