Tag Archives: Businesses

Episode 112: The Entrepreneurial Work Mode | Pamela Slim

Pamela Slim

Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone according to Pamela Slim. Entrepreneurs need to be competent in the entrepreneurial work mode. In Episode 112, Pamela Slim and I will discuss the entrepreneurial work mode and how to become successful as an entrepreneur.

Pamela Slim is an award-winning author, speaker and leader in the new world of work. She spent the first 10 years of her solo practice as a consultant to large corporations such as Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab and Cisco Systems, where she worked with thousands of employees, managers and executives. In 2005, she started the Escape from Cubicle Nation blog, which is now one of the top career and business sites on the web. She has coached thousands of budding entrepreneurs, in businesses ranging from martial art studios to software start ups.

According to Pamela, not everyone can be an entrepreneur. There are so many components that have to work together to create a great business.

A lot of people paint the picture that entrepreneurship is wonderful and fantastic, but really it’s hard work. In reality, it’s just a work mode.

Set up business licenses, a bank account, talk to an accountant and make sure you’re setting up a viable business.

Who is your market? What is the different ways you can connect with them?

Pamela Slim

Success Quotes:

Success is to enjoy my life while living it.
Hating your job intensely is not a business plan.
Define your service, choose a price, set up your payment account and boom you can test something to see if somebody’s willing to pay you for the service.
The act of planning is critical for a small business owner.
People want to feel like their life has meaning.

Shout Outs:

Kyle Duran – Pam’s lawyer
Tim Berry – Business Plan Pro
Jermaine Griggs – JermaineGriggs.com
Dr. Nick Morgan
Ramit Sethi – I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Pamela Slim

Episode 79: Social Media and ROI | Brian Basilico owner of B2b Interactive Marketing

1 Reply

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Brian Basilico is the owner of his own social media company. One of the things we talked about was return on investment, and looking at ROI when you are using social media and actually for many things you are probably doing.

Brian Basilico is the owner of B2B Interactive Marketing. B2b Interactive Marketing combines audio, video, interactive, web, communications, and advertising, with branding and marketing experience of almost 30 years in the communications industry.

Zeb’s Take – Social Media and ROI

It was a blast talking with Brian about social media and all the different things that he’s doing. We had some great back and forth while talking about social media marketing.

The thing I want to expand on is the return on Investment or ROI of social media, which I think is very important for business owners understand when they are getting into the social media space. Social Media and ROI. People will ask me, “Should every business use social media?” My response is always yes. I honestly think every single business should use social media. Having said that, I don’t always think paying for someone to run a social media presence is the best investment of your money. Timewise, yes you should use social media, use it as much as you can. But sometimes the cost doesn’t make sense for the returns that you’re getting from the social media usage.

It is important to analyze time versus money and how you’re going to spend that using social media. Sometimes people think it’s a just one-stop-shop; it’s not, it’s a long term goal. If your goal in a business is to grow as large as you possibly can then social media is a no-brainer. Hire people to do it and realize that it’s an investment. If you are looking to use social media to make instant sales to cover the cost of what you’re paying for the social media, especially in the first few months, you’re going to be disappointed. With social media, you’re putting in the time, money and resources now for gains down the road.

Go out there and find your success!

Find out more about Brian Basilico and B2B Interactive Marketing

Go to his business website: B2B-IM.com and the website for his book: NotAboutU.com

Quotes

“It’s been something I’ve had to do for myself and since I was able to do it for myself I was able to do it for other people.”
“I’m a student first, I got to learn it. Then I’m a teacher second, and a purveyor or presenter last. You got to learn it, teach it, then do it.”
“Marketing has to be an investment and never an expense.”
“Marketing is a participation sport, it’s not like advertising where you pass it off to somebody.”
“The whole point of social media is crowdsourcing; getting other people to talk about your brand.”
“Get to know people, ask them for advice, and find out what happens.”
“When people are better when you are done, that’s success.”
“The reason I consider myself successful is because I have a message, I have a methodology and I provide value to people when it’s all said and done.”

More From the Interview

Growing up Brian was a musician. At 18 years of age he started a recording studio in his Dad’s basement. He had to learn to promote himself. At first, he used a word processor to print out articles, cut and paste them together into a newsletter that he would take to a copy shop and print and put together his newsletters. Since then he’s been a video editor and producer, he owned a commercial recording studio (produced jingles, radio programs and commercials), and online marketing.

“It’s been something I’ve had to do for myself and since I was able to do it for myself I was able to do it for other people.”

He says, the funny thing about marketing is marketing has never changed. It is always about people, knowing who the audience is and how they want to be communicated to. The thing that has changed is the technology and tools. You have to learn to adapt over the years.

Not too long no one knew what the smartphone was and now it’s updated every day.

“I’m a student first, I got to learn it. Then I’m a teacher second, and a purveyor or presenter last. You got to learn it, teach it, then do it.”

The smartest and most profitable people learn how to adapt to where their audience is. If you want to reach a 20 year old you need to text them. If you’re talking to 70 year olds, you still need to put out a print newsletter. You have to know where your audience is and you have to learn to adapt to get your message there. The message and the content has always been the same. It’s always been really good content and great articles. But, you have to know the channels where you can connect with them.

Branding
Branding is part logo, part image and part message. You need to know who your audience and know what your audience is looking for. An example Brian shared was for a company that made ferrules, a small part on a golf club. Once an industry staple, this company had lost a lot of their customers to cheaper overseas competition. Their business model was to sell high quality at a low price to the largest golf manufacturers. While doing research Brian spoke with someone who builds clubs for professional golfers around the world. This person agreed that this company made the highest quality part and it never broke, whereas the competitor’s part did break. He mentioned that fixing that one part cost $150 each time the repair needed to be made. He said I don’t care what I have to pay for that thing I want that ferrule. Now she manufactures custom versions of this and what sells she used to sell for $0.07 for $1.50. She learned that the marketplace had changed, without her noticing it. We completely reinvented her business.

Success Story
Brian shares his success story with a fortune 100 company that was making a $1k a month in online sales, Brian convinced them to put in a true ecommerce system on their site. By creating a very familiar interface for their ecommerce their online sales skyrocketed to $25k in sales a month.

What I see a lot of people doing wrong in marketing is throwing a lot of good money at bad. You have to consider social media and ROI. “Marketing has to be an investment and never an expense.” People don’t understand the concept of using marketing as an investment and how to measure their return on investment so they do get ripped off.

“The whole point of social media is crowdsourcing; getting other people to talk about your brand.” If you reward people for promoting you to your friends and give them something relatively inexpensive, you’re winning.

Brian’s Book
It’s Not About You it’s About Bacon: Relationship Marketing in a Social Media World is Brian’s book. It is a why-to book about social media. It takes you through a whole journey of marketing. There are chapters on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and all that other stuff. It doesn’t tell you how to do things, it tells you why it’s important and who is there. The whole purpose of the book is getting you to understand the concept of what social media marketing means. From there, there’s lots of other opportunities to learn how to use it.

The title is from Brian’s experience at a conference. One of the other presenters encouraged people to use a hashtag, #bacon. She got 20 new followers. After that Brian started posting pictures of bacon and #bacon and breakfast with bacon online. Brian got an incredible response. What he came to find out was that the two most shared things on the internet were kittens and bacon. The whole concept is that social media marketing is not able sales and about you, and bacon is about creating a brand that is memorable and something that people will search out.

Advice for New Businesses
Go out and network. Go out and meet people. Find people you can have a 1-on-1 conversation with ask them about their experiences and their life. From there, ask them for referrals, for whatever you need. connect with them and then ask them for advice. Get to know people, ask them for advice, and find out what happens. Getting good proper referrals is the best way to get the best return on investment of quality. Look for good consultants and people who really have your best interests in mind and are not just trying to take your money. Then go learn as much as you possibly can, take online classes, community college classes, buy books, research; invest in yourself and in your own knowledge.

Success
Success for is seeing his clients blossom and make money. The biggest success that Brian gets is when they recommend him to somebody else. From a personal standpoint, it is making a difference in a way that changes people’s lives. I don’t care whether it’s through my business, or donating my time. “When people are better when you are done, that’s success.”

I’ve reinvented myself so many times, I’m very successful and always working harder to be better. The reason I consider myself successful is because I have a message, I have a methodology and I provide value to people when it’s all said and done.

Episode 43: New Businesses Must Set Goals | Will Mitchell from StartupBros

Leave a reply

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Will Mitchell is a serial entrepreneur. Learn from Will why new businesses must set goals in order to become successful. Learn how Will has implemented goal setting in his businesses to build more effective, successful companies.

Will Mitchell, StartupBros, Zeb Welborn, Defining Success Podcast, Businesses Must Set Goals, Entrepreneur

Will Mitchell from StartupBros

Will Mitchell is the owner and co-founder of StartupBros. He has been an internet entrepreneur since he started skipping school to build businesses in the 6th grade. After numerous business engagements at 22. Will launched StartupBros, a community for aspiring entrepreneurs to learn from like-minded people.

Will started skipping school to start businesses when he was way too young. He had a lot of failures and through his failures he has achieved some success. Will became interested in business at 12 or 13 years old and he started skipping school because he became disenchanted with it. He saw a lot of potential in business and he knew that was where he wanted to be.

When he was younger, Will started importing goods from China and became very successful until China banned the exporting of the product he was importing. He then went on to start a business called FashionBidder.com, an eBay for fashion, which didn’t go very well. He the started a clothing company which also didn’t go very well.

The realization that came to him which helped him overcome his business failures was that he realized that he needed to create value for other people which he wasn’t doing with his previous businesses. All the business ideas he had that failed were ideas that he thought were cool, but they weren’t ideas that would help anyone.

StartupBros are trying to help as many new entrepreneurs as possible. They are pulling in people who were successful on their own and they take their knowledge and break it down to see what they would have done if they could start all over again.

Will has some clients that they help one-on-one, a mastermind that will help students, a new book that they’re hoping to sell and they’re offering a new product on how to import services.

The #1 thing Will would tell people is to create value for people first and foremost and then learn to create ways to make money off of the value you’re giving to others.

The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make online is because they don’t actually know where they go or what they are trying to accomplish as they are working. Knowing where he wants to be in 5 years and 10 years helps him become more consistent. Businesses must set goals in order to be successful.

Will has set goals at different times of his life. He wants to get StartupBros to the point where they can continually teach entrepreneurs how to succeed.

Will works with entrepreneurs in a one-on-one scenario, but he’s hoping to convince more people to connect with the products and services he’s offering through StartupBros.

The biggest mistake Will had was losing his business focus. He considered going into politics and it made him very cynical. Learning to not let the world impact him as much has made him a better person.

Will was involved in a company called influence.org which went public and he was very happy about that. StartupBros is the first business project that is connected with his personality and he’s very proud of what he built.

Will Mitchell

Engaging Discussion Questions:

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
What do you think it takes to be an entrepreneur?

Links to Great Stuff:

StartupBros – “The only way to achieve success and freedom from corporate machine is to READ OUR BLOG POSTS! Well, maybe that’s a lie… but really, you need to learn how to leverage your knowledge and the knowledge of others and turn it into value and a cash income.”
Affluence.org – “Affluence is a private social network where accomplished individuals connect, share information, and engage in meaningful conversations. Our members also enjoy exclusive, high-quality content and feature advice from industry experts on subjects such as art, technology and travel.”

Success Quotes:

“As entrepreneurs you have to force yourself to live outside of the world around you.”
“That’s a big disconnect is being able to connect the value you create and the money you make.”
“Success is accomplishing a goal.”

Special Requests:

Rate and Review the Defining Success Podcast in iTunes!

StartupBros

Episode 31: Everyone Has a Success Story | Rey Ybarra, Author of Conversations with Shark Tank Winners

Leave a reply

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In Episode 31 of the Defining Success Podcast Rey Ybarra shares the stories of numerous Shark Tank entrepreneurs and how Shark Tank has impacted their lives and their businesses. Rey has been able to share the stories of these entrepreneurs through all of their failures and successes to show how the entrepreneurs who have appeared on Shark Tank have thrived following their appearance on the show.

Rey Ybarra

Rey Ybarra is the author of Conversations with Shark Tank Winners featuring entrepreneurs from the hit ABC TV reality show Shark Tank. As a multimedia book author he is producing audio and video interviews focusing on helping entrepreneurs, small business owners and for those who have dreams and a sincere desire to work their dreams.

Rey Ybarra has been an entrepreneur, talk-show host and has produced a lot of multi-media programming. He’s been helping small businesses understand social media and use the tools of the Internet to help their businesses.

Rey understands that educating businesses on how social media and the Internet can impact their businesses has been invaluable to those businesses. As the world and the Internet has changed Rey has come to realize that a lot of businesses were in denial about how the Internet was playing a role in their businesses.

A lot of people didn’t know where to go and they needed help to understand how people were using technology and the Internet to interact with businesses.

Rey’s greatest passion is interviewing others to learn what makes them tick and how they’re using their business to help others.

Rey began working on the multi-media book, The Shark Tank Effect, to help share the stories of the entrepreneurs who have appeared on Shark Tank to a larger audience. Through his interviews, Rey has been able to dig deep into the lives and businesses of these entrepreneurs and hopes that his book will inspire others to pursue an entrepreneurial path.

Shark Tank is a show that helps people and those who have dreams. Rey interviewed Barbara Corcoran and Robert Herjavec for an article he was writing and also many of the entrepreneurs and he got an idea for the title of his book, Conversations with Shark Tank Entrepreneurs. He went to work right away contacting enthusiastic entrepreneurs to become a part of the project.

During his interviews he talked with several Shark Tank entrepreneurs about what they did before Shark Tank, how they got on the show, what the process was, and how they were going to give the presentations.

Rey decided to make his book into a multi-media platform because he understands that people learn to process information in a variety of different ways. He knows that some people like to read, others prefer to listen and still others prefer to watch video. The multi-media book gives Rey the opportunity to reach people who learn in a variety of different ways.

Rey has interviewed 14 of the entrepreneurs who have appeared on Shark Tank. He also is working with Steve Kaplan, an entrepreneur extraordinaire and he’s on a CNBC show called Crowd Rules which debuted two weeks ago and he’s one of the judges and he is also on a show called Secret Millionaire where they handpick some successful entrepreneur who want to give back and help their communities. He talked with Steve and they are working together on Rey’s book.

The Shark Tank Effect is something Rey covers in all of his interviews in which he asks the entrepreneurs that he’s interviewed is how the Shark Tank has impacted their business and their lives. Each Shark Tank entrepreneur responds with a different answer about how the Shark Tank has changed their lives.

The best interview Rey conducted was with Billy Banks Jr. and his wife Sharon Catherine Blanks and their program, Dance with Me. Their Dad, Billy Blanks invented Tae Bo and living in the shadow of his father had always been difficult. When the episode aired, they were homeless and living in a motel. Now they are traveling the world introducing their Dance with Me program all over the world.

Carol Foster created Mee-Mas Gumbo, who at the time of her appearance on Shark Tank was homeless. The biggest reason why Rey created this book was to help as many people as he can. You can get all sorts of information from these entrepreneurs and you can learn from each one of them.

Barbara Lampugnale from Nail Pak who was visiting her daughter from Connecticut who struck a deal with Lori Greiner. How do you run a business while raising a family? Listen to the interview with Barbara Lampugnale and you’ll be able to understand that.

Persistence is the key to getting the guests for Rey’s book . . . A big problem Rey had in the beginning was that he had some technical difficulties and lost six of the interviews he had recorded.

The one big trait that all the entrepreneurs on the Shark Tank do whatever they have to do to get the work done. They don’t let anything humanly possible stop them . . . not even natural disasters.

Dan and Liz Holtz, owners of Liz Lovely cookies, did not get a deal from the Sharks and three days before they opened their store Hurricane Irene came in and wiped them out. The building materials, staff, and inventory was all lost. They persevered and overcame those obstacles and even though they didn’t get a deal, the exposure they received from the Shark Tank grew their business exponentially.

Cheryl Rigdon invented the Spatty Daddy and even though she didn’t get a deal from the Sharks, Daymond John has been helping her grow her business and she’s experienced exponential growth as well.

The advice Rey would give to others would be to give aspiring entrepreneurs where the entrepreneur is asking for money, you have to know your numbers. You have to know margins, return on investment, cost per unit. You have to know all of those numbers in your sleep. For aspiring entrepreneurs you better know your numbers, why and how and the nuts and bolts of everything in regards to your business.

Rey asked Mark Lim, creator of Lollacup, what his keys for success were and he asked what do you mean? Rey then followed up with him . . . What did you do to prepare to get on the Shark Tank and Mark then understood. When an opportunity comes and you seize it than that is what determines your success.

Conversations with Shark Tank Winners

Engaging Discussion Questions:

Are you doing what you love?
Are you willing to do whatever it takes to make your business successful?

Links to Great Stuff:

Conversations with Shark Tank Winners – Conversations With Shark Tank Winners is the multimedia book featuring interviews with the entrepreneurs from the ABC TV reality show Shark Tank!
Steve Kaplan – Steve Kaplan Inc. helps you identify the success you really want. Then, through our no-nonsense, roll-up-your-sleeves mentality and products, we help you get it. Steve has turned his experiences into proven tools to help individuals and businesses identify and achieve big goals. Through Steve’s proprietary products and services such as his unique downloadable step-by-step success playbooks, one-on-one sessions, workshops, bestselling books, DVDs, keynote speaking and more, Steve Kaplan Inc. guides you down the path to success.
Crowd Rules – “Crowd Rules” features three small businesses that compete in front of an audience who vote to decide which business wins a much-needed $50,000 prize. Entrepreneur and jewelry designer Kendra Scott, TV newsman Pat Kiernan and a weekly guest who is an industry expert lead the examination of the small businesses. While the business owners make their case to the panel of three, the real power lies in the hands of the audience—97 strong—whose votes ultimately decide which business is most deserving of the investment.
Secret Millionaire – The secret’s out! Some of America’s most successful self-made millionaires are embarking on a truly incredible journey. They will spend a week in the country’s poorest areas and ultimately reward some unsung community heroes with hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money.
Shark Tank – The critically-acclaimed business-themed show, Shark Tank, has the Sharks continuing the search to invest in the best businesses and products that America has to offer. The show received a nomination for a Producers Guild Award in 2013. In 2012 “Shark Tank” received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality Program and a nomination for a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Reality Series. The Sharks — tough, self-made, multi-millionaire and billionaire tycoons — will once again give budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true and potentially secure business deals that could make them millionaires. They are: billionaire Mark Cuban, owner and chairman of AXS TV and outspoken owner of the 2011 NBA championship Dallas Mavericks; real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran; “Queen of QVC” Lori Greiner; technology innovator Robert Herjavec; fashion and branding expert Daymond John; and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary.

Shark Tank Entrepreneurs Interviewed by Rey Ybarra in Conversations with Shark Tank Winners:

Success Quotes:

“Success is finding what you’re great at and pursuing it with everything you have.”
“These stories will definitely help them to have hope.”
“As an entrepreneur we all struggle from time to time.”
“You might not relate to all of them but I can guarantee you that you will relate to 2 or 3 of them.”
“The Shark Tank Effect for us means unlimited opportunity.” via Cousins Maine Lobster
“Once you go on that show (Shark Tank) your life will never be the same.”

Special Requests:

Go to iTunes to rate and review our podcast – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-success-podcast/id619459909

Rey Ybarra

Episode 29: Relationship Marketing is Viral Marketing | Christopher Mance II from Nichevertising

3 Replies

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Christopher Mance II is trying to get entrepreneurs to build power connections and work together to market together and give them a chance to get their products and services to go viral. Nichevertising is attempting to use relationship marketing as a way to manufacture viral marketing by bringing businesses together to reach out to consumers.

Christopher Mance II

Christopher Mance II is the owner of Nichevertising. Nichevertising is a product designed for entrepreneurs from all walks of life looking to get their mobile apps, books, music videos, websites, products and events to go viral.

Christopher has been involved with the Internet since 1996 when he was attending the United States Military Academy at West Point. All freshman were given access to the Internet and while Chris attended the school he tried to build online websites.

The first website Chris built was devoted to hip-hop music. The website he built was a hub for news about the artists Christopher was in to, like the Wu Tang Clan and Nos. He saw himself as a curator of content and got the news from the hip hop community and people began visiting his website in more and more numbers.

Christopher tried to run many different businesses, but they were always part-time businesses. Looking back, Christopher saw himself saw himself as more of a wantrepreneur than an entrepreneur, which helped make him decide to become an entrepreneur full-time.

In 2011, Christopher came up with the idea of trying to bring people together to help them advertise their business. With the goal being that people could then bid on projects in order to make those businesses develop strong viral marketing campaigns. But, he decided to shift the direction to what it is today . . . nichevertising.

The concept being that Christopher is trying to connect businesses with the same demographics so they can collaborate together to help each other and each others campaigns go viral. Multiple businesses can join a campaign together and help each other go viral.

Christopher and his wife have been business partners since they began dating. At first, they had an online magazine that they used to sell advertising with. The only way they could have an online magazine back in 2003 was that they had to be a coder and both Christopher and his wife were coders which meant they experienced a lot of success prior to 2006. In 2006, blogging became a much more mainstream activity and they had lost their competitive advantage. Many of the blogs began to reach out to Christopher and his wife to see if they could promote their blog . . . which is how the idea for Nichevertising began.

Christopher began thinking of ways that he could automate the process of connecting and collaborating businesses and blogs. Right now they are working in a closed beta test and are slowly getting the kinks worked out, but very soon it will be an open marketplace for businesses to connect with other businesses.

In order to sign up for Nichevertising, first you have to visit their website and sign up, then self select yourself into a niche, create your marketing campaign and then connect with a who’s who of entrepreneurs who are looking for partners as well. Looking at their database and campaigns to determine who is a good match for you and it’s up to the business if they want to accept the partnership you’re offering.

One campaign is composed of five different businesses coming together and it’s about creating a scale of partnerships. Going viral is not the same for you as it is for say, Time Warner. For a young entrepreneur, viral marketing is not the same as it would be for those large organizations. Your goal as an entrepreneur is not to get a million views, but it should be your goal to bring people into your world so they will refer you.

The biggest mistake Christopher says he’s made is thinking that he could be a successful entrepreneur while he was working for somebody else. He thought he would be able to start online businesses and make enough of an income to replace his income from his full-time job. Christopher wishes he would have started right away building his lifestyle around being an entrepreneur.

The people who created the Harlem Shake video were people who were very passionate about dancing and the reason for its ultimate success was that they were passionate about the project. The original Harlem Shake people were constantly making videos and eventually their Harlem Shake video went big, but it’s because they had a built in audience from their other videos. When you get to the point where you are good at what you’re passionate about then and only then will you have developed a great viral marketing opportunity.

Hubspot is a great example of a company that went viral. They created the concept of inbound marketing and an entire industry has now sprouted up around the idea of inbound marketing. Hubspot managed to go viral though by creating great content day in and day out. All entrepreneurs should think of how they can go viral like Hubspot went viral. There are loads of companies that offer inbound marketing advice now though, you can learn more here if this is something that interests you.

Christopher Mance II

Engaging Discussion Questions:

What do you think it takes to make something go viral?
What do you think about relationship marketing?
What do you think about viral marketing?

Links to Great Stuff:

Niche.fm – We fast-track the process of “going viral” by: providing a secure web-based software application for entrepreneurs like you to join a cooperative advertising network; providing a way for you to double, triple and even 10x the reach of your campaigns; and vastly increasing the likelihood that your campaigns goes viral!!!
HubSpot – “HubSpot all-in-one marketing software helps more than 8,000 companies in 56 countries attract leads and convert them into customers. A pioneer in inbound marketing, HubSpot aims to help its customers make marketing that people actually love
Sunny Coast Skate – Creators of the Harlem Shake.”
West Point – “The United States Military Academy has been educating, training, and inspiring leaders of character for our United States Army and for the nation for more than
200 years. West Point provides a 47-month leader-development program steeped in
academic rigor, military discipline, and physical challenges, all built upon a
moral-ethical foundation. The academy is an internationally recognized
institution for academic, military and physical excellence, and we are proud
that today’s cadets will become tomorrow’s military, public and private-sector
leaders.”

Success Quotes:

“Success is not defined by credentials. It’s really defined by your mental health, physical health and the relationship you have with your family.”
“Focus on your authenticity and not try to fake it.”
“If you are not passionate about cats then do not try to create a viral cat video.”
“If you create great content or have great customer service and you get great referrals you’ll continually go viral.”
“Nichevertising is a simple idea of a business finding a partner, getting a partnership connected and getting a campaign out in the world.”

Special Requests:

Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @DSuccessPodcast.

Episode 24: Collaboration and Success in Your Business | Mike Lednovich from True North Executive Development

Leave a reply

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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!

Mike Lednovich True North Executive Development

Teaser:

Mike Lednovich has worked with some of the largest organizations and businesses in the United States and has helped them create better policies and procedures to become more effective and efficient. Learn how to create stronger relationships with the people involved in your organization in Episode 24 of the Defining Success Podcast.

Recap:

Mike Lednovich is the owner of True North Executive Development and has instructed more than 2,000 managers/directors and conducted hundreds of seminars during a 25 year executive career. Mike heads True North Executive Development serving such diverse clients as the Make a Wish Foundation, Disney, Ruiz Foods, Edwards Life Sciences, the Philadelphia School District and Chapman University.

Mike was an executive with a communications company in Orange County and he was the director of communications and marketing. Before he got into the executive world he was a journalist and he then went to work for the corporation that owned the TV station and the newspaper. Mike became very engaged in company strategies, vision setting and helped the CEO implement change in the company.

True North Executive Development was based out of Mike’s experiences at the communications company. His experience helped him build teams that could successfully complete the tasks at hand.

Many people get caught up in the “whirlwind,” the every day activities that keep the organization running. When people get so engulfed in the daily activities there is no goal setting and no understanding of how the organization is going to move forward. Mike helps companies by working with executives and helps them get an understanding of the goals they want to achieve, how they plan to get there and how do they measure success.

Members of an organization need to know what the goals of the business are and how do I help those goals and how will I be held accountable in reaching those goals. Mike generally works with the management team to help the businesses grow.

Mike says that 90% of the time he goes into a company, all the team members commonly have different goals they feel the organization has. He really helps develop and establish goals and then works with the organization to enhance their goals and helps team members become attached to those goals.

When Mike gets phone calls, he’s usually coming in to solve a problem. He usually analyzes the systems to see what is not working. He then figures out what is not working and tries to correct those problems to make things better.

There is a common symptom which is number 1 in the workplace and that is holding people accountable for an employment contract. When you work for a company and you agree for a salary, that is a contract between you and a company. Most employees feel that they are going to give their employers grade B performance which is good work done correctly, then the company feels good about what they are doing and they feel good about getting there paycheck. In organizations where employees are not held accountable, their performance levels go down to the C, D or F level.

In entrepreneurial companies, it becomes difficult to manage employees as the company grows. In a family you are rewarded for good behavior and you have negative consequences when your behavior is below par.

The yearly performance review rarely occurs on time when they are done yearly. Mike recommends monthly performance reviews for businesses to help hold employees accountable. The yearly performance reviews usually judge their employees on how the acted in the past six months. Employee engagement is a huge factor in a companies success.

How do you increase performance on a non-performer? It starts with a conversation that explains how employees are under-performing. They judged based off of hard evidence and not opinion. The employer than helps the employee meet their goals, and they make sure they can handle the task, but if they can not meet those goals, it is on them.

Popular culture says that to hold people accountable is to fire them. Donald Trump is one example where the way he holds people accountable is by firing them, but in the real world employees and employers work together to build a foundation for the future. People believe they have to be Donald Trump, but in reality, you just need to be able to communicate effectively with your employees.

The most effective way Mike gets clients is word of mouth. Mike works for the Make a Wish foundation and one of his clients was on the board and Mike was able to come on board to help the Make a Wish foundation.

The best leaders create a culture of collaboration. They learn and how to figure out how to get the most ideas out of their employees. The organizations that maintain a strong workforce are the ones that collaborate well. Listening to people and communication is an area where organizations falter. In the real world only 8% of the communication is verbal. The rest of the conversation is conducted through body language and voice inflection and using email and Twitter we miss out on a lot of that communication.

Larry Welborn, Zeb Welborn, Kent Oderinlo and Mike Lednovich

Engaging Discussion Questions:

What does it take to build a successful team?
What do you think is the biggest problem large organizations face?
How important is the management of employees in a business?

Links to Great Stuff:

True North Executive Development – “Mike has instructed more than 2,000 managers/directors and conducted hundreds of seminars during a 25-year executive career.”
Make a Wish Foundation – “The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Orange County and the Inland Empire is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and fulfill the wishes for children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 18 who confront life-threatening medical conditions.”
Donald Trump – A link to Donald Trump’s Twitter page.

Success Quotes:

“The key to success in relationship is to get rid of the negative ones. If there are people in your life that are messing you up, get them out of your life.”
“If you love something passionately and you can make money from doing it than you have the perfect job.”
“Success is an individual evaluation of what makes you happy.”
“You don’t give to get.”
“The most effective leaders recognize that they are part of a team.”
“I’m a firm believer that successful people give without ever receiving anything back.”
“A common denominator is that successful people recognize that they want to give back to the community in some fashion.”
“The most important piece of that conversation is having data because data doesn’t lie. Data is objective and most managers will operate on opinion.”
“When we talk about achieving success we need to follow the true north of our inner focus.”

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 21: Networking Secrets for Entrepreneurs | Esther Kiss from EstherKiss.com

Leave a reply

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Esther Kiss helps entrepreneurs build better businesses. She considers herself to be a mentor and has a lot of advice for entrepreneurs on how they can build their business, reach more customers and make more money. The key to getting what you want, explains Esther, is giving yourself to others. By helping others you will receive benefits and, in turn, become successful

Esther Kiss

Recap

Esther Kiss, from EstherKiss.com, mentors entrepreneurs. She helps experts and service providers generate a steady flow of ideal clients and helps to convert leads more effectively than ever before. In short, she will show you how to get more clients and make more money in your business.

Esther has an extensive background in business. She grew up in a small family that had a lot of investments in hotels, real estate, and trading and shipping companies. Esther lost a lot of her investments in the stock market and so she started her own business to teach others how to speak Hungarian. She was able to package her business in a way to have only the people who are very committed and had enough time to learn Hungarian. She was able to get them pre-paid and paying triple the market value.

She then realized that her expertise would be perfect in a business coaching context.

Esther than got a job at the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute to show that she has some credibility in the industry. It gave her the credentials to show that she could do it. She reached out to her circle to ask if people knew anyone who was interested in learning Hungarian and her business blossomed from there.

In the interview, Esther provides lots of valuable tips on time management for entrepreneurs. She encourages all of you to write down what you do on a daily basis literally to the minute because in order to manage your time effectively, you need to know where you’re spending your time. Do the highest revenue generating activities and then you will be better at time management. You should divide your time into three categories: flex time is devoted towards the day-to-day operations of your business, focus time is focused on long-term projects like your marketing campaigns and the third is your free time which is the rest of your life.

If you want to do a better job at networking, see who the decision makers are at a company and see who they know. If you know someone who might be connected to someone you’re trying to get a hold of then reach out to that person and see if they can connect you. Another great tool entrepreneurs can use when networking is to be a giver, because people will think you’re a nice guy.

Esther says there are a variety of different ways to figure out who the decision makers are and there’s a lot of different tools to figure out who those decision makers are. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ are great tools to figure out who the decision makers are, but you can also view the website or get access to information online about who you’re trying to reach.

Many entrepreneurs struggle because they are able to make a certain amount of income but they are never able to cross the hump to live a more comfortable lifestyle. Esther helps entrepreneurs by delving into their business to find ways to make their business more efficient and reach out to others for a higher potential profit.

Many business owners go for low income sales and focus on volume, but Esther recommends entrepreneurs target the customers that are willing to invest more and more often.

Esther Kiss at the Emmy’s

Most entrepreneurs make the mistake of trying to be like everyone else while they think they are making themself unique. If you’re doing what everyone else is doing, you’re getting followers, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your making money. Esther recommends having a system that works and that when you turn it on you know you’ll be able to get customers.

Esther considers herself to be a business mentor. Coaching typically involves spending a lot of time with a person to help them come to their own conclusions. Esther than gives entrepreneurs shortcuts to come to their own conclusions.

Esther considers herself to be very logical and analytical. She focuses much more on results and numbers and she tries to help find her business produce results. Esther is also very strong at connecting with others.

Willpower is an app that will not let you go onto certain websites for a particular amount of time. These external tools can help, but it really comes to your own willpower that will determine your success.

Spend an hour a day looking for referral or promotional partners. If you’re a marketing coach you would be interested in working with a website designer or a PR Director.

If you’re not able to say exactly what they are interested in you will not be successful in business.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

How important do you think giving is in business?
What traits do you look for in a business coach?
How do you network?

Links to Great Stuff:

EstherKiss.com – “Esther loves teaching her creative business & marketing strategies, mentoring entrepreneurs to help them get more high paying clients.”
Beverly Hills Lingual Institute – “The Beverly Hills Lingual Institute is your best choice for learning a language in Los Angeles and Orange County. Offering language classes in over 25 languages with the most comprehensive schedule of classes available, we are Southern California’s Premier Language School.”

Success Quotes:

“Success is having the confidence and ability to building what you want from scratch.”
“If you come from a place of wanting to help and serve rather than selling something to them . . . you build more confidence and leads because every person will have a great experience.”
“Tune in to the core desire of your ideal client, pinpoint it and speak to their highest need.”
“Entrepreneurs are usually very excited and energetic in trying new things.”
“Most entrepreneurs have entrepreneurial ADD where they start a million projects and none of them get finished.”
“Be very clear about the results you can get for people.”

Special Requests

Send me an email if you need me for anything – 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.