Tag Archives: Defining Success Podcast

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

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.”

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Episode 28: The Power of Purpose | Think Entrepreneurship Podcast Host Pete Sveen

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Teaser: Pete’s goal is to help inspire more and more people become entrepreneurs. He’s spent most of his life as an entrepreneur and is helping others develop a purpose and a passion for entrepreneurship. Recap: Pete Sveen is the host of the Think Entrepreneurship Podcast, a show that interviews successful entrepreneurs and shares their journeys and experiences with you. His guests have included Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank, NFL great, Fran Tarkenton and many other motivated and well-known entrepreneurs.

Pete Sveen

Pete studied entrepreneurship at the University of Nebraska and while he was in college he started a car detailing business and he learned that he wanted to be his own boss. He loved the fact that he could get into something that he could be passionate about. His first business was his car detailing business and then he got into the printing business, which he still owns today. He then got into e-commerce and he started making signs called SignsoftheMountain.com.

He started the Think Entrepreneurship website back in 2010. He’s also been involved in real estate investing. The entrepreneurship focus in colleges is growing and he started taking an Intro to Entrepreneurship class. He learned how to write business plans and learn how to start a business. He got practice working on his business plans and entered a contest and got some money to help him start his business in college. He also did some consulting for businesses with some things that the businesses he did some projects for.

Pete learned a variety of things from the entrepreneurship program at the University of Nebraska, but the greatest thing it offered was networking because he was able to meet investors and find mentors that helped him in the beginning stages of his business. Pete has learned so much in his entrepreneurial journey. Every day Pete learns how to do new things for his business, but that’s what makes things exciting.

Think Entrepreneurship

Pete came up with the name for Think Entrepreneurship for his friends and he was trying to get people to connect his local friends where they could bounce things off of each other. In 2010, Pete got more active with the website. He really understood early on that he began to develop some great connections and the first person that he interviewed ordered 2,000 t-shirts from his printing business.

Pete thinks that podcasting is really blowing up right now. He visited the NMX Conference and they talked about the importance of podcasting. Pat Flynn said there is 4.5 million blogs and only 250,000 podcasts our there which means it’s a great medium and a great opportunity for people looking to spread their message.

The biggest mistake Pete has made was trying to do everything on his own. He didn’t outsource anything and he wishes he had outsourced things sooner. He reaches out to local college students and tries to hire out as soon as you can so you can focus on the more strategic parts of your business. One of the most interesting interviews Pete had was interviewing Fran Tarkenton . . . and Pete’s been a Vikings fan since he was born and it was a great experience for Pete to interview him. He had a wealth of information and he was inspiring to hear from. Fran is now doing a lot of investing in start-ups and is working with around 25 companies and he’s currently working with Office Depot to help mentor entrepreneurs from around the United States.

Pete gets guests for his podcasts by reaching out to people who he would like to try and get to. He sends emails and calls entrepreneurs in order to get guests for his podcast.

Pete says one thing that strikes him about entrepreneurs is how willing they are to give back. Pete does a lot of affiliate marketing which is referring a lot of businesses and companies that you believe in and sending them to their websites. He is also gathering sponsors for his podcast which are sponsoring episodes.

Pete Sveen

Engaging Discussion Questions:

Do you have a clearly defined purpose?
What do you think about entrepreneurship?

Links to Great Stuff:

Think Entrepreneurship – “We created this website to help entrepreneurs and small business owners start and grow their business. We are extremely passionate about helping, inspiring, advising, and motivating other entrepreneurs.”
SignsoftheMountains.com – “Thank you for visiting SignsoftheMountains.com. Signs of the Mountains is based in Bozeman, Montana. We produce unique metal signs that serve to recreate memories you’ve had out in the mountains. We create signs about skiing, hiking trails, mountain elevation, gps coordinates, hunting, fly fishing and so on. We also create motivational signs to help inspire outdoor enthusiasts and others. In addition to our standard signs, we are able to personalize signs to make them even more special for our customers.”
University of Nebraska – “The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, chartered in 1869, is an educational institution of international stature. UNL is listed by the Carnegie Foundation within the “Research Universities (very high research activity)” category. UNL is a land-grant university and a member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.”
Kevin Harrington – “Kevin Harrington, chairman and founder of TVGoods, Inc. and chairman of As Seen On TV, Inc., is widely acknowledged as a pioneer and principal architect of the infomercial industry.”
Fran Tarkenton – “Fran is a hands-on entrepreneur. His companies are the result of his ideas and his direct day-to-day involvement. He funds the start-ups, develops the business plans and executes the strategies to build thriving businesses. Fran launched 20 companies over the last 25 years, the largest one reaching revenues of $142 million. He was a founding board member of Coca-Cola Enterprises. He also served on the Board of Directors of Sterling Software, Blimpie International and Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.”
Pat Flynn Smart Passive Income – “With this blog, I want to be as transparent as possible with everything I do online. My businesses, my strategies and my income – it’s all out there for you to see. I’m not trying to show off my success – that’s definitely not my purpose. If you’re already doing business online, I hope that my experiences – both my wins and my failures – can help you reach your goals.”

Success Quotes:

“Success is finding something that you’re passionate about and you want to work on every single day.”
“Success is finding something you’re passionate in that can bring in a good income to do the things you want with your family.”
“My big goal is to reach out and inspire as many people out there about entrepreneurship.”
“My goal is to help inspire as many people as possible.”
“I have to be helping somebody in order to stay passionate about it.”
About Entrepreneurs: “One thing that I’ve really noticed is their willingness to help other entrepreneurs.”
“Every day I’m learning.”

Special Requests: If you need help finding your passion or have questions about how we can help you develop yours, send me an email at Zeb@WelbornMedia.com, visit and comment on our blog www.DefiningSuccessPodcast.com or visit and comment on the Defining Success Podcast Facebook page.

Episode 25: Build Your Reputation with Online Recommendations | Beau Hodson from Transparent Mortgage

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Teaser:Beau Hodson has been in the mortgage industry and has seen many ups and downs and has been able to whether the storm. He started Transparent Mortgage and has implemented strategies designed to increase his reputation online. He’s been able to get customers to give him positive reviews on Yelp, TrustLink, Google Places, Facebook and various other review sites to show that he was a well-respected mortgage professional who can help you achieve your dream of financing a home or helping you during the re-financing process.

Recap:

Beau Hodson has been the mortgage profession for more than 10 years and is the founder and Senior Mortgage Adviser at Transparent Mortgage. He has earned degrees in finanec and business and has a diverse background as a financial adviser and mortgage professional. He has worked for Luxury Mortgage, Bank of America and Impac Funding.

Transparent Mortgage

Beau fell into the mortgage industry when he graduated college. At the time he graduated college it was a perfect time in the mortgage industry and things were booming. It’s a completely different experience today in the mortgage industry than it was pre-housing market crash. Beau spent his first two years auditing closed loans and became a mortgage broker after a couple of years. Nowadays it’s about being a professional.

In this case, Beau thinks of the client to see what’s best for them and providing them the information to make the right decision and then there is a lot of execution involved and at at the start it’s about getting to know a client and doing what is best for them. Beau is self employed and runs his own business so he has a lot more flexibility to work for the customer.

Beau had to make a lot of changes to make him more successful. It was hard for Beau to learn how to do things in the current economic environment. Sometimes Beau questioned his commitment to change, but he eventually decided that he wanted to adapt, stay in the industry and thrive.

In the fall of 2011, Beau had had a tough year and he had to decide whether he was going to give it up or do it his own way. And now, he’s happy he decided to start Transparent Mortgage and stay in the mortgage industry.

The mortgage loan process is complicated, but Beau really helps to educate his customers about the process. He then works to get loans for the customer and do what’s best for the customer.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010 Beau had a lot of time to think about what was missing and what was needed in the mortgage process. Beau thinks what people wants the most in the mortgage industry is transparency. Beau likes to give real straight information to his customers. He also felt the need to give his customers the opportunity to be updated on the process of the transaction. Beau makes sure that he communicates properly with his clients to make sure they know what is going on with their loan.

When Beau started Transparent Mortgage he realized that there weren’t a lot of reviews online and Beau wanted to lead the industry in online recommendations as an independent mortgage broker. He doesn’t know any customers that operate based on reviews and he wanted people to go online and see what people are saying about him for themselves.

Beau said it’s been a process getting online recommendations. Beau learned early on that when he began asking for people to give him reviews online it helped make him a better business owner for his customers. He then began thinking of ways he could improve his business to make his customers happier.

A lot of problems arise in any business and clients understand that, but it’s the way you communicate those problems to your customers that will determine whether they leave you happy or not.

Beau has learned a lot as a business owner. One of Beau’s biggest problems was spending too much time setting up his website, his logo and he spent too much time working on the website and the logo and the more you do, it doesn’t really improve your business. He thinks he would have spent a lot less time making his website perfect and would have just made it good so that he could have focused on his business.

Beau advises anyone looking to buy a home to do your due diligence and to get pre-qualified. Buying homes is very competitive in today’s climate. There’s an inventory shortage and more and more people are buying homes. It’s still very difficult to qualify for a mortgage. The only way you can get into a home is to get pre-approved for a loan.

Beau says the forecast is good in the mortgage industry and more people appear to be putting their houses for sale. He is nervous about the economy, but he thinks houses are good right now and he feels housing prices will be stable and doesn’t see the mortgage process getting easier anytime soon. People can buy houses now, but they have to do the work to get them done.

Engaging Discussions:

Do you plan on buying or selling a home?
How important do you think online reviews are?

Links to Great Stuff:

Transparent Mortgage – “Transparent Mortgage is a new vision of a mortgage company built upon a commitment to raise the industry standards for client care, open access to information, and social and ethical responsibility. It is our belief that the best way to achieve this is through transparency. A true and real commitment to transparency in the mortgage industry today is both a bold and unprecedented course of action.”

Success Quotes:

“Success is effort and being engaged in your work on a day-to-day basis . . . and you have to enjoy it.”
“If you’re not prepared and pre-approved you might miss out on getting your house.”
“When we work with people we like and people who like us we’re happier for it.”
“You learn that the client understands that there are things that are beyond your control.”
“I think a lot of people are afraid to ask for reviews.”
“When you make the commitment to a customer and you’re expecting a review you start thinking about the transaction differently.”
“If the client calls me and asks me what’s going on, it’s too late.”

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.

Beau Hodson and Zeb Welborn

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

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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 23: The Impact of One | Alejandro Reyes from the Get Internet Famous Podcast

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Alejandro Reyes

Teaser:

Alejandro Reyes grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. His life was filled with struggle, but he did have one thing going for him . . . a supportive grandmother who would pray for him every day to succeed. Alejandro is now the host of the Get Internet Famous Podcast, author of the book, Get Internet Famous and has experienced success in a variety of different capacities. Learn from Alejandro in Episode 23 of the Defining Success Podcast.

Recap:

Alejandro Reyes wants to help you get famous. Not the TMZ or Kardashian kind of famous, but the kind of famous that will offer you influence and impact to grow your income. He is also the host of the Get Internet Famous Podcast and author of Get Internet Famous: The Ultimate Guide to Building Your Platform, Growing Your Influence and Changing the World.

Alejandro got into marketing online in 1999. The only reason he started his business online was because he didn’t have a car and needed to figure out a way to make money. He heard Bill Gates say that by 2010, half of all sales would occur online and so he sought out to see how he could grow his business online.

In 2003 and 2004 Alejandro learned how to drive traffic to websites using MySpace and in 2006 he built his first six figure business online and he didn’t work very hard to make that happen. Because of his success he wanted to help people learn how to use the online skills to grow their businesses. In 2008 he came out with a coaching program and he had a belief that everyone was going to become a social media guru.

He worked offline and started running workshops in Sacramento to help local businesses use social media and the Internet to reach more customers. He was featured on almost every major news outlet in Sacramento and developed quite a following.

Last summer, Alejandro’s wife applied for a nursing school in Seattle, was accepted and within three weeks Alejandro sold his business and took a job in Seattle working for the same school his wife was attending so she could attend school for next to nothing. But Alejandro wanted to do more so he re-launched his brand online, Get Internet Famous and he’s been able to connect with old friends.

The inspiration for Get Internet Famous came from an article Alejandro read in Wired magazine which basically said that anyone can get Internet famous. The article helped him understand that there was an opportunity for him to get out of his poor lot in life. He wanted to inspire people who have buried their passions and wanted to help them get it out. He thought that if he could help people unleash their passions he could help change the world for the better.

Alejandro attributes his success to the prayers of his grandmother. Alejandro grew up around drugs and alcohol within his family. His family was broke and they felt dysfunctional. His grandma would continually pray for Alejandro and encouraged him to pursue his dreams. Alejandro says his grandma was the most successful person he knew. Even though she had no money, she was rich because everyone loved her, she was lively and always happy.

One thing Alejandro mentioned was that sometimes there are people in your life that help you and support you and that sometimes you owe it to those people to go on and do great things, and to not be complacent.

Getting Internet Famous has nothing to do with marketing. You have to have passion. If you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life. It would be something you would do regardless of whether or not you got paid to do it. You have to also be good at what you’re passionate about. You have to be gifted and have some expertise at what you’re passionate about. In order to become great at what you do, you have to work really, really hard to be good at what you do. When you’re willing to work really hard you can start to come up with your messaging.

Alejandro suggests asking 5 to 10 friends who have your best interest in mind. Once you ask 5 to 10 people what you’re passionate about and then find out if you’re good at what your passion might be.

Alejandro Reyes started using Snippet to write Get Internet Famous and then he decided to start his own podcast right at the same time. He basically re-launched AlejandroReyes.com, but wanted to make it more about the other customers. Alejandro says, your personality gets you to stand out online.

Alejandro Reyes

Email is the first thing people check in the morning is and almost everyone sees emails more likely than Facebook, Twitter or any other platform. It takes between six and seven encounters before people make a decision to purchase.

A huge opportunity exists for people to create offline connections with people they meet in the online world. By connecting with people you meet online you can establish long-lasting fruitful relationships with people online, enhance your credibility and become an expert.

Alejandro thinks he’s made lots of mistakes, but the two biggest that came to mind for him was not generating an email list quickly enough and not spending enough time with his family when he first started his business.

Alejandro thinks he’s helping change the world by helping others make a difference by helping them create a larger audience to have a larger impact.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

What would you be doing whether you got paid to do it or not?
Do you work hard for yourself or for others?

Links to Great Stuff:

Get Internet Famous – Alejandro Reyes has been helping entrepreneurs & companies with online marketing for over 10 years. He plans on sharing guest interviews, insights and inspiration to help you grow your business and change the world.
Wired Magazine – “Wired (stylized as WIRED) is a full-color monthly American magazine and online periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics.”
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.”
Snippet – Like Twitter for books, we limit the word count to 1,000 words max per chapter (unlimited chapters). So, in essence, we’re between a tweet and an e-book. Now as a writer, you can get new ideas to market faster, share expertise, test new book ideas, create companion pieces, or tell entirely new stories—all in less time.

Success Quotes:

John Wooden “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
Zig Ziglar “If you help enough people achieve their dreams, along the way you will achieve theirs as well.”
“Do what you’re passionate about, love what you do, and serve people with a crazy enthusiasm.”
“If your personal life is out of order, your personal brand will suck.”
“Email marketing is the biggest opportunity in marketing online right now.”
“What would you be doing whether you got paid to do it or not?”
“When you marry your passion and your gifts, that’s where the magic happens.”
“The soul purpose of getting known online has everything to do with the people that you serve.”
“How do you stand out and pierce through all the noise?”
“We owe it to people sometimes to be the best version of ourselves.”

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 22: How To Be a Go-Giver | Bob Burg Author of The Go-Giver

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Author of The Go-Giver Bob Burg

Teaser:

Bob Burg shares the lesson of his book, The Go-Giver in Episode 22 of the Defining Success Podcast. Learn the five laws, that when applied can guarantee a person’s success. Bob is extremely knowledgeable and shares his expertise on business and some advice and tips which you can apply to your business today.

Recap:

Bob Burg is a sought after speaker at corporate conventions and for entrepreneurial events. He has addressed audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000 – sharing the platform with notables including today’s top thought leaders, broadcast personalities, Olympic athletes and political leaders including a former U.S. President.

Bob has written numerous books, has been a public speaker, has worked in sales and has a lot of experience helping others increase sales.

This interview focuses on Bob’s book, The Go-Giver, a book that encourages people to be go-givers and to be willing to help others in order to attain individual success. Bob also says that a go-getter and a go-giver are not opposing philosophies, but rather that one could be a go-getter and also a go-giver.

If you look at the companies that are successful, have a long-sustaining business, and who run the business well. They take the five laws from the go-giver and those laws were already in play.

The five laws are the laws of value, compensation, influence, authenticity and receptivity and all five laws work in conjunction with each other. When all five of these are used in conjunction it makes it possible for people to achieve their goals.

The Go-Giver by Bob Burg

The first law of success is to give more value than what you take in payment. In business, it’s important to focus on the other person.

The second law says that the more people we add these values to then the more we will receive in return. As you add more value to more and more people you will have more people willing to spread the word about you and your business. Our value comes from how many people we can add value to. Not only do we need to provide great value, we also need to provide that service to as many people as we can.

The third law is the law of influence that says your influence is determined by how abundantly you put other people’s best interest first. The best leaders see how they can place other people’s interest first and if they can do that they will become more successful. To the degree you’re able to help others the more likely people will be willing to help you.

The law of authenticity shows how willing you are able to help yourself. All the sales skills, and technical skills are very important, but those skills are not valuable if you don’t show up as yourself. When people see there real you, they become attracted to you and they respect you and they like people who walk in their own integrity. One key in authenticity is being confident enough to do so when we understand the value that we bring to others. Market value are skills, traits and values that you bring to the marketplace. It’s important to have someone that is removed enough from the situation who can see who the forest is from the trees.

The fifth law is the law of receptivity. You have to be willing to receive as much as you are willing to give in order to be successful. Giving and receiving work in tandem with each other. The key is not giving or receiving, the key is to focus on the giving and allow the receiving. If you can’t receive the little things, then you can’t receive the big things.

Bob says that if you follow those five laws, you’re guaranteed to succeed.

A lot of people think that selling is taking advantage of others or trying to convince people of what they don’t want or need. Selling is actually about helping people get what they want or need. When you shift your focus from an I focus to others you will see a return.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

How do you know when you’re being your authentic self?
What do you think of the five laws Bob presented during the interview?
Are you a Go-Giver? Why or why not?

Links to Great Stuff:

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.”

The Go-Giver – “The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be. And so one day, desperate to land a key sale at the end of a bad quarter, he seeks advice from the enigmatic Pindar, a legendary consultant referred to by his many devotees simply as the Chairman.”

T. Harv Eker – “Eker is the author of the best-selling books, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind and SpeedWealth. He has also developed several highly-acclaimed courses such as The Millionaire Mind Intensive, Life Directions, Wizard Training and Train the Trainer. He is also the producer and trainer of the world-famous Enlightened Warrior Training.”

Success Quotes:

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile dream or goal.” from Nightengale
“Success is a feeling of piece of mind and genuine happiness based on having done ones best in living up to their potential.”
From Sean Woodruff “A great salesperson matches the benefits their product or service with the wants, needs and desires of the prospect.”
“When you’re selling you’re giving time, attention, council, education, empathy and ultimately, great value.”
“When you’re selling, you’re literally giving.”
“One mistake people make . . . is thinking that giving and receiving are opposite concepts.”
“The key to authentic giving is to stay open to receiving.
“Being authentic means that we are congruent.”
About Gandhi “Integrity is when everything you think, feel, say and do are in alignment.”
“The golden rule of business says that all things being equal people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.”
“The money you receive is a direct result of the value you provide.”
“Money is an echo of value.”
“The first law of value says your true worth is determined by how much you give in value than you take in payment.”
“A go-taker is somebody who feels entitled to take, take, take without having added value to the person, to the process and to the situation.”
“We want to take the focus off ourselves and move from an I focus to an other focus.”

Special Requests:

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

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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.

Episode 20: The Importance of Youth in Golf and in Business | Jay Miller from Golf Card International

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Jay Miller Golf

Jay Miller loves the game of golf. He’s passionate and has great ideas on how to grow the game for the future. A big push Jay says that needs to be made in golf is to encourage more young people to take up the game. By giving youth golfers more opportunities, Jay says, we can help grow the game. Attracting the youth is also valuable in business because in order to maintain the longevity of a business you have to be willing to attract younger generations that will one day fill the role of different age groups. By learning how to build a business focusing on the youth, we can help build better businesses overall.

Recap:

Jay Miller was the past President of the California Golf Course Owner’s Association, Founder and past-CEO of one of the most successful non-profit golf foundations in America,past General Manager of the National Golf Course of the Year, Golfer’s Association’s “Man of the Year” and is currently the Director of Business Development for Golf Card International and Fairway Rewards.

Jay got started in golf at Edgewood Country Club when his parents let him hit his first shot at a young age and knocked it close. His parents immediately got him a set of clubs and got in touch with some golf teaching professionals who taught him the game. He eventually gave up all the other sports he played to become a golfer. He started working at a local course and he went to Purdue University on a golf scholarship where they won the Big 10 Championship in his senior year.

Jay tried to become a professional golfer but realized he wasn’t good enough to make it and so he quit playing professionally but started his own business. The man who sponsored him on tour owned the largest manufacturing facility of plaques and he jumped into the business. The first year he did the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs and got to play golf with Gerald Ford. Betty Ford went on Good Morning America where she talked about Jay and his business which gave his beginning company a huge boost.

He was doing donor recognition wall displays across the country and offered a bunch of new products until 2001. He was playing 160 rounds of golf. In 1986 he had a dream about changing children’s lives and he wrote a 72 page thesis on how to grow the game. A good, wealthy friend of Jay took him golfing and asked Jay what he would do with money if his friend were willing to give it to him and Jay said he would start an organization to teach young people the game of golf. A couple years later his friend gave him $3 million dollars to start Jay’s project.

His wife named the project “Get a Grip.” Get a Grip on your life, education, the golf club and the Lord.” They were named three-times the National Junior Golf Education Foundation of America. They had one location called Cresta Verde Golf Club in Corona California. They built an education center at Hidden Valley Golf Club.

Jay took over Hidden Valley Golf Club in 2007 and became the National Golf Course of the Year in 2011. Jay went down to Florida where he managed a few clubs and did some consulting for other golf courses.

Golf Jay Miller

Jay is addicted to the game of golf and has probably played over 16,000 rounds of golf at 700 golf courses. He got hooked on hitting the cool shots. He loves the camaraderie the fellowship, and talking smack with your buddies.

His purpose is working in a program called Mulligan, connecting golfers to God. The famous Wally Armstrong, Jim Hiskey who invented Bible study on the PGA Tour. He loves helping golfers enjoy the game and grow the game.

Jay says we’re losing 100,000 golfers a year meaning that more people are quitting the game than are starting the game. In 1957, 88.6% of all children had a father at home. In 2007, 44.4% of the children born had a father at home. Around 90% of the golfers were introduced to the game by their father or by a sibling of their fathers.

Single mothers don’t have the time, energy or resources to introduce their children to the game. Some parents are spending $20,000 a summer in an effort to get their children a golfing scholarship.

According to Jay, $100 million has been spent on the First Tee Program which offers money to inner city youth to take up the game and the program is failing. Because many inner city youth do not go on to college and therefore can not afford to pay for golf at a later age. Jay suggests we raise $10 million a year to get students started playing the game in preschool. They get preschool teachers to learn how to teach golf and the instructors can teach preschool teachers in around 5 hours.

If you love golf then you should introduce others to the game. Donate clubs and balls to juniors. Glen Ivy in south Corona gave Jay close to 12,000 golf balls to give to young players. Jay encourages golf courses to give youth the opportunity to play the game in any way they can. If all golfers could have a philanthropic attitude we can all help grow the game.

I interviewed 1,500 real golfers and I found out that 68 to 78% of golfers don’t have a handicap.

Jay has gotten to play with two U.S. Presidents, many celebrities, many professional golfers at hundreds of courses. Jay feels he was created to change childrens lives through the game. He wants to improve their game, make them feel important and give them a product that was a good value for their money.

The top golf stories Jay ever had was when he played golf with Keith Jackson and Frank Boyles, Bob, the friend who funded the get a grip foundation on a golf trip. They spent four days at Augusta National and and Shoal Creek. The opportunity Jay had to spend the trip with two legends in the game of football was one of Jay’s most memorable golfing stories.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

How can we help grow the game of golf?
How would you get more people to play golf?

Links to Great Stuff:

California Golf Course Owner’s Association – “The California Golf Course Owners Association (CGCOA) is dedicated to the stimulation of market growth for California’s golf course industry. We promote collaborative advertising and promotional advertising programs encouraging more rounds of golf throughout California.”
Golf Card International – “Golf Card International was founded in 1974 with a simple idea: find a way to help golfers save money on the high cost of green fees. To do this, we formed a club for avid golfers and built a network of affiliated golf courses that would provide savings to our members. After 38 years, our membership is still strong, and Golf Card is now accepted at nearly 3,000 courses in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean.”
Fairway Rewards – “Fairway Rewards is a venture–funded startup now located in Sonora, California. For eight years, we’ve strived to provide innovative customer loyalty, incentive marketing, and media solutions for golf courses.”
The Mulligan Golf Club – The “Mulligan Golf Club” is a metaphor that describes the largest golf club membership in the world (golfers who have been invited to follow Jesus!)
The Golf Club at Glen Ivy – “Glen Ivy Golf Club is a unique golf experience, with scenic views and creativley placed fairways, tees and greens.”
PGA Tour – “The PGA TOUR is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers. The mission of the PGA TOUR is to expand domestically and internationally to substantially increase player financial benefits while maintaining its commitment to the integrity of the game. The PGA TOUR events are also committed to generating revenue for charitable causes in their communities.”
Wally Armstrong – “Wally Armstrong competed in more than 300 PGA Tour events, including numerous US & British Opens, Masters, PGA and Tournament Player’s Championships. In his first Master’s tournament, Wally finished fifth, setting a rookie scoring record of eight under par at Augusta. He is a Lifetime Member of the PGA Tour and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Florida, where he also achieved All-American Honors in Golf.”
Augusta National – Home of the Master Golf Tournament located in Augusta, Georgia.
The Esteban Toledo Family Foundation – “For fifteen years it has been my dream to establish a Giving Foundation that will put efforts into helping children around the world, and I am proud to announce that my dream has become a reality. With the assistance of my family, friends, fans, and supporters, I am proud to introduce The Esteban Toledo Family Foundation. A foundation focused on helping others, especially children. Our purpose is to supply basic needs such as shelter, clothing, food, education, love, and an introduction to the Lord.”

Success Quotes:

“Success is using your blessings and your purpose.”
“You show me somebody that wakes up in the morning with a purpose and can’t wait to go to work no matter what they do.”
“Women golfers on average play faster than men ever dreamed about playing.”
“If you don’t have four hours three to four times a month to enjoy a game of golf with your friends than your life is not balanced.”
“The father is a key component to introducing your children to golf.”
“You hit one shot equivalent to somebody on T.V.”

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

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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

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 #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.