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IAM2629 – Unveiling the Broker Success Formula!

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 06:16:48 -0400

In this episode, Gresh shares the evolution of his franchise‑building process, noting that it took roughly a year to clarify his target market and strategy.

Initially, he aimed at individuals who had been laid off, but he soon realized the more lucrative audience comprises employed professionals who are silently considering additional revenue streams.

He explains the financing paradox: without a steady job, securing SBA loans is tough, yet a layoff eliminates the income needed to fund a new business.

Consequently, he refines his outreach to those on the brink of layoffs or actively seeking semi‑passive franchise opportunities that can coexist with a full‑time job or another venture.

After a brief dip in momentum over the past three months, he recommits to a new pivot, emphasizing daily progress, continual prospecting, and creativity in securing funding.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:01
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:28
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast.
And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet. So to speak, I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.
We're also going to do a kind of subcite within CB nation called.
a franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But I just want to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this. Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey.

Going through and building this out. I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously, for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there. So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the from the first couple of videos that have been created.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube. Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this. So I have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build. It needs you to be your unique self. So make sure to run your own race because nobody can run your race like you.

This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Did it really almost take me a year to maybe figure this out? who I'm targeting, how I'm targeting them, what to do. Maybe, you know, so I'm starting to get some nibbles.

[restrict paid=”true”]

I haven't got a lot of like movement with people that are going to get laid off or thinking about getting laid off. And I realized like talking with, yesterday I had a call I'm checking colleges with one of the finance partners that I have.

One of the things that I talked with her and chatted with her about is how to get to being qualified. And one of the things that I found out about being qualified is that it becomes really, really hard if you don't have a job.

And so what that made me do is to really focus on who I want to target. So I was looking for people that were laid off. But in reality, it's not really the people that are laid off, but the people that are silently thinking about what they're going to do to add in another stream of revenue.

They have their job and maybe they want to add something on in addition to that so that they can potentially start a business without being there.

But it's like it's interesting because it's like a catch 22 because you may not be able to get an SBA loan if you don't have a job.

But if you get laid off you can't get the revenue for the business unless you have some type of other you know, Capital or things in place, but it's it's very very interesting to kind of see that let's see how all those things play out because the reality is is that It makes it very difficult to find financing.

I have another partner that does different types of financing, and I actually want to touch base with him just to hear a little bit more about what that looks like.

But it made me change the way I'm targeting and thinking about targeting. It's like you want those people that are about to get laid off, maybe not getting laid off, and are thinking about how can I add on the street revenue.

But then on the flip side, you also have to make sure that the franchise opportunity you're looking for actually has legs. It actually can, has legs.

It's something that is a viable option. And then on top of that, it has to be one that allows you to do the quote-unquote semi-passive. Basically meaning that you don't have to be full-time in the business. You can invest in the business while you're doing something else, whether it be a job or another business or something like that.

Very, very interesting because I think when you're in this space and doing those things, it makes you change the way that you're looking at a lot. It makes me like be even more refined, you know, and I say looking for the layoff people, or maybe I can just maybe I can't finance with the person I thought I could before.

So you have to get more creative. But at the end of the day, just getting a person that, you know, can't potentially get something up and going and going from there.

But it's definitely not an easy road to try to figure all this out. But I think he just asked a lot of questions, and it's crazy that it's been close to a year. I'm talking about, I think, 87 days, and then I'll be in a year.

So you just take it a day at a time, continue to kind of move forward and see where everything kind of takes you.

But it's the last part. I don't really have many prospects at all. But that can all change very quickly. I know that if you continue to prospect, continue to do things, sometimes those opportunities will come.

And we'll just see what happens from here. I hit the ground running pretty hard, and I think I lost a little bit of steam over the last probably, I won't say six months, but maybe about three months or so.

So it's just me locking in and saying, OK, this is what I'm pivoting into. This is how I'm going to do it.
And then just take it from there. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 05:51
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at imceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Want to level up your business even more? Read blogs, listen to podcasts, and watch videos at CBNation.co. Also, check out our I AM CEO Facebook group. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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The post IAM2629 – Unveiling the Broker Success Formula! appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2628 – CEO Helps Businesses Modernize Account‑to‑Account Online Transactions

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 06:16:19 -0400

Podcast promo featuring Gresham Harkless Jr. and Dave Glaser discussing business modernization and the evolution of online payments in account-to-account transactions. Episode 2628, Season 8.

In this episode, we have Dave Glaser, a two‑decade pedigree in enterprise payments—from early work at CyberSource, through senior roles at WorldPay and MasterCard.

Dave modernizes the decades‑old banking network and makes bank‑account payments feel as seamless as credit‑card transactions online.

His focus is narrowly honed on account‑to‑account flows, supporting both “pay‑ins” (receivables) and “pay‑outs” (payables) through a digital wallet that sits between the two, enabling businesses to move money internally before routing it to external bank accounts.

Dave stresses that effective leadership starts with trust, especially vulnerability‑based trust that allows teams to admit mistakes, learn, and move forward quickly.

Website: www.dwolla.com

LinkedIn: daglaser

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded.

Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Dave Glaser Teaser 00:00
We provide an infrastructure layer, if you will. So we act as a processing platform for businesses that are processing payments. And really every business processes payments, right? We all, businesses get paid and they pay their bills or they pay their employees and their vendors, or they get paid by their customers or their partners.

Intro 00:21
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:49
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have an awesome guest on the show today. I have Dave Glazer. Dave, excited to have you on the show.

Dave Glaser 00:56
Hey, Gresh, good to be here. Thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 00:58
Yes, super excited to have you on and talk about all the awesome things you've been working on. And of course, before I do that, I want to read a little bit more about Dave so you can hear about some of those awesome things.

And Dave serves as Dwolla's CEO and joined Dwolla in March of 2021, bringing more than 20 years of experience and enterprise payments experience to one of the fastest growing companies in the country.
Dave worked at MasterCard as a Senior Vice President of Global Acceptance Solutions, spearheading new point of sales initiatives, acceptance products, and solutions for acquirers and merchants, including the industry's first cloud PLS acceptance technology.
Now, prior to MasterCard, Dave also was the Chief Customer Excellence Officer at WorldPay, leading a successful IPO and a $10.4 billion merger with Vantiv.

His career began in fintech at CyberSource, helping drive the rapid growth that resulted in $2 billion acquisition by Visa.

And one of the things I really loved about doing some homework before I started talking with Dave is that he predicts that the future of payment is that it's real-time disappearing payments.

Where users don't even notice funds moving due to the seamless technology, which he predicts will be ubiquitous in the decade. And Dwolla, what I really love, takes the complexity out of account-to-account payments so you can focus on what really matters your business.

I think so many times we get caught up in doing all the things when you can kind of stay in your zone of genius and we have tools and things that we can lean on to make that possible.

It's such an awesome thing. So Dave, excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Dave Glaser 02:29
I am. Thanks for having me again. Appreciate it. That's a great intro.
It's fun to kind of hear my background. You forget all the things that happened over 25 years of career.

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Gresham Harkless 02:39
Yeah, absolutely. That's why it's awesome to have and be on shows like this because we get to kind of make sure that we toot your horn because you're doing so many awesome things.

It's so much easier to read it than I imagine it is to kind of check all the boxes and do all the things I imagine.

Dave Glaser 02:51
Yeah, you're right.

Gresham Harkless 02:52
Absolutely. So what I wanted to do was rewind the clock a little bit. I know I touched on it a little bit and hear a little bit more about your story, your journey, what I like to call your CEO story.

Dave Glaser 02:59
Great. Yeah. You know, it starts way back. I, you know, I think about where I grew up and how I grew up. I grew up in a small town, a coal mining town, really in, in Southwestern Pennsylvania, about 50 miles South of Pittsburgh, a town called Waynesburg. And I don't know, there was, I loved growing up there.

It was a small town, tight community, kind of everybody knew everybody and supported everybody. But there was always something to me that knew I was going to leave there.

Dave Glaser 03:23
Right. I wanted to, I wanted to be, in the business community. I wanted to be in cities. I wanted to be in bigger places, thinking about the future.

And so I didn't know what that path was going to look like. I think when I left there out of high school, I thought I wanted to be a teacher. So that was my initial path, was to be a high school math teacher. By the time I got through four years of my education degree, I decided I didn't want to be a teacher.

So then I was like, Oh crap, what am I going to do? Right. So this has been on my mind lately because my, uh, my daughter graduated college a couple of years ago. So, luckily she's following her dream, but, uh, mine was a little different.

So I ended up, you know, I ended up in, um, like IT consulting. So I worked for EDS and then IBM. And that was really the first part of my career where I was working with businesses all over the country, helping them upgrade and modernize their PC technology, their network infrastructures as a systems engineer.

And then About eight to 10 years into that career, I stumbled into CyberSource, which was in, when was that?
That was 2000. When I joined CyberSource, they were really the leader in credit card payment technology for the internet.

So CyberSource was founded in 1994, I believe, and they were really the first online credit card company for internet businesses. And so that's how I stumbled into payment.

So I led the consulting group at CyberSource and we built that up. And then kind of the rest is history into payments and what we call now FinTech.

Gresham Harkless 04:59
Yeah, I absolutely love that. And so I would love to drill down a little bit more here, a little bit more about what you're doing at Dwolla. Could you take us through a little bit more on how you're serving your clients and making that impact there?

Dave Glaser 05:08
Yeah, you bet. Yes, so Duwala's really focused on providing payment solutions for businesses and really businesses of all sizes. What's interesting about the payment space is that it's always evolving.
And it's because of, you know, new, new waves of thinking, new technology, innovative ideas that are, that are able to be presented and built upon.

And, you know, it's always been a, it's always been a technology business. So there's always disruptors popping up in the business and, and. You know, so what's great about being at Dwolla is the sort of the pace of change and where, where we get to sit. So we provide an infrastructure layer, if you will.

So we're, we act as a processing platform for businesses that are processing payments and really every business processes payments, right?

We all businesses get paid and they, they pay their bills or they pay their employees. They pay their vendors or they get, they get paid by their customers or, or their partners and a lot of times those, those payment systems are disjointed.

You can imagine, you know, accounts receivable and accounts payable. A lot of times, especially in big businesses are two separate parts of the business. There's two separate platforms. You can imagine that some businesses still write paper checks.

Some businesses deal with cash, right? So they're not really, haven't even moved to digital processing yet or taking advantage of digital and internet technology.

One of the first areas of payments that we all innovated in was during the age of the internet, right? When the internet came online in the late 90s, early 2000s.

And so I guess the best suited payments for the internet at the time were credit cards. And so we got so used to using our cards. And the card technology evolved really quickly to make it really easy to pay online and to get paid online. Where we didn't see the pace of change keep up was with bank account payments.

And so that's where Dwolla really fits in. We help businesses make bank account payments feel like card payments on the internet, right?

So we've internet-enabled the 40-, 50-year-old banking network that's existed in the US, but we've modernized it and allowed modern businesses with modern tech stacks and modern developers to really take advantage of these modern flows. So that's where Dwolla fits.

Our purpose is to really help businesses upgrade, update, modernize. A lot of people talk about digital transformation in existing businesses. We're right at the heart of that. We're helping them create visible payments for their business.

Gresham Harkless 08:02
Yeah, I love that. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more. You might have already touched on this, but ask you for what I would like to call your secret sauce. It could be for yourself, the business, or a combination of both.

But I wonder if that ability to kind of understand the forest for the trees, you understand that not just this is something that's just going to check off the box.

But it's something that's actually going to be able to be passed on to the organization, to the people that the organization is serving, and so on and so forth. Do you feel like being able to kind of understand that and continue to innovate as part of that secret sauce?

Dave Glaser 08:31
You know, our focus, like I said, is on solving these bank account payment challenges. And so we've been very, very narrow in our focus to be the best at what we do to help businesses perform account to account based payment processing. And that can be on, like I said, this, the legacy bank technology like ACH. that a lot of people know of.

It's the oldest open banking network in the world. It could be using what we call real-time payment network or the Federal Reserve's FedNow network. It could also be using debit cards. Debit cards are all linked to checking accounts or savings accounts.

And so our secret sauce, part of it is being focused, very, very focused on account-to-account payments. There's lots of different sorts of payments we could endeavor to also process.

But given our shape and size and the demand that's in the market, we realize that it's really important for us to focus on account to account. So that's what we're well known for.

So that's one of the items for the business. The other is we want to solve all sides of that equation, as I referred to before. I talked about sort of accounts receivable and accounts payable. If you think about receivables as money coming into the business, we call that pay-ins.

And then payables, or the money leaving the business, payouts, like for wages or vendor payments, et cetera, insurance claims. We solve for both sides of that equation.

A lot of businesses will only solve for one side or the other, where Dwolla can solve for both sides. And we do that by having what we call a digital wallet that sits between the pay-in and the pay-out.

And that allows businesses to move money from their customers, whether they're customers or consumers or businesses, they can move money into their digital wallet, they can move it around digital wallets in their own network.

And then they can move it out to bank accounts. They can do the pay-outs. And so that combination of payment methods and what we call funds flows is really Dwolla's secret sauce. It really separates us from any other player.

So those businesses that truly want to make bank account payments disappear and be as automated and simple as possible for their users, they come to Dwolla.

Gresham Harkless 10:37
That's such a huge thing. So I almost wonder if that's part of what you would like to call, what I like to call your CEO hack, which can be like an app a book or a habit that you have.

But I know the saying is always, we have two ears, one mouth for a reason. Do you feel like that listening is part of the CEO hack that you feel like you lean on a lot?

Dave Glaser 10:53
Yes. And I think it's something that I've had to practice really hard because I think by nature, I'm a problem solver.

You know, I like to, I like to jump right in and brainstorm, like jump at the whiteboard and start like just getting, I get excited about inventing or creating or solving the problem. Um, But really understanding the problem statement is probably 90% of the battle.

And so that's something that I've had to learn and become more patient with in general. I mean, just in general, I've had to learn patience because my bias was always to go fast.

But yeah, so going slow, making sure we paused, listen to really understand the challenges, the problem statements, and then developing that dialogue has been a really important career lesson and something I'm always working on.

Gresham Harkless 11:40
What would you consider to be a little bit more of what I like to call a CEO nugget?

So you might have already touched on this, but this could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice. I like to say it might be something you would give as a form of advice to a client, your favorite client, or potentially you would tell your younger business self.

Dave Glaser 11:55
Well, going back to trust, because I think I've implied, like I always say, everything starts with trust. We talk about it that way at Dwolla.
I talk about it that way with my daughters and my family. You know, it's really important to to have high integrity, to establish trust with folks, to earn credibility, right?

And to earn business, et cetera. The idea is thinking about trust as a foundational layer for everything that we do. And it's not just trust, like, oh, I trust you. It starts with what we call a vulnerability-based trust.

So vulnerability-based trust is the kind of trust where if you screw up, people are gonna understand that you meant well, but you just screwed up, right?

Or if you're having a bad day, people are gonna remember that you're having a bad day, you're not a bad person. And then the opposite, right? So if you're having a bad day and you come in hot at me, I can give you some space.

I'm probably not going to get angry at you, but also maybe you come back to me the next day or that afternoon and say, Hey man, I came in hot today and I'm sorry. Right.

You get to a point where you can, you can apologize. You can know that if you need to apologize, it's a safe place to do that.

But also people know that you will. Right. And that they can be, they can be safe in that place. It's a place, you know, it's also about.

You know, recognizing tendencies, right? I know if I don't sleep well the night before, I'm probably gonna be grouchy in the morning. So what am I gonna do about that? Well, maybe I'll go for extra exercise in the morning, or maybe I'll meditate a little longer in the morning.

So things like that, I think, that help build vulnerability-based trust. And it takes a lot of awareness and effort, self-awareness. But when you build that kind of trust with your colleagues, with your family, with your friends, it's like you become unstoppable as a team.

You become unstoppable when you know you can fumble, or one of you can fumble, but the others will pick you up. And then you can get moving again quickly. right? You don't get stuck there.

You don't get stuck with like, bad behavior, bad feelings. One of my, one of my colleagues used to say, he'd call it a pebble in your shoe.

He's like, if you're walking around with a pebble in your shoe and you're not getting it out or tell me about it, it's going to come up in a weird way later. Like you're going to, you're going to blow up because that pebble is going to really hurt tomorrow if you don't get it out today.

So let's talk about it. Right. I always liked that phrase. So there's a few nuggets there from Pat Lencioni and the nugget in your shoe, the pebble in your shoe.

Gresham Harkless 14:46
Yeah, those are huge things. And so now I want to ask you one of my absolute favorite questions, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

Our goal is to have different quote unquote CEOs on the show. So Dave, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Dave Glaser 14:57
I think, you know, I'll go back to that word patient. I've needed to learn to be patient with myself and be patient with the folks around me.

Because I think, like I said in the past, I've wanted to go fast. But I've learned I can go fast by going slower and helping people learn and grow, make mistakes, and learn over an arc of time and an arc of experiences in similar ways that I got to.

And so being a CEO, to me, is all about presenting a vision and representing shareholders understanding customer needs, but really it's about helping the whole organization move forward. And trust and patience is a big part of that.

Gresham Harkless 15:43
Dave, truly appreciate that definition. Of course, I appreciate your time even more.

So what I wanted to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get an overview, find out about all the awesome things you and your team are working on.

Dave Glaser 15:57
Yeah, well, I'd love for everybody to follow Dwala at dwala.com and follow me on LinkedIn. A couple of times a week, I usually share stories about payment systems and solutions that are, I call it, hiding in plain sight.

Gresham Harkless 16:12
Yeah, absolutely. And of course, to make it even easier, we'll have the li

IAM2627 – Web Pioneer Behind a Global Women’s Health Company

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 06:16:35 -0400

In this episode, we have Aliza Sherman, a pioneering web entrepreneur and author, a global women‑focused health brand that clears up the confusion surrounding cannabis and CBD.

After discovering that much of the industry’s information was wrong, she turned a digital‑marketing prospect into a mission to educate women.

Ellementa runs live events, webinars, and film screenings in over 60 North‑American cities while also serving as a “bridge” that connects reputable cannabis brands with these informed consumers, emphasizing product testing, ethics and women‑centered messaging.

Aliza advises balancing business drive with personal wellbeing, relationships and staying true to one’s authentic identity.

Website: www.ellementa.com

LinkedIn: alizasherman

Previous Episode: iam375-web-pioneer-and-author-behind-a-global-womens-health-company

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded.

Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Aliza Sherman Teaser 00:00
So we focus on educating women about cannabis and CBD because there's so much misinformation out there. There's also very little good information about how it fits into a healthy lifestyle or women's health.

And even the role of women as moms, as parents, how do you handle what's going on with the legalization of cannabis in many different states? So that's our consumer side.

Intro 00:29
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:54
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Aliza Sherman of Ellementa.

Aliza, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Aliza Sherman 01:05
Great to be here. Hello from Alaska.

Gresham Harkless 01:08
Nice to see you. I hope everything is warm over there. And what I wanted to do is just read a little bit more about Aliza so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

And Aliza is a web pioneer who founded the first women-owned internet company called Cyber Girl, Incorporated, and the first organization for women to learn about the internet in the 90s, Web Girls International.

She is the author of 12 books, including Cannabis and CBD for Health and Wellness, An Essential Guide for Using Nature's Medicine to Relieve Stress, Anxiety, Chronic Pain, Inflammation, and More, and Happy Healthy Nonprofit and Social Media Engagement for Dummies.
Her work has been featured in USA Today, Newsweek, Time, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and she presented at the BlogHer annual conference. South by Southwest Interactive and South by Southwest Canada Business Tracks Women Grow Leadership Smit and the Women's Economic For. Aliza, are you ready to speak to the I am CEO community?

Aliza Sherman 02:05
I am ready.

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Gresham Harkless 02:07
Awesome. You're rocking and rolling. So I want I wanted to kick everything off to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. We'll let you start your business.

Aliza Sherman 02:15
Well, my current business, Elementa, which is a global women's health company, is probably my sixth or seventh or eighth company that I've started and run.

My CEO story for Elementa is I was researching for my digital marketing company and looking for a new market. And I saw that the cannabis industry looked quite interesting. This is about three, almost four years ago.

And I wanted to explore it as a way of finding new clients for digital marketing, but very quickly learned that everything I had learned about cannabis was wrong and realized that it could help me as medicine.

Then once I learned that it worked very well and I'm a big proponent of CBD, quality CBD products now for my own health, it made me realize that there was not a for out there for women to learn about cannabis and CBD for health and wellness. And that was why I started Ellementa.

And, I, it was the idea I came up with. I ended up in the role of CEO. I asked a friend of mine to join me, Melissa Pierce out of Chicago. She's the COO.

And then we asked Ashley Kingsley in Denver to join us. And so she's in charge of outreach, , for sponsors and for the women we serve.

Gresham Harkless 03:41
Nice. That's definitely awesome to kind of hear how things kind of progress from. you know, just as you said, just looking for clients.

And then all of a sudden you realize that a, there's nothing here that actually exists, especially if you're so ahead of the curve, there's a newer type industry, or I guess the industry is growing, maybe I should say.

So you're kind of ahead of the curve from that standpoint. And then all of a sudden you start your, your business from there.

Aliza Sherman 04:03
Yeah, I think that it is something that I've always done is that I actually do get paid by certain clients to do future trends. I'm always looking to see what's coming down the pike and what does that mean for the way that we market, the way that we communicate, the way that we take care of ourselves, the way that we use technology.

These are all areas of interest for me. So all the businesses that I've founded have been at the beginning or the forefront of new industries And then the industry takes off and I start to look for, well, what's the next thing?

It's just been my way of doing things because I love to be interested in something. I like to learn something new all the time and just expand what I do. So being CEO is really pushing the envelope for me. I'm normally president or spokesperson.

So being CEO is a bigger, heavy lift. And it's been quite an interesting ride.

Gresham Harkless 05:04
Yeah, absolutely. It definitely sounds like you definitely have to be obviously forward thinking as you kind of spoke to be able to see what's coming and what's going where the trends are going to be able to make those correct decisions for yourself and also for your clients.

And so I wanted to drill a little bit deeper and hear a little bit more about elements. If you tell us a little bit more on what we can find there.

Aliza Sherman 05:24
So Ellementa has two sides to the business. We have our consumer-facing side, where we're educating women specifically.

Women hold not just purse strings to the purchases of healthcare products, but they're also deciding what comes into the household, what goes into the medicine chest, and what to give their loved ones, their kids, or their partners, or even their aging parents. So women are a very key door opener for any brand that wants to get their product into the home.

So we focus on educating women about cannabis and CBD because there's so much misinformation out there. There's also very little good information about how it fits into a healthy lifestyle or women's health.

So, and even the role of women as moms, as parents, how do you handle what's going on with the legalization of cannabis in many different states? So, that's our consumer side.

And we have these events that go on in cities right now, over 60 cities across North America. We're looking to expand into the UK and Australia, and hopefully New Zealand, because I love New Zealand.

And so that's one aspect that whole education and events and we also do this online. We do webinars and online events like film screenings.

So these are again ways of educating the consumer. Now, we also have the brand side and that's where we work with companies who want to reach women.

Who appreciate the power of women as consumers, but don't know how to do it the right way, or they're limited because cannabis companies can't really advertise. So how can they directly reach the consumer?

So that is the B2B side of our company, is working directly with brands.

Gresham Harkless 07:11
Nice. I definitely appreciate that kind of holistic approach, not just from, you know, what you're teaching, but also having the B2C, but also having the B2B aspect where you're essentially the person, the connector, the connecting company for the women, but also for the brands as well.

Aliza Sherman 07:28
But we call it the bridge. We're the bridge.
We're the bridge between the consumer and we educate her so she's primed and ready to buy the right products. And then we are serving that brand.

How do you reach that woman in the right way? And also making sure these brands are paying attention to things like testing.
and getting your test results out there because this is plant medicine.

This is not the same thing as just buying a pill off the shelf. There's a lot of variability to plant medicine and anyone who knows alternative medicine, herbal remedies, Chinese herbs, aromatherapy, you're more familiar with that process. But most people are just used to pulling something off of the drugstore shelf or getting a prescription and then that's it.

That's what you use and it's going to do a certain thing. So plat medicine is a lot more individual, and that's the kind of thing that we want to communicate.

So we want to make sure that when we recommend a product, that company's paying close attention to the things that are important to women. Everything from, what am I putting into my body and into the bodies of my loved ones?

But also, what is this company like? Do they have good ethics and morals? Are they giving back to their community? Do they support women?
So that's also very important to know about the female consumer.

Gresham Harkless 08:44
Yeah, absolutely. And it's definitely great to hear because you're so dialed into the female consumer, that you are able to communicate with these brands and make sure that they understand the things that are at the forefront are the most important and the priorities, you know, from the consumer, because you're able to be that bridge, you're able to make sure who comes across or who doesn't come across that bridge, because you have that idea of what's at the forefront.

Aliza Sherman 09:06
Yeah, well, we call ourselves an expert in women and cannabis. We have been doing this for a couple of years now. We survey our women. We have a whole lot of data about the women who we serve, what they like, what they don't like.

We call it the perceptions of cannabis, the purchasing habits, and the preferences. Those three P's, if you will, are the window that we look through as we're gazing at what do women want and what do they need? And then when you discover what they want and they need and you serve them, everyone else benefits. Like I said, the kids benefit, the spouse benefits, the aging parents benefit, the circle of friends.

If your friend has cancer, who is usually the one that's going over to offer the support? So knowing how cannabis or CBD can help in these various aspects of our lives and our health, I think is really important. And that's what we do.

Gresham Harkless 10:07
Nice. Well, that's definitely great to hear and great to hear that you guys have been able to build that and then you'll have that in so many different cities across the world. So I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and you might have already touched on this, but this could be for you or your organization, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Aliza Sherman 10:25
For me, I think a secret sauce is operating entirely from a place of integrity. I believe in total honesty. I make a lot of mistakes. I know I do.

Maybe I don't always. I admit to all of them, or so says my husband. But I really want to learn from my mistakes, and I want to learn from others. So I'm very open.

I'm very transparent. I will tell you the way it is. Sometimes people think that's a little bit too blunt. Ultimately, when you operate with complete honesty, then you don't have a lot of backpedaling to do.

You're not hiding anything. People realize that they can trust you sooner and earlier. It takes less time to trust somebody who's really open and honest, I believe. That's my secret sauce.

Gresham Harkless 11:11
Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And I feel like being consistent because a person knows exactly who you are, that goes a long way because they know you're going to be blunt.

You're going to be honest and definitely If they understand that, then they know that that's what's always gonna consistently happen.

So I appreciate that and appreciate what you're doing. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Aliza Sherman 11:39
Well, I do wake up quite early and it's not always a deliberate thing. It happens. It's when you get older, you just kind of sleep less and wake up early, but I use it to my advantage.

I really find that those morning hours, I have so much more clarity, no distractions at all because everyone else is asleep.

and I am much more productive. So I can front load a lot of my work in those wee early hours. And then by the time everyone starts waking up and the emails start flowing, the phone calls start happening, I've taken care of a lot of the work.

Gresham Harkless 12:15
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or if you could hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Aliza Sherman 12:26
I would tell my younger self that business seems like it's everything, but if you don't have everything else around you in good shape, business is not going to be the cure-all.

And so I think this kind of touches a little bit on what I was saying to the previous question. At the end of the day, nobody said on their deathbed, I wish I'd spent way more time at work. I think many of us aren't even in touch with that yet. We feel invincible.

We feel like we're going to live forever. When you kind of go past 50, which is where I'm at now, you begin to slow down and realize, hold on a second. I did a lot of crazy things, particularly around work back in my 20s and 30s. It's not sustainable.

And then as people around you, your loved ones pass away, you're like, wait a minute, wait a minute, what's really important? So I love work. I love my company and I love business in general. My whole identity has been around that.

I would tell my younger self, Find your true identity, your truth, your personal truth. Live that. Business will be really great if you do that. Relationships will be good.

Family life would be good. Taking care of yourself will be really a priority if you live your truth. So that's my nugget. That's my takeaway for my younger self.

Gresham Harkless 13:52
That's absolutely perfect. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote unquote CEOs on this show. So Elisa, what does being a CEO means to you?

Aliza Sherman 14:04
Being a CEO to me means steering the ship, having a vision about what is out there, but being able to steer flexibly to be able to find the best path for the ship that you're steering. The ship is the business. And not considering your company your baby. It's not.

A business is a vehicle, it's an entity that is separate from yourself. So you want to steer that ship. You absolutely want to have empathy. You can't be non-emotional.

But there is a path for this entity. And you're bringing a lot of people along with you. So having that vision and having a clear view of what's out there, and then steering that ship with flexibility. That's really what being a CEO is all about.

Gresham Harkless 15:02
Melissa, I appreciate your time and appreciate all the awesome things you're doing. I wanted to pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and of course, how best they can get ahold of you.

Aliza Sherman 15:13
Well, I think that the key thing to remember is we're all kind of in this together. Either if you're in the cannabis industry, we do have this feeling we're all in this together because there's a lot of things going against us right now and we're all trying to do good work and bring good things to people, good medicine to people.
But even as somebody running a business, we're all in this together. This is hard.

Running a startup especially, very hard. And you can find me at alizasherman.com, A-L-I-Z-A-S-H-E-R-M-A-N. And then I'm at Aliza Sherman, pretty much all the social media platforms out there. I like Twitter, so I tend to be on Twitter the most.

I'm a little bit on Instagram. But my company, Ellementa, is at Ellementa Woman, singular, pretty much everywhere.

Gresham Harkless 16:06
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And we'll make sure to have those links in the show notes as well.
And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Aliza Sherman 16:12
Thank you. You do the same.

Outro 16:13
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB nation and blue 16 media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I am CEO is not just a phrase.

It's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five star rating.

This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr.
Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]

The post IAM2627 – Web Pioneer Behind a Global Women’s Health Company appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2626 – Founder Leads Media Agency with Motion Graphics

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 06:16:14 -0400

In this episode, we have Maria Rapetskaya founder of Undefined Creative, which now boasts a nine‑year track record and a small, fully remote team of four dedicated staff.

Undefined Creative specializes in motion‑graphics and end‑to‑end creative production. The firm handles everything from initial scripting and branding to sound mixing, shoot organization, and final delivery.

Over time, the agency has secured high‑profile clients like A&E Networks, NHL, NBC Universal, and the United Nations, expanding from traditional TV show graphics to a broad mix of digital and event work.

Maria’s “secret sauce” is rooted in a lifestyle‑first philosophy: she built the company to support a relaxed, healthy work life, emphasizing low overhead, remote work, and self‑driven employees who can thrive without constant supervision.

Website: www.undefinedcreative.com

www.defineyourpath.co

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Transcription:

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Maria Rapetskaya Teaser 00:00
I came from post-production, which in my case meant working on TV shows. So I was doing branding for television shows, graphical support for television shows. And so at the start, our bread and butter was still working with networks on TV shows. So one of my first clients was actually the Maury Povich show.

They're still a phenomenal client of mine. We do a lot of work with NBC Universal. We've done a bunch of projects with them since on pilots.

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:57
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Maria Repitskaya of Undefined Creative.

Maria, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Maria Rapetskaya 01:08
Great. Thank you so much, Gresh. Happy to be here.

Gresham Harkless 01:11
No problem, super excited to have you on. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Maria so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

Maria is the founder of Undefined Creative, a media production agency with a focus on motion graphics. She has built the company's reputation with clients like A&E Networks, NHL, NBC Universal, and United Nations on good old-fashioned customer service and consistent execution on brand, on time and on budget.

Despite her creative director title, she stubbornly remains a hands-on creative in both design and production, doing what she truly loves on a daily basis.

As a serious pay it forward, give backer, Maria is dedicated to volunteering and pro bono work as a mentor. She helps other creatives, especially young women, develop careers that accurately express their personalities and goals.

A near native New Yorker, Maria lives in Brooklyn with her husband and a few plants but escapes often with 60 plus countries under her belt in County Maria, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Maria Rapetskaya 02:13
Absolutely. Let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 02:15
So to kick everything off I want to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and we'll let you to start your business.

Maria Rapetskaya 02:20
So I started my business by default. I had no desire to be an entrepreneur. I do come from a very entrepreneurial family, but entrepreneurial in the sense of just people who wanted to be on their own schedules, doing their own thing with no bosses.

And that usually meant some kind of sales gigs, or in the case of my mom, she just worked with private clients her whole life.

So I started in post-production in New York City, and I spent the first probably six or seven years of my career working with one design studio for about a year, and then five and a half years as an art director in post-production.

And it had a lot of pluses, but it had one major minus, and that was two weeks of vacation a year. and counting my sick days. And those were two things that I did not want to spend the rest of my life doing.

So I went freelance, quickly realized that that too was not the answer because at least in my industry, freelancers were required to put in some crazy hours on day rates.

And so whether you stayed for eight hours or 14 on your day rate, didn't really matter, you got paid the same. And really it was in some ways the worst of all worlds because I had no say in the way things were run.

I had no real pull in how a project was gonna be directed as a freelancer, but I was also the person who would get stuck doing the thing until it was done.

And so there was really nothing else left but to start my own thing, which I did. I had my first company with a partner that we had for about five years together.

And then I rebooted with a company I currently have, which is about nine and a half years old now. So I spent the first six months by myself trying to run everything from operations to creative to production, quickly realized that that was practically impossible.

Also because I just somehow by some magic coincidence, the moment that I rebooted, I got some much more serious, much more steady clients. And so about six months out, I brought on a full-time executive producer.

She and I ran things together with some freelance help, , some freelance help for probably about five or six years. And then finally we realized that freelance help was also unreliable.

So we started hiring full-timers. So now we have two full-time staff besides the two of us. So we're four in total.

Gresham Harkless 05:23
Nice. Well, definitely a great day to kind of hear like the, , the progression from, you know, you and your family. to what you're building and growing now. So I wanted to hear a little bit more on like, what do you guys do at Undefined Creative?

Could you take us through, I guess, also how you kind of serve the clients you work with?

Maria Rapetskaya 05:42
Yeah. So as I mentioned, I came from post-production, which in my case meant working on TV shows. So I was doing branding for television shows, graphical support for television shows. My executive producer also came from a similar background.

We actually had worked together in the past for a nber of years. And so at the start, our bread and butter was still working with networks on TV shows. So one of my first clients was actually the Maury Povich show. They're still a phenomenal client of mine.

We do a lot of work with NBC Universal. We've done a bunch of projects with them since on pilots, when the pilots get picked up. we get to do the actual graphics package. Harry Connick Jr.

was probably one of the most high profile examples of that. So Harry, which was a show that he had for a couple of years, that was our work. And then lots has changed over the past nine, 10 years. And so now a very good chunk of the work that we do also includes network promos, includes all sorts of digital marketing content.

So whether it's explainer videos or digital promotion or, , offsite, big screen kind of stuff. Um, and then we also do events. Uh, so for the last three years, we've been doing all of the screen graphics for the NHL awards. For example, we've done, , multiple events for the United nations, such as the equator prize initiative awards.

So that we've been doing since 2010 as well. So it's a really mixed bag. But primarily what we do is anything from the very beginnings of a project, which would be scripting as necessary, the branding, the design work, all the way through the end, getting people to do the sound mix, we'll organize shoots if necessary, we'll produce the shoots if necessary. So really just spans the whole gamut of creative production.

Gresham Harkless 07:50
Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that. And I was actually going to, you know, ask that and mention that because it seems like, you know, obviously when you're watching like the NHL awards or whatever, or the Maury Povich show, whatever it might be, like you just kind of think that all those things just happen, but I'm sure there's a process behind that.

I know you touched on what that process looks like, but
I'm sure it's a lot more than it just being a snap of your fingers appearing.

Maria Rapetskaya 08:12
Yeah, well, I get a lot of blank eyes. A little bit less now, because I think digital media is just so ubiquitous. But for many, many, many years of my career, when I said that what I do primarily is broadcast design, people would look at me blankly. And when I explained, it would occur to them that they know exactly what I'm talking about.

They've never before thought about the fact that someone actually did that stuff. It just kind of appears.

Gresham Harkless 08:44
Right. It was all a part of the show, so it's great to hear.

It's like a fairy tale. But no, there's actually a lot that it sounds like there's involved in that. So thank you for breaking down all those different pieces and aspects.

And, I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce and this can be for you personally, or it could be for your organization, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Maria Rapetskaya 09:09
It's a really interesting question. I think with respect to the company, I think there's, there's really two answers because with respect to the company, I think what really makes this company unique is I started this place from the perspective of lifestyle first.

What I was aiming was not a particular client list. It wasn't a particular nber of yearly sales.
It was, I'd like to live in a relaxed, comfortable way that actually permits me to be sick and to go on vacation.

And so with that philosophy in mind, that's just kind of how the whole place was established. everything about the company has to do with finding people to work with who share this goal for themselves effectively, which you could say, of course, well, everyone shares this goal.

However, in order to accomplish this, we have to keep our overhead really low as a small company that's just kind of focused on, you know, our mental and physical well-being, frankly, so to speak.

So we're all remote. So every single person who is working with me has to be incredibly self-driven, has to be incredibly responsible, has to be able to get the job done without someone standing over their heads.

And so, you know, there's this idea of like working in your pajamas, which is amazing. And I think many people want to do that, but not everyone can.

And we've had plenty of times where, you know, we would, especially with freelancers, where we would very quickly realize that we're working with someone who can't function without someone standing over their shoulder.

And that's just not the way that we work. And so I think the secret sauce for the company became really finding the people who get what we're after, who want this kind of a lifestyle, but who also understand the level of responsibility and hard work that goes into making this a reality. So I think that's just kind of the secret sauce for the company.

The secret sauce for myself is, I fortunately, I think for my own sanity, have never thought to derive my sort of personal meaning from what I do for a living.

I've kept those things very, very separately in my life so that, you know, my company is amazing and I love it, I love what I do, but it doesn't define me and that takes a lot of the pressure off. and it keeps what I do lighthearted and fun, and I know that nothing is eternal. At some point, I'm not building IBM.

This isn't gonna be a company that lives on beyond me in any way. And I do what I do for as long as the clients are here and for as long as people wanna work with us, and that's great.

But there's really no huge pressure beyond that. Yeah, so that's what I got for you.

Gresham Harkless 12:38
Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that because kind of both of them go back, goes back to kind of being able to kind of like an artist with a paintbrush to be able to figure out exactly what you want because you've been able to build the business according to how exactly you want it.

But also, by building, it sounds like, correct me if I'm wrong, by building the business exactly how you want it, it also has allowed you to attract the right people.

That are able to also have those same values, one, and two, probably even more, so probably able to execute on those values as well.

Now I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Maria Rapetskaya 13:22
I think originally that answer would have been, I figured out what my natural schedule actually is, when I like to start working and when I need my breaks, and I stopped fighting it, which was definitely something that became possible.

Gresham Harkless 13:40
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I love both of those hacks. Meditating, obviously, I think it helps me at least make sure I get kind of ahead of the day before the day gets a hold of me, which often happens.

But I think, too, just being able to kind of stay in tune to those things as you kind of touched on before is just kind of important overall.

So I think those are great CEO hacks. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Maria Rapetskaya 14:17
The first thing I would tell my younger business self is don't wait to network. Don't wait to build contacts. Don't wait to do business development until you're actually finding yourself in need of clients.

Gresham Harkless 14:32
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And so now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote unquote CEOs on the show. So Maria, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Maria Rapetskaya 14:45
It means setting the tone for this ship and keeping myself responsible to the ideas that I've sort of infused this company with.

Gresham Harkless 14:57
I wanted to thank you again for the time and pass you the mic, so to speak, and see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Maria Rapetskaya 15:08
So I guess the one thing I would say is, you know, get creative with how you run things. We've definitely had some bps along the way. We, you know, there was one year when two of our major clients, one we lost and the second one was the NHL.

They went on a major lockout. And so we lost a good chunk of our income for that year and basically the course of two weeks. And we had to get very creative as to how we were gonna survive.

Gresham Harkless 15:38
And now people that wanna follow up with you, Maria, what's the best way for them to reach out to you?

Maria Rapetskaya 15:44
Email Maria at undefinedcreative.com. Check out the website and yeah, that's the best possible way.

Gresham Harkless 15:51
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Maria. We'll have those links in the show notes as well. I appreciate your time and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Maria Rapetskaya 15:59
You too, have a good one.

Outro 16:00
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co.

I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Don't forget to schedule your complimentary digital marketing consultation at Blue16media.com.

This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]

The post IAM2626 – Founder Leads Media Agency with Motion Graphics appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2625 – 90 Days Left: The Journey Continues

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 06:16:08 -0400

In this episode, Gresham reflects on the steep learning curve of his one‑year franchise‑broker program, now 276 days in, noting that the experience has been far tougher than expected. He describes how competing priorities, imposter syndrome, and a lack of closed deals have forced him to reassess his focus.

Using a vivid gym metaphor (pushing a weighted sled), Gresham illustrates the temptation to “look up” and over‑analyze versus staying “head‑down” and grinding.

He underscores that business success requires a clear why, vision, and the willingness to recalibrate goals, strategies, and revenue streams. Though the franchise venture hasn’t yet yielded fruit, he remains committed to building an ecosystem of multiple income sources—digital marketing, affiliate programs, and “CEO hacks”—and promises to keep the audience updated with fresh goals and actionable moves.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

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Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:28
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO podcast. And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet.

So to speak, I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to docent my journey into starting what is now called blue star franchise. We're also going to do a kind of subcite within CB nation called a franchise CEO.

So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But I just want to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to docent your journey.

Going through and building this out. I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously, for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube. Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this. So I have that information that's available to you. But Regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build. It needs you to be your unique self. So make sure to run your own race because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out.

I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

It's day 276 of this franchise broker journey. Just got done with my workout. We just got back.

I didn't do any recordings the last few days. I just completely kind of checked out. But it's crazy because there's less than 90 days left in my one year journey of this franchise broker. being a franchise broker, it's been extremely hard, a lot harder than I thought.

I think one of the hardest things for me probably is that sometimes when you have other things, it's harder to burn the boats and try to take the island. But also like when you see that it's not, I don't want to say it's not easy.

But there's not a lot of, you take the wins, I think you create those wins. You see, you get somebody further along in the journey so that the next person you hopefully get further along in the journey. I think that's where I was kind of at.

But I think at some point I started to say, hey, like, I need to focus more on my digital marketing business because that's bearing fruit. And I have a team there and things like that. And you start to look and you say, hey, should I have done this?

And all the doubts, the imposter syndrome, all those things fill up and come and take over you.
But in these last 90 days, I think that I've had to pivot and I've had to pivot pretty strongly in what I was doing like to really like focus on a specific kind of market.

Those are people that have been laid off and I think that even with that there's the whole psychology of actually running a business. And I think that what I really wanted to do was try to find the low-hanging fruit of people that were interested in business, had already started a business and maybe wanted to move forward. And, you know, I definitely gave it, you know, gave it my energy.

And I think that, you know, will I reevaluate this and see if this is something that I ultimately want to do? probably, but I think I've already made the investment.

And once you make that initial investment, it's just a matter of saying, okay, like, how do you want to go about doing this? Are you doing this as, you know, your main thing?

Are you doing this as your secondary thing? And I think that's kind of like where I'm at. It's like, really you know, being clear and honest about like what this is and what it looks like. And I think that I definitely wanted to be able to sit down and say, hey, this is the goal that I had.

And this is me kind of crushing those goals and and getting in that mindset in order t

o do that. And I think that the I don't want to even say mistake. I think I'm further along than I would have been if I would have started probably when I said I should have started, which is probably maybe around May, June timeframe.

But dang, I think this, I'm so shocked still that I haven't been able to close a deal yet.
And I'm even more shocked that I've started to like, you know, I started to look up from the sled. I think I talked about it in the beginning when I went to train with my cousins.

They were trying to go to the NFL and they played football and they went to this, you know, one of these box gyms that was like a warehouse and there's just a bunch of weights there and stuff's clanging and all that stuff. So I went to train with them.

And I remember I did the weight workout where you put the weights on the sled and you push the sled and you literally go down. And I remember my cousin saying, you were getting it. And then you just stop. And I said, I looked up and they were like, you never look up.

And I think that I have looked up in this process. And I know I looked up in this process. And once you look up in this process, that makes you slow down. It makes you stop.

That makes you reconsider things. So what I need to do is just to get back on the weights, get down, put my head down and just start pushing.

And I think that's something that I have as a reminder I think that I wanted to recalibrate and I think that it's hard in business because a lot of times you can't just keep doing the same thing over and over again. You can't just keep pushing the sled the same way if you're not getting the success that you want.

But at the same time, you can't look up and say, wait a minute, why am I even pushing this? Why am I doing this? What am I doing this for? And that's where your why and your mission and your vision and those things end up being very strongly.

So for me, like I'm this is very much so a challenge, probably the biggest challenge that I've had in some time. Um, there's some other things I definitely want to do, but what I'm trying to do is to create this whole ecosystem of different revenue streams that I have.

And the digital marketing is still something that's up and going. And I'm very close to that, you know, talking about maybe two clients away, recurring clients away, , the.

The affiliates, the CEO hacks is something that I could build up. But this is the thing that I'm most surprised that I've had the biggest challenges with because I've invested in it.

I've done the things. but it just hasn't bared fruit as much as I would have thought.
There's lots of external things I can't control, but I can control the internal.

What I can do is have a new goal, have a new focus, have a new strategy, lean into that, and get going. So that's what I'm going to do, and we'll definitely take it from here. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 06:43
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Want to level up your business even more?
Read blogs, listen to podcasts, and watch videos at CBNation.co. Also, check out our I Am CEO Facebook group. This has been the I Am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]

The post IAM2625 – 90 Days Left: The Journey Continues appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2624 – Completing the Journey: Day 263 Insights

Sun, 19 Oct 2025 06:16:15 -0400

In this episode, Gresham delves into the mindset behind his venture, using the mantra “finish the fight”—a phrase he recalled from a training‑camp T‑shirt—to illustrate the relentless mental battle entrepreneurs face.

He describes how doubts, funding challenges, and personal hardships (including the loss of his beloved dog) can sap motivation, yet stress the importance of staying locked‑in, persisting through monotony, and using emotional drivers as long‑term fuel rather than short‑term fixes.

This perspective underscores that entrepreneurship is as much about emotional resilience as it is about business tactics.

He emphasizes his goal of carving out a new pathway rather than simply riding a stream of pre‑packaged leads, and he sees disruption and uncertainty as opportunities to innovate.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

If so, you've come to the right place. Grist values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:28
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet. So to speak, I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star franchise. We're also going to do a kind of subcite within CB Nation called a franchise CEO.

So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But I just want to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously, for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the first couple of videos that have been created. But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube.

Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this. So I have that information that's available to you.

But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing. The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build.

It needs you to be your unique self, so make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you.

This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

It's day 263, and there's this idea, this concept, that I was going to training camp.

I went to training camp yesterday, actually. I think it was training camp, but it's not that I do football. But either way, a few years ago.

[restrict paid=”true”]

I remember, it might have been about four or five years ago, They had this t-shirt, didn't work out obviously, but the idea was called finishing the fight. And the reason I wanted to bring that up is because we're constantly in this fight, this battle to get what we want in life.

And I think so many times we get through the mud, we get through the challenges, we get through the drudgery, we get through the monotony of like what that looks like.

Especially like going through this broker journey, you know, You're going through the challenges of what that looks like, what that might be. And I think when you come across something like that, as my alarm goes off, you can easily put in this place where you're like, hey, I'm not going to make it. It's not going to work out.

I'm not cut out for this. And just all this self-doubt that can kind of come up. But I think it's so important to make sure to really be locked in and stuck on finishing that fight, to keep fighting, to keep going, to keep doing the things that you need to do.

So whether it be like starting out or starting your business and dealing with the mental battle of those around you that may not, you know, support you or potentially, you know, just going through a challenging, personal reasons that you're going through, you know, through the process.

Or maybe you didn't have the funding and the funding fell through and all those things happened as you were trying to actually fund your franchise or whatever it might be, it's important to finish the fight.

And I think for me, like not having closed that business, it's definitely one of those mental, emotional, and all those things that could kind of dial on you and pull on you.

Especially, I think in the grand scheme of things, one of the reasons I did this was in tribute to my dog that passed away. And not being able to, I feel like, in the way that I want to, to be able to, celebrate her, celebrate all the awesome things she was able to do.

The idea of like actually getting connected with her is definitely, you know, frustrating. There's no doubt. But I think, you know, I didn't do this for a year. You know, I didn't do this for, you know, just a few days or just a few months or just to get one deal.

I did it for the long term. And I think if I was to go back, I would just tell myself that and remind myself of the process that I can kind of go through and that process can start, you know, whenever.

And I think with all the things happening and juggling and just so many things that, you know, you juggle this in terms of business, having multiple business ventures, whether they're profitable or not, just having them requires a certain amount of upkeep and work.

You know, being able to kind of have people and manage a team and all those things that ends up being a lot.
So I think you always want to try to set up, you know, I wouldn't even necessarily say a better time.

I think I started when I should have started. And I think all it is telling me is that I would have approached it differently, and I probably would have moved a little bit slower. And would have been more into the testing mode earlier on.

But with that being said, I remember what the person said when I had these calls that he would experiment the most.

And it's not to say that I didn't experiment. I definitely have, and I will continue to. But I think it's just I'm happy with myself and not deciding to purchase from the lead portals.

I think that's the biggest one that I had. As I started to not have some success, I started to be kind of pushed or compelled. And even like when I first signed up, we got a lead pack with that.

I think that can be very addictive because once you get that lead pack, you have a lead or two coming in every single day. You want to have that constantly.
So what I fought against is not getting caught in that trap because I'm in this to hopefully create a new pathway or a new way to kind of do things.

I think that's ultimately where I'm at is how do I get that together and how do I create this opportunity to be able to really leverage that.

The great opportunity to create something new when there's definitely any type of unsettling, any type of shifts and changes, this is where you have the opportunity to create a new pathway, new opportunity.

That's what I really signed up for this to do. And it's not an easy journey. It's a journey that, as a matter of fact, is sometimes if everybody's going right, you're going to go left.

And you might end up going left and then further left and further left because the left that you thought didn't work.

And I think that's the thing I signed up to do. And we'll see what ultimately kind of happens from here. But I'll keep up and keep on to keep and finish the fight. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 06:29
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Check out the latest and greatest apps, books, and habits to level up your business at ceohacks.co.
This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]

The post IAM2624 – Completing the Journey: Day 263 Insights appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2623 – Overcoming Public Struggles: The Final Sprint

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 06:16:52 -0400

In this episode, Gresh emphasizes the importance of staying true to one’s unique vision while continuously “building”.

He explores the frustration of low leaderboard rankings, the feeling of being “mid‑tier” among roughly a hundred brokers, and the broader challenge of navigating early‑stage struggles.

Despite the setbacks, he frames these hurdles as learning opportunities, stressing the need to adjust strategies, sharpen mental resilience, and keep pushing forward toward the goal of becoming a million‑dollar broker.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet. So to speak, I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.

We're also going to do a kind of subsite within CB Nation called a franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But I just want to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this, because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to docent your journey going through and building this out.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously, for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube. Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.

So I have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

It's hard to believe there's been 100 days of this broker journey, 100 days left. And it'll be a year in this broker journey at zero sales.

And I think one of the things that is probably most interesting about these recordings is that I haven't made a sale and what that feels like, what that looks like when you're going through your business and you're struggling and it's not working.

[restrict paid=”true”]

What do you do in other parts of your life for struggling as well, too? And it's just like a juggle of all these different things. And I think what we what I often have heard from people that go through this journey is like a lot of times you just struggle in the beginning.

Like there's one person that I talked to that I kind of hit hit home run within his first year, I wanted to duplicate that. That was really my goal. And I did do that. And I think that's the really big challenges.

How do you navigate those things? How do you navigate the struggles and the challenges so that you can get better? How do you continue on no matter the reason why?

And I think that's what has definitely been more of the, learning lesson that I've, you know, picked up over the year is that I definitely have to, you know, I have to adjust like what I'm doing, I have to be better.

But I also think that, you know, that's part of the process, you know, as part of the things that you do, you expect it to be able to make these sales, you expect it to be able to do these things, and you have not done them.

And I think that is extremely frustrating for me. as somebody who doesn't like to not get things done. I think when I looked at the leaderboards, I was like, hey, I could definitely be here or be there.

And the reality is that you're not anywhere near where you want to be on the leaderboard. You're not high up at all.

And I think it's very interesting because I think even without making a sale, you know, I'm within, you know, top 60 or so people, which tells you, and then I don't
know how many brokers there are.

But I want to say probably it's at least like a hundred plus. So if they're, if I'm, you know, halfway through that tells you that a lot of us are not doing really well.

So, you know, it's, it's kind of, you know, are these put their nbers in and things like that. So, It's it just makes you kind of look at it and say, OK, what can I do?

Because I don't want to continue to kind of be here. I want to continue to kind of change. You want to be a million-dollar broker and, you know, flip the switch towards getting towards that. And, you know, you just got to kind of continue to work through that and see what happens.

It's wild to me. That's wild to me to kind of see this there. So, you know, I take a lot of home on pie. You do this public struggle.

I think that one of the things around struggling is it brings people together, but you just start to see that, hey, maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was. But I think you want to have that confidence.

You want to have that mental part that you are as good as you thought you were. And you will overcome this.

And this is the mental part that any time you're going through any type of struggles, your mental will be the thing that takes the biggest hit.

So you want to keep that sharpened. You want to keep that good. And you want to continue to fight the good fight and do what you can do.

You got to get there. So that's where I'm at, is that this mental part, as I'm looking at the first, you know, 100 days or so left before the beginning, before it's an entire year.

And yeah, I'm just in this place where it's, wow, it's a lot, but I want to continue to get one step at a time, for sure. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 05:26
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co.

I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]

The post IAM2623 – Overcoming Public Struggles: The Final Sprint appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2622 – Reframe Your Broker Journey Today

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 06:16:11 -0400

In this episode, Gresh believes that sharing the highs and lows of starting any business can help aspiring founders see the real‑world path, not just polished success stories.

He also shares a daily gratitude journal practice he’s kept for four years, citing a Maya Angelou quote—“you may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated”—and reflecting on Michael Jordan’s pivot from basketball to baseball as an illustration of having to relearn fundamentals and stay resilient when new ventures don’t immediately take off.

The core of Gresh's message is about mindset. He admits that recent years have left his mental sharpness dulled, so he now prioritizes “sharpening his mind” through deliberate learning, reframing, and focusing on the process rather than the outcome.

He stresses that challenges on his “broker journey” are part of growth, urging listeners—especially builders and creators—to keep running their own unique race, stay committed to personal development, and reach out for further support or updates.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:28
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise. We're also going to do a kind of subcite within CB nation called.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously, for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the first couple of videos that have been created. But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube.

Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this. So I have that information that's available to you.

But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing. The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build.

It needs you to be your unique self, so make sure to run your own race because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

On the 261 of this broker journey, I had a phenomenal prompt yesterday. I do this gratitude journal every single day. I kind of look into my day.

I've done it for a couple of years, last maybe four years or so. One of the things it said was, there's a quote from Maya Angelou, it said, you may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.

It may be necessary to encounter the defeat so you can know who you are. And it talked a lot around the actual prompt itself.

It talked around Michael Jordan decided to leave basketball at the height of his career going to pursue basketball and pursue baseball. And how he did it, because it was a passion, his dad's passion, after his dad passed away.

And I think that how we went through that process and how it showed so much him, even the hility of like not being able to do it having to learn something again, be better at it and I'm, I feel like I'm not calling myself a Michael Jordan of digital marketing or anything like that have some success and having that success you try to replicate that with this broker business and it has not taken off.

I don't want to draw the parallel and say this is my baseball from Michael Jordan, but it is something that you have to kind of learn the basics again.

I was just thinking this morning like it's a lot harder than I thought it would be and I think when you're in this space and spirit and those things are happening the way you don't you they don't you want them to.

They're not going the way you want them to you just have to really Respect the process, understand the process, understand these things are happening for you and not against you or in spite of you or any of those things and have that mentality.

As I was running this morning and as I get ready to go to church, one of the things that I realized is I have not sharpened my mind and continue to sharpen my mind as much as I had in previous years this past probably two to three years or so.

So it's something that I really, really want to hone in on, take some more time and create space to do. It's something that I realized, like, you know, you're going to the next goal, the next goal, the next goal, and you use sight of the mindset that it takes to be there.

And I can frankly probably even say I, I listened to a lot of stuff. I did a lot of podcasts, but I wasn't as deliberate with those things.

So that's something that I really need to do is to kind of do that reframing, refocusing of like where I am and, but sharpen my mind more than anything else, because that's the thing that can be your greatest strength or can honestly betray you depending on how you're sharpening it.

So that said, you know, these challenges, this broker journey that the struggles that I'm going through here and not being able to kind of get as much ground as I wanted. It's all part of the process and what I want to ultimately do.

So that's it. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 04:18
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase. It's a community.

Don't forget to schedule your complimentary digital marketing consultation at Blue16media.com. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]

The post IAM2622 – Reframe Your Broker Journey Today appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2621 – Founder and PR Expert Helps Small Business Get National Media Coverage

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 06:16:47 -0400

In this episode, we have Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases, who turned a creative‑writing degree and a grueling wait‑staff job into a 25‑year PR career that helps small businesses get national media coverage without the huge budgets of big brands.

He learned early that raw data alone doesn’t attract journalists; stories need a hook and context. By building a Rolodex of ~10,000 journalists and partnering with PR Newswire for high‑volume, discounted distribution, he provides an affordable alternative to costly newswire services.

Kennedy’s key growth hack is a “survey‑and‑trade‑association” tactic: commission niche industry surveys, get trade groups to distribute them, and issue press releases that spotlight surprising findings. The resulting resource pages earn dozens of editorial links, boost SEO, and turn thin‑content sites into recognized thought‑leaders.

He stresses targeting the right journalists, avoiding generic email blasts, and using contrarian angles to stand out—plus trusting hires, avoiding micromanagement, and constantly split‑testing processes.

Website: www.ereleases.com

LinkedIn: Mickie Kennedy

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

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Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Mickie Kennedy Teaser 00:00
I use it as a model to test whether that works for others, and it does. And what they would do is they would then go to a trade association for each of these little verticals, not the big one, but there's a lot of smaller ones in every industry, and say, hey, could you send this survey to your members?

In exchange, we'll put you in a press release we're issuing over PR Newswire in the coming weeks. About two-thirds of the time I found that they will.

Get the results. Focus on one or two of the biggest surprises of the survey. Make sure you're asking the meaningful questions, you know, trends.

Intro 00:33
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 01:00
Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have an awesome guest on the show today. I have Mickie Kennedy. Mickie, excited to have you on the show.

Mickie Kennedy 01:08
Oh, thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:09
Yes, I'm super excited to have you on and talk about all the awesome things that you're doing. And of course, before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Mickie so you can hear about some of those awesome things.

And ever wonder why some businesses get featured in the media while others get ignored? And is PR just for big brands, or can small businesses use press releases to build credibility and drive real results.

Well, Mickie has spent over 25 years helping small businesses land media coverage that actually matters. And as the founder of eReleases, he's cracked the code on getting press without a big budget.

Get ready for insider PR strategies that can put your business on the map. And before preparing for this, one of the really cool things I found out about Mickie is that he writes poetry as well. So he's also located in the DMV as well as I am in the Baltimore, Maryland area, I believe.

But he has an MFA in creative writing with a focus on poetry. And he's written some books, done some awesome things. So I'm super excited to dive right in. Mickie, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Mickie Kennedy 02:05
I am, yes.

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Gresham Harkless 02:06
Let's get it started then. So to kind of kick everything off, let's rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little bit more on how you got started what I call your CEO Story.

Mickie Kennedy 02:13
So I finished my graduate degree in creative writing and just assumed I would go from part-time waiting tables to full-time, which I did over a summer and realized this really sucks.

My back hurt, my knees hurt, standing was probably 14-hour days. It was not a 40-hour work week. It tends to be 50, 60 hours.

I just decided I needed to pivot to a safe office job and I got hired at a telecom research startup as employee of three.

And because I had writing in my background, they said, hey, you know, write some press releases and send them out. And I did. And we sent them out by fax.

So this was like close to 30 years ago. And I realized that we were publishing data, which we'd always heard is good for PR, but we weren't really putting the context and story around the data.

And we had just published Caribbean telecom traffic to and from the United States and so it was like this was different and You know we the phones rang the cells poured in because we published these data in yearbooks and we just started selling them and I I continued to do the more story-angled press release, trying to figure out what the hook is, the story, and then back it with the data that we had.

But the data just wasn't like a table anymore. The table wasn't working. The journalists weren't going to go figure out what's interesting behind this data we needed to bring that to their attention.

And it was just really transformative for this small business and I would just felt so like wow I wish I could do this for other people and at the same time every time I would do a fact I'd get like It started out like four or five phone calls and after a while like a dozen or so phone calls.

Almost everybody said, hey, quit faxing, start emailing. And so all of a sudden I remember when I could keep the fax machine with the less than 100 numbers already in it and not have to delete it.

And so I just pull it out and hit send and just get rid of numbers over time as people convert it to email. And I thought to myself, you know, I could do this so much easier for other people through email.

And so I spent a year getting email addresses for journalists, mostly hanging out in bulletin boards, which is another bygone era of the internet. And it was a fun time, because journalists were just like, you're going to do this for free? You're going to send me leads and stories? And now journalists are like, leave me alone.

And that is the big change. I started my business with my own Rolodex of about 10,000 journalists. And over the years, I partnered with PR Newswire, so all of our releases go out nationally.

The good thing about that is in the US, it's largely a duopoly between Business Wire and PR Newswire, and both of them are very expensive.

It's over $1,700 to move a press release nationally through PR Newswire, 600 words or so. And through us, it's like about a quarter of the price of that, so it's a huge cost savings. The thing is we also commit to doing 10,000 of these a year.

So it's a lot of volume that we're sending them that we're able to leverage a really good discount, and we pass that along to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

And that is the caveat. Our customers are the customers PR Newswire doesn't want to bother reaching out to. They're looking for the corporate clients that are spending $20,000 to $50,000 a year easily, and my people are spending $1,500 a year.

So, it's been a really good partnership with them and has given us access to the newswire.
And that's fortunate because over the last, 20 some years, media databases have become pretty commonplace. So people can license a media database for 5,000 to 20,000 or more.

And what's happened is, a golf club company gets this database. They see 1300 journalists that indicate they're interested in golf and golf products.

They blast it to them, nothing happens. And then they're like, well, you know who else likes to play golf? Bankers and financial analysts. And all of a sudden.

You know, people who report on banking and financial analysts are receiving off targeted press releases that they're never going to write about. And it's like that in every industry, there's off targeting.

So, email used to be great for reaching journalists and now it's probably one of the least, effective ways to reach journalists because they've all, realized that it's a landfill in their inbox. And so a lot of them are relying on the Newswire.

And that's what makes PR Newswire and Businesswire very important, that you're at least on one of them. No need to be on both of them, because it'd just be duplicative. And they are definitely checking both of those for stories. And the wire is very pure.

You don't have the off-target stuff happening. The categories you choose get approved by the wire. And they're put in those feeds and journalists can also create exclusions and inclusions. So, you know, I might cover the fashion industry, but I don't cover ready to wear.

So if it mentions JCPenney or, you know, uh, brands that, uh, are more ready to wear type things that you can, you know, block those so that your feed is very exactly what you're looking for.

Gresham Harkless 07:33
Yeah. Absolutely. I appreciate you so much in sharing that journey. So I want to drill down a little bit more.

Could you take us through a little bit more on how you're working with and serving clients? What exactly does that process look like that someone says that, hey, I want to maybe, you know, drive my business or have more opportunities? I don't know necessarily know how to do that. How do you kind of step in and help out with that?

Mickie Kennedy 07:52
You could be the most non-newsworthy company in the world and still get media very effectively. It just takes a little bit more effort and knowing what types of releases you should focus on.

But I've seen a website years ago that I considered more of a link farm where it just ranked the top 10 of lots of different verticals. you know, architecture, software, graphic designer software, top 10 and things like that.

And it was a very thin website. And they started doing annual surveys in each of these little verticals. And, you know, and I use that as a model to test whether that works for others. And it does.

And what they would do is they would then go to a trade association for each of these little verticals, not the big one. But there's a lot of smaller ones in every industry.

And say, hey, could you send this survey to your members? In exchange, we'll put you in a press release we're issuing over PR Newswire in the coming weeks.

And about two-thirds of the time, I've found that they will. The large ones don't want to cooperate. So stick with the smaller and independent ones. And get the results.

Focus on one or two of the biggest surprises of the survey. Make sure you're asking the meaningful questions, trends that are in the industry.

You focus one or two questions on the survey, put all the questions and responses on a resource page on your website, and link to it, and you'd be shocked at the number of trade publications that will include a link to your website, to that page. And most of them have an editorial standard that they usually don't include links to websites and articles online and stuff like that.

But they usually make an exception for resource-heavy pages, and this survey would definitely qualify. And those links are great for your SEO, and it's just a great way to stand out. To the point that they don't even do the survey anymore. They stopped about two years ago doing the survey.

And every time they did the survey, they got between 14 and 24 links and articles from these trade publications and all these different verticals linking to that page.

And so what was a very thin link farm is now a bona fide brand and it's recognized and they've just established themselves with so much clout and authority. And that's what happens when you get that credibility from ongoing media.

You know, they've probably been in over seven, 800 articles at this point, and they continue to get asked every time there's a trend or something happening in these industries because they're seen as thought leaders and experts within these little verticals.

Gresham Harkless 10:26
Yeah, that's such a huge thing. And I almost wonder if this is part of like your secret sauce, which you feel kind of says you're part of makes you unique is the ability to. not follow what everybody else is doing and be willing to go against the grain or try something different.

I realize, like we said, at the heart of what we're trying to do is solve problems or do whatever it is.

So in order to do that, let's ask the people and let's compile those answers so that it's valuable to other people. So do you feel like your ability to see the forest for the trees, understand that, but also be willing to try something different?

Do you feel like that's something that's just your part of makes you unique?

Mickie Kennedy 10:59
It is. It's the one thing that AI can't replicate. I tell people, if you go to AI and ask it to write a press release, I tell everybody it's been trained on all the press releases. And I would say 97% of press releases don't generate earned media.

If you join the trends, you're going to fail. You won't stand out. There's too many people competing for that. But if you're the one person raising your hand and saying something counter to everybody else in your industry.

That is a time where they will hold you up and you stand the potential of getting published in every article on that subject because journalists, despite what you hear, like to be fair and balanced.

And if no one's giving the con side, and getting it out there, it's very difficult for them to have the other side. You make it easy for them when you're out there and you're willing to provide quotes and talk about the negative or contrarian side point on a particular issue.

Gresham Harkless 11:59
Yeah, that's such a huge thing. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack.

So this could be like an App a book or a habit that you have. It might be something you mentioned already talked about, but what's something you feel like makes you more effective and efficient?

Mickie Kennedy 12:13
I split test processes in my business. So I believe in measuring everything. I used to send a shock and awe package, which I learned in this marketing mastermind when I had a new customer. You know, don't always think you know better than people.

And you're like, if someone brings something to your attention, Like, hey, I found this part of the onboarding clumsy. You can, you can split test two different processes and look at the outcome of the population of people.

As long as you're measuring it in a database, like these are the people that received this package. These are the people that received the other one.

And I just measure the results. And so I, because I'm not a business person, I don't assume anything. I just try to measure as much of the processes as I go.

Gresham Harkless 12:54
Yeah, that's such a huge thing. And so you might have already touched on this as well too, but what would you consider to be a little bit more of what I like to call a CEO nugget?

So this could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice. I'd like to say it might be something you would tell your favorite client, or if you happen to a time machine, you might tell your business self.

Mickie Kennedy 13:09
So I would say it is trust the people that you hire and don't micromanage. I got out of my way, by going home and, focusing on the marketing and all the people that were there then are still there.

That's 10 years later. And even more importantly, revenue is like at least double, maybe triple what it was then.

Cause I could focus on, I wasn't spending 20 hours a week micromanaging the little bits of language with people. And so just trust that you've hired the right people.

Put things in place to measure them. You know, you don't walk away without some kind of measuring them and seeing that they're working.

But do trust that you've hired them and focus on the business. Focus on the important stuff.

Gresham Harkless 13:55
Well, Mickey, truly appreciate that. Of course, I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

Our goal is to have different quote unquote CEOs on the show. So Mickie, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Mickie Kennedy 14:06
I think for me, the CEO is the person that steers the ship. You've got to be looking big picture strategy. When you see media databases making it difficult to reach journalists by email and your businesses rely on email, what that pivot looks like. And partnering with PR Newswire was my solution for that.

And you have to look at the trends and things that are going on and bring those to partners' attentions. Years ago, I brought to PR Newswire's attention that blogs need journalist access to the database, and they were restricting it at the time.

And I showed them that in one particular case of a blogger they refused access to, had more traffic than the trade publication of that industry. And I showed them where to look at the traffic online at the time.

It was Alexis. This was a long time ago. And, they were, they were shocked and then they reversed themselves. And the fortunate thing is today they are open to influencers.

There's a guy on TikTOK called snack later who gets a new grocery snacks every week and he pulls the pictures from press releases and routinely says that's where he's getting his stuff.

They're giving access to, you know, fashion journalists, access to Instagrammers. And so I love that they are pivoting as well, and they're recognizing that where we get news is evolving, but they're still, press releases are a vital resource and a great way to reach people and to get that information in their hands.

Gresham Harkless 15:38
Absolutely. Well, Mickey, truly appreciate that definition. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know.

And of course, how best people can get ahold of you, your team, find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

IAM2620 – Medical Student Develops Content to Showcase Lives of Medical Providers

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 06:16:25 -0400

In this episode, we have Adam Goodcoff, a fourth‑year medical student who transformed his early struggles with imposter syndrome into a thriving online brand called The Med Life.

Focusing on a blend of study tips, travel hacks, and lifestyle content that showcases how medical professionals can enjoy life beyond the hospital or classroom.

Adam’s growth strategy hinged on two core ideas: relentless work ethic (“hustle, grind, stay humble”) and personal connection with his audience.

Looking ahead, he plans to broaden The Med Life’s reach to include other health‑care fields such as nursing, dentistry, and physical therapy, collaborating with experts to create tailored content.

Website: www.seethemedlife.com

Instagram: seethemedlife
YouTube: UCN6oXnDhu4nfACa8J-MN-Zw

Previous Episode: iam369-medical-student-develops-content-to-showcase-lives-of-medical-providers

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Transcription:

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Adam Goodcoff Teaser 00:00
My goal with that visual aspect of Instagram and YouTube is to show there's more to this than just sitting at a desk. You can have fun. You can grow as a person outside of learning all this medical knowledge. The second arm of that prong or idea was, you know, to motivate these students and these healthcare workers.

And like I said, share kind of, you know, what I've learned because I am by no means the, you know, the smartest guy in the room off the bat, but I like to think that I'm one of the hardest workers in the room.

Intro 00:32
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:58
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Adam of The Med Life.

Adam, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Adam Goodcoff 01:08
Thanks so much for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:09
No problem. Super excited to have you on.
And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Adam so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

And Adam is a fourth-year medical student interested in emergency medicine. When he is not studying or seeing patients, he is usually traveling somewhere with his camera. In an effort to motivate and inspire healthcare workers and students alike, he developed the MedLife, a hub for showcasing the lives of medical providers.

His content ranges from study tips to travel hacks and much more, showing that being in healthcare does not have to define your life outside of the hospital or classroom. Adam, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Adam Goodcoff 01:47
Absolutely. Awesome, let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 01:48
So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Adam Goodcoff 01:54
Yeah, so I think it kind of came out of a bunch of failures like a lot of people that start a business I actually started something back in the first year of med school actually, let me take it back even further when I was in college.

I started a blog and that was called the pre-med life and it basically was chronicling and I wasn't exactly a great student in high school and so I wasn't sure that I would even, you know, get into college, get into medical school and, you know, go on from there.

So I figured, let me make this, let me make this blog and let people see what I did from someone who, you know, what I felt like, you know, imposter syndrome shouldn't be there up until,

Hey, maybe I'll get in and people read this and people really connected with it. It was kind of crazy. I had never, really done anything like that. I wasn't really known as like a strong writer and it kind of, you know, morphed into its own thing.

It was on Tblr and, you know, I was super young. I didn't know about monetizing or I, you know, I had really no interest in business at the time.

So I did that and grew that, you know, to a decent size at the time. And when I went to med school, I was kind of, you know, getting, Overworked and didn't have the time that I felt I wanted to commit to writing because I really took time to write those pieces I still I felt like I was reaching a lot of students.

And connecting with a lot of people who you know were not at the top of their class and felt like they still deserved a shot at med school and so I started the you know a YouTube channel called the pre-med life and You know, that was one of my Babies that never really made it.

I put a lot of effort into that. I have actually a partner that I work with and so he does all the editing and I would do, obviously, all the content creation.

And we tried really hard. We had a video or two that got a little bit of traction, but nothing really took off. And between classwork and board exams and things, it kinda just got pushed to the side and unfortunately fell off and never really developed. And we kinda left it.

As I went through medical school, I took kind of an interesting path. I added a year on to teach some anatomy. And during that time, I got kind of some time to reflect and think about what I wanted to do, kind of what I wanted to leave as like a legacy from medical school.

I felt I had learned so much, not only in the classroom, but about being successful, performing well.
I mean, I did not do well in the SATs. I did not do well in the MCAT, which is the Medical College Admissions Test.

I switched that around, I grew from that and my board exams were above average for both our first and second board exams all throughout med school. So I made a big change and I felt like those were things that I could help other people figure out how to do and succeed.

I'm nobody special and so I was kind of motivated and we started the med life, which is kind of the maturation of the pre-med life.

I kind of took what we failed with and built on it and moved forward. And I already knew that audience was there and interested in this information. It was just a matter of reaching them.

And so we did, we launched YouTube. It was, again, it was slow-growing. And my partner in the project here, Josh, suggested that I look at Instagram.

And I had previously deleted the app, wasn't using it for my personal use, but I said, hey, we'll give it a shot.

And so we launched on Instagram and it took off like wildfire, grew incredibly fast. And that's been translating slowly to a growth on YouTube and on from there.

So long-winded answer, but hopefully that kind of gave you an insight as to why I'm kind of starting the med life.

Gresham Harkless 05:27
Yeah, absolutely. No, it's super exciting. I think obviously I see some commonalities between the pre-med life and the med life. So it sounds like you have a trend going on.

But I think that's one of the things that, you know, we always try to remind ourselves of is that, you know, especially in this digital world, but really for a lot of stuff, whether it be business or whatever it is, you know, you have to try.

And, a lot of times you get to learn a lot from trying, whether it does succeed or it's like you mentioned, the failing babies. So whatever happens, but you get to learn a lot from that. But a lot of times, a lot of people are on the sidelines and they never jp out to actually try to do something.

But it's great to hear that you've been able to do that. You've been able to grow and you're still kind of creating.

Adam Goodcoff 06:06
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's that easy. And it's probably one of the most common and we can, I'm sure talk about it later.

One of the most common questions I get on, on Instagram is, you know, how, how do you possibly have time to do this? And, you know, we'll, we'll get into it, but there's, there's no magic bullet.

Gresham Harkless 06:22
Yeah. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. So, I wanted to hear a little bit more on what you're hoping to do with the med life.

I know I touched on it a little bit, you know, when you're reading your bio, but I wanted to hear a little bit more about what people can expect.

Adam Goodcoff 06:34
Absolutely. So right now the goal of the med life is basically to just reach out and connect with those students, healthcare providers.

And I mean really my vision when I started it with, especially with that title was to show that medicine is more than just sitting at your desk. Everyone thinks that, , you go to medical school and you have no life, you don't do anything for two years, three years.

You know, until you're out seeing patients. And, you know, I think that's not true at all. I mean, some of my best memories have been in med school. I've been very fortunate to travel a lot.

I've, you know, met incredible people, had incredible opportunities, and I think it's all how you approach it.

And so my goal with, you know, that visual aspect of Instagram and the YouTube is to show, you know, hey, there's more to this than just sitting at a desk. And you can have fun, you can, you know, grow as a person, Outside of you know learning all this medical knowledge and the second arm of that prong or idea was you know to motivate these students and these health care workers and like I said share kind of You know what?

I've learned because I am by no means that you know the smartest guy in the room off the bat but I like to think that I'm one of the hardest workers in the room and And I think that, you know,

that is something that you can help teach someone, help motivate them and, you know, show them what you did. Because it's not like I sit down, you know, look at something once and boom, I have, you know, an A or a high board score or whatever it is.

I definitely, you know, put in a lot of work, but it pays off. And I think, so my goal was to, you know, get other students doing that because nothing crushes my heart more than seeing students who fail board exams for no real reason, just because of poor strategy or lack of mentorship, motivation, that kind of thing.

That's kind of where the med life is now and I'll just give like a little teaser where it's going I'm looking to kind of expand some content creators.

So it's already in the works. It's moving becoming hopefully November we're looking at but kind of expand out into nursing maybe dental physical therapy that type of thing And capture some more of those audiences because all of those have students that are looking to go into that field.

And you know want to achieve success And so I'm gonna be working hopefully with some experts and creators in that field to get some content for those demographics as well.

Gresham Harkless 08:56
Nice. That's definitely exciting. And especially because I know we talked a little bit offline about, I didn't mention, but I was, the reason I brought up law school is because I was geared up to go to law school.
So something like that, the law life or whatever, you know, related to that would have been amazing because I think I spent a good amount of my college years getting ready for law school when in reality it wasn't necessarily the right path.'

That I think that I should have went down, but having, you know, YouTube channel content, to actually get a real life view into like what you're potentially investing a lot of time and energy into would have been great to see.

And even if I went down that path to have the tips and tidbits that you're providing to be successful would have been even better.

Gresham Harkless 09:37
Absolutely. Nice. And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And you might have already touched on this. This could be for you or for the med life, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Adam Goodcoff 09:46
I think again, it's two-prong. I hate to keep using that phrase on you, but it's, , it's two things. I think nber one is the work ethic and it's not to say that everybody doesn't work hard. , you know, there's people out there hustling every day.

Our slogan when we relaunch and we've kind of been, you know, starting to push around a little bit now is hustle, grind, stay humble.

And I really like to try and live by that and, you know, impress upon, anyone who's visiting my page, visiting The Med Life, how important that is, because that's all it is.

There's no, nothing is given to you, and I'm not, like I said, I'm not inherently the smartest guy in the room, and I think hustling, grinding away, putting in those hours, and then that will help you achieve the success, and then that last line, stay hble, is so important, and that's kind of that second prong.

I mean, I get, a lot of times, my Instagram, again, there's always bigger accounts. My account's grown very quickly, and people are always shocked when they get a reply back from me within.

You know, I try and answer everything within a day or two, you know, and they're like, wow, I can't believe you answered me. , and I think it's important. I mean, every single follower on my, you know, all of my social media is incredibly important to me.

I mean, they are the reason that I'm here. They're the reason that I'm doing this is, you know, to help folks.

Gresham Harkless 10:56
Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And, you know, especially a lot of times, like you even touched on, you know, with the scores, the MCAT scores or whatever that might be that someone gets, and it may be lower than they expected, doesn't necessarily mean it's the end of the world.

So I appreciate you for bringing light to that because sometimes we can get discouraged if, whether it be an MCAT score or something in life doesn't necessarily go the way we want, but we can also lean on our effort, lean on our hustle, our ability to grind and stay humble, as you said.

And as you kind of touched on with the brand that you're building as well. I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Adam Goodcoff 11:36
Sure. So I think I'll kind of touch on a book that I've read that has really, I guess, helped me change my perspective on especially social media, because I think, again, a lot of folks get lost in this and connecting with the customer and your demographics.

It's the Dale Carnegie book how to win friends and influence people in the digital age the newer version Though I'm sure you know the original still applies I think the title is incredibly misleading It sounds like you know almost coming from a medical background sounds like someone with like psychopathic tendencies.

But you know, it's really the book is more about how to be a good person.

Gresham Harkless 12:13
Nice. I definitely appreciate you sharing that with us. And I didn't even realize there was a digital version of it.

That's, that's pretty awesome that they took that spin. Cause that's a classic book and you know, I guess just as life changes and business changes and you know, relationship change as well. You know, it was great to see that that book evolved and I definitely want to make sure to pick that up.

Adam Goodcoff 12:32
Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 12:33
And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Adam Goodcoff 12:43
That's a great question. I think never give up, you know, should be told to everyone. , but on the, on the flip side of that coin, no wind to pivot. I think that's the biggest thing I have learned.

As I've grown a little bit older, no, when what you're doing is not working, know how, you know, be self reflective and, you know, do that weekly assessment Sunday night, Monday morning, whatever it is, and say to yourself, you know, Here's where we're going. Here's what our plan is. Are we on track? What is holding us up?

What's propelling us? And I think that's been really key. We've definitely, you know, between the pre-med life and the med life, one of the biggest differences is our ability to pivot. we're certainly adjusting and making a lot more changes live time rather than just kind of beating against a wall that's not going to come down.

Gresham Harkless 13:35
Nice. Yeah. And that makes perfect sense. I think a lot of times when you, when people think about pivoting, you know, they're thinking that you are giving up on something, but I'm glad, you know, you mentioned that because a lot of times we have an, overarching goal.

And if we're able to do that, that manifests itself in a lot of different ways. So it might be, you know, this way or it might be another way, but by pivoting, you can still reach your goal or overall goal by, by just making a tweak to be more successful.

Adam Goodcoff 13:59
Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 14:00
Nice. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So Adam, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Adam Goodcoff 14:10
Sure. I think that's a, that's a really cool question. I think to me, it's being kind of a leader, the orchestrator of the, you know, the bigger organization and, the person who keeps it on the rails, I think, you know, the characteristic of a good leader is being able to recognize the strengths of everyone on the team and play to those strengths.

Gresham Harkless 14:32
Absolutely. Yeah. That's definitely a great visual, especially, being the person that, you know, in front of, , an orchestra. and leading them and understanding the strengths and weaknesses, what somebody does better than maybe somebody else and understanding how to fit that all in together to make a beautiful symphony and a beautiful sound.

So I appreciate that perspective. And Adam, I appreciate your time even more. And what I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best we can find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Adam Goodcoff 15:02
Yeah, I think we covered a lot of stuff here. Certainly have lots of content over on my page, and li

How to Create a Killer Landing Page Using High-Converting Design Tips

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:16:10 -0400

A killer landing page that converts is the dedicated space where visitors decide whether or not to engage.

Unlike a general website page, a high-converting landing page focuses solely on a specific offering and encourages visitors to complete a desired action.

It’s the workhorse of your marketing efforts, driving measurable results and boosting your bottom line.

Key Elements of High-Converting Landing Pages

Has a Clear Purpose

A focused message translates to a higher conversion rate. When creating high-converting landing pages, you must define the specific action you want visitors to take.

Are you offering a free trial, an ebook, or a consultation?

The entire landing page’s design, message, and CTAs should all be aligned to support that single goal.

Without a clear purpose, your landing page becomes a jumbled mess of information, overwhelming visitors and reducing your chances of the landing page’s success.

Compelling Headlines

A great headline speaks directly to your target audience’s pain points and offers a solution.

It’s the first thing visitors see, so it needs to grab their attention immediately and communicate the core value proposition of your product or service.

Think of it as your elevator pitch that has to be excellent to ensure a successful landing.

A great headline speaks directly to your target audience’s pain points and offers a solution.

It should be concise, clear, and action-oriented, prompting visitors to read on and learn more about your offering.

Effective Call to Action (CTA) Strategies

A strong CTA is the key to turning a browser into a customer. Your CTA button should stand out visually and be placed strategically throughout the page, especially above the fold.

The message on your CTA should be clear, concise, and compelling, telling visitors exactly what they will get when they click. For example, instead of “Submit,” try “Download Your Free Ebook” or “Start Your Free Trial.”

A/B test different CTA designs and copy to optimize your landing page and find what works best for your target audience.

Utilizes Social Proof to Boost Credibility

Potential customers are more likely to engage with your product or service if they see that others have had positive experiences.

Incorporate testimonials, reviews, case studies, and social media mentions on your landing page to showcase your credibility.

Display recognizable logos of past clients or partners to further enhance trust. This makes visitors comfortable with the idea of taking action, thus engaging and converting them.

Best Practices for Landing Page Creation

Design a User-Friendly UI

A user-friendly UI directly impacts the visitor’s experience and, consequently, the conversion rate.

A clean, intuitive design ensures that visitors can easily find the information they need and take action without frustration.

Ensure clear navigation, logical flow, and visual cues that guide users toward the CTAs.

Use whitespace effectively to avoid overwhelming visitors and maintain a focused message.

Optimize for Mobile Users

With a significant portion of web traffic originating from mobile devices, a high-converting landing page must provide a seamless experience on smartphones and tablets.

This means ensuring that your page elements are responsive, adapting to different screen sizes without compromising readability or functionality.

Optimize images and videos for faster loading times on mobile networks. Make your CTA buttons easily tappable and forms simple to fill out on smaller screens.

Test and Analyze Conversion Rates

A/B testing allows you to experiment with different headlines, CTAs, design elements, and content variations to see what resonates best with your target audience.

It helps you identify areas for improvement and refine your approach to maximize your conversion rate.

Utilize analytics tools to track key metrics, including bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rate, to gain valuable insights into user behavior and preferences.

Tips to Create Killer Landing Pages in Minutes

Choose the Right Tools for Landing Page Creation

The right tools streamline the creation process. Numerous user-friendly platforms offer drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-designed templates, making it easy to build a landing page that converts, even without extensive technical skills.

When selecting a landing page builder, consider several factors, including:

Ease of use
Customization options

These platforms empower you to quickly create killer landing pages, optimize them for conversions, and track their performance, all in one place.

Iterate Based on User Feedback

Collect user feedback through surveys, heatmaps, and user testing to understand how visitors interact with your landing page and identify what resonates best with them.

Identify pain points, areas of confusion, and opportunities for improvement.

Use this feedback to make data-driven decisions about your landing page design, messaging, and functionality.

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The Role of Analytics in Digital Marketing

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 09:16:45 -0400

Digital marketing analytics is all about making sense of the vast amount of marketing data generated every day. Instead of relying on gut feelings, digital marketers use data to see what’s really working, what’s not, and how to improve their marketing strategies.

It helps you understand who your customers are, how they interact with your brand, and what motivates their purchasing decisions.

This guide walks you through how to leverage analytics to make smarter decisions, optimize your marketing efforts to achieve a higher return on investment.

How Analytics Drives Marketing Strategies

Analytics helps pinpoint market trends and customer behaviors. By analyzing data, you can identify patterns and preferences that inform your marketing strategies.

Analytics helps gauge the effectiveness and reach of your marketing campaigns, enabling you to refine your approach and focus on what delivers the best results.

For example, if you see a spike in traffic from a particular social media platform, analytics can help you allocate more resources to that channel to maximize your reach and impact.

Key Components of Marketing Analytics

Types of Marketing Data to Consider

When diving into marketing analytics, it’s crucial to identify the types of marketing data that matter most. This includes customer data like demographics, purchase history, and engagement metrics.

Digital marketing activities generate valuable data from various touchpoints, such as;

Website visits
Social media interactions
Email click-through rates.

Understanding this data is foundational for analyzing data and optimizing your marketing efforts, leading to a higher return on investment.

Analytics Tools for Small Businesses

To effectively leverage analytics in digital marketing, small businesses need the right analytics tool.

Several options exist to help them in this task, including:

Google Analytics, a free and powerful option for website analytics, tracking traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates.
Social media platforms, which offer their own analytics dashboards, provide insights into audience engagement and campaign performance.

Choosing the right digital analytics tools allows digital marketers to make data-driven decisions and refine their digital marketing strategies.

Gathering Customer Data Effectively

Effective data analytics in marketing starts with gathering customer data ethically and efficiently.

Implement forms, surveys, and tracking pixels on your website to capture relevant information.
Encourage social media engagement and monitor interactions to understand customer behavior.
Ensure compliance with privacy regulations while collecting and analyzing data.

Using Data to Improve Marketing Strategies

Making Data-Driven Decisions

Analytics enable highly targeted and personalized marketing initiatives. By evaluating campaign data, marketers can discern what resonates best with their audience, fine-tuning campaigns for maximal engagement and conversion rates.

Insights on user interaction with your site guide improvements in design and content, bolstering both user experience and site performance.

Real-Time Analytics for Immediate Impact

Real-time analytics provides digital marketers with immediate insights into ongoing marketing campaigns. This allows for quick adjustments to optimize performance and capitalize on emerging market trends.

It identifies what’s working and what’s not, making immediate changes to improve conversion rates. For example, if you notice a sudden drop in traffic from a specific source, real-time analytics can help you quickly identify and address the issue.

Predictive Analytics: Anticipating Customer Needs

Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning promise to unlock deeper, predictive analytics insights into customer preferences and future trends. This enables marketers to anticipate needs and tailor marketing strategies accordingly.

Predictive analytics can forecast future market trends and customer behavior. This allows your marketing team to proactively adjust marketing strategies, enhancing the return on investment of your digital marketing campaign.

Measuring ROI with Digital Marketing Analytics

Return on Investment (ROI) in digital marketing quantifies the profitability of your marketing efforts. It measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on a digital marketing campaign, helping you assess the effectiveness of your marketing strategies.

Calculating ROI accurately requires tracking all costs associated with your digital marketing initiatives, including advertising spend, software subscriptions, and employee salaries.

Calculating ROI Using Marketing Analytics

To calculate ROI using marketing analytics, start by identifying the total revenue generated from a specific digital marketing campaign.

Subtract the total cost of the campaign from this revenue to determine the net profit. Divide the net profit by the total cost, and then multiply by 100 to express the ROI as a percentage.

For instance, if a marketing campaign cost $10,000 and generated $30,000 in revenue, the ROI would be 200%.

Best Practices for Ongoing Data Analysis

For ongoing data analysis, focus on metrics closely aligned with business goals to avoid data overload. Merging insights from various areas is crucial for a comprehensive marketing overview.

It’s important to keep up with changes by focusing on:

Analytics trends.
Regularly reviewing and refining your marketing strategies based on data-driven insights.

Digital marketing is always evolving; implement changes based on insights and gauge their impact to continually refine marketing strategies and maximize return on investment.

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Chat#112 – Overcome Fear & Unlock Your Entrepreneurial Potential – Who’s Interviewing Who?

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 12:50:48 -0400

Fear is one of the most common hurdles entrepreneurs face on their journey to success. In this insightful discussion between Gresh from the CEO Chat Podcast and Inga Maskun, we dive deep into understanding fear—not as an enemy, but as a natural companion on the path of entrepreneurship. This article explores how fear manifests, practical ways to neutralize it, and how to harness it to unlock your true potential.

Understanding Fear: A Constant Companion

Fear is not something we can completely eliminate. Inga shares a powerful perspective: “Fear will always be around us. Why try to haggle with it?” Instead of fighting fear, the key is to make peace with it—acknowledging it as a friend or a companion in life. Just like some friends we live with even if we don't always sync perfectly, fear is something we can learn to coexist with and navigate around.

This mindset shift is crucial because many people misunderstand fear. They want to get rid of it entirely, but fear often arises even before we are consciously aware of it. It can stop us from pursuing our dreams or starting a business. Normalizing fear as neither good nor bad but simply present allows us to begin working with it rather than against it.

How Fear Shows Up: Four Common Forms

Inga identifies four ways fear can disguise itself, particularly when pursuing entrepreneurial goals:

Delay: Putting off action with thoughts like “I’ll do it later” or “I need to do something else first.”
Distraction: Getting sidetracked by less urgent tasks or excuses that prevent focus.
Dissuasion: Internal voices that sow doubt, such as “You failed before, are you really cut out for this?”
Freeze: Feeling stuck or overwhelmed to the point where you can’t move forward.

These forms often feel practical or logical but are actually fear in disguise, trying to keep you from stepping fully into your potential.

Neutralizing Fear: Tools and Mindset Shifts

Neutralizing fear begins with making an upfront agreement with yourself: you cannot get rid of fear, but you can let it guide you without dominating your decisions. When dissuasion arises—those internal doubts—question their validity. For example, if you failed before, remind yourself that you are better equipped now, perhaps with mentors or coaches to support you.

Working with mentors or coaches can help transform the inner voice of fear into one of inspiration and empowerment. They serve as sounding boards that help you challenge limiting beliefs and take meaningful action.

Another powerful way to neutralize fear is by shifting the questions you ask yourself. Instead of asking limiting questions like “What if I fail?” or “I don’t have enough money,” try reframing to empowering questions such as:

“What can I do to move forward despite fear?”
“What resources or support can I find to help me succeed?”
“What is the vision I am working towards, and how does it feel?”

Inga shares a compelling example from her mentor: instead of asking how to travel to France without losing money, she asked how to travel to France and make $10,000. This shift in mindset opened up new opportunities and creative solutions.

Operating with Fear: Clarity, Decision, and Action

Fear tends to be more powerful when there is a lack of clarity or a clear vision. Entrepreneurs often face conflicting voices: the excitement of being their own boss versus doubts about their qualifications or past failures. Inga reminds us that learning any new skill, whether biking, cooking, or running a business, involves trial, error, and persistence.

Making a firm decision to be “all in” is critical. Dipping toes in the water isn’t enough to overcome fear and uncertainty. Once you decide to pursue your vision fully, fear becomes a signal that you are expanding and stepping outside your comfort zone.

Gresh echoes this, noting that successful entrepreneurs develop a strong relationship with time and purpose—they see their investments as opportunities to open doors, not just costs to avoid.

Barriers to Moving Forward: The Enemy of Great is Good

One of the most subtle fears is contentment with “good enough.” Many people settle because their current situation feels comfortable or “good,” even when their dreams could be bigger. This is a form of dissuasion—fear reasoning that warns against risk and urges staying safe.

Inga highlights a powerful mantra from her school days: “Don’t settle for good when you know you can be great.” Recognizing when fear is trying to keep you in that comfortable “good” zone is essential to pushing beyond limits.

Whether someone is facing a layoff or considering adding a new venture, those with an abundant mindset who embrace growth tend to overcome fear and take bold steps forward.

Love as the Opposite of Fear

Love is a compelling force that pulls us beyond fear. Inga and Gresh discuss how love—for your family, your passion, your purpose—can fuel the courage to act despite fear. Love invokes different senses and motivation than obligation or responsibility.

For Gresh, faith and a deep love for entrepreneurship provided the drive to push through doubts and challenges. This love, combined with an abundant mentality, opens doors to greater possibilities and success.

Listening to Your Intuition and Inner Voice

Entrepreneurial ideas often come from a small inner voice—an intuition or calling to grow and expand. Growth is a natural order of the universe, and resisting it often stems from conditioned beliefs or fear-based messaging to “be humble” or “be grateful with what you have.”

Recognizing and nurturing that inner voice, rather than suppressing it, is vital. Growth and expansion are signs that your dreams are alive, and fear often signals that you are pushing boundaries.

Taking Action and Staying Open to Opportunities

Fear can be settled by taking action and opening yourself to receive guidance and support. Inga encourages celebrating awareness of fear rather than condemning it. When fear arises, acknowledge it, then shift your focus to moving forward with openness to unexpected opportunities.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will show up,” Inga reminds us. Often, the resources or people who can help us are already present—we just need to be ready and receptive.

This openness can lead to serendipitous connections and breakthroughs, helping entrepreneurs move beyond fear into empowered action.

Conclusion: Embrace Fear, Cultivate Vision, and Take the Leap

Fear is an inevitable part of the entrepreneurial journey, but it does not have to hold you back. By understanding fear’s many disguises—delay, distraction, dissuasion, and freeze—you can learn to recognize when it is trying to stop you.

Neutralize fear by making peace with it, shifting your mindset to abundance, asking empowering questions, and cultivating a compelling vision rooted in love and purpose. Surround yourself with mentors and coaches who can guide you and help transform fear into a motivating force.

Finally, take decisive action and remain open to the unexpected. Your dreams are bigger than your fears, and stepping outside your comfort zone is where growth and greatness happen.

If you’re ready to explore your entrepreneurial potential and need guidance, consider connecting with Inga Maskun at ingemaskun.com or livingyourinspiredlife.com for a complimentary session to start your journey.

For more insights on entrepreneurship, mindset, and business strategies, explore related resources here on CEO Hack:

The post Chat#112 – Overcome Fear & Unlock Your Entrepreneurial Potential – Who’s Interviewing Who? appeared first on CEO Chat.

How a Smart Guest Blogging Strategy Helps Your Website Grow

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 09:16:13 -0400

You have a great idea or product, but not many people know about it. Sounds familiar? How can you share it with more people? One smart way is called guest blogging. This isn’t just about getting your name out there; it’s about working with other businesses to share your message, find new friends for your website, and show everyone that you know a lot about your topic.

Learning how to put together an effective guest blogging strategy is important if you want your website to get bigger.

What is Guest Blogging and Why is it Important?

Guest blogging, or guest posting, is like trading turns. You write a blog post for another website, or someone else writes one for your website. It’s a win-win for everyone.

The main goal is to help more people see your website, improve how easily people can find you on search engines like Google, and build trust in your brand. When a guest post appears on a website, it shares ideas from someone outside that website, often to tell people about a special message or brand.

Why Guest Blogging is a Great Deal for Everyone

Guest blogging offers many good things for both the website that hosts the content and the person who writes the guest post. It’s a teamwork effort that helps everyone grow.

Good Things for the Website Hosting the Post

When you ask people to write guest posts for your website, you can get a lot more visitors and people finding you through searches. Guest bloggers usually want to share their post with their friends, which brings new readers to your site. Plus, by showing off experts, your website becomes even more trusted in your field, and you make new friends with important leaders.

Good Things for the Person Writing the Post

For people who write guest posts, it’s a chance to show their ideas to new groups of people, making their audience much bigger. It’s a great way to meet more customers and others in their field, which can help their name grow and even lead to new jobs. Most importantly, when they put links to their own website in their guest posts, Google sees that their site is important, and this can help their own website show up higher in search results.

Important Steps for a Great Guest Blogging Strategy

To make sure your guest blogging works well, you need a good plan. Here’s how to make sure your efforts make a big splash. Building a strong guest blogging strategy is key to making your website grow in amazing ways.

1. Know What You Want to Achieve First

Do you want more people to visit a special page on your website? Do you want more people to know your brand name?

Do you want to get more links to your site for better Google rankings? Do you want to show that you are an expert? Or maybe you want more people to sign up for your email list or follow you on social media?

Knowing your goals helps you write your “about me” part and makes sure your links truly help people, building trust with new readers.

2. Becoming an Expert in Your Field

If your goal is to be seen as a super smart person in your area, then write for websites that are respected and have readers who like to think deeply. Look for places that show who wrote the post clearly and where editors really like good ideas.

Share your own experiences, tell stories about how things worked out, or share information that only you have. Write longer articles that people will want to share and talk about, showing that you really know your stuff.

3. Moving Up on Google

To get good links back to your website and show up higher on Google, find websites that are important (like a DA of 50 or more) and have content about your topic.

Write articles that naturally use the words you want people to search for. Make sure to follow all the rules for adding links, and carefully add links to other pages on your own website and other good websites.

Think about making a special page just for new visitors so you can see how many people come from your guest post.

4. Getting People to Come to Your Site

If you want lots of people to visit your website and maybe become customers, write for blogs that have many readers and get promoted a lot. Look for websites with many followers on social media, lots of comments, and editors who work hard to tell everyone about new posts.

Make sure your topic helps solve problems for the people who read that blog. Put a clear “what to do next” message in your “about me” section, like “visit my website.” And always use special links to keep track of how many people come from that post.

5. Finding Places to Write Guest Posts

To find websites that let people write guest posts, try searching on Google or social media sites like X (which used to be Twitter). You can type things like “[your topic] + ‘write for us’” or “[your topic] + ‘guest article.’”

You can also check where other similar businesses are writing guest posts by using tools that show website links, like Semrush or Ahrefs. Also, look at lists of websites that accept guest posts, like Alltop, to find good places in your area.

6. Figuring Out Which Guest Blogging Spots Are Best

Before you suggest an idea, carefully look at the websites you find. Use tools like Moz’s Link Explorer to check how important they are (their Domain Authority or DA). It’s usually best to pick websites with higher DAs.

Also, see how many followers and email subscribers they have to guess how many people will see your post. Read some of their other blog posts to make sure your topic fits. Check if their “about the author” sections let you link back to your website. And always stay away from websites that seem fake or spammy, because they can hurt your website’s standing.

7. Reaching Out to Friends

Before you send your idea, spend some time getting to know the website owners or editors. Follow them on social media, sign up for their emails, and read their posts regularly. This helps you understand what their readers like and what they care about.

Share their content, leave thoughtful comments on their blogs, and reply to their newsletters. Doing this makes your email stand out from all the others they get.

8. Picking a Winning Idea for Your Guest Post

Look at the popular articles on the blog you want to write for and think about how you can add something special. Can you give a new view on a topic they already covered?

Can you add more details to something they wrote? Or can you write about something brand new that their readers would love? Tools like Buzzsumo can help you find popular content in your area.

Make sure your idea hasn’t been covered a lot by that website already, and always read their rules for guest posts before you suggest anything.

9. Sending Your Great Idea

Your ideal email should be short, personal, and use the website owner’s or editor’s name. Put a strong, exciting title for your post in the email’s subject line. Briefly explain what your post is about and how it will help their readers. Finish by quickly saying why you are the best person to write this post.

10. Writing Amazing Content

Once your idea is accepted, it’s time to write a fantastic guest post. Create a headline that immediately tells the reader what they will gain, uses strong action words, and makes them feel something.

Do some research to find the best words people search for related to your topic so your post can be found easily. Add relevant links to other pages on your own website and other good websites naturally, but always follow the website owner’s rules for links very carefully.

11. Checking and Sharing Your Hard Work

Regularly look at how well your guest posts are doing. Are people talking about them on social media? Has your website gotten more visitors? Checking these things helps you make your guest blogging plan even better. Once your post is published, share it on your own social media pages to make sure even more people see it.

Guest blogging, when you have a clear plan and follow the rules for getting found online, is a very strong way to get more visitors and build trust. Understanding how it helps, carefully planning who you will contact, and writing great content are all parts of a successful guest blogging strategy that can make your website grow in amazing ways.

How Blue16 Media Can Help

Blue16 Media is a digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.

Our services include expert website design and support to ensure your site is ready for new visitors, effective social media management to amplify your content, and cutting-edge search engine optimization (SEO) services to ensure your guest posts deliver maximum impact and keep your organization or company ahead of the curve. Let us help you turn your guest blogging efforts into consistent traffic and growth.

For more information or inquiries, fill out our contact form or visit us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314.

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How to Use Influencer Marketing to Grow Your Business

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 09:16:40 -0400

When your favorite internet personality recommends something they genuinely love, you’re more likely to pay attention, right? That’s the power of influencer marketing where businesses partner with popular social media figures, known as influencers or creators, to promote their products in a way that feels personal and authentic.

Learning how to use influencer marketing to grow your business means tapping into these trusted voices to reach people who already care about your niche. It allows you to introduce your brand through someone your potential customers already follow and believe, building trust from the very first impression.

That’s why influencer marketing often outperforms traditional ads; it feels real, sparks engagement, and helps your business grow.

How Influencers Help Your Brand Grow

Influencer marketing offers incredible advantages, especially for small and mid-sized businesses eager to stand out in a crowded market.

It helps you move beyond outdated advertising methods and connect with highly engaged communities that already care about what you offer, driving quality leads, and increasing brand visibility, all without overspending.

Ready to take your business to the next level? Let’s explore how influencer marketing can grow your business.

Share Your Brand in a Natural Way: Influencers are good at talking about things they like in a way that feels real. Instead of sounding like an ad, they show how your product fits into their daily life. This feels more like a friend giving advice than a salesperson, and people trust it more.

Create Helpful Hashtags: Influencers are good at making or finding popular hashtags. These are like labels that help new people find your brand online, easily. This makes more people see your brand and helps you reach new customers.

Help Your Brand Show Up in Online Searches (SEO): When influencers make great content about your brand or link to your website, search engines like Google notice.With good keywords and links, this can help your brand appear higher in search results.

Grow Your Social Media Reach: One of the best things about working with influencers is that your brand can instantly reach all their followers. Influencers have built large groups of loyal fans on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. When they show your brand, your message goes out to many new people who might not have heard of your business otherwise. This quickly makes your audience much bigger.

Give You Ideas from Their Followers: Influencers are a direct link between your brand and the people who might buy your products. Their comments, messages, and how people interact with their posts give you many ideas. Followers often share what they think, ask questions, and give honest opinions about products. This quick feedback is very helpful for understanding what your future customers really want and need.

Make Your Brand Seem More Important: When an influencer, who is seen as an expert or a trendsetter, recommends your product, it makes your brand seem more trustworthy right away. Their strong approval makes your business look more reliable and a leader in your area. This is very helpful for new businesses trying to build trust quickly.

Help People Trust and Stay Loyal to Your Brand: People follow influencers because they trust what they say. When you work with an influencer, you get to use that trust. This helps people trust your brand more, and often turns new buyers into loyal customers who stick with your products because someone they trust does.

Increase Your Chances of Going Viral: Influencers are good at making exciting content that people love to share. When their content about your brand does well, social media sites often show it to even more people, and sometimes it can spread very, very quickly. This makes it more likely for your brand’s message to go “viral,” meaning many people see it at once.

Help Protect Your Brand’s Good Name: Influencers can help by making positive content or explaining things clearly if something goes wrong protecting your brand’s image during tough times.

Make Your Brand Rich in Content: Working with influencers means you’ll always have new, good-quality content showing off your products. This includes professional content made by the influencer, and also fun content made by their followers who get excited about your brand.

Help Share What Your Brand Believes in: When influencers share your message and show how your products fit their own beliefs, they tell a wider audience what your business stands for. This attracts customers who not only like your products but also believe in your mission.

Help You Get More Sales: Use special discount codes or links that let you see exactly how many people bought something because of influencer promotion.

Finding the Perfect Influencers for Your Business

A smart process of getting the right influencers starts with knowing what you want to achieve with your marketing and then carefully looking for people to work with.

1. Define Your Campaign Goals

What do you want your influencer campaign to do?

Do you want more people to know your brand, or do you want to sell more products?

Set clear goals and know your budget. These goals will help you choose the right influencers.

2. Research for Content Fit and Authenticity

Once you know your goals, find influencers whose videos or posts match what your brand is about and who your customers are.

Look for people who talk about things related to your business and whose posts get lots of likes, comments, and shares.

It’s really important to work with influencers who actually like your brand, because their followers will trust them more if it feels real.

3. Evaluate Professional Experience and Brand Safety

Before you decide to work with someone, check their past work. See if they’ve done sponsored posts before and if those posts looked natural.

Find out if they’ve worked with other companies that sell similar things to yours. Make sure their past content doesn’t have anything that could make your brand look bad. Influencer’s values should match your brand’s values to safeguard your reputation.

4. Understand Influencer Types by Expertise

Influencers can be different based on what they are good at:

Mavens: These are experts who know a lot about a topic and love to share facts and ideas. Think of a gaming expert who explains new games really well.
Salesmen: These influencers are good at talking people into trying new products or ideas. They are often good storytellers and can help you sell things.
Connectors: These people know lots of other people and are great at spreading news by talking about it. A famous singer or a popular person in your town could be a connector.

5. Understand Influencer Types by Audience Size

You can also group influencers by how many followers they have:

Nanoinfluencers (fewer than 10,000 followers): They have smaller, very loyal groups of followers who really trust them. Great for reaching specific groups of people.
Microinfluencers (10,000 to 100,000 followers): They have a good number of followers and are often experts in their area. They have good reach and strong trust.
Macroinfluencers (100,000 to 1 million followers): They have many followers and can reach a lot of people. Good for making more people aware of your brand.
Megainfluencers (over 1 million followers): These are like celebrities. They reach a huge number of people, but they cost a lot more money.

Picking the right influencers who fit your brand and audience, and working with them well, will help you get great results. Using influencer marketing can truly change your business, helping it become more successful and connect with more people.

Want to learn more about other ways to get your brand noticed online and build trust? Check out this helpful article: The Role of Content Marketing in Driving Traffic and Building Trust

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Cash Flow Mistakes Every Entrepreneur Must Avoid: Insights from Dan DeGolier

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 17:04:23 -0400

Managing cash flow is one of the most critical challenges entrepreneurs face as they build and scale their businesses. In this comprehensive guide, we explore essential strategies to avoid common cash flow mistakes, inspired by the expertise of Dan DeGolier, founder and CEO of Ascent CFO Solutions. Dan brings over 30 years of financial leadership experience, helping entrepreneurs understand their finances, forecast cash flow, and secure the capital needed to grow. Whether you’re just starting your entrepreneurial journey or looking to accelerate your company’s growth, these insights will help you maintain financial health and make strategic business decisions.

Dan DeGolier’s Journey: From CPA to Fractional CFO Leader

Dan’s story begins with a traditional accounting background as a CPA at a global firm, but his passion for entrepreneurship and innovation led him to focus on high-growth technology companies early in his career. He gravitated toward roles where he could help disrupt the status quo and support companies changing the way business is done.

After working as a CFO in various technology firms, Dan encountered a recurring problem: many startups and growing companies needed CFO expertise but couldn’t afford a full-time financial executive. This realization sparked the idea of fractional CFO services — providing part-time, flexible CFO leadership to multiple companies simultaneously.

Though the term “fractional CFO” wasn’t widely used at the time, Dan pioneered this model, eventually founding Ascent CFO Solutions in 2016. Today, his firm employs 40 people and serves over 90 companies across diverse industries. Their mission centers on helping entrepreneurs grow by providing expert financial leadership on a flexible basis.

Understanding the Role of a Fractional CFO

Many companies, regardless of size or stage, require strong financial leadership to manage cash flow, plan for growth, and make informed decisions. Dan emphasizes that whether a business is venture-backed, angel-funded, or self-financed, visibility into cash flow and future financial scenarios is paramount.

Ascent CFO Solutions helps clients with:

Cash flow forecasting: Developing detailed financial models that project revenue, expenses, and cash needs over three to five years.
Fundraising support: Assisting with equity and debt financing to fuel growth.
Exit planning: Preparing companies for eventual sale or transition.

At the heart of their service is creating robust financial models that incorporate:

Sales pipeline and conversion rates
Costs related to sales, marketing, engineering, supply chain, and operations
General and administrative expenses such as headcount and facilities

Dan stresses the importance of a strong accounting foundation. Accurate historical financials are essential for reliable forecasting. To that end, Ascent CFO Solutions employs skilled controllers, accountants, and analysts who ensure clients’ books are accurate and compliant with accounting principles.

The Secret Sauce: People and Technology

Dan attributes much of Ascent CFO Solutions’ success to two core pillars: their people and their technology-first approach.

People

Hiring the right team is crucial in a professional services firm. Dan describes a rigorous recruitment and vetting process focused not only on financial expertise but also on communication skills and cultural fit. Since fractional CFOs and accountants serve multiple clients, they must be adept at managing different client expectations, deadlines, and communication styles.

The company prioritizes:

Excellent communication and transparency
Respect and alignment with company values
Underpromising and overdelivering on commitments

Technology

Ascent CFO Solutions is a technology-first organization that leverages modern cloud-based tools to automate manual processes and save clients time and money. By connecting bank accounts directly to accounting software and integrating data from CRM and HR systems, they provide real-time dashboards and insights to clients.

Dan highlights their proprietary dashboarding solution, “Insights by CFO,” which empowers companies with up-to-date financial and operational data to make smarter decisions. This blend of human expertise and advanced technology creates a powerful service delivery model.

While AI and automation offer exciting possibilities, Dan notes that human oversight remains essential. AI can assist with tasks but cannot replace the nuanced judgment and verification required in finance and accounting.

Key Financial Priorities for Entrepreneurs

When working with clients, Dan consistently emphasizes the critical importance of cash flow management. Here are some of the key financial priorities he recommends entrepreneurs focus on:

1. Cash Flow Visibility and Scenario Planning

Understanding your cash flow risks and opportunities is fundamental. Entrepreneurs should develop financial models that allow them to run multiple scenarios — including best-case, worst-case, and most likely outcomes. This helps anticipate funding needs and operational adjustments.

2. Diversify Customer Base

Customer concentration is a significant risk. If one client accounts for a large percentage of revenue (e.g., 20-30%), losing that client could jeopardize business stability. Entrepreneurs should create contingency plans and actively seek to diversify their client portfolio.

3. Insurance and Risk Management

Proper insurance coverage is a safeguard against unexpected costs. Dan advises entrepreneurs to ensure they have adequate protection to mitigate financial risks.

4. Strategic Investment with Contingency Plans

Growth initiatives such as geographic expansion or new product lines require capital and carry risk. Entrepreneurs should model the financial impact of these investments and have backup plans if market acceptance falls short.

CEO Insights: Leading with Openness and Collaboration

Dan shares valuable advice for entrepreneurs and CEOs about leadership and mindset:

Be open to change and alternative viewpoints: Avoid surrounding yourself with only like-minded people. Diverse perspectives lead to better decision-making and innovation.
Lead by example: Demonstrate the behaviors and values you expect from your team.
Build a complementary team: Recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and hire people who fill the gaps.
Embrace mentorship and coaching: No one has all the answers. Being open to learning from others accelerates growth.

Dan notes that these leadership traits developed over time through mentorship, coaching, and a willingness to experiment with new ideas and technologies.

Recommended Resources: Books and Personal Hacks

For entrepreneurs looking to deepen their knowledge, Dan recommends several classic business books:

Blue Ocean Strategy: Focuses on how to disrupt markets and create uncontested market space.
Traction by Gino Wickman: Introduces the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a framework for managing and scaling businesses.
Good to Great by Jim Collins: Explores what makes companies transition from good to great performance.

On a personal level, Dan credits having a long-term executive assistant (EA) as a key productivity hack. Delegating time management and prioritization to a trusted EA has allowed him to focus on strategic leadership and growth.

Final Thoughts: Running Your Own Race with Financial Clarity

Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. Dan’s overarching message is that understanding and managing cash flow is the fuel that powers your business race. Without clear financial visibility and risk planning, even great ideas can falter.

He encourages entrepreneurs to find their unique strengths and to build collaborative teams around them. By embracing technology, maintaining accurate financial data, and planning for multiple scenarios, business owners can confidently navigate uncertainties and seize growth opportunities.

Connect with Dan DeGolier and Ascent CFO Solutions

If you’re interested in learning more or need expert financial leadership for your business, Dan and his team are accessible through:

LinkedIn: Follow Ascent CFO Solutions for insightful content and updates.
Website: Visit ascentcfo.com to explore their services and contact the team.

With a growing team of 40 professionals, including 14 CFOs, Ascent CFO Solutions is well-equipped to support companies at various stages, especially those on a growth trajectory seeking strategic financial guidance.

Conclusion

Cash flow mistakes can cripple even the most promising ventures. By learning from seasoned experts like Dan DeGolier, entrepreneurs can avoid common pitfalls and build a strong financial foundation for sustainable growth. Key takeaways include the importance of accurate accounting, scenario-based forecasting, risk diversification, and embracing both people and technology in your financial operations.

Above all, successful CEOs lead with openness, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous learning. They understand that managing cash flow isn’t just about numbers — it’s about running a smart, resilient business that can weather challenges and capitalize on opportunities.

Set yourself up for success by prioritizing your financial health today and running your own race with confidence.

The post Cash Flow Mistakes Every Entrepreneur Must Avoid: Insights from Dan DeGolier appeared first on CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business.

CEO Helps Sales Agents Boost Their Sales and Broaden Their Market

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 17:30:19 -0400

Listen to the Podcast: I AM CEO Podcast – IAM2474 – CEO Helps Sales Agents Boost their Sales and Broaden their Market

In the world of entrepreneurship and sales, success often comes from more than just hard work; it requires authenticity, alignment, and a deep connection to one's purpose. Kash Fadaie, founder of Fadaie Insurance, exemplifies this approach through his unique blend of spiritual insight and business acumen. Building an $11 million revenue agency from the ground up, Kash has transformed not only his own career but also the lives of the agents he mentors. This article explores Kash’s inspiring journey, his philosophy on integrating spirituality with business, and practical advice for entrepreneurs looking to thrive in competitive markets.

From Refugee to Resilient Entrepreneur: The Early Journey

Kash Fadaie's story begins with profound challenges and cultural transitions that shaped his resilience. Born in Iran in 1974, his family fled the political upheaval of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, settling first in Germany before moving to Florida, USA. These early life experiences of displacement and adaptation were difficult but foundational. Kash reflects, “Those adjustments, though difficult, were foundational in the decisions I would make later and who I am today.”

Rather than seeing hardship as an obstacle, Kash views it as preparation. He explains, “When you come through these things, they are actually not your foes; they’re your friends. They are your next level.” This mindset of gratitude and growth through adversity is a cornerstone of his philosophy.

The Power of Curiosity and Self-Knowledge

As a young boy, Kash was driven by a deep curiosity about life, purpose, and spirituality. He was fascinated by the concept of freedom—not just in the external world but within himself. This led him to explore diverse spiritual traditions, from the Bible to Zoroastrianism, Vedic teachings, Buddhism, Sufism, and shamanism. Through this exploration, one theme resonated profoundly: “Know thyself.”

Kash’s spiritual journey introduced him to meditation as a tool for accessing higher states of consciousness and pure awareness. He discovered that true freedom and power come from within, reached through practices that quiet the mind and open the soul. This inner work laid the foundation for his approach to business and life.

Belief to Knowing: The Evolution of Consciousness

Kash describes the progression from belief to knowledge as crucial in personal and professional development. “Belief is like a rocket booster,” he says. “You start with belief, but eventually, the belief has to fall off, and the rocket keeps going to the source—that’s knowledge and wisdom.” This transition from external faith to internal knowing is what empowers entrepreneurs to operate with clarity and confidence.

Entrepreneurial Beginnings: Building Businesses with Purpose

At just 13 years old, Kash started his first business—a grass-cutting service in Florida. This early experience ignited his passion for entrepreneurship. Over the years, he experimented with various ventures including car washes, produce businesses, souvenir stores, massage services, and even becoming a raw food chef. Each of these endeavors taught him vital lessons about resilience, adaptability, and service.

In 2004, Kash found his calling in the insurance industry. Starting as an agent in Southern California, he quickly realized that insurance combined his desire to serve others with his entrepreneurial spirit. By 2006, he launched Fadaie Insurance, an agency that has since grown to over $11 million in revenue.

The Secret Sauce: Merging Spirituality with Professional Life

What truly sets Kash apart is his integration of spiritual principles into his business. He emphasizes the importance of unifying professional work with spiritual practice, creating a higher vibrational frequency that naturally attracts clients and builds trust.

“When we unify all of our life to be spiritual practice—no separation—then we bring the divine into our work. The person receiving our service doesn’t know why, but they just want to be with us. There’s a love, a genuineness, a magnetic attraction.”

This authentic approach transforms sales from a chase into an attraction. It fosters a culture of benevolence, patience, and service within the team and the brand. The result is not only increased sales but also meaningful, lasting relationships with clients and team members.

Building a Culture of Benevolence and Patience

Kash’s leadership style emphasizes patience and long-term vision. Rather than rushing for quick wins, he cultivates an environment where values like patience and kindness shape every interaction. This shift in energy opens the heart chakra metaphorically, leading to higher vibrations and greater wealth attraction.

Why Insurance? A Noble and Recession-Proof Business

For entrepreneurs considering their next venture, Kash highlights insurance as an ideal industry. He points out several advantages:

Emotional Intelligence and Work Ethic: Success in insurance comes from grit, determination, and emotional intelligence rather than prior industry experience.
Recession-Proof: Insurance is essential; people always need coverage regardless of economic cycles.
Residual Income: Policies have long shelf lives, generating commissions for years through renewals.
Flexibility: The business can be run remotely, meeting clients via phone, email, or text.
Noble Work: Agents protect clients’ financial legacies, earning trust and respect.
Human Connection: Despite advances in AI, clients prefer human advisors for nuanced decisions.

Kash envisions franchising Fadaie Insurance to 10,000 locations in five years, empowering entrepreneurs to become CEOs and investors in their own right.

Essential Traits for Aspiring Franchisees

When selecting individuals to join his franchise network, Kash looks beyond insurance knowledge. He seeks entrepreneurs with:

Emotional Intelligence: The ability to understand and manage emotions effectively.
Work Ethic: Commitment to consistent effort and growth.
Obsession: An intense passion and dedication to their business, surpassing mere commitment.

He likens entrepreneurship to a spiritual practice where trials refine and purify the individual, much like gold being purified by fire. Accountability and daily discussions within the team help maintain focus and alignment.

Daily Routines: The Cornerstone of Success

One of Kash’s most practical and impactful recommendations is the power of daily routines. He advocates building strong morning, afternoon, and evening rituals that nurture mind, body, and spirit.

Starting with simple habits like exercise, meditation, and breathwork, routines can evolve to include fasting, journaling, and reading. The key is consistency and patience:

“You don’t have to have crazy DNA. What you can control is building the right habits and sticking to them. Once you taste the nectar—the benefit—you will double down and add more layers.”

Being around like-minded people who support growth and accountability further strengthens these habits, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement.

Presence Over Outcome: The True Secret to Fulfillment

Kash emphasizes the importance of being present in the journey rather than obsessing over the destination. This presence allows entrepreneurs to enjoy the process, learn from every step, and avoid burnout or frustration.

He shares a powerful insight:

“The journey itself is the bliss. The outcome you’re looking for is already at hand. When you stop obsessing about when it will happen and just do the work faithfully, success naturally unfolds.”

This mindset encourages letting go of rigid expectations and trusting that the highest possibilities will manifest.

Defining the CEO: A Role of Trust and Service

To Kash, being a CEO is more than a title—it is a sacred responsibility. It means being entrusted with a mission to create freedom and serve others at the highest level.

“Being a CEO means putting all your chips in, being willing to be transformed, and becoming a conduit for benevolence and servant leadership. It’s about carrying out a mission to create freedom in people’s lives.”

This definition beautifully encapsulates the integration of spiritual purpose with leadership and business success.

Connecting with Kash Fadaie

Kash invites entrepreneurs and seekers of higher consciousness to connect with him. Whether you’re interested in learning insurance, exploring spiritual growth, or becoming part of the Fadaie Insurance franchise network, Kash offers guidance based on two decades of experience.

To reach Kash, visit Fadaie Insurance, email him at cash@kaiinsurance.com, or engage through the chat feature on his website.

Final Thoughts

Kash Fadaie’s journey is a testament to the power of resilience, curiosity, and the integration of spirituality with entrepreneurship. His approach teaches us that success is not merely about sales or revenue but about aligning with our highest selves, serving others authentically, and embracing the journey with presence and patience.

For entrepreneurs seeking to deepen their understanding of what it means to be a CEO and build a thriving business rooted in purpose, Kash’s story and insights offer invaluable lessons.

If you are inspired by this journey and want to explore more about becoming a CEO and building your business with intention, visit the I AM CEO community or browse through resources on business planning and entrepreneur podcasts to fuel your growth.

Explore More Resources for Entrepreneurs

For entrepreneurs and business leaders looking to expand their knowledge and stay updated with valuable content, exploring comprehensive resources can be highly beneficial. To access a wide range of articles, posts, and guides that cover various aspects of entrepreneurship, leadership, and business growth, visit the CB Nation sitemap. This sitemap provides organized links to multiple categories, ensuring you find relevant and insightful information to support your journey.

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How to Create a Good Online Reputation: Your Simple Guide

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 09:16:07 -0400

Have you ever wondered what people say about you when you’re not around? Well, businesses have something similar called an “online reputation.” It’s like their digital report card, showing what people think about them based on what they see and read online.

Building a good online reputation is important for any business today, almost like having a friendly smile for everyone you meet in person. A strong online reputation can help your business grow and learning how to create a good online reputation is one of the smartest things you can do in today’s digital world.

What is Online Reputation?

Your online reputation is simply what people believe and say about your business on the internet. Think of it as a collection of all the opinions floating around online about your company. When people look you up, what do they find? Do they see happy customers, helpful information, or maybe some not-so-good comments? All of these things together make up your online reputation.

It matters a lot because people check online before they buy things. If your online reputation is good, people will trust you more and be more likely to choose your business. It can also help you stand out from other businesses.

Where Does Your Online Reputation Live?

Your online reputation isn’t just in one place. It’s like a big puzzle made up of different pieces from all over the internet.

1. Online Reviews

One of the biggest parts of your online reputation comes from review websites. These are places like Google My Business, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Facebook, where customers can leave stars and write comments about their experiences with your business.

Good reviews are like gold because they show new customers that people trust and like your business. But bad reviews can really hurt if you don’t handle them well.

2. Social Media

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) are huge for your online reputation. When people talk about your business, share your posts, or ask questions on social media, it all adds up.

Being friendly and quick to respond on social media helps your reputation grow strong.

3. News and Articles

Sometimes, news websites or blogs might write about your business. If the stories are positive, it can make your business look even better.

If they are negative, think of a plan to fix things.

4. Online Groups and Forums

People also talk about businesses in online groups or forums. These are places where people with similar interests chat and share ideas.

What they say about your business in these groups can also shape your reputation.

5. Search Engine Results

When someone types your business name into Google, what shows up? The results on the first page of Google are very important for your online reputation. You want to make sure mostly good and accurate information appears there.

To learn how to stay ahead of search engine algorithms, read our article, “How to Stay Ahead of Search Engine Algorithms in 2025,” to help you master some SEO best practices and keep your website ranking high.

How to Create a Good Online Reputation: Simple Steps

Building a good online reputation takes a bit of work, but it’s totally worth it! Here are some easy steps to follow.

1. Listen to What People Say (Check Your Reviews)

Before you can make your online reputation better, you need to know what people are saying about you right now. Start by looking at your online reviews. Focus on the most popular places where people leave reviews, like Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Facebook.

Also, make sure that your business address, phone number, and hours are correct on all these sites. Then, read what customers are writing. Are they mostly happy? Are there common problems mentioned? This will give you a clear picture of your current standing.

2. Respond to Everyone (Good and Bad Reviews)

Having a plan for how you answer reviews is super important. Every review deserves a response, whether it’s good or bad.

For positive reviews, always say, “Thank you!” You can even mention something specific they said they liked. This shows you appreciate their business and that you pay attention.

For negative reviews, it can be tough, but don’t get upset or defensive. Instead, apologize genuinely and offer to talk more about the problem in private, maybe over the phone or by email. This helps calm things down and shows you care about fixing issues. Try to reply to reviews quickly, ideally within a week.

3. Ask Happy Customers to Share Their Story

Did you know that people are sometimes more likely to leave a review when they’re unhappy than when they’re super happy? That’s why it’s a great idea to gently ask your happy customers to leave a review.

Teach your team to politely ask customers if they had a good experience and if they’d be willing to share it online. Explain that their feedback helps your business grow. You could even offer a small “thank you” like a discount on their next purchase. Sending an email to customers after they’ve had a great experience is another good way to ask for reviews at the right time.

4. Be Active on Social Media

Social media is a lively place where people talk about everything, including businesses. Keep an eye on what people are saying about your company on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

If someone says something nice, thank them for their kind words. If someone posts a complaint or a negative comment, respond quickly. Apologize and offer to help them privately, maybe by sending a direct message or asking them to email you. Responding fast can stop a small problem from becoming a big one that lots of people see. This is another important step when thinking about how to create a good online reputation.

5. Get Your Team Involved

Your employees can be your best online reputation helpers! When your team is happy and proud of where they work, they naturally share positive things about your business with their friends and family, and even online. This can introduce your business to new people and build trust. Encourage them to be brand ambassadors by sharing company news or positive experiences.

Simple Ways to Keep Your Reputation Strong

To keep your online reputation shining, remember these general tips:

Always Deliver What You Promise: Make sure you always do what you say you will. If you tell a customer you’ll call them back, do it. If you promise a certain service, provide it. In fact, try to do even more than what is expected! When you keep your promises and go the extra mile, customers notice and appreciate it.
Act with Integrity: This means being honest and doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. People trust businesses that are fair, transparent, and reliable. When you act with integrity, it builds a strong foundation of trust with your customers and the public.
Help Others Succeed: Look for ways to help your customers, partners, and even your community reach their own goals. When you show you care about more than just making money, it builds goodwill and a positive image.
Make Others Look Good: Celebrate the successes of your customers or team members. Share their positive stories or achievements. When you lift others up, it reflects well on your business and shows you’re a good partner.
Be Consistent: Consistency is key in everything you do. From the quality of your products or services to how you interact with customers online, being consistent helps build a reliable and trustworthy image. People know what to expect from your business, which builds confidence.
Present Yourself Professionally: This includes making sure your business looks good online. Have a great, easy-to-use website and a well-managed social media presence. Your online appearance, just like how you dress for a special event, is a big part of your reputation.

Your online reputation is super important, like a golden ticket to success in today’s digital world. Understanding how to create a good online reputation means listening to customers, responding kindly, asking for good reviews, and being active online. By taking these simple steps, your business can build a shining online presence that attracts more customers and helps you succeed. Remember, being proactive and consistent is the secret to a lasting good reputation.

How Blue16 Media Can Help You Build a Good Online Reputation

Building and keeping a strong online reputation can feel like a big job. That’s where Blue16 Media comes in! We are a digital marketing agency in the USA that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.

Our services include website design and support, social media management, and cutting-edge search engine optimization (SEO) services to keep your organization or company ahead of the curve. We can help you manage reviews, create great content, and make sure your business looks awesome online.

For more information or inquiries, fill out the contact form on our website.

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The Role of Content Marketing in Driving Traffic and Building Trust

Thu, 01 May 2025 09:16:13 -0400

Content marketing plays a big role in helping businesses make friends with their customers. When you share helpful stories, fun videos, and interesting blog posts, you invite people to learn more about what you do. By sharing clear, helpful content that resonates, you earn trust and grow your traffic naturally and this makes visitors stick around, come back often, and tell their friends.

Understanding the Role of Content Marketing

Content marketing fosters genuine connections, and boosts visibility so your audience can find you and stick around.

Storytelling. A great story does more than inform: it captivates. Sharing vivid moments help people remember your brand and spark an emotional connection that lasts long after they leave your page.

Connection. Connection occurs when readers sense you genuinely care about their needs. Instead of pushing a sale, you share honest advice. Practical tips build trust because readers see you’re an expert who wants to help and ultimately turn visitors into fans.

Visibility. All the best stories and tips won’t matter if people can’t find them. Visibility means appearing where your audience searches and scrolls. Posting consistently signals both readers and search engines that your site is active, drawing fresh visitors and keeping your brand top of mind.

How Blogs Nurture Customer Relationships

Blogs answer questions, share ideas, and establish you as an expert. They give readers valuable information in a friendly, readable format.

Discoverability

Blogs help search engines and readers find your expertise. To help with discoverability;

Include your primary keyword, such as the “role of content marketing,” in the URL, title, and early text tells search engines exactly what you cover.
Write a concise meta description of about 150 characters that mentions that phrase makes your snippet clear and compelling, increasing click-throughs.

Engagement

Once readers land on your blog, you want to keep them coming back. Here’s how;

Start with a compelling introduction, perhaps a fun fact like “Did you know mint can transform lemonade into a spa treat?” to grab attention.
Break up the text with images, simple infographics, or short embedded videos so readers’ eyes keep moving.
Clear calls to action near the top, such as inviting them to download a free e-book, give them a next step before they scroll away.

Lead Generation

Every blog post can become a doorway to deeper engagement.

Offer gated resources, like guides in exchange for an email address to build your subscriber list.
Encourage readers to join your newsletter for weekly tips so your brand stays top of mind.
Use internal links to related posts or your services page to guide readers through your site and showcase how you can help.

How Videos Bring Your Brand to Life

Video simplifies understanding through visuals, fostering connection via authentic stories, expanding reach with shareable formats and including everyone with accessibility features.

Here are the qualities that make videos a powerful tool for capturing attention and building stronger audience relationships;

1. Visual Demonstration

Showing each step in a video takes guesswork out of the process;

A concise how-to breakdown, like a 60-second clip on crushing ice correctly, teaches by example.
Behind-the-scenes footage, such as team bloopers or recipe testing, reveals your brand’s personality and builds authenticity.
Consistent branding, using the same color palette, logo placement, and intro music, reinforces recognition across all videos.

2. Shareability

Great videos invite viewers to hit “share,” sending your message to new audiences.

An early engagement hook, such as asking a question in the first few seconds sparks comments and boosts algorithmic visibility.
Embed videos in blog posts and share them in emails to create multiple touchpoints for engagement.

3. Accessibility

Ensuring everyone can enjoy your videos widens your reach.

Accurate captions help viewers who watch on mute or have hearing challenges.
Audio descriptions of key visuals make content accessible to visually impaired viewers.
Mobile optimization—testing formats on various devices—guarantees fast loading and clear playback, keeping all viewers engaged on the go.

Why Educational Content Matters

Educational content positions you as a trusted guide by teaching real skills and solving problems.

Downloadable Guides

Guides offer step-by-step help that readers can return to whenever they need a refresher.

Interactive checklists, such as planners let users mark steps off digitally, making learning hands-on and memorable.
Deep-dive e-books, like an advanced guide, explain complex topics in simple terms, establishing you as an expert.
Printable templates, such as recipe cards or stand flyers, give tangible tools that turn readers into real-world customers.

Webinars and Workshops

Live sessions deliver instant value and create a sense of community.

Real-time Q&A lets viewers ask questions and get immediate answers, building trust and loyalty.
Follow-up resources, like slide decks or cheat sheets, provide handy references and show you care.
Hosting a private forum for attendees fosters ongoing discussion and keeps engagement high long after the event.

Email Courses

Email lessons drip knowledge over days or weeks, keeping learners engaged with structured modules so subscribers can learn at a comfortable pace.

Add interactive quizzes at the end of each module to help readers test their understanding and earn digital badges, making learning fun.
Invite readers to send photos of their own to allow you to offer personalized feedback, demonstrating genuine care and deepening relationships.

Want your content to stay relevant, searchable, and competitive in 2025 and beyond? Read our article: How to Stay Ahead of Search Engine Algorithms in 2025.

How Blue16 Media Can Help

At Blue16 Media, we understand the role of content marketing in driving traffic and building trust. We design websites that welcome visitors, craft social stories that spark conversation, and deploy SEO strategies that put you on the map. Let us create a content plan that drives traffic and builds trust for your business.

Visit us at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or contact us online to start your adventure today.

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The Importance of Website Design: Boost Engagement, SEO & Conversions

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 09:16:38 -0400

Your website is not just an online presence; it is the face of your brand and a vital part of your overall business strategy. As a result, recognizing the importance of website design is crucial because it shapes how visitors view your brand, influences their experience, and drives engagement and conversions.

A well-designed website invites exploration, builds trust, and encourages users to take actions that support your business goals.

6 Key Benefits of Website Design That Drive Business Success

In the following sections, we examine the core components that shape your online presence. From the first impression that captivates visitors to intuitive navigation that guides them seamlessly, every element plays a role in building trust, enhancing mobile performance, boosting search engine visibility, and securing a competitive edge. Understanding these factors is essential to realizing the full importance of website design.

1. First Impressions Matter

When visitors arrive on your website, they form opinions within seconds. The visual impact of your website plays a crucial role in whether someone decides to stay and explore or leave immediately.

A sleek, modern design with clear visuals and well-organized content creates a welcoming atmosphere. This immediate impact conveys professionalism and attention to detail. Every element, from the choice of colors and fonts to the layout and imagery, communicates a commitment to quality.

The way you present your website can signal reliability and excellence, laying the groundwork for a positive relationship with your audience.

2. User Experience (UX) and Navigation

The ease with which visitors navigate your website is vital for keeping them engaged. When your website is designed with intuitive navigation and a logical structure, users can easily find the information they need.

Consider how simple it is for a visitor to locate contact information, product details, or support resources. An effective website uses clear menus, prominently placed buttons, and well-organized sections to ensure that every user can have a smooth experience.

This attention to usability reduces frustration and builds a natural connection between your visitors and your brand. When people feel comfortable navigating your site, they are more likely to spend additional time exploring your content and become loyal customers.

3. Building Trust and Credibility

A professional website design plays a significant role in building trust with your audience. When visitors encounter a polished and thoughtfully designed website, they tend to perceive your business as reliable and capable.

Consistent use of colors, fonts, and high-quality images contributes to a unified brand identity that reassures users about the legitimacy of your services or products. A well-structured website that presents information clearly can also help dispel any doubts visitors might have.

This sense of trust is essential because it can determine whether a visitor decides to make a purchase, subscribe to a service, or engage further with your content. Investing in a high-quality design is an investment in your brand’s reputation.

4. Mobile Responsiveness

With an increasing number of users accessing websites via smartphones and tablets, having a design that adapts to different screen sizes is essential. Mobile responsiveness ensures that your website maintains its functionality and appeal, regardless of the device used to access it.

When your website is optimized for mobile devices, it offers a consistent experience to all users. This adaptability not only enhances user satisfaction but also improves overall engagement.

A site that works well on all devices shows that you care about every visitor’s experience, which in turn helps maintain their interest and encourages return visits.

5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Benefits

A well-designed website also supports your search engine optimization efforts. When a website is built with clear headings, concise and informative content, and fast loading speeds, it becomes easier for search engines to understand and rank your pages.

Elements such as clean coding practices, strategic use of keywords, and an organized structure all contribute to higher search engine rankings. As a result, a website that is both user-friendly and optimized for search engines will attract more organic traffic.

This dual benefit means that a good design not only pleases visitors but also increases your visibility to potential customers who are searching for services like yours.

6. Competitive Advantage

A superior website design can set your business apart from the rest. A website that reflects modern design standards, high performance, and strong usability leaves a lasting impression on visitors and is crucial when potential customers have many options.

A thoughtfully designed website demonstrates that you are up-to-date with current trends and are serious about providing quality service. Companies that invest in professional website design often experience higher engagement and conversion rates, which translates to better overall business performance.

The ability to stand out from competitors with a unique, efficient, and attractive website can be a decisive factor in attracting and retaining customers. Having looked at the importance of website design, it’s also good to explore the key elements of effective website design.

So, in the next section, we’ll explore the building blocks that form a strong online presence. Discover how elements like consistent branding, high-quality visuals, clear calls-to-action, organized content, and clean design work together to create an engaging and effective website.

Key Elements of Effective Web Design

Now, it’s important to understand the foundational components that make a website both visually appealing and highly functional. Let’s review the essential elements that contribute to a consistent, engaging, and user-friendly online experience.

1. Consistency in Branding

Using uniform color schemes, fonts, and imagery across your website creates a cohesive look that reinforces your brand’s personality.

This builds trust among your visitors and makes your site easily recognizable, ensuring that every interaction with your website strengthens your brand image.

2. High-Quality Visuals and Multimedia

Images, videos, and interactive graphics play a powerful role in engaging visitors. Crisp visuals not only capture attention but also convey your message in a compelling way.

By integrating high-quality multimedia, you provide a richer, more immersive experience that encourages visitors to explore further.

These visual elements work in harmony with your content, creating an inviting atmosphere that reflects the care and quality behind your brand.

3. Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

Calls-to-action are the bridges that lead visitors from passive browsing to active engagement. Whether you want users to sign up for a newsletter, make a purchase, or learn more about your offerings, CTAs should be clear and strategically placed throughout your website.

The design of these prompts should complement the overall aesthetic while being noticeable enough to guide visitors toward taking the desired actions. Clear CTAs help convert interest into meaningful interactions, supporting your business goals.

4. Organized Content Hierarchy

An effective website presents information in a structured and logical manner. Organizing your content with clear headings, subheadings, and well-defined sections makes it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for.

A well-organized layout not only improves readability but also enhances the overall user experience. When users can quickly locate key information, they are more likely to engage with your content and return to your site in the future.

5. Clean Design and Ample White Space

A clutter-free design is essential for maintaining focus and clarity. Ample white space gives your content room to breathe, preventing your pages from feeling crowded.

This clean design approach helps emphasize the most important elements, ensuring that visitors can easily digest the information presented. A visually appealing, uncluttered layout contributes to a pleasant user experience and supports the overall effectiveness of your website.

For more strategies on enhancing your website’s effectiveness, consider reading our related blog post: SEO Mistakes to Avoid: How to Protect Your Website’s Online Presence for valuable insights on ensuring your website remains competitive in search engine rankings.

Take Action Today

Don’t let design flaws and SEO missteps hinder your business’s potential. At Blue16 Media, we specialize in creating visually appealing, user-friendly websites optimized for search engines. Our team is dedicated to helping you build a robust online presence that drives engagement and conversions.

To elevate your website’s design and performance, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the contact form on our website Together, we can craft a digital strategy that propels your business forward.

The post The Importance of Website Design: Boost Engagement, SEO & Conversions appeared first on .

Why Entrepreneurs Need Harmony, Not Hustle

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 15:07:38 -0400

In the ever-evolving world of entrepreneurship, the constant push for hustle often overshadows the vital need for harmony. Asmâa Methqal, a global business consultant and the creator of the Fire & Flow leadership methodology, emphasizes that true success lies in balancing action with intuition. This powerful approach not only ignites businesses but also nurtures holistic leadership.

In this blog, the reader will be let into the secrets of Asmâa on how entrepreneurs manage to maintain a good balance of both their personal and professional lives resulting in them being fulfilled as well as successful.

Understanding the Fire & Flow Methodology

The process of Asmâa is Fire & Flow is applied is to enable these leaders reconnect with their major aim and resolve the intricacies of contemporary business. The main parts of this way are: Fire, representing action and execution, and Flow, which symbolizes trust in one's intuition and inner strength.

The pandemic saw a good number of entrepreneurs who had to go through emotional disconnectedness that prevented them from being their true selves. According to Asmâa, the curfew which was the major part of the pandemic stimulates individuals to stay still that finally letting them realize a truth: one should firstly focus on being and then do it. The new outlook is visible but is necessary for one to dream and to succeed.

The Importance of Self-Leadership

The subject of Asmâa is self-leadership, which is the key to her teachings. According to her, there are indeed many people who follow the career paths predetermined by society rather than their own wishes. As a result, they become unwelcome and sometimes destituted people. Asmâa brings up the fact that entrepreneurs have to face the difficult question about their actual selves. The question that is, “If there were no limits, who would you be?” This question acts as a stimulus for the realization of what you are on earth for.

The path of self-identification is about getting rid of the burden of external validation and accepting one's distinct advantages. Asmâa tells her story about how she had to climb the wrong ladder in her profession only to find out that the real happiness is in the conformity of their actions with their inner essence.

Creating Sacred White Space

Among the main practices Asmâa promotes the formation of sacred white space in our timetables. This means purposely taking time out to stop and reflect, which is a great way for people to get back to their own inner wisdom. In a society that is often very busy doing things and seemingly too busy to just be, the simple act of just being could open up a whole new world of understanding and clarity.

According to Asmâa, it is best to start with small steps—like spending a few minutes each day to do this practice. Individuals can deepen their connection to intuition and creativity by the act of sending a message to the self that this time is valuable.

Embracing the Duality of Being and Doing

Business owners regularly find themselves caught in a conflict between being efficient and giving up the pressure of existence. Asmâa brings up that it is essential to find a fair balance between the two states. Instead of seeing them as opposing, she supports the inclusion of both in one's daily life.

The state of equilibrium that allows people to grow both emotionally and professionally, therefore, will bring about more joy to their business voyages. The entrepreneurs, who choose to rely on their gut feelings and love who they are, will be the ones to make available to the company an environment that nurtures creativity and innovation.

Transformational Insights for Entrepreneurs

Through her work experience, Asmâa has come to realize the impactful ability of self-acceptance and being true to oneself. She motivates enterprisers to express themselves allowing no apologies, having noticed that their diversity in idea is what distinguishes them in the market.

Innovation of the heart and authenticity of the leader are the two things that entrepreneurs need to have in order to influence others and form valuable links. Asmâa's last piece of advice is spot on: to go within and discover your essence. This path of self-awareness is the grounding of meaningful and lasting success both at work and in daily life.

Conclusion

The journey towards harmonious entrepreneurship is not a destination but a continuous process of self-discovery and growth. By integrating the principles of Fire & Flow, creating sacred white space, and embracing the duality of being and doing, entrepreneurs can unlock their full potential and lead with purpose.

For more insights on achieving balance and harmony in your entrepreneurial journey, check out Asmâa Methqal's work and explore the CEO Hacks for additional resources and strategies.

Podcast Episode: https://iamceo.co/2024/12/13/iam2314-global-business-consultant-empowers-leaders-and-businesses-to-unlock-their-potential/

LinkedIn: Asmâa Methqal

Website: Fire and Flow with Asmâa

Instagram: iamasmaa

Previous Episode: iam612-educator-harnesses-teams-collective-strengths

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How to Stay Ahead of Search Engine Algorithms in 2025

Sat, 01 Mar 2025 09:16:48 -0500

Search engines like Google keep changing how they rank websites. These updates can make it tricky for businesses to stay visible online. To stay ahead of search engine algorithms and keep your website ranking high, it’s essential to master some SEO best practices. This will ensure that your content stays relevant, searchable, and competitive in 2025 and beyond.

Why Do Search Engines Change Their Algorithms?

Search engines frequently update their algorithms to improve search quality and user experience. These updates help ensure that users receive the most accurate and helpful results when searching online. Understanding why these changes happen can help you stay ahead of search engine algorithms and maintain a strong online presence.

i) Ensuring High-Quality Search Results

Search engines want to give people the best answers to their questions. To do this, they update their systems to prioritize the most useful, trustworthy, and relevant information. Over time, they have had to adjust their algorithms to prevent low-quality websites from ranking high through tricks like keyword stuffing, spammy backlinks, or misleading content. These updates help users find accurate, high-quality results rather than content designed solely to manipulate rankings.

ii) Advancements in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Another reason for algorithm changes is the improvement of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Search engines like Google use AI to better understand search intent and deliver more precise results. As technology advances, search engines refine their algorithms to prioritize websites that offer clear, well-structured, and expert-driven content. This shift means that businesses must focus on creating valuable content that aligns with user expectations and intent.

iii) Adapting to User Behavior and Trends

The way people search online is constantly changing. Voice search, mobile browsing, and evolving search behaviors influence how algorithms rank websites. Search engines adjust their ranking factors to accommodate these changes, ensuring that users get the best experience across different devices and search formats. Websites that fail to adapt to these trends risk losing visibility in search results.

iv) Combating Spam and Manipulative Practices

Some website owners attempt to trick search engines into ranking their content higher through manipulative practices. To counteract this, search engines release algorithm updates to penalize black-hat SEO techniques like link schemes, duplicate content, and deceptive redirects. Websites that rely on ethical SEO strategies focused on user experience will benefit from these updates, while those engaging in questionable tactics will see their rankings drop.

That’s why keeping up with SEO is so important. If you don’t stay updated with changes, your website may lose visibility, resulting in fewer visitors and lost business opportunities. Understanding how to stay ahead of search engine algorithms is the key to long-term online success.

Best SEO Practices to Stay Ahead in 2025

SEO is constantly evolving, and staying ahead requires a proactive approach. If you understand how search engines work and what they prioritize, you can keep your website visible and attract more visitors. The key is to focus on high-quality content, user experience, and trustworthiness. Here are some of the most important SEO practices you should follow in 2025:

1. Create Helpful and Original Content

Google rewards websites that provide useful content. If your website answers real questions and helps people, search engines will rank it higher. Instead of copying content from other websites, write fresh and interesting posts that people will love to read and share. When creating content, always think about how to stay ahead of search engine algorithms by focusing on what users need and delivering valuable information.

2. Use the Right Keywords Naturally

Keywords help search engines understand your content. Use words and phrases that people search for, but don’t overuse them. For example, in this article, we use the phrase “how to stay ahead of search engine algorithms” naturally. That’s how you should do it too.

3. Make Your Website Fast and Easy to Use

People don’t like slow websites. If your pages take too long to load, visitors will leave, and search engines will rank your site lower. Also, your site should look good and work well on phones, tablets, and computers.

4. Build Trust with Backlinks

When other good websites link to yours, search engines see your site as trustworthy. You can get backlinks by creating great content that others want to share. You can also write guest posts for other blogs and link back to your website.

5. Keep Up with SEO Changes

SEO is always changing. Follow SEO experts and Google’s official updates to stay informed. You can also use tools like Google Search Console and Ahrefs to see what’s working for your website. Staying updated on algorithm changes will help you adapt and continue ranking well in search results.

The key to staying ahead of search engine algorithms is simple: create great content, follow SEO best practices, and keep learning. By doing this, your website will continue to rank well, bringing in more visitors and customers in 2025 and beyond. Understanding how to stay ahead of search engine algorithms ensures that your online presence remains strong despite ongoing updates and changes.

How Blue16 Media Can Help

Blue16 Media is a digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.

Our services include website design and support, social media management, and cutting-edge search engine optimization (SEO) services to keep your organization or company ahead of the curve.

For more information or inquiries, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the contact form on our website.

The post How to Stay Ahead of Search Engine Algorithms in 2025 appeared first on .

Founder Empowers Future Female Leaders in Food & Beverage Industry

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 10:56:27 -0500

Christie Lawler is the founder and owner of CJL Consulting, a beverage marketing agency, and the WITI Group, a nonprofit female leadership in the food and beverage industry.

She is also the host of the Lawler Out Loud Mixing Up the Mainstream Podcast and an advocate on several industry boards.

Christie is recognized for her leadership, including being named “Innovator of the Year” (2022) and “Most Influential Beverage Strategist” (2021).

Christie discusses the emotional and relational benefits of the initiative, the challenges faced during conferences, and the importance of resilience and problem-solving.

Moreover, she emphasizes persistence and never misses deadlines, describing herself as a realistic optimist.

Website: CJL Consulting

LinkedIn: Christie Lawler

Previous Episode: iam823-founder-supports-national-hospitality-industry-and-future-female-leaders

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I AM CEO Podcast Interview: https://iamceo.co/2024/12/06/iam2307-founder-empowers-future-female-leaders-in-food-beverage-industry/

The post Founder Empowers Future Female Leaders in Food & Beverage Industry appeared first on CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business.

CEO Helps Business Owners Focus on High Impact Activities

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 10:46:45 -0500

Frank Goodman is a seasoned business consultant and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience.

Frank has worked with startups, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies, holding degrees in computer engineering and systems engineering.

Frank shares the importance of understanding where clients want to go and the external factors that might affect their businesses.

He emphasizes the need for thorough assessment rather than quick fixes.

Frank discusses the challenge of businesses adapting to tools rather than the tools fitting their processes.

He believes technology should enhance existing workflows without forcing companies to change their fundamental operations.

The conversation highlights the importance of buy-in from the team for any technology or process changes to be effective.

Website: ROI for Pros

LinkedIn: Frank Goodman

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

I AM CEO Podcast Interview: https://iamceo.co/2024/10/19/iam2259-ceo-and-founder-helps-business-owners-clear-their-plate-of-responsibilities-to-focus-on-high-impact-activities/

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The Power of Social Media: A Guide for Businesses

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 09:16:06 -0500

For most businesses, social media offers incredible opportunities to reach customers, grow brand awareness, and increase sales. With billions of people scrolling daily, having an effective social media marketing strategy isn’t just an option; it’s essential.

If you’re ready to unlock the power of social media and take your business to the next level, Blue16 Media can help! Our team of experts specializes in creating tailored strategies that deliver real results. Contact us today to get started!

Why Your Business Needs Social Media Marketing

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow businesses to connect directly with their audience. Imagine being able to talk to your customers, hear their needs, and share your story all in one place.

That’s the power of social media!

To make this a reality, businesses need a clear plan to make the most of their social media presence.

When used effectively, social media can:

Help you understand your audience better.
Make your business more accessible.
Offer a space to showcase your products and services creatively.

With the right strategy, you build meaningful relationships that turn followers into loyal customers.

Building a Social Media Strategy That Works

A good strategy starts with understanding your goals.

i) Do you want more people to know about your business?

ii) Are you trying to sell a product?

iii) Do you want to position yourself as an industry leader?

Once you know your purpose, you can choose the right platforms that align with your audience and goals.

Facebook: The All-in-One Platform

Facebook is perfect for sharing updates, photos, and videos. Businesses can create posts that inform, entertain, or inspire their audience. Use Facebook Ads to reach more people and promote special offers. Its powerful analytics tools also allow you to measure the success of your campaigns, so you can refine your approach over time.

LinkedIn: The Professional Network

LinkedIn is a must for connecting with other professionals and building business partnerships. Share blog posts, company updates, and achievements to stand out. LinkedIn is also great for personal branding. Your leadership team can share insights and expertise to showcase the human side of your company.

Instagram: Visual Storytelling

If your brand loves pictures and videos, Instagram is the place to shine. Create eye-catching posts, Stories, and Reels to show off your products. Use hashtags strategically to help people discover your business.

Collaborating with influencers can also give your brand a boost on Instagram.

Other Platforms to Explore

Don’t forget TikTok, Pinterest, or Twitter. Each platform has its strengths. TikTok, for example, is excellent for short, engaging videos, while Pinterest is perfect for showcasing products with high-quality images.

Experiment to find out which ones work best for your business.

The Key to Success: Consistency and Engagement

Social media isn’t just about posting content. It’s about starting conversations. Reply to comments, share customer reviews, and post regularly. This keeps your audience engaged and shows them you care.

Building consistency requires planning. Use tools like content calendars to organize your posts and ensure your messaging aligns with your brand. Engaging with followers also involves responding to messages quickly and showing appreciation for their feedback.

How Social Media Drives Results

Using creative campaigns and engaging content can capture attention and keep your brand top-of-mind. The results will be;

Boosted website traffic as users click on links in your posts.
Increased brand visibility through shares, likes, and comments.
More sales as your audience becomes more familiar with your offerings.

The power of social media lies in its ability to connect businesses and people like never before. By using Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other platforms, you can grow your audience, build trust, and boost sales.

Social media isn’t just a trend; it’s a powerful tool that can transform your business. Whether you’re just starting or looking to refine your strategy, taking action today can make all the difference.

How Blue16 Media Can Help

Blue16 Media is a digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.

Our services include website design and support, social media management, and cutting-edge search engine optimization (SEO) services to keep your organization or company ahead of the curve.

For more information or inquiries, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the contact form on our website.

The post The Power of Social Media: A Guide for Businesses appeared first on .

New Year Marketing Goals: How to Set Your Digital Marketing Strategy for 2025

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 09:16:38 -0500

The New Year is the perfect opportunity to reassess, refocus, and recharge your digital marketing efforts. A time to evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and how you can make this year your most successful yet. Setting clear and actionable new year marketing goals is the cornerstone of achieving meaningful results.

Reflect on the Past Year

To set effective goals, start by analyzing last year’s performance. Did you meet your targets? Which strategies delivered the best results? By taking a closer look at your metrics, such as website traffic, conversion rates, and customer engagement, you can uncover valuable insights. This reflection isn’t just about identifying success; it’s also about spotting missed opportunities and areas for growth.

Understanding your past efforts will provide a foundation for setting realistic and achievable new year marketing goals. For example, if social media engagement grew steadily but conversions lagged, your strategy might need a sharper focus on nurturing leads rather than merely attracting followers.

Define Clear, Measurable Goals

Once you understand last year’s performance, it’s time to set your sights on the future. The most effective marketing goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Vague aspirations like “grow my audience” won’t cut it. Instead, aim for something tangible, such as “increase website traffic by 25% in the first quarter” or “boost email click-through rates by 15% by June.”

When crafting your new year marketing goals, break them into short-term and long-term objectives. This approach keeps you motivated while providing a clear roadmap. If you’re launching a new product, for instance, a short-term goal might involve growing pre-launch awareness, while a long-term objective focuses on customer retention.

Adjust Your Strategies for the New Year

New goals often require new approaches. If last year’s strategies felt stagnant, it’s time to shake things up. Start by revisiting your target audience. Have their preferences, needs, or behaviors changed? Keep a close eye on industry trends and competitor strategies to ensure you’re staying ahead of the curve.

Consider incorporating emerging tools and platforms into your strategy. For example, video marketing and interactive content are continuing to dominate the digital landscape. If these weren’t part of your plan last year, adding them now could significantly enhance engagement and conversions.

Stay Consistent, Yet Flexible

While it’s essential to have a structured plan, flexibility is equally important. The digital marketing world is ever-changing, and unexpected challenges can arise. Whether it’s a sudden algorithm update or shifting consumer behavior, staying adaptable allows you to refine your strategies and still meet your new year marketing goals.

Consistency, however, should remain a cornerstone of your efforts. Regularly update your blog, post engaging content on social media, and interact with your audience. These consistent touchpoints build trust and keep your brand top of mind.

Celebrate Small Wins Along the Way

Setting ambitious new year marketing goals is great, but don’t forget to celebrate progress, no matter how small. Each milestone reached is a step toward your larger objectives. Recognizing these achievements not only keeps morale high but also provides a sense of accomplishment that fuels continued efforts.

This year is your chance to take control of your digital marketing success. By reflecting on last year’s performance, setting SMART goals, and adjusting strategies to match the current landscape, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your new year marketing goals. Start the year with a clear vision, and let your marketing strategy pave the way for measurable success.

How Blue16 Media Can Help

Blue16 Media is a digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.

Our services include website design and support, social media management, and cutting-edge search engine optimization (SEO) services to keep your organization or company ahead of the curve.

For more information or inquiries, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the contact form on our website.

The post New Year Marketing Goals: How to Set Your Digital Marketing Strategy for 2025 appeared first on .

Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 5. OPERATIONS / LEGAL

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 22:09:20 -0500

In this episode, Gresham discusses pillar number 5 and the process of drilling down into the various business pillars. He mentions that they have taken the insights and hacks from over 1600 episodes and condensed them into 16 themes, which they now refer to as pillars.

Gresham emphasizes the importance of identifying and focusing on a single pillar that can drive growth in business. He discusses the importance of focusing on various pillars in business, including entrepreneurship, strategy, products/services, people, operations/legal, visibility, finance, and technology. They emphasize the significance of understanding operations and legal aspects in structuring a business.

In addition, Gresham highlights the benefits of systematizing tasks and operations for a better working environment for both the team and clients.

http://cbnation.co/pillar
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Full Interview:

Transcription:

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Intro 00:00

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast, and this is a special I AM CEO Podcast because we're gonna be focusing on the 8 business pillars. I hope you get to enjoy taking a lot of these different pillars that came from the 1600+ episodes we did at the I AM CEO Podcast, which became the 16 themes, which eventually now became the 8 pillars that can help you level up your business.

And, really, what we're trying to do is increase the business success rate, and this is going to eventually become a course. So you hear some of these snippets actually be in that course and that library of content and information we're gonna put together to help you level up. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:38

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh here, and this is the episode where we drill down a lot more on pillar number 5. And there's many different pillars in business. If you just listened to this, we took the 1600+ episodes. We drilled down into that. Had hundreds of hacks, hundreds of nuggets that we accrued from each of the episodes. We took those. They became the 16 themes, which we originally called pillars, but they actually became themes. And then we really want to drill down on those 8 pillars. The reason that we chose 8 pillars is because we started to do a little bit more homework and research into business in general, but also into the things that were consistently coming up when we were doing these interviews.

[restrict paid=”true”]

And we thought that these pillars were gonna be a little bit more foundational, not necessarily because they tell you all the things about business, but because they're very over encompassing. So that if you could potentially focus on maybe one pillar for a year, you could potentially see a lot of growth if you select the correct pillar. But it's also important to understand how interconnected they are because as you focus on one, you're deciding not to focus on another potentially. And if you decide to split your time between both, then understand you're not going to see the potential growth if you can find and identify the quote unquote one thing or the one pillar that could, really drill things, drive things forward even more.

So with that being said, we're gonna focus on and drill down into pillar number 5 with this operation/legal. It was just operations and then that legal part is obviously a huge part of business and entrepreneurship. So we wanted to make sure that it was under something that was one of the core parts of business, sometimes the quote unquote less sexy part of business. The business the part of business that is extremely important, but also is something that, maybe doesn't get the airplay, the fascination. You don't see a lot of TikToks that are around the legal part of business or the operations.

Although, they are very sexy if you're running a very strong business. So keep in mind that as I drill down a little bit more into this specific pillar, we wanna keep in mind that there are many other pillars, 8 other or seven other pillars, 8 total, that you want to make sure that you're focusing on. And those pillars, I'm gonna go down the line. Entrepreneurship and journey is gonna be your 1^st one. Strategy is gonna be your 2^nd one. The 3^rd one's going to be offering/your products and services. Number 4 is people in the human part of business. Number 5, we're gonna talk about a little bit more today, which is operations/legal. Then we're gonna drill down a little bit more into visibility.

Then number 7 is gonna be financial. And then finally, we're gonna cap everything off with technology. So understanding operations and legal part is really gonna be how you're structuring your business and what that looks like, how things are moving along. Now one of the most exciting things you can you can have is you start out with your idea. You realize that, okay, I have this business idea. I have this problem, this opportunity that I wanna serve, and you strategize around it. You figure out exactly how you're going to make that happen, and then you produce the idea or the concept, or maybe you get to test out your product and service.

And then you understand that this is how we're going to serve that human part of what we're doing. And you start to do that one time, two time, three times. You start to do that at a certain level. And then you realize you need operations because it's essentially going to be the engine that's going to allow you to serve the clients that you're working with. And so you really wanna understand the fundamentals of operations and systems and what they that looks like. Of course, you wanted to make sure that you're operating and optimizing those processes and systems.

And, obviously, we're gonna drill down a little bit more into pillar 8 around technology. But for a lot of businesses, not necessarily all businesses, technology is gonna play a huge role. So I think it's important to mention that, of course, because that could be one of the most impactful things, I think. And that's one of the reasons that it went from 7 to 8 pillars largely because of the the impact of technology. So know that automation, a lot of technological tools, things like project management software, all these things gonna play a really big part in terms of understanding exactly how to keep the trains moving, how to keep the trains moving consistently, and how to make sure that there's less spillage, for lack of a better term, and there's that same experience that you're providing throughout the entire journey for a client or customer, but also internally for your team.

How do you make sure that the business doesn't revolve around one person? It's gonna be your operations. It's gonna be your systems. It's gonna be those SOPs, those things you put in place to make sure that you are consistently growing the business into where it ultimately needs to be. So keep in mind that this flows over many different aspects of running a business, everything from supply chain management and those best practices to, like I mentioned, the legal considerations, understanding the way that you incorporate your business or actually even incorporating your business, how you, create, that structure and and what that looks like.

And we're gonna drill down a little bit more to the financial piece and and pillar number 7. But know that a lot of times the structure that you're creating does impact the financial aspect of your business, the amount of revenue that you're bringing in, and kind of, like, what that's going to look like. But also making sure that you're you're fully protected and what that looks like. And a lot of times when you hear attorneys, and by no means am I an attorney, but they'll talk a lot around making sure that you have your trademark, your patents, all those things in place.

Also know that it's probably I don't even know if it's more important, but I know it's also important to make sure that you're enforcing those trademarks and those patents because people can infringe upon them. And you wanna make sure that you're setting yourself up as much as possible to succeed. So make sure you have all those things that are in place, understanding business law, having any compliance checklists or things that you need to get done, agreements and contracts and templates, having those template templates, but also making sure that you're structuring those so that even if you're having conversations with someone that is extremely close, a friend, a relative, that you have a contract in place is going to be extremely important.

No matter who you're communicating with because or you're coming to agreement with might be a better way to say that because you wanna make sure that you're protected and that person's name is protected as well too. So know that's a big part as well too. Risk management strategies is another big part, of course, like I mentioned a little bit. Supply chain management is gonna be a really big part. So keep in mind that we have this offering, this product and servicing that you're doing to to make that impact. How are you, from an operation standpoint, going to ensure that that experience is going to happen?

No operations all can often speak to the idea of bringing on new clients or customers. But there could be operations around every single aspect of business, and often we don't realize that even those of us that provide custom products and services have certain aspects of what we do to be operations. And what I wanted to do is draw that a little bit deeper. We talked a little bit around the last pillar of the human part of the people part of business. Understand, like, how powerful it has been, hearing over and over again the power of morning routines. That it doesn't necessarily mean that there's a specific way that you have to do your morning routine, but just to be able to set yourself up for success is going to be huge.

And the reason I bring that up here is because when you're thinking about operations, of course, think about your business, but also consider hiring. Also consider how you're marketing your business or what the process is when there's a high rate client. All those things can be operations and SOPs that are put in place to make sure there is that somewhat consistent experience for everyone. But keep in mind that you also can create the operations in your life as well too. And when we talk about filling up your cup, when we talk about making sure your oxygen mask is on, as an individual and as a leader, understanding that human part, know that the operations and what you do on a regular basis also plays a really good part of through that too.

So with that being said, that's pillar number 5. Your operations, your legal part is gonna be such a big thing. Many people will argue while it's the least sec one of the least sexiest things, and maybe financial can give it a run for its money for a lot of people if you're talking about accounting and things like that. But keep in mind, it's the thing that might really open up that opportunity for you to scale the processes, the systems, the operations. Having those things in place can really take things to an entirely different level.

So this is, Gresh signing out. Remember, your operations are huge personally, professionally, and all the things that you're doing. So as we drill down more and more and more and provide more content in our community and, of course, in our library around what and how to improve your processes and your operations. Know that there's a lot of CEO hacks that help out with that, whether it's project management software. Just know that it sometimes could be one of the biggest things that you can lean into that's actually going to give you more time. And it allows you to sometimes invest that time by having to create processes, systems, operations.

But in the long run, it ends up creating those, consistent practices that allow you to be able to not work as much on or in the business as you are maybe presently and to focus more on working on the business. So think about what things can I systematize, what things can I create operations for, because it's only going to to create a a better environment, for you and the people that, you're impacting? And that's talking about your team, but also your clients as well.

Outro 10:11

Hello. Hello. This is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I AM CEO Podcast. Just like I mentioned in the beginning, we're really trying to laser focus on these 8 pillars to show you as a builder how you can leverage these 8 pillars and really level up there so it helps you level up your business and organization.

So hope you enjoyed this episode, and definitely please check out the show notes so you can learn more about the pillar, learn more about the person that I guested on their episode, and, of course, learn more a little bit more about us as well too. This is Gresh signing out. Hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

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The post Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 5. OPERATIONS / LEGAL appeared first on CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business.

Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 4. PEOPLE = HUMAN PART OF BUSINESS

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 22:06:45 -0500

In this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast, Gresh delves into the eight foundational pillars that can help elevate your business.

Derived from over 1600 episodes and copious insights from CEOs, these pillars were condensed from 16 themes into a course aiming to boost business success rates.

This episode specifically highlights the fourth pillar: People and the Human Part of Business.

Gresh emphasizes the importance of recognizing the human element in business, touching on aspects such as recruitment, talent management, and maintaining a conducive environment for both employees and strategic partners.

He also underscores the necessity of self-care for entrepreneurs to avoid burnout and ensure sustained success.

The discussion aims to remind listeners that balancing the needs of the business and its people is crucial for long-term growth and impact.

http://cbnation.co/pillar
http://community.cbnation.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Full Interview:

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:00

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. And this is a special I AM CEO podcast because we're going to be focusing on the eight business pillars. I hope you get to enjoy and take in a lot of these different pillars that came from the 1600 plus episodes we did at the I AM CEO podcast, which became the 16 themes, which eventually now became the eight pillars that can help you level up your business.

And really what we're trying to do is increase the business success rate. And this is going to eventually become a course. So you hear some of these snippets actually be in that course in that library of content and information, we're going to put together to help you level up. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:38

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh here. And now we are talking about pillar number four people slash the human part of business. And I often say over and over again in episodes, you never want to forget about the human part of business.

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And if you're just listening to this, we're going through the eight pillars of of business really that I've gleaned from doing over 1600 episodes. Again, we took the 1600 episodes, 1600 plus episodes, and they became hundreds of CEO hacks and CEO nuggets and information we've learned from CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners. And then it drilled down into the 16, what I called pillars then, but it's now the themes.

The themes that were consistent around business and one of them is, don't forget about the human part of business. And that is what brought us to the eight pillars. The eight pillars are really those foundational elements that are going to help you to level up within your organization.

And what I want to do with each of these episodes is drill down a little bit further into each of these eight pillars, not to give you a, all the information because you can consistently learn about each of these pillars. And these pillars aren't definitely separated. They aren't siloed. They are very much so interconnected.

But sometimes if you have the opportunity to really focus on one, it could be and have that dramatic impact upon your business. So with this one, we're going to focus on. People in the human part, that's pillar number four.

So just give you a little bit more of a recap. If you haven't listened before, the first pillar was entrepreneurship and focusing on the journey. The second one was strategy. The third was your offering or your product or service.

The fourth is going to be people slash the human part, which is what we're going to talk about today. Then we're going to talk in. A little bit more about operations slash the legal side. Number six, we're going to go into visibility seven financial. We're going to close everything out with the biggest one, I think. And one of the most impactful ones I think is technology.

So with each of these different pillars, we're going to draw down more and more and more so you can learn more about what it's like. To be a CEO entrepreneur and business owner and how you can make that impact into your business and what that looks like.

So one of the biggest things that we often hear, but sometimes we don't internalize entirely is understanding the human part of business. And the reason I wanna say human, rather than people who can often hear about human capital, you hear about how important it's to make sure that you're bringing on the right people, you're creating an environment for them to excel and for them to succeed.

But we often forget about the human part. When we're talking about the clients that we want to connect with, we just want to take our product to service and just tell them this is what they need. And this is why they need it without actually having that connection, that interaction, that communication that comes from even some of the other pillars, the marketing, the sales, the visibility part.

We often just say, okay, this is what we are great at. This is what we've created. This is why it's cool. And forget about That human part and how we're actually connecting with the people that we ultimately want to serve. So that's one of the really big things we want to try to take into account as we're thinking about that human part.

But we, of course, want to keep in mind that recruitment, talent acquisition, making sure that we're getting the right people are the right butts in the right seat is going to be something that's very important. And then when we get them there, are they engaged? Are they staying? Are they growing? Just all that about creating a great environment for the people that are close to you.

But also know that the people part does include people that you're connected with. So yeah, That's everything about building a strong team. The team we often think means employees or sometimes contractors, but the team also means strategic relationships. It also means mentors. It also means consultants that you might have or board members or whatever it might be that are going to be those.

human parts that are pouring into your business. So make sure that you're keeping that in mind. Leadership and management also play a really big part in this as well as far as like being able to create that environment and that culture for you to succeed. But understand that, that could be one of your most impactful aspects of your business by getting the right people.

You can really level up your organization, but sometimes not getting the right people can actually have the opposite effect as well, too. So It's so important to forget about that human part and to not forget about that human part and to keep that in mind and understand how important the talent the resources, the people that are in place are going to be in terms of helping you to grow.

Now, one of the things that I haven't really drilled down on one of the themes that we had, one of those 16 themes was not forgetting about the I and team or realizing that there is no I and team. And that was very important because as you start to grow, you want to make sure you're creating an environment, a culture where everybody's going to have that opportunity to really excel.

And you're putting the greater good for lack of a better term above your individual goods. And that's for everybody that's on the team. So you want to definitely create that environment. One of the other themes that we had is that There is an I in WIN and so when you're trying to create that environment in order for you to succeed and excel, it's so important for you to not forget about the you not forget that you also are a human and you also are important to be able to help the business to excel.

So putting your oxygen mask on first. Specially for those people that really grasp and really understand that entrepreneurship part about serving and being able to support people. It's so important to not forget about that human part because you don't want to get into a place where your business is not going to have the opportunity to accelerate and make the impact it could because you're facing burnout.

Or because You haven't created a great environment for yourself to excel because you're not doing the things that will allow you to continue to run the marathon that is entrepreneurship.

So all those things are very much focused on you realizing that you're a human as well. So it doesn't mean necessarily that you're Always going to necessarily put yourself first, but I think it's very important for those people that may be skewed more towards givers that give tremendously from everything that they do.

They're always thinking about others to really start to think a little bit more creatively on how you're giving to start to think a little bit more creative on that, how you can create a win, lose or lose win, but how can you create win, win, win, win, win scenarios for your team.

And keep in mind one of those Wins is going to be you making sure your cup is full, making sure you have your oxygen mask on and making sure that you are making that impact. So definitely don't forget about the human part of a business. And of course, we're drilling down more and more and more into our community and the library and all the information that we're providing so that you can learn more and more and more on what that looks like and how you can make that impact.

But keep in mind that I really struggled with if I wanted to put this first, because I think it's something that we will gloss over, especially ourselves more than anything else. So as people that are givers know that you can, you can, you can serve others and you can also serve yourself. And don't forget by serving people, by serving humans, you also are human as well, too.

So do not forget about yourself. So this is Gresh signing out. This is pillar number four people slash the human part of business. So don't forget that and make sure that you are keeping that top of mind. As I mentioned, you can visit everything on our site cbnation.co/pillars to find out more about the pillars and all the awesome things that we're creating around that.

But keep in mind that These things can help you to level up in your business. And we're going to draw down more and more and more into each of those other pillars. So stay tuned.

Outro 08:07

Hello, hello. This is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I AM CEO podcast. Just like I mentioned in the beginning, we're really trying to laser focus on these eight pillars and show you as a builder, how you can leverage these eight pillars and really level up there.

So it helps you level up your business and organization. So hope you enjoyed this episode. And definitely please check out the show notes. So you can learn more about the pillar.

This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

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The post Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 4. PEOPLE = HUMAN PART OF BUSINESS appeared first on CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business.

Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 3. OFFERING – PRODUCTS/SERVICES

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 22:03:37 -0500

In this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast, Gresh dives deep into the eight essential business pillars derived from over 1600 episodes and 16 key themes, which now became 8 business pillars.

The episode focuses on understanding and enhancing your business offering, highlighting the importance of seeing your product or service as a means of providing impactful transformations to clients.

Gresh outlines the crucial business foundations such as strategy, people, operations, visibility, finance, and technology, emphasizing their interconnectedness and how they help improve business success rates.

Additionally, he stresses the significance of understanding the entire customer journey and the value you bring to their lives.

This episode is a precursor to a more detailed course aimed at helping businesses level up.

http://cbnation.co/pillar
http://community.cbnation.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Full Interview:

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:00

And really what we're trying to do is increase the business success rate. And this is going to eventually become a course. So you hear some of these snippets actually be in that course. And that library of content and information we're going to put together to help you level up. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:37

What is your offering? How are you making an impact into the lives of people or even organizations. That's what this pillar kind of really drills down. So if you listen into previous episodes, we talked about entrepreneurship and journey. We talked about strategy right now we're drilling down into offering or your product or service.

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I'm going to go more into. Pillar number four, which is people slash the human part. Number five is going to be operations slash legal. Then we're going to go into number six, which is visibility seven financial, and then eight is technology.

So going into each of these aspects of business and each of these foundations, it's not anything more than being able to arm people with a little bit more insight and information to the complexity of business, not necessarily how.

All the different aspects are siloed, but actually how they're very much so intertwined and how you want to have greater awareness around all those things, because they're very much so, interconnected and they depend on one another. Just, if you want to check out CEO hack, check out this book called Range.

And the kind of idea behind it is that the people that are able to have a range of different experiences and perspectives are going to be able to solve the problems of tomorrow. And it's often because there is a world where everything is becoming so much more specialized. You hear it so many times and even us with our digital marketing company.

We going back and forth about whether or not we should specialize on a specific industry. And there's pros and cons of each. A lot of it dials into exactly what we talked about in the previous pillar, which is around strategy. What is the strategy of the business? Like, how do you define success?

What does success look like? And that could be different things for different people. But because it didn't necessarily align with our strategy, that wasn't something that I necessarily wanted to do and nothing that we felt very strongly compelled to do.

But, what we wanted to draw down is really start to understand why you're doing the things that you're doing. Often when people start businesses, when they have that napkin and they're writing down the ideas they're learning more about entrepreneurship.

When they're going into the strategy of what exactly you're doing, they find themselves saying, okay, now how do I do this? How do I package this? And that's really what the offering is like, what are you offering To potential clients and customers so that you can make the impact in their lives and their businesses, or what transformation are you ultimately trying to achieve?

Now, we're going to drill down a little bit more into the next pillar on the next episode, which is the human part of business. But what I really wanted to do is make sure that you understand that a lot of times people want these things to lead to some types of type of transformation. Often your product and service that you're talking about is not the thing that you're actually offering.

Usually it's something else. If you are a fitness trainer, while you're trying to help people lose weight, gain muscle whatever that might be. And however, we're so often like looking at that, if you're, doing nutrition planning or you're planning or you're doing meal prep or something along those lines, you're typically not doing the thing that you think that you're doing.

What you're doing is you're providing some type of transformation. So what is this transformation? This transformation for the fitness coach could be helping people to feel more Life within who they are so that it could positively impact their wives, their spouses, it could be their sons and daughters to help them to show up better at work.

All these things could be results of being able to provide that transformation. But the big thing is that you want to really start to drill down on the impact that you're making. And a lot of times you do that by not just saying I provide nutrition planning or I do meal prep or I potentially add a debt to your house or I fix leaky pipes so that you don't have to have issues.

You're providing some type of transformation. The key is like, how do you dial into that? How you tap into that? So, of course, generally speaking, you're going to talk about your products and services and what exactly you do, because at the end of the day, you want to make sure. That you are able to find the people that you're able to serve.

If somebody has a leaky pipe, it doesn't make sense for you to maybe say, okay, I don't want to talk about your leaky pipe. I want to talk about how we're providing transformation in your house. No, not necessarily, not in that case. Exactly. So what you want to understand that these are ways that you are able to have a communication with clients, but it also is a way for you to understand exactly what you're doing and the impact that you're making.

The problem that you're ultimately because what you're doing when people call you is you're providing them peace of mind, that peace of mind is allowing them to work on other aspects of their business is allowing them to spend more time with their spouse, their Children is giving them an opportunity to not have to worry about that aspect of the business so they can work on other things.

So are you saving them time? Are you giving them the mental piece that they're ultimately achieving. These are things that you want to make sure that you are communicating because that's ultimately what you're doing while you are definitely, obviously, of course, fixing that pipe while you are, of course, helping people to lose weight.

Understand that you're allowing that person to be able to be confident enough to walk into their boss's office or virtually walk into their boss's office and ask for a raise. That confidence is something that you will see pours into each aspect of their life because things are not siloed.

So you want to dread out more and more and more and understand that human part, which of course I'm going to dive into and delve down a little bit later.

But know that this is going to be all around your product and service and the offering that you're providing. So make sure you define exactly what that is and what that looks like.

A lot of times because we're in digital marketing, we will ask, actually ask clients to rank their services as far as like the ones that are making the most impact, what drives in the most revenue for you.

Because often when you have a better understanding of not just one aspect of what you're providing, but the catalog of what you're providing. You're able to understand if one is more valuable than another per se, or if something is maybe a little bit more experimental. So maybe you're testing or trying something out.

Or maybe you paid attention to clients or your product and service offerings going to be evolving, changing, and improving. So you want to pay attention to those things and know that it can evolve and change. And definitely, of course, give you a space and time to be able to test those things out.

And of course, to be able to improve those. And you want to, of course, be able to have those conversations with clients and customers, but know that it comes back to you. Like, how are you solving that problem? This is, you had a problem, you understood in entrepreneurship, it's all around problem-solving.

This is how you package it. This is how you let people know. These are my coaching services. This is my public speaking business, or potentially this is how exactly I'm providing coaching services. HVAC services, or potentially I am that plumber and I'm going to come through and provide emergency support, or we're going to be on the offensive and we're actually going to help you before you have to call us.

Or going to be on call if you have any tech issues, or you want to redesign your website, or you're trying to get more business through Google ads, whatever that might be. It might be packaged in different ways, but no, this is a transformation that you're provided just Don't forget about that human part, because that's going to come through and everything that you're doing.

But also know that you want to make sure of course that you're providing the product or service, but you want to really dial into the full journey of your potential client and customer. And now this touches a little bit more on that visibility piece, but know that. As you understand more about that journey that they're going through, you're going to be able to serve them even better because that's what happens at the end of the day.

Product and service services for you to serve. So no, this is offering as a way for you to serve. So if you understand that before someone calls or reaches out to a fitness instructor, that maybe your ideal client and customers have a little bit of. apprehension or even fear around health, wellness, and fitness is going to change the way that you position yourself.

It may even change your offering may even change what you call your offering. You might not want to call it a bootcamp if you're dealing with people that haven't gone through that process, but maybe you do want to do that because you want to really hammer home that the transformation that you're going to provide, we're going to bootcamp, we're going to make this, we're going to make, we're going to get you into the way that you need to, so that you can have that transformation in your life.

You just want to understand each of those aspects and understand what that process looks like before the person calls, when the person's, when you're serving that client, whether it be one time or on a continual basis, and they didn't even have to end after the end. And after that, and after that, and after that.

Just think about these apps that you might have on your phone when you're getting a message from Starbucks that there's a potential sale. And I don't, I don't go to Starbucks that much, so I'm not sure if there's actually sales. I'm sure there are, but you're getting points. So maybe you're 25 points away from getting a free local frappuccino or whatever that might be here with drink a choice.

The point being is that you have a really good idea on what that journey looks like and how that journey extends beyond when they're buying your potential products and services. So again, the more you can understand what that offering is, the more you can provide more value and value doesn't always have to mean your product service.

As we'll talk on, talk about a little bit later. And in each of the pillars, you can provide value with the visibility that you're sharing the things that you're doing, the way that you're getting in front of your clients and customers. So just know and understand that that whole kind of customer journey and make sure that you're able to see and evaluate how you're able to provide value according to that journey.

But that's pillar number three you're offering product to service. Of course, we're going to drill down more into each of the other eight seven, eight total. Pillars and see how that could potentially help you out with your business. But my goal here is just to give you a little bit more of an idea on what that looks like and how you could potentially provide that impact.

And of course, us be able to position and drill down on the content that you're listening to. So that it. We'll help support each of these aspects. So you can know exactly what you're looking for. And of course you can check out our community that we're relaunching so that you can draw down a little bit more on each of those aspects and what that looks like.

So this is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day. Don't forget you are providing service to people that you ultimately want to work with. Think about how you're able to solve that problem, how you're able to make their day better.

And then that's going to allow you to be where they're searching for and think of you when they're trying to do that. Thanks. And I'll talk to you soon.

OUTRO 11:11

Hello. Hello. This is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I AM CEO podcast. Just like I mentioned in the beginning, we're really trying to laser focus on these eight pillars and show you as a builder how you can leverage these eight pillars and really level up there.

So it helps to level up your business and organization. So hope you enjoyed this episode Definitely please check out the show notes. So you can learn more about the pillar.

This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[/restrict]

The post Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 3. OFFERING – PRODUCTS/SERVICES appeared first on CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business.

Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 2. STRATEGY

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 04:17:56 -0500

In this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast, Gresh dives into the critical pillar of ‘strategy' as part of an eight-pillar framework for successful business development.

Gresh emphasizes the importance of having a strategy to turn ideas into actionable plans and achieve business goals.

He outlines the entire set of eight business pillars—entrepreneurship, strategy, product/service offering, people, operations/legal, visibility, finance, and technology—offering a high-level overview of each.

Gresh also discusses the significance of market understanding, SMART goals, and KPIs to improve execution and achieve long-term success. Tune in to learn how to leverage these pillars and elevate your business from a builder to a luminary.

http://cbnation.co/pillar
http://community.cbnation.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Full Interview:

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:00

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and this is a special I AM CEO podcast because we're going to be focusing on the eight business pillars. I hope you get to enjoy kind of take in a lot of these different pillars that came from the 1600 plus episodes we did at the I AM CEO podcast, which became the 16 themes, which eventually now became the eight business pillars. That can help you level up your business.

And really what we're trying to do is increase the business success rate. And this is going to eventually become a course. So you hear some of these snippets actually be in that course and that library of content and information we're going to put together to help you level up.

So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:38

All right. So for this next episode, I'm going to focus on the pillar of strategy. So you've gone through the first pillar, you have entrepreneurship and the journey. You understand a little bit about strategy, which I'm going to talk about today.

Then we'll go a little bit more into your offering your product or service. Number four is going to be the people, the human part of business. Number five is going to be operation slash legal side. Number six is going to be visibility. Seven financial eight is technology.

So I just want to give you a quick recap about each of the different pillars as I go down and delve a little bit deeper into those. Of course, I'm always looking for feedback. If you feel like a pillar is missing or something that should be nestled into something, please definitely do this.

But this is just going to be a quick high level overview of the strategy pillar. And the reason that strategy is so important is because there's a quote vision without action is merely a dream.

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And one of the things that I think sets really entrepreneurial people apart is it's not necessarily coming up with the idea. And even me, when I started my business I Remember one of the jobs that I left one of my bosses said that you're definitely an ideas person. And I took it and I still take it as Hey, I'm more than an ideas person.

I'm an execution person. So I've been trying to really focus on execution, but know that I am an ideas person. I have breakout room. A tremendous amount of ideas. I can't even execute on all the ideas that I have. So that's why it's so important that you have that strategy in place so that you know this is exactly how you're going to execute on what those things actually are.

And I think that is what's going to separate people because you can have ideas. You can literally go into Technology, which is another pillar in all these different tools and softwares that are coming about with A. I. But even things that have existed before to help you to develop what those ideas are going to be.

The question is, how are you going to execute it? And execution is all around the strategy. The strategy is basically, I think, creating a clear Idea of how exactly you're going to reach the goals and aspirations that you have within your business. So think about things such as developing a strategy, developing a business plan.

Even though there's obviously a lot of. Pros and cons of being able to create a business plan. Just know how important it is to create a plan so that you increase your likelihood of success. There's even statistics that say the more time that you spend writing down your goals or writing down your vision is going to increase the likelihood of that success happen.

Know that many things, go into that you're planning process where you're trying to understand exactly where you want to be. 1 of the big things that I talk about a lot around when I say everybody is a media company, when you go through that course and understand exactly what that looks like.

You understand that I often say that you can have the exact same business as somebody else, which you might execute it in a completely different way largely because you have different goals and different aspirations.

Somebody that has a digital marketing business that wants to drive home, thousands of clients is going to look at it differently from someone that wants to have maybe just a solo business and be a solopreneur and just do a lot of consulting to other entrepreneurs and business owners versus somebody else that doesn't really want to do anything but of course, and just teach all their information.

So each of these three people have similar businesses, similar ideas, but they're executing completely different ways.

So your strategy is going to be a hugely important thing. And the big thing about strategies, I think a lot of times people will downplay the importance of being able to take steps ahead and plan what that is. Don't get me wrong. You're not going to necessarily have all the things in place, which is why there's a big argument about the business plan.

Why having the 30 40 plus Page business plan. A lot of people scarf it because you get books like the lead startup by Eric Ries . I always forget how to say his name. It talks so much around putting something out there essentially. Doing it in a minimum viable product and MVP so that you can get market feedback from that market feedback.

You go from there. So my thing about strategy is not necessarily the same strategy has to be long and extensive, but you want to actually have a plan in place.

So going back to that first pillar, what problem are you solving? Thinking about what that problem is, how you're going to actually solve them and what you want your business and organization to look like is going to be the next progression along the journey of being able to do that.

If you don't have an idea about what exactly that's going to look like, then that's going to leave you at a disadvantage. So. Know you can always kind of look into different things like your competitors and get an idea of exactly what they're doing to get in a better idea.

Sometimes the biggest, opportunity and I think honestly, this goes a little bit into the visibility piece that pillar, but it's not understanding exactly what's out there in the market because when you're trying to solve the problem, sometimes part of your strategy is going to be understanding what's out there.

Not necessarily so that. You can pay attention to your competition because I always say if you're running on a race, you can't lose, but so that you're able to get a better understanding of what you're doing is sometimes the best way to understand what you're doing is to understand what's out there because that's going to open up your doors and opportunity to understand what is your quote unquote secret sauce, the thing that you feel like sets you apart and makes you meet.

But it doesn't necessarily make sense to say, Hey, I'm going to create it. A social media site that is going to have groups that's going to have pages that's going to basically be large in the countries. And I'm going to call it book face or something along those lines. Something like that might actually exist.

So you want to make sure that you're paying attention to what's out there, not necessarily so that you can emulate what's out there, but so that you can say, okay, this might exist, but where is it?

Kind of falling short. Is it falling short in the way that it's marketed in the way that it's executed in its strategy in and of itself? Is it not serving the right clients? You start to have all these conversations, but that's where, understanding that the market understanding what's out there is such a big thing.

And anytime you want to create any goals, you want to make sure that the smart goals those smart goals are going to help you to increase your likelihood of success. And you want to make sure that KPIs that are with it as well. So those KPIs are gonna be ways that you determine what success is. That says it could be number of employees.

It could be your your market penetration. It could be your revenue. It could be your total annual revenue, whatever it might be. You just want to make sure that you outline exactly what that is so that you can go about execute upon that strategy and continue to monitor those results.

So again, the strategy part is not something that. You should gloss over, which is why I wanted to make sure that it was the second thing that I touched about because I think so many times we fall in love with the ideas that we have the ideas we're writing down on the napkin. Exactly what our vision is.

And we're taking that idea and we're running with it. But how do we run with it? Run with it without a strategy, even if your strategy is just to say, let me put it out there and see what happens that in of itself is a strategy. I think it goes along the lines, although it's more technical upon the the framework of the lead startup where you're testing out, just see if the market thinks it's of any value, but know that strategy plays a really big part.

And a lot of times we will hear from people, especially on the show that talk a lot around where your business is ultimately trying to go what that looks like. Succession planning, those things. Are you setting up your business to sell? Are you setting up your business to hand down to your family?

What does that look like? All those things become a part of your strategy and it ends up being really, really extensive because it's ultimately deals. I think with where you are and ultimately where you want to try to go and everything in between that. But know that it can definitely be written in pencil.

It doesn't have to be written in. Ink or a permanent marker, you get to take those steps to see that come to fruition. So that's one of the big things around strategy. So again we're drilling down into each of the different business pillars. You're gonna see a lot of our content that's going to delve into that.

You can, of course, join our community. We're relaunching our community. So you'll be able to check that out to hear a little bit more about what it is that That we're doing and why we're doing it. But again, a lot of it is to increase that likelihood of success as much as it's great to listen to these episodes and hear all the things my goal was really to say, okay, if you're trying to increase your likelihood of success and you realize that you don't have a strategy, maybe you focus more on this pillar so that you can increase your likelihood of success, or maybe you understand.

That some other aspect or some other pillar is going to be more important for your business. And it's not to say that you do all the things. You just want to be aware of all the things very similarly to, I say, like going to the grocery store, figuring out what the ingredients are. You want to know all the aspects of business so that you can increase your likelihood of success even though you're not going to be focusing on.

Every single aspect. So this is Gresh signing out. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I'm looking forward to, delve in a little bit deeper into each of the different pillars.

Outro 09:24

Hello, hello, this is Grash again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I AM CEO podcast. Just like I mentioned in the beginning, we're really trying to Laser focus on these eight pillars and show you as a builder, how you can leverage these eight pillars and really level up there.

So it helps you level up your business and organization. So hope you enjoyed this episode and definitely please check out the show notes.

This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[/restrict]

The post Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 2. STRATEGY appeared first on CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business.

Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP and the JOURNEY

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 04:15:47 -0500

In this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast, Gresh shares valuable insights into the importance of building a media company and leveraging other media platforms to support business growth.

He introduces the concept of the Eight Business Pillars, derived from over 1600 podcast episodes, which include entrepreneurship, strategy, offerings, people, operations, visibility, finances, and technology.

This episode focuses on the entrepreneurship pillar, exploring the journey of entrepreneurship, the misconceptions of overnight success, and the importance of problem-solving.

Gresh emphasizes resilience, passion, and continuous learning as critical components for navigating the entrepreneurial path. Tune in to understand how these pillars are interconnected and essential for elevating your business and personal growth.

http://cbnation.co/pillar
http://community.cbnation.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Full Interview:

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:00

And really what we're trying to do is increase the business success rate. And this is going to eventually become a course. So you hear some of these snippets actually be in that course and that library of content and information we're going to put together to help you level up.

So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcasts.

Gresham Harkless 00:38

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh and I am here with a special episode of the I AM CEO podcast. These next few episodes, we're going to focus on the eight pillars in business and give you a little bit more of a insight into each of these eight pillars, what they'll look like. Why? We've even created to that.

But basically fast forward or rewind actually into one of the previous episodes, you get an idea of what those eight pillars are. But one of the things, if you're just listening to this, solo, I wanted to give you an idea of what those eight pillars are. Where those eight pillars came from just to give you a little bit more of a recap is we took the 1600 episodes, came up with about 16 or so themes. Those themes became 8 pillars.

8 pillar is exactly what we wanted to structure a lot of the content around to be able to level up your business, your organization and all the awesome things that you're doing. So what are those eight pillars? What pillar am I going to focus on today 8 pillars.

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Are going to be entrepreneurship journey the journey of entrepreneurship, strategy, your offering slash your product or service, people slash the human part of business operations slash legal visibility, which is marketing, sales, advertising, all of those aspects, your financial piece. And then, of course, the big 1 that I added on because I wanted it to be 7, but end up being 8 was technology.

And the one that I'm going to focus on today is going to be a lot around entrepreneurship. I literally just completed a, an interview, which you should hear coming out live in about about 60 days or so.

We talked a lot around the secret to overnight success. It takes a 10 or 15 years. So, there is not a kind of magic bullet that you have with your business. No matter what people might tell you, this is the only thing that you need that's going to completely change your business. The reality is that even with each of these pillars, you start to realize that you can maybe not focus on all the different aspects at the same time.

So you have to maybe pick one, maybe two, just to focus on during a short period of time to be able to get more traction in your business, more opportunity to grow. But. I think that goes back to entrepreneurship and the journey, the secret to the overnight success. It takes 10 or 15 years. What that means is it's not necessarily always instant.

And even for those people, that it isn't. And when they do start a business and it ends up happening or ballooning or, doing some phenomenal numbers within the year, it's, a lot of times because some of the other aspects may be a little bit more developed than they might seem.

So, for example, a lot of times you'll hear around people that have built new businesses, but they've had the previous experience. So when they're building the new business, they're not isolated from that experience that they had before. So all this means is that you should really understand what you're getting into when you're talking about entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship, I believe at the heart is around problem solving. And so when you're really starting to solve the problems, you realize it doesn't always happen as quickly as you want it to happen. It doesn't necessarily mean that you can't solve the problem. Sometimes it's so many other aspects that you need to take care of.

If you're bootstrapping the business, maybe the financial aspect is not exactly where you want it to be. But Maybe you have an idea on what the solution might be, but maybe there's not an actual market for it.

So that's where it's so important to really understand entrepreneurship, what that journey looks like, because a lot of it is going to require, I think a lot of quote, unquote, failing a lot of mistakes, a lot of things, not necessarily going the way that you want them to go, but that resilience, the grit is going to be such a huge thing because as you start to do that, Delve into each of these aspects of business, you'll start to realize that they're not isolated.

They're actually fully intertwined. But the reality is that if you don't have an idea that when you hit a roadblock, when you hit a setback, that it's not the end of the world, that some of the most successful people, I would probably even got to say all of the most successful people have had some type of speed bump, potholes, something that has happened that was not expected within their business.

So the really big thing that I want to get across, and we're going to drill down course, more and more on is to understand that entrepreneurship is definitely not linear. It's not a straight path. It's not a straight line, and it doesn't happen at the snap of your fingers.

So once you start to understand that, I think it gives you a little bit more of a awareness around what you're getting into. It gives you awareness around the mistakes, the things that don't go the way that you want to go and being even opportunities to learn. And one of the things that I've even brought up a lot of times during the episodes is that there's a story. Sarah Blakely tells a lot around why she looks at failure in a completely different way.

And the reason is because her dad used to actually high five her. If she made some type of mistake during the day, or if she has some type of failure, she did something that was outside the realm of what and how she defined success as a, as a young lady, as a young, as a young girl.

So what you start to realize is it changed the way that she looked at failure. So when she went around to starting Spanx, she already had imprinted in her a foundation that really celebrated failure because knowing that failure was not final, but it was a way and path that was very intertwined with success. You need it to have the favorites. You have the success. So that's one of the really big things that you want to take away.

More than, anything else. Loads of CEO nuggets that, of course, that we've had on our podcast, but just know that the essence of entrepreneurship is all around problem solving. It doesn't necessarily mean that you need to have that to reach success. But I think a lot of people that get into entrepreneurship and business are trying to solve problems.

They're trying to make an impact. That might be looked at from a revenue standpoint, X amount of clients, X amount of, revenue that you want to achieve. But when you start to drill that down, it's like, how many people are you helping? How many people are ultimately impacting? I think that, that's the heart of entrepreneurship and understanding that journey is not always just about.

Are you able to create a better mousetrap? But does anybody else know about this mousetrap? Does the visibility part play such a big part? So, as you will hear during each of these episodes, I'll go a little bit more in depth around all the other aspects, all the other pillars, but know that entrepreneurship, I think it's definitely the essence of business.

I think, honestly, it's one of the essences of life because when you approach life with the mentality that you're going to solve the problem, you're not asking or seeing the world as this is how it is. You're seeing the world within opportunity of ways that you can change. You just have to determine if it's It's going to be worthwhile to go on that path and pursue and invest the resources to be able to solve whatever the problems might be.

And that's where a lot of times you'll hear people saying you want to be passionate about business. Do you need to be passionate about the business that you're in? Absolutely not. But the reason that you. Considering the passion about it, you probably want to be passionate about it because it's so hard and so difficult.

It's so draining. So that when you hit those roadblocks, when you hit those speed bumps, when you don't have any more gas that's in the tank, so to speak, you're going to be pulling upon that passion to get you through those challenging times. So you're more likely to stick with it. And have a stick to it.

If you are passionate about than if you're not. So that's one of the really big things I wanted to get across. When you're looking at this pillar, of course, you can definitely check out our site to hear a little bit more about each of those pillars. And, of course, be able to join the community where we're going to be delving down deeper into each of these different pillars.

And especially, of course, entrepreneurship and demystifying what that looks like and what that is, but doing it in a way that I think is going to be a lot more enjoyable than it would have been if you had gone through it. So while you're going through this path of entrepreneurship, I salute you for doing it.

I commend you for taking that step, but please keep in mind. That just because you're hitting roadblocks, you're hitting speed bumps, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're doing it wrong. Now, don't get me wrong. You could absolutely be taking in some data and information to be able to pivot and change, but so many people throw in a towel because they say that I'm not good enough.

I'm not cut out for this. And in reality, I don't know anybody is. I think you just develop the ability to be able to sustain this. You have a strong why that's going to fuel you more. The motivation is there to keep you up and going because even the mental, the emotional, financial all those challenges that you go through.

It's going to be an opportunity for you to develop yourself as much as you're developing your business. You're also developing yourself as you're going through those journeys. So the trials and tribulations are not there just to create Roblox success. Actually, it allows you the opportunity to develop that endurance and be able to go past the path that you ultimately thought you could.

So with that being said, this is Gresh signing out. Remember, this is the first pillar, entrepreneurship and the journey. Make sure you understand the journey that you're getting in, understand ultimately what you're doing, which is problem-solving. So there's going to be loads and loads of information that we'll have within our community.

But make sure that you of course, check out the other pillars, check out some of the information that we're providing and remember the journey that you're in and I wish you the best towards your success.

Outro 09:34

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Just like I mentioned in the beginning, we're really trying to laser focus on these eight pillars and show you as a builder how you can leverage these eight pillars and really level up there. So it helps to level up your business and organization. So I hope you enjoyed this episode and definitely please check out the show notes.

So you can learn more about the pillar, this is Gresh signing out. Hope you'll have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[/restrict]

The post Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP and the JOURNEY appeared first on CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business.

Chat#111 – The Power of Putting Customers First [SPONSORED POST]

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 17:32:38 -0500

Gresham W. Harkless Jr. sits down with Jasmine Price of M & D Cleaning Services at Intelligent Office in Alexandria Virginia.

M&D Cleaning Service Provides top-notch commercial and janitorial services to businesses of all sizes. They specialize in creating pristine and hygienic environments that enhance productivity and leave a lasting impression.

Jasmine Price, born and raised in Northern Virginia, is the founder of a family-owned business established in 2014. The company was built upon a simple idea – the desire to assist people with cleaning and organization. Jasmine's passion for cleaning has flourished over the five years the business has been operating.

Throughout this time, Jasmine and her dedicated team have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know the most amazing customers in the DMV. The mission plan for Jasmine's business is centered around providing exceptional customer service. While acknowledging that they may not be perfect and could miss a few things, the commitment is to approach each space with the best customer service and a willingness to do whatever is necessary to get the job done.

Timestamps

Intelligent Office of Alexandria offers 23 private offices and three meeting rooms, two of which can be configured in many ways to meet your meeting or training needs.

Relevant Links:

Intelligent Office of Alexandria – https://www.intelligentoffice.com/virginia/alexandria
M&D Cleaning Services – https://manddcleaningservice.com/
DMV Resources – https://dmvceo.com/resources
BNI Chapter – https://dmvceo.com/resources/#franchisenetworking

Additional Resources:

Download our FREE CEO Hacks Guide and subscribe to our newsletter to help you be more effective and efficient – https://cbnation.co/newsletter/
Check out more CEO Hacks that help you be more effective and efficient – https://ceohack.co/
Freshdesk (An online cloud-based customer service software providing helpdesk support with all smart automations to get things done faster. – https://ceohack.co/refer/freshdesk

About Intelligent Office Alexandria

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Intelligent Office of Alexandria boasts 23 private offices and three meeting rooms, two of which are customizable to suit various meeting or training requirements. Located in a Class A building, our facility offers complimentary surface parking, access to an on-site fitness center, high-speed internet, and more!

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Elevate your business presence and functionality with Intelligent Office Alexandria – where your success is our priority!

This is a sponsored post.

Transcription

00:00:17 – 00:00:47
Speaker 1: You're an entrepreneur, and you make vital decisions that hopefully blossom into a business. You're the savvy out-of-the-box risk taker who believes wholeheartedly in the process of innovation. Innovation that will change the world. This is CEO Chat with Gresham Harkless and you're about to embark on a journey through the awesome world of business. Gresham is the epitome of drive and desire as he works to help support small businesses and entrepreneurship.

00:00:48 – 00:00:59
Speaker 1: And you're about to learn from this entrepreneur how you can improve your odds of success in the business world. Welcoming the host of CEO Chat, here's

00:01:01 – 00:01:04
Jasmine Price: Gresham Harkless.

00:01:06 – 00:01:18
Gresham Harkless: All right, hello, hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast, CEO podcast and Blue 16 Media. And I have a fantastic guest with us today. I have Jasmine Price of MND Cleaning. Jasmine, excited to have you on the show.

00:01:18 – 00:01:22
Jasmine Price: Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure to meet you. It's a pleasure.

00:01:23 – 00:01:37
Gresham Harkless: Yeah, absolutely. Well, you're doing so many phenomenal things. So super excited to have you on the show and hear a little bit more about your rise, all the awesome things that you're doing. I know we were talking a little bit offline, so I hope we get to talk a little bit more about the inauguration. All the awesome things you've been able to do.

00:01:37 – 00:01:43
Gresham Harkless: And of course, super excited to be here at Intelligent Office in Alexandria, Virginia. They're hosting us for this podcast.

00:01:43 – 00:01:46
Jasmine Price: Love Intelligent Office. Shout out to them.

00:01:46 – 00:01:56
Gresham Harkless: Yes, They do phenomenal things. And I know that's what brought us together too. But I guess to kick everything off I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit more on how you got started. What I call your CEO story.

00:01:56 – 00:02:22
Jasmine Price: OK. How did I get started with MD Clean and Service. MD Clean and service really was just an idea I came up with to help people and also just to get an extra flow of money, flow of cash. And it kind of just literally just. Kind of grew from there.

00:02:23 – 00:02:39
Jasmine Price: I've seen the. Impact on the community. Helping people with. Employment and things like that, and I just. Start taking off with it, I really didn't think it was going to take off the way.

00:02:40 – 00:03:01
Jasmine Price: It took off, I just was trying to keep myself. Just busy and just busy, really. I'm optimistic on. Trying to do something a little different. And I always wanted to be an entrepreneur.

00:03:01 – 00:03:18
Jasmine Price: Like that was number 1. I started as a massage therapist. So I was like, I always. Knew I kind of wanted to do my own thing. To like, extend and just kind of.

00:03:18 – 00:03:18
Gresham Harkless: To like, Extend and

00:03:18 – 00:03:20
Jasmine Price: it just kind of Grew from there.

00:03:20 – 00:03:38
Gresham Harkless: Yeah, well, No, it's kind of great to hear, you know, you're Doing so many phenomenal things and to hear Like how it started about you always wanting to Have that kind of seed planted and Wanting to do your own thing and just kind of running You know, with that. How was the massage business? And do you think that that helped you in terms of your cleaning business and being able to kind of transition from there?

00:03:38 – 00:03:50
Jasmine Price: Oh, definitely. I love the massage business. It was awesome. I did that for about 4 years. It's still a passion of mine.

00:03:51 – 00:04:04
Jasmine Price: From the massage business, I started a. Mobile, it was like a. Mobile spa, so we should do, like. Pop up shop. Yes.

00:04:06 – 00:04:34
Jasmine Price: Yes. It was so nice. We did. Like, bridal showers parties, bachelorette. Parties like, and it was just awesome to be able to connect with other like women and to build a business and also just to really Try to bring people Together to make money And that was the goal.

00:04:34 – 00:05:13
Jasmine Price: So I had like a nail tech, makeup artist, and we would come in and like pamper the ladies and get them ready for their day or whatever it was. And it was just so fulfilling, you know, for them to get pampered and see them like relaxed and happy and enjoying their friends. So I've always kind of been in the business of customer service. So I just kind of, you know, focus on that and it just kind of grew from there. So the.

00:05:13 – 00:05:23
Jasmine Price: Cleaning business, it was a super easy transition. Super easy transition. And you know, you're helping people. So it just all worked out.

00:05:23 – 00:05:38
Gresham Harkless: Yeah, I love that. And I think so many times we forget about in business, like when we're figuring out what our products and services are, you know, our name and our logo, our color, all those things that we do, our finance, all those things, we sometimes forget about like the actual people that we're serving.

00:05:38 – 00:05:39
Jasmine Price: So I

00:05:39 – 00:05:44
Gresham Harkless: love how that is kind of first and first and front and foremost and everything that you do.

00:05:45 – 00:06:15
Jasmine Price: Yeah I started working at a very young age. My first job was in customer service. It's actually at Bed, Bath & Beyond. And I was about 15, 16 years old and that was number 1 customer service like they installed it and so on so many different levels. So by the time I was about 17 I was the customer service manager.

00:06:15 – 00:06:37
Jasmine Price: So I was running the front running the front. And you know because I understood the business you know. So once you understand the customer is just always right, I mean, you'll be okay. It is what it is, you know, It is what it is. And that's what happens when you run a business.

00:06:38 – 00:06:42
Jasmine Price: So our customers are our priority. Yeah. Number 1.

00:06:42 – 00:07:01
Gresham Harkless: Yeah. It's funny that you said that because I don't know if you found this exact same thing where a lot of times there's this perception when you're not running your business that if you jump into running your business, you can be your own boss. You're not going to have to answer to anybody, but the reality is that you don't just have 1 boss. Now you have a lot of bosses. Here's all your clients.

00:07:01 – 00:07:11
Jasmine Price: Now I have hundreds of bosses. I went from 1 to hundreds of bosses and I don't want to piss anyone off. So, you know.

00:07:11 – 00:07:34
Gresham Harkless: Yeah, but I know that it makes so much sense because everything has to be particular on how they want things. You have to understand. I love that customer service background because it's not just sometimes providing the service I imagine. It's probably also adding that customer service feel of like you know even when you go to a hotel and you know you go walk in and they clean up and then they have the little men on your just those little small things go along

00:07:34 – 00:07:35
Jasmine Price: with it.

00:07:35 – 00:07:35
Gresham Harkless: Is it

00:07:35 – 00:07:45
Jasmine Price: is the details. It's the communication. You know it's a variety of things. But you know customer service like that's the umbrella of

00:07:45 – 00:07:46
Gresham Harkless: it all.

00:07:46 – 00:08:00
Jasmine Price: You know you have those basic foundations. You'll be good to go. I mean, you need those. You need the foundation and if you got it, you can do whatever business you want to do. I really believe that.

00:08:00 – 00:08:11
Gresham Harkless: Yeah, I say that so many times you forget about like the human aspect of business. And I love that you have that foundation because just as you say, whether it's the massage business that you were able to do for, I think you said 4 or

00:08:11 – 00:08:12
Jasmine Price: 5 years, or

00:08:12 – 00:08:15
Gresham Harkless: obviously the cleaning business you've been doing for I think 10 years.

00:08:15 – 00:08:16
Jasmine Price: Yeah, I've been doing it for a while now.

00:08:16 – 00:08:24
Gresham Harkless: Yeah. So I think once you have that foundation you know people you know how to serve them the customers first then you can really take things off from there.

00:08:24 – 00:08:26
Jasmine Price: So for sure for sure.

00:08:26 – 00:08:32
Gresham Harkless: Absolutely. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more here a little bit more on how you serve your clients. Can you take us through the services that you're providing.

00:08:33 – 00:08:51
Jasmine Price: Sure. So, we offer commercial. And residential clean, so we do. Post construction cleaning Move out services, we offer recurring cleanings. So we offer a variety of.

00:08:52 – 00:09:11
Jasmine Price: Services we have a website, you go on there and you pick what you need, which you're looking for. If you don't see it, or you have any questions, just give us a call. But we do offer. And a variety of services are. Most popular services are our.

00:09:11 – 00:09:28
Jasmine Price: Housekeeping and our janitorial services. Okay. Yeah, so we serve a lot of businesses and. In the area with keeping their. Offices clean their businesses, their restaurants.

00:09:29 – 00:09:40
Jasmine Price: Just a variety of day hotel cleaning. We do a lot of different things. We just did a. Turnover cleaning for the college of. On the University of Maryland.

00:09:41 – 00:09:41
Gresham Harkless: Okay.

00:09:41 – 00:09:54
Jasmine Price: So, yeah, we had a. Turnover there. Off campus dorms, I think we did, like, 700, 800 dorms. Yeah, it was crazy, but it was. It was a good experience, so

00:09:54 – 00:10:00
Gresham Harkless: I imagine so that I didn't even I'm not even familiar with that turnover and I'm thinking back to me going to college and, you know, you just want

00:10:00 – 00:10:08
Jasmine Price: to start like that. Right? Yeah. Got it. We got to slip it.

00:10:08 – 00:10:29
Jasmine Price: So, yeah, we go in and we turn over the whole dorm. We do the cleaning of the kitchens, the bathrooms. We do trash removal, if needed, carpet cleaning. So it's a lot, yeah.

00:10:29 – 00:10:38
Gresham Harkless: Yeah, that makes sense. Sometimes you don't think about all those things. Like, again, you just show up the day with all your stuff. It is clean. You just assume that is the way that it

00:10:38 – 00:10:39
Jasmine Price: always is.

00:10:43 – 00:10:53
Gresham Harkless: Exactly. So I love that. And you said that you also do the janitorial services as well. Is that for like the commercial? Yeah.

00:10:54 – 00:11:06
Jasmine Price: Yeah. Yeah. So that's commercial. We have commercial cleaning. We have a variety of clients from offices here.

00:11:06 – 00:11:24
Jasmine Price: Oh town from. Like doctors offices. We have all different types of different things. School buildings that we serve is. And basically for the janitorial cleaning.

00:11:25 – 00:11:41
Jasmine Price: It's normally on a daily basis. Come in, pull trash. Vacuum. Sanitize disinfect. On a daily basis, and.

00:11:43 – 00:11:55
Jasmine Price: That's more of a. What's the word for that's that's more just to keep the germs controlled, so we can make sure

00:11:55 – 00:11:56
Gresham Harkless: that it doesn't get out

00:11:56 – 00:12:07
Jasmine Price: of hand. Exactly. The office is getting cleaned. Nobody's passing anything back and forth while you're, you know, so you can have that level of comfortability. Yeah.

00:12:07 – 00:12:09
Jasmine Price: It's coming back into the office.

00:12:09 – 00:12:25
Gresham Harkless: Yeah. And that's what made me think a lot of I imagine love to hear more about, especially around Kobe. I can't imagine what that was, but. I imagine as people have gone back or starting to go back, they just started to really think about like, do I have that security? Do I have that safety?

00:12:25 – 00:12:39
Gresham Harkless: Are things going to be clean? And I imagine that's where a lot of the great work that you all do helps out in terms of doing that. So was that something that you saw that was kind of different during COVID, kind of the same or just like more communication? What happened I guess in that time?

00:12:39 – 00:13:10
Jasmine Price: Yeah, COVID was very interesting and of course it was a first for everyone So it was very unpredictable. So when we 1st. Enter code, everything was completely. Shut down, so the work completely stopped for us. And then slowly, once everything started to open back up, it just got crazy.

00:13:10 – 00:13:26
Jasmine Price: So everybody wanted everything clean, sanitized. Oh my goodness, fog. During Oh, my goodness. Fog. During COVID, the viral sanitation fog was a big thing.

00:13:28 – 00:13:52
Jasmine Price: So we were super busy with that. And now, since Everybody's really coming back to the office. I'll say this past. Year really offices have been calling this crazy office cleaning has been. Very, very popular because everybody wants to get back on the schedule.

00:13:54 – 00:14:19
Jasmine Price: So it's been good for us. It's a good business. It's very needed. It's very needed. I think people kind of pass over the cleaning at times, but it's very essential to have your business clean on a daily basis.

00:14:20 – 00:14:52
Jasmine Price: And it's something that your customers look at different things. Like I always tell you, owners, business owners, like people are eye, like they'll catch the eye. So if you've got different things, like, have these spots, like, it really throws the average person. All So I'm like, this is like the basics. So you got to get the basics done on the daily.

00:14:52 – 00:15:18
Gresham Harkless: Yeah, I love that you said that. And you know, we talked about building that foundation, you having that customer service as your foundation, but in much the same way, like the businesses, they have to have that foundation. And like you said, I never really thought of that being like a brand piece. But I imagine if I walk into especially a restaurant, and things don't look exactly as clean as I think that they should be, I'm probably not necessarily gonna buy that business. I'm not gonna buy the food.

00:15:18 – 00:15:34
Gresham Harkless: I might not even want to eat that food because that speaks to the brand. Like, they're not taking care of those essential things. They're not taking care of those basic things. And if they can't take care of that, then who knows what the food or, you know, the whatever I buy there is going to look like. So I appreciate you mentioning

00:15:34 – 00:16:07
Jasmine Price: that. Yes, the sanitation is very important. It's very important when you're running any business. And call us to get it right. A lot of businesses try to cut corners for getting their employees to do the cleaning and it's, you know, it's great you have to do what you have to do, But to ensure that you're getting that deep cleaning, hire a professional.

00:16:08 – 00:16:16
Jasmine Price: You know, just hire the professionals. We're here to get it out the way.

00:16:16 – 00:16:44
Gresham Harkless: Yeah, that makes sense. And I feel like that's even what brought us here, you know, in intelligent offices, like kind of knowing like those quote unquote back-end things are kind of taken care of. And a lot of times we do that by making sure that we lean on the people that are really great at what they do. And I think you also have had that experience with the intelligence office if I'm correct where you know we there's so many things in the business. And you know we of course sometimes when we walk into the business and start the business we think that we're going to do all the things.

00:16:44 – 00:16:48
Gresham Harkless: But it starts to come realization that you can't juggle all the balls.

00:16:48 – 00:17:21
Jasmine Price: Intelligent office helps me out so much from answering our phones when we're too busy, handling our mail. I mean, it's just an array of things that they offer and they're reliable, reasonable. The office staff is wonderful. Yeah, I love them. And I wouldn't be here without, here with you without knowing them.

00:17:21 – 00:17:55
Jasmine Price: And yeah, like the networking circle that they bring to you by you coming to them. Yeah I have been really Yeah, I have been really. Developing so much within the past. Year from networking with, you know,

IAM1909 – CEO Leads Healthcare Innovations

Sun, 05 Nov 2023 22:31:32 -0500

Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:
In this episode of IAMCEO podcast, Gerry Miller, CEO of Cloudticity, discusses his extensive experience in the technology industry and how he leads healthcare innovations at Cloudticity.
Gerry Miller is a serial entrepreneur and healthcare fanatic with over 30 years in the technology sector. He has held multiple executive roles, including COO at ePrize, CTO at Microsoft's US Central Region, and Global Business Unit Leader at Microsoft overseeing General Motors. Gerry currently holds all five AWS certifications.
Cloudticity is a company that strives to revolutionize healthcare utilizing cloud technologies, enabling improved clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, and

Listen to the full podcast. This is Originally posted here.

16 Entrepreneurs Share Their Favorite CEO Hack/Resource That Makes Them Successful

Sun, 05 Nov 2023 12:16:51 -0500

As an entrepreneur, you have that gadget, habit, app, or book that makes your work easier, and motivates you to do more and that’s what we refer to as a CEO Hack. It helps you achieve maximum productivity and stick to your goals regardless of the hurdles you face as an entrepreneur. For instance, it […]

11 Entrepreneurs Share How They Incorporate Innovation Within Their Organization

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 12:16:29 -0400

Innovation lies at the heart of organizational growth and sustainability, playing a pivotal role in shaping a company's competitive edge in today's dynamic business landscape. Incorporating innovation within an organization demands a holistic approach that embraces creativity, technology, and a culture of continuous improvement. By fostering an environment that encourages curiosity and risk-taking, organizations can effectively nurture a mindset where novel ideas are not only welcomed but actively sought after.

We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how they incorporate innovation within their organization. Here are the responses.

#1- By leading passion projects

Photo Credit: Ryan Stone

We're a creative organization, and we recognize that everyone in the team wants their own sense of creative freedom. To accommodate that, we offer the opportunity to lead on ‘passion projects' – projects that don't serve financial aims or adhere to client requirements. Instead, they are projects where we retain 100% of the creative freedom to innovate. The company invests both time and money in these projects and grants autonomy to the team member who kickstarted the project.

Thanks to Ryan Stone, Lambda Films!

#2- By encouraging curiosity and experimentation

Photo Credit: Seth Besse

It's not only vital to foster a culture that values innovation but also one that thrives on it. To do this, we've embraced an approach that encourages curiosity and experimentation across the board. It begins with providing our team with the resources and opportunities to explore new tools and ideas together. For instance, when we faced the challenge of establishing a seamless communication channel between our clients and their dedicated support agents, we harnessed our team's collective intelligence.

Thanks to Seth Besse, Undivided!

#3- By encouraging creativity

Photo Credit: Paul Mario Vratusha

Incorporating innovation within my organization has been a journey filled with learning and adaptability. It's about fostering a culture that encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. I've found that providing a safe space for my team to voice their ideas, no matter how unconventional, is crucial. I actively seek to stay updated with industry trends and emerging technologies. This helps me identify opportunities to integrate innovation. More than that, I believe in leading by example. I strive to model innovative thinking by constantly exploring new methods and ideas myself.

Thanks to Paul Mario Vratusha, D-Studio Consulting!

#4- By experimenting with different solutions

Photo Credit: Lily Stoyanov

At Transformify, we believe that innovation is the key to success in the digital era. We are constantly looking for new ways to improve our platform, our services, and our impact on society. We foster a culture of innovation within our organization by encouraging our team members to share their ideas, experiment with different solutions, and learn from their failures. We also collaborate with other innovative organizations and partners to create synergies and leverage best practices.

Thanks to Lily Stoyanov, Transformify!

#5- By developing new ideas

Photo Credit: Priyanka Swamy

Innovation is at the heart of our business. We encourage our team to develop new ideas regularly and create an environment where everyone is encouraged to try new things. To implement innovation, we analyze industry trends, customer insights, and market research regularly. We invest in R&D to develop new products and enhance existing ones. We build relationships and collaborate with other companies in related industries to get new ideas and perspectives. We also like to keep our staff up-to-date with the latest tech and practices.

Thanks to Priyanka Swamy, Perfect Locks Hair Company!

#6- Using a diversification strategy

Photo Credit: Shannon Birthisel

IDL has embodied innovation and a full brand update and name change this year was a big step towards showcasing that to the staff, supporters, and clients. This name change from Idyll Wine Co to IDL in January 2023 cemented IDL's diversification strategy as they positioned themselves as more than just a winery. With a growing portfolio of cider, ready-to-drink spirit-based products, non-alcoholic products, and increased manufacturing capabilities the Idyll Wine Co. name no longer reflected the innovative, forward-thinking, and dynamic nature of their daily operations.

Thanks to Shannon Birthisel, IDL!

#7- Through various ways

Photo Credit: Andrew Chung

We incorporate innovation through several practices and initiatives at Bestcafedesigns dot com. In the space of weeks we translated an idea from thin air into a website with a global audience on cafe designs. This site is enjoyed by designers, and travelers and allows cafe operators a space to promote their cafe in a fun and new niche format. We used Upwork to identify tasks that could be outsourced and more promptly attended with specialist talent, that otherwise couldn’t have been executed by the original team.

Thanks to Andrew Chung, Bestcafedesigns.com!

#8- By empowering employees

Photo Crdit: Cort Adair

To foster innovation, we maintain a culture that encourages every team member to contribute innovative ideas and solutions. Our leadership philosophy emphasizes staying humble and continuously learning, recognizing that innovation can come from anyone, regardless of position. We also regularly assess market trends and conduct competitive analysis, allowing us to adapt swiftly. Embracing change and empowering our employees to contribute to our evolution have been central to our success.

Thanks to Cort Adair, ShirtMax!

#9- By pushing ourselves

Photo Credit: Thomas Samuels

One of the best ways for us to incorporate innovation into our company is to push ourselves with customer projects when the opportunity arises. Our job is to determine if it’s doable and help them make it happen if we can. This openness to new and exciting projects is a major way we’ve expanded our capabilities in the past, from working with LED video walls for booths to incorporating games like skee ball or mini golf into an exhibit. By working on these projects, we get new ideas for future work, learn how to streamline new processes for next time and refresh our portfolio with pieces that attract other innovative projects

Thanks to Thomas Samuels, Cardinal Expo!

#10- By embracing uncertainty

Photo Credit: Solomon Thimothy

To incorporate innovation into your organization, it's crucial to understand the distinction between invention and innovation. Embrace uncertainty and don't wait for a predefined map. Cultivate a culture of creativity and experimentation, dedicating a portion of your time and resources to testing new ideas. Consider establishing a dedicated R&D or “Labs” department, providing them the autonomy and resources to pioneer groundbreaking innovations. Encourage your team to think differently and foster an environment where trying new things and taking calculated risks is valued.

Thanks to Solomon Thimothy, Clickx!

#11- By teaching employees

Photo Credit: Andy LaPointe

We foster innovation within our gourmet food business by teaching our employees how important our gourmet food pr

Ready to tell your story? Podcast Day at Intelligent Office in Alexandria Virginia

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 17:15:31 -0400

Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2023 from 10am – 4pm
Location: Recording at Intelligent Office in Alexandria, VA
Details: For more information and to secure your 30-minute slot, call 703-224-8800
Availability is on a first-come-first-served basis

More Information: Want to tell your story? Blue16 Media will have LIVE podcast recordings for the I AM CEO Podcast at Intelligent Office of Alexandria on Wednesday, November 15 from 10am-4pm. You must sign up to participate for the limited slots. Sign up for a 30-minute slot to tell your story and talk about what you lean on to make your business more effective and efficient. The interviews will be around 15-25 minutes. Interviews will go live in early 2024. To reserve your slot, call Intelligent Office of Alexandria at 703-224-8800. Availability is on a first-come first-served basis.

8 Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Have Failed and What They’ve Learnt

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 12:16:51 -0400

In the face of failure, entrepreneurs come to recognize their transformative power, utilizing setbacks as a means for personal and professional advancement. It is through past challenges and errors that we grasp the significance of perseverance and flexibility, understanding that each stumble is an opportunity for growth. These experiences foster a deep sense of introspection, emphasizing the importance of embracing failure as a stepping stone towards success, showcasing resilience and determination to emerge stronger from adversity.

We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how they have failed and what they have learnt. Here are some responses.

#1- Align with your power

Photo Credit: Jane Baker

I failed after achieving success, it happened because I forgot my own power, what really worked for me, who I really was, and what I really wanted. I ended up listening to too much noise around me and took paths that were really not the best ones for me. This mistake meant that slowly, I ended up going from success into struggle. The valuable lesson I learned is that everyone has their own unique superpowers, what is right for someone else is simply not always going to be right for you and it's more important to ensure the advice you‘re taking and acting upon is actually in alignment with you.

Thanks to Jane Baker, House Of Motorsport Brokerage!

#2- Don't be afraid to pivot

Photo Credit: Lily Stoyanov

I am an entrepreneur and CEO of Transformify, a platform that connects freelancers and businesses around the world. I have failed many times in my journey, but I have learned valuable lessons from each setback. Don't be afraid to pivot. You have to be flexible and willing to adapt to changing customer demands and feedback. Don't try to do everything yourself. You need to delegate tasks, outsource functions, and hire experts who can help you grow your business. Don't neglect your personal life. You need to find a balance between work and life and make time for yourself and your loved ones.

Thanks to Lily Stoyanov, Transformify Ltd!

#3- Be resilient and do market research

Photo Credit: Matt Little

One of the biggest mistakes I made was jumping in without doing enough research on a new market. I didn't realize how important it was to understand the local culture, and I made a product that didn't do what it was supposed to. Another mistake I made was hiring. It's about finding people who share your values and goals. These mistakes have taught me how to be resilient, how important it is to do your homework, and how to create a great team. Remember to embrace your mistakes because they're the key to success.

Thanks to Matt Little, Festoon House!

#4- Prioritize the fundamentals

Photo Credit: Tom Walls

Early on, I was so caught up in the excitement of the business – the creative and enjoyable aspects. What I failed to realize was that the behind-the-scenes operations are just as crucial. It's like trying to build a sandcastle without a solid foundation. The takeaway here was clear: prioritize the fundamentals of the business first. Establish a robust operational framework, and only then indulge in the more thrilling aspects without the looming concern of a structural collapse. Striking a balance between passion and pragmatism turned out to be the key to sustainable growth and success.

Thanks to Tom Walls, The Modern Back!

#5- Embrace the value of sales

Photo Credit: Namanh Hoang

I can confidently say I'm a seasoned startup failure. As funny as it sounds, it's something I'm proud of because I've learned tremendously from those experiences. Among these failures, one of the greatest I've had to overcome is undervaluing skills outside of my core competency. As a designer and engineer, it is common for me to undervalue sales. No matter how good your product is, you may need someone to convince people to buy into the idea. A good salesperson has the emotional quotient to craft and deliver messaging that resonates with different audiences. It's essential since capital funding is often the leading cause of startup failures.

Thanks to Namanh Hoang, Ask Nam!

#6- Partnerships should be a thoughtful decision

Photo Credit: Dmytro Sokhach

Stepping into various partnerships should be a thoughtful decision. I recall one partnership that cost me both time and money. The essence of any partnership is being on the same page and having that shared passion for the project. One partner I had was juggling work with me alongside another project, waiting to see which one took off faster. As a result, the quality of the work he promised to deliver wasn't up to the mark. We eventually had to shut the project down. That wavering partner, who couldn't make up his mind, is now working a regular job.

Thanks to Dmytro Sokhach, Editorial Link!

#7- Think through the details

Photo Credit: Julia Shih

When I started out, we decided to include hemp-based CBD in our formula. We didn't anticipate, that banks are federally regulated and wouldn't work with companies that sold CBD. Any credit card processing could only be done through small, less reputable processors. We had two processors who ran off with all of our transactions. My advice to those venturing out to start their own businesses is to really think through the details in that planning stage—do as much research as possible, and be aware of every aspect of your business that will affect you.

Thanks to Julia Shih, Body + Soul!

#8- Have a team of advisers

Photo Credit: Kraig Kleeman

At the inception of my first company, we accomplished the remarkable feat of soaring from zero revenue to an impressive $30 million in annual sales within just 4 years. During this rise, our most critical marketing partner began showing a keen interest in acquiring our company. This led to intense negotiations and seemingly endless due diligence. When considering the sale of your company, prioritize actively engaging potential acquiring partners and invest significant effort into fostering a competitive bidding environment. Additionally, ensure you have a team of advisors by your side.

Thanks to Kraig Kleeman, The New Workforce!

How have you failed? What did you learn? Tell us in the comments below. Don’t forget to join our #IamCEOCommunity.

IAM1904 – CEO Provides Access to Mental Health and Fitness Resources

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 22:37:32 -0400

Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:
In this episode of IAMCEO podcast, Corey Lewis, CEO and Founder of 1AND1 LIFE, shares his journey of promoting mental health and wellness, particularly among the African-American community.
Corey's platform, 1AND1 LIFE, is dedicated to curating and customizing content, tools, and products that address the lack of mental health and fitness resources available for African Americans, especially men. The content curated by Corey and his team seeks to define what mental health and wellness mean to the Black Community and aims to break the associated stigma.
Besides mental health advocacy, Corey is also passionate about performance

Listen to the full podcast. This is Originally posted here.

Monday Motivation: Decide What You Want. Make a Plan and Work on That…Every. Single. Day

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 09:16:38 -0400

This motivational video is to help CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners start the week off inspired to become great.

Here are some takeaways from the video:

It's not what you're capable of, it's what you're willing to do
Will is a powerful thing, what are you willing to do?
How can you be strong unless you were once weak?
Attack like you're trying to save the world
Resilience in life is the proper preparation

30 Entrepreneurs Share Essential Skills One Needs to be a CEO

Sun, 29 Oct 2023 12:16:16 -0400

There are skills one has to adapt to be an effective and efficient CEO. Anyone can be a CEO. “It’s within everyone’s grasp to be a CEO,” says Martha Stewart. The most common skills are decision-making, being the leader of the team, and communication. Some CEOs are born with these skills while others have to acquire them through consistent practice. As a CEO, you have to remind yourself it's not always about you and you should practice servant leadership.

We asked entrepreneurs what critical skills one must have to be a CEO and here are the awesome responses

#1- Three skills

Photo Credit: Mitch Chailland

The amalgamation of visionary leadership, adept decision-making, and interpersonal skills sets a CEO apart. A CEO or any individual in a leadership role, should inspire trust, foster collaboration, and create an environment where employees feel comfortable challenging themselves and taking risks, even if they don’t always work out. Moreover, adaptability is crucial, especially as the workforce continues to shift to more remote work. Ultimately, any leadership role demands a holistic approach where strategic planning meets human-focused leadership.

Thanks to Mitch Chailland, Online Optimism!

#2- Leading and delegating

Photo Credit: Thomas Samuels

Leading and delegating are two important skills that go hand in hand for a CEO. Plenty of business owners run into trouble when they lack the ability to delegate work effectively. They end up with too much on their plate, which can lead to delays, errors, inefficiencies, and lower quality. Or they micromanage their staff and risk losing or underutilizing their talent. At the same time, as you delegate more work you need to keep everyone on the same page, motivated, and following the same set of values. Strong leadership skills are necessary to set the tone for a company’s culture, inspire your team, and rally everyone around a common goal.

Thanks Thomas Samuels, Cardinal Expo!

#3- Confidence

Photo Credit: Shideh Kaviani

The most essential leadership skill for an entrepreneur is confidence. Confidence in yourself, in your business and in your team is imperative to operating a successful business. Your team members look up to you and will feed off the confidence you have in yourself. Your team will feed off the confidence you have in your business, and thus in the work that they are doing. Your team will feed off the confidence you instil in themselves, which will help them work at maximum motivation and morale.

Thanks to Shideh Kaviani, Naked Wardrobe!

#4- Problem solving skills

Photo Credit: Stephanie Venn-Watson

A CEO must have strong problem-solving skills to tackle any issues that may arise. Businesses will consistently face challenges as the company develops over time. Whether it's industry changes, employee retention or technology issues that are out of our control, it's important for CEOs to remain level-headed and determine a solution quickly and effectively. How a CEO responds to those challenges will determine a company’s success.

Thanks to Stephanie Venn-Watson, Fatty15!

#5- Effective leadership

Photo Credit: Steven Light

One essential skill needed to be a successful CEO is effective leadership. CEOs must inspire and guide their teams, set a clear vision, make strategic decisions, and lead by example. Strong leadership encompasses the ability to communicate a compelling vision, delegate tasks effectively, solve complex problems, and adapt to changing business environments. It also involves being empathetic, approachable, and able to motivate and align the organization toward common goals. Leadership is a cornerstone skill that underpins a CEO's ability to drive their company's success.

Thanks to Steven Light, Avenue B!

#6- Self-awareness

Photo Credit: Cheshtha Lakhchaura

One often overlooked but crucial skill for a CEO is self-awareness. It's about understanding yourself – your strengths, weaknesses, what drives you, and how you handle your feelings. Being self-aware is a game-changer for CEOs because it helps in making better decisions. When you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can make choices that align with your values. It's important to know yourself and build strong connections with your team. Listening is a goldmine for understanding what's happening. Staying humble, learning from mistakes, and staying super passionate about your business are must-haves.

Thanks to Cheshtha Lakhchaura, Gleexa!

#7- Setting a positive example

Photo Credit: Loren Howard

As an entrepreneur and business owner, I've learned that the ability to lead, inspire, and collaborate with a team is essential. CEOs must be visionaries, capable of not only creating a clear and inspiring vision for their company but also rallying their team around that vision. Leadership extends beyond decision-making; it's about setting a positive example, fostering a culture of innovation, and continuously striving for growth. So, for aspiring CEOs, honing your leadership abilities should be a top priority on your journey to success.

Thanks to Loren Howard, Prime Plus Mortgages!

#8- Collaboration

Photo Credit: Dr. Miles Beckett

CEO's must remain open to the idea of collaboration. While the initial dream could be to work entirely for yourself, call all the shots, and not share any of the profits, the truth is that you will probably need some help. Even if it's just a little bit of outsourcing, you eventually need to accept that you cannot always do everything alone. Be grateful to those who are willing to help and understand that team efforts can often expedite the progress of a business.

Thanks to Dr. Miles Beckett, Flossy!

#9- Building an outstanding team

Photo Credit: Seth Besse

Building an outstanding team is your ticket to success, and leaders who can both attract and keep top talent are like the magic wand of productivity. To unleash their full potential, you've got to create a team that's all in—one that's deeply committed to your organization's growth. And it's not just about wooing highly qualified candidates with perks like signing bonuses and competitive salaries. To keep those star players in your corner, you've got to build an environment where they're encouraged to shine their brightest because they believe wholeheartedly in your mission.

Thanks to Seth Besse, Undivided!

#10- Leadership

Photo Credit: Johannes Larsson

Being a CEO is not just about being the boss. It's about leadership. The skills which I've developed as a solopreneur, have led me to becoming the CEO of a multi-million-dollar global business with only a team of 70 remote members in less than a decade. Soft skills such as communication, empathy and having a vision which your team believe in are essential for talent retention and loyalty. Then there are other skills such as effective delegation and team building, financial acumen, strategic thinking, and storytelling which will not only impact your leadership but also your bottom line.

Thanks to Johannes Larsson, Financer.com!

#11- Adaptability

Photo Credit: James Emery

As the co-founder and CEO of The Neighbours Cellar, a business that specializes in personalized wine gift boxes, I've found that adaptability, people management, and a keen eye for detail are essential skills for the role. Adaptability allows you to respond to market changes and customer demands effectively, especially in an industry as dynamic as e-commerce. People management is crucial, not just for leading your team but also for understanding customer needs and maintaining relationships with suppliers.

Thanks to James Emery, The Neighbours Cellar!

#12- Emotional intelligence

25 Entrepreneurs Explain Their Motivation to Grow Their Business

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 12:16:29 -0400

Being an entrepreneur or business owner has its share of ups and downs. While the downs can be pretty low the ups always seem to triumph for a true entrepreneur at heart. Milestones are what entrepreneurs and business owners work towards. Once you finally reach a certain point then reflection can truly begin. Finding the motivation in growing your business keeps it from becoming stale in the long run. No matter which part you love most, loving them all is equally as important.

We asked entrepreneurs and business owners what motivates them about growing their business and below are their replies.

#1- Empowering women to reach their potential

Photo Credit: Roopa Gulati

My motivation for growing “The Style and Mindset Connection” is deeply rooted in my passion for helping independent professional women reach their full potential. Many of these women have faced challenges that have affected their self-esteem and hindered their professional growth. By expanding my business, I can reach and empower more of these incredible women, helping them regain confidence, improve their mindset, and elevate their personal and professional lives. It's immensely rewarding to witness their transformation and see the positive impact it has on their productivity and results.

Thanks to Roopa Gulati, The Style and Mindset Connection!

#2- Passion and purpose

Photo Credit: Daniyal Sanaullah

Growing our business is driven by a deep passion for what we do. We started SocialSharings because we believe in the power of connecting people and businesses through social media. Every day, we see the positive impact our platform has on individuals and brands, and that's what keeps us going. The thrill of innovation and the desire to make a difference in the world through technology constantly fuels our drive. We also understand that growth brings opportunities for our team to learn and develop, which is incredibly motivating. Ultimately, our journey to grow SocialSharings is fueled by a combination of passion, purpose, and the pursuit of excellence.

Thanks to Daniyal Sanaullah, SocialSharings!

#3- Love of travel

Photo Credit: James Smith

First and foremost, I am motivated by a love of travel and a faith in the transformative powers of travel. Travel-Lingual was founded to make travel more accessible and rewarding for people of all backgrounds.In addition to passion, the need to innovate and make a difference is a major factor. In conclusion, I am driven by the outstanding individuals on my team. Their commitment, ingenuity, and collective vision motivate me to lead and expand Travel-Lingual into a global leader in the travel sector. Together, we are redefining the way people travel, and that is a journey that excites me daily.

Thanks to James Smith, Travel-Lingual!

#4- Independence and market share

Photo Credit: Percy Grunwald

When I started my business, there were several factors that I considered. The main reason for entrepreneurship is usually that people want to be their boss and avoid corporate slavery. When there is no profit sharing, the motivation to grow increases, regardless of the several challenges involved such as capital, the risks involved, and competition. Market share: My marketing team has successfully run some large-scale social media marketing campaigns which lead to great sales boosts. This gave me the motivation to grow my business.

Thanks to Percy Grunwald, hostingdata.com!

#5- Maximize impact

Photo Credit: Alex Freeburg

So, why do I want to grow my business? Simple — expand reach, maximize impact. My motivation is rooted in the knowledge that there are so many people out there who need legal guidance but are either unsure where to turn or hesitant due to the complexities of the legal system. When you can make the legal process more accessible and human, it's not just good business — it's socially responsible. Just like a lifebuoy in the open sea, legal help can be a lifesaver, and the more people we can throw that lifeline to, the better.

Thanks to Alex Freeburg, Freeburg Law!

#6- Passion for well-being of pets

Photo Credit: Mathew Coulton

First off, as the founder of “Gentle Dog Trainers,” I'm incredibly passionate about the well-being of our furry friends. This passion has driven me to create a platform where dog owners can find not just trainers, but compassionate professionals who understand the importance of positive reinforcement and empathy in training. It's a mission close to my heart, and it's what motivates me every day. Now, let's talk about what motivates other entrepreneurs and business owners to grow their businesses. Motivation can vary widely, but there are some common themes that resonate with many of us.

Thanks to Mathew Coulton, Gentle Dog Trainers!

#7- Enriching customer experiences

Photo Credit: Andy LaPointe

The motivation to grow our nationally award-winning gourmet food company, Traverse Bay Farms, is our ability to be a part of the life experience of countless people. We understand our customer buy our products for the special events and experiences in their lives. For example, our products are being enjoyed during birthday parties, graduations, engagement parties, baby showers, more. This means we aren't cherry juice concentrate in a bottle, we are helping our clients enjoy memorable moments in their lives.

Thanks to Andy LaPointe, Traverse Bay Farms!

#8- Empowering children and families

Photo Credit: Seth Besse

Every child deserves to thrive, no matter what challenges they face. Throughout my experience, I have seen firsthand the incredible strength and determination of families raising children with disabilities and learning differences. Our goal is to provide them with the tools and resources they need to navigate this unpredictable journey. This way, we can help parents and caregivers better understand and meet their children's specific needs, resulting in the best possible outcomes for everyone involved.

Thanks to Seth Besse, Undivided.io!

#9- Passion and personal growth

Photo Credit: Tabatha Farnel

My motivation to grow my business stems from a combination of personal and professional factors. First and foremost, I'm driven by a passion for what I do. I'm driven to share my enthusiasm and make a positive impact in people's lives. This intrinsic motivation fuels my desire to expand and reach a broader audience. Additionally, I'm inspired by the opportunity for the learning and creativity that growth brings. Growing my business allows me to take on new challenges and continuously evolve both personally and professionally.

Thanks to Tabatha Farnel, Aroma Authority!

#10- Take on new challenges and continuously evolve

Photo Credit: Ankit Prakash

At the core, my motivation to grow my software product technology company isn't merely about revenue figures or market dominance. Think of it as cultivating a garden; each product we develop, each client we assist, and every retail, D2C ecommerce, and SaaS business I mentor, are seeds we're sowing. As these seeds flourish, they transform into flowers—representing innovation, solutions, and transformative impacts. Managing my AI and software products team directly, I've witnessed first-hand the ripple effect of empowering small, high-performing teams.

Thanks to Ankit Prakash, Sprout24!

#11- Fostering growth and innovation

Shrinkage includes inventory loss from other sources like returns fraud and human error. The current returns process has too many touchpoints where shrinkage can happen. The expansion of e-commerce should also bring about seeing returns as a strategic lever, similar to how companies used faster delivery to drive customer experience and revenue.

Thanks to Christian Piller, Pollen Returns!

#2- Envisioning a strategic direction

Photo Credit: Danielle Sabrina

I think that it is of paramount importance for a CEO to possess the ability to envision a strategic direction and be able to conceptualize the path required to realize that vision. Often underestimated, intuition serves as a vital resource for an effective CEO, allowing them to navigate situations characterized by limited data yet full of potentially lucrative opportunities. Another critical attribute for a CEO is an acute sense of self-awareness.

Thanks to Danielle Sabrina, Society22 PR!

#3- Investing both time and finance

Photo Credit: Jonathan Hussey

The biggest thing for me is to understand what you're undertaking before you start. Services like Shopify and BigCommerce have given many people the impression that eCommerce is an easy industry to succeed in. The reality is that eCommerce is not quick, easy, or cheap, and getting your store online is only a small part of the battle. You need to be prepared for hard work and to invest significantly both in time and financially if you expect to compete, and succeed. However, if you do manage to find success, the rewards can be significant.

Thanks to Jonathan Hussey, Developer Connection!

#4- Invest in content marketing

Photo Credit: Alex Nigmatulin

As entrepreneurs and business owners, one of our top tips for building a successful e-commerce venture is to invest in content marketing right from day one. While platforms like Instagram offer a great starting point, the key to differentiation lies in the age-old strategy of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). By creating high-quality, engaging content on your website, you drive sustained traffic over the long term and establish yourself as a reliable player in the market.

Thanks to Alex Nigmatulin, PRNEWS.IO!

#5- Calculate stock reorder levels

Photo Credit: Dani Mechlowitz

When building an e-commerce business, it's essential to keep track of your inventory to avoid sell-out periods. In that initial growth phase, running out of stock can be detrimental and slow down the momentum of your business growth. As soon as you have 2-3 months' worth of sales data to work with, use a formula to calculate stock reorder levels to ensure you always have stock ready to go, especially if you're promoting your products on platforms known for viral content, like TikTok.

Thanks to Dani Mechlowitz, Delta Fulfilment!

#6- Hire an attorney and SEO expert

Photo Credit: Priscilla Christine

When establishing your business, there are several essential tips to keep in mind for long-term success. First and foremost, consider hiring an attorney to assist you in setting up your business structure, drafting contracts, and establishing store policies. I also suggest protecting your brand by trademarking your business name, ensuring it's uniquely yours. With an e-commerce business, it will be difficult to succeed without a strong online presence so you should prioritize SEO by either hiring an expert or researching how to optimize your digital efforts.

Thanks to Priscilla Christine, The Little Catholic!

#7- Differente from the competition

Photo Credit: Chris Gerbig

The key to success for a new e-commerce business owner would be to find something that differentiates from the competition. There has to be some sort of ‘angle’ or unique aspect of the business that allows the company to stand out. Think of it from the customer's perspective – Why should this customer shop from your store instead of the other stores selling this product? Without separating yourself from competitors, it will be more difficult to succeed in an already flooded market.

Thanks to Chris Gerbig, Pink Lily!

#8- Focusing on digital marketing and UX

Photo Credit: Todd Simon

For 60 years decades, my family’s 106-year-old business has provided at-home delivery services for gourmet meat lovers. These days, we have a strong e-commerce presence – focusing heavily on digital marketing and user experience, providing deals and promotions throughout the year on the Omaha Steaks website. Across these efforts, we strive to keep consumers engaged by offering tips from butchers, recipes from our chefs, and tutorials on how to prepare your food.

Thanks to Todd Simon, Omaha Steaks!

#9- Design a user-friendly e-commerce website

Photo Credit: Brian David Crane

Designing a fully functional and user-friendly e-commerce website is critical for an e-commerce business. A website is a digital storefront for customers to order and place products in their online shopping cart. The first step is to have a domain name that matches your business name. One can choose to build their online eCommerce shops on inclusive and pre-made e-commerce shopping software platforms like Woocommerce, Shopify, Squarespace, or Magento based on what suits their bandwidth and individual needs and how they will manage inventory and shipping orders.

Thanks to Brian David Crane, Caller Smart!

#10- Go offline

Photo Credit: Jane Harbison

An important part of growing an online business is going offline. There are many ways to do this, including going onto other people’s podcasts, talking at events, attending local Chamber of Commerce functions, talking about what you do at parties, and writing articles for other people’s publications like this one. But if you are an introvert, all this public speaking and networking may terrify you. There is one cheap and often forgotten way. It is to wear your business on a T-shirt.

Thanks to Jane Harbison, Jane Harbison Design!

#11- Optimize the online shopping cart

Photo Credit: Stephanie Venn-Watson

Losing customers during the checkout process is a major pain point for eCommerce merchants. Therefore, I recommend fully optimizing your online shopping cart to eliminate pain points. Ensure your checkout experience is fast and straightforward. Consider implementing a one-click buying option so customers can purchase items instantly. By eliminating a long and complicated payment process, shoppers are much more likely to complete their purchases.

Thanks to Stephanie Venn-Watson, fatty15!

#12- Focus on UX and website design

Photo Credit: Steven Light

Prioritize user experience (UX) and website design. A well-designed, user-friendly website can significantly impact your business‘s success. Ensure that your website is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and is mobile-responsive to cater to a diverse audience. Implement clear product categorization, intuitive search functionality, and a streamlined checkout process. High-quality product images, detailed descriptions, and customer reviews can also enhance the user experience.

Thanks to Steven Light, Avenue B!

#13- Pay attention to product pages

Photo Credit: Nikhil Jogia

When operating an e-commerce business, your product pages are your frontline sales team — only there's no room for negotiation. Every element on the page needs to be tuned to help convert visits into sales. I can't overemphasize the importance of high-quality images and thorough, easy-to-understand descriptions. We've found that this approach encourages customers to make purchases and establishes a level of trust that turns them into repeat clients.

Thanks to Nikhil Jogia, Jogia Diamonds!

#14- Blend technology and marketing

Photo Credit: James Emery

Building an e-commerce business like The Neighbours Cellar involves a blend of technology, marketing, and customer-centricity. First, invest in a reliable and scalable e-commerce platform that can adapt as your business grows; we opted for Shopify for its robustness and ease of use. Second, focus on digital marketing channels that align with your target audience—SEO, social media, and email marketing have been invaluable for us.

Thanks to James Emery, The Neighbours Cellar!

#15- Build customer loyalty

Photo Credit: Liz Raad

We can safely say that e-commerce is among the most common types of online business. And yet, it’s surprising how hesitant small businesses are to engage in loyalty programs. And that can make or break your customer retention, especially in the early stages. If you’re still building your customer base, you can offer referrals for expensive products/services or first-time buyer incentives – for example, a free gift or special discount with the second purchase.

Thanks to Liz Raad, eBusiness Institute!

#16- Focus on traffic-generating skill

Monday Motivation: You Must Come Back And Finish What You Started

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 09:16:14 -0400

This motivational video is to help CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners start the week off inspired to become great.

Here are some takeaways from the video:

Sorround yourself with people who will challenge you to grow
Control what you can control
There is a light within ourselves that can guide us forward during the darkest of times
The best version of yourself is yet to be revealed to the world

27 Entrepreneurs List Their Favorite Business Books

Sun, 22 Oct 2023 12:16:24 -0400

As musician Frank Zappa once said, “So many books, so little time.” For a business owner or budding entrepreneur, books can be a life preserver. Of course, valuable lessons often come from doing. Business lessons can be learned by trial and error and by putting yourself out on the line. But the same lessons can also be learned from a book. Reading about the errors and triumphs of other business leaders can prevent you from making mistakes and push you in the direction of success. Beyond lessons, a good business book can inspire you to lift your business to an even higher level.

Below is a selection of business books chosen as favorites by entrepreneurs and business owners.

#1- “Good to Great” by Jim Collins

Photo Credit: Vikas Kaushik

Collins' ideas on focused thinking, exacting action, and unshakable dedication to excellence have perfectly complemented my customer-focused mindset and TechAhead's quest for digital transformation expertise. “Good to Great” emphasizes the importance of consistent discipline, technology-enabled agility, and a team-driven strategy, just as TechAhead works to exceed client expectations through new mobile apps and digital solutions.

Thanks to Vikas Kaushik, TechAhead!

#2- “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek

Photo Credit: Mark Buskuhl

This great book by Simon Sinek tells the story of how leaders can inspire others to take action through a simple but powerful model, which he calls the Golden Circle. It focuses on understanding why we do things and how those reasons can become motivating forces for people. It also explains how our why can drive our success and help us achieve more. Sinek explains his theory by using real-life examples from some of the world's most successful companies, including Apple, Starbucks, and Google.

Thanks to Mark Buskuhl, Ninebird Properties!

#3- All You Need to Know About the Music Business

Photo Credit: Alyssa J. Devine

“All You Need to Know About the Music Business” by attorney Donald S. Passman provides practical insight for creatives with limited knowledge of business principles. The book begins by providing a 10,000-foot view of the music industry and the different considerations involved with hiring an attorney, accountant, and other business professionals. Passman uses plain language to describe the recent changes in the law (and standard business practices) that have affected and will continue to impact the music industry, such as streaming and the Music Modernization Act (MMA).

Thanks to Alyssa J. Devine, Purple Fox Legal!

#4- “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill

Photo Credit: Nicholas Dragolea

My favorite business book is the classic “Think and Grow Rich” as it has been an essential cornerstone in my journey as an entrepreneur. Not a huge reader myself, it’s actually the only book that I found myself reading three times! Authored by Napoleon Hill, the book focuses on priceless business advice on positive thinking and overcoming adversity both in business and in personal life. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone whether in their teens, twenties, or later in life.

Thanks to Nicholas Dragolea, Fetched!

#5- “Playing to Win” by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin

Photo Credit: Corwin Smith

I recommend Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin as my go-to book. This book is the perfect example of strategic thinking. It is about identifying where you’re going to play in the marketplace, which customers you’re going to serve, and how you secure those customers. The book also teaches you that not all customers are good customers.

Thanks to Corwin Smith, Culture to Cash!

#6- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini

Photo Credit: Evan Tunis

This classic business book is a must-read for entrepreneurs and business owners. Written by Dr. Robert Cialdini, it provides insights into the psychology of persuasion and how to be an effective negotiator and leader. It covers topics such as understanding people's motivations, creating trust with clients and customers, and mastering the art of influence. This book has been praised by entrepreneurs and business owners for its engaging writing style, practical lessons, and insights into effective communication.

Thanks to Evan Tunis, Florida Healthcare Insurance!

#7- “One Little Spark” by Marty Sklar

Photo Credit: David Brewer

Without a doubt, one of my favorite business books is ‘One Little Spark’ by Marty Sklar, the former head of Imagineering at Disney. It’s a collection of anecdotes and personal stories that incorporate Mickey’s Ten Commandments and the Disney methodology into their narrative to help the reader understand how to implement and utilize them in their professional and personal lives. It was, is, and always will be indispensable to me and the way, my business, works

Thanks to David Brewer, Protect Line!

#8- “Hard Times Create Strong Men” by Stefan Aarnio

Photo Credit: Luke Lintz

Gen Z is extremely lazy. This idea immediately brings to mind insights from Stefan Aarnio’s book “Hard Times Create Strong Men”. He drew a comparison to a cycle, where challenging times give rise to individuals with resilience. These individuals then contribute to periods of prosperity. However, during these prosperous times, a certain complacency can set in, potentially leading to a generation that faces difficulties. His explanation of this cycle sheds light on the changes within our society.

Thanks to Luke Lintz, HighKey Enterprises LLC!

#9- “Making It In Real Estate” by John McNellis

Photo Credit: Jonathan Ayala

Making It In Real Estate by John McNellis is a great deep dive into real estate investment, ownership, and development. What I loved most about the book is how super real it is. If you're in this business you'll immediately recognize the wily developers of the 1980s and the overconfidant upstarts at the turn of the century. It provides you not only with hard-hitting facts about the industry but it's more importantly filled with personal anecdotes told by a natural storyteller, who paid his dues in this business.

Thanks to Jonathan Ayala, Hudson Condos!

#10- “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss

Photo Credit: Karen Green

He presents nine principles of negotiation that might be counterintuitive such as never splitting the difference! which as a sales expert and former retail buyer, I totally agree with. If you are selling to someone and they start with a ridiculously low offer, splitting the difference between that and your reasonable offer is only going to lead to a lower-than-necessary result. There is loads more valuable advice just like this and is relevant whether you are seeking out new business or negotiating with suppliers.

Thanks to Karen Green, Buyerology!

#11- “Company of One” by Paul Jarvis

15 Entrepreneurs Share How They Use Social Media For Their Business

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 12:16:08 -0400

In today's digital age, harnessing the power of social media is paramount for business success. With a global audience at your fingertips, leveraging platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn has become essential for brand visibility and customer engagement. There are myriad ways to effectively utilize social media to promote and grow your business.

We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how they use social media for business. Here are some responses.

#1- Boosting content for targeted reach

Photo Credit: Marshal Davis

I have a dedicated budget solely for boosting high-performing content on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. We identify these posts based on organic engagement metrics and then boost them to reach a wider but highly targeted audience. Once identified, these posts are boosted to extend their reach to a more targeted audience, thereby amplifying their impact. This is not a haphazard tactic but a well-thought-out strategy that is in line with our broader marketing goals. The result is a more engaged audience and a more effective social media campaign.

Thanks to Marshal Davis, Ascendly Marketing!

#2- For projecting my personality and philosophy

Photo Credit: Dielle Charon

I use social media for my business by selling through social media and connecting. My leads learn my personality in my stories and my philosophy and movement inside of posts and reels. They do not get free education from me, as that stays mostly inside my coaching container, but they see my philosophy and what I stand for and they know if this aligns with them!

Thanks to Dielle Charon, Dielle Charon Coaching!

#3- Establishing recognition and credibility

Photo Credit: Adrian Miller

IMHO social media is best used for establishing recognition and credibility as long as you don't throw out drivel, falsehoods, and posts that scream you're a loser looking for a lead. I advise content that has value, humor, and honesty, and will stand behind that advice every day!

Thanks to Adrian Miller, Adrian Miller Sales Training!

#4- To build brands

Photo Credit: Luke Lintz

I started my company in 2016, and we grew it through social media marketing, Instagram specifically. We realized that what we were really good at was marketing and building brands on social media. I believe you should focus on growing your social media channels because that’s what stays with you for the entire time you're running your business. We use social media now to cement ourselves as a brand, for outreach, marketing, advertising, and even pitching sometimes.

Thanks to Luke Lintz, High Key Agency!

#5- Sharing the journey

Photo Credit: Rhett Wiseman

I first gained notoriety and recognition for my knowledge of real estate investing when I began sharing my own journey of purchasing homes and zoning them for Section 8 rentals on his YouTube channel. As I became inundated with requests from people who aspire to learn from me on how they could create their own real estate empires, build out portfolios, create long-lasting passive income, and ‘be their own boss,’ I took the leap into coaching and created my one-of-a-kind coaching program that hand-holds my clients through every step of the process.

Thanks to Rhett Wiseman, Wiseman Advising LLC!

#6- For recruiting

Photo Credit: Garry West

For me, the day always starts on LinkedIn. I can always be sure to see a post from someone I know, there’s usually something that makes me laugh, and I check in on the news in my sector. Sure, we use the platform for recruiting, and it’s a great way to generate leads, but for me, it’s all about staying up to date, reading the latest opinion pieces, and taking part in webinars, when I get the time. I’ve been using LinkedIn since I started my business; it feels like my social media home!

Thanks to Garry West, Imagefix!

#7- Align content to niche

Photo Credit: Will Allred

First, align your content to your niche. We were the first to mix objective cold email data with the reader's perspective on LinkedIn. Second, be consistent. I was able to quickly attribute revenue to my posting because of our self-service offering. It took 18 months before growth started to compound. Third, seek to help before you optimize for the algorithm. People come to social media to learn or be entertained. Fourth, the magic is in the comments. Thoughtfully respond, and comment on other's posts in your space. This will open your posts to their and their followers' feeds.

Thanks to Will Allred, Lavender!

#8- Showcase business offerings and skillsets

Photo Credit: Vanessa James

I utilize social media as a tool to showcase my various business offerings and skillsets like voiceover, on-camera hosting, and brand collaborations. It's also a fantastic way to engage daily and build community with fellow creatives across the media landscape. As new apps and tools go live, it’s also a great way to review trends and see where and how my audience is connecting and meet them where they are. I shifted my mindset years ago on social always being a place to showcase my highlight reel and moved to a place where I could showcase my work.

Thanks to Vanessa James, Vanessa James Media!

#9- To craft relevant ad messages

Photo Credit: Brian David Crane

I use social media for my business to target hyper-specific audiences through social media ads who are interested in anti-phishing and digital security tools that can help them protect their privacy. With Facebook's ad targeting options, we are able to craft relevant messages that connect with different groups of potential customers based on their behaviors, interests, and demographics and pay according to the exact number of viewers we want to reach out to.

Thanks to Brian David Crane, Caller Smart Inc!

#10- Infuse our personality into videos

Photo Credit: Diane Howard

It's a great way to showcase our services and products, explaining how they can benefit our clients. But we also infuse our personality into these videos to stand out – after all, aesthetics and skincare should be enjoyable and relatable. It's about making our followers feel like they're part of a community that values self-care and confidence.

Thanks to Diane Howard, Esthetic Finesse!

#11- Regularly answer questions

Photo Credit: Seth Besse

Our caregiver support platform is designed specifically to assist parents of children with disabilities and learning differences. The proverb goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” And we feel the same, which is why we are very active and reachable on our social channels. We're part of the disability community on Instagram, where we regularly answer questions. And we maintain a private community on Facebook, hosting frequent live chats. These are for Undivided members, as well as other parents raising kids with disabilities, to connect, share advice, and feel supported.

Thanks to Seth Besse, Undivided!

#12- Repost photos from satisfied customers

Photo Credit: Andrew Meyer

Our entire business is based on sustainability. We’re a digital energy advisor that automatically lowers your electric rate and carbon footprint by switching your home or apartment to cheaper and cleaner energy sources. We do our part as well by employing a fully remote workforce. This cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions, consumption of fossil fuels and power, paper and plastic office supplies, and contributes to cleaner air. Lastly, we practice what we preach. Everyone at our company has found the right energy products and services for them. This not only saves them money but allows them to be more sustainable at the same time.

Thanks to Andrew Meyer, Arbor!

#2- Through commitment and innovation

Photo Credit: Ward Dilmore

Incorporating sustainability into my business, both as a business owner and entrepreneur, has been a journey of commitment and innovation. Here's how I've woven sustainability into the fabric of Petrus Landscape: my passion for sustainability stems from a personal connection to the environment. I've always believed that businesses can play a pivotal role in preserving the planet for future generations.

Thanks to Ward Dilmore, Petrus Landscaping!

#3- Using independent and carbon-neutral data centers

Photo Credit: Cuautemoc Weber

One of the most pertinent challenges across the blockchain landscape is figuring out how to chart a more sustainable trajectory going forward, due to the energy-intensive nature of many blockchain networks. Gateway.fm is the first truly decentralized blockchain infrastructure node provider, delivering reliable node infrastructure, best-in-class validators, and robust dev tooling support to help Web3 projects scale at pace. As part of this mission, we use independent and carbon-neutral data centers to minimize the environmental impact of operating blockchain nodes, contributing to a more sustainable and eco-friendly crypto ecosystem.

Thanks to Cuautemoc Weber, Gateway.fm!

#4- Having a strong environmental committee

Photo Credit: Mac Steer

One of the things that I try to do is make sure that my employees are engaged in our sustainability efforts. We have a strong environmental committee that meets regularly and works with me to identify new ways we can make our company more sustainable. We've implemented some great ideas from this committee, including using reusable cups instead of disposable ones at our office and offering a discount on your next purchase if you bring your own bag into our store.

Thanks to Mac Steer, Simify!

#5-Reducing carbon footprint

Photo Credit: Evan Tunis

We are working to make our business more sustainable by reducing our carbon footprint, minimizing waste, and increasing the use of renewable energy sources. We are investing in solar power, improving insulation in our buildings, installing LED lights to reduce electricity consumption, and recycling materials whenever possible. We are also encouraging employees to carpool or take public transport when traveling for business purposes. Additionally, we have implemented a paperless system to reduce the amount of paper, ink, and other materials used in our operations.

Thanks to Evan Tunis, Florida Healthcare Insurance!

#6- Using UV-C air disinfection

Photo Credit: Jennifer Nuckles

The pandemic shone a spotlight on the importance of indoor air quality, as well as the archaic solutions that previously defined the market. But over the past few years, we’ve seen the emergence of a solution that is continuous, autonomous, disinfects air in real-time, and is sustainable and efficient: UV-C air disinfection. I believe sustainable air disinfection is the future. R-Zero is working to make our shared indoor spaces safer and more efficient, sustainable, and productive, through the use of this UV-C air disinfection technology.

Thanks to Jennifer Nuckles, R-Zero!

#7- Building a strong corporate culture

Photo Credit: Michael Podolsky

Organize your internal processes and build a corporate culture that is passed across all management levels. My team is my greatest asset, so I make sure that everyone is involved in the company’s goals, shares the same vision of success, and contributes to teamwork. We've built a culture that helps us pass the vision and values of the company across all management levels. Every employee is involved in teamwork and company goals. That is important for sustainability. We also have established standards for our services, especially among support specialists, all aimed at catering to the needs and expectations of our users and clients.

Thanks to Michael Podolsky, PissedConsumer.com!

#8- Driving sustainable apartment living

Photo Credit: Cameron Johnson

By offering living subscriptions that include all of the housewares, décor, furniture, and in-home tech that any apartment needs, we embrace the circular economy and save the equivalent of 30 trees per transaction. Our goal is to provide our users with a hassle and stress-free move but also to reduce the environmental impact associated with moving. Further, in addition to re-using as much of our inventory as we can for as long as we can, we also do our best to help our goods avoid landfills. Items that can no longer be deployed in users’ homes will be donated to homeless shelters, non-profits, and dog shelters (they love pillows and bedding) business.

Thanks to Cameron Johnson, Nickson Living!

#9- By sourcing eco-conscious vendors

Photo Credit: Marcy Kelman

As a US manufacturer of college diploma frames, we’re hyper-aware that wood and paper are two of our primary product components. That’s why we only source raw materials from eco-conscious vendors who are vetted for compliance with reforestation efforts. All of the renewable hardwoods for our frames are harvested and grown using environmentally responsible practices, and we carry a line of 100% recycled wood molding options. We'll only purchase our frame mats and backing boards from companies with proof of certification for sustainable forestry operations.

Thanks to Marcy Kelman, Church Hill Classics!

#10- Removal and recycling services of e-waste

Photo Credit: Josh Cohen

In a world saturated with materialism, the minimalist lifestyle stands as a beacon of simplicity, intentionality, and sustainability. By choosing quality over quantity and prioritizing meaningful experiences over possessions, individuals can create homes that are both clutter-free and eco-conscious. Entrepreneur Josh Cohen, Founder and President of The Junkluggers, exemplifies this approach through his pioneering work in the eco-friendly junk-removal industry.

Thanks to Josh Cohen, The Junkluggers!