CBNation Feed http://feed.informer.com/digests/WM3WBIU9SU/feeder CBNation Feed Respective post owners and feed distributors Wed, 18 Aug 2021 16:19:44 -0400 Feed Informer http://feed.informer.com/ IAM2381 – Yoga Teacher and Certified Life Coach Supports Mind, Body and Spirit Wellness https://iamceo.co/2025/02/18/iam2381-yoga-teacher-and-certified-life-coach-supports-mind-body-and-spirit-wellness/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:d70f6b6c-dbba-1d6a-d170-ea5bf2b46275 Tue, 18 Feb 2025 06:16:21 -0500 <p>Mary Kearns holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology and has expertise in various healing practices, including yoga, Reiki, life coaching, and herbalism. She founded Yourstellarself, a wellness business that combines Mind, Body, and Spirit wellness. In 2017, Mary returned to her roots, combining her knowledge of mind-body-spirit healing into Yourstellarself through workshops, yoga, and energy &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/18/iam2381-yoga-teacher-and-certified-life-coach-supports-mind-body-and-spirit-wellness/">IAM2381 &#8211; Yoga Teacher and Certified Life Coach Supports Mind, Body and Spirit Wellness</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186563" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/02/IAM2381-1.png" alt="Podcast episode cover with two circular photos of guests. Title reads, &quot;Yoga Teacher & Life Coach Supports Mind, Body, and Spirit Wellness.&quot; Episode 2381. Streaming platforms are at the bottom." /></div> <div> <p>Mary Kearns holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology and has expertise in various healing practices, including yoga, Reiki, life coaching, and herbalism.</p> <p>She founded Yourstellarself, a wellness business that combines Mind, Body, and Spirit wellness.</p> <p>In 2017, Mary returned to her roots, combining her knowledge of mind-body-spirit healing into Yourstellarself through workshops, yoga, and energy healing.</p> <p>Mary uses the &#8220;life wheel&#8221; concept to help clients assess their balance across multiple areas, including physical health, relationships, and mental well-being.</p> <p>Mary mentions that she managed a bath and body product business with long working hours but always made time for sleep, family, and self-care, even in small increments.</p> <p>She believes in blending scientific and mystical traditions to create a balanced approach to wellness.</p> <p>Mary recommends completing tasks that take five minutes or less immediately, freeing up mental space for more important tasks and reducing stress.</p> <p>Website: <a href="https://www.yourstellarself.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Yourstellarself</a></p> <p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryhakearns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mary Hoyt Kearns, PhD</a></p> <p>Previous Episode: <a href="https://iamceo.co/2019/03/25/iam224-yoga-teacher-and-certified-life-coach-supports-mind-body-and-spirit-wellness/">iam224-yoga-teacher-and-certified-life-coach-supports-mind-body-and-spirit-wellness</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> </div> <div> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> Teaser </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>Really important to do for yourself because again, when you're at that point where you're stretched so thinly, you just are not your best for your business, for people in your life, for your clients.</p> <p>Like, you need to take care of yourself in order to serve everyone else in the best way that you can.</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:19</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:46</b></strong></p> <p>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 Mary Kearns of <a href="https://www.yourstellarself.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">yourstellarself.com</a>. Mary, it's awesome to have you on the show.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:55</b></strong></p> <p>Thanks for having me, Gresham. It's great to be here.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:57</b></strong></p> <p>No problem. It's great to have you on. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Mary so you can hear about all the awesome things that she’s been doing.</p> <p>And Mary Hoyt Kearns purpose in life is to help people discover and nourish their inner light and to teach them how to heal themselves.</p> <p>She holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Fordham University with a focus on behavioral health.</p> <p>She is a registered yoga teacher, certified life coach, Usui Reiki Master, and has studied herbalism, shamanism, past life, regression, mandalas for healing, and more.</p> <p>She is the owner of Yourstellarself, whose mission is to bring light, love and healing to the world by supporting Mind, Body Spirit Wellness. Mary has been offering wellness workshops and talks on various Mind, Body, spirit topics since 2003. Mary, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:45</b></strong></p> <p>I am. Thank you.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:47</b></strong></p> <p>No problem. Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:54</b></strong></p> <p>Oh, okay. Well, the first incarnation of this business I created right after I was done with my PhD. That was in 2002 and got my coaching training. I started doing workshops and different things like work, life balance, how to reduce stress.</p> <p>Kind of integrated some mindfulness techniques into that. And then I got certified in Reiki in 2005 and started adding that to the mix.</p> <p>By 2008, I kind of went in a different direction and turned to wellness through herbal bath and body products and teaching people about the importance of what you put on your skin and self care and all that.</p> <p>I continued to do workshops, but I kind of left the more mind spirit side of it behind. And then in 2017, I got certified as a yoga teacher.</p> <p>And that kind of reminded me of how much I loved the whole package, the mind, body, spirit. So combining movement with meditation, with mindfulness and self care, I kind of brought the old business back in a new form.</p> <p>And so at the end of 2017, your seller self was reborn. And yes, so now I kind of combine all those different things and through workshops, through yoga lessons, through energy healing.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:08</b></strong></p> <p>Nice. I love that. And it kind of reminds me of the fact that sometimes I even think that you can kind of silo some of those things.</p> <p>Like your health is just your, the way you're eating or the way that you're working out, but really, it's the way that you're feeling.</p> <p>All these things are kind of, I guess the term would be holistic way to kind of look at your whole entire health. Is that correct?</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:27</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. And one of the tools that I learned in coaching was something we called the life wheel, where you have people like there's a circle on a piece of paper and it's divided into like eight sections or so.</p> <p>And people label it with different aspects of their life, like physical health, exercise, how well they're eating, how much sleep they're getting, things like that, things that are important.</p> <p>And then they rate it on a scale of 0, which is the center of the circle, to 10, and then color it in as far as that scale so they can see how like, lumpy their wheel is, how out of balance.</p> <p>At any given point it's really hard to have everything running smoothly. But within the over time, if you get some good routines, you can get kind of a smooth, balanced proportion of all those things.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:09</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Trying to maximize the most of our 24 hours as best as you can is always, I guess, kind of the goal and I guess incorrect me if I'm wrong.</p> <p>Sometimes even if you know you're a little lumpy in the area, at least you're kind of more aware of exactly where you're lumpy at.</p> <p>So maybe it might be like a short term thing where you understand that I might have to work, a lot more this time, but after this period is over, this month or whatever, I'm going to be able to spend more time with my family or spiritually or whatever those things. Do you find that happens a lot?</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:37</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, and especially when I had the Bath and Body product business because it was a product and had all the things that come along with inventory and wholesale clients, retail clients and all that.</p> <p>There were many times, especially around the holidays, when I had 14 hour days, seven days a week.</p> <p>It was really out of balance. So I would always make sure, just knowing what I know about how important it is to get enough sleep.</p> <p>I never went without at least six or seven hours of sleep. I always made sure that I made time for my family and to eat right. Which is not always that easy when you're working crazy hours like that.</p> <p>But it's just sometimes it's a matter of just taking 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there to do what you need to do for yourself to bring it back and remember it.</p> <p>So, yeah, it's not always easy, but life isn't always like that either, where it's constant, constant. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel too. Usually there is. So.</p> <p>And then at times I found that if it felt too out of control, it meant that I had to let go of something.</p> <p>Maybe I was doing some volunteer work that I really didn't have time for, but I was feeling guilty about saying no.</p> <p>Or maybe I had a client who was really super demanding, disproportionate to what they were worth, so I let them go.</p> <p>So that's the other part of balance I found was kind of constantly reassessing, like what made sense right now, what. What brought me joy, and let go into things that didn't.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:54</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, no, that's extremely powerful. It's funny, I go. I find myself going through that exact same thing where sometimes I try to push through things.</p> <p>That's my default is just kind of push through them. And sometimes, you know, when you're just tired and exhausted and you're overextended, sometimes you just have to maybe face the fact, which is what you might have done in the first place.</p> <p>At least in my case, where I needed to cut that thing out, I didn't necessarily need to just push through it.</p> <p>That needed to come off my plate or that, that time reached its end and I needed to accept that. And that was the difficult thing I was kind of facing.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:21</b></strong></p> <p>Sometimes it's really important to do for yourself because again, when you're at that point where you're stretched so thinly, you just are not your best for your business, for people in your life, for your clients.</p> <p>Like, you need to take care of yourself in order to serve everyone else in the best way that you can.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:41</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly, exactly. I remind myself to put my own oxygen mask on because that'll help me serve everybody else. I have to tell myself that over and over again.</p> <p>I know you touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit more about what you're doing to kind of help support the clients that you're working with and what you feel kind of set you apart and makes you unique.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:56</b></strong></p> <p>Well, I guess I'll start with the unique part. I'd say it's my combination of backgrounds. It's kind of unique in that I have a scientific background. The PhD is a research degree.</p> <p>So I'm really familiar with the research process and the science behind a lot of what I teach or most of what I teach.</p> <p>And I always am continually learning about it, even the more esoteric stuff, what is the science behind it.</p> <p>And I have the solid psychology background, too. So combining that with the more esoteric stuff like energy medicine, shamanism, past life regression.</p> <p>And again, bringing it all together in a way that, as when clients said, I have just the right balance of scientific fact and mysticism. Yeah.</p> <p>And so I think that's kind of different in that I've walked in both worlds and I feel comfortable in both worlds, and I feel that they can complement each other.</p> <p>Just like traditional western medicine and complementary medicine, like acupuncture and western medicine can work together really beautifully to create something better than either one by itself.</p> <p>It's the same, too, with this mind body stuff. I think we have a lot to learn from both traditions or both areas.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:05</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. I think that's a great example of kind of like your secret sauce. Because a lot of times people are either, like you said, one or the other. They're in one camp or they're in the other camp.</p> <p>But the ability to be able to kind of navigate and talk to people on both levels where somebody might be more scientific and they want to know the facts and figures behind everything.</p> <p>So you can have that communication, somebody might be a little bit more esoteric, and you can have more of that.</p> <p>That vibe type, I guess, conversation as well. So being able to kind of communicate both of huge.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:33</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, yeah. And it's nice. And I feel like over the last 10 years, there's a lot more receptivity of the more mystical. I mean, it's always been out there, like, oh, forever.</p> <p>But in terms of the general public's receptivity, it's really nice that people are more open to all these different areas, because again, like I said, I think the mystical side and the scientific side, both have a lot to offer.</p> <p>And you're right. And it appeals to different ways of thinking too. So I think it all boils down to the same thing essentially too.</p> <p>Like we have labels for this and that phenomenon or procedure or process, but it all kind of boils down to the same essence.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:12</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, yeah, I would definitely agree with that. Do you find that. Do you feel like people are, I guess, more amenable to kind of understanding or accepting the more esoteric because there is more scientific fact and research that has, caught up with it? I guess so to speak in terms.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:29</b></strong></p> <p>Maybe too some people, but other people are just more open and they, they want something bigger than what science has been able to offer.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:38</b></strong></p> <p>That's very powerful.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:39</b></strong></p> <p>It's limited and there's so many things, say these multi thousand year old healing traditions. For the longest time western science would say, oh well, there's no proof that that works.</p> <p>But tens of thousands of years of shamanism or a couple thousand years of oriental medicine has shown that it does work, even if there was no scientific paper.</p> <p>So there's partly that, like you said, that there is not a science backing it, but it's also that people are just more open and willing to not just accept what one small group says. This is truth.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:10</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, no, that's absolutely powerful. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack.</p> <p>And this might be an Apple book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:22</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I was thinking about that. I know in other podcasts that you've done with people, they've had really great apps and books and things, but I think the one thing that I've used for a long time that works really well for me is the five minute rule.</p> <p>So if something comes across my desk, my to do list that'll take five minutes or less to do, I do it immediately and then it's off.</p> <p>And by doing that, some people might say that's less efficient rather than letting them build up and do them all at once.</p> <p>But I just find if I shoot something off and it's off my desk out of my mind, then it just leaves more room for the bigger stuff that needs more concentration. Yeah, my personal hack.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:59</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, no, I love that hack. And it's funny that you say that because I sometimes will try to push it off to a later time at my designated time, but I mentally know that I'm still have it in my head.</p> <p>So it kind of doesn't leave that place. Like if you could have just, did that very quickly, you could have got it off your plate and now you're not even worried about it. But it still holds a place even when you sometimes put it in that special place.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:20</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, that's what I always say. I have like a limited amount of ram. The more I can just like offload stuff, the easier it is because you're right, it's constantly running in the back.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:31</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly, exactly. And speaking of ram, you're speaking my language now, so I appreciate that analogy.</p> <p>And now I wanted to ask you for what I created call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:46</b></strong></p> <p>I would say the self care thing that we were talking about earlier, learning to say no to the things that really drain you and taking time every day, even if it's just 10 minutes or so to just sit and in silence, like meditate.</p> <p>A lot of the biggest CEOs do that. They will meditate every day. Steve Jobs is huge.I think having that time for self care, just a designated time just for you, is super important.</p> <p>And I would have definitely. And I think my younger self knew that. One of the things that I would have told my younger self though is it's okay to delegate.</p> <p>Like, you don't have to be a control freak and micromanage or just oversee everything. As a solopreneur.</p> <p>Solopreneur. Much of my life I was used to wearing all the hats, but sometimes someone else will be a lot better at doing what I'm doing.</p> <p>So feeling trusting enough to let go, let someone else do it. I would have told myself, yeah, do that, do that more.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>12:41</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, it's funny, it's always a fine line because, you want to make sure that you have that level of excellence that you always put forth.</p> <p>But at the same time, sometimes you have to find people that are maybe better at certain aspects and you're able to empower them to be able to be their best selves as well.</p> <p>But it's also hard to kind of make that sometimes easier said than done. At least in my case it has been.</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>13:01</b></strong></p> <p>Oh yeah, it is. It's hard.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>13:04</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.</p> <p>And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So I want to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?</p> <p><strong><b>Mary Kearns</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>13:15</b></strong></p> <p>I think a big part of it was like I was just saying that wearing many hats, at least as a solopreneur and even when I've had employees, I've kind of been the decision maker, the maestro.</p> <p>But along with that, I guess the most important thing for me has always been in my business to honor the triple bottom line kind IAM2380 – Unleashing the Power of Rest https://iamceo.co/2025/02/17/iam2380-unleashing-the-power-of-rest/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:630b5699-7fef-d65b-ea19-e328c2632c65 Mon, 17 Feb 2025 06:16:29 -0500 <p>Gresham Harkless discusses the importance of maintaining balance in life, particularly when juggling responsibilities and the demands of work, travel, and personal life. He highlights the challenges of feeling overwhelmed, especially as things change rapidly and more is added to his plate. Gresham shares taking a nap after a busy day filled with meetings, illustrating &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/17/iam2380-unleashing-the-power-of-rest/">IAM2380 &#8211; Unleashing the Power of Rest</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186357" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/02/2380.png" alt="Man smiling next to a podcast episode advertisement for &quot;Unleashing the Power of Rest&quot; by Blue Star Branding, with icons for Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Google Podcasts." /></div> <div> <p>Gresham Harkless discusses the importance of maintaining balance in life, particularly when juggling responsibilities and the demands of work, travel, and personal life.</p> <p>He highlights the challenges of feeling overwhelmed, especially as things change rapidly and more is added to his plate.</p> <p>Gresham shares taking a nap after a busy day filled with meetings, illustrating how sometimes stepping back and resting is necessary for productivity and overall well-being.</p> <p>Gresham emphasizes that &#8220;you can't pour from an empty cup,&#8221; urging the need for rest and self-care.</p> <p>He discusses his efforts to prioritize sleep as part of his personal goals, acknowledging how better sleep has positively impacted his health and decision-making.</p> <p>Lastly, he advocates for others to filter out less important tasks to focus on what truly moves them forward.</p> </div> <div> <ul> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Blue Star Franchise: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Browse the Franchise Inventory: <a href="https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site &#8211; coming soon) &#8211; <a href="http://franchiseceo.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://franchiseceo.co</a></li> </ul> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:28</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.</p> <p>But just wanted 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.</p> <p>The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>It's really hard to pour from an empty cup. For me, it's been really kind of tiring just with all the travel and all the information, the new things that I'm learning, new team members, things that we're implementing.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>It's been a lot going on. It's a tremendous amount of change. So yesterday I actually had 2 meetings, 1 podcast, 1 was a meeting that canceled and I actually had to just take a nap.</p> <p>And it's something that I always say that I should do a lot more, but I've always have a reason why not to do it.</p> <p>But I even slept a long time last night as we were kind of winding down, getting ready to sleep and you know, go and you were watching a show on Netflix and the power went out.</p> <p>So couldn't really do much of anything. So I had to go to bed a lot earlier, which ends up probably being like what the body, what my body at least needed.</p> <p>Sometimes we just need that kind of shut down and reset. And one of the reasons I wanted to bring that up today was just because it just is a great reminder of sometimes tomorrow is better than doing things today.</p> <p>And as much as you want to check things off the list and do all the things, as you start to have more and more on your plate, you have to be able to prioritize and you have to be able to kind of see the force for the trees.</p> <p>I think that as you get more, I guess, involved in life or have more responsibilities and things that you're taking on, it's going to be so important to make sure that you are, you are prioritizing the most important things which are going to move the needle forward.</p> <p>And that's why I really love, I referenced it so many times as well with gear, because for me, it gets me really intentional on the things that need to be done in order to succeed.</p> <p>And when we get so laser focused on those things, It allows us to make sure that we are moving the needle in the right direction by focusing on the right things.</p> <p>And one of those big things is our energy. We don't have unlimited energy. We can't pour from an empty cup. Our resources are not, they've run out. That's the best way to kind of say that.</p> <p>And once we start to understand that and we start to realize that, we know that we have to be very guarded on our energy.</p> <p>So as I'm getting towards the end of the year, as we might have a new addition on the way before the end of the year as well too, it becomes even more important to say no.</p> <p>I mean I talk with somebody and I remember this quote is like, no is it, no is a full sentence. You don't have to say no because I this or because I that, just say no. Or say maybe not now or let me think about it.</p> <p>Those are also things that I've learned that have helped me to make sure that I'm filtering the things that I'm doing to make sure that they are in alignment with what I'm ultimately trying to do.</p> <p>So with that being said, you want to make sure that you're doing the things that fill you up.</p> <p>You want to make sure you're being there within and for the things that you can. And I think it's so important for me to definitely do that.</p> <p>And with that being said, it's not anything that's dire, but it is something that you kind of really have to pay attention to, that you are keeping your cup full.</p> <p>You do have your oxygen mask on first, and you are doing those things that you need. And sleep is a big part of that.</p> <p>It actually was one of my 12 week year goals to really focus on my sleep because I did not sleep very well most of the time and that just causes health issues.</p> <p>It just makes you not in the best place. You don't make as good decisions. So I really prioritize my sleep and I actually started to track my sleep and because that has helped me as far as like doing a better job and I've been better.</p> <p>Last night, I got a 97. They use this app called Better Sleep and it is a subscription, but at the same time, it's like for the value that it provides, it's huge.</p> <p>So with that being said, remember that you can't pour from an empty cup. Remember how important it is to make sure that you are resting, that you are prioritizing that rest.</p> <p>And especially if you are somebody that is a go, go, go type person, the quote unquote hustler and getting things done, you have to make sure that you're kind of stressing yourself on the other end so that you can have that energy to hustle.</p> <p>But also remember, when you're hustling, make sure you're hustling in the right way. Make sure you're doing the things that actually are pushing the needle forward because it's so easy to do a bunch of things that aren't actually helping you out.</p> <p>So with that being said, that's it. For today, I continue to kind of take steps forward and move forward and do what I can.</p> <p>Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, look forward to giving you more and more updates.</p> <p><strong><b>Out</b></strong><strong><b>ro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:11</b></strong></p> <p>Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast Powered by CB Nation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.</p> <p>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 5 star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.</p> <div id="fbxt-wrap" > <div id="fbxt-wrap--inner" class="fbxt-extra-class"> <div class="fbxt-header"> <div class="fbxt-header--logo"> <svg width="24" height="25" viewBox="0 0 24 25" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <circle opacity="0.05" cx="11.6406" cy="12.3918" r="11.6406" fill="#C60808"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 10.2899H6.63672V9.04663H16.6445V10.2899Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 13.3421H6.63672V12.0989H16.6445V13.3421Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7025 16.395H6.63672V15.1518H12.7025V16.395Z"/> </svg> <span class="fbxt-header-text">IAMCEO Podcast Transcript</span> </div> <div class="fbxt-header--nav"> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-email" href="#" style="display:none" > <svg width="16" height="12" viewBox="0 0 16 12" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M14.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V10.5C0 11.3438 0.65625 12 1.5 12H14.5C15.3125 12 16 11.3438 16 10.5V1.5C16 0.6875 15.3125 0 14.5 0ZM14.5 1.5V2.78125C13.7812 3.375 12.6562 4.25 10.2812 6.125C9.75 6.53125 8.71875 7.53125 8 7.5C7.25 7.53125 6.21875 6.53125 5.6875 6.125C3.3125 4.25 2.1875 3.375 1.5 2.78125V1.5H14.5ZM1.5 10.5V4.71875C2.1875 5.28125 3.21875 6.09375 4.75 7.3125C5.4375 7.84375 6.65625 9.03125 8 9C9.3125 9.03125 10.5 7.84375 11.2188 7.3125C12.75 6.09375 13.7812 5.28125 14.5 4.71875V10.5H1.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Email</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-download" href="#" > <svg width="18" height="16" viewBox="0 0 18 16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M16.5 9H13.5938L15.0625 7.5625C16 6.625 15.3125 5 14 5H12V1.5C12 0.6875 11.3125 0 10.5 0H7.5C6.65625 0 6 0.6875 6 1.5V5H4C2.65625 5 1.96875 6.625 2.9375 7.5625L4.375 9H1.5C0.65625 9 0 9.6875 0 10.5V14.5C0 15.3438 0.65625 16 1.5 16H16.5C17.3125 16 18 15.3438 18 14.5V10.5C18 9.6875 17.3125 9 16.5 9ZM4 6.5H7.5V1.5H10.5V6.5H14L9 11.5L4 6.5ZM16.5 14.5H1.5V10.5H5.875L7.9375 12.5625C8.5 13.1562 9.46875 13.1562 10.0312 12.5625L12.0938 10.5H16.5V14.5ZM13.75 12.5C13.75 12.9375 14.0625 13.25 14.5 13.25C14.9062 13.25 15.25 12.9375 15.25 12.5C15.25 12.0938 14.9062 11.75 14.5 11.75C14.0625 11.75 13.75 12.0938 13.75 12.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Download</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-new_tab" href="#" > <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 14 14" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M12.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V12.5C0 13.3438 0.65625 14 1.5 14H12.5C13.3125 14 14 13.3438 14 12.5V1.5C14 0.6875 13.3125 0 12.5 0ZM12.3125 12.5H1.6875C1.5625 12.5 1.5 12.4375 1.5 12.3125V1.6875C1.5 1.59375 1.5625 1.5 1.6875 1.5H12.3125C12.4062 1.5 12.5 1.59375 12.5 1.6875V12.3125C12.5 12.4375 12.4062 12.5 12.3125 12.5ZM10.625 3L6.375 3.03125C6.15625 3.03125 6 3.1875 6 3.40625V4.25C6 4.46875 6.15625 4.65625 6.375 4.625L8.1875 4.5625L3.09375 9.65625C2.9375 9.8125 2.9375 10.0312 3.09375 10.1875L3.8125 10.9062C3.96875 11.0625 4.1875 11.0625 4.34375 10.9062L9.4375 5.8125L9.375 7.625C9.34375 7.84375 9.53125 8 9.75 8H10.5938C10.8125 8 10.9688 7.84375 10.9688 7.625L11 3.375C11 3.1875 10.8125 3 10.625 3Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">New Tab</span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="fbxt-content"> <div class="fbxt-content--inner"> <p>Intro</p> <p>00:01 - 00:28</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>00:28 - 00:57</p> <p>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 gonna do a kind of sub site within CB nation called franchise CEO So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But just wanted 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.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>00:57 - 01:37</p> <p>Because 1 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 gonna 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 here we're going to post this so I'll have that information that's available to you.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>01:37 - 01:52</p> <p>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 Grace signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>01:52 - 02:22</p> <p>It's really hard to pour from an empty cup. For me, it's been really kind of tiring just with all the travel and all the information, the new things that I'm learning, new team members, things that we're implementing. It's been a lot going on. It's a tremendous amount of change. So yesterday I actually had 2 meetings, 1 podcast, 1 was a meeting that canceled and I actually had to just take a nap. And it's something that I always say that I should do a lot more, but I've always have a reason why not to do it.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>02:22 - 02:51</p> <p>But I even slept a long time last night as we were kind of winding down, getting ready to sleep and you know, go and you were watching a show on Netflix and the power went out. So couldn't really do much of anything. So I had to go to bed a lot earlier, which ends up probably being like what the body, what my body at least needed. Sometimes we just need that kind of shut down and reset. And 1 of the reasons I wanted to bring that up today was just because it just is a great reminder of sometimes tomorrow is better than doing things today.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>02:51 - 03:26</p> <p>And as much as you want to check things off the list and do all the things, as you start to have more and more on your plate, you have to be able to prioritize and you have to be able to kind of see the force for the trees. I think that as you get more, I guess, involved in life or have more responsibilities and things that you're taking on, it's going to be so important to make sure that you are, you are prioritizing the most important things which are going to move the needle forward. And that's why I really love, you know, I referenced it so many times as well with gear, because for me, it gets me really intentional on the things that need to be done in order to succeed.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>03:26 - 04:08</p> <p>And when we get so laser focused on those things, It allows us to make sure that we are moving the needle in the right direction by focusing on the right things. And 1 of those big things is our energy. We don't have unlimited energy. We can't pour from an empty cup. Our resources are not, they've run out. That's the best way to kind of say that. And once we start to understand that and we start to realize that, we know that we have to be very guarded on our energy. So as I'm getting towards the end of the year, as we might have a new addition on the way before the end of the year as well too, it becomes even more important to say no.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>04:08 - 04:33</p> <p>I mean I talk with somebody and I remember this quote is like, no is it, no is a full sentence. You don't have to say no because I this or because I that, just say no. Or say maybe not now or let me think about it. Those are also things that I've learned that have helped me to make sure that I'm filtering the things that I'm doing to make sure that they are in alignment with what I'm ultimately trying to do. So with that being said, you know, you want to make sure that you're doing the things that fill you up.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>04:33 - 05:06</p> <p>You want to make sure you're being there within and for the things that you can. And I think it's so important for me to definitely do that. And with that being said, you know, it's, It's not anything that's dire, but it is something that you kind of really have to pay attention to, that you are keeping your cup full. You do have your oxygen mask on first, and you are doing those things that you need. And sleep is a big part of that. It actually was 1 of my 12 week year goals to really focus on my sleep because I did not sleep very well most of the time and that just causes health issues.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>05:06 - 05:41</p> <p>It just makes you, you know, not in the best place. You don't make as good decisions. So I really prioritize my sleep and I actually started to track my sleep and because that has helped me as far as like doing a better job and I've been better. Last night, I got a 97. They use this app called Better Sleep and it is a subscription, but at the same time, it's like for the value that it provides, it's huge. So with that being said, remember that you can't pour from an empty cup. Remember how important it is to make sure that you are resting, that you are prioritizing that rest.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>05:41 - 06:07</p> <p>And especially if you are somebody that is a go, go, go type person, the quote unquote hustler and getting things done, you have to make sure that you're kind of stressing yourself on the other end so that you can have that energy to hustle. But also remember, when you're hustling, make sure you're hustling in the right way. Make sure you're doing the things that actually are pushing the needle forward because it's so easy to do IAM2379 – Embracing Humanity in Business Success https://iamceo.co/2025/02/16/iam2379-embracing-humanity-in-business-success/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:cb8e1d9b-fa4d-b32d-11e7-4c7052eb3fcf Sun, 16 Feb 2025 06:16:30 -0500 <p>In this special episode, Gresham Harkless reflects on the personal challenges and emotional journey he's experienced while building his franchise brokerage business, particularly on the human aspects of entrepreneurship. He shares that he started his business about 11 years ago, and how different his life was back then. Gresham discusses the emotional weight of losing &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/16/iam2379-embracing-humanity-in-business-success/">IAM2379 &#8211; Embracing Humanity in Business Success</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186355" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/02/2379.png" alt="Smiling man with logo and text promoting &quot;Embracing Humanity in Business Success&quot; on Blue Star Branding Podcast, Episode 2379. Includes links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music." /></div> <div> <p>In this special episode, Gresham Harkless reflects on the personal challenges and emotional journey he's experienced while building his franchise brokerage business, particularly on the human aspects of entrepreneurship.</p> <p>He shares that he started his business about 11 years ago, and how different his life was back then.</p> <p>Gresham discusses the emotional weight of losing Star and other family members, including his grandmother and uncle, within a short period.</p> <p>Gresham expresses how these losses have resurfaced recently and how they affect his focus and productivity.</p> <p>Despite the challenges, he emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and addressing the human side of business—especially the emotional toll it can take.</p> <p>He also mentions the importance of giving space to personal grief and recognizing how it might affect your growth in business.</p> <p>In addition, he advocates for others to be honest about their emotional struggles while growing their businesses and to make sure they address those feelings rather than ignore them.</p> </div> <div></div> <div> <ul> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Blue Star Franchise: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Browse the Franchise Inventory: <a href="https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site &#8211; coming soon) &#8211; <a href="http://franchiseceo.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://franchiseceo.co</a></li> </ul> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:01</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:28</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.</p> <p>But just wanted 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.</p> <p>The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Don't forget about the human part of business. This is day 24 and going through my franchise brokerage journey for people that are just joining.</p> <p>I'm helping people to basically start businesses, but I also want to give a little more insight into how the journey was for me, like how it is literally to start.</p> <p>When I started my business, I was turning 25 or might have been turning 26. It was it was 11 years ago.</p> <p>So 37 now. So you do the math. I was 25 turning 26 and in a different quite a different place a decade ago.</p> <p>It's hard to even believe exactly, like, where I've been. But one of the things that I really wanted to talk about today was the human part of business.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>For whatever reason, I called the brokerage Blue Star Franchise, named it after my dog, Star, who passed away.</p> <p>As I was going through thinking about doing this, seeing if I was going to do it, what it would look like, and she's been battling cancer all throughout the year.</p> <p>She didn't make it. But for whatever reason, like right now, I'm, you're feeling that loss a little bit more.</p> <p>And it's difficult. I think one of the things that I really read when I first, looked into entrepreneurship and business, I looked at the age of people that had started businesses.</p> <p>It was a lot higher. I'm sure that number has changed. I'm sure it's evolved just because starting business can mean many different things, and that's one of the reasons I started the I AM CEO Podcast.</p> <p>But the reason that I bring all this up is because as I'm going through this loss of Star and I'm missing her and I'm like, hey, I literally just came downstairs and I stepped on something and my mind immediately went to Star because she would always be up under you, literally wherever that you went.</p> <p>And it's really, really challenging. I mean, there's no other way to kind of frame it and put it in mind whenever you have some type of loss.</p> <p>So I don't know if I'm going about this the right way. Like I said, I think that I probably should have waited a couple months, for probably about six months or so for the baby to come, for me to get the people on the team more settled in.</p> <p>But sometimes people flourish in those moments of having a lot to do, having an elephant to eat. And I definitely think I'm one of those people, but sometimes I have my days where it just feels a little bit overwhelming.</p> <p>And I don't know why, but it's coming up for me a lot more today and probably over the last few days of just missing Star.</p> <p>I think it's just, sometimes when you're doing something new, and she was a German shepherd lab mix, and Chow actually too.</p> <p>I really connect with that shepherd because that shepherd helps you go and shepherds you to certain things.</p> <p>And for me having her for 10 years almost, to me now, like where I'm at, it's been a transformational journey for me.</p> <p>As I start to go through this transition and do more things, I miss her. And there's no other way to kind of put it.</p> <p>I'm in a lot of support groups and things like that for losing pets and losing dogs and losing people, frankly, because my grandma also passed away two weeks ago.</p> <p>Two weeks after that and then two weeks after the star passed and then my uncle passed away about a year ago so have a lot of loss kind of going in our family.</p> <p>But the reason I want to bring up that human part is because so many times we put our human part here and then we put our business part or our relationships or whatever it is and i think one of the reasons that a lot of people were more stable, I don't know if that's the right word, but maybe more established.</p> <p>Maybe you are married and things like that when they start businesses because it does take so much out of you.</p> <p>Doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be that, because obviously I've been able to do it without that to some degree.</p> <p>But I think as you start to have that stability in your life, it makes a little bit easier. You have those routines, you have those things. Doesn't mean that things aren't crazy because you probably have more, but you just feel like you have a little bit more stability.</p> <p>So I think that's why sometimes those entrepreneurs were a lot older. So I'm not saying that you have to be older. I was 25, 26. I know 21, 23 year olds, 19 year olds, 80 year olds, people are all different sizes.</p> <p>But I think understanding that human part of business and make sure you're giving space for that.</p> <p>You know how important that it can be to your success is going to be huge. So with that being said, I'm continuing to kind of work through, missing star, missing grandma, missing uncle.</p> <p>I just wanted to kind of record this just to say, hey, I miss and sorry, but also don't forget about the human part.</p> <p>So whatever aspects you might be that might come up and kind of bother you to stop your growth, make sure that you address those things and be honest about those things as you grow.</p> <p>Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, I look forward to giving you more and more updates.</p> <p><strong><b>Ou</b></strong><strong><b>tro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:32</b></strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <div id="fbxt-wrap" > <div id="fbxt-wrap--inner" class="fbxt-extra-class"> <div class="fbxt-header"> <div class="fbxt-header--logo"> <svg width="24" height="25" viewBox="0 0 24 25" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <circle opacity="0.05" cx="11.6406" cy="12.3918" r="11.6406" fill="#C60808"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 10.2899H6.63672V9.04663H16.6445V10.2899Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 13.3421H6.63672V12.0989H16.6445V13.3421Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7025 16.395H6.63672V15.1518H12.7025V16.395Z"/> </svg> <span class="fbxt-header-text">IAMCEO Podcast Transcript</span> </div> <div class="fbxt-header--nav"> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-email" href="#" style="display:none" > <svg width="16" height="12" viewBox="0 0 16 12" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M14.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V10.5C0 11.3438 0.65625 12 1.5 12H14.5C15.3125 12 16 11.3438 16 10.5V1.5C16 0.6875 15.3125 0 14.5 0ZM14.5 1.5V2.78125C13.7812 3.375 12.6562 4.25 10.2812 6.125C9.75 6.53125 8.71875 7.53125 8 7.5C7.25 7.53125 6.21875 6.53125 5.6875 6.125C3.3125 4.25 2.1875 3.375 1.5 2.78125V1.5H14.5ZM1.5 10.5V4.71875C2.1875 5.28125 3.21875 6.09375 4.75 7.3125C5.4375 7.84375 6.65625 9.03125 8 9C9.3125 9.03125 10.5 7.84375 11.2188 7.3125C12.75 6.09375 13.7812 5.28125 14.5 4.71875V10.5H1.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Email</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-download" href="#" > <svg width="18" height="16" viewBox="0 0 18 16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M16.5 9H13.5938L15.0625 7.5625C16 6.625 15.3125 5 14 5H12V1.5C12 0.6875 11.3125 0 10.5 0H7.5C6.65625 0 6 0.6875 6 1.5V5H4C2.65625 5 1.96875 6.625 2.9375 7.5625L4.375 9H1.5C0.65625 9 0 9.6875 0 10.5V14.5C0 15.3438 0.65625 16 1.5 16H16.5C17.3125 16 18 15.3438 18 14.5V10.5C18 9.6875 17.3125 9 16.5 9ZM4 6.5H7.5V1.5H10.5V6.5H14L9 11.5L4 6.5ZM16.5 14.5H1.5V10.5H5.875L7.9375 12.5625C8.5 13.1562 9.46875 13.1562 10.0312 12.5625L12.0938 10.5H16.5V14.5ZM13.75 12.5C13.75 12.9375 14.0625 13.25 14.5 13.25C14.9062 13.25 15.25 12.9375 15.25 12.5C15.25 12.0938 14.9062 11.75 14.5 11.75C14.0625 11.75 13.75 12.0938 13.75 12.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Download</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-new_tab" href="#" > <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 14 14" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M12.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V12.5C0 13.3438 0.65625 14 1.5 14H12.5C13.3125 14 14 13.3438 14 12.5V1.5C14 0.6875 13.3125 0 12.5 0ZM12.3125 12.5H1.6875C1.5625 12.5 1.5 12.4375 1.5 12.3125V1.6875C1.5 1.59375 1.5625 1.5 1.6875 1.5H12.3125C12.4062 1.5 12.5 1.59375 12.5 1.6875V12.3125C12.5 12.4375 12.4062 12.5 12.3125 12.5ZM10.625 3L6.375 3.03125C6.15625 3.03125 6 3.1875 6 3.40625V4.25C6 4.46875 6.15625 4.65625 6.375 4.625L8.1875 4.5625L3.09375 9.65625C2.9375 9.8125 2.9375 10.0312 3.09375 10.1875L3.8125 10.9062C3.96875 11.0625 4.1875 11.0625 4.34375 10.9062L9.4375 5.8125L9.375 7.625C9.34375 7.84375 9.53125 8 9.75 8H10.5938C10.8125 8 10.9688 7.84375 10.9688 7.625L11 3.375C11 3.1875 10.8125 3 10.625 3Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">New Tab</span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="fbxt-content"> <div class="fbxt-content--inner"> <p>Intro</p> <p>00:01 - 00:28</p> <p>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. Grush 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.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>00:28 - 00:57</p> <p>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 sub-site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But I'm just going 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.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>00:57 - 01:27</p> <p>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 first couple of videos that have been created.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>01:28 - 01:53</p> <p>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'll 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 Grace signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day. Don't forget about the human part of business.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>01:53 - 02:29</p> <p>This is day 24 and going through my franchise brokerage journey for people that are just joining. I'm helping people to basically start businesses, but I also want to give a little more insight into how the journey was for me, like how it is literally to start. When I started my business, I was turning 25 or might have been turning 26. It was it was 11 years ago. So 37 now. So you do the math. I was 25 turning 26 and in a different quite a different place, you know, a decade ago. It's hard to even believe exactly, like, where I've been.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>02:29 - 03:08</p> <p>But one of the things that I really wanted to talk about today was the human part of business. For whatever reason, you know, I called the Berkridge Blue Star franchise, named it after my dog, Star, who passed away. As I was going through thinking about doing this, seeing if I was going to do it, what it would look like, And, you know, she's been battling cancer all throughout the year. She didn't make it. But for whatever reason, like right now, I'm, you know, you're feeling that loss a little bit more. And it's difficult. I think one of the things that I really read when I first, you know, looked into entrepreneurship and business, I looked at the age of people that had started businesses.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>03:08 - 03:44</p> <p>It was a lot higher. I'm sure that number has changed. I'm sure it's evolved just because Starting business can mean many different things, and that's one of the reasons I started the IMCO podcast. But the reason that I bring all this up is because as I'm going through this loss of Star and I'm missing her and I'm like, hey, you know, I literally just came downstairs and I stepped on something and my mind immediately went to Star because she would always be up under you, literally wherever that you went. And it's really, really challenging. I mean, there's no other way to kind of frame it and put it in mind whenever you have some type of loss.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>03:44 - 04:18</p> <p>So I don't know if I'm going about this the right way. Like I said, I think that I probably should have waited a couple months, you know, for probably about six months or so for the baby to come, for me to get the people on the team more settled in. But sometimes people flourish in those moments of having a lot to do, having an elephant to eat. And I definitely think I'm one of those people, but sometimes I have my days where it just feels a little bit overwhelming. And I don't know why, but it's coming up for me a lot more today and probably over the last few days of just missing Star.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>04:18 - 04:47</p> <p>I think it's just, Sometimes when you're doing something new, and she was a German shepherd flab mix, and Chow actually too. I really connect with that shepherd because that shepherd helps you go and shepherds you to certain things. And for me having her for 10 years almost, to me now, like where I'm at, it's been a transformational journey for me. You know, as I start to go through this transition and do more things, I miss her. And there's no other way to kind of put it.</p> <p>Intro</p> <p>04:48 - 04:48</p> <p>I'm</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>04:48 - 05:24</p> <p>in a lot of support groups and things like that for losing pets and losing dogs and losing people, frankly, because my grandma also passed away two weeks ago. uh two weeks after that and then two weeks after the star passed and then my uncle passed away about you know about a year ago so have a lot of loss kind of going in our family but the reason i want to bring up that human part is because so many times we put our human part here and then we put our business part or our relationships or whatever it is and i think one of the reasons that a lot of people were more stable, I don't know if that's the right word, but maybe more established.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>05:24 - 05:49</p> <p>Maybe you are married and things like that when they start businesses because it does take so much out of you. Doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be that, because obviously I've been able to do it without that to some degree. But I think as you start to have that stability in your life, it makes a little bit easier. You have those routines, you have those things. Doesn't mean that things aren't crazy because you probably have more, but you just feel like you have a l IAM2378 – The Importance of Hiring People Better than You https://iamceo.co/2025/02/15/iam2378-the-importance-of-hiring-people-better-than-you/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:95604ffc-af97-a49d-e345-73d3cafdd478 Sat, 15 Feb 2025 06:16:46 -0500 <p>On day 23, Gresham Harkless reflects on the challenges and growth he’s experiencing during the early stages of launching his Blue Star Franchise. Gresham has many ideas and projects, including his digital marketing business, a brokerage, a subscription service called CEO Flicks, and affiliate partnerships. He recognizes that to scale the business successfully, he needs &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/15/iam2378-the-importance-of-hiring-people-better-than-you/">IAM2378 &#8211; The Importance of Hiring People Better than You</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186353" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/02/2378.png" alt="Smiling man next to text reading: &quot;Season 8, Episode: 2378, The Importance of Hiring People Better than You.&quot; Logos for Blue Star Training, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, YouTube Music are visible." /></div> <div> <p>On day 23, Gresham Harkless reflects on the challenges and growth he’s experiencing during the early stages of launching his Blue Star Franchise.</p> <p>Gresham has many ideas and projects, including his digital marketing business, a brokerage, a subscription service called CEO Flicks, and affiliate partnerships.</p> <p>He recognizes that to scale the business successfully, he needs people who are better than him in certain areas.</p> <p>Gresham emphasizes the importance of learning from others by asking questions and not being afraid to admit when he doesn’t know something.</p> <p>Moreover, Gresham highlights the importance of not being the smartest person in the room. As the business grows, he desires to find and hire people who are experts in areas where he is not, ensuring that his team is full of talented individuals who can complement his strengths.</p> <ul> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Blue Star Franchise: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Browse the Franchise Inventory: <a href="https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site &#8211; coming soon) &#8211; <a href="http://franchiseceo.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://franchiseceo.co</a></li> </ul> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Intro </b></strong><strong><b>00:01</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless </b></strong><strong><b>00:28</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.</p> <p>But just wanted 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.</p> <p>The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh, this is day 23 of starting Blue Star Franchise. It's hard to believe it's been almost three weeks or so since starting everything and lots of things are happening.</p> <p>I'm a little bit later in terms of getting and recording this, but I wanted to, of course, record this to give you a little bit more of like what's going on in my head.</p> <p>I'm somebody who's always involved in a lot of different things. I always have a lot of different ideas, but I have kind of three, four things that I work on.</p> <p>And I think those three things sometimes, or four things really even, can sometimes kind of compete for what you're looking for. One of the big things that you hear often is that it's really hard to chase two rabbits.</p> <p>And I'm experiencing that a little bit too. So that's where I've really approached things from more of a long-term focus and the vision that I have for the business and the brands and what that's going to look like, how they're going to interplay and kind of affect one another.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>One of the big things that you really want to do and I struggle with mightily is being able to kind of focus I wanted to be able to kind of ease myself a little bit more out of the digital marketing business, but still it's kind of pulling me back.</p> <p>There's things that need to be done and I'm not sure the best way to kind of handle that transition as you start to get the team in place, but it still requires a lot of you because there are some things that are missing in your business.</p> <p>And I think whenever you do start something, the longer that you do it, you get so embedded in it, it becomes harder and harder and harder to kind of transition and becomes harder and harder and harder to kind of like walk away from that.</p> <p>And that's one of the things that was honestly like a big concern around, starting the brokerage business, because a lot of the brokerage businesses become largely relationship focused, which of course is great, but it does require you to spend your time there.</p> <p>So one of the things that was really in the back of my head when I started this brokerage is like, how can I leverage a team to be able to kind of help support me and what I'm ultimately hoping to do.</p> <p>A lot of my superpower comes around creating content, and I feel like I can do that fairly quickly and easily.</p> <p>I'm not always the greatest content, but content nevertheless, I've never had issues figuring out how to create content.</p> <p>I think we can always improve it, make it better, but as far as creating it as I'm doing right now, it isn't a heavy lift, so to speak. I think one of the big struggles is like, how do I have all those other complementary pieces to be able to build out the business?</p> <p>And I think that's where the struggle has come in, is like making sure that you're bringing people on that are better than you in those other aspects.</p> <p>Because I do have that baseline of digital marketing. I do know the analytics and to be able to ask those questions. I think, honestly, probably my biggest superpower is just being able to ask questions of things and being OK with not being the smartest person.</p> <p>It's just saying, OK, I don't understand this. I don't understand that. I have a question around this, I have a question around that. I'm probably the person that's going to raise their hand the most.</p> <p>And I often say that it's the journalist in me that is that annoying kid in the class that asks the question.</p> <p>So the thing I really wanted to hammer home with this this update is really, first and foremost, how important it is to be the one that is not the smartest person in the room.</p> <p>If you're the smartest person in the room, the saying is, find another room, because you don't want to be the smartest person in the room.</p> <p>So as you're starting to grow, whatever it is that you're building, and me, looking at the brokerage, I'm trying to find smarter and better people that can complement and be better than am.</p> <p>But as I transition, my really big focus is like, how do I complement each of these businesses? One being a little bit more of a subscription and membership, which is the CEO Flicks, which I'm dubbing the Netflix for business or nicknaming the Netflix for business.</p> <p>It's having the digital marketing company being able to service the clients and customers we want to work with.</p> <p>And then, of course, being able to have the brokerage and one of the other small things is kind of just like the affiliate partnerships, the CEO hacks and things like that.</p> <p>So you're kind of looking at four different things. And the biggest thing for me has been like not trying to do all the things. So how do I get the right people in the right place so that we can all succeed?</p> <p>And how can I stick to my core, which is a lot of times that being able to be the journalist, being able to be the content creator, being able to be the manager of these things and setting that vision.</p> <p>And that's a lot of where my superpower is. But It's important, you know, as a leader that you start to build that team and build that opportunity for people to succeed.</p> <p>But, first and foremost, let's not bury the lead. The most important thing is to get that first sale. And that's what I'm completely focused on is like, how can I get that first opportunity for Blue Star?</p> <p>Because I truly feel like that will open everything up. My goal was to, of course, get those two by the end of the year, but it's we're just going to see where they continue to do the things and be active to see what we can do to make it work.</p> <p>So this is Gresh signing out. Again, another update a little bit everywhere, but that's a little bit how it is sometimes running a business.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Outro </b></strong><strong><b>06:48</b></strong></p> <p>Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.</p> <p>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.</p> <div id="fbxt-wrap" > <div id="fbxt-wrap--inner" class="fbxt-extra-class"> <div class="fbxt-header"> <div class="fbxt-header--logo"> <svg width="24" height="25" viewBox="0 0 24 25" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <circle opacity="0.05" cx="11.6406" cy="12.3918" r="11.6406" fill="#C60808"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 10.2899H6.63672V9.04663H16.6445V10.2899Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 13.3421H6.63672V12.0989H16.6445V13.3421Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7025 16.395H6.63672V15.1518H12.7025V16.395Z"/> </svg> <span class="fbxt-header-text">IAMCEO Podcast Transcript</span> </div> <div class="fbxt-header--nav"> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-email" href="#" style="display:none" > <svg width="16" height="12" viewBox="0 0 16 12" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M14.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V10.5C0 11.3438 0.65625 12 1.5 12H14.5C15.3125 12 16 11.3438 16 10.5V1.5C16 0.6875 15.3125 0 14.5 0ZM14.5 1.5V2.78125C13.7812 3.375 12.6562 4.25 10.2812 6.125C9.75 6.53125 8.71875 7.53125 8 7.5C7.25 7.53125 6.21875 6.53125 5.6875 6.125C3.3125 4.25 2.1875 3.375 1.5 2.78125V1.5H14.5ZM1.5 10.5V4.71875C2.1875 5.28125 3.21875 6.09375 4.75 7.3125C5.4375 7.84375 6.65625 9.03125 8 9C9.3125 9.03125 10.5 7.84375 11.2188 7.3125C12.75 6.09375 13.7812 5.28125 14.5 4.71875V10.5H1.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Email</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-download" href="#" > <svg width="18" height="16" viewBox="0 0 18 16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M16.5 9H13.5938L15.0625 7.5625C16 6.625 15.3125 5 14 5H12V1.5C12 0.6875 11.3125 0 10.5 0H7.5C6.65625 0 6 0.6875 6 1.5V5H4C2.65625 5 1.96875 6.625 2.9375 7.5625L4.375 9H1.5C0.65625 9 0 9.6875 0 10.5V14.5C0 15.3438 0.65625 16 1.5 16H16.5C17.3125 16 18 15.3438 18 14.5V10.5C18 9.6875 17.3125 9 16.5 9ZM4 6.5H7.5V1.5H10.5V6.5H14L9 11.5L4 6.5ZM16.5 14.5H1.5V10.5H5.875L7.9375 12.5625C8.5 13.1562 9.46875 13.1562 10.0312 12.5625L12.0938 10.5H16.5V14.5ZM13.75 12.5C13.75 12.9375 14.0625 13.25 14.5 13.25C14.9062 13.25 15.25 12.9375 15.25 12.5C15.25 12.0938 14.9062 11.75 14.5 11.75C14.0625 11.75 13.75 12.0938 13.75 12.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Download</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-new_tab" href="#" > <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 14 14" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M12.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V12.5C0 13.3438 0.65625 14 1.5 14H12.5C13.3125 14 14 13.3438 14 12.5V1.5C14 0.6875 13.3125 0 12.5 0ZM12.3125 12.5H1.6875C1.5625 12.5 1.5 12.4375 1.5 12.3125V1.6875C1.5 1.59375 1.5625 1.5 1.6875 1.5H12.3125C12.4062 1.5 12.5 1.59375 12.5 1.6875V12.3125C12.5 12.4375 12.4062 12.5 12.3125 12.5ZM10.625 3L6.375 3.03125C6.15625 3.03125 6 3.1875 6 3.40625V4.25C6 4.46875 6.15625 4.65625 6.375 4.625L8.1875 4.5625L3.09375 9.65625C2.9375 9.8125 2.9375 10.0312 3.09375 10.1875L3.8125 10.9062C3.96875 11.0625 4.1875 11.0625 4.34375 10.9062L9.4375 5.8125L9.375 7.625C9.34375 7.84375 9.53125 8 9.75 8H10.5938C10.8125 8 10.9688 7.84375 10.9688 7.625L11 3.375C11 3.1875 10.8125 3 10.625 3Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">New Tab</span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="fbxt-content"> <div class="fbxt-content--inner"> <p>Intro</p> <p>00:01 - 00:28</p> <p>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. Grist values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the IMCEO Podcast.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>00:28 - 01:10</p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the IMCEO Podcast, and this is a special episode of our IMCEO 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 sub-site 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.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>01:10 - 01:39</p> <p>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'll have that information that's available to you.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>01:40 - 02:12</p> <p>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 Grant signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day. Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh. This is day 23 of starting Blue Star franchise. It's hard to believe it's been almost three weeks or so since starting everything and lots of things are happening. I'm a little bit later in terms of getting and recording this, but I wanted to, of course, record this to give you a little bit more of like what's going on in my head.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>02:13 - 02:47</p> <p>I'm somebody who's always involved in a lot of different things. I always have a lot of different ideas, but I have kind of three, four things that I work on. And I think those three things sometimes, or four things really even, can sometimes kind of compete for what you're looking for. One of the big things that you hear often is that it's really hard to chase two rabbits. And I'm experiencing that a little bit too. So that's where I've really approached things from more of a long-term focus and the vision that I have for the business and the brands and what that's going to look like, how they're going to interplay and kind of affect one another.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>02:47 - 03:22</p> <p>One of the big things that you really want to do and I struggle with mightily is being able to kind of focus I wanted to be able to kind of ease myself a little bit more out of the digital marketing business, but still it's kind of pulling me back. There's things that need to be done and I'm not sure the best way to kind of handle that transition as you start to get the team in place, but it still requires a lot of you because there are some things that are missing in your business. And I think Whenever you do start something, the longer that you do it, you get so embedded in it, it becomes harder and harder and harder to kind of transition and becomes harder and harder and harder to kind of like walk away from that.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>03:22 - 03:54</p> <p>And that's one of the things that was honestly like a big concern around, you know, starting the brokerage business, because A lot of the brokerage businesses become largely relationship focused, which of course is great, but it does require you to spend your time there. So one of the things that was really in the back of my head when I started this brokerage is like, how can I leverage a team to be able to kind of help support me and what I'm ultimately hoping to do. A lot of my superpower comes around creating content, and I feel like I can do that fairly quickly and easily.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>03:54 - 04:25</p> <p>I'm not always the greatest content, but content nevertheless, I've never had issues figuring out how to create content. I think we can always improve it, make it better, but as far as creating it as I'm doing right now, it isn't a heavy lift, so to speak. I think one of the big struggles is like, how do I have all those other complementary pieces to be able to build out the business? And I think that's where the struggle has come in, is like making sure that you're bringing people on that are better than you in those other aspects.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>04:25 - 04:54</p> <p>Because I do have that baseline of digital marketing. I do know the analytics and to be able to ask those questions. I think, honestly, probably my biggest superpower is just being able to ask questions of things and being OK with not being the smartest person. It's just saying, OK, I don't understand this. I don't understand that. I have a question around this, I have a question around that. I'm probably the person that's going to raise their hand the most. And I often say that it's the journalist in me that is that annoying kid in the class that asks the question.</p> <p>Gresham Harkless</p> <p>04:54 - 05:19</p> <p>So the thing I really wanted to hammer home with this This update is really, first and foremost, how important it is to be the one that is not the smartest person in the room. If you're the smartest person in the room, the saying is, find another room, because you don't want IAM2377 – Franchise Development Manager Helps Aspiring Entrepreneurs to Achieve their Dream of Business Ownership https://iamceo.co/2025/02/14/iam2377-franchise-development-manager-helps-aspiring-entrepreneurs-to-achieve-their-dream-of-business-ownership/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:f1eeb820-3f7b-dfa9-0114-0ea476bf6d29 Fri, 14 Feb 2025 06:16:16 -0500 <p>Jason Henshaw is a seasoned professional in franchise development and operations, currently working as a Franchise Development Manager at Authority Brands for Mosquito Squad and Monster Tree Service. Jason’s career spans corporate training, leadership development, business consulting, project management, and earning accolades such as Franchisee Satisfaction Awards and Franchise 500 rankings. His experience has ranged &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/14/iam2377-franchise-development-manager-helps-aspiring-entrepreneurs-to-achieve-their-dream-of-business-ownership/">IAM2377 &#8211; Franchise Development Manager Helps Aspiring Entrepreneurs to Achieve their Dream of Business Ownership</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186351" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/02/IAM2377.png" alt="Two men are featured in a podcast episode about franchise development and business ownership, with platforms for listening listed below their photos." /></div> <div> <p>Jason Henshaw is a seasoned professional in franchise development and operations, currently working as a Franchise Development Manager at Authority Brands for Mosquito Squad and Monster Tree Service.</p> <p>Jason’s career spans corporate training, leadership development, business consulting, project management, and earning accolades such as Franchisee Satisfaction Awards and Franchise 500 rankings.</p> <p>His experience has ranged across various brands before landing at Authority Brands, he works with home service franchises like Mosquito Squad and Monster Tree Service.</p> <p>Jason emphasizes the value of economies of scale within Authority Brands, helping franchises access the best pricing for services like insurance, equipment, and fleet management.</p> <p>He emphasizes the importance of building long-term relationships with franchisees and providing them with the guidance they need for success.</p> <p>Linkedin: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-henshaw-cfe-cfm-00809990/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jason Henshaw</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> </div> <div> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> Teaser </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>Authority Brands is one of the largest home service network of brands in the United States. And that's all they do, right? They don't have an ice cream brand or a restaurant brand.</p> <p>They just have all home services, right, from plumbing to air conditioning, et cetera, et cetera, that provide a varied list of home services within their portfolio.</p> <p>And so Monster Tree and Mosquito Squad are just two of those. I think we're up to 16 brands total.</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:28</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:55</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast, and I have an awesome guest on the show today. I have Jason Henshaw. Jason, excited to have you on the show.</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:02</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly. Thank you for having me here. I'm excited as well.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:06</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. Jason's doing so many awesome things. So I'm super excited to have him on, talk a little bit more about all the awesome things that he's working on.</p> <p>But of course, before we do that, I wanted to read a little bit more about Jason so you can hear about some of those awesome things.</p> <p>And Jason is a seasoned professional in franchise development and operations, currently serving as a franchise development manager at Authority Brands for the Mosquito Squad and Monster Tree Service Brands.</p> <p>A certified franchise executive from the International Franchise Association and holding a certified franchise management certification from Georgetown University, Hoya Saxa, a career marked by dedication to franchise operations and development evident from previous roles spanning across corporate training, executive coaching, leadership development, negotiation, team building, brand consulting, business consulting, and project management.</p> <p>With a commitment to excellence, earning accolades like Franchisee Satisfaction Awards, Franchise 500 Rankings, and many, many more.</p> <p>And he's passionate about economic empowerment, which reflects diverse interests and causes. And he also is on a professional journey that is a testament to an ability to drive growth and foster entrepreneurial success within the franchise sector.</p> <p>And one of the awesome things that I really appreciated about Jason is he has had a wealth of experience.</p> <p>So I'm super excited to kind of delve in a little bit deeper in that and franchising and being a franchisee and just all the things I think he provides really a 360 degree He had a landscape design business, if I heard correctly.</p> <p>And he also was a self-proclaimed, I think you said tree nerd on one of the interviews I was listening to you.</p> <p>And last but not least, I have to say he scored a hundred on his IFA CFE final exam. So Jason, excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:47</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. And you can add franchise nerd to that as well, right? Whenever you get involved with any particular thing, whenever I do anyway, I go in all the way, right? I want to learn every facet of that thing.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>And so when I got into franchising, the thing that you kind of read off about my bio, Just basically saying I have a ton of franchise experience and I've been on, like you said, on all sides.</p> <p>I've been a franchisee. I've worked for franchisors. I've basically done everything except be a franchise broker. That's all I think. I haven't done yet. Maybe that's in the cards in the future.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:22</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. Stay tuned, right? I always say whenever my wife, I have a cliffhanger, I always say tune in season two.</p> <p>So season two, that might be you talking about that. Absolutely. So I know we touched on a little bit. Let's rewind the clock. I want to hear a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your ultimate story.</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:39</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. So I always like to say franchising, anybody that's been involved like yourself and any other people I meet, they always have a very similar storyline.</p> <p>The fact that You didn't just wake up one day and go, hey, I want to be in franchising, right? There's no school, not really.</p> <p>There's no degree or things like that. It's not really a track that you can pursue starting in life. It's something you kind of just fall into.</p> <p>And so I'm no different in that respect, right? I fell into it. I had my own landscape design architecture business, did that very successfully for over a decade.</p> <p>But then franchise opportunity appeared and I jumped in and I purchased a franchise, an early stage emerging franchise.</p> <p>And basically they were sending candidates to me for what they call validation, which is where they go, hey, we want to talk to owners to get some feedback about what it's like to be in the system, right?</p> <p>What performance looks like, what support looks like, et cetera, et cetera. Well, they were sending people to me for validation and they were immediately going back and closing and becoming franchisees.</p> <p>So like, well, whatever you're saying, you're doing something right. So long story short, came on board, brought me into corporate, grew them from six locations, I was franchise number six, to over 150.</p> <p>And then we got attraction of private equity, which happens in franchising a lot. And we got bought and then left that brand, went to various other brands, until I landed myself at Authority Brands, which is the first time working for a home service network or home service types brands.</p> <p>And I think the combination of my plant nerd experience being in that world, along with authority brands and the pest control and the tree business aligns me perfectly, right? It's like the perfect lineup of experience for both those brands, really.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:31</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, that makes so much sense. And so I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more about those two different brands.</p> <p>Can you take us through a little bit more about what they are and how they're serving the clients they're ultimately working with?</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:41</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, so both brands, Mosquito Squad, Monster Tree Service, they're very similar in the fact that they were both first to market.</p> <p>So Monster Tree Service, first tree service franchise in the United States over a decade ago. Mosquito Squad, same thing. Hard to believe there's probably like many mosquito or pest control franchise opportunities, but they invented the model, right, over 20 years ago.</p> <p>And so they both have that accolade that they were first to market with a wealth, what comes along with that is a wealth of experience, right?</p> <p>You're getting involved with a brand, this is not their first rodeo, they just came up with this five years ago, they've been doing it a long time.</p> <p>And so both brands have really evolved and become the best in their space over those decade and two decades of experience with Mosquito Squad.</p> <p>And I think that's we look at differentiators. That's a really important one, right? Experience and length of time in the industry are things that you just can't buy, right? You can't hire someone. You can't, that's something that you just have to earn.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:40</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's one of the things around, franchises, because you get the opportunity to kind of buy into that kind of where you get to invest in that and you don't have to, thump your head against the wall over and over again.</p> <p>Somebody else has already done that for you. You get to kind of get the fruits from that. I feel like, and I don't know if you've heard of the book, the E-Myth, where there's such a misconception around entrepreneurship and business and what it actually is. And I think so many times you think I have to know all the things before I jump in.</p> <p>But I think if you have your superpower, your secret sauce, and you can marry that with ability to execute and tap into those resources, then I feel like you're kind of off to the races. Absolutely. One hundred percent agree. I couldn't agree more.</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:19</b></strong></p> <p>And, we can get into, if you like, into, like, the individual kind of unique support apparatuses that each brand provides.</p> <p>But, we're part of an umbrella system that's called Authority Brands. Authority Brands is one of the largest home service network of brands in the United States.</p> <p>And that's all they do. Right. They don't have an ice cream brand or a restaurant brand. They just have all home services, right, from plumbing to air conditioning, et cetera, et cetera, that provide a varied list of home services within their portfolio. And so Monster Tree and Mosquito Squad are just two of those.</p> <p>I think we're up to 16 brands total. Nice. There's a few things that I would point out. You hit the nail on the head. One is economy of scale.</p> <p>So things like insurance, things that whether you're an AC brand or you're a pest control brand, you need insurance. Right.</p> <p>And so we have that we use within our system that allows you to get the best pricing on all of those particular things that you need to operate your business.</p> <p>You're gonna have access to that, whether you're with Mosquito Squad or an AC brand, that's gonna give you that economy of scale, get you the best pricing on those particular services.</p> <p>And that's just not vendors, it's also equipment, right, like trucks or vans, things like that, fleet services, you have access to that.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:44</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to kind of put your advice for franchise owner or potential franchisees hat on.</p> <p>And I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or even a habit that you have. What's something that you've leaned on that has made you more effective and efficient?</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:00</b></strong></p> <p>And this may sound super simple, but it's worked for me, and it's kind of been my philosophy. Be yourself, right? Don't put on airs. Don't try to be something you're not. People have that BS detector in their head, right, when they meet someone for the first time.</p> <p>You can tell, right, when someone is who they say they are, if they're kind of selling you, selling you like a bunch of crap, for lack of a better word.</p> <p>So, be yourself, be honest, have integrity, and listen, like I said. I could sell a lot of franchises if I didn't have integrity, or I could just be out here to make money, but it's not about that for me.</p> <p>It's about creating those long-term relationships of people that today, that I sold a business to over a decade ago, still when they come into town, we go out and have dinner together, right?</p> <p>Because we created that relationship, and they'll never forget that I'm the guy that introduced them to the brand, that introduced them to their future.</p> <p>Because this is life-changing, right? You're buying into something that's going to change your life. You're going to be doing this today, but now you're doing this tomorrow, and it's going to be completely different from anything you've ever experienced in your lifetime.</p> <p>So it's important. And so, like I said, I'm not afraid to tell someone that they're not a fit, right? I'd rather do that than try to just be out here trying to make money and sell them a franchise.</p> <p>There's a buzz going around now in the franchise world, responsible franchising. Some do it better than others, but there obviously there's room for improvement.</p> <p>And I think that most people in franchising would agree that we all want to be on that same path. We all want to make sure that we're doing the right thing by our candidates. And we're making sure that they're set up for the long term.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:44</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. So I want to ask you now for what I call a little bit more of a nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. I like to say it might be advice we give to a potential franchisee, or if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self this.</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:58</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. So I think what I would say is if you're looking at franchising, we have to do some self-evaluation on not only just to find the right model that works for you and also be an openness, have some openness because maybe you're thinking on the outside, pest control is not sexy, right?</p> <p>I want something more exciting, but sometimes that's not the best thing for you. So working with a broker, is going to help you figure that out, right? You have vast experience and you have access to all different brands that you work with.</p> <p>You can pair that personality and I think the best brokers out there are the ones that are willing to challenge the thinking of their candidates and go, hey, I know you want to get into the skydiving franchise, right?</p> <p>I've got this pest control franchise. It's not as sexy, but I think it's a better fit for you, and these are the reasons why.</p> <p>And that's happened to me so many times that I've got on the horn with a candidate for the first time and go, hey, my broker sent me here. I don't think it's something I'm very interested in.</p> <p>They told me to come. Honor our first call together. But I think I'm probably, and then long story short, they want to become a franchise owner, right?</p> <p>Because they get to understand something that ordinarily they may not have may not have even looked at, right?</p> <p>So, that's a big part of it. And so the nugget that I would say is, be open to the different franchise opportunities out there.</p> <p>But once you do find one, when I said do that self reflection, um, there's such a thing as being too entrepreneurial.</p> <p>So what do I mean by that? Like Steve Jobs, right? Steve Jobs would not make a good franchisee, right?</p> <p>He's too much of a visionary. He's always going to do what he wants to do. He's not going to follow any system, right? And there's people that are out there like that.</p> <p>So I would say do that self-reflection, go, am I the type of person that's going to sign into a business, into a franchise model and follow the system, right?</p> <p>And do how to follow those rules and things that they've created to help you be successful because that's what you're paying for folks, right?</p> <p>You're paying for that model. So the last thing you want to do is pay your franchise fee and invest and buy equipment, et cetera. Just not follow the model and make the mistakes that you would have made if you went on your own anyway.</p> <p>So if you're not prepared to follow a model, follow a system, that's the highest goal of a franchisee, is to follow the system as closely as possible, right? Close to perfection. You're not going to be perfect, right?</p> <p>You're going to make mistakes still. We're all human. But the better you can stick to the system, the better off you'll be.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>13:35</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. Success leaves clues. And I think that's the biggest part of being able to kind of tap into that collective success and understand what people are doing, just ultimately, kind of go from there.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>And our goals have different quote unquote CEOs on the show, you being a business owner and talking with so many franchisees and being able to introduce that. What would you consider being a CEO means to you?</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>13:58</b></strong></p> <p>Being a good leader, being a good mentor. Lord knows, along the way, I've had plenty of help, right?</p> <p>No man's an island. I had plenty of people help me along the way to help create my success. I wouldn't be here without that.</p> <p>And I think all of us, if we really look at our heart of hearts, that's what makes a good CEO. That makes a good leader, is someone that's willing to take the time, no matter how long it takes, even if it's just a few minutes, right?</p> <p>Just honor that the person that's working with you or that's under you needs help and help them identify what potential solutions might be there.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>14:41</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. What's the, I'm a king of butchering quotes, but it's like you want to, you want to go fast, go alone. You want to go far, go together.</p> <p>And once you kind of tap into that and you understand that, especially as a leader, that a lot of times it's being a quote unquote servant leader is giving and providing impact and doing all those things so that you can see that impact happen.</p> <p>And it just reverberates, just like throwing a rock in the water, in the ocean, it starts to reverberate further and further. So it's really great to kind of hear that.</p> <p><strong><b>Jason Henshaw</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>15:06</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. I think that hit nail right on the head is, yeah. Servant leader. That's exactly how I would describe it.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>15:13</b></strong></p> <p>Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Jason, truly appreciate that definition. Of course, I appreciate your time even more.</p> <p>So what I wanted to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anyth IAM2376 – CEO Develops a Unique Strategy in Social Media Marketing and Branding https://iamceo.co/2025/02/13/iam2376-ceo-develops-a-unique-strategy-in-social-media-marketing-and-branding/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:7122179d-7a5f-3465-23a1-3d36b5072d5b Thu, 13 Feb 2025 06:16:55 -0500 <p>Luke Lintz is a 25-year-old dynamic entrepreneur and CEO of HighKey Enterprises, specializing in social media management for the aesthetics and cosmetics industries. Luke is known for his relentless work ethic and innovative strategies in the digital marketing space, having worked with A-list celebrities like Kevin Hart, Cardi B, and Nicki Minaj. Luke’s business evolved &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/13/iam2376-ceo-develops-a-unique-strategy-in-social-media-marketing-and-branding/">IAM2376 &#8211; CEO Develops a Unique Strategy in Social Media Marketing and Branding</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186348" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/02/IAM2376.png" alt="Podcast episode featuring two men, Gresham Harkless Jr. and Luke Lintz, discussing unique strategies in social media marketing and branding. Background filled with red-tinted smiling faces." /></div> <div> <p>Luke Lintz is a 25-year-old dynamic entrepreneur and CEO of HighKey Enterprises, specializing in social media management for the aesthetics and cosmetics industries.</p> <p>Luke is known for his relentless work ethic and innovative strategies in the digital marketing space, having worked with A-list celebrities like Kevin Hart, Cardi B, and Nicki Minaj.</p> <p>Luke’s business evolved as they began focusing on social media marketing and branding. Around 2018-2019, they developed a unique strategy called HighKey Clout.</p> <p>Eventually, the business shifted focus toward the aesthetics, wellness, and medical spaces, narrowing down its target market and seeing great success with this approach over the past year.</p> <p>He emphasizes that business success often involves losing money and having a risk appetite is crucial.</p> <p>Luke also believes in leading by example and showing discipline in business and personal life, which has helped him grow as a leader.</p> <p>He recommends listing all the tasks an entrepreneur does, ranking them by what they like and dislike, and then outsourcing tasks that don't align with their strengths or interests.</p> <p>Luke highlights the importance of being a well-rounded individual and setting a positive example for others.</p> <p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-lintz-874392148/?originalSubdomain=pr" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Luke Lintz</a></p> <p>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lukelintz/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lukelintz</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> </div> <div> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> Teaser </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>So everybody that we're following on high key clout are giveaway sponsors who are helping pay for the giveaway and then in return they're gaining a ton of followers from these celebrities.</p> <p>And so it's like a win, win, win situation. The followers of the celebrity is able to win because they have a chance to win these massive prizes.</p> <p>The celebrity wins because we pay them a massive amount up front. The giveaway sponsors win because they gain a ton of followers. So it was a great business model.</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:28</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:56</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have an awesome guest on the show today. I have Luke Lintz. Luke, excited to have you on the show.</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:03</b></strong></p> <p>Thanks for having me here.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong> <strong><b>01:04</b></strong></p> <p>Yes, I'm super excited to have you on. Luke is doing so many awesome things that I'm looking forward to drilling in and having a phenomenal conversation.</p> <p>But of course, before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Luke so you can hear about some of those awesome things.</p> <p>And Luke is a dynamic entrepreneur and a CEO of HighKey Enterprises LLC, a premier digital branding agency specializing in social media management for the aesthetics and cosmetic industries.</p> <p>At just 25 years old, Luke has established himself as a leader in his field, driving innovative strategies to help brands and celebrities elevate their online presence.</p> <p>And known for his relentless work ethic and forward thinking mindset. Luke oversees a diverse portfolio of ventures under the HighKey brand including HighKey Agency.</p> <p>HighKey Clout and his partnerships with high profile celebrities and businesses have garnered widespread recognition, positioning HighKey as a trailblazer in the digital marketing space.</p> <p>Standing at 6’4 with an athletic build, Luke's discipline extends beyond his business pursuits to his personal life. And he's based in Puerto Rico.</p> <p>Luke leverages the island's strategic advantage for both lifestyle and business growth, exploring the opportunities offered under Act 64 Tax Optimization.</p> <p>And one of the really cool things I heard about Luke is that he started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 16 with his drop shipping business where he was selling wireless headphones, which I think is super awesome to have that entrepreneurial blood in his vein.</p> <p>He's partnered with over 100 A list celebrities, including Kevin Hart, Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, the Kardashians, and so on and so forth.</p> <p>And he also has over 1 million followers on Instagram. So, Luke, you're doing awesome things. I can see a little bit of that relentless work ethic. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:39</b></strong></p> <p>I am, I am. I'm really looking forward to giving a ton of value more than anything else. And I appreciate that intro. That was very generous.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:47</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. Well, I always say it's a lot easier to read the bio and read the introduction rather than probably do all the work.</p> <p>So I guess let me hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. Let's rewind the clock.</p> <p>Hear a little bit more on how you got started, what led you to all the awesome work you've been able to do.</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:02</b></strong></p> <p>I never really saw myself as an entrepreneur, really, when I was growing up, I never thought I was going to become an entrepreneur or business owner. I really thought I was actually going to become an accountant in high school.</p> <p>But after I started getting into business, I started looking back at my younger years and realized a lot of things that I did was entrepreneurial. It was just all about making money.</p> <p>For me, it was only about getting that bread. And so when I was in grade two, I would actually take my little brother's Pokemon cards and sell them to other kids.</p> <p>And so I like, had like a Pokemon dealership going on pretty much. And then later on in grade eight, I wanted some extra money.</p> <p>And so I would pair up with my brother and we would go on to Kijiji, which is basically the Canadian version of Craigslist.</p> <p>And we would buy and sell bikes and TVs and then resell them, fix them up if they were needed, and then resell them for like a two times, three times profit.</p> <p>I never saw that as entrepreneurial when I was doing it. I literally just saw that as, you know, trying to do anything to make money at the time and ultimately to make money to have more freedom and then to get out of the current situation that I'm in.</p> <p>So that was kind of the childhood story. And so when I was in high school, I was constantly brainstorming ideas with my older brother and his friends.</p> <p>And what happened is there was one summer we were on a long walk and we were always doing these things.</p> <p>We were going on walks just to brainstorm ideas. It was a very unique thing that we did. And this one time, dropshipping got brought up. This is the summer of 2016.</p> <p>And we went back, we researched dropshipping a ton. Now I'm like, wow, this seems like a no brainer.</p> <p>All we need is a good product. And so we thought about wireless earbuds. And so at the time there was no wireless earbuds on the market.</p> <p>Nothing in North America. There was one pair of wireless earbuds being sold in the UK and so we started doing research on completely wireless earbuds.</p> <p>And there was one product on Alibaba, which is a Chinese wholesaling website. And we found this one product, ordered a sample, and it wasn't that good, but it was good enough to sell.</p> <p>So we were like, okay, well let's start this journey. And so we, we put together all of our money that we had at the time, bulk purchased these wireless earbuds and then we had this amazing product and all we needed to know how to do was sell it.</p> <p>And so this was how most businesses are created is that we had the pain point of having wired earbuds and we wanted to create wireless earbuds.</p> <p>And so we were solving our own problems. And so that's exactly what we did. We bought, purchased these earbuds and all we needed to do was figure out how to get them in front of people.</p> <p>And so we used Instagram, which was the only platform we knew at the time, and so on Instagram.</p> <p>This is back when Instagram was very similar to how TikTok was a few years ago, where videos could literally go viral just on your page and didn't even have to be too good.</p> <p>And so we would post meme page videos, so basically relatable comedic content that could be relatable to a huge audience.</p> <p>And then inside the caption of the meme videos, we would put our wireless earbuds and basically like a product placement.</p> <p>And all we did was that for about four months, scaled up the company to selling out our first bulk purchase of wireless earbuds to $30,000 in revenue.</p> <p>And then we just scaled up from there with the wireless earbuds where we created new techniques of going viral on Instagram.</p> <p>We started putting ourselves inside of the videos. We ended up getting posted on platforms like worldstar, some of the biggest meme pages in the world that have like 10 million plus followers.</p> <p>And we just scaled up really fast. Before I graduated high school, we ended up scaling it to over a million dollars of revenue.</p> <p>And it's really just because the product was phenomenal. It's not like we had any special tactics. The product was amazing.</p> <p>People would tell their friends about it. Word spread like wildfire. Had a good fair pricing of wireless earbuds that even though when AirPods and all of these other wireless earbuds came out, we were the one of the lowest on the market.</p> <p>And so it was good for a period of time. And then we wanted to diversify our product set and go into other products.</p> <p>And we very quickly realized that, that we just picked an extremely good product because the other products that we diversified into didn't sell nearly as well.</p> <p>And we ended up getting crushed in the market. We bulk purchased that inventory the same way we bulk purchased the earbuds and it completely miserably failed.</p> <p>And we ended up getting greedy, taking out a loan to try and get us out of the hole that we were in with all of this additional inventory. And we just kept snowballing downwards from there.</p> <p>And so it's kind of like any business story, probably any single person listening to this, like if you've had some level of success, you've likely hit a wall, you've likely gone through a major failure that you've had to bounce back from that you' had your back up against the wall. And so that was the place that we were in. Yeah.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:05</b></strong></p> <p>Well, I appreciate you so much in sharing that. So I know you touched on a little bit in what you all are doing now.</p> <p>Could you take us through a little bit more on like what that looks like and how you're making an impact for the clients you work with?</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:14</b></strong></p> <p>Our clients were telling us that they wanted more social media followers for more credibility. This is back in 2018-2019 is they were really wanting more followers.</p> <p>So this was pre Covid and what happened is we got in touch with a giveaway model on social media.</p> <p>This is where high key clout started, where basically we would partner up with celebrities, a list celebrities on social media. They would give away massive prizes, cars, sometimes $30,000 cash, and then sometimes $25,000 of like luxury bags.</p> <p>And they would say, these celebrities would say, all you have to do to enter this giveaway on my Instagram is followed and follow everybody that they're following.</p> <p>So everybody that we're following on high key clout are giveaway sponsors who are helping pay for the giveaway. And then in return they're gaining a ton of followers from these celebrities.</p> <p>And so it's like a win, win, win situation. The followers of the celebrity is able to win because they have a chance to win these massive prizes.</p> <p>The celebrity wins because we pay them a massive amount up front. The giveaway sponsors win because they gain a ton of followers.</p> <p>So it was a great business model and we ended up scaling that up extremely fast where we started doing celebrity campaigns on a weekly basis.</p> <p>And that's how we were able to partner up with all those A list celebrities like Kevin Hart, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Snoop Dogg, Bella Thorne.</p> <p>And it was a really cool time. We scaled up heavily from that and it's what led to many transitions in the business of transitioning to move to Puerto Rico, transitioning to continue scaling up our social media management side of things with clients, and then we continue to add on more services of digital branding where we started doing press for our clients.</p> <p>The problem is, is the business was scattered completely. Our focus was in so many different directions. Alex and Leila Hormozi, they're an unbelievable power couple. They run acquisitions.com and they create some amazing content.</p> <p>One of the things that he said that resonated most with me though, is having a focus on who you're targeting and who you're speaking to with your product.</p> <p>And I didn't fully conceptualize that until we actually implemented it because what happened was since we were working with so many different industries, it wasn't just affecting the sales team in terms of the amount of leads that came through the door, how hard it was to sell because we had to learn about every single industry.</p> <p>And so that led to our most recent transition over a year ago of going into the aesthetics, wellness and like just medical space.</p> <p>And so that's completely who we're focusing on with press and social media. And what has happened over the past year has been unbelievable. On the rewards, the fruits of our labor for taking the risk and narrowing down our niche.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:08</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I appreciate you so much in sharing that and I feel like so many. So I almost wonder, what do you feel like is your secret sauce? It could be for yourself, the business, or a combination of both.</p> <p>But it seems like you have this ability where I know it's probably not this simple, but I feel like so many times when you see an opportunity, seem like you go in on that. Do you feel like that's part of like what might be your secret sauce?</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:28</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. So that's a point of it. I was going to say my secret sauce is being able to take risks and my appetite for taking risks. It's definitely helped me out in business where I can take massive risks on things like I've lost crazy amounts of money.</p> <p>And so when you're going into business, no matter what, you're going to lose money. Like there's just no way that you're going to make money over a long period of time without losing a significant amount of money. And so you have to have an appetite for risk.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:59</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or even a habit that you have. But what's something you lean on that makes you more effective and efficient?</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>12:10</b></strong></p> <p>At the beginning of my business, I committed to myself that if I felt like shit and I didn't want to work for that specific time, I felt demotivated. I felt like I couldn't even stare at my screen anymore.</p> <p>I would work through that. I wouldn't take a break. I would work through that. Now the problem with this is it got to a point where it affected other areas of my life outside of business where I wasn't able to shut down.</p> <p>And so I think you get to a point in your career where you start reaching success, you want more balance in your life.</p> <p>And I think in the entrepreneurial journey, when you're leveling up so hard, it's kind of accustomed that you're not balanced in your life, that you're putting so much effort into your business that you can't be balanced in other areas of your life. So kind of a catch 22 with that one.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>13:00</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. And what would you consider, you might have already touched on this a little bit more of what I like to call a CEO nugget.</p> <p>So this could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It might be something you would tell your favorite client or if you have a time machine, you might tell your younger business itself.</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>13:14</b></strong></p> <p>People are taking care of those day to day activities with you not being there. And so what does that mean that you're taking care of when you're working on the business, you're working on all of the leadership things in terms of like back-end training.</p> <p>Maybe to enhance the skill sets of the team or enhance new team members, working on the hiring process, maybe to bring people in on the team better, potentially, potentially working on goals for the company and potentially working on the core values from the company.</p> <p>All of the higher level skill sets that are building the culture of the team for the long run. And what I've realized, my number one takeaway of getting from in the business to out of the business is first figuring out all the tasks that I had to do.</p> <p>So every single entrepreneur wears an absolute ton of hats. Every single CEO wears a ton of hats, especially at the start of the business.</p> <p>And so you're doing like six full time jobs basically. And so I would list out every single task that I'm currently doing and then I would pick the task.</p> <p>I would write down on each task the dollar per hour approximate of what it would cost to hire out each of those tasks and then I would rank them in ones that I really like doing all the way to the bottom of things that I hate doing.</p> <p>And then you really just gotta start chipping away at that. And what you do is basically you go into the interview process like it's a learning process. And so that process of hiring out every single aspect of you can take years.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>14:46</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. So you might have already touched on this, but I want to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.</p> <p>Our goal is to have different, quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So Luke, what does being a CEO mean to you?</p> <p><strong><b>Luke Lintz</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>14:58</b></strong></p> <p>Being a CEO to me means leading by example. That's truly what it means in every area of life. I think CEOs miss out on this too a lot.</p> <p>And CEOs have missed out on this in the past that I think that we're trending in a direction of not just all about being cutthroat business and having more balance in our lives and just being like good, well rounded human beings.</p> <p>And so I hope to be in the future the CEO that people are able to look up to. And I'm able to lead by example IAM2375 – Millennial Blogger and Wellness Entrepreneur Explores The Science Behind Different Self-Development Interests https://iamceo.co/2025/02/12/iam2375-millennial-blogger-and-wellness-entrepreneur-explores-the-science-behind-different-self-development-interests/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:ada8b602-2a87-7382-58bc-bd8290ca50ab Wed, 12 Feb 2025 06:16:36 -0500 <p>Nia Davies is a 27-year-old millennial blogger and wellness entrepreneur from London with a background in medical sciences. Nia started her wellness startup a year ago, and it is set to launch in the spring or summer of the year. Nia explains sound therapy, including practices like Tibetan singing bowls and gong baths, which involve &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/12/iam2375-millennial-blogger-and-wellness-entrepreneur-explores-the-science-behind-different-self-development-interests/">IAM2375 &#8211; Millennial Blogger and Wellness Entrepreneur Explores The Science Behind Different Self-Development Interests</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186346" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/02/IAM2375.png" alt="Podcast episode featuring Gresham Harkless Jr. and Nia Davies. Discussing self-development interests. Includes logos for Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube Music. Episode 2375." /></div> <div> <p>Nia Davies is a 27-year-old millennial blogger and wellness entrepreneur from London with a background in medical sciences.</p> <p>Nia started her wellness startup a year ago, and it is set to launch in the spring or summer of the year.</p> <p>Nia explains sound therapy, including practices like Tibetan singing bowls and gong baths, which involve vibrations that resonate through the body, promoting relaxation and healing.</p> <p>She focuses on the millennial lifestyle, self-development, and the science behind alternative practices like bio-hacking and holistic therapies.</p> <p>Nia believes combining rational and scientific approaches with spiritual practices is the key to her brand’s uniqueness.</p> <p>Nia shares her daily routine involving meditation and reading books on self-development and spirituality, including works by Rupert Sheldrake, Brian Weiss, Tim Ferriss, and Tim Urban.</p> <p>Website: <a href="https://niafaraway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nia-Faraway</a></p> <p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/niaelindavies/?originalSubdomain=uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nia E. Davies </a></p> <p>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yugenial/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">yugenial</a></p> <p>Previous Episode: <a href="https://iamceo.co/2019/03/26/iam225-millennial-blogger-and-wellness-entrepreneur-explores-the-science-behind-different-self-development-interests/">iam225-millennial-blogger-and-wellness-entrepreneur-explores-the-science-behind-different-self-development-interests</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> </div> <div> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> Teaser </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>It's a self care brand that's selling wellness products. Things like from skincare to bio-hacking supplements and beauty oils. And in terms of the website, it's linked to my blog.</p> <p>And the blog is all about millennial lifestyle self development, self care and the science of alternative practices and bringing them into the mainstream.</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:20</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:47</b></strong></p> <p>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 Nia Davies of <a href="https://niafaraway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">niafaraway.com</a>. Nia, it's awesome to have you on the show.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:57</b></strong></p> <p>Hi, thanks for having me. Yeah, it's good to be on it.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:00</b></strong></p> <p>No problem. Super excited to have you on and what I wanted to do was just read a more about Nia so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.</p> <p>And he is a 27-year old millennial blogger and wellness entrepreneur from London with a background in medical sciences.</p> <p>She writes on a variety of topics, mainly startups, mental and physical health and bio-hacking. You can read her articles on her website and find her at Nia Fairway on Instagram.</p> <p>Nia, it's awesome to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:26</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, definitely.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:27</b></strong></p> <p>The first thing I wanted to do is just ask you a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.</p> <p><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:32</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, so I started my business about a year ago now and it's not launched yet. It's due to come out spring, summer of this year.</p> <p>And what kind of inspired that is. I've got this traditional background when it comes to health and wellness because it's a health and wellness startup.</p> <p>We're selling self care products and in this last year I've really made self development and self care my focus.</p> <p>But I noticed that it was a lot of holistic practices that I was turning to. So things like yoga, sound therapies, rituals, intention, I really started to see all of the benefits from those.</p> <p>And coming from this traditional background and with quite a traditional family, it's a little bit controversial.</p> <p>So I wanted to create a brand that really educates the consumer and marries this holistic with traditional together. It's like a marriage of east and west.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:24</b></strong></p> <p>There you go. To find a perfect, happy medium. It sounds like.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:27</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. And it's a marriage of my heritage as well, because I'm half East and half Western, so it's a bit. It's a part of me.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:33</b></strong></p> <p>Oh, there you go. There's a reflection upon you. So that's. That's awesome that you've been able to kind of marry those two together. And I heard you mentioned sound therapy. What exactly is that?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:41</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, sound therapies are things like Tibetan singing bowls, gong baths. So it's kind of like a meditation, but you focus on the sound and you can feel sort of the reverberation and the vibration going through your body.</p> <p>Joe Rogan did a good podcast where he talked about it, and I think it's called Climatics or something, where the sound makes really cool patterns through the fluid that it hits. Yeah, you can look into that. It's really interesting.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:06</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, it definitely sounds like it. It's funny because I've had this app that I use. It actually helps you to go to sleep funny enough. So it will play bells and stuff.</p> <p>And I don't know the science behind it, but I was told that because of the way the bells ring or when they ring or something like that, it basically has a interaction, I guess, with your mind and your body. So it kind of trigger certain things that help you to kind of relax.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:29</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. Like it has a healing effect. I can't remember the scientific term for medics or whatever I said is definitely not it, but there's some cool science behind it.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:38</b></strong></p> <p>Nice, nice, nice. So, well, I appreciate you for sharing that with us, and I wanted to ask you a little bit more about what you're doing on your website and your blog and all those awesome things that you're doing. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:48</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. So with the blog niafaraway.com that's kind of a millennial lifestyle blog that looks into the science behind some of these things that I've been trying.</p> <p>So most recently, I've written about alternative practices and how they. I've also written about some of the random alternative practices that I try. I did Kambo the other week. It's this Amazonian frog medicine.</p> <p>You put it into these little burns on your skin, and it massively bolsters your immune system. Yeah. So it's a lot of little things like that that I look into and want to share if I found them.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:23</b></strong></p> <p>Good, Nice, nice. So. And you said, like, the blog, I guess, kind of has laid the foundation of the company that you're building, the website that you're building as well, too. Correct?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:31</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. So the blog just started off as me exploring all my interests, and then I realized that I have a huge interest in self development and self development is a part of self care. So that. How. That's how that became part of the brand. The self care brand.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:46</b></strong></p> <p>Nice, nice. And what's the brand going to. What's the brand going to be called?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:49</b></strong></p> <p>So the brand's called Yugenial. It comes from the Japanese word. And it was sort of the start of my, I guess, like self healing, self care journey. And that's why that's got that name.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:59</b></strong></p> <p>Okay, okay. All right. Nia, could you, I guess, tell us a little bit more about the company and the website that you're building to.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:05</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. So the company is called <a href="https://yugenial.com/?v=7885444af42e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yugenial</a>. It's a self care brand. So it's selling wellness products, things like from skincare to bio-hacking supplements and BD oils.</p> <p>And in terms of the website, it's linked to my blog. And the blog is all about millennial lifestyle self development, self care, and the science of alternative practices and bringing them into the mainstream.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:27</b></strong></p> <p>Okay, okay. And how did you come up with the name?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:30</b></strong></p> <p>So Yugenial comes from the Japanese word Yugen, and it means a profound sensation of the universe.</p> <p>So it's a slightly spiritual brand because one thing I do think in the west is that we've got this modern secular society that places such an emphasis on the physical and the physiological, but not so much on the traditional and the psycho spiritual.</p> <p>And I think we've lost a lot of value in those kinds of things. So that's why I've got this spiritual element to the brand. I think that's a big part of self care and self development.</p> <p>And it was inspired by my time in Indonesia, where you can really see the cosmos and there's so much less light pollution there.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:06</b></strong></p> <p>Interesting. Yeah, I absolutely love that. The fusion of two different things. I believe that you get something special when you're able to kind of fuse those two different ideas and bring them together into something kind of remarkable. It sounds like that's what you're building as well.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:18</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. Because it seems like especially in approaches to health, things are becoming very polarized. I mean, they're becoming polarized in all industries at the moment.</p> <p>And what makes sense usually is what's in the crossover and the sort of agreeable compromise in the gray area rather than at any extreme ends. So it's about marrying the two polarized ends of health and approaches to self care.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:41</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I would definitely agree with that. It's funny, I read this book years ago. It's called Opposable Mind.</p> <p>But it was kind of that exact concept where you have two different tensions, so to speak. And when you're able to bring them together, kind of like, I guess peanut butter and jelly is the simple way to put it together.</p> <p>When you're able to bring those two things together, you have something that's really great that you put together. So it's great to hear that you're doing that.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:00</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, thanks. No, I completely agree.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:03</b></strong></p> <p>Awesome, awesome, awesome. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this is what you feel kind of distinguishes you or your organization.</p> <p>You might have already touched on this, but what do you feel kind of sets you or your organization apart?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:13</b></strong></p> <p>So I think when it comes to the industry, I'd say our brand is kind of like GOOP meets Deciem. So Deciem is very scientific, very just fundamentals. And GOOP is very much saying that they're both as equally important as each other.</p> <p>And it's the best of both worlds when it comes to the rational and the irrational and the modern and ancient approaches to health and wellness. So I think that's what separates us.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:38</b></strong></p> <p>Nice.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:38</b></strong></p> <p>The best of everything.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:39</b></strong></p> <p>Yes. No, I absolutely love that. Just bringing those two things together again. And what I wanted to do is switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack.</p> <p>And this might be an Apple book or a habit that you have, something that makes you more effective and efficient.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:53</b></strong></p> <p>I think I found the two best things for me have been reading and meditation. Meditation I try and do every day. When I wake up at least 10 minutes, I've got the Sam Harris app, which I think is one of the best.</p> <p>And then in terms of reading, I just love self development books and books on sort of spirituality. So Rupert Sheldrake, Brian Weiss, Tim Ferriss, Tim Urban, that kind of thing.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:18</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Self development is so huge. And I love the fact that you touched on it a little bit earlier where you said self development is part of self care.</p> <p>Because I think sometimes you can forget that when you're not developing yourself, you're actually giving yourself love and you're actually, showing yourself attention and putting your own oxygen mask on, so to speak.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:34</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, exactly. I think self care has got this reputation of just being about beauty products and bath products for yourself and growing as a person, which leads to everything else in your life. Really?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:45</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. Absolutely. I would definitely agree with that. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget.</p> <p>And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:58</b></strong></p> <p>I think one thing I'd probably say is that failure is a state of mind and that everything is about perception and perception is something valuable. I think that would be the most useful thing for me to know way back when.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:11</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. No, that's huge. And I love that because a lot of times, and I've heard this a lot, you hear this a lot, that failure is a way to get to success. And it's kind of all in how your mindset kind of views that.</p> <p>And what we kind of look at failure as, quote-unquote, if it's not the end, if you don't stop, then it becomes a learning lesson, not necessarily a failure.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:29</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, exactly. I think when they happened at the time, that the failures that I have had felt like the worst thing ever. And now looking back, I only see them as learning curves or I see them as benefits.</p> <p>That happened because so many good things did come out of them, but it's just that you don't really get to see what those things are at the time.</p> <p>So it's just recognizing that it is a state of mind and it's temporary and it's a mindset thing.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:51</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. And that's being so close to it. I myself have experienced the same thing where something bad happens. I'm like, oh, my gosh, this is the worst thing that could ever happen.</p> <p>But a lot of times it happens for you, not necessarily to you. So it redirects you on the path that you want to be.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:06</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. And it's easy to see that in hindsight, but it's when it's happening, not seeing how, but knowing and having faith that that is the case.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:13</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly, exactly. Having and being able to trust is huge. So I definitely would agree with that. I appreciate you for sharing that with us.</p> <p>And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is a definition of what it means to be a CEO.</p> <p>And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Nia, I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO means to you?</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:30</b></strong></p> <p>For me, I think the most important thing is it means creative freedom. So I'd say that CEO stands for creativity, experimentation and outlook.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:40</b></strong></p> <p>I love that. I love that you say creativity, experimentation, and outlook.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:44</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, those three things.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:46</b></strong></p> <p>Awesome. I love that. And it definitely spells back to being able to kind of build and create your own and chart your own path as we kind of talked about today.</p> <p>So I appreciate that definition and that perspective as well too. So Nia, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out.</p> <p>What I wanted to do is pass you the mic just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know and then of course, how best they can get hold of you.</p> <p><strong><b>Nia Davies</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:07</b></strong></p> <p>Yes, anything additional? I guess I share most of what I'm interested in and what I write about on my blog, which is <a href="https://niafaraway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">niafaraway.com</a> and you can find the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yugenial/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yugenial</a>, Y U G E N I A L on Instagram so you can get notified when we launch. It should be around spring or summer.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:26</b></strong></p> <p>Awesome, awesome, awesome. And w IAM2373 – The Importance of Work Ethic in Achieving Success https://iamceo.co/2025/02/10/iam2373-the-importance-of-work-ethic-in-achieving-success/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:d4fb6c19-d985-8ce2-a956-d58e58484515 Mon, 10 Feb 2025 06:16:51 -0500 <p>Gresham Harkless shares an update on his journey during week three of his franchise brokerage training. He reflects on how quickly time has passed since starting, particularly since &#8220;Live Week,&#8221; a more intensive training session. A key point he discusses is the reality of business success—it often appears to come quickly, but in truth, it’s &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/10/iam2373-the-importance-of-work-ethic-in-achieving-success/">IAM2373 &#8211; The Importance of Work Ethic in Achieving Success</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186342" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/02/2373.png" alt="Smiling person in front of a collage background with podcast details: Episode 2373, &quot;The Importance of Work Ethic in Achieving Success,&quot; and subscription options for Spotify, Apple, and YouTube." /></div> <div> <p>Gresham Harkless shares an update on his journey during week three of his franchise brokerage training.</p> <p>He reflects on how quickly time has passed since starting, particularly since &#8220;Live Week,&#8221; a more intensive training session.</p> <p>A key point he discusses is the reality of business success—it often appears to come quickly, but in truth, it’s the result of years of hard work and learning.</p> <p>Gresham mentions his drive to outwork himself and improve by 1% each day, emphasizing the importance of work ethic in achieving success.</p> <p>Despite not being in the ideal place to start his new venture, Gresham believes that taking action and moving forward, even before feeling completely ready, will set him up for success in the long run.</p> </div> <div> <ul> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Blue Star Franchise: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Browse the Franchise Inventory: <a href="https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site &#8211; coming soon) &#8211; <a href="http://franchiseceo.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://franchiseceo.co</a></li> </ul> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:01</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:28</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.</p> <p>But just wanted 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.</p> <p>The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Just like that is day 21, week three of the franchise brokerage journey. It's hard to believe it's been about three, I guess four weeks since I started training.</p> <p>Well, not even started training since think since Live Week to where I'm at now. Live Week was basically when we went to go train to kind of learn, basically an eight hour day all week about what it was to be like a franchise broker.</p> <p>And I think that this is probably the first week where I'm going to be more embedded, more in both of the businesses, all the businesses, I guess you can say.</p> <p>So it's exciting, but at the same time, it's just like you want to make sure that you're doing all the things that you want to do to be successful.</p> <p>One of the things that really kind of resonated with me today is that sometimes we forget about what it's truly like to run a business.</p> <p>We see the quick wins, we see the people that are quote-unquote, instantly successful. And the quote that kind of resonates with me is that, and I say a lot on the podcast, is that the secret to overnight successes takes 10 to 15 years.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>I mean, here, 10 to 11, eight years, whatever that number might be. The point is that the success that you see is not a result of just what's happening right now.</p> <p>A lot of times success is a result of what has happened years and years prior. There's even like this meme that I always remember where there's a, I think a plumber that someone calls and they call him or her to fix whatever the issue is, and they've been working days to try to figure out what the issue is, call the plumber.</p> <p>The plumber comes in, fixes it in like 10 minutes. And it's like, okay, are you going to charge me for the full hour or two or the service call or whatever it is, because it took 10 minutes.</p> <p>It's like, you're not, I'm not charging you based off of the 10 minutes I took. The reason that I'm charging what I'm charging, which is the full amount, is because I put in all the time and hours to learn how to do it in 10 minutes.</p> <p>And so the reason I bring that up is because so many times when we go through the journey, we forget about laying that foundation, putting the bricks in place to be successful.</p> <p>And while we want that, instant success is rarer than I think people want to truly say. So when I think about this franchise brokerage journey, I think about me hopefully being able to get a little bit more of an advantage by being able to have the digital marketing business, by having the resources for entrepreneurs and business owners.</p> <p>But at the same time, I really wanted to tap into this. &#8216;m going to outwork myself. I'm going to be better than myself. I'm going to get 1% better every day.</p> <p>And I think if I am trying to defeat Gresh, so to speak, and progress and to get better, then having that mentality is going to be huge.</p> <p>Because I believe strongly in work ethic and how work ethic can lead you. It sets you up for success.</p> <p>But when people don't put the work in. In many different aspects, then I don't feel like we should be wondering why things aren't going the way that we want moments ago.</p> <p>And frankly, putting in work ethic and doing the things doesn't mean you're working on the right things.</p> <p>It doesn't mean that you're going to be successful. But I think when you get in the mentality of trying to do all the things that you can do to increase your likelihood of success, you can't say that I wish I would have did this or I wish I would have did that.</p> <p>If you put the time in, it may not go exactly where you wanted to go. It may not be part of what's in the cards for you or your destiny or what God wants for you, I would even say.</p> <p>But it doesn't mean that you didn't do everything you could do. So my mentality is always like, what can I do?</p> <p>What are the things that I could do to try to increase my likelihood of success and let me do all those things. And I'm definitely focusing on the sales and the marketing.</p> <p>I'm definitely focused on the lead generation now that one other really big thing that I talked about a little bit in the videos is that I felt like maybe March or April was the best time to kind of start this because literally I'm not even in the place that I'm at now.</p> <p>Celebrating this past weekend with my wife, our anniversary went to training, bringing on different people, setting up systems in the digital marketing business.</p> <p>All these things are happening at the same time. So this was not the ideal time, but I felt like by getting a little bit closer to where I was, I'd be able to set myself up for success a lot more.</p> <p>So that's just what I really wanted to focus on, is just like, how can I continue to kind of take the steps to be successful and how can I move before I'm ready?</p> <p>And that's ultimately what I wanted to do. That's what I am doing. And we'll definitely see as I continue to record how this goes.</p> <p>Please let me know if there's anything I could do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:41</b></strong></p> <p>Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast, powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.</p> <p>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.</p> <div id="fbxt-wrap" > <div id="fbxt-wrap--inner" class="fbxt-extra-class"> <div class="fbxt-header"> <div class="fbxt-header--logo"> <svg width="24" height="25" viewBox="0 0 24 25" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <circle opacity="0.05" cx="11.6406" cy="12.3918" r="11.6406" fill="#C60808"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 10.2899H6.63672V9.04663H16.6445V10.2899Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 13.3421H6.63672V12.0989H16.6445V13.3421Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7025 16.395H6.63672V15.1518H12.7025V16.395Z"/> </svg> <span class="fbxt-header-text">IAMCEO Podcast Transcript</span> </div> <div class="fbxt-header--nav"> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-email" href="#" style="display:none" > <svg width="16" height="12" viewBox="0 0 16 12" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M14.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V10.5C0 11.3438 0.65625 12 1.5 12H14.5C15.3125 12 16 11.3438 16 10.5V1.5C16 0.6875 15.3125 0 14.5 0ZM14.5 1.5V2.78125C13.7812 3.375 12.6562 4.25 10.2812 6.125C9.75 6.53125 8.71875 7.53125 8 7.5C7.25 7.53125 6.21875 6.53125 5.6875 6.125C3.3125 4.25 2.1875 3.375 1.5 2.78125V1.5H14.5ZM1.5 10.5V4.71875C2.1875 5.28125 3.21875 6.09375 4.75 7.3125C5.4375 7.84375 6.65625 9.03125 8 9C9.3125 9.03125 10.5 7.84375 11.2188 7.3125C12.75 6.09375 13.7812 5.28125 14.5 4.71875V10.5H1.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Email</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-download" href="#" > <svg width="18" height="16" viewBox="0 0 18 16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M16.5 9H13.5938L15.0625 7.5625C16 6.625 15.3125 5 14 5H12V1.5C12 0.6875 11.3125 0 10.5 0H7.5C6.65625 0 6 0.6875 6 1.5V5H4C2.65625 5 1.96875 6.625 2.9375 7.5625L4.375 9H1.5C0.65625 9 0 9.6875 0 10.5V14.5C0 15.3438 0.65625 16 1.5 16H16.5C17.3125 16 18 15.3438 18 14.5V10.5C18 9.6875 17.3125 9 16.5 9ZM4 6.5H7.5V1.5H10.5V6.5H14L9 11.5L4 6.5ZM16.5 14.5H1.5V10.5H5.875L7.9375 12.5625C8.5 13.1562 9.46875 13.1562 10.0312 12.5625L12.0938 10.5H16.5V14.5ZM13.75 12.5C13.75 12.9375 14.0625 13.25 14.5 13.25C14.9062 13.25 15.25 12.9375 15.25 12.5C15.25 12.0938 14.9062 11.75 14.5 11.75C14.0625 11.75 13.75 12.0938 13.75 12.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Download</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-new_tab" href="#" > <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 14 14" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M12.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V12.5C0 13.3438 0.65625 14 1.5 14H12.5C13.3125 14 14 13.3438 14 12.5V1.5C14 0.6875 13.3125 0 12.5 0ZM12.3125 12.5H1.6875C1.5625 12.5 1.5 12.4375 1.5 12.3125V1.6875C1.5 1.59375 1.5625 1.5 1.6875 1.5H12.3125C12.4062 1.5 12.5 1.59375 12.5 1.6875V12.3125C12.5 12.4375 12.4062 12.5 12.3125 12.5ZM10.625 3L6.375 3.03125C6.15625 3.03125 6 3.1875 6 3.40625V4.25C6 4.46875 6.15625 4.65625 6.375 4.625L8.1875 4.5625L3.09375 9.65625C2.9375 9.8125 2.9375 10.0312 3.09375 10.1875L3.8125 10.9062C3.96875 11.0625 4.1875 11.0625 4.34375 10.9062L9.4375 5.8125L9.375 7.625C9.34375 7.84375 9.53125 8 9.75 8H10.5938C10.8125 8 10.9688 7.84375 10.9688 7.625L11 3.375C11 3.1875 10.8125 3 10.625 3Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">New Tab</span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="fbxt-content"> <div class="fbxt-content--inner"> <p><b>Title:</b> Transcript - Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:34:31 GMT</p> <p><b>Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:34:31 GMT, Duration:</b> [00:07:16.15]</p> <p>[00:00:01.52] - Intro</p> <p>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.</p> <p>[00:00:28.46] - Gresham Harkless</p> <p>Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I Am CEO Podcast and this a special episode of our IMCO 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 sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But just wanted 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 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 I exactly where he was going to post this. So I'll 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 and 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 Grass signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.</p> <p>[00:01:53.96] - Gresham Harkless</p> <p>Just like that is day 21, week three of the franchise brokerage journey. It's hard to believe it's been about three, I guess four weeks since I started training. Well, not even started training since think since Live Week to where I'm at now. Live Week was basically when we went to go train to kind of learn, basically an eight hour day all week about what it was to be like a franchise broker. And I think that this is probably the first week where I'm going to be more embedded, more in both of the businesses, all the businesses, I guess you can say. So it's exciting, but at the same time, it's just like you want to make sure that you're doing all the things that you want to do to be successful. One of the things that really kind of resonated with me today is that sometimes we forget about what it's truly like to run a business. We see the, you know, the quick wins, we see the people that are, quote, unquote, instantly successful. And the quote that kind of resonates with me is that, and I say a lot on the podcast, is that the secret to overnight successes takes 10 to 15 years. I mean, here, 10 to 11, eight years, whatever that number might be. The point is, is that the success that you see is not a result of just what's happening right now. A lot of times success is a result of what has happened years and years prior. There's even like this meme that I always remember where there's a, I think a plumber that someone calls and they call him or her to fix whatever the issue is, and they've been working, you know, days to try to figure out what the issue is, call the plumber. The plumber comes in, fixes it in like 10 minutes. And it's like, okay, are you going to charge me for the full hour or two or the service call or whatever it is, because it took 10 minutes. It's like, you're not, I'm not charging you based off of the 10 minutes I took. The reason that I'm charging what I'm charging, which is the full amount, is because I put in all the time and hours to learn how to do it in 10 minutes. And so the reason I bring that up is because so many times when we go through the journey, we forget about laying that foundation, putting the bricks in place to be successful. And while we want that, instant success is rarer than I think people want to truly say. So when I think about this franchise brokerage journey, I think about me hopefully being able to get a little bit more of an advantage by being able to have the digital marketing business, by having the resources for entrepreneurs and business owners. But at the same time, I really wanted to tap into this. You know, I'm going to outwork myself. I'm going to be better than myself. I'm going to get 1% better every day. And I think if I am trying to defeat grash, so to speak, and progress and to get better, then having that mentality is going to be huge. Because I believe strongly in work ethic and how work ethic can lead you. It sets you up for success. But when people don't put the work in. In many different aspects, then I don't feel like we should be wondering why things aren't going the way that we want moments ago. And frankly, you know, putting in work ethic and doing the things doesn't mean you're working on the right things. It doesn't mean that you're going to be successful. But I think when you get in the mentality of trying to do all the things that you can do to increase your likelihood of success, you can't say that I wish I would have did this or I wish I would have did that. If you put the time in, it may not go exactly where you wanted to go. It may not be part of, you know, what's in your, you know, in the cards for you or your destiny or what God wants for you, I would say even say. But it doesn't mean that you didn't do everything you could do. So my mentality is always like, what can I do? What are the things that I could do to try to increase my likelihood of success and let me do all those things. And I'm definitely focusing on the sales and the marketing. I'm definitely focused on the lead generation now that, you know, you know, one other really big thing that I talked about a little bit in the videos is that I felt like maybe March or April was the best time to kind of start this because literally I'm not even in the place that I'm at now. Celebrating this past weekend with my wife, our anniversary went to training, bringing on different people, setting up systems in the digital marketing business. All these things are happening at the same time. So this was not the ideal time, but I felt like by getting a little bit closer to where I was, I'd be able to set myself up for success a lot more. So that's just what I really wanted to focus on, is just like, how can I continue to kind of take the steps to be successful and how can I move before I'm ready? And that's ultimately what I wanted to do. That's what I am doing. An IAM2374 – Family Medicine Doctor Focuses on Lifestyle Change For Long-lasting Health https://iamceo.co/2025/02/10/iam2374-family-medicine-doctor-focuses-on-lifestyle-change-for-long-lasting-health/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:553af5eb-d7d0-7c71-b441-b4d9ddb49359 Mon, 10 Feb 2025 06:16:46 -0500 <p>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi is double board-certified in Family Medicine and Integrative and Holistic Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency at Georgia Regents University and a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona under Dr. Andrew Weil. Dr. Bindiya grew up in an entrepreneurial environment, with her parents owning businesses, which influenced her &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/10/iam2374-family-medicine-doctor-focuses-on-lifestyle-change-for-long-lasting-health/">IAM2374 &#8211; Family Medicine Doctor Focuses on Lifestyle Change For Long-lasting Health</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div> <p>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi is double board-certified in Family Medicine and Integrative and Holistic Medicine.</p> <p>She completed her family medicine residency at Georgia Regents University and a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona under Dr. Andrew Weil.</p> <p>Dr. Bindiya grew up in an entrepreneurial environment, with her parents owning businesses, which influenced her desire to become a business owner.</p> <p>She emphasizes that entrepreneurship requires patience, hard work, and the ability to trust the process.</p> <p>She prioritizes lifestyle changes and long-term health improvements over short-term medication use, focusing on sustainable solutions.</p> <p>Dr. Bindiya discusses the importance of self-care, including maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating well, exercising, and sleeping enough to stay healthy into older age.</p> <p>Dr. Bindiya encourages people to take the leap and pursue their dreams, whether in entrepreneurship, writing, or any other passion.</p> <p>In addition, she highlights the importance of patience and believing in the process, offering advice to younger versions of herself to trust that everything will fall into place.</p> <p>Website: <a href="https://drbindiyamd.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dr. Bindiya MD</a></p> <p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbindiyamd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bindiya Gandhi, M.D</a></p> <p>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/drbindiyamd/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">drbindiyamd</a></p> <p>Previous Episode: <a href="https://iamceo.co/2019/03/23/iam222-family-medicine-doctor-focuses-on-lifestyle-change-for-long-lasting-health/">iam222-family-medicine-doctor-focuses-on-lifestyle-change-for-long-lasting-health</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> </div> <div> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> Teaser </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>So I see patients from kids to adults, from simple medical conditions like thyroid issues to chronic things like diabetes, high blood pressure, trying to get them off medications.</p> <p>I deal with a lot of cancer patients, a lot of females, women, health. I deal a lot with fertility patients helping a lot of females help them get pregnant.</p> <p>But the just of it is we do it in a very natural way and I'm all about a lifestyle change so I preach it takes a little longer sometimes, but let's get to the root cause.</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:29</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:56</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today.</p> <p>I have Dr. Bindiya Gandhi of Revive Atlanta MD. Dr. Bindiya, it's awesome to have you on the show.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:07</b></strong></p> <p>Thank you for having me.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:08</b></strong></p> <p>No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Dr. Bindiya so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.</p> <p>And Dr. Bindiya Gandhi is double boarded by the American Board Family Medicine as well as the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Physicians.</p> <p>She completed her family medicine training from Georgia Regents University Medical College of Georgia in June 2014.</p> <p>She completed her undergraduate training at the University of Georgia with a Bachelor's of Science in Biology and psychology in 2004 and her doctor of Medicine at American University of Antigua College of Medicine in 2010.</p> <p>She completed an Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arizona with Dr. Andrew Weil in 2016.</p> <p>She also completed functional medicine training with the Institute of functional medicine in 2017. Dr. Bindiya, it's awesome to have you on. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:01</b></strong></p> <p>I am. Thank you for having me.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:03</b></strong></p> <p>No problem, no problem. And the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:10</b></strong></p> <p>So I think I've always wanted to be a business owner. I think it's just always been instilled in me. I grew up and my parents were business owners, so I think that had a very big part of it, just wanting to be by myself and being, running my own business, it's kind of hard when you work for someone else.</p> <p>And I learned that really early on with my dad, watching him working for someone else, than how much freedom he had when he had his own business. So I knew from probably very early on that that was kind of the route I wanted to take.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:40</b></strong></p> <p>No, I appreciate you sharing your story, and it's always interesting to hear how I always, figure out if entrepreneurs are born and made.</p> <p>But the fact that you've been able to kind of grow up in that environment and you've been able to understand, like, what entrepreneurship is, what that looks like, and being able to adapt that into what you're doing now is awesome. You learn that from your parents?</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:57</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. Yeah. I think, honestly, being an entrepreneur is hard. Like, sometimes I'm like, what did I get myself into? Like, I could just work for someone else and have a steady paycheck. Like, I don't even have to think about it.</p> <p>But then I remember, okay, this is why I'm doing this. So it's nice to have worked in corporate world, and it's also nice to be able to do this.</p> <p>So I encourage everybody to explore all options. So you know what the other side of the fence is, because you will always question it and wonder, are you doing the right thing?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:24</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly, exactly. And just like you, I always felt that the best way to find out what you wanted, do what you should do, what you kind of is, like your passion or gift is to kind of try out multiple things. And if you know both sides, then you know how to make the right decision.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:36</b></strong></p> <p>Yep.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:37</b></strong></p> <p>And I know we touched on a little bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit more about your practice and what it is that you're doing.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:41</b></strong></p> <p>So I practice integrative and functional medicine, so I am family medicine doctor. That was my primary residency, and then I did a fellowship in integrated functional medicine.</p> <p>My job is to intertwine Eastern and Western medicine. I like to get to the root cause of the problem.</p> <p>So I see patients from kids to adults, from simple medical conditions like thyroid issues to chronic things like diabetes, high blood pressure, trying to get them off medications.</p> <p>I deal with a lot of cancer patients, a lot of females, women, health. I deal a lot with fertility patients, helping a lot of females get help them get pregnant.</p> <p>But the just of it is we do it in a very natural way. And I'm all about a lifestyle change. So I preach, it takes a little longer sometimes, but let's get to the root cause.</p> <p>Let's fix your lifestyle and that's going to keep you healthy in the long run versus a quick fix. I don't like medications. I don't like the quick fix.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:31</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. And especially in this day and age, and definitely correct me if I'm wrong, it seems like everybody's always looking for the quick, the fast, or whatever.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:38</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:38</b></strong></p> <p>And you kind of seems like you're preaching more like lifestyle changes, long term changes you can make.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:43</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, exactly. Because what I've noticed in practice is the lifestyle changes, the habits that you form and make are going to be long lasting.</p> <p>And that's what's going to take you to the next level. That's what's going to keep you healthier. Your health is an investment, and I tell patients that.</p> <p>And like a diet, if you do a quick fix, like, guess what happens after you complete that diet? You'll go back to eating crap. Right. Like nothing is a quick fix.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:08</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly. Yeah. I've always heard that. And like, your car, you got to make sure you go get your tune up and everything all the time so it runs correctly.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:14</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly. Same concept. Yep.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:16</b></strong></p> <p>Awesome. Awesome, awesome. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call like your secret sauce.</p> <p>And this is what you feel kind of distinguishes you or your organization apart, but what do you feel kind of is your secret sauce.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:25</b></strong></p> <p>So our practice is kind of unique in the Atlanta area. I'm probably one of the only doctors that takes insurance, which is kind of a newer model.</p> <p>Most of the integrative functional doctors in the area and most of the integrative functional doctors I know in general do not take insurance.</p> <p>So this is kind of, I would like to say, is my secret sauce. This is something new that I'm trying out and hopefully this works.</p> <p>But yeah, that was probably what differentiates us from other practices and other people doing the same thing.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:52</b></strong></p> <p>Nice. Was there anything that kind of prompted you to want to try to maybe take insurance?</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>05:57</b></strong></p> <p>So, my whole thing was I wanted to reach a group of people that probably wouldn't be able to get this kind of care if they didn't have the financial means.</p> <p>So that was kind of what I wanted to do. And I mean, the way I look at it, majority of patients nowadays have insurance and they want to be able to use it.</p> <p>Insurance has its pros and cons, so sometimes it's great and sometimes we have a lot of limitations, that we're. We're trying it out. And so far, so good.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:22</b></strong></p> <p>Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, definitely appreciate you for doing that, especially with a lot of ways that people don't realize that they can do certain options.</p> <p>And now you've opened up the opportunity for people to be able to do that. So definitely appreciate you for doing that.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:34</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. There's a lot of patients that come to me that have been seeking this kind of medicine, but can't afford to pay the 600, $700 out of pocket for the initial consult.</p> <p>So it's nice to be able to help a nice middle class that interested in the lifestyle changes. So my patients are very educated, they're very knowledgeable about supplements, nutrition, health and meditation. So it's nice to be able to help everybody.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:59</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely, absolutely. And now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:10</b></strong></p> <p>So I honestly am going to tell you I start off my day a couple ways. Two things I do every day. Meditate.</p> <p>That's something I do. And give gratitude for what I have in life, that's just something I do. That's my personal practice. It can be something as simple as giving thanks to my patients.</p> <p>When I see them in person or even before the day starts, I'll say, I'll be like, I'm so grateful for my patients today, because if it weren't for my patients, I can't keep the doors open.</p> <p>And so different things like that, I'm grateful for my staff, showing them gratitude, but also telling myself that I'm grateful for them.</p> <p>So different things like that are super important because your mindset can make you or break you.</p> <p>And that I cannot stress that enough. That's why I always like to start my day off, meditating, getting to the right frame of mind.</p> <p>Sometimes on the way to the office, like, you're stuck in traffic and you're already having, like, blimps in the day, and you're like that. That puts like a hamper on your mood in your day.</p> <p>But you know what? Like, I get to the office, I get into my personal office, and I just, like, recollect myself, recollect my thoughts before I see my first patient, because that energy will last the whole day.</p> <p>And it affects. That energy also affects, my relationship with my staff, my relationship with patients and everything else.</p> <p>So having that, like, starting your day off, like, just giving gratitude for what you have is only going to leave your life more abundant and more full.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:30</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. No, I definitely think that's a phenomenal practice because a lot of times in this day and age, like we talked about, with the quick fix, people are also looking for the outside thing or I need this or I need this or I don't have this or I don't have that.</p> <p>But really, sometimes if we look around, we can be very grateful for a lot of things we have.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:46</b></strong></p> <p>Yes. Yeah. It's all in front of you.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:48</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly, exactly. 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 can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>08:59</b></strong></p> <p>Gosh,that's a challenging one. It's for me, my biggest thing is I would tell my younger self to literally be patient. I knew I always wanted to be a doctor. I always knew I wanted to be a business owner.</p> <p>I think if I just had more faith in myself when I was younger, it would happen, and I think I did all this worrying and all this, running around in circles.</p> <p>If I just trusted the universe, it would have fallen into place. And I think that's probably what I would, I would tell myself and my 20 year old self wouldn't have understood that.</p> <p>Even today, like if I said trust the process, like, but honestly, trust the process, believe in yourself and all will work out.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:37</b></strong></p> <p>Absolutely. Yeah. That's very hard, especially for high achieving people, people that want to accomplish a lot. You always want to do it yesterday, if not yesterday, the week before that.</p> <p>But you got to kind of remember that there's a process and anything that is worthwhile creating, it takes time to build. So.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:53</b></strong></p> <p>Yes, yes, for sure.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>09:54</b></strong></p> <p>Awesome, awesome, awesome. And now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.</p> <p>And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So I want to ask you, what does being a CEO means to you?</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:05</b></strong></p> <p>Honestly, that's a hard question. Being a CEO means so much more. I don't think I really understood what being a CEO truly meant until I became a CEO.</p> <p>It's a lot of work, a lot of heartache, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but it's so rewarding. You have the autonomy, you have the ability to control your own schedule.</p> <p>You have the ability to leave the office early if need be, or work around your schedule for whatever, but it's truly rewarding.</p> <p>I don't know if I answered your question fully, but for anybody that's on the fence, I would say go for it.</p> <p>You have nothing to lose. Yes, there are times that you doubt yourself. There are times that you question it. There are times that you're like, am I doing the right thing?</p> <p>Like, am I good enough? Like, will this work out? There are all those questions and anxiety that come with any change in career, but it's so worth it and so rewarding at the end of the day. So anybody that's on the fence, just do it. It's now or never.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:04</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly, exactly. Just like Nike said, just do it. Don't think about it too too much, and just go out and do that. So I definitely agree with that and I appreciate you for giving that definition.</p> <p>And now I wanted to pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know. And then, of course, how they can get a hold of you and reach out to you if they have any.</p> <p><strong><b>Dr. Bindiya Gandhi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>11:21</b></strong></p> <p>Well, I mean, honestly, I think the only thing I would say is for everybody right now, like, anybody that's interested in pursuing whatever dreams or careers, just do it like it's it.</p> <p>Whatever it is you want to do, whether it's to be an entrepreneur, to write a book, to start your own podcast, whatever it is the time is now.</p> <p>Don't hesitate. Just jump into it and do it. One thing I will share is from a medical aspect, take care of yourself. The things that you guys do now in your 20s and your 30s will affect you in your 70s.</p> <p>So take good care of yourself now. Remember, there is no quick fix in life. Hard work does pay off.</p> <p>And even if that means, in regards to your health, so if that means going to the gym every day, eating well getting seven to eight hours of sleep, all that stuff, when you're 70, you're going to appreciate because all these habits of life carry on forever.</p> <p>So I can't stress that. Stay healthy now. Invest in yourself right now. When you're 70 and 80, you won't be on 10 different medications. You know why?</p> <p>Because it's easy for you to follow. You've been doing this for so many years. It's natural for you to stick to it.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>12:30</b></strong></p> <p>Exactly, exactly. That makes perfec IAM2372 – Essential for Success in Franchise Broker Journey: CEO Time https://iamceo.co/2025/02/09/iam2372-essential-for-success-in-franchise-broker-journey-ceo-time/ I AM CEO Podcast urn:uuid:aae1d911-1791-0c26-5595-28a17d9242f5 Sun, 09 Feb 2025 06:16:13 -0500 <p>Gresham Harkless discusses his day and shares insights about strategic planning, leadership, and working on versus in the business. He mentions that his day is focused on meeting with his team at Blue 16 Marketing for strategic planning, which allows him to step back and focus on the bigger picture. Gresham emphasizes the importance of &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://iamceo.co/2025/02/09/iam2372-essential-for-success-in-franchise-broker-journey-ceo-time/">IAM2372 &#8211; Essential for Success in Franchise Broker Journey: CEO Time</a> appeared first on <a href="https://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-186285" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2025/01/2372.png" alt="Smiling man next to a podcast advertisement for &quot;Essential for Success in Franchise Broker Journey: CEO Time,&quot; Episode 2372. Various podcast platforms are listed below." /></div> <div> <div> <p>Gresham Harkless discusses his day and shares insights about strategic planning, leadership, and working on versus in the business.</p> <p>He mentions that his day is focused on meeting with his team at Blue 16 Marketing for strategic planning, which allows him to step back and focus on the bigger picture.</p> <p>Gresham emphasizes the importance of &#8220;CEO Time&#8221;—dedicated time to think strategically and work on the business rather than getting bogged down by the tasks of the business itself.</p> <p>Gresham reflects on the interconnectedness of the three main businesses he manages: CB Nation (content creation), his digital marketing company, and Blue Star (a franchise brokerage).</p> <p>In addition, he highlights the challenge of balancing the demands of strategic thinking and execution but emphasizes how important it is to remain dialed into the business’s overall goals.</p> <ul> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Blue Star Franchise: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Browse the Franchise Inventory: <a href="https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: <a href="http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment</a></li> <li class="inline-block text-sm">Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site &#8211; coming soon) &#8211; <a href="http://franchiseceo.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://franchiseceo.co</a></li> </ul> </div> <div> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Intro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:29</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.</p> <p>But just wanted 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.</p> <p>The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh here and I'm recording this a little bit differently. Usually I record in the early morning. I'm recording a little bit more midday right before I actually do some podcast recordings.</p> <p>And there wasn't any specific reason I want to do this differently. Just kind of like the day got away from me.</p> <p>So I want to do a quick update, really. Today is a lot of strategic planning time to meet with the team for Blue 16 Marketing, and I haven't really had as much time. I wanted to kind of focus on Blue Star, the franchise brokerage.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>However, I have been really focused on making sure that I am intentional on how I'm going to spend that time with the strategic planning.</p> <p>A lot of times it provides some space for me to kind of work a little bit more on the business rather than in the business.</p> <p>And it's so important to make sure that you create that time, that space. Some people call it CEO time, but whatever you might call it, it's so important to make sure that you are thinking more working on the business rather than in the business.</p> <p>Even if it's just an hour, if it's just 30 minutes for you to think strategically about what you're doing, to kind of get ahead while you're actually rolling up your sleeves and you're doing other things. Mondays is usually my day to kind of focus a little bit more on that.</p> <p>It just allows my mind to kind of race to go through those different things and ends up becoming sometimes an exhausting thing because you're thinking about all the things in the future when you're trying to also just make sure that you're being present and to try to try to juggle all those things ends up being, you know, something that can be taxing.</p> <p>But I marry those with the opportunity to be in my podcast mode because a lot of times I get to do those quote-unquote, more fun things, I guess you can say related to the business, but you have to really think strategically about the business.</p> <p>So I feel like I have a really strong three business types and really just trying to bring all those things together, how to think strategically around how that's going to be and come to fruition.</p> <p>So whether it be CB Nation and all the content that we create from the daily podcast, blogs, video content, or it is the digital marketing company, or of course now the franchise brokerage, I feel like those three are very much so intertwined.</p> <p>So that it makes us better able to be able to serve the CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, actually heard the phrase, and I've heard it a few times, but it actually was said to me.</p> <p>I can't remember who said it to me, but basically trying to create a flywheel. That flywheel has many different aspects that are very much so intertwined to be able to kind of serve that B2B space.</p> <p>So I'm super excited to kind of employ that flywheel, kind of see like exactly how it takes shape.</p> <p>But frankly, it has to going to require like a refresh of a lot of the brands and things that we're doing.</p> <p>So that's also very exhausting just kind of thinking about that and what that's going to look like. But that's exactly why we do the things that we do, why we have to pivot and change.</p> <p>Because we're, we're chasing the ability to be able to succeed, chasing the ability to be able to serve, to make an impact and of course be able to generate, more revenue.</p> <p>So when we're trying to do all of those things, it's so important that we're dialed into what is going to help to serve our client and audience.</p> <p>And as we have other members of the team, it's also so important for me to make sure everybody's dialed in as far as, like the things that are actually helping to solve problems to make us a better organization.</p> <p>So that could get exhausting when you're trying to have those conversations, when you see all those things and you have to kind of execute, have that go throughout the team.</p> <p>But that's part of like why you're. You are in the position that you're in. You're trying to create a kind of a plan or a strategy that you want the team to execute.</p> <p>And it's so important to kind of stay dialed into that, which is why it's. It's vital to have that CEO time, that strategic planning, whatever, and however you might call it, essentially working more on the business than in the business, you create space for that.</p> <p>It allows you to employ those things that you need to be to be successful. So this is my CEO time. I wanted to make sure that.</p> <p>I emphasize that because as you start to work less in the business, you're going to create more space to work on the business and what that looks like in terms of solving big problems, thinking strategically about the business, thinking about ideas and being able to kind of implement those, those are going to be huge things that you're going to want to make sure that you do.</p> <p>So with that being said, Gresh signing out and yeah, sure, you keep working and thinking about on versus in the business and how that can help you to kind of take things to another level.</p> <p>It's one of the cool things about franchises is allow you a lot of times to be able to do more time towards, you know, working more on the business.</p> <p>But frankly, there are a lot of people that are still working in the business and that's something you just want to kind of understand with your vision of what you want to have within your organization, in your life, frankly, and then kind of work backwards from there.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Ou</b></strong><strong><b>tro</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:32</b></strong></p> <p>Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.</p> <p>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.</p> <div id="fbxt-wrap" > <div id="fbxt-wrap--inner" class="fbxt-extra-class"> <div class="fbxt-header"> <div class="fbxt-header--logo"> <svg width="24" height="25" viewBox="0 0 24 25" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <circle opacity="0.05" cx="11.6406" cy="12.3918" r="11.6406" fill="#C60808"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 10.2899H6.63672V9.04663H16.6445V10.2899Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 13.3421H6.63672V12.0989H16.6445V13.3421Z"/> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7025 16.395H6.63672V15.1518H12.7025V16.395Z"/> </svg> <span class="fbxt-header-text">IAMCEO Podcast Transcript</span> </div> <div class="fbxt-header--nav"> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-email" href="#" style="display:none" > <svg width="16" height="12" viewBox="0 0 16 12" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M14.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V10.5C0 11.3438 0.65625 12 1.5 12H14.5C15.3125 12 16 11.3438 16 10.5V1.5C16 0.6875 15.3125 0 14.5 0ZM14.5 1.5V2.78125C13.7812 3.375 12.6562 4.25 10.2812 6.125C9.75 6.53125 8.71875 7.53125 8 7.5C7.25 7.53125 6.21875 6.53125 5.6875 6.125C3.3125 4.25 2.1875 3.375 1.5 2.78125V1.5H14.5ZM1.5 10.5V4.71875C2.1875 5.28125 3.21875 6.09375 4.75 7.3125C5.4375 7.84375 6.65625 9.03125 8 9C9.3125 9.03125 10.5 7.84375 11.2188 7.3125C12.75 6.09375 13.7812 5.28125 14.5 4.71875V10.5H1.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Email</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-download" href="#" > <svg width="18" height="16" viewBox="0 0 18 16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M16.5 9H13.5938L15.0625 7.5625C16 6.625 15.3125 5 14 5H12V1.5C12 0.6875 11.3125 0 10.5 0H7.5C6.65625 0 6 0.6875 6 1.5V5H4C2.65625 5 1.96875 6.625 2.9375 7.5625L4.375 9H1.5C0.65625 9 0 9.6875 0 10.5V14.5C0 15.3438 0.65625 16 1.5 16H16.5C17.3125 16 18 15.3438 18 14.5V10.5C18 9.6875 17.3125 9 16.5 9ZM4 6.5H7.5V1.5H10.5V6.5H14L9 11.5L4 6.5ZM16.5 14.5H1.5V10.5H5.875L7.9375 12.5625C8.5 13.1562 9.46875 13.1562 10.0312 12.5625L12.0938 10.5H16.5V14.5ZM13.75 12.5C13.75 12.9375 14.0625 13.25 14.5 13.25C14.9062 13.25 15.25 12.9375 15.25 12.5C15.25 12.0938 14.9062 11.75 14.5 11.75C14.0625 11.75 13.75 12.0938 13.75 12.5Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">Download</span> </a> <a class="fbxt-header--nav-item fbxt-nav-new_tab" href="#" > <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 14 14" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M12.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V12.5C0 13.3438 0.65625 14 1.5 14H12.5C13.3125 14 14 13.3438 14 12.5V1.5C14 0.6875 13.3125 0 12.5 0ZM12.3125 12.5H1.6875C1.5625 12.5 1.5 12.4375 1.5 12.3125V1.6875C1.5 1.59375 1.5625 1.5 1.6875 1.5H12.3125C12.4062 1.5 12.5 1.59375 12.5 1.6875V12.3125C12.5 12.4375 12.4062 12.5 12.3125 12.5ZM10.625 3L6.375 3.03125C6.15625 3.03125 6 3.1875 6 3.40625V4.25C6 4.46875 6.15625 4.65625 6.375 4.625L8.1875 4.5625L3.09375 9.65625C2.9375 9.8125 2.9375 10.0312 3.09375 10.1875L3.8125 10.9062C3.96875 11.0625 4.1875 11.0625 4.34375 10.9062L9.4375 5.8125L9.375 7.625C9.34375 7.84375 9.53125 8 9.75 8H10.5938C10.8125 8 10.9688 7.84375 10.9688 7.625L11 3.375C11 3.1875 10.8125 3 10.625 3Z" /> </svg> <span class="fbxt-nav-text">New Tab</span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="fbxt-content"> <div class="fbxt-content--inner"> <p><b>Title:</b> Transcript - Sun, 26 Jan 2025 14:17:46 GMT</p> <p><b>Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2025 14:17:46 GMT, Duration:</b> [00:07:12.79]</p> <p>[00:00:01.52] - Intro</p> <p>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.</p> <p>[00:00:29.51] - Gresham Harkless</p> <p>Hello, hello, hello, this is Gretch from the IM CEO Podcast, and this is a special episode of our IM 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 sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show, notes related to that, but just wanted 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 steps, 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'll 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 and 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.</p> <p>[00:01:55.56] - Gresham Harkless</p> <p>Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh here and I'm recording this a little bit differently. Usually I record in the early morning. I'm recording a little bit more midday right before I actually do some podcast recordings. And there wasn't any specific reason I want to do this differently. Just kind of like the day got away from me. So I want to do a quick update, really. Today is a lot of strategic planning time to meet with the team for Blue 16 marketing, and I haven't really had as much time. I wanted to kind of focus on Blue Star, the franchise brokerage. However, I have been really focused on making sure that I am intentional on how I'm going to spend that time with the strategic planning. A lot of times it provides some space for me to kind of work a little bit more on the business rather than in the business. And it's so important to make sure that you create that time, that space. Some people call it CEO time, but whatever you might call it, it's so important to make sure that you are thinking more working on the business rather than in the business. Even if it's just an hour, if it's just 30 minutes for you to think strategically about what you're doing, to kind of get ahead while you're actually rolling up your sleeves and you're doing other things. Mondays is usually my day to kind of focus a little bit more on that. It just allows my, my mind to kind of race to go through those different things and ends up becoming sometimes an exhausting thing because you're thinking about all the things in the future when you're trying to also just make sure that you're being present and to try to try to juggle all those things ends up being, you know, something that can be taxing. But I marry those with the opportunity to be in my, my podcast mode because a lot of times I get to do those quote unquote, more fun things, I guess you can say related to the business, but you have to really think strategically about the business. So I feel like I have a really strong three business types and really just trying to bring all those things together, how to think strategically around how that's going to be and come to fruition. So whether it be CB Nation and all the content that we create from the daily podcast, blogs, video content, or it is the digital marketing company, or of course now the franchise brokerage, I feel like those three are very much so intertwined so that it makes us better able to be able to serve the CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, actually heard the phrase, and I've heard it a few times, but it actually was said to me. I can't remember who said it to me, but basically trying to create a flywheel. That flywheel has many different aspects that are very much so intertwined to be able to kind of serve that B2B space. So I'm super excited to kind of employ that flywheel, kind of see like exactly how it takes shape. But frankly, it has to going to require like a refresh of a lot of the brands and things that we're doing. So that's also very exhausting just kind of thinking about that and what that's going to look like. But that's exactly why we do the things that we do, why we have to pivot and change, because we're, we're chasing the ability to be able to succeed, chasing the ability to be able to serve, to make an impact and of course be able to generate, you know, more revenue. So when we're trying to do all of those things, it's so important that we're dialed into what is going to help to serve our client and audience. And as we have other members of the team, it's also so important for me to make sure everybody's dialed in as far as, like the things that are actually helping to solve problems to make us a better organization. So that could get exhausting when you're trying to have those conversations, when you see all those things and you have to kind of execute, have that go throughout the team. But that's part of like why you're. You are in the position that you're in. You're trying to create a kind of a plan or a strategy that you want the team to execute. And it's so importa Founder Empowers Future Female Leaders in Food & Beverage Industry https://cbnation.tv/2025/02/08/founder-empowers-future-female-leaders-in-food-beverage-industry/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:3587ffe9-6272-69ba-2f36-b8146c54a2ac Sat, 08 Feb 2025 10:56:27 -0500 <p>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 &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2025/02/08/founder-empowers-future-female-leaders-in-food-beverage-industry/">Founder Empowers Future Female Leaders in Food &#038; Beverage Industry</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full tie-image184936" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/46/2025/02/IAM2307.png" alt="Podcast episode 2307 featuring Gresham Harkless Jr. and Christie Lawler discussing empowering future female leaders in the food and beverage industry." /></div> <div> <p>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.</p> <p>She is also the host of the Lawler Out Loud Mixing Up the Mainstream Podcast and an advocate on several industry boards.</p> <p>Christie is recognized for her leadership, including being named &#8220;Innovator of the Year&#8221; (2022) and &#8220;Most Influential Beverage Strategist&#8221; (2021).</p> <p>Christie discusses the emotional and relational benefits of the initiative, the challenges faced during conferences, and the importance of resilience and problem-solving.</p> <p>Moreover, she emphasizes persistence and never misses deadlines, describing herself as a realistic optimist.</p> <p>Website: <a href="https://cjlconsults.com/about-us-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CJL Consulting</a></p> <p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christie-j-lawler/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christie Lawler</a></p> <p>Previous Episode: <a href="https://iamceo.co/2020/11/13/iam823-founder-supports-national-hospitality-industry-and-future-female-leaders/">iam823-founder-supports-national-hospitality-industry-and-future-female-leaders</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p>I AM CEO Podcast Interview: <a href="https://iamceo.co/2024/12/06/iam2307-founder-empowers-future-female-leaders-in-food-beverage-industry/">https://iamceo.co/2024/12/06/iam2307-founder-empowers-future-female-leaders-in-food-beverage-industry/</a></p> </div> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2025/02/08/founder-empowers-future-female-leaders-in-food-beverage-industry/">Founder Empowers Future Female Leaders in Food &#038; Beverage Industry</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> CEO Helps Business Owners Focus on High Impact Activities https://cbnation.tv/2025/02/08/ceo-helps-business-owners-focus-on-high-impact-activities/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:69b5406f-a896-c171-7e3d-9fabcd6d82fc Sat, 08 Feb 2025 10:46:45 -0500 <p>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 &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2025/02/08/ceo-helps-business-owners-focus-on-high-impact-activities/">CEO Helps Business Owners Focus on High Impact Activities</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <div data-sider-select-id="fb2c5f12-3afc-4ed0-93c3-c9a26fdd6ad2"> <p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-181730" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/46/2025/02/IAM2259-1.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <div> <p>Frank Goodman is a seasoned business consultant and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience.</p> <p>Frank has worked with startups, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies, holding degrees in computer engineering and systems engineering.</p> <p>Frank shares the importance of understanding where clients want to go and the external factors that might affect their businesses.</p> <p>He emphasizes the need for thorough assessment rather than quick fixes.</p> <p>Frank discusses the challenge of businesses adapting to tools rather than the tools fitting their processes.</p> <p>He believes technology should enhance existing workflows without forcing companies to change their fundamental operations.</p> <div class="stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter"></div> <p>The conversation highlights the importance of buy-in from the team for any technology or process changes to be effective.</p> <p>Website: <a href="https://roiforpros.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ROI for Pros</a></p> <p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankgoodmanii/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Frank Goodman</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> </div> <div> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business <a class="pretty-link-keyword" title="CEO Hacks - Podcasting" href="https://iamceo.co/podcast" rel="">podcasts</a> we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the <a class="pretty-link-keyword" title="CEO Hacks - Podcasting" href="https://iamceo.co/podcast" rel="">podcast</a>, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!</em></strong></p> </div> </div> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2025/02/08/ceo-helps-business-owners-focus-on-high-impact-activities/">CEO Helps Business Owners Focus on High Impact Activities</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> The Power of Social Media: A Guide for Businesses https://blue16media.com/blog/2025/02/01/the-power-of-social-media-a-guide-for-businesses/ urn:uuid:601e8480-8aac-d4f2-a0a8-842c36a83b64 Sat, 01 Feb 2025 09:16:06 -0500 <p>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...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2025/02/01/the-power-of-social-media-a-guide-for-businesses/" data-wpel-link="internal">The Power of Social Media: A Guide for Businesses</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com" data-wpel-link="internal"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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. </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/" data-wpel-link="internal"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Contact us</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> today to get started!</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why Your Business Needs Social Media Marketing</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s the power of social media!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To make this a reality, businesses need a clear plan to make the most of their social media presence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When used effectively, social media can:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Help you understand your audience better.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Make your business more accessible.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Offer a space to showcase your products and services creatively.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With the right strategy, you build meaningful relationships that turn followers into loyal customers.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Building a Social Media Strategy That Works</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A good strategy starts with understanding your goals. </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">i) Do you want more people to know about your business? </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ii) Are you trying to sell a product? </span></p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">iii) Do you want to position yourself as an industry leader? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you know your purpose, you can choose the right platforms that align with your audience and goals.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facebook: The All-in-One Platform</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">LinkedIn: The Professional Network</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instagram: Visual Storytelling</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Collaborating with influencers can also give your brand a boost on Instagram.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other Platforms to Explore</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Experiment to find out which ones work best for your business.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Key to Success: Consistency and Engagement</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Social Media Drives Results</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Using creative campaigns and engaging content can capture attention and keep your brand top-of-mind. The results will be;</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boosted website traffic as users click on links in your posts.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Increased brand visibility through shares, likes, and comments.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">More sales as your audience becomes more familiar with your offerings.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Blue16 Media Can Help</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blue16 Media is a digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information or inquiries, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/" data-wpel-link="internal"><span style="font-weight: 400;">contact form</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on our website.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2025/02/01/the-power-of-social-media-a-guide-for-businesses/" data-wpel-link="internal">The Power of Social Media: A Guide for Businesses</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com" data-wpel-link="internal"></a>.</p> New Year Marketing Goals: How to Set Your Digital Marketing Strategy for 2025 https://blue16media.com/blog/2025/01/01/new-year-marketing-goals-how-to-set-your-digital-marketing-strategy-for-2025/ urn:uuid:5239ed69-325d-b28f-c59b-7608bb502842 Wed, 01 Jan 2025 09:16:38 -0500 <p>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...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2025/01/01/new-year-marketing-goals-how-to-set-your-digital-marketing-strategy-for-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">New Year Marketing Goals: How to Set Your Digital Marketing Strategy for 2025</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com" data-wpel-link="internal"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reflect on the Past Year</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Define Clear, Measurable Goals</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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&#8217;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.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adjust Your Strategies for the New Year</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stay Consistent, Yet Flexible</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Celebrate Small Wins Along the Way</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Blue16 Media Can Help</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blue16 Media is a digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information or inquiries, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/" data-wpel-link="internal"><span style="font-weight: 400;">contact form</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on our website.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2025/01/01/new-year-marketing-goals-how-to-set-your-digital-marketing-strategy-for-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">New Year Marketing Goals: How to Set Your Digital Marketing Strategy for 2025</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com" data-wpel-link="internal"></a>.</p> Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 5. OPERATIONS / LEGAL https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-5-operations-legal/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:874a6373-9754-9472-89f3-79b81b26ba5b Sun, 08 Dec 2024 22:09:20 -0500 <p>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 &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-5-operations-legal/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 5. OPERATIONS / LEGAL</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-182039" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2024/06/IAM2139.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></div> <div> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>In addition, Gresham highlights the benefits of systematizing tasks and operations for a better working environment for both the team and clients.</p> </div> <div><a href="http://cbnation.co/pillar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://cbnation.co/pillar</a><br /> <a href="http://community.cbnation.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://community.cbnation.co</a></div> <div> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Full Interview:</h2> <p><iframe title="Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 5. OPERATIONS / LEGAL" width="1220" height="686" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BrXGn5U_h8A?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Intro </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless </b></strong><strong><b>00:</b></strong><strong><b>38</b></strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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<sup>st</sup> one. Strategy is gonna be your 2<sup>nd</sup> one. The 3<sup>rd</sup> 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong><b>Outro 10</b></strong><strong><b>:</b></strong><strong><b>11</b></strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>[fusebox_transcript]</p> <p>[/restrict]</p> </div> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-5-operations-legal/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 5. OPERATIONS / LEGAL</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 4. PEOPLE = HUMAN PART OF BUSINESS https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-4-people-human-part-of-business/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:c36ec23e-9370-c9a9-9b92-144394f823ec Sun, 08 Dec 2024 22:06:45 -0500 <p>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 &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-4-people-human-part-of-business/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 4. PEOPLE = HUMAN PART OF BUSINESS</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <div> <p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full tie-image182037" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2024/06/IAM2138-1.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <div> <p>In this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast, Gresh delves into the eight foundational pillars that can help elevate your business.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>This episode specifically highlights the fourth pillar: People and the Human Part of Business.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>He also underscores the necessity of self-care for entrepreneurs to avoid burnout and ensure sustained success.</p> <p>The discussion aims to remind listeners that balancing the needs of the business and its people is crucial for long-term growth and impact.</p> </div> <div><a href="http://cbnation.co/pillar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://cbnation.co/pillar</a><br /> <a href="http://community.cbnation.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://community.cbnation.co</a></div> </div> <div></div> <div> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Full Interview:</h2> <p><iframe title="Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 4. PEOPLE = HUMAN PART OF BUSINESS" width="1220" height="686" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/edTO5Fc5VDk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong>Intro 00:00</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>Gresham Harkless 00:38</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>Outro 08:07</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.</p> <p>[/restrict]</p> </div> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-4-people-human-part-of-business/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 4. PEOPLE = HUMAN PART OF BUSINESS</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 3. OFFERING – PRODUCTS/SERVICES https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-3-offering-products-services/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:32130599-aa0e-de27-e2a6-52a3dd0baf81 Sun, 08 Dec 2024 22:03:37 -0500 <p>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 &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-3-offering-products-services/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 3. OFFERING &#8211; PRODUCTS/SERVICES</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full tie-image182010" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2024/06/IAM2135-2.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Additionally, he stresses the significance of understanding the entire customer journey and the value you bring to their lives.</p> <p>This episode is a precursor to a more detailed course aimed at helping businesses level up.</p> <p><a class="autolinked" href="http://cbnation.co/pillar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-behavior="truncate">http://cbnation.co/pillar</a><br /> <a class="autolinked" href="http://community.cbnation.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-behavior="truncate">http://community.cbnation.co</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Full Interview:</h2> <p><iframe title="Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 3. OFFERING - PRODUCTS/SERVICES" width="1220" height="686" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SsjOLMrLvpk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong>Intro 00:00</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>Gresham Harkless 00:37</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>OUTRO 11:11</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.</p> <p>[/restrict]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/08/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-3-offering-products-services/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 3. OFFERING &#8211; PRODUCTS/SERVICES</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 2. STRATEGY https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-2-strategy/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:77bb85e6-cc54-a576-1c99-0991ce083ffd Mon, 02 Dec 2024 04:17:56 -0500 <p>In this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast, Gresh dives into the critical pillar of &#8216;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, &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-2-strategy/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 2. STRATEGY</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-181995" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2024/06/IAM2134.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />In this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast, Gresh dives into the critical pillar of &#8216;strategy' as part of an eight-pillar framework for successful business development.</p> <p>Gresh emphasizes the importance of having a strategy to turn ideas into actionable plans and achieve business goals.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><a class="autolinked" href="http://cbnation.co/pillar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-behavior="truncate">http://cbnation.co/pillar</a><br /> <a class="autolinked" href="http://community.cbnation.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-behavior="truncate">http://community.cbnation.co</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Full Interview:</h2> <p><iframe title="Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 2. STRATEGY" width="1220" height="686" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HSrVZs1-i5I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong>Intro 00:00</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.</p> <p><strong>Gresham Harkless 00:38</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So each of these three people have similar businesses, similar ideas, but they're executing completely different ways.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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?</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>Outro 09:24</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>So it helps you level up your business and organization. So hope you enjoyed this episode and definitely please check out the show notes.</p> <p>This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.</p> <p>[/restrict]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-2-strategy/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 2. STRATEGY</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP and the JOURNEY https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-1-entrepreneurship-and-the-journey/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:0184df9d-2c27-993e-d740-a4efdcd5d691 Mon, 02 Dec 2024 04:15:47 -0500 <p>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, &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-1-entrepreneurship-and-the-journey/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP and the JOURNEY</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full tie-image181999" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2024/06/IAM2133-1.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>This episode focuses on the entrepreneurship pillar, exploring the journey of entrepreneurship, the misconceptions of overnight success, and the importance of problem-solving.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><a class="autolinked" href="http://cbnation.co/pillar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-behavior="truncate">http://cbnation.co/pillar</a><br /> <a class="autolinked" href="http://community.cbnation.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-behavior="truncate">http://community.cbnation.co</a></p> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Full Interview:</h2> <p><iframe title="Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP and the JOURNEY" width="1220" height="686" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f_-DnapGbu4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong>Intro 00:00</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcasts.</p> <p><strong>Gresham Harkless 00:38</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>Outro 09:34</strong></p> <p>Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoyed that special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>So you can learn more about the pillar, this is Gresh signing out. Hope you'll have a phenomenal rest of the day.</p> <p>[/restrict]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-8-business-pillars-1-entrepreneurship-and-the-journey/">Understanding the 8 Business Pillars: 1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP and the JOURNEY</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> Understanding the Psychology of Failure and the Importance of Persistence https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-psychology-of-failure-and-the-importance-of-persistence/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:2e477926-5716-ab2a-8504-a82d5e3d34c4 Mon, 02 Dec 2024 04:12:53 -0500 <p>Gresham discusses the unexpected power of a &#8216;fail wall' and the lessons learned from failure, emphasizing the importance of embracing failure as part of the path to success. Gresham and Anatolii discuss the psychology of failure, the fear of failure, and the importance of persistence in the face of setbacks. Gresh highlights the common mistakes &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-psychology-of-failure-and-the-importance-of-persistence/">Understanding the Psychology of Failure and the Importance of Persistence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full tie-image181986" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2024/06/IAM2132.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></div> <div> <p>Gresham discusses the unexpected power of a &#8216;fail wall' and the lessons learned from failure, emphasizing the importance of embracing failure as part of the path to success.</p> <p>Gresham and Anatolii discuss the psychology of failure, the fear of failure, and the importance of persistence in the face of setbacks.</p> <p>Gresh highlights the common mistakes in media marketing and SEO, emphasizing the importance of aligning strategy and understanding the tools used for optimization.</p> <p>Business Pillar: Entrepreneurship/Journey</p> </div> <div></div> <div>Episode Link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuBhmvfQcag">Embracing the Media Company Mindset</a></div> <div></div> <div> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Full Interview:</h2> <p><iframe title="Understanding the Psychology of Failure and the Importance of Persistence" width="1220" height="686" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7EclmGOw6JI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> Intro </b></strong><strong><b>00:01</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I wanted to share with you one of the episodes that I was a guest on for someone else's podcast. I always talk about how important it is to build a media company. One of the next best things you can do is be on somebody else's media company. So I had the pleasure of being a guest on this podcast and I wanted to share a little snippet with you because it would help support the eight business pillars we've really been trying to focus on with a lot more of our content, a lot more of the solo episodes that I'm doing.</p> <p>So make sure of course that you subscribe to our podcast, but of course you take some time out, check out the show notes and subscribe to the podcast that I've been featured on as well too. And get to learn about some of those eight business pillars and how you can continue to leverage and build that up. So you can go from builder to architect to a course at Rockstar and Luminary. So this is Gresh signing out. I hope you enjoyed this I AM CEO special episode.</p> <p><strong><b>Anatolii Ulitovsky</b></strong><strong><b>i </b></strong><strong><b>00:49</b></strong></p> <p>You have an incredible, special, amazing job to do. You have the business.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:55</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. I moved here about a year or so ago, so it definitely wasn't set up as it is now. But obviously I have a lot of sound proofing around here, but I also have a dry erase paint that's here. So it allows me brainstorm a lot, but actually I'll tilt this over a little bit to the right. You can actually see I have, and it's hard to see, but when I was doing the dry erase paint, I actually got to the bottom of the can and it was all supposed to be white. But I was like, I just wanted to do certain parts of the wall. And I said, you know what, I got this here, so let me just keep using it.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>And what happened is it ended up turning yellow. So that corner I actually call my fail wall. And it's one of the most powerful things that wasn't supposed to happen, but ended up happening. So I ended up putting a bunch of quotes about failure, about how failure is not final, about like how when a baby falls down, no one tells the baby, hey, you're not built to walk. So stop walking, just crawl for the rest of your life. Just all of those things. So I'm addicted to quotes. I have so much brainstorming things up, but I really think that fail wall that's in the corner that you might see some of those quotes is probably one of the most unexpected things that happen that end up being really powerful for me to see on a daily basis.</p> <p>And I think too, it just reminds me a lot of the process of marketing or the process of business and the process of life at that, how it doesn't necessarily always go the way that you want it to go, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's worse. And I think that a lot of times you can be set up for success by just, I say a lot of times don't get attached to the how, get attached to the why. So just how things are done may not go exactly how you want them to go. But if you have a strong why, you know, you're doing this for X, Y, and Z reason, then regardless of what the how ends of being then you're still going to be able to set out and and manifest your why.</p> <p><strong><b>Anatolii Ulitovskyi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:38</b></strong></p> <p>You remind me Jackie Lanil once he said about failure, failing he told that when he starts something new any new project business he always fails always because we start from generic strategies, best practices, then we need to adapt to learn from failure to go ahead. But I see when content creators give up, most content creators give up by recording the second episode of podcast, to write the second article, I don't know, because they can't get results from the first one.</p> <p>I have no idea how to do it. Next time, even Mr. Beast, many other great influencers, they spend time. Gary Vee shared that he spent 7 years on Twitter to create content from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. every single day. He avoided parties, many other things, and was consistent with that. Can you tell about failure for you? What kind of failing you can meet? Because in my times, in my life, I made a lot of mistakes. I keep doing that, but I love learning from them. So describe your understanding of failure and how not to give up and go ahead.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:50</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I think this might be a whole different episode if we talk about failure and just like the psychology and why we're so like afraid to fail, which that sounds that it didn't make sense like you're afraid to fail so we net we don't you know try at all and I think that we have such a misconception on what failure is and it's been a process for me and continues to be a process was part of like why I have this big wall up of like really understanding that failure is not the opposite of winning. It's not the opposite of success. It's not the opposite of where you want to be. It's actually part of the process.</p> <p>And it's taken me a really long time to get to understand that. And I always say if I could jump into a time machine, that's exactly what I would tell myself is that failure is actually the path. That's actually the opportunity. That's actually setting you up for success. And if you embrace that, you embrace the learning and you try to fail, fail in a way that's not catastrophic, which often the failures that we have built up in our head are catastrophic. We think if we post that post on TikTok and it gets 0 followers or even 0 likes or 0 views that we have failed at life and we have failed at business and we have to put out a business up and all these things.</p> <p>But in reality, a lot of it is not that. What separates those people is really just stepping in and going further. And Sarah Blakely, who founded Spanx, I read and listened to an interview that she said that when she was young, her dad would always ask her, how was your day? And of course she always wanted to say, hey, this went well. And I did XYZ, and A, B, and C. So he started to ask her like how she failed every day. And every time she would mention how she failed, he would give her a high five. And it completely changed the way that she looked at failure. So I think that hearing those stories and hearing like the true path to success that your Shaquille O'Neal's, your J.K. Rowling's, who got rejected so many times before she wrote Harry Potter.</p> <p>Like all those people failed so much and that's what led them to success. It helps you know that, hey, failure is not this terrible thing that we feel like it be. Don't get me wrong. Everybody wants to succeed with everything that they do. But one of the reasons that success is, and I think success and how we define it varies, but success is so powerful, is because there's so many people that fail and they just stop. But really the opportunity is to fail and keep going and learn from it. And then you continue to lean your way to success. A super long answer, but hopefully that helped how I think about failure.</p> <p><strong><b>Anatolii Ulitovskyi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:21</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, nice. Yeah, I remember when I read a book, Dale Carnegie wrote this book about stop worrying. And he shared the story about a guy who lost a job, was disappointed a lot, and after meeting another guy who didn't have legs, without legs, but this man without legs told him, wow, it's a nice day, sunny day, I love it. And after that, he changed completely his mindset about failing. If you have legs, if you have health, if you have hands, you have enough to overcome all obstacles, it's boring, just go ahead. I love it, I agree with that. Gresh, I wanna ask about mistakes, common mistakes in media marketing, in SEO. Can you list mistakes that you can see that marketers still do and your way how to find a much better way.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>07:1</b></strong><strong><b>9</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. I think that a lot of it we touched on a little bit, I think in terms of going to see what keywords you want to rank for is not niching down from there. Because if we're talking about the most competitive keywords, we're talking about your titles, tag and meta description and getting really technical from that standpoint, not having those set up, but it's not just saying that Yoast or whatever plugin that you might use gives me a green light. So that means that I have my SEO set up correctly. There's a lot of strategy around like SEO and a lot of that strategy, even with AI tools and all these technological softwares that we have in the SAS tools that we can leverage, I think is only as good as the questions that you ask, the prompts that you put in. You hear that a lot around ChatGPT.</p> <p>ChatGPT can be an incredibly powerful tool if you ask the right questions. But I think a lot of people think they're just going to sit down and the questions, at least not yet, it's not going to pull the questions, you know, from what you're looking for. But you start to, to realize that your ability to be able to know exactly what your strategy is, it's going to set you up for success more than anything else. So when we're talking about your title tag meta description, yes, you want to of course make sure that you're within the amount of characters and you make sure that you have your alt tags set up for your images and all of those things are important, but it's only as important if you know exactly what you're wanting to rank for.</p> <p>And I think that when, and you're honest about what that looks like, because if you're trying to rank for the most competitive keyword, as we talked about SEO, you can have everything in line, but you don't necessarily have everything in line because there's so many other considerations that you haven't thought of. So I think first and foremost is making sure that you understand what your strategy is and you're starting to look and be in a line with that strategy, not paying attention to what other people are doing, but just being aligned with that. The other big thing that I see a lot is, especially with COVID, you had a lot of organizations and businesses that were pivoting.</p> <p>They might've rebranded their businesses. They might've also decided that they were going to start another business or another arm of those businesses. You can get some benefits, but a lot of times, if you're getting like a new domain, you're starting from, I usually say like building a new house. So you can get some benefits in terms of getting backlinks coming back from there, but overall, you have to understand that you're not gonna start from the same place that you started from an SEO standpoint, from a Google standpoint. So it's understanding that as much as possible, you wanna try to benefit the URL that you have, but also know if you're launching something new, that it, that in fact is probably going to be something new.</p> <p>And there's of course different ways you can work through to try to improve that. But I think most people think that, okay, because I've been successful, because I have all these accomplishments on my bio, Google is going to know that. And when I launched this new business, it's going to be the exact same, but it's usually not where we're talking about the website or we're talking about even creating like a new social media handle and things like that. So I think from a very granular standpoint, it's understanding the whole kind of psychology and the way that these tools work, but it's also using the tools to support the mission and the strategy that you put in place and it ends up being a strategy that you can execute on. So hopefully that's somewhat helpful.</p> <p><strong><b>Anatolii Ulitovskyi</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:47</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, nice, nice. Let's talk about AI. So it's hard to ignore this topic today. Impossible tomorrow. And you mentioned about writing prompts. You remind me Elon Musk, when he shared a screenshot after with the question that he asked on ChatGPT. And I read a few times this question to understand what Elon Musk want to get. So he wrote a unique prompt, a unique question, and I gave a unique answer. And it's what I see when people set up prompts, write an article, how to play guitar, how to lose weight, how to build muscles. You can get content that you can find on Google.</p> <p>Even on Google, you can find much better content because I just rewrite existing content. So can you tell how to write these prompts? How to create unique prompts that Elon Musk did before? He did it before criticizing AI and signed this letter with my thousand other companies to procrastinate the process. And it's interesting after that, he decided to buy expensive equipment to develop this technology on Twitter. So Elon Musk can change his mind fast. It's his attitude. And yeah, let us know about writing these prompts.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>12:07</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I think that one of the big things that you see around all different types of technology, whether we're talking about SEO or we're talking about social media, there's this hesitation or kind of fear, maybe since we were talking about fear around like how exactly to do that. And when we're thinking about AI, I feel like it's a lot of the similar things and insane things. I think We're just scratching the surface on what it could potentially be. And AI has been around, if you really think about it, from being able to take information and synthesize that information very quickly.</p> <p>So it's been around for some time. I think it's just become obviously a lot popular with chat GPT and writing college essays and taking GMAT tests and all these tests and passing them. I think people are starting to see, oh, wow, this can be pretty powerful. So I answer that question in much the same way that I would for most technology tools is that the technology is getting advanced enough to where you can end up having conversations with it. So I think some of the best prompts and I think where things are moving is that you're able to ask very specific questions.</p> <p>The questions that you might ask in your dining room or you might ask in your board room where it's very specific. That's I think where you're going to see AI continue to improve. So not just asking, hey, I want to, I want to prompt for my meal prep for the rest of the week or for the rest of the month. It's asking questions along the lines of, hey, I'm 178 pounds and I want to increase and bulk up to 200 pounds. What types of things should I eat Monday through Friday so that I can continue to kind of increase my weight. And oh, by the way, I wanna work out 3 or 4 times a week too.</p> <p>And I think when we start to get a little bit more specific on what that looks like, and just like you're having a conversation with your personal trainer that you might use or your friend that you're chatting with, I think that's really where the power of it is. But I think it's still somewhat of a, there's a gap between understanding the totality of who you are, understanding if you have certain health conditions and you didn't put it there, or even just taking the output that you received and making sure that it is actually something that you can achieve or is logical and things like that.</p> <p>So I think, again, so many times we think that it's human and technology. These are on two ends of the spectrum, but I think the opportunity is really where these things are hand in hand. So it's thinking that specificity, but also being able to think, use that creativity to say, okay, this does work or this doesn't work. Hey, I'm actually allergic to shrimp. So I can't eat that. And I forgot to input that. So just things like that. So I think it goes hand in hand, just like a good game of like Batman or tennis, where you go back and forth with AI and you ultimately just have conversations.</p> <p>So I think there's, of course, If you've been on any type of social media, you've probably seen a million props that you could buy for $20. But I think that we're going more and more towards understanding that it's at the heart of it having a conversation and having the prompt be exactly like you were talking with your best friend.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>15:12</b></strong></p> <p>Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh again, and I hope you enjoy 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.</p> <p>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. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.</p> <p>[fusebox_transcript]</p> <p>[/restrict]</p> </div> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/12/02/understanding-the-psychology-of-failure-and-the-importance-of-persistence/">Understanding the Psychology of Failure and the Importance of Persistence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> Holiday SEO Magic: Optimizing Your Website for Festive Success https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/12/01/holiday-seo-magic-optimizing-your-website-for-festive-success/ urn:uuid:16f4a53d-834e-168a-f63e-7997c9d07146 Sun, 01 Dec 2024 09:16:21 -0500 <p>The holiday season is a time of joy, giving, and, of course, increased online shopping. As a business owner, you want to make sure your website is ready to capture the holiday cheer and convert it into sales. Holiday SEO is the key to unlocking this festive potential. By optimizing your website for holiday-related keywords,...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/12/01/holiday-seo-magic-optimizing-your-website-for-festive-success/" data-wpel-link="internal">Holiday SEO Magic: Optimizing Your Website for Festive Success</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com" data-wpel-link="internal"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The holiday season is a time of joy, giving, and, of course, increased online shopping. As a business owner, you want to make sure your website is ready to capture the holiday cheer and convert it into sales. Holiday SEO is the key to unlocking this festive potential. By optimizing your website for holiday-related keywords, creating engaging content, and implementing technical SEO best practices, you can attract more visitors, boost conversions, and spread holiday cheer.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Understanding Holiday SEO</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Holiday SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for holiday-related keywords. This involves a combination of on-page and off-page SEO techniques.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">On-Page SEO for the Holidays</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fine-tune your website’s content and structure to ensure it resonates with holiday shoppers. From keyword-rich titles to visually appealing and optimized imagery, every element counts toward creating an immersive user experience.  </span><b></b></p> <ul> <li aria-level="1"><b>Keyword Research</b></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first step to successful holiday SEO is keyword research. Identify relevant keywords and phrases that people are likely to search for during the holiday season. For example, if you sell Christmas decorations, you might target keywords like “Christmas decorations,” “holiday decorations,” “Christmas ornaments,” and “holiday gift ideas.”</span></p> <ul> <li aria-level="1"><b>Optimize Your Content</b></li> </ul> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Title Tags:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Incorporate your primary keyword into your title tags. For example, “Holiday Gift Ideas: Your Ultimate Guide to Festive Shopping.”</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Meta Descriptions:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Write compelling meta descriptions that include your target keyword. For example, “Discover the perfect holiday gifts for everyone on your list. Shop our curated selection of unique and affordable items.”</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Header Tags:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Use H1, H2, and H3 tags to structure your content and highlight important keywords. For example, your H1 could be “Holiday Gift Ideas,” and your H2s could be “Gifts for Her,” “Gifts for Him,” and “Gifts for Kids.”</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Body Content:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Naturally integrate your keywords into your body content. Write high-quality, informative, and engaging content that provides value to your readers.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Image Optimization:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Optimize your images with relevant file names and alt text that include your keywords.</span></li> </ul> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Off-Page SEO for the Holidays</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boost your site’s credibility and reach with a strong off-page strategy. Building quality links and leveraging social media can amplify your holiday content, attracting new visitors to your website.  </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Link Building:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Build high-quality backlinks from reputable websites to improve your website’s authority. Consider guest posting on relevant holiday-themed blogs or partnering with other businesses for cross-promotions.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Social Media Marketing:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Promote your holiday content on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Use relevant hashtags to increase visibility and engagement.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Technical SEO for the Holidays</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Behind every seamless holiday shopping experience is robust technical optimization. Ensure your website performs flawlessly on mobile devices, loads quickly, and maintains a secure environment for holiday shoppers.  </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Mobile Optimization:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, as many people shop on their smartphones and tablets during the holidays.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Page Speed:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Optimize your website’s loading speed to provide a seamless user experience.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Secure Website:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Use HTTPS to encrypt your website’s traffic and protect your visitors’ information.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>XML Sitemap:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Create an XML sitemap to help search engines crawl and index your website’s pages.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Holiday SEO Tips</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Preparation and adaptability are key to staying ahead of the competition. By planning early, embracing creativity, and tracking performance, you can refine your strategy and reap the rewards of holiday-driven success.  </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Plan Ahead:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Start planning your holiday SEO strategy well in advance.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Be Creative:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Create unique and engaging holiday content that stands out from the competition.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Track Your Performance:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Use analytics tools to monitor your website’s performance and make data-driven decisions.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Adapt to Trends:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Stay up-to-date with the latest holiday trends and adjust your strategy accordingly.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By following these holiday SEO tips, you can optimize your website for festive success and attract more holiday shoppers to your online store. Remember, the key to successful holiday SEO is to provide value to your audience and create a seamless shopping experience.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Blue16 Media Can Help</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blue16 Media is a digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information or inquiries, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/" data-wpel-link="internal"><span style="font-weight: 400;">contact form</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on our website.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/12/01/holiday-seo-magic-optimizing-your-website-for-festive-success/" data-wpel-link="internal">Holiday SEO Magic: Optimizing Your Website for Festive Success</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com" data-wpel-link="internal"></a>.</p> Understanding Your Target Market and Setting Goals for Your Content Marketing Efforts https://cbnation.tv/2024/11/25/understanding-your-target-market-and-setting-goals-for-your-content-marketing-efforts/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:3d63258e-9fb0-79f8-7833-06760af0af09 Mon, 25 Nov 2024 04:58:49 -0500 <p>On this episode, Gresh discusses the importance of building a media company and how to leverage content to grow your business. He shares valuable insights on understanding your target market and setting goals for your content marketing efforts. Gresh emphasizes the importance of understanding your target market and their pain points. He highlights the significance &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/11/25/understanding-your-target-market-and-setting-goals-for-your-content-marketing-efforts/">Understanding Your Target Market and Setting Goals for Your Content Marketing Efforts</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-181984" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2024/06/IAM2131.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></div> <div> <p>On this episode, Gresh discusses the importance of building a media company and how to leverage content to grow your business. He shares valuable insights on understanding your target market and setting goals for your content marketing efforts.</p> <p>Gresh emphasizes the importance of understanding your target market and their pain points.</p> <p>He highlights the significance of setting clear goals for your content marketing strategy.</p> <p>Additionally, Gresh explains the concept of the long tail in content marketing and how it can be used to target niche searches and drive more traffic to your website.</p> </div> <div>Business Pillar: Visibility</div> <div></div> <div>Episode Link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6sWIAWlvIg">Relate Studios</a></div> <div></div> <div> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Full Interview:</h2> <p><iframe title="Understanding Your Target Market and Setting Goals for Your Content Marketing Efforts" width="1220" height="915" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t7xHa8670RU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> Intro </b></strong><strong><b>00:01</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I wanted to share with you one of the episodes that I was a guest on for someone else's podcast. I always talk about how important it is to build a media company. One of the next best things you can do is be on somebody else's media company. So I had the pleasure of being a guest on this podcast and I wanted to share a little snippet with you because it would help support the eight business pillars we've really been trying to focus on with a lot more of our content, a lot more of the solo episodes that I'm doing.</p> <p>So make sure of course that you subscribe to our podcast, but of course you take some time out. Check out the show notes to subscribe to the podcast that I've been featured on as well too, and get to learn about some of those eight business pillars and how you can continue to leverage and build that up. So you can go from builder to architect to a chorus at Rockstar and Luminary. So this is Gresh signing out. I hope you enjoyed this I AM CEO special episode.</p> <p><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>00:54</b></strong></p> <p>So tell us a little bit about what you do and how you help your clients make useful content.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>01:00</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. So we're all in the media business as I usually say. I say you are a media company. That's my whole kind of marketing philosophy. A lot of what we do is around like website design, support and SEO services. So we try to provide that foundational level. But as really well, SEO is very all encompassing of most things that you do in marketing, but I'm going back to that being a media company having that mentality, that mindset, it's all around understanding how you can create content for the people that you're trying to target.</p> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <p>So way back when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, how I would build out the business, how I would try to distinguish myself. I'd already been building some things around CBNation, which is the content and information for entrepreneurs and business owners. And so I decided to just marry those two because I knew that entrepreneurs, CEOs, business owners are always trying to get their name and information out there. So I try to use content in terms of building that media company to try to connect, build relationships with the people that we're ultimately trying to serve.</p> <p><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:01</b></strong></p> <p>Do people give you push back about the concept of being a media company?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>02:05</b></strong></p> <p>I think so in the sense of understanding like media in what that looks like. I think that's where the push back comes in, because automatically, whenever we hear the word media, we're thinking of something. The way that I really look at media is simply the creation of content. That content can be very broad. If you really think about it offline, when you're handing out your business card or you're talking with somebody, a networking event, to some degree, you're creating content. If you're online, obviously you can create blogs, podcasts, social media content. All those things are content.</p> <p>So when I look at it, and as I've started to even evolve at how I looked at it, it's a lot broader than sometimes people think. And I think when people like redefine it and look at it from that perspective, they start to see that, hey, I am actually talking about my business, talking about my organization, talking about the things that I do on a regular basis. So if I started to look at that a little bit more with a broader scope, maybe then maybe I will understand that, hey, I am in the media business, whether I like social media or I don't like social media, I have a podcast or I have a blog or whatever that is, I'm always creating that content.</p> <p><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:13</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, so you create stuff for small to medium businesses And what you say to them is that whether you like it or not, you are a media company. It's something that you're just gonna have to accept and you have to put your content out there in order to market your business. And so this is something that you tell them. And is that something that they eventually get a hold of, or is it something that takes a while for people to understand how it will work for them?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>03:42</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. Funny enough, Juma is different for everybody, but I feel like as we're moving more and more and more to the importance of content and as we're a lot of people call this the content golden age where because there's so many different ways you can create content. I think when we were talking about 10, 20 years ago, we didn't have the technology that we have in our back pocket right now, which is the smartphone. And now the ability to create content is so much easier. I think people have so much more comfortability, if that's even a word, at being able to do that.</p> <p>So I think that along with people being a little bit more open to it and having the technology and having different tools, we talk about AI and things like that make it a little bit easier. I think it's becoming something more and more and more where you don't get as much push back, you don't get as much hesitation is something that needs to be done. And I think many more business owners and entrepreneurs and CEOs are stepping into that.</p> <p><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:39</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. And I think that's true. How do you explain how people can use their time efficiently in order to create that content?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>04:45</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. I think speaking directly to what you said as well, too. I think what we're seeing is as people are able to create more and more content, it's also getting noisier. So I think also what's happening is there's a huge burgeoning of and growing of the personal brand, so to speak, where people don't want to just hear the content. They want to hear who's behind the content. They want to hear why you created it and so many things like that.</p> <p>So to really answer your question, I think it's marrying those two parts and especially going into understanding exactly like who's going to be creating this content if you're going to be creating it or you're potentially having an agency or some somewhere in between you doing that. I think you really start out with just understanding like what are your superpowers? What are you comfortable with? What do you do sometimes naturally? If you prefer to speak and talk, maybe you're doing a podcast, maybe that's going to be like your foundational piece of content.</p> <p>If you enjoy writing, maybe you're going to do a blog. If you enjoy being a little bit of both, maybe you're going to be on camera. So I think it's really understanding when you're thinking about time, you're honest about your time, but you're honest about what might be a quote unquote easier way to create at least that first piece of content. And if you're thinking about doing it yourself, think about what is coming a little bit more naturally and you can use that as a easier way to create content, spend less time and spend less of those resources.</p> <p><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:03</b></strong></p> <p>So you're saying that everyone is different, not everyone will double down on the same type of content. And it's not a case of doing everything, it's a case of choosing something that works for you, yeah?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:14</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely, play to your superpowers.</p> <p><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:17</b></strong></p> <p>All right, that's a really great opening. I'm talking about becoming a media company. Let's move on to some of the more specific things about becoming a media company. And there's something that you see that you need to ask before you start with your marketing. There, I think there are three things, your goals, your target market and your resources. So tell us how those three things work in planning your marketing.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>06:41</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I think to start everything off is I think so many times we hear about all these different ways that we can create content that we can be our own media companies. I like to call them ingredients. So when you're going to the grocery store, you figure out what ingredients you're going to put into your cart, what are you going to use? And I think we can always rush into that. There's a new platform that we need to jump on. Do all the things and be active.</p> <p>And while there's a space for that to be able to create, to test out and do those things, I think those three foundational questions are so huge because it's going to allow you to understand what ingredients you're going to use, why you're going to use them, and be a lot more strategic in your marketing, which I think doesn't happen a lot for people in general, but definitely even for us marketers as well too, is that we wanna try to test out those things.</p> <p>We wanna try to be in those places, but are we really being strategic with how we're doing it? And really understanding first and foremost, as you said, who are you targeting? And there's a word avatar, and that's literally just painting the picture of the people that you're trying to target. You're talking about age, you're talking about gender, you're talking about location. All those things are gonna be important for your avatar, but really understand and try to delve down a little bit deeper into the things that keep them might be their goals and might be the things that like all those questions ask.</p> <p>And I think that that first question is huge because you want to paint that picture of who you're targeting, not just the age and demographics and all those things, but also the intentions of what they have, what keeps them up at night, how and where is there essentially a gap in their life that they want to accomplish? Because when you start creating content and thinking about what ingredients, what platforms you're going to use, it's going to help you to make sure that you're drilling down on those people that you're targeting.</p> <p>After that, you really wanna be clear on the goals that you have. If you have an e-commerce business versus you being a speaker versus you being an author, you're gonna have different goals for your marketing initiatives and what you're doing. Essentially, you're trying to sell an e-book because the e-book is going to give people an opportunity to join your your email list, because on your blog, you're sending out emails that are going to have affiliate links. That's going to be completely different from somebody that might have a new t-shirt line.</p> <p>And is it trying to sell t-shirts and they want people to go to their website and actually buy those t-shirts or hats or whatever it might be. So it's just understanding what success means because the way that you focus on your marketing, the way you put that blend together is going to be different depending on that goals. And then we already touched on the most powerful question, which I think sometimes we're not as honest about how to answer that and what that looks like, which is the resources. And we're automatically thinking resources. It's all about money. How much money are we spending? What's the budget and all those things? But it's time and money as well too. If you're bootstrapping it, maybe you have more time than you have money.</p> <p>And if you're a little bit further along on the journey, maybe you have more money than you have time or maybe that starts to transition as you grow get clients and customers and so on and so forth so you just want to be really clear on the resources where you are along that journey because when we're figuring out what ingredients we're gonna use whether we're figuring out we're gonna do a podcast versus having a blog, if you're going to be DIY in it, you're going to put a lot more sweat equity into it. So you don't want to start something that you're not going to be consistent with because at the end of the day, that's going to be 1 of the most powerful and big things that you want to make sure that you stay with.</p> <p><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:16</b></strong></p> <p>Okay, great. That's a really great overview of target market goals and resources. Let's dive a little deeper into each of those areas. And I want to first start, I want to talk about goals, but I want to first start with target market, because I think that is something that people really struggle with. It's something that they don't know how to determine. They might say, who am I talking to really? And they don't know how they're gonna figure that out. The first question I wanna ask you is, how do you find out what keeps people up at night? What is, is there a method that you can use to discover that?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>10:50</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I think the best thing I usually say when you're thinking about target market, especially if you've been in business for a while, and let's just say you have one or even a handful of clients is really trying to understand from them what keeps them up at night. And I think the best way you can do that is figure out like how your solution probably helps that. Why do they become your client or customer?</p> <p>So I think whenever you're trying to figure out your ideal clients really start to look internally and start to say, okay, this is the client that I want to work with and I want to have that person come through the door literally or the door virtually over and over again. And those things that usually keep us up at night is another way of saying like, what problems are they having? So when you start to understand that if you have those clients, what solution are you providing to that problem? And when you start to think about that, then you start to close the gap a little bit on what those things are.</p> <p>And maybe when you start to create content and information start to figure out how you're going to do that you're thinking more solution based you're thinking more how can I be of value even for us one of the big things that I know that we help out with is visibility by having a podcast a blog all those things that helps out with visibility for the people that we're trying to serve? So thinking strategically about what that is and what that looks like. If you have a t-shirt line, what exactly are you doing to help to support the clients that you work with? Are there going to be inspirational teas that is going to help them going through a bad day. Just really think strategically about what that is. Are you a real estate agent? Are people looking for a place to buy? Do they want to enjoy home ownership?</p> <p>Just have those ideas and those questions so you can really not just say, hey, this is what I do, but this is how I'm going to make your life better. This is how I'm going to improve your day to day operation, the way that you're, you know, walking through life, the way that you look at yourself, just all those things start to really think to the human part of how you're providing those solutions and really start to understand that because that's how you're ultimately going to not just sell your widget or sell the thing that you're providing, but actually provide true transformation. And that's what you ultimately want to do with your product or service.</p> <p><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>12:57</b></strong></p> <p>Well, that's great. So I know goals is 1 big thing when it comes to creating content and when it comes to setting, where is your marketing going to take you? Tell us how you help clients set those goals or how clients are able to set goals for themselves.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>13:11</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I think the biggest misconception around marketing is that you snap your fingers, you put up a Facebook Ad, you do some SEO, you create a blog post and clients run in after that. And I think that's really big misconception around marketing. So I think it's trying to understand from clients what success looks like, have them paint that picture as much as possible. And then you try to figure out what goals can make that happen.</p> <p>Specifically, like we work a lot with CEOs. So a lot of it is, of course you want to show up if people are typing in that most competitive keyword, but how can you strategically start to move towards that? So it's understanding what might be the quote unquote minor goals that help you to create that domino effect towards the major goal. And I think that's where you start asking those questions. You start to say, okay, if you're a plumber and you want to show up when there's a leak, is there something else that might be an indicator that you can start to get clients or customers for that will potentially turn into those bigger opportunities? Or is there a certain city outside of where you're located that's less competitive, but you can start to rank there.</p> <p>And it's really just understanding and looking at it for more of a long-term focus so that you can create goals so that you can get those quote-unquote smaller wins so that it can lead to the bigger wins. And I think one of the beautiful things about digital marketing is there's literally opportunities everywhere and online there's opportunities everywhere. There's this concept in SEO called the long tail and the idea of the long tail is that those quote unquote small wins actually end up being more than the big, when you were ultimately searching for. So I think when we were talking with clients, we're trying to understand, have that picture painted, but also try to see how that can translate to an overall strategy to ultimately get to where they want to be.</p> <p><strong><b>Juma Bannister</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>14:59</b></strong></p> <p>Let's talk a little bit about what you just said about the long tail, because I know there's a terminology called long tail keywords that you can use. Is that what you're referring to? What is that about?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> </b></strong><strong><b>15:10</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, absolutely. There's a book I think was written back in the 90s, I believe, by Chris Anderson, I beli Understanding Human Behavior and Leveraging on Technology to Widen Business Visibility https://cbnation.tv/2024/11/25/understanding-human-behavior-and-leveraging-on-technology-to-widen-business-visibility/ CBNation TV – Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business urn:uuid:8d54642b-5639-8f6f-c696-280dac726717 Mon, 25 Nov 2024 04:55:51 -0500 <p>On this episode, Gresh emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions when using AI tools for content creation. He recommends using AI content writers like ChatGPT and Google Bard to streamline the content creation process. Gresh sees AI as a tool that can free up time for more creative pursuits, allowing for greater focus &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/11/25/understanding-human-behavior-and-leveraging-on-technology-to-widen-business-visibility/">Understanding Human Behavior and Leveraging on Technology to Widen Business Visibility</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> <div><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full tie-image181982" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/47/2024/06/IAM2130.png" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></div> <div> <p>On this episode, Gresh emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions when using AI tools for content creation. He recommends using AI content writers like ChatGPT and Google Bard to streamline the content creation process.</p> <p>Gresh sees AI as a tool that can free up time for more creative pursuits, allowing for greater focus on creativity and innovation. Gresh believes that SEO will continue to evolve, with a focus on understanding human behavior and leveraging technology to enhance search experiences.</p> <p>Gresh shares his journey of building a media company and leveraging different streams of revenue, including digital marketing, podcasting, and affiliate marketing.</p> <p>He emphasizes the importance of creating valuable resources and supporting community initiatives to drive business growth and impact.</p> <p>Business Pillar: Visibility & Technology</p> </div> <div>Episode Link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNPGmqkl8iY">We Rock Digital Marketing Amplified Podcast</a></div> <div></div> <div> <p><strong><em>Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up </em><a href="http://ceohack.co/buzz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>HERE</em></a><em>. </em></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3</em></a><em> is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: </em><a href="http://cbnation.co/iamceo3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>http://cbnation.co/iamceo3</em></a><em>. 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!</em></strong></p> <h2>Full Interview:</h2> <p><iframe title="Understanding Human Behavior and Leveraging on Technology to Widen Business Visibility" width="1220" height="915" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lAwAsAH4aAE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h2>Transcription:</h2> <p>The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> Intro </b></strong><strong><b>00:00</b></strong></p> <p>Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And I wanted to share with you one of the episodes that I was a guest on for someone else's podcast. I always talk about how important it is to build a media company. One of the next best things you can do is be on somebody else's media company. So I had the pleasure of being a guest on this podcast. And I wanted to share a little snippet with you because it would help support the Eight Business Pillars we've really been trying to focus on with a lot more of our content, a lot more of the solo episodes that I'm doing.</p> <p>So make sure of course that you subscribe to our podcast, but of course you take some time out. Check out the show notes to subscribe to the podcast that I've been featured on as well, too, and get to learn about some of those Eight Business Pillars and how you can continue to leverage and build that up. So you can go from builder to architect to a course at Rockstar and Luminary. So this is Gresh signing out. I hope you enjoyed this I AM CEO special episode.</p> <p><strong><b>Daniel Bisset </b></strong><strong><b>00:53</b></strong></p> <p>Are you using AI, Gresh, in any of your content creation? If so, what tools and how?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless </b></strong><strong><b>00:55</b></strong></p> <p>I think what will be the big opportunity for marketers will be for people that are creating content and even leaders in general is how to synthesize that AI information, whether to make sure that you're asking the right questions for which is like very underrated to be able to say, okay, the AI is not going to go inside your brain, at least not yet, to figure out exactly what it is that you're trying to ask. It's going to have to have that information asked in a certain type of way.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <p>[restrict paid=&#8221;true&#8221;]</p> <div> <p>So I think that's probably the big opportunity is to be able to use the strategy and to leverage that. And it's good at everything. So we use it in different tools. We use AI content writers, of course, chat GPT and Google Bard, or of course, the biggest ones, that everyone's talking about because they're pretty much free to use to some degree. So you tested out some of those using everything from ad copy to actually looking at how blog posts are created and things like that. But I think once, if you assume that everybody's going to use AI, then it's always like, how do you go to extra mile?</p> <p>And I think that's your mile is going to be coming back to those people that are able to synthesize that information and go a step further to provide a quote from this respective person only whatever that might be or what that looks like for the content is really like how you're gonna be able to go that extra mile.</p> <p><strong><b>Tricia </b></strong><strong><b>Ulberg </b></strong><strong><b>02:18</b></strong></p> <p>How do you see this affecting your ability to write creative content? Do you think, feel like this is going to be something that you are going to work in tandem with your own style? Is that how you see that working?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b>02:30</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I think it's basically like a cheat code. It's gonna allow you to get past some of the things so that you can work on more of the creative things. I think I have this quote that I always say, the systems will set you free. And I think AI is one of those systems because I think it will allow the opportunity to be more creative because a lot of the nuts and bolts and things that we had to take more time or spend more energy on are moved to the side. So now you have a starter as far as what you want to create and then you get to add more creativity, you get to spend more energy there. So I definitely foresee myself and I think many others being able to use the AI tools that get started get a baseline maybe even kick around ideas and then you can tap in to your creativity from there.</p> <p><strong><b>Tricia </b></strong><strong><b>Ulberg </b></strong><strong><b>03:11</b></strong></p> <p>Okay like that.</p> <p><strong><b>Daniel Bisset </b></strong><strong><b>03:12</b></strong></p> <p>So I've been using AI since it came out. I totally geeked out on it. I've got GPT Pro. I'm not going to lie. Totally. OK, yeah. All right. $29 a month. Hell yeah. Let's just see what I can do with this. And I've tested AutoGPT to see if it can basically run itself. And it does. It's neat to some degree. With content creation and the fact that we can take somebody's voice and use a tool to learn their voice and then recreate it we can take a tool to take somebody's face and then manipulate it. Where do we go from here as content creators?</p> <p>Like the OG content creators, what in your opinion and I know here's the crystal ball aggression. It's all on you. You've got to get this right. No pressure. But how do we protect our clients' best interest? Yes, we can use ChatGPT, just like you're saying, to initiate a good article or tweak it or mold it. That's all well and good, but that's total short term. What's the long term game that we need to get in on the mindset right now to start advising our clients for two years from now? What do you think?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless </b></strong><strong><b>04:37</b></strong></p> <p>Great question. Yeah, that's an awesome question. I almost wanna put that question in ChatGPT, to see what answer it might give. That might be the best thing, but I think that's the big part. It is just like asking the question of how you can work in tandem with all this technology two years down the line, 10 years down the line, not ignore it. And I think that even if we go far back, so many people said the internet was a fad or it wasn't gonna be a thing that we weren't gonna be using cell phones.</p> <p>So there's always these technology shifts that are happening. And as a leader, as a leader of an organization especially, I think the thing that you wanna be able to ask is, how can I really leverage the strengths of these tools but at the same time not lose the creativity and opportunity to create something new? And there's this book called Range, which has been one of my favorite reads, because a lot of what he talks about doing is that the opportunity is not in fighting a lot of the kind of specialization of technology or things, but really understanding how you can collectively put together 5, 10, 20 different things and create new solutions from that.</p> <p>So I think if I'm talking with anybody, I'm saying I don't necessarily know the exact answer, but I do know that you want to be able to look at all the things that are happening, look at the strengths of the technology of ChatGPT’s of the world and other technology tools and not just say, hey, this is taking my content writing away, but instead ask a question of how can I leverage this so that I can use this ability to write a piece of content a lot quicker and couple it with other aspects that are also changing simultaneously?</p> <p>And I think the gift and the curse is that it doesn't provide you an exact answer, but that's where the opportunity is in the same vein. So if you're able to be okay with not having the exact answer, but still wanting to be able to experiment and be in that spirit, I think that's really where we're going to be in two years and definitely farther beyond that because things are changing so rapidly and you're not going to know the exact answer and that's not okay for everybody. But I think for people that it might be okay with and there's a great opportunity from them.</p> <p><strong><b>Tricia </b></strong><strong><b>Ulberg </b></strong><strong><b>06:54</b></strong></p> <p>I agree.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless </b></strong><strong><b>06:54</b></strong></p> <p>I don't know that answer.</p> <p><strong><b>Tricia </b></strong><strong><b>Ulberg </b></strong><strong><b>06:56</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, no that makes sense to me because it is new and it's going to be interesting to see how it changes the creative world. I'll be honest, when this is gonna be interesting to see how we can leverage AI technology to help us still be creative and create bigger and better things, you're right, it's not going away. It's a technology that's here to stay. And it's going to be interesting to see how we can utilize that and still keep the creative spirit, if that makes sense. But I do think that it's possible. I think we're going to figure out how to do that.</p> <p><strong><b>Daniel Bisset </b></strong><strong><b>07:28</b></strong></p> <p>So my question then is with right now, our search engines work one way and tomorrow they're going to be very different. And people aren't going to be going to Google and then following through to our websites. They're going to be getting all of the answers from the AI that scraped our website. So I feel, and Gresh, I'm totally, if Tricia is saying for you, I want y'all's opinions, but I feel like I'm not gonna use the cliche SEO is dead, but the way that we've been playing the content game necessarily has to change.</p> <p>And I feel that the hesitation that you can hear in my voice, yeah, that could probably be programmed in while I'm thinking that that could be faked. I'm sure. But platforms like TikTok say, or YouTube where there's a pretty good chance, probably like a 90% chance or even 80% chance that that's a real human that's speaking the content as opposed to an AI fabricated version of a real human that's providing the content. I feel like this video format is going to take on an entirely new role in all that we're doing for our clients. What do you think about that, Gresh? Concur or totally disagree.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless </b></strong><strong><b>08:59</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah. I had this conversation too, and when we were having the exact same AI kind of conversation around SEO kind of being dead. And I think you're absolutely right where you hit the nail on the head, where I think the way that we look at SEO is going to be completely different. And I always go back and I try to remind myself, And I think even as we're having these chat GPT, these AI conversations where it seems like the technology is taking over, I always try to remind myself that a lot of the data, the information, the technology is trying to replicate human activity.</p> <p>And anytime we think about that, we don't want to lose sight of it being the reason that SEO works the way that it does is because Google is trying to predict exactly what you're going to search for. ChatGPT, the reason that they're able to collate a lot of that information is because they looked at how we as humans are searching for certain things and they find that information. So I really say all that to say that I think SEO of course is going to be completely different.</p> <p>Some would argue it's completely different every minute that we're thinking of what we're going to try to search for. But I think that the desire for people to search is not going to go away. What we're optimizing is probably going to be different. And so I think SEO, as far as making sure like your website, your title tag, meta description, all those aspects are in place, is going to be completely different. But people are searching on TikTok as the younger generations are more likely to search on TikTok. I think that there is going to be an S per se for optimizing things that from that standpoint.</p> <p>So I think the big thing is just really paying attention as much as possible to like what we as humans desire and especially things that we need and then trying to work backwards from there and hopefully leverage the technology. Maybe I'm being too optimistic and the computers will take over, but that's just how I try to remind myself is that I guess I just believe that the computers are going to be behind in some form, shape or fashion if we do that deep work and understand that human part. But who knows? I might be completely different singing the Jetson song in a year or two.</p> <p><strong><b>Tricia </b></strong><strong><b>Ulberg </b></strong><strong><b>11:03</b></strong></p> <p>I'm with you. I agree with you.</p> <p><strong><b>Daniel Bisset</b></strong><strong><b>11:06</b></strong></p> <p>I love what you said. And I don't think I've heard it put to me that way. But all these tools are emulating humans. So You can't take the human. So I think we will not always, but we will continue to trump the AI that's available. So we've talked about AI and content. Have you started using AI or have you been using AI in paid ad strategy at all?</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless </b></strong><strong><b>11:35</b></strong></p> <p>I haven't. We don't do as much paid ads as organic. However, I have been looking at different tools. So I definitely will be. That's definitely the truth.</p> <p><strong><b>Daniel Bisset </b></strong><strong><b>11:45</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah, I'm the same. Our focus has not been in the paid space for well over a year, really. And so I feel like that territory is going to be totally different by the time we re-enter. So you've got a lot of different, it's a media group, right? You've got a lot of different pieces in your very large puzzle. I'm curious about the strategy behind the diversification. Is it to have different revenue streams coming in, some of them more passive than others? And I see that you do a lot of work for nonprofits.</p> <p>So kudos to you. We also do a lot of nonprofit work, so we appreciate seeing it and others as well. Can you give us the top 5 pieces of your puzzle and from a digital marketing, digital agency perspective, what's working best for you so that we could learn from you in that regard and others who might who might have access to this at a later point can take some notes and get some tips tricks and ideas.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless </b></strong><strong><b>12:58</b></strong></p> <p>Yeah no I definitely appreciate that and I'm definitely like I mentioned you know before very much so a busybody so I have so many different interests and things that I really try to focus on. I think when I started my business, and this was 10 years ago, I fell into the digital marketing and really it was just like building websites. It was SEO at that time. And I think that's what really ended up being like the foundation of the things that I was hoping to do.</p> <p>And as kind of time progressed, I really started to ask myself if I had unlimited revenue or in time to invest in something like where would I do that and that's where something I was already working on came into play so that's where the interviews I used to interviews and I still do CEOs entrepreneurs and business owners to find out like why they started their business advice that they had and at that time a lot of it was just around hoping that I would learn about business because I didn't really have that background.</p> <p>I didn't really have that environment at that time to know even what you should do or things that you should think about. So that's where the CB Nation part came alive and I really started to realize that, hey, I heard podcasting is a thing. I have all these recorded interviews that I was turning into blog posts, so let me start a podcast. And it just organically happened from there. So those are definitely the 2 biggest parts to answer your question, the blue 16 and then the CB nation. And when I was asking that question of if I had the unlimited time, unlimited resources, where would I invest?</p> <p>A lot of it came to, I would probably just create a lot of information that would help to serve the people that I'm trying to work with. And I would say I would buy an entrepreneur magazine. I would buy like this resource that's very, very important. And when I started to realize is that I had planted some seeds that was doing that to some degree. So I knew that still the digital marketing was still my kind of bread and butter, what kept the lights on for lack of a better term. And that's where I started to say, okay, if I could take this and maybe rebrand it into a resource that doesn't steer people away. If you don't want to work with us, don't visit our site.</p> <p>I didn't want that feeling there, but I wanted to be able to say that we're help supporting this program or this sites or these community of sites. And that's just where everything took out. So I would say after that, like it was really the podcast. I had a weekly podcast that I ended up deciding to launch a daily podcast called the I AM CEO Podcast. And yeah, so I hit 1600 episodes and I said that if I could use this to maybe generate some opportunities for my digital marketing, let me try to do that.</p> <p>So I really thought about, okay, this whole process that I'm going through on how to get guests, maybe I can offer them an SEO audit. So that's where I started to add little things there that could hopefully feed the other, the most foundational side of the business. But now I'm at the point where I'm looking at other different streams, affiliate marketing, I've done sponsored content, just different ways that I can continue to drive different streams of revenue.</p> <p>But I think I always, like I mentioned, very optimistic, so I always say, what can I do to quote unquote take over the world? And that's like how I try to approach it. I usually bite off more than I can chew and try to find a way to nibble it on or try to readjust it and try to fit in as much as possible. So hopefully that answered your questions.</p> <p><strong><b>Tricia </b></strong><strong><b>Ulberg </b></strong><strong><b>16:20</b></strong></p> <p>You sound like an entrepreneur. That's what you sound like.</p> <p><strong><b>Gresham Harkless</b></strong><strong><b> Outro </b></strong><strong><b>16:23</b></strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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 guess it on their episode and of course learn more a little bit more about us as well too this is Gresh signing out I'll be up a phenomenal rest of day.</p> <p>[fusebox_transcript]</p> <p>[/restrict]</p> </div> <p>The post <a href="https://cbnation.tv/2024/11/25/understanding-human-behavior-and-leveraging-on-technology-to-widen-business-visibility/">Understanding Human Behavior and Leveraging on Technology to Widen Business Visibility</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cbnation.tv">CBNation TV - Entrepreneurship Videos, Steps to Start a Small Business</a>.</p> Thanksgiving for Your Website: Gratitude and Website SEO Best Practices https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/11/01/thanksgiving-for-your-website-gratitude-and-website-seo-best-practices/ urn:uuid:b505cfe4-a9c5-2297-1a98-249d9c65220b Fri, 01 Nov 2024 09:16:23 -0400 <p>Think of your website as a digital storefront, open 24/7 to showcase your products or services to the world. That’s just how powerful it can be thus deserving of some appreciation.  As you go through the Thanksgiving season, express gratitude for your websites by focusing on how website SEO best practices can elevate their success....</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/11/01/thanksgiving-for-your-website-gratitude-and-website-seo-best-practices/">Thanksgiving for Your Website: Gratitude and Website SEO Best Practices</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Think of your website as a digital storefront, open 24/7 to showcase your products or services to the world. That’s just how powerful it can be thus deserving of some appreciation. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As you go through the Thanksgiving season, express gratitude for your websites by focusing on how website SEO best practices can elevate their success. Key strategies are helpful to show the websites some love and watch them flourish in the search engine rankings.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Importance of Website SEO Best Practices</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To make a website stand out, it’s essential to implement website SEO best practices. They ensure your website is optimized for search engines like Google, making it easier for users to find you. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But SEO goes beyond just about driving traffic; to driving the right traffic. People who land on your website should find it relevant, engaging, and user-friendly. This can only be achieved with a well-thought-out SEO strategy in place.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ensure that your content is relevant to your target audience and over time, your ranking will improve to give you more visibility to potential customers. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Proper website SEO best practices also reduces bounce rates, keeps visitors on your page longer, and ultimately converts them into loyal clients.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">3 valuable ways to show gratitude for your website</span></h2> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Understand Your Website Through Analytics</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just as understanding your customers is crucial for business success, so is understanding your website visitors vital for SEO. Here&#8217;s where website analytics come in. Tools like Google Analytics provide a wealth of data about your website&#8217;s performance. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You can see how many people visit your site, which pages they view, and for how long, which allows you to identify areas that are performing well and areas that need improvement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example, analytics might reveal that a particular landing page has a high bounce rate (visitors leaving quickly). This could indicate an issue with the page&#8217;s content, design, or user experience. By analyzing the data, you can make informed decisions to optimize the page and improve its performance.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seek User Feedback</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another valuable way to show gratitude for your website is by actively seeking user feedback. This can be done through surveys, contact forms, or even social media interactions. User feedback provides invaluable insights into how visitors perceive your website.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Listening to user concerns and implementing suggested improvements is a way of telling them “thank you” for their time and feedback. A website that prioritizes user experience is an enjoyable place to visit and is likely to rank higher in search results. Search engines, after all, want to deliver the best user experience possible.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Continuous Improvement</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">SEO isn’t a one-time fix; it requires continuous improvement. Algorithms change, user behavior evolves, and the digital landscape is ever-shifting. This is why ongoing optimization is essential. </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Revisit your keywords</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Assess your competitors</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Update your content to remain relevant</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ongoing website SEO best practices are a long-term strategy that adapt to changes in both the market and search engine algorithms.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your website is a valuable asset, and applying website SEO best practices ensures that it continues to thrive. Leverage tools like analytics, listen to user feedback, and embrace continuous improvement to show gratitude for your website’s success and ensure it remains competitive in the digital landscape.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Blue16 Media Can Help</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blue16 Media is a digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses expand their online presence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information or inquiries, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">contact form</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on our website.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/11/01/thanksgiving-for-your-website-gratitude-and-website-seo-best-practices/">Thanksgiving for Your Website: Gratitude and Website SEO Best Practices</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> Halloween Website Design: Adding a Spooktacular Touch to Your Online Presence https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/10/01/halloween-website-design-adding-a-spooktacular-touch-to-your-online-presence/ urn:uuid:650a4ad2-663a-7fdb-8422-b35380db8b3c Tue, 01 Oct 2024 09:16:33 -0400 <p>Trick-or-treating and costume contests are often the first things that come to mind during Halloween, a fantastic opportunity to add a magic touch to your Halloween website design. While this doesn&#8217;t mean turning your professional site into a haunted house, you can incorporate subtle yet engaging elements that celebrate the season and capture the attention...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/10/01/halloween-website-design-adding-a-spooktacular-touch-to-your-online-presence/">Halloween Website Design: Adding a Spooktacular Touch to Your Online Presence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Trick-or-treating and costume contests are often the first things that come to mind during Halloween, a fantastic opportunity to add a magic touch to your Halloween</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">website design. While this doesn&#8217;t mean turning your professional site into a haunted house, you can incorporate subtle yet engaging elements that celebrate the season and capture the attention of your visitors. </span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why Consider a Halloween Website Design?</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are several compelling reasons to embrace a Halloween website design:</span></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Increased User Engagement:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> A touch of Halloween whimsy can make your website more visually interesting and capture user attention leading to visitors spending more time browsing your content and exploring your offerings.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Boost Brand Awareness:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> A festive website design sets you apart by showing your brand&#8217;s personality and willingness to have fun, potentially attracting new customers.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Improved Brand Recall:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> You’re more likely to be remembered by visitors and leave a lasting impression long after the season is over if you have a unique Halloween website design.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>SEO Benefits:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Including relevant Halloween keywords in your website content and meta descriptions can improve your search engine ranking in October, a time when user interest in Halloween-related searches peaks.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Seasonal Relevance:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">You demonstrate your brand&#8217;s awareness and engagement with current trends that help strengthen your connection with your audience to make your website more relevant and timely.</span></li> </ol> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Striking the Perfect Balance: Spooky Yet Professional</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The key to a successful Halloween website design lies in striking a balance between fun and professionalism. Here are some tips:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Consider your target audience and brand image by opting for a more subtle approach with festive colors like orange and purple or spooky fonts for a playful touch. If your brand allows, you can go bolder with Halloween-themed graphics or even a temporary Halloween-inspired logo.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ensure your website remains easy to navigate and information is readily accessible and don&#8217;t let Halloween decorations compromise website functionality. Excessive animations or flashing elements that can be distracting or even disorienting for some users.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A large portion of your website traffic will likely come from mobile devices thus it’s important to make sure your Halloween website design translates seamlessly to smaller screens.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keep your meta descriptions and title tags relevant to your core business offering, even with a seasonal twist to maintain SEO best practices.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While a festive design can be a great seasonal boost, plan to return to your standard website design after the season ends.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Incorporating a Halloween website design strategically so you capture the spirit of the season while strengthening your online presence. This approach can lead to increased user engagement, brand awareness, and even a boost in SEO during October. So, get creative, have fun, and let your website reflect the spooky spirit of Halloween!</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Blue16 Media Can Help</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ready to take your website to the next level with a captivating Halloween design? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blue16 Media, a digital marketing agency specializing in website design and SEO, can help you create a spooktacular website that drives results.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">F</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">or more information or inquiries, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">contact form</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on our website.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/10/01/halloween-website-design-adding-a-spooktacular-touch-to-your-online-presence/">Halloween Website Design: Adding a Spooktacular Touch to Your Online Presence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> Tips for SEO Optimization: Strategies for Improved Website Visibility in Fall https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/09/01/tips-for-seo-optimization-strategies-for-improved-website-visibility-in-fall/ urn:uuid:d224263c-f840-d163-103b-e50c4ae0db7b Sun, 01 Sep 2024 09:16:32 -0400 <p>Fall is a prime time to revamp your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and watch your website visibility flourish. SEO is the art and science of making your website more appealing to search engines like Google. The higher your website ranks in search results for relevant keywords, the more organic traffic you&#8217;ll attract, potentially leading...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/09/01/tips-for-seo-optimization-strategies-for-improved-website-visibility-in-fall/">Tips for SEO Optimization: Strategies for Improved Website Visibility in Fall</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fall is a prime time to revamp your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and watch your website visibility flourish. SEO is the art and science of making your website more appealing to search engines like Google. The higher your website ranks in search results for relevant keywords, the more organic traffic you&#8217;ll attract, potentially leading to more leads and sales. So, how can you leverage the power of SEO this fall and propel your website to the top of search engine rankings? Here are some great tips for SEO optimization to consider:</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Content is King (and Queen): Craft Compelling Content</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">High-quality, informative content is the cornerstone of any successful SEO strategy. Fall is a great time to create fresh, seasonally relevant content that resonates with your target audience. Think about topics that people might be searching for during this time of year. Are there fall-themed products or services you offer? Can you provide tips and advice related to your industry that aligns with the autumn season?</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do Keyword Research</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before diving headfirst into content creation, invest some time in keyword research. Identify relevant keywords and search terms that your target audience is likely to use when searching for information related to your business. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can be a valuable resource for this process. By incorporating these keywords strategically throughout your content, you&#8217;ll increase your website&#8217;s chances of ranking higher in search results for those specific terms.  </span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Optimize for User Experience</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A website that is difficult to navigate or slow to load will quickly deter visitors and send them scurrying back to the search results page. This fall, prioritize optimizing your website for a seamless user experience. Here are some key areas to focus on:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Mobile-Friendliness:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Ensure your website looks and functions flawlessly on all devices, especially smartphones and tablets.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Website Speed:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> A fast-loading website is crucial for keeping visitors engaged. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas for improvement.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Clear Navigation:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Make it easy for users to find what they&#8217;re looking for by implementing a clear and intuitive navigation structure.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Build Trust and AuthorityThrough Backlinks</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Building backlinks is one of the best tips for SEO optimization to consider this fall. Backlinks are essentially links from other websites that point back to your site. Search engines view backlinks as a sign of trust and authority, which can significantly improve your website&#8217;s ranking. Actively seek opportunities to build high-quality backlinks and you can achieve this by guest blogging on relevant industry websites, participating in online communities, or creating link-worthy content that others will naturally want to share.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Embrace Change and Innovation</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Search engine algorithms are constantly updated, so it&#8217;s crucial to stay informed about the latest trends and best practices. Dedicate some time each fall to researching and implementing new SEO strategies. This proactive approach will ensure your website remains competitive and continues to rank highly in search results.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fall into SEO Success with Blue16 Media</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here at Blue16 Media we have our team of SEO experts who can help you develop and implement a comprehensive strategy that will propel your website to the top of search engine rankings. We offer a range of services, from in-depth keyword research and content creation to technical SEO audits and backlink building.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Contact us today and let&#8217;s discuss a few simple yet effective tips for SEO optimization and how we can help your website experience a fall harvest of SEO success. Reach out to us by phone at (703) 555-0160, visit our website at blue16media.com, or stop by our office located at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/09/01/tips-for-seo-optimization-strategies-for-improved-website-visibility-in-fall/">Tips for SEO Optimization: Strategies for Improved Website Visibility in Fall</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> Back-to-School Essentials: Website Design and SEO Tips for Success https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/08/01/back-to-school-essentials-website-design-and-seo-tips-for-success/ urn:uuid:900bac6d-0b4e-1f0a-d722-7cb0791a886b Thu, 01 Aug 2024 09:16:50 -0400 <p>The back-to-school season isn&#8217;t just for students and teachers. Businesses of all kinds can capitalize on this busy time by ensuring their website is optimized for the influx of online traffic. Whether you&#8217;re a retailer offering school supplies or a service provider catering to busy parents, a well-designed and SEO-friendly website is crucial for attracting...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/08/01/back-to-school-essentials-website-design-and-seo-tips-for-success/">Back-to-School Essentials: Website Design and SEO Tips for Success</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The back-to-school season isn&#8217;t just for students and teachers. Businesses of all kinds can capitalize on this busy time by ensuring their website is optimized for the influx of online traffic. Whether you&#8217;re a retailer offering school supplies or a service provider catering to busy parents, a well-designed and SEO-friendly website is crucial for attracting new customers during this peak season. This blog post explores some website design and SEO tips to help your website thrive during the back-to-school rush.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Captivate with Design: Create a Frictionless User Experience</span></h2> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Fresh and Functional:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> First impressions matter in the digital world. A website with a clean, modern design and intuitive navigation is essential. Make sure your website is mobile-responsive, meaning it adapts seamlessly to desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Convenience is key for busy parents and students on the go.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Visual Storytelling:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> High-quality visuals can significantly enhance your website&#8217;s appeal. Use engaging images and videos that showcase your products, services, or the overall vibe of your brand. Think product photos, explainer videos, or customer testimonials—visuals that connect with your audience and tell a story.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Clear Information Hierarchy:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Organize your website&#8217;s content in a logical and user-friendly way. Prioritize the information visitors need most, such as product descriptions, service details, or contact information. Use clear headlines, easy-to-read fonts, and ample white space to guide visitors through your website with ease.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">SEO Strategies to Get you Found During Back-to-School Searches</span></h2> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Targeted Keywords:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Identify keywords that your target audience is likely to use during back-to-school searches. This might include &#8220;[your product category] for back-to-school&#8221; or &#8220;[your service] for busy parents.&#8221; Integrate these keywords naturally throughout your website content, but avoid keyword stuffing, which can hurt your SEO ranking.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Local SEO Optimization (if applicable):</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> If you have a brick-and-mortar location, optimize your website for local search. Claim your Google My Business listing and ensure your address, phone number, and website URL are accurate and consistent across all online platforms. Local SEO helps potential customers searching for businesses in your area discover your website.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Engaging Content is King:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Create fresh, valuable content that caters to the back-to-school season. Blog posts about back-to-school tips, product guides, or special promotions can attract visitors and establish your website as a trusted resource.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maintaining Momentum: Keep Your Website Updated and Secure</span></h2> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Regular Updates:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Keep your website&#8217;s content fresh and up-to-date. This includes updating product listings, adding new blog posts, and highlighting seasonal promotions. A regularly updated website shows visitors that you&#8217;re active and engaged.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Security Measures:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> In today&#8217;s digital landscape, website security is paramount. Implement strong security measures to protect your website and your visitors&#8217; data. This includes using a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate and keeping your website&#8217;s software up-to-date.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Performance Monitoring:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Track your website&#8217;s performance using analytics tools. These tools provide valuable insights into how visitors interact with your website, which pages are most popular, and where visitors are coming from. Utilize this data to refine your website and content strategy for better results.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By following these website design and SEO tips, your website can become a powerful tool for attracting new customers during the back-to-school season.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Blue16 Media Can Help</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you need help creating a captivating website or implementing winning SEO strategies, Blue16 Media can help. Our team of experts specializes in designing user-friendly websites and developing data-driven SEO campaigns to boost your online presence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To discuss how we can help your website thrive throughout the back-to-school season and beyond, contact us today at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314, or by filling out the </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">contact form</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on our website.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/08/01/back-to-school-essentials-website-design-and-seo-tips-for-success/">Back-to-School Essentials: Website Design and SEO Tips for Success</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> Independence Day for Your Website: Achieving Freedom from Common SEO Challenges https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/07/01/independence-day-for-your-website-achieving-freedom-from-common-seo-challenges/ urn:uuid:77c88bd9-4986-ed7d-ed82-f6aeb0947318 Mon, 01 Jul 2024 09:16:08 -0400 <p>Does your website feel trapped in a cycle of SEO challenges? You pour your heart and soul into content, but that coveted first-page ranking on Google remains elusive. It&#8217;s time to declare independence from these challenges and achieve true SEO freedom! Just like the spirit of Independence Day, achieving SEO freedom is about taking control...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/07/01/independence-day-for-your-website-achieving-freedom-from-common-seo-challenges/">Independence Day for Your Website: Achieving Freedom from Common SEO Challenges</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Does your website feel trapped in a cycle of SEO challenges? You pour your heart and soul into content, but that coveted first-page ranking on Google remains elusive. It&#8217;s time to declare independence from these challenges and achieve true SEO freedom!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just like the spirit of Independence Day, achieving SEO freedom is about taking control and charting your own course. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here&#8217;s how to break free from the most common SEO roadblocks and watch your website rise to the top of the search results:</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Conquering Content Challenges</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of the biggest SEO battles is creating content that Google loves and users devour. Here&#8217;s how to win this war:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Know Your Audience:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Don&#8217;t fight a blind fight. Research your target audience and understand what kind of content they crave. What are their questions and pain points? Craft content that addresses them directly.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Quality over Quantity:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Focus on creating in-depth, informative pieces that provide real value. Thin, repetitive content will only hold you back.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Optimize for Search Intent:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Don&#8217;t just stuff keywords into your content. Understand the “why” behind user searches and tailor your content to answer their specific intent.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Breaking Free from Technical Issues</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Technical SEO problems can be like hidden landmines, derailing your website&#8217;s ranking potential. Here&#8217;s how to disarm them:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Mobile Friendliness is Mandatory: </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">In today&#8217;s mobile-first world, a website that&#8217;s not optimized for smartphones and tablets is doomed. Ensure your website offers a seamless user experience across all devices.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Speed Up Your Site:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Website speed is a crucial ranking factor. Slow loading times frustrate users and send them bouncing. Invest in website optimization tools to ensure a fast and smooth browsing experience.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Embrace Clean Code:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Behind the scenes, clean code structure is essential for search engines to effectively crawl and index your website. Regularly check for and address any technical SEO issues.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Building Backlinks: The Bridges to Success</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Backlinks are like votes of confidence for your website. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more Google perceives your authority and relevance. Here&#8217;s how to build strong bridges:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Create Link-Worthy Content:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> People naturally want to link to valuable and informative content. Focus on crafting resources that are so good that others can&#8217;t help but share them.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Guest Blogging:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Become a guest contributor on high-authority websites in your niche. This allows you to showcase your expertise and earn valuable backlinks in the process.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Build Relationships:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Networking with other industry players can lead to natural link-building opportunities. Engage in online communities, participate in forums, and build genuine connections.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maintaining SEO Freedom: A Continuous Journey</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">SEO is not a one-time fix. It&#8217;s an ongoing process that requires constant vigilance and adaptation. Here are some tips for staying ahead of the curve:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Stay Updated on Algorithm Changes: </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving. Keep yourself informed about the latest SEO trends and best practices.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Monitor Your Performance:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Track your website&#8217;s traffic, ranking, and user engagement through analytics tools. This data will help you identify areas for improvement.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Embrace Continuous Content Creation:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Don&#8217;t let your content stagnate. Regularly publish fresh, relevant content to keep your website active and engaging.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Celebrate SEO Freedom with Blue16 Media</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don&#8217;t let SEO challenges hold your website back from achieving its full potential. At Blue16 Media, we&#8217;re a team of SEO specialists dedicated to helping businesses break free from ranking roadblocks.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We offer a comprehensive range of SEO services, from keyword research and content creation to technical SEO audits and backlink building strategies. Our goal is to empower your website to reach the top of the search results and achieve true SEO freedom.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Contact us today, and let&#8217;s celebrate your website&#8217;s independence! </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information or inquiries, fill out the </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">contact form</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on our website or visit us at 2800 Eisenhower Ave, #220, Alexandria, VA 22314.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/07/01/independence-day-for-your-website-achieving-freedom-from-common-seo-challenges/">Independence Day for Your Website: Achieving Freedom from Common SEO Challenges</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> Summer-Ready Websites: Optimization Tips for Increased Traffic https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/06/01/summer-ready-websites-optimization-tips-for-increased-traffic/ urn:uuid:8bd6c86a-6067-f473-4e15-69a24fcd89ed Sat, 01 Jun 2024 09:16:57 -0400 <p>Summer brings a shift in consumer behavior with people searching online for ways to spend their free time, plan vacations, and enjoy the warm weather. Is your website ready to capitalize on this seasonal surge in traffic? Don&#8217;t miss out on this golden opportunity to attract new customers and boost your bottom line! In this...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/06/01/summer-ready-websites-optimization-tips-for-increased-traffic/">Summer-Ready Websites: Optimization Tips for Increased Traffic</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Summer brings a shift in consumer behavior with people searching online for ways to spend their free time, plan vacations, and enjoy the warm weather. Is your website ready to capitalize on this seasonal surge in traffic? Don&#8217;t miss out on this golden opportunity to attract new customers and boost your bottom line! In this post, we&#8217;ll explore the topic, “Summer-Ready Websites: Optimization Tips for Increased Traffic,” to ensure your online presence is summer-ready and attracts more visitors. By implementing these strategies, you can position your website for success and capture a slice of the summer spending pie.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">SEO Techniques for a Summer Boost</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Search engine optimization (SEO) is the foundation for attracting organic traffic to your website. By optimizing your website for relevant summer-related keywords, you increase your chances of appearing on the first page of search results when people are actively looking for what you offer. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here&#8217;s how to leverage SEO for a summer traffic boost:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Identify Seasonal Keywords:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Research keywords related to your industry and summer activities. For example, a travel agency might target keywords like &#8220;summer vacation destinations&#8221; or &#8220;beach getaways.&#8221; But don&#8217;t stop there! Look for long-tail keywords that are more specific and have lower competition. This could include &#8220;family-friendly summer vacation spots on the East Coast&#8221; or &#8220;affordable summer getaways for couples.&#8221;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Optimize Content and Meta Descriptions:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Update your website content and meta descriptions to naturally incorporate these summer keywords. Don&#8217;t just stuff keywords in; focus on creating informative and engaging content that speaks directly to your target audience&#8217;s summer interests.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Local SEO for Summer Events:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> If your business caters to local customers, leverage location-based keywords and optimize your Google My Business listing. This is especially important for promoting summer events or seasonal services. Let&#8217;s say you own a restaurant with a charming patio. Target keywords like &#8220;best outdoor dining near me&#8221; or &#8220;patio brunch restaurants [your city]&#8221; and update your Google My Business listing with enticing photos and descriptions of your summer menu.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mobile Friendliness: A Must-Have for Summer Browsing</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Summer often means more on-the-go browsing. People are likely to be searching for summer activities and products on their smartphones or tablets. Imagine someone relaxing on the beach, phone in hand, looking for restaurants with outdoor seating. If your website isn&#8217;t mobile-friendly, they&#8217;ll simply move on to your competitor. Here&#8217;s how to ensure your website is mobile-friendly:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Responsive Design:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Make sure your website automatically adjusts its layout for optimal viewing on any device. A responsive design provides a seamless user experience for all visitors, regardless of their device.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Fast Loading Speeds:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Nobody likes a slow website, especially on mobile data. Optimize your website for speed by compressing images, minimizing HTTP requests, and utilizing a reliable web hosting service. A slow website frustrates users and hurts your SEO ranking.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Content Strategies to Capture Summer Interest</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Summer is a prime time to engage your audience with fresh, seasonal content. Here are some content strategies to capture summer interest and keep visitors coming back for more:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Summer-Themed Blog Posts:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Create blog posts that cater to summer interests. This could include travel guides, recipes for outdoor entertaining, or DIY summer craft projects. Think beyond the obvious. For a clothing store, you could create a blog post on &#8220;Top 10 Summer Outfit Ideas for Every Occasion.&#8221;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Summer Promotions and Offers:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Highlight summer sales, limited-time promotions, or special deals relevant to the season. Offer discounts on products perfect for summer fun or create special summer bundles.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Visual Appeal:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Use high-quality images and videos that evoke summer vibes and capture attention. Showcase summer activities people can enjoy with your products or services.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By implementing these strategies discussed in this blog post, “Summer-Ready Websites: Optimization Tips for Increased Traffic,” you&#8217;ll be well-positioned to attract more traffic, generate leads, and boost your online presence throughout the summer season. Don&#8217;t wait! Take action today and watch your website blossom with summer success!</span></p> <h2><b>Make Your Website Shine This Summer</b></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don&#8217;t miss out on the summer traffic surge! If you need help optimizing your website for increased summer traffic, Blue16 Media can help.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, website design, and social media management. We can help you create a summer-ready website that attracts more visitors and converts them into customers.</span></p> <p><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Contact us</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> today and let&#8217;s discuss how we can help your business thrive this summer!</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/06/01/summer-ready-websites-optimization-tips-for-increased-traffic/">Summer-Ready Websites: Optimization Tips for Increased Traffic</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> May Flowers: Growing Your Online Presence with SEO https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/05/01/may-flowers-growing-your-online-presence-with-seo/ urn:uuid:532ae779-49af-4a45-3190-87f0dd3ff46d Wed, 01 May 2024 09:16:13 -0400 <p>Spring comes the vibrance of May flowers blooming across gardens and meadows. Just like these beautiful blossoms, your online presence can flourish with the right care and attention. A strong online presence is essential for any business or individual looking to be seen and heard. But just as May flowers need sunlight, water, and fertile...</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/05/01/may-flowers-growing-your-online-presence-with-seo/">May Flowers: Growing Your Online Presence with SEO</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spring comes the vibrance of May flowers blooming across gardens and meadows. Just like these beautiful blossoms, your online presence can flourish with the right care and attention. A strong online presence is essential for any business or individual looking to be seen and heard.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But just as May flowers need sunlight, water, and fertile soil to thrive, your online presence requires specific strategies to blossom and attract visitors. Here&#8217;s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. SEO is the art and science of improving your website&#8217;s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. The higher your website ranks, the more likely people are to find you organically, which translates to increased traffic and potential customers.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Planting the Seeds: Keyword Research is Key</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first step in cultivating a vibrant online presence is understanding your target audience and the keywords they use to search for information related to your niche. Keyword research is like planting the seeds for your SEO strategy. By identifying relevant keywords with high search volume and low competition, you can tailor your website&#8217;s content to attract the right visitors. Think of it as choosing the perfect flowers to plant in your garden—ones that will flourish and attract the desired pollinators (customers) seeking their beauty (your offerings).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are many free and paid keyword research tools available online. Utilize these tools to discover high-performing keywords that naturally integrate with your brand message. Once you have a solid list of keywords, strategically weave them throughout your website content, including blog posts, product descriptions, and meta descriptions. Remember, keyword stuffing is a big no-no! Aim for a natural integration that enhances the user experience while signaling relevance to search engines.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nurturing Growth: Content is King (and Queen)</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">High-quality content is the sunshine and water your online presence needs to flourish. Informative, engaging, and well-written content positions you as a thought leader in your field and keeps visitors coming back for more. Think of your content as the vibrant petals of your May flowers, attracting and delighting your audience.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are some tips for creating compelling content:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Focus on Solving Your Audience&#8217;s Problems: </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">Address the pain points and needs of your target audience.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Provide Valuable Insights:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Offer unique perspectives and fresh information within your niche.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Maintain Consistency:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Regularly publish new content to keep your audience engaged and search engines interested.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Optimize for Readability:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Use clear language, break up long text blocks with visuals, and format your content for easy scanning.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By consistently creating valuable content that incorporates relevant keywords, you establish yourself as a reliable source of information and build trust with your audience. This, in turn, sends positive signals to search engines, boosting your website&#8217;s ranking and online visibility.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tending the Garden: Technical SEO Matters</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While content is crucial, don&#8217;t neglect the technical aspects of your website. Just like a healthy soil base is essential for thriving May flowers, a well-structured website foundation is necessary for optimal SEO performance. Here are some technical SEO aspects to consider:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Website Speed:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Ensure your website loads quickly to provide a positive user experience.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Mobile-Friendliness:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> In today&#8217;s mobile-first world, your website must be optimized for viewing on all devices.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Site Architecture:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Organize your website content logically with clear navigation to make it easy for users and search engines to find relevant information.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><b>Image Optimization:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Use descriptive alt text for images to improve accessibility and search engine understanding.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By addressing these technical SEO factors, you create a user-friendly and search engine-friendly website that lays the groundwork for sustainable online growth.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reap the Rewards</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">May flowers transform a barren landscape into a vibrant display of color, so does SEO transform your online presence by attracting new visitors, increasing brand awareness, and ultimately driving conversions. By following these strategies—keyword research, content creation, and technical SEO optimization—you can cultivate a thriving online garden and achieve long-term success in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Be patient, consistent, and data-driven in your approach, and watch your online presence blossom like the beautiful May flowers that herald the arrival of spring.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Blue16 Media Can Help</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Has your website become a digital ghost town, barely receiving a trickle of visitors? Unlike May flowers, your online presence needs a little help to flourish.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is where Blue16 Media comes in. We&#8217;re a digital marketing agency passionate about helping businesses bloom online. Just like we tend to the technical aspects of SEO, we can handle website design, social media management, and strategic content creation to make your online presence blossom.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Don&#8217;t let your online presence wilt! Let Blue16 Media be the sunshine and water your website craves. </span><a href="https://blue16media.com/marketing/contact-us/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Contact us</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> today or visit our office at 2800 Eisenhower Ave., #220, Alexandria, VA 22314 for a free consultation and watch your online garden come alive!</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blue16media.com/blog/2024/05/01/may-flowers-growing-your-online-presence-with-seo/">May Flowers: Growing Your Online Presence with SEO</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blue16media.com"></a>.</p> Chat#111 – The Power of Putting Customers First [SPONSORED POST] https://ceochat.co/sponsored-post/chat111-the-power-of-putting-customers-first-sponsored-post/ CEO Chat urn:uuid:2950dcc7-3c41-c32a-a616-9324f01ec118 Mon, 20 Nov 2023 17:32:38 -0500 <p>Gresham W. Harkless Jr. sits down with Jasmine Price of M &#038; D Cleaning Services at Intelligent Office in Alexandria Virginia. M&#038;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 &#8230;</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://ceochat.co/sponsored-post/chat111-the-power-of-putting-customers-first-sponsored-post/">Chat#111 – The Power of Putting Customers First [SPONSORED POST]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://ceochat.co">CEO Chat</a>.</p> <p>Gresham W. Harkless Jr. sits down with Jasmine Price of M & D Cleaning Services at Intelligent Office in Alexandria Virginia.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Timestamps</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Relevant Links:</p> <ul> <li>Intelligent Office of Alexandria – https://www.intelligentoffice.com/virginia/alexandria</li> <li>M&D Cleaning Services &#8211; https://manddcleaningservice.com/</li> <li>DMV Resources &#8211; https://dmvceo.com/resources</li> <li>BNI Chapter &#8211; https://dmvceo.com/resources/#franchisenetworking</li> </ul> <p>Additional Resources:</p> <ul> <li>Download our FREE CEO Hacks Guide and subscribe to our newsletter to help you be more effective and efficient &#8211; https://cbnation.co/newsletter/</li> <li>Check out more CEO Hacks that help you be more effective and efficient &#8211; https://ceohack.co/</li> <li>Freshdesk (An online cloud-based customer service software providing helpdesk support with all smart automations to get things done faster. &#8211; https://ceohack.co/refer/freshdesk</li> </ul> <p>About Intelligent Office Alexandria</p> <p>Discover the ideal workspace solutions with Intelligent Office Alexandria! Whether you're in need of a virtual receptionist, private office space, or a flexible conference room for hourly rental, our experienced and dedicated staff is here to help you achieve your business goals.</p> <p>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!</p> <p>Explore our range of services, including:</p> <ul> <li>Virtual Reception Services</li> <li>Business Address</li> <li>Mail Services</li> <li>Arranged Access to Our Other Washington D.C. Intelligent Office Locations</li> <li>Private Office Space for 1–5 People</li> <li>Conference Room Rentals</li> <li>Ongoing Professional Development Seminars</li> <li>Elevate your business presence and functionality with Intelligent Office Alexandria – where your success is our priority!</li> </ul> <p>This is a sponsored post.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://ceochat.co/sponsored-post/chat111-the-power-of-putting-customers-first-sponsored-post/">Chat#111 – The Power of Putting Customers First [SPONSORED POST]</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://ceochat.co">CEO Chat</a>.</p> IAM1909 – CEO Leads Healthcare Innovations https://healthyceo.co/2023/11/05/iam1909-ceo-leads-healthcare-innovations/ Healthy CEO urn:uuid:dcd023e2-5bec-cd63-24f5-a9aecc493d52 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 &#8230; <p>Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:<br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> Cloudticity is a company that strives to revolutionize healthcare utilizing cloud technologies, enabling improved clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, and</p> <p><a href="https://iamceo.co/2023/11/05/iam1909-ceo-leads-healthcare-innovations/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Listen to the full podcast. This is Originally posted here.</a></p> 16 Entrepreneurs Share Their Favorite CEO Hack/Resource That Makes Them Successful https://ceoblognation.com/2023/11/16-entrepreneurs-share-their-favorite-ceo-hack-resource-that-makes-them-successful/ Business Startup ideas, Entrepreneur News, Tips | CEO Blog Nation urn:uuid:67f8547a-32ea-6375-c08f-7351d4a6b110 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 [&#8230;] 11 Entrepreneurs Share How They Incorporate Innovation Within Their Organization https://hear.ceoblognation.com/2023/11/03/11-entrepreneurs-share-how-they-incorporate-innovation-within-their-organization/ Hearpreneur urn:uuid:8d317499-b85a-919f-aa86-29fd8fd46910 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 [&#8230;] <p>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.</p> <p>We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how they incorporate innovation within their organization. Here are the responses.</p> <h2>#1- By leading passion projects</h2> <figure id="attachment_219867" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219867" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219867" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone.jpg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219867" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Ryan Stone</figcaption></figure> <p>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 &#8216;passion projects' &#8211; 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Ryan Stone, <a href="https://www.lambdafilms.co.uk/">Lambda Films</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#2- By encouraging curiosity and experimentation</h2> <figure id="attachment_219868" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219868" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219868" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219868" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Seth Besse</figcaption></figure> <p>It's not only vital to foster a culture that values <span class="il">innovation</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Seth Besse, <a href="https://www.undivided.io/">Undivided</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#3- By encouraging creativity</h2> <figure id="attachment_219869" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219869" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219869" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha-816x815.png 816w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Paul-Mario-Vratusha-350x350.png 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219869" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Paul Mario Vratusha</figcaption></figure> <p>Incorporating <span class="il">innovation</span> <span class="il">within</span> my <span class="il">organization</span> 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 <span class="il">innovation</span>. More than that, I believe in leading by example. I strive to model innovative thinking by constantly exploring new methods and ideas myself.</p> <p>Thanks to Paul Mario Vratusha, <a href="https://dstudio.consulting/">D-Studio Consulting</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#4- By experimenting with different solutions</h2> <figure id="attachment_219870" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219870" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219870" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219870" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Lily Stoyanov</figcaption></figure> <p>At Transformify, we believe that <span class="il">innovation</span> 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 <span class="il">innovation</span> <span class="il">within</span> our <span class="il">organization</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Lily Stoyanov, <a href="https://www.transformify.org/">Transformify</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#5- By developing new ideas</h2> <figure id="attachment_219871" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219871" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Priyanka-Swamy.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219871" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Priyanka-Swamy-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Priyanka-Swamy-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Priyanka-Swamy-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Priyanka-Swamy-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Priyanka-Swamy-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219871" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Priyanka Swamy</figcaption></figure> <p><span class="il">Innovation</span> 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 <span class="il">innovation</span>, 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Priyanka Swamy, <a href="https://www.perfectlocks.com/">Perfect Locks Hair Company</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#6- Using a diversification strategy</h2> <figure id="attachment_219872" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219872" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Shannon-Birthisel.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219872" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Shannon-Birthisel-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Shannon-Birthisel-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Shannon-Birthisel-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Shannon-Birthisel-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Shannon-Birthisel-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Shannon-Birthisel.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219872" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Shannon Birthisel</figcaption></figure> <p>IDL has embodied <span class="il">innovation</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Shannon Birthisel, <a href="https://www.idl.au/">IDL</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#7- Through various ways</h2> <figure id="attachment_219873" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219873" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andrew-Chung-scaled.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219873" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andrew-Chung-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andrew-Chung-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andrew-Chung-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andrew-Chung-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andrew-Chung-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andrew-Chung-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andrew-Chung-350x350.jpg 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219873" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Andrew Chung</figcaption></figure> <p>We <span class="il">incorporate</span> <span class="il">innovation</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Andrew Chung, <a href="https://bestcafedesigns.com/">Bestcafedesigns.com</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#8- By empowering employees</h2> <figure id="attachment_219875" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219875" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Cort-Adair.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219875" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Cort-Adair-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Cort-Adair-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Cort-Adair-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Cort-Adair-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Cort-Adair-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Cort-Adair.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219875" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Crdit: Cort Adair</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Cort Adair, <a href="https://www.shirtmax.com/">ShirtMax</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#9- By pushing ourselves</h2> <figure id="attachment_219896" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219896" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219896 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-150x150.jpeg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-600x600.jpeg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-100x100.jpeg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-96x96.jpeg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-75x75.jpeg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-350x350.jpeg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-750x750.jpeg 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192-1140x1140.jpeg 1140w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Thomas-Samuels-scaled-e1697789071192.jpeg 1365w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219896" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Thomas Samuels</figcaption></figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">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</span></p> <p>Thanks to <span style="font-weight: 400">Thomas Samuels, <a href="https://cardinalexpo.com/">Cardinal Expo</a>!</span></p> <hr /> <h2>#10- By embracing uncertainty</h2> <figure id="attachment_219897" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219897" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Solomon-Thimothy.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219897" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Solomon-Thimothy-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Solomon-Thimothy-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Solomon-Thimothy-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Solomon-Thimothy-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Solomon-Thimothy-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Solomon-Thimothy-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Solomon-Thimothy-350x350.jpg 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219897" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Solomon Thimothy</figcaption></figure> <p>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 &#8220;Labs&#8221; 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Solomon Thimothy, <a href="https://www.clickx.io/">Clickx</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#11- By teaching employees</h2> <figure id="attachment_219898" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219898" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219898" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219898" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Andy LaPointe</figcaption></figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">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 https://dmvceo.com/2023/11/01/ready-to-tell-your-story-podcast-day-at-intelligent-office-in-alexandria-virginia/ DMV CEO urn:uuid:e409260a-9d47-867d-2da4-6dc877d29491 Wed, 01 Nov 2023 17:15:31 -0400 Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2023 from 10am &#8211; 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 [&#8230;] <ul> <li class="cvGsUA direction-ltr align-center para-style-body"><span class="OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none">Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2023 </span><span class="OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none">from 10am &#8211; 4pm</span></li> <li class="cvGsUA direction-ltr align-center para-style-body"><span class="OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none">Location: Recording at Intelligent Office in Alexandria, VA</span></li> <li class="cvGsUA direction-ltr align-center para-style-body"><span class="OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none">Details: For more information and to secure your 30-minute slot, call 703-224-8800</span></li> <li class="cvGsUA direction-ltr align-center para-style-body"><span class="OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none">Availability is on a first-come-first-served basis</span></li> </ul> <p>More Information: Want to tell your story? Blue16 Media will have LIVE podcast recordings for the <a href="http://iamceo.co">I AM CEO Podcast</a> 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.</p> 8 Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Have Failed and What They’ve Learnt https://hear.ceoblognation.com/2023/11/01/8-entrepreneurs-reveal-how-they-have-failed-and-what-theyve-learnt/ Hearpreneur urn:uuid:fb39ceaf-c8bb-3b34-8bdf-c7541b75e266 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, [&#8230;] <p>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.</p> <p>We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how they have failed and what they have learnt. Here are some responses.</p> <h2>#1- Align with your power</h2> <figure id="attachment_219885" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219885" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219885" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-768x768.jpg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-750x750.jpg 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker-1140x1140.jpg 1140w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Jane-Baker.jpg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219885" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Jane Baker</figcaption></figure> <p>I <span class="il">failed</span> 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 <span class="il">you</span> and it's more important to ensure the advice <span class="il">you</span>&#8216;re taking and acting upon is actually in alignment with <span class="il">you</span>.</p> <p>Thanks to Jane Baker, <a href="https://www.houseofmotorsportbrokerage.com/">House Of Motorsport Brokerage</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#2- Don't be afraid to pivot</h2> <figure id="attachment_219889" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219889" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219889" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Lily-Stoyanov_.jpg 512w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219889" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Lily Stoyanov</figcaption></figure> <p>I am an entrepreneur and CEO of Transformify, a platform that connects freelancers and businesses around the world. I <span class="il">have</span> <span class="il">failed</span> many times in my journey, but I <span class="il">have</span> learned valuable lessons from each setback. Don't be afraid to pivot. <span class="il">You</span> <span class="il">have</span> to be flexible and willing to adapt to changing customer demands and feedback.  Don't try to do everything yourself. <span class="il">You</span> need to delegate tasks, outsource functions, and hire experts who can help <span class="il">you</span> grow your business. Don't neglect your personal life. <span class="il">You</span> need to find a balance between work and life and make time for yourself and your loved ones.</p> <p>Thanks to Lily Stoyanov, <a href="https://www.transformify.org/">Transformify Ltd</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#3- Be resilient and do market research</h2> <figure id="attachment_219890" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219890" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219890 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Matt-Little.jpg 557w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219890" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Matt Little</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Matt Little, <a href="https://festoonhouse.com.au/">Festoon House</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#4- Prioritize the fundamentals</h2> <figure id="attachment_219891" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219891" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tom-Walls_1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219891" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tom-Walls_1.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tom-Walls_1.jpg 80w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tom-Walls_1-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219891" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Tom Walls</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Thanks to Tom Walls, <a href="https://themodernback.com/">The Modern Back</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#5- Embrace the value of sales</h2> <figure id="attachment_219892" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219892" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219892" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-768x768.jpg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-750x750.jpg 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang-1140x1140.jpg 1140w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Namanh-Hoang.jpg 1408w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219892" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Namanh Hoang</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Namanh Hoang, <a href="https://www.asknam.com/">Ask Nam</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#6- Partnerships should be a thoughtful decision</h2> <figure id="attachment_219893" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219893" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219893" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dmytro-Sokhach.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219893" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Dmytro Sokhach</figcaption></figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">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.</span></p> <p>Thanks to <span style="font-weight: 400">Dmytro Sokhach, <a href="https://editorial.link/">Editorial Link</a>!</span></p> <hr /> <h2>#7- Think through the details</h2> <figure id="attachment_219894" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219894" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219894" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-768x768.jpg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih-750x750.jpg 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Julia-Shih.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219894" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Julia Shih</figcaption></figure> <p>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. <span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;color: #515655;background: white">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. </span></p> <p>Thanks to <span style="font-weight: 400">Julia Shih, <a href="http://www.bodyandsoulbotanica.com">Body + Soul</a>!<br /> </span></p> <hr /> <h2>#8- Have a team of advisers</h2> <figure id="attachment_219895" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219895" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219895" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-768x768.jpg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman-750x750.jpg 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Kraig-Kleeman.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219895" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Kraig Kleeman</figcaption></figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">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. </span><span style="font-weight: 400">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.</span></p> <p>Thanks to <span style="font-weight: 400">Kraig Kleeman, <a href="https://thenewworkforce.com/">The New Workforce</a>!</span></p> <hr /> <h2 style="text-align: center"><span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;How do you incorporate innovation within your organization? &quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:23423,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:16777215},&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:[{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0}},{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;3&quot;:3},{&quot;1&quot;:1,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;4&quot;:1}]},&quot;6&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:[{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0}},{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;3&quot;:3},{&quot;1&quot;:1,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;4&quot;:1}]},&quot;7&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:[{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0}},{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;3&quot;:3},{&quot;1&quot;:1,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;4&quot;:1}]},&quot;8&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:[{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0}},{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;3&quot;:3},{&quot;1&quot;:1,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;4&quot;:1}]},&quot;9&quot;:0,&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:1909288},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, helvetica, arial, sans-serif&quot;,&quot;17&quot;:1}">How have you failed? What did you learn? </span>Tell us in the comments below. Don’t forget to join our <a href="http://iamceo.community/">#IamCEOCommunity</a>.</h2> IAM1904 – CEO Provides Access to Mental Health and Fitness Resources https://healthyceo.co/2023/10/31/iam1904-ceo-provides-access-to-mental-health-and-fitness-resources/ Healthy CEO urn:uuid:129c5575-c758-4879-bf22-fca2def0cd8d 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 &#8230; <p>Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:<br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> Besides mental health advocacy, Corey is also passionate about performance</p> <p><a href="https://iamceo.co/2023/10/31/iam1904-ceo-provides-access-to-mental-health-and-fitness-resources/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Listen to the full podcast. This is Originally posted here.</a></p> Monday Motivation: Decide What You Want. Make a Plan and Work on That…Every. Single. Day https://hear.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/30/monday-motivation-decide-what-you-want-make-a-plan-and-work-on-that-every-single-day/ Hearpreneur urn:uuid:a416e9cf-b6eb-60e9-ce8d-25f7e90e7bfa 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 [&#8230;] <div class="jeg_video_container jeg_video_content"><iframe title="DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT. MAKE A PLAN AND WORK ON THAT...EVERY. SINGLE. DAY - Motivational Speech Video" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQrc3L6ykuM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <p>This motivational video is to help CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners start the week off inspired to become great.</p> <p>Here are some takeaways from the video:</p> <ul> <li>It's not what you're capable of, it's what you're willing to do</li> <li>Will is a powerful thing, what are you willing to do?</li> <li>How can you be strong unless you were once weak?</li> <li>Attack like you're trying to save the world</li> <li>Resilience in life is the proper preparation</li> </ul> 30 Entrepreneurs Share Essential Skills One Needs to be a CEO https://teach.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/29/30-entrepreneurs-share-essential-skills-one-needs-to-be-a-ceo/ Teach a CEO urn:uuid:8cbd52d8-13df-1b4d-1da1-106635602a65 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 [&#8230;] <p>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.</p> <p>We asked entrepreneurs what critical skills one must have to be a CEO and here are the awesome responses</p> <h2>#1- Three skills</h2> <figure id="attachment_141212" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141212" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Mitch-Chailland_-scaled.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-141212 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Mitch-Chailland_-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Mitch-Chailland_-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Mitch-Chailland_-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Mitch-Chailland_-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Mitch-Chailland_-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Mitch-Chailland_-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Mitch-Chailland_-350x350.jpg 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141212" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Mitch Chailland</figcaption></figure> <p>The amalgamation of visionary leadership, adept decision-making, and interpersonal <span class="il">skills</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Mitch Chailland, <a href="https://www.onlineoptimism.com/">Online Optimism</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#2- Leading and delegating</h2> <figure id="attachment_109390" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109390" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/08/Thomas-Samuels-e1691593777378.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-109390" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/08/Thomas-Samuels-e1691593777378-150x150.jpeg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/08/Thomas-Samuels-e1691593777378-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/08/Thomas-Samuels-e1691593777378-400x400.jpeg 400w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/08/Thomas-Samuels-e1691593777378-100x100.jpeg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/08/Thomas-Samuels-e1691593777378-96x96.jpeg 96w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109390" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Thomas Samuels</figcaption></figure> <p>Leading and delegating are two important <span class="il">skills</span> 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 <span class="il">skills</span> are necessary to set the tone for a company’s culture, inspire your team, and rally everyone around a common goal.</p> <p>Thanks Thomas Samuels, <a href="https://cardinalexpo.com/">Cardinal Expo</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#3- Confidence</h2> <figure id="attachment_141175" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141175" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141175" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Shideh-Kaviani.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141175" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Shideh Kaviani</figcaption></figure> <p>The most <span class="il">essential</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Shideh Kaviani, <a href="https://www.nakedwardrobe.com/">Naked Wardrobe</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#4- Problem solving skills</h2> <figure id="attachment_141127" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141127" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141127" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Stephanie-Venn-Watson1.jpg 634w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141127" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Stephanie Venn-Watson</figcaption></figure> <p>A CEO must have strong problem-solving <span class="il">skills</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Stephanie Venn-Watson, <a href="https://fatty15.com/">Fatty15</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#5- Effective leadership</h2> <figure id="attachment_141213" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141213" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Steven-Light.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141213" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Steven-Light-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Steven-Light-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Steven-Light-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Steven-Light-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Steven-Light-75x75.png 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141213" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Steven Light</figcaption></figure> <p>One <span class="il">essential</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Steven Light, <a href="https://shopavenueb.com/">Avenue B</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#6- Self-awareness</h2> <figure id="attachment_141214" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141214" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141214" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Cheshtha-Lakhchaura.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141214" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Cheshtha Lakhchaura</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Cheshtha Lakhchaura, <a href="https://gleexa.com/">Gleexa</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#7- Setting a positive example</h2> <figure id="attachment_141215" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141215" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Loren-Howard.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141215" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Loren-Howard-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Loren-Howard-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Loren-Howard-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Loren-Howard-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Loren-Howard-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Loren-Howard.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141215" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Loren Howard</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Loren Howard, <a href="https://www.primeplusmortgages.com/">Prime Plus Mortgages</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#8- Collaboration</h2> <figure id="attachment_141216" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141216" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Dr.-Miles-Beckett.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141216" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Dr.-Miles-Beckett-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Dr.-Miles-Beckett-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Dr.-Miles-Beckett-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Dr.-Miles-Beckett-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Dr.-Miles-Beckett-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Dr.-Miles-Beckett.jpg 260w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141216" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Dr. Miles Beckett</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Dr. Miles Beckett, <a href="https://www.flossy.com/">Flossy</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#9- Building an outstanding team</h2> <figure id="attachment_141217" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141217" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Seth-Besse.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141217" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Seth-Besse-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Seth-Besse-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Seth-Besse-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Seth-Besse-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Seth-Besse-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Seth-Besse.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141217" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Seth Besse</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Seth Besse,<a href="https://undivided.io/"> Undivided</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#10- Leadership</h2> <figure id="attachment_141218" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141218" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Johannes-Larsson.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-141218" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Johannes-Larsson.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Johannes-Larsson.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Johannes-Larsson-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Johannes-Larsson-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Johannes-Larsson-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141218" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Johannes Larsson</figcaption></figure> <p>Being a CEO is not just about being the boss. It's about leadership. The <span class="il">skills</span> 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 <span class="il">skills</span> such as communication, empathy and having a vision which your team believe in are <span class="il">essential</span> for talent retention and loyalty. Then there are other <span class="il">skills</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Johannes Larsson,<a href="https://financer.com/"> Financer.com</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#11- Adaptability</h2> <figure id="attachment_141219" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141219" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/James-Emery.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141219" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/James-Emery-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/James-Emery-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/James-Emery-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/James-Emery-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/James-Emery-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/James-Emery.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141219" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: James Emery</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to James Emery, <a href="https://www.theneighbourscellar.com.au/">The Neighbours Cellar</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#12- Emotional intelligence</h2> <figure id="attachment_141221" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141221" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/10/Hacia-Atherton.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141221" src="https://storage IAM1897 – COO Turned CEO Helps Organizations Achieve Operational Excellence https://dmvceo.com/2023/10/27/iam1897-coo-turned-ceo-helps-organizations-achieve-operational-excellence/ DMV CEO urn:uuid:126f618e-9e90-753d-e686-a18b32cd2c7c Fri, 27 Oct 2023 18:12:41 -0400 Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”: In this episode of the IAMCEO podcast, Bonnie Ortiz, the founder of O2 Consulting Group, is the featured guest. Bonnie started O2 Consulting [&#8230;] <p>Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:<br /> In this episode of the IAMCEO podcast, Bonnie Ortiz, the founder of O2 Consulting Group, is the featured guest. Bonnie started O2 Consulting Group, a professional services firm, after nearly a decade as Chief Operating Officer for The Partnership Federal Credit Union.<br /> Bonnie is renowned in strategy formation, process improvement, and project management. She now provides her clients with a comprehensive operational toolkit to align people, processes, and systems with corporate goals.<br /> Throughout her career, Bonnie has worked with a wide range of entities, both commercial for-profit and non-profit, across various industries. Additionally, she has shown</p> <p><a href="https://iamceo.co/2023/10/24/iam1897-coo-turned-ceo-helps-organizations-achieve-operational-excellence/">Listen to the full podcast. This is Originally posted here.</a></p> 25 Entrepreneurs Explain Their Motivation to Grow Their Business https://hear.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/27/25-entrepreneurs-explain-their-motivation-to-grow-their-business/ Hearpreneur urn:uuid:99630bc4-1554-038f-ba3f-9c4c8145fc1a 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 [&#8230;] <p>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.</p> <p>We asked entrepreneurs and business owners what motivates them about growing their business and below are their replies.</p> <h2>#1- Empowering women to reach their potential</h2> <figure id="attachment_219808" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219808" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219808 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/roopa-gulati.jpg 703w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219808" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Roopa Gulati</figcaption></figure> <p>My <span class="il">motivation</span> for growing &#8220;The Style and Mindset Connection&#8221; 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 <span class="il">business</span>, 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Roopa Gulati, <a href="https://www.thestyleandmindsetconnection.com/">The Style and Mindset Connection</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#2- Passion and purpose</h2> <figure id="attachment_219810" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219810" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/1695023785443.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219810" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/1695023785443-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/1695023785443-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/1695023785443-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/1695023785443-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/1695023785443-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/1695023785443-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/1695023785443-350x350.jpg 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219810" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Daniyal Sanaullah</figcaption></figure> <p>Growing our <span class="il">business</span> 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 <span class="il">grow</span> SocialSharings is fueled by a combination of passion, purpose, and the pursuit of excellence.</p> <p>Thanks to Daniyal Sanaullah, <a href="https://socialsharings.co/">SocialSharings</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#3- Love of travel</h2> <figure id="attachment_219811" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219811" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Smith-1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-219811" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Smith-1.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Smith-1.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Smith-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Smith-1-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Smith-1-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219811" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: James Smith</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to James Smith, <a href="https://travel-lingual.com/">Travel-Lingual</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#4- Independence and market share</h2> <figure id="attachment_219812" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219812" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219812 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-768x768.jpg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald-750x750.jpg 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Percy-Grunwald.jpg 900w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219812" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Percy Grunwald</figcaption></figure> <p>When I started my <span class="il">business</span>, 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 <span class="il">motivation</span> to <span class="il">grow</span> 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 <span class="il">motivation</span> to <span class="il">grow</span> my <span class="il">business</span>.</p> <p>Thanks to Percy Grunwald, <a href="http://hostingdata.com/">hostingdata.com</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#5- Maximize impact</h2> <figure id="attachment_219813" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219813" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219813 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg-150x150.jpeg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg-100x100.jpeg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg-96x96.jpeg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg-75x75.jpeg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg-350x350.jpeg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Freeburg.jpeg 467w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219813" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Alex Freeburg</figcaption></figure> <p>So, why do I want to <span class="il">grow</span> my <span class="il">business</span>? Simple — expand reach, maximize impact. My <span class="il">motivation</span> 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 <span class="il">you</span> can make the legal process more accessible and human, it's not just good <span class="il">business</span> — 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Alex Freeburg, <a href="https://tetonattorney.com/">Freeburg Law</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#6- Passion for well-being of pets</h2> <figure id="attachment_219814" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219814" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Gentle-Dog-Trainers.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219814" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Gentle-Dog-Trainers-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Gentle-Dog-Trainers-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Gentle-Dog-Trainers-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Gentle-Dog-Trainers-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Gentle-Dog-Trainers-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Gentle-Dog-Trainers-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Gentle-Dog-Trainers-350x350.png 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219814" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Mathew Coulton</figcaption></figure> <p>First off, as the founder of &#8220;Gentle Dog Trainers,&#8221; 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Mathew Coulton, <a href="https://gentledogtrainers.com.au/">Gentle Dog Trainers</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#7- Enriching customer experiences</h2> <figure id="attachment_219815" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219815" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219815 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Andy-LaPointe1-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219815" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Andy LaPointe</figcaption></figure> <p>The <span class="il">motivation</span> to <span class="il">grow</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Andy LaPointe, <a href="https://www.traversebayfarms.com/">Traverse Bay Farms</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#8- Empowering children and families</h2> <figure id="attachment_219816" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219816" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219816 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Seth-Besse.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219816" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Seth Besse</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Seth Besse, <a href="https://www.undivided.io/">Undivided.io</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#9- Passion and personal growth</h2> <figure id="attachment_219817" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219817" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tabatha-Farnel.png"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-219817 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tabatha-Farnel-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tabatha-Farnel-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tabatha-Farnel-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tabatha-Farnel-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tabatha-Farnel-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Tabatha-Farnel.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219817" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Tabatha Farnel</figcaption></figure> <p>My <span class="il">motivation</span> to <span class="il">grow</span> my <span class="il">business</span> 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 <span class="il">motivation</span> 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 <span class="il">business</span> allows me to take on new challenges and continuously evolve both personally and professionally.</p> <p>Thanks to Tabatha Farnel, <a href="https://aromaauthority.com/">Aroma Authority</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#10- Take on new challenges and continuously evolve</h2> <figure id="attachment_219818" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219818" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219818" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ankit-Prakash.jpg 399w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219818" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Ankit Prakash</figcaption></figure> <p>At the core, my <span class="il">motivation</span> to <span class="il">grow</span> 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 <span class="il">business</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Ankit Prakash, <a href="https://sprout24.com/">Sprout24</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#11- Fostering growth and innovation</h2> <figure id="attachment_219819" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219819" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219819" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Ryan-Stone-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis 27 Entrepreneurs Share Tips on Building an Ecommerce Business https://hear.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/25/27-entrepreneurs-share-tips-on-building-an-ecommerce-business/ Hearpreneur urn:uuid:d4c19afe-b339-67b9-c788-e051373e6850 Wed, 25 Oct 2023 12:16:30 -0400 Building a successful e-commerce and business venture requires a strategic approach that encompasses various elements. From crafting a compelling brand identity to mastering digital marketing, it's a multifaceted journey that demands careful planning and execution. A robust plan serves as a roadmap for your e-commerce venture, helping you stay focused and make informed decisions as [&#8230;] <p>Building a successful e-commerce and business venture requires a strategic approach that encompasses various elements. From crafting a compelling brand identity to mastering digital marketing, it's a multifaceted journey that demands careful planning and execution. A robust plan serves as a roadmap for your e-commerce venture, helping you stay focused and make informed decisions as your business evolves.</p> <p>We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners their tips on building an e-commerce business and here are the responses.</p> <h2>#1- Address shrinkage and optimize returns</h2> <figure id="attachment_219760" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219760" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Christian-Piller.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219760" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Christian-Piller-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Christian-Piller-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Christian-Piller-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Christian-Piller-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Christian-Piller-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219760" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Christian Piller</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Christian Piller, <a href="https://pollenreturns.com/">Pollen Returns</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#2- Envisioning a strategic direction</h2> <figure id="attachment_404100" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404100" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Danielle-Sabrina.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404100" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Danielle-Sabrina-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404100" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Danielle Sabrina</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Danielle Sabrina, <a href="https://www.society22pr.com/">Society22 PR</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#3- Investing both time and finance</h2> <figure id="attachment_404101" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404101" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Jonathan-Hussey.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404101" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Jonathan-Hussey-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404101" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Jonathan Hussey</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Jonathan Hussey, <a href="https://developerconnection.co.uk/">Developer Connection</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#4- Invest in content marketing</h2> <figure id="attachment_219761" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219761" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Nigmatulin.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219761" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Nigmatulin-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Nigmatulin-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Nigmatulin-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Nigmatulin-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Nigmatulin-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Alex-Nigmatulin.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219761" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Alex Nigmatulin</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Alex Nigmatulin, <a href="https://prnews.io/">PRNEWS.IO</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#5- Calculate stock reorder levels</h2> <figure id="attachment_404103" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404103" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dani-Mechlowitz.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404103" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dani-Mechlowitz-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404103" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Dani Mechlowitz</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Dani Mechlowitz, <a href="https://deltafulfilment.co.uk/">Delta Fulfilment</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#6- Hire an attorney and SEO expert</h2> <figure id="attachment_404104" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404104" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Priscilla-Christine.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404104" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Priscilla-Christine-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404104" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Priscilla Christine</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Priscilla Christine, <a href="https://www.thelittlecatholic.com/">The Little Catholic</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#7- Differente from the competition</h2> <figure id="attachment_404105" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404105" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Chris-Gerbig1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404105" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Chris-Gerbig1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404105" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Chris Gerbig</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Chris Gerbig, <a href="https://pinklily.com/">Pink Lily</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#8- Focusing on digital marketing and UX</h2> <figure id="attachment_219770" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219770" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Todd-Simon-1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219770" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Todd-Simon-1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Todd-Simon-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Todd-Simon-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Todd-Simon-1-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Todd-Simon-1-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219770" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Todd Simon</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Todd Simon, <a href="https://www.omahasteaks.com/">Omaha Steaks</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#9- Design a user-friendly e-commerce website</h2> <figure id="attachment_404107" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404107" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404107" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404107" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Brian David Crane</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Brian David Crane, <a href="https://www.callersmart.com/">Caller Smart</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#10- Go offline</h2> <figure id="attachment_404108" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404108" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Jane-Harbison.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404108" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Jane-Harbison-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404108" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Jane Harbison</figcaption></figure> <p>An important part of growing an online <span class="il">business</span> 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 <span class="il">your</span> <span class="il">business</span> on a T-shirt.</p> <p>Thanks to Jane Harbison, <a href="https://janeharbison.com.au/">Jane Harbison Design</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#11- Optimize the online shopping cart</h2> <figure id="attachment_404109" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404109" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Stephanie-Venn-Watson.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404109" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Stephanie-Venn-Watson-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404109" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Stephanie Venn-Watson</figcaption></figure> <p>Losing customers during the checkout process is a major pain point for <span class="il">eCommerce</span> merchants. Therefore, I recommend fully optimizing <span class="il">your</span> online shopping cart to eliminate pain points. Ensure <span class="il">your</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Stephanie Venn-Watson, <a href="https://fatty15.com/">fatty15</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#12- Focus on UX and website design</h2> <figure id="attachment_404110" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404110" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Steven-Light.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404110" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Steven-Light-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404110" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Steven Light</figcaption></figure> <p>Prioritize user experience (UX) and website design. A well-designed, user-friendly website can significantly impact <span class="il">your</span> <span class="il">business</span>&#8216;s success. Ensure that <span class="il">your</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Steven Light,<a href="https://shopavenueb.com/"> Avenue B</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#13- Pay attention to product pages</h2> <figure id="attachment_404111" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404111" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Nikhil-Jogia-1.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404111" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Nikhil-Jogia-1-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404111" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Nikhil Jogia</figcaption></figure> <p>When operating an <span class="il">e-commerce</span> <span class="il">business</span>, <span class="il">your</span> product pages are <span class="il">your</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Nikhil Jogia, <a href="https://www.jogiadiamonds.com.au/">Jogia Diamonds</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#14- Blend technology and marketing</h2> <figure id="attachment_219771" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219771" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Emery.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219771" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Emery-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Emery-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Emery-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Emery-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Emery-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/James-Emery.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219771" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: James Emery</figcaption></figure> <p><span class="il">Building</span> an e-commerce <span class="il">business</span> 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 <span class="il">your</span> <span class="il">business</span> grows; we opted for Shopify for its robustness and ease of use. Second, focus on digital marketing channels that align with <span class="il">your</span> target audience—SEO, social media, and email marketing have been invaluable for us.</p> <p>Thanks to James Emery, <a href="https://www.theneighbourscellar.com.au/">The Neighbours Cellar</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#15- Build customer loyalty</h2> <figure id="attachment_219772" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219772" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Liz-Raad.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219772" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Liz-Raad-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Liz-Raad-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Liz-Raad-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Liz-Raad-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Liz-Raad-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Liz-Raad.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-219772" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Liz Raad</figcaption></figure> <p>We can safely say that e-commerce is among the most common types of online <span class="il">business</span>. And yet, it’s surprising how hesitant small businesses are to engage in loyalty programs. And that can make or break <span class="il">your</span> customer retention, especially in the early stages. If you’re still <span class="il">building</span> <span class="il">your</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Liz Raad, <a href="https://www.ebusinessinstitute.com.au/">eBusiness Institute</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#16- Focus on traffic-generating skill</h2> <figure id="attachment_219773" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-219773" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/2/2023/10/Dimitri-Neocleous.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-219773" src="https://stor IAM1896 – Entrepreneur and Digital Content Creator Runs a Designing eCommerce Business https://healthyceo.co/2023/10/23/iam1896-entrepreneur-and-digital-content-creator-runs-a-designing-ecommerce-business/ Healthy CEO urn:uuid:c4da75db-3e02-45f9-e124-5a171579799b Mon, 23 Oct 2023 21:09:50 -0400 Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”: In this episode of the IAMCEO podcast, Emily Duong, a 22-year old entrepreneur and digital content creator, is the guest. Emily graduated from Chapman University and has a strong background in competitive sports, including figure skating and tennis. After years of competitive skating, Emily discovered a passion for &#8230; <p>Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:<br /> In this episode of the IAMCEO podcast, Emily Duong, a 22-year old entrepreneur and digital content creator, is the guest. Emily graduated from Chapman University and has a strong background in competitive sports, including figure skating and tennis.<br /> After years of competitive skating, Emily discovered a passion for designing her own dresses. When she was 17, she turned her love for design into an eCommerce business, Elite Skate Wear, which she continues to manage and grow today.<br /> In the podcast, Emily shares valuable insights:<br /> CEO Hack: She recommends two books that she has found insightful: “Principles” by</p> <p><a href="https://iamceo.co/2023/10/23/iam1896-entrepreneur-and-digital-content-creator-runs-a-designing-ecommerce-business/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Listen to the full podcast. This is Originally posted here.</a></p> Monday Motivation: You Must Come Back And Finish What You Started https://hear.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/23/monday-motivation-you-must-come-back-and-finish-what-you-started/ Hearpreneur urn:uuid:2784f9b7-54a5-c0fa-fd72-0e91316a9412 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 [&#8230;] <div class="jeg_video_container jeg_video_content"><iframe title="YOU MUST COME BACK AND FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED - One Of The Most Powerful Motivational Speeches EVER" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UNKyc8oKycY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <p>This motivational video is to help CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners start the week off inspired to become great.</p> <p>Here are some takeaways from the video:</p> <ul> <li>Sorround yourself with people who will challenge you to grow</li> <li>Control what you can control</li> <li>There is a light within ourselves that can guide us forward during the darkest of times</li> <li>The best version of yourself is yet to be revealed to the world</li> </ul> 27 Entrepreneurs List Their Favorite Business Books https://teach.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/22/27-entrepreneurs-list-their-favorite-business-books-2/ Teach a CEO urn:uuid:7d694448-be31-df18-d047-7d64b598a9be 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 [&#8230;] <p>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.</p> <p>Below is a selection of business books chosen as favorites by entrepreneurs and business owners.</p> <h2>#1- &#8220;Good to Great&#8221; by Jim Collins</h2> <figure id="attachment_141159" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141159" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141159" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-768x767.png 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-600x599.png 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik-750x749.png 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Vikas-Kaushik.png 898w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141159" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Vikas Kaushik</figcaption></figure> <p>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. &#8220;Good to Great&#8221; 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Vikas Kaushik, <a href="https://www.techaheadcorp.com/">TechAhead</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#2- &#8220;Start with Why&#8221; by Simon Sinek</h2> <figure id="attachment_141160" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141160" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1.png"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-141160 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-768x769.png 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-600x600.png 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-750x751.png 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1-1140x1141.png 1140w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Mark-Buskuhl1.png 1209w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141160" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Mark Buskuhl</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Mark Buskuhl,<a href="https://www.ninebp.com/"> Ninebird Properties</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#3- All You Need to Know About the Music Business</h2> <figure id="attachment_141162" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141162" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141162" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Alyssa-J-Devine.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141162" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Alyssa J. Devine</figcaption></figure> <p>&#8220;All You Need to Know About the Music Business&#8221; 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).</p> <p>Thanks to Alyssa J. Devine,<a href="https://purplefoxlegal.com/"> Purple Fox Legal</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#4- “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill</h2> <figure id="attachment_141163" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141163" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141163" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/nick.png 384w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141163" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Nicholas Dragolea</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Nicholas Dragolea, <a href="https://tryfetched.com/">Fetched</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#5- &#8220;Playing to Win&#8221; by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin</h2> <figure id="attachment_141164" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141164" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141164" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-768x768.png 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-600x600.png 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith-750x750.png 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Corwin-Smith.png 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141164" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Corwin Smith</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Corwin Smith, <a href="https://culturetocash.com/">Culture to Cash</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#6- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini</h2> <figure id="attachment_141165" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141165" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Evan-Tunis.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141165" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-350x350.png 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141165" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Evan Tunis</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Evan Tunis, <a href="https://floridahealthcareinsurance.com/">Florida Healthcare Insurance</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#7- &#8220;One Little Spark&#8221; by Marty Sklar</h2> <figure id="attachment_141166" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141166" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141166" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/David-Brewer.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141166" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: David Brewer</figcaption></figure> <p>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</p> <p>Thanks to David Brewer, <a href="https://www.protectline.co.uk/">Protect Line</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#8- &#8220;Hard Times Create Strong Men&#8221; by Stefan Aarnio</h2> <figure id="attachment_141167" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141167" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141167" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Luke-Lintz.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141167" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Luke Lintz</figcaption></figure> <p>Gen Z is extremely lazy. This idea immediately brings to mind insights from Stefan Aarnio’s book &#8220;Hard Times Create Strong Men&#8221;. 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Luke Lintz, <a href="https://www.lukelintz.com/">HighKey Enterprises LLC</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#9- &#8220;Making It In Real Estate&#8221; by John McNellis</h2> <figure id="attachment_141168" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141168" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Jonathan-Ayala1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141168" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Jonathan-Ayala1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Jonathan-Ayala1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Jonathan-Ayala1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Jonathan-Ayala1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Jonathan-Ayala1-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Jonathan-Ayala1-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Jonathan-Ayala1-350x350.jpg 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141168" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Jonathan Ayala</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Jonathan Ayala,<a href="https://hudsoncondos.com/"> Hudson Condos</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#10- &#8220;Never Split the Difference&#8221; by Chris Voss</h2> <figure id="attachment_141169" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141169" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Karen-Green11.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141169" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Karen-Green11-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Karen-Green11-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Karen-Green11-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Karen-Green11-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Karen-Green11-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Karen-Green11-75x75.png 75w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-141169" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Karen Green</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Karen Green, <a href="https://buyerology.co.uk/">Buyerology</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#11- &#8220;Company of One&#8221; by Paul Jarvis</h2> <figure id="attachment_141170" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-141170" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/8/2023/09/Rachel-Doherty.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-141170" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ce IAM1893 – Co-Owner Starts Medical Facilitation Business After Experience Frustration with Canadian Health Care System https://healthyceo.co/2023/10/20/iam1893-co-owner-starts-medical-facilitation-business-after-experience-frustration-with-canadian-health-care-system/ Healthy CEO urn:uuid:fcd1c27d-a344-7786-b1d3-54afc8e8c4b9 Fri, 20 Oct 2023 20:40:13 -0400 Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”: This podcast episode features Christy Evon, the Director and Co-Owner of Health Vantis, a medical facilitation business that she started after experiencing frustrations with the Canadian healthcare system. In this episode, Christy shares her journey and key aspects of her business philosophy: CEO Hack: Christy cites the usefulness &#8230; <p>Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:<br /> This podcast episode features Christy Evon, the Director and Co-Owner of Health Vantis, a medical facilitation business that she started after experiencing frustrations with the Canadian healthcare system.<br /> In this episode, Christy shares her journey and key aspects of her business philosophy:<br /> CEO Hack: Christy cites the usefulness of time management and scheduling to organize and undertake certain activities effectively.<br /> CEO Nugget: Her advice to listeners is to get organized as it is critical for success in business.<br /> CEO Defined: Christy defines a CEO as an individual who creates something unique that helps people.<br /> Check out our CEO Hack</p> <p><a href="https://iamceo.co/2023/10/20/iam1893-co-owner-starts-medical-facilitation-business-after-experience-frustration-with-canadian-health-care-system/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Listen to the full podcast. This is Originally posted here.</a></p> 15 Entrepreneurs Share How They Use Social Media For Their Business https://rescue.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/20/16-entrepreneurs-share-how-they-use-social-media-for-their-business/ Rescue a CEO urn:uuid:5fda166c-3345-01d3-4c59-9d5fd03a0610 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 [&#8230;] <p>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.</p> <p>We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how they use social media for business. Here are some responses.</p> <hr /> <h2>#1- Boosting content for targeted reach</h2> <figure id="attachment_404075" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404075" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404075" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Marshal-Davis.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404075" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Marshal Davis</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Marshal Davis,  <a href="https://ascendlymarketing.com/">Ascendly Marketing</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#2- For projecting my personality and philosophy</h2> <figure id="attachment_404076" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404076" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404076" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Dielle-Charon.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404076" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Dielle Charon</figcaption></figure> <p>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!</p> <p>Thanks to Dielle Charon,  <a href="https://diellecharon.com/">Dielle Charon Coaching</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#3- Establishing recognition and credibility</h2> <figure id="attachment_404077" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404077" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404077" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Adrian-Miller.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404077" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Adrian Miller</figcaption></figure> <p>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!</p> <p>Thanks to Adrian Miller, <a href="https://www.adrianmiller.com/">Adrian Miller Sales Training</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#4- To build brands</h2> <figure id="attachment_404078" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404078" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404078" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Luke-Lintz.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404078" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Luke Lintz</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Luke Lintz, <a href="https://highkeyagency.com/">High Key Agency</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#5- Sharing the journey</h2> <figure id="attachment_404079" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404079" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404079" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Rhett-Wiseman.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404079" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Rhett Wiseman</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Rhett Wiseman, <a href="https://section8coaching.com/">Wiseman Advising LLC</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#6- For recruiting</h2> <figure id="attachment_404080" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404080" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404080" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Garry-West.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404080" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Garry West</figcaption></figure> <p>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!</p> <p>Thanks to Garry West, <a href="https://imagefix.co.uk/">Imagefix</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#7- Align content to niche</h2> <figure id="attachment_404082" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404082" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404082" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Will-Allred.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404082" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Will Allred</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Will Allred, <a href="https://www.lavender.ai/">Lavender</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#8- Showcase business offerings and skillsets</h2> <figure id="attachment_404083" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404083" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404083" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Vanessa-James.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404083" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Vanessa James</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Vanessa James,  <a href="https://www.vanessajamesmedia.com/">Vanessa James Media</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#9- To craft relevant ad messages</h2> <figure id="attachment_404084" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404084" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404084" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane-350x350.png 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Brian-David-Crane.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404084" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Brian David Crane</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Brian David Crane, <a href="https://www.callersmart.com/">Caller Smart Inc</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#10- Infuse our personality into videos</h2> <figure id="attachment_404085" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404085" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Diane-Howard.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404085" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Diane-Howard-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Diane-Howard-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Diane-Howard-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Diane-Howard-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Diane-Howard-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Diane-Howard.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404085" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Diane Howard</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Diane Howard, <a href="https://www.estheticfinesse.com/">Esthetic Finesse</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#11- Regularly answer questions</h2> <figure id="attachment_404086" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404086" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Seth-Besse.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404086" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Seth-Besse-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Seth-Besse-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Seth-Besse-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Seth-Besse-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Seth-Besse-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/10/Seth-Besse.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404086" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Seth Besse</figcaption></figure> <p>Our caregiver support platform is designed specifically to assist parents of children with disabilities and learning differences. The proverb goes, &#8220;It takes a village to raise a child.&#8221; And we feel the same, which is why we are very active and reachable on our <span class="il">social</span> 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.</p> <p>Thanks to Seth Besse, <a href="https://www.undivided.io/">Undivided</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#12- Repost photos from satisfied customers</h2> <figure id="attachment_404087" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404087" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/st Disrupting the Orthodontic Industry: How AI is Revolutionizing Access to Orthodontic Treatment https://ceoblognation.com/2023/10/disrupting-the-orthodontic-industry-how-ai-is-revolutionizing-access-to-orthodontic-treatment/ Business Startup ideas, Entrepreneur News, Tips | CEO Blog Nation urn:uuid:70ae54e8-ad42-da70-ae37-9492e0c17287 Thu, 19 Oct 2023 09:16:04 -0400 When people think of wellness they often think of the right combination of diet and exercise.  One area that is often overlooked is how oral health plays into overall wellness. While most might not think of a straight set of pearly whites as being an indicator of longevity, those who receive orthodontic treatment may even [&#8230;] 14 Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Incorporate Sustainability Into Their Business https://rescue.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/18/14-entrepreneurs-reveal-how-they-incorporate-sustainability-into-their-business/ Rescue a CEO urn:uuid:1735770c-a254-04b9-bec7-10e54ded09c8 Wed, 18 Oct 2023 12:16:09 -0400 In an era where environmental consciousness and ethical practices are taking center stage, the integration of sustainability into business operations is no longer a choice, but a necessity. There are myriad ways in which sustainability can be seamlessly woven into your business fabric, not just as a token gesture, but as a strategic advantage. We [&#8230;] <p>In an era where environmental consciousness and ethical practices are taking center stage, the integration of sustainability into business operations is no longer a choice, but a necessity. There are myriad ways in which sustainability can be seamlessly woven into your business fabric, not just as a token gesture, but as a strategic advantage.</p> <p>We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how they incorporate sustainability into their businesss and here are the responses.</p> <h2>#1- Using cheaper and cleaner energy sources</h2> <figure id="attachment_404034" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404034" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404034" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Andrew-Meyer.jpg 455w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404034" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Andrew Meyer</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Andrew Meyer, <a href="https://www.joinarbor.com/">Arbor</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#2- Through commitment and innovation</h2> <figure id="attachment_404036" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404036" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Ward-dilmore.png"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-404036 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Ward-dilmore-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Ward-dilmore-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Ward-dilmore-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Ward-dilmore-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Ward-dilmore-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Ward-dilmore-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Ward-dilmore-350x350.png 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404036" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Ward Dilmore</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Ward Dilmore, <a href="https://petruslandscape.com/">Petrus Landscaping</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#3- Using independent​ and carbon-neutral data centers​</h2> <figure id="attachment_404037" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404037" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cuautemoc-Weber.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404037" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cuautemoc-Weber-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cuautemoc-Weber-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cuautemoc-Weber-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cuautemoc-Weber-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cuautemoc-Weber-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cuautemoc-Weber-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cuautemoc-Weber-350x350.jpg 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404037" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Cuautemoc Weber</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Cuautemoc Weber, <a href="https://gateway.fm/">Gateway.fm</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#4- Having a strong environmental committee</h2> <figure id="attachment_404046" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404046" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404046" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1-750x750.jpg 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Mac-Steer1.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404046" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Mac Steer</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Mac Steer, <a href="https://simify.com/">Simify</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#5-Reducing carbon footprint</h2> <figure id="attachment_404041" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404041" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Evan-Tunis.png"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404041" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-150x150.png 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-300x300.png 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-100x100.png 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-96x96.png 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-75x75.png 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Evan-Tunis-350x350.png 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404041" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Evan Tunis</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Evan Tunis, <a href="https://www.fhcp.com/">Florida Healthcare Insurance</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#6- Using UV-C air disinfection</h2> <figure id="attachment_404047" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404047" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Jennifer-Nuckles-scaled.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-404047 size-thumbnail" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Jennifer-Nuckles-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Jennifer-Nuckles-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Jennifer-Nuckles-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Jennifer-Nuckles-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Jennifer-Nuckles-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Jennifer-Nuckles-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Jennifer-Nuckles-350x350.jpg 350w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404047" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Jennifer Nuckles</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Jennifer Nuckles, <a href="https://rzero.com/">R-Zero</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#7- Building a strong corporate culture</h2> <figure id="attachment_404049" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404049" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404049" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Michael-Podolsky.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404049" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Michael Podolsky</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Michael Podolsky, <a href="https://www.pissedconsumer.com/">PissedConsumer.com</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#8- Driving sustainable apartment living</h2> <figure id="attachment_404050" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404050" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404050" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Cameron-johnson.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404050" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Cameron Johnson</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Cameron Johnson, <a href="https://nicksonliving.com/">Nickson Living</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#9- By sourcing eco-conscious vendors</h2> <figure id="attachment_404051" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404051" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-scaled.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404051" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-600x600.jpg 600w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-350x350.jpg 350w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-750x750.jpg 750w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Marcy-Kelman-1-1140x1140.jpg 1140w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404051" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Marcy Kelman</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Marcy Kelman, <a href="https://www.diplomaframe.com/">Church Hill Classics</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#10- Removal and recycling services of e-waste</h2> <figure id="attachment_404052" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404052" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Josh-Cohen.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404052" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Josh-Cohen-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Josh-Cohen-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Josh-Cohen-100x100.jpg 100w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Josh-Cohen-96x96.jpg 96w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Josh-Cohen-75x75.jpg 75w, https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/Josh-Cohen.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-404052" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Josh Cohen</figcaption></figure> <p>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.</p> <p>Thanks to Josh Cohen, <a href="https://www.junkluggers.com/">The Junkluggers</a>!</p> <hr /> <h2>#11- Using eco-friendly packaging</h2> <figure id="attachment_404054" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-404054" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/James-Emery.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-404054" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-ceoblognation-com/sites/3/2023/09/James-Emery-150x150.jpeg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.c Monday Motivation: Embrace Adversity https://hear.ceoblognation.com/2023/10/17/monday-motivation-embrace-adversity/ Hearpreneur urn:uuid:4d9d9591-dd7d-4175-f33a-f652503caa1e Tue, 17 Oct 2023 05:32:57 -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: You are powerful more than you realize You need a sustaining meaning that's deep and profound To transistion, the thing you want must be greater than what you currently [&#8230;] <div class="jeg_video_container jeg_video_content"><iframe title="EMBRACE ADVERSITY - Motivational Speech" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t6Buh2iWAS8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <p>This motivational video is to help CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners start the week off inspired to become great.</p> <p>Here are some takeaways from the video:</p> <ul> <li>You are powerful more than you realize</li> <li>You need a sustaining meaning that's deep and profound</li> <li>To transistion, the thing you want must be greater than what you currently have</li> <li>Stand up, dig in</li> <li>Let those challenges raise you up</li> </ul>