In The Trenches

Gaetano Caruana is the founder of EarlyParrot, which is a referral marketing software that has helped hundreds of businesses generate high-quality leads through referrals. EarlyParrot was built out of a need and soon evolved into a flexible platform that can be plugged into any sales firm.   Today, I sit down with Gaetano Caruana to discuss how to grow your email list and scale your revenue with an automated referral marketing system. I know that sounds like a lot, but it’s truly not that complex. We’ll also dive into how easy it is, how profitable it can be, how a referral program can increase your brand awareness and customer loyalty, why referrals are typically higher quality leads and why that matters to you and your business. Gaetano will also share how referral programs lower the cost of acquisition and so much more.   My big takeaway for this episode is for you to listen to the part where we talk about exclusivity. Now, I’m just going to leave it at that. You’ll have to listen to the rest of the ep

Jennifer Lehner is a Digital Marketing Strategist and Adjunct Professor of Digital Marketing at Cleveland State University. She shows entrepreneurs how to build an audience and monetize their expertise online using social media and digital tools. She creates online courses and trainings, while also speaking at businesses and universities about the fast-changing world of digital media and how important it is to know exactly how to use these new tools to differentiate yourself, to tell your story and take control of your future.   On this week’s episode, I’m sitting down with Jennifer Lerner to discuss how to start and grow a profitable recurring revenue membership site. But that’s not all we discuss! We also dive deep into membership sites, including why membership sites are all about the experience, how to grow a membership site that requires minimal content creation, what content to restrict and what to share, how to use events to reward existing members while generating new paid membership signups and so

Jonathan Keyser is the founder and CEO of Keyser. By using his own selfless service model, Jonathan was able to turn Keyser into the largest tenant rep commercial real estate firm in Arizona in just six years.    The rapid growth and continued success of Keyser inspired Jonathan to share, teach and train the next generation of selfless leaders using his model, hence the Keyser Institute was born. To top it all off, Jonathan is also a Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author of You Don’t Have to Be Ruthless to Win, a book that chronicles Jonathan’s journey from self-described ruthlessness to selfless service, including why and how he did it and how you can do the same.   In today’s conversation, we talk about why you don’t have to be ruthless to win a business, or life, and that there’s another way to do things. We also talk about why you must align your business model with your values and how to inculcate this in your team.   In this broadcast, Jonathan and I talk about:   How did Jonathan’s journey beg

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker, and author of Duct Tape Marketing, The Referral Engine, Duct Tape Selling, The Commitment Engine, and SEO for Growth. His newest work, The Self-reliant Entrepreneur 366 Daily Meditations to Feed Your Soul and Grow Your Business, taps into the wisdom of 19th-century transcendentalist literature and the author’s own 30 year entrepreneurial journey to challenge today’s entrepreneurs to remain fiercely self-reliant while chasing their own version of success.   My big takeaway from today’s conversation is that there are two major challenges that every entrepreneur will run into - two major roadblocks. The first challenge is distraction, losing time, not making useful gains because you’re getting sidetracked. It’s the result of a lack of focus, but ultimately, distraction is really crippling because there’s only so many days in a row that you can not make progress before you have to throw in the towel for anything you’re doing. So remember, that distraction will ke

Jonathan Stark is a former software developer who is on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He is the author of Hourly Billing is Nuts, the host of Ditching Hourly and writes a daily newsletter on pricing for independent professionals.   During today’s conversation, Jonathan breaks down the idea of ditching hourly rates and why you should think about shifting more towards the less limiting avenue of value pricing. My big takeaway from today’s conversation was that if you are selling services professionally, hourly billing is probably not the way to go. It limits your upside profit potential and it can also harm relationships with longer term clients. In this broadcast, Jonathan and I talk about:   How did Jonathan venture into this space What are the issues with hourly billing In what ways could hourly billing seem like a trap How does switching from hourly billing increase efficiency What are the benefits of selling outcomes vs selling time/hours What are the issues of trust with buyer

Nir Eyal is the bestselling author of "Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products" and "Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life." He has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. His writing on technology, psychology, and business, appears in the Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, TechCrunch, and Psychology Today.   During this conversation, we talk about Nir’s most recent book Indistractable. We also focus on a few of the major areas of the book, like internal and external triggers that cause distractions. My big takeaway from this conversation is that there will always be distractions. The only thing we can do is be aware of our distractions because they will happen. They will occur. You can never rid yourself entirely of distractions, but there are ways that you can organize your environment so that you can be more effective in life.   In this broadcast, Nir and I talk about:   Why did Nir write Indistractable How did Ni

Jake Jorgovan is the founder of Lead Cookie, Outbound Creative, and Content Allies. Prior to starting Outbound Creative, Jake ran business development for a video production agency and won the business of multiple Fortune 500 clients and A-List touring artists. Since leaving that agency, he has been working with other companies to help them win their dream clients. Jake doesn’t have an office and he doesn’t meet his clients in person. Instead, he works remotely and travels all over the world.   Today I sit down with Jake to talk about his 4-hour workweek. We took this angle because of how interesting it is to be able to organize your business and your work into your life in only four hours. My big takeaway from this chat is that no matter where you’re at, no matter how tough it's been, no matter how many hits you've taken, no matter if you're in the trenches and you're still slogging it out, or if you're trying to hustle through it - whatever your goal is, you can definitely achieve it.   In this broadcas

Rick Cesari has been a pioneer in the Direct Response advertising industry since the early 90s, and his Brand Response strategies have helped build many iconic brands that you have probably heard of (like Sonicare, The George Foreman Grill, and OxiClean). He is the author of "Buy Now, Creative Marketing that gets Customers to Respond to You”, “Video Persuasion”.    Rick continues to be on the cutting edge of new Brand Response advertising campaigns, creating and implementing innovative cross-platform strategies with digital and mobile ventures for his clients and is currently focusing on video marketing as a leading media direct response platform for increasing product sales.   During today’s episode Rick and I talk about video marketing infomercials and video persuasion. More specifically, we dive into how you can use video persuasion among your social media channels in order to boost your marketing.    My big takeaway from this episode is that you need to start getting more video testimonials from you

Rob Braiman is personally responsible for the development and growth of three directly owned and successful start-ups, he brings a passion for the small to mid-market segment of business. He has spent 15 years working directly with business owners to improve strategic planning, operations, growth, and business development.    During today’s conversation, I sit down with Rob Braiman, who’s the Principal and Managing Member at Cogent Analytics. I brought Rob on the call today to talk about the typical problems that small business owners and entrepreneurs face today and how to get through them. This conversation does get somewhat analytical and academia focused, but it will still be incredibly useful for small business owners.    You’ll leave this conversation thinking about how you can improve some of your bottom line metrics and numbers that you don’t necessarily think about when bootstrapping. My big takeaway from this episode is that the world of KPI metrics can be quite interesting when you know what yo

Alinka Rutkowska is a USA Today best-selling author, a Wall Street Journal best-selling author and a top 100 Amazon best-selling author in business and money. She’s sold more than 100,000 copies of her books and her book creation process has been showcased in Entrepreneur magazine. She’s also the CEO of Leaders Press, where she turns entrepreneurs' book ideas into best-selling books. She has launched all its titles to best-seller status.   On today’s episode, I sit down with Alinka Rutkowska to talk about two things. The first is how to outsource your book and what that process looks like. The second is Alinka’s best tips on how to hit the Wall Street Journal bestseller list.   During this conversation, we kind of break down her strategy for those two things with what worked and what didn’t. She will be sharing some practical and hopefully pragmatic tips on what you could do to implement for your own launch, regardless if you are shooting for a best seller list.   In this broadcast, Alinka and I talk ab

Hussain Bandukwala is the Chief PMO Coach and Adviser at Parwaaz Consulting, which provides consulting, coaching, support and resources to facilitate the success of Project Management Office (PMO) leaders. He is a seasoned program/project manager who has worked with C-level executives and garnered recognition for being a versatile leader with a focus on getting things done. Hussain speaks at PMI events and has authored several PMO relevant publications.   Today, I sit down with Hussain to talk about project management. Specifically, how do we get things done quickly and efficiently and do it in as organized a fashion as possible so that we can chip on time and profitably. This episode is going to discuss how you can get things done better, faster and ultimately reclaim more of your time. My biggest takeaway from this episode is that what we are doing is worth our time and energy only when we’re getting things done efficiently and effectively.   In this broadcast, Hussain and I talk about:   What led Huss

Andrew Tarvin is the creator of Humor That Works. Humor That Works has helped over 25,000 people, from all around the world and within more than 250 different organizations, use humor to achieve success and happiness in the workplace.   As an entrepreneur, and as a marketer, I like to use humor to capture attention, get people entertained, and to have more fun with the content I am producing. In today’s conversation, Andrew and I dive into the engineering of humor. We spent some time discussing whether or not there is a scientific or mathematical model that we can follow and what constitutes as good humor or bad humor in the workplace.   My big takeaway from this episode is that humor is something that can actually be engineered. There are some good techniques and tactics, and some pragmatic approaches to thinking about how to be humorous in a productive capacity, both in the workplace and on your own.   In this broadcast, Andrew and I talk about:   How did Andrew venture into his current career Why d

Jill Stanton is the co-creator of Screw the Nine to Five with her husband, Josh Stanton. Jill and her husband are obsessive world travellers (with their little guy, Kai), say-it-like-it-is podcast hosts, lovers of quality of red wine and hell-bent on helping transform unsatisfied employees into dangerously-successful entrepreneurs!   In today’s conversation, we discuss how Jill has grown her blog to multiple six figures by selling affiliate products. We also dive into what makes a successful affiliate marketing program, how to niche down effectively and what is working and what’s not working in the digital marketing space right now.   My big takeaway from this episode is that affiliate income can be simple, easy and fun to earn, and it’s particularly suited for those people who want to focus on content creation and teaching first. If you’re already creating content and teaching and sharing great information, then you should also be leveraging affiliate or affiliate products. Because if you’re not, then yo

Steve Chou is the founder of My Wife Quit Her Job. When Steve’s wife became pregnant with their first child, she decided to quit her job to stay at home with the kids. But instead of cutting back on their lifestyle, they started an online store and made over $100K in only 12 months to replace her salary.    On today’s episode, Steve and I talk about that website, how he founded it, and how they were able to replace her income with a side hustle project within about one to two years of starting their business. Steve created a foundation in niche businesses, through traffic, lead generation, marketing and sales for his physical and digital products.   My big takeaway from today’s episode was that great results can occur by working with a chatbot through Facebook messenger. I can’t wait for you to hear Steve’s statistics to share about his experience with that feature!   In this broadcast, Steve and I talk about:   How did Steve enter the blogging space What factors attributed to the significant increase

Brian Berni is a former Vatican secret archives employee and a best selling author under multiple pen names. He blogs for writers and self publishers at Authorstech and is the co-founder of BookAds, an agency that helps authors advertise their books through Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) and book club ads in 2018. Brian also hosted the first ever virtual summit for fiction writers.    I brought Brian onto the podcast today to talk about book marketing, book advertising, what’s working, what’s not, and how to make a mess work for you. In today’s conversation, I wanted Brian to share his experience from hosting his first ever virtual summit, Indie Novelist Summit for fiction writers in 2018, which helped him go from practically zero to thousands of engaged readers. Due to the success of the summit, several thousand more subscribers joined his email list and generated multiple five figures just from ticket sales of his virtual summit alone. During the campaign, I worked with Brian, which was a lot of fun beca

Chad Pytel is a developer, founder and CEO of thoughtbot, a product design development consultancy with six studios across the U.S. and U.K. For over 15 years, thoughtbot has produced top quality web and mobile apps with hundreds of clients from one person startups to Fortune 500 enterprises, universities and nonprofits. Chad co-authored two books, Rails AntiPatterns and Pro Active Record, has spoken at conferences around the world and is the host of the podcast Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots.   On today’s episode, I sit down with Chad to talk about how thoughtbot went from an idea to a small five person Web agency. From there it grew to over a 100 person consultancy. During this conversation, we also discuss how Chad has been able to grow this company over the last decade and what that’s been like to expand and grow across multiple geographic locations.   My big takeaway from today’s conversation is that there are a lot of ways to build the type of business you want to build. But the one t

On today’s episode, I am having a conversation with Jason Resnick who is a web developer, host of the podcast, Live in the Feast and creator of the online community for freelancers, Feast. Inside Feast and through his blog and podcast, Jason helps freelancers discover their niche, plan out and market themselves, build recurring revenue and stay in the feast. Jason helps his clients reach their goals, connect with their why and live the life that they’ve always wanted to live.   My big takeaway from this episode is something that’s a recurring theme with the entrepreneurs,authors and creators - you need to niche down at the very least to get any sort of traction from your marketing. The reason is simple. There’s just so much competition out there now that to be generic is kind of a death knell but a great resume and track record can help. If you’re showcasing your work and knowledge online via blogs or podcasts, that can all help, but unless you can target a specific subset of the market, your marketing doll

Today’s panelists are Megan Reamer is the co-founder and CEO of Jackson’s Honest, a healthy foods company. Jackson’s Honest makes potato chips, tortilla chips and grain free puffs all cooked in organic coconut oil. Patrick Vlaskovits is an entrepreneur and 2 time New York Times bestselling author. His writing has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal, and he speaks at technology conferences worldwide. And our third panelist is Bret Boyd is the CEO of Knoema, a software platform for data access and discovery. At Knoema, Bret and his team build tools to help public and private-sector organizations make better decisions with data.   During today’s episode, I’m interviewing not one, but three exceptional CEOs. This episode is a bit different than my other podcasts, as it’s a live podcast where I’m extracting the panelist’s best insights on business, marketing, creativity, and leadership.   In this broadcast, Patrick, Megan, Bret and I talk about:   How did Megan differentia

Michael Greenberg is a serial entrepreneur, strategist, founder of Gentleman of Technology and the CEO of Call for Content, a white label podcasting agency. In a nutshell, Call for Content helps agency owners book podcasts for their clients. Instead of going the typical straight to client approach, they sell their services to agencies who then resell the service to their existing clients.    In today’s conversation, I sit down with Michael Greenberg to discuss all things podcasting. My big takeaway from today’s conversation is that if you already do client based work, you really should consider what a white label, B2B type structure would look like for you. This is especially helpful, if you are somebody who really likes the implementation side, but you struggle with the sales side. During this conversation, we really dive deep into how you can make money podcasting without dealing with the administrative side of things. Without further ado, let’s dive into the conversation!   In this broadcast, Michael a

Caspar Craven is a conference and corporate event speaker, adventurer who sailed around the world with his wife and three children, and the best selling author of the book Where the Magic Happens. In today’s episode, Caspar and I talk about his experience sailing around the world with his wife and three children, who are all under the age of 10, and how he was able to manage his family and his business at the same time. We discuss what he learned about entrepreneurship, productivity, success and overall happiness in general. My big takeaway from today’s conversation is that everyone should have a goal and an aim for their family. This goal and aim should pull your family into the future so that they are inspired collectively. In this broadcast, Caspar and I talk about: What it was like to sail around the world with his family in tow How Caspar was able to manage his expenses while traveling How his travels led to developing new business ventures What were the challenges surrounding time spent working on