In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the Brand Navigator, Lauren Clemett.Lauren grew up in New Zealand very independently near the bush of the country. That was where she learned her bushcraft skills which is something she’s always carried with her. This upbringing really shaped who Lauren became; in the bush, they never became lost, only temporarily displaced. When you have the right tools, in this case a map and a compass, you’re never lost. But you also have to know how to use them and you need the combination of tools to work. If you’re lost in life or in business, the same logic applies. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, as we all know. Your marketing is your map and your brand’s mission is your true north. When you combine them both and work them strategically, you’re never lost. Lauren helps brands find their true north and seeks to inspire brands to find their purpose, which comes before everything else. When you know what you’re really marketing for and you apply strategy before tactics, you’re aligning to your true north. Lauren just wrote a book, Finding Your Brand’s True North, and she’s also a professional keynote speaker. Lauren uses the study of neurobranding to help her clientele, she explains. Neurobranding is how the brain processes and relates information about brands. When you give a confusing or unclear message with your marketing and branding, consumers are confused. You have to establish safety and clarity in order to see conversions. Neurobranding shows that clarity is key. One of the biggest faux pa’s in business right now is the misconception that “if you build it, they will come.” Creation is important, but you have to exert as much or more effort into marketing whatever it is you offer. You can’t just create an amazing program, service, or product. At the end of the day, you have to sell it. Whatever it costs to create an offering, expect it to cost three times as much effort, time, and money to execute effective marketing. Lauren shares another big mistake is that businesses aren’t looking after their existing customers because they’re too focused on getting new ones. When you don’t stay top of mind with your existing customers, you retain nothing. Your customers will be loyal to you and send business to you; you have to make steps to show them you care, even after the sale is made. Ask your customers how you can help them and listen. Now and after they buy from you, you should be invested in maintaining old relationships as much as you are in creating new ones. Want to learn more? Check out Lauren’s website at http://yourbrandtruenorth.com/.  Check out Lauren Clemett on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenclemett/.  Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the founder and CEO of Kexino, Gee Ranasinha. Kexino is a small business marketing agency. They started 14 years ago and since then have helped around 400 businesses, from all sorts of industries, with strategic marketing solutions. They attack every project from a business perspective and they focus heavily on messaging and value articulation. Tactics are overrated, as both Gee and Josh agree. You have to differentiate yourself with cutting edge strategy. Gee shares a few insights. For one, too many small business owners self diagnose their issues before even approaching an agency. They are mostly operating off of their intuition rather than data.  More often than not, the business owner hasn’t actually identified the root issue. The first mistake is trying to diagnose your own issues. You have to consult an expert, just like you would if you went to your doctor with a medical issue. Usually, the issues around websites relate to conversions. The issue isn’t just whether or not the website looks nice, the content has to actually interest your audience. If you aren’t saying anything worth reading, no amount of aesthetics will fix your conversion rate. The other issue is developing value articulation around the customer problem. Don’t focus on what you do and why as much as you focus on telling them what you will fix for them. Make an emotional connection by speaking about what you offer your customer, how you’ll solve it, and the deliverable. You need to tell them what they’ll be able to tangibly measure at the end of working with you. Gee shares that when a marketer starts with tactics first, that’s a red flag. You have to do strategy first, up front, to make a tangible difference and save money when it comes to your marketing. You have to identify the issue the consumer thinks they have and you have to be concise in telling them why exactly your solution can help them. If you articulate your brand narrative succinctly, you’ll see conversion. If they have to connect the dots or dig, they won’t see you as any more unique than your competitors and move on. The consumer is savvier than ever, so you need to stand out as their advocate and shining solution – you need to set yourself apart from your competitors. You have competitors you may not even know about; your competition isn’t just the businesses that offer exactly what you do.  You need to understand your competitors the way your customers see them; they’re comparing all sorts of solutions for the same issue. Want to learn more? Check out Kexino’s website at https://kexino.com/. Check out Kexino on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/kexino/. Check out Gee Ranasinha on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranasinha/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the founder of The Success Alliance, Karyn Greenstreet. The Success Alliance educates people about what mastermind groups are and how powerful they can be when executed properly. Karyn shares what a mastermind really is; it’s a group of likeminded people who share the same goals. The topics are endless and they meet to advise one another and get to their goals faster through the power of combined, great minds. The facilitator isn’t the center of attention, either. They’re there to offer ideas, focus, and guidance. Workshops and classes aren’t masterminds; what makes a mastermind group is that the participants help each other and are the main focus. Coaches, consultants, business owners, B2B service providers, and more should leverage mastermind groups. Karyn shares that she’s seen them utilized in two ways by business owners; it’s either to bring their clients together to overcome challenges and build community, or it’s the next logical step as a product offering. Karyn shares she wanted to operate something deeper than just teaching a class when she founded The Success Alliance. Karyn also describes how to frame your mastermind group; it should be your highest tier offering. Yes, some business owners will actually set their masterminds at the lowest tier, but that’s simply not scalable. You can’t deliver the intimate, tight knit experience to a couple hundred people. The mastermind group should be your highest ticket clients and be a high ticket experience for them. You want to keep track of your clients’ progress, Karyn explains. In an intimate mastermind setting, you can actually pay attention and offer that support when needed. A classroom setting doesn’t offer the same level of awareness on your part of how they’re doing when they stumble. This is another unique benefit of hosting a mastermind group. What about the finances behind it? Karyn and Josh talk about how you need to first find where your mastermind will fall into your funnel. Your pricing needs to match your brand’s vision and purpose. Where does it fit into the ladder of what you’re offering? You can also offer various levels or tiers of masterminds if you want to make things more sophisticated. The sweet spot with pricing? Somewhere between $350 to $1,500 monthly, according to Karyn. You have to know exactly what value you’re providing as well as the type of experience. The price has to match what you’ll deliver, so a high ticket price needs a white glove customer experience. Want to learn more? Check out The Success Alliance’s website at https://www.thesuccessalliance.com/. Check out Karyn Greenstreet on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karyngreenstreet/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More from UpMyInfluence: ✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE. ✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here. ✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the founder and CEO of Nuclius, Pace Ellsworth. Nuclius builds software, websites, and mobile apps. They work with any business that wants to simplify technology and use modern technology to automate processes – and potentially double their margins. Nuclius finds the solutions to simplify technology. Pace shares that Nuclius operates as a strategic partner rather than an outsourced firm. They go into a business with fresh eyes and not only solve the development side of issues, but also the project management and planning. You need to deeply know the lay of the land when it comes to software development and you have to interconnect business processes in order for automation to be possible. This is what Nuclius does. Pace also shares that software development has seen a boon during the pandemic, and remote work is now a permanent change that isn’t ever going away in this industry. This flexibility makes for less burnout and more satisfaction for employees, which results in more productivity. Going remote has also pushed companies to invest in software development – you need it at this point to get in front of audiences in a virtual sense. Automation is integral to streamlined and efficient business in this day and age, so don’t spend less money on tech solutions without spending more time on your plan. If tech and automation aren’t your areas of genius, deeply consider the risks of forgoing hiring a high-ticket company with experts. Pace and Josh also explore what to look for when hiring a developer. He shares this wisdom; you get what you pay for. You can outsource to a cheaper developer, but you better have your plan down exactly. If you don’t tell these developers exactly what to do, there will be all types of mistakes and assumptions when executed that will cost you a lot of time and headaches. Hiring a strategic partner can offer not only deep brand and business knowledge readily applied during development,  but also intimate knowledge of the software space. Invest the money to hire an expert to give your business the personalized software solution it deserves. According to their website, Nuclius is a cross-functional software development, project management, and design team with a wealth of experience, remotely based in the United States.They  are here to meet the needs of projects of any size. Their talented designers, developers, and project managers guide their clientele through the process of development from beginning to end.Want to learn more? Check out Nuclius’s website at https://www.nuclius.com/.  Check out Nuclius on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/nuclius/. Check out Pace Ellsworth on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paceme/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the founder of Book Speak Repeat, Kerry Heaps. Kerry started her business in 2005. Kerry shares her business began in the acting industry before she became an event planner. That path eventually led to an interest in marketing and speaking. She explains that she loves process and she figured out the routine of speaking and how to get booked. Now, she helps other speakers with these pain points through Book Speak Repeat.Kerry explains that the speaking industry didn’t die during the pandemic – this is a misconception. In 2020, there were speakers who wanted to be booked regardless of COVID, especially for larger events that are planned far in advance. There is at least a 3-6 month lead time for speakers, not to mention the fact that there are now virtual events. While speaking virtually might pay less, speakers can still get themselves in front of their ideal audience. Kerry shares that there are many keynote events that are actually now making speakers pay to be on stage. This system used to be reversed (events would pay the speaker), but now, events charge to get speakers in front of audiences. She stresses that this model can only work when the speaker’s content is made to be educational, not an editorial opportunity. Kerry says that you have to be able to make money from any event you speak at…. Sell your book, collect information, and build relationships throughout. Bottom line, Kerry is against the pay to play model when it comes to booking speakers for events. Kerry shares that she advises against speaking at pay to play events. If you know you can speak at events that do have your ideal audience attending, even smaller events, go for those opportunities. What matters most is that they’re in front of you – there is enough organic business out there to avoid engagements where you need to pay to speak. There are more speakers than there are engagements, now. There’s competition, which means the days of showing up for a keynote, getting paid a hefty fee as a speaker, and leaving immediately are over. You need to be the right fit for an event and you need to forge relationships with your audience. It’s more competitive now than ever to be a speaker, so you have to seek out the right events and put in the leg work to see results. Want to learn more? Check out the Book Speak Repeat  website at https://bookspeakrepeat.com/. Check out Kerry Heaps on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-kathleen-heaps-6783a6a6/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the co-owner of The Prepared Group, Ken Cook. The Prepared Group licenses intellectual property around marketing strategies to other marketing agencies. The reality is that most agencies aren’t profitable and they work tireless hours every month for only a few thousand in revenue. They need better strategies to scale and become profitable. As a business owner, you have to both morally and legally make sure your profit margins are healthy. Agencies that want to make an impact and get visibility tend to price their offerings very low. Ken shares that when his group used a high price model and offered higher-ticket services, they were able to tangibly give back to both their team and their community. He explains that because they had healthy profit margins, they were able to work with nonprofits pro bono. Ken offers some candid advice; you can’t make an impact if you’re broke. You have to have the means financially to make an actual impact. If you want to see change in the world, you have to have the wealth to make those changes. Josh and Ken explore how to start increasing your profit margins. First of all, don’t start over and try to find another product. You can grow in many ways, he shares. The number one way to increase your revenue? Adjust your pricing, first and foremost. Ken shares his calculations; you can lose 30% of your customers but increase your profit by 50%, based on the scenario Ken explores. In such a model, you are earning higher ticket prices for your offerings. The reality is that you’ve probably underpriced what you offer to begin with. That’s why this is always step one.  Next, Ken says your product should be something you yourself use as a business. In other words, eat your own dog food. If it really works, you won’t feel the need to change it, so naturally you’d use your own product.  Change what you’re selling fundamentally to align with your ideal prospect. You need to frame your value proposition to meet what they’re looking for. It’s all about how you relay the solution you offer – and who you talk to. As Ken puts it, a prescription without a diagnosis is malpractice. You can’t tell your prospects what the solution is before you’ve even diagnosed the problem. With a clear, repeatable, and proven diagnosis and a clear solution that only you offer, you’ll attract prospects who believe in their investment fully. Want to learn more? Check out The Prepared Group website at https://thepreparedgroup.com/. Check out The Prepared Group on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/prepared-marketing/. Check out Ken Cook on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendellcook/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to fractional CMO and the founder and CEO of KEO Marketing, Sheila Kloefkorn.KEO Marketing helps entrepreneurs operate their businesses from a marketing perspective. They work primarily with mid-market B2B companies. They’ve worked with this model for 22 years and Sheila serves as an outsourced CMO. Her team operates as an outsourced marketing team. Marketing is now more sophisticated than ever, Sheila shares, and successful marketing requires specialists and teams that are dialed in and focused. They help companies that are cost-conscious scale faster than ever. KEO focuses on why a fractional CMO and marketing team works for B2B businesses; some of the businesses they work with may not have the budget to flesh out an entire in-house team that specializes in the tactics that see success. This is why a part time, fractional, outsourced team can be more affordable and feasible for many B2B companies. With a fractional CMO, the CEO can be freed up to do what they do best while also having the support and in-house leadership they need. Another benefit of outsourcing a marketing team and fractional CMO is that they’ve probably seen a lot of the issues your B2B business will encounter. They’ve seen the trends, the newer tactics to follow, and the major mistakes and blunders to avoid. Many of their clients are jaded from their experiences in marketing, Sheila shares. They take a limited number of clients at a time, and she saw a lot of discouragement especially after COVID began. With the massive pivots and changes since the pandemic, KEO Marketing has been able to help scale and pivot B2B businesses despite the wrench in the works. This would have been extremely challenging for any business on its own, but hiring specialists is the best way to see fast growth, even during periods of flux. If you’re on the fence or unsure where the biggest issues are in your marketing, KEO offers a complimentary marketing audit. These reports typically cost money with other agencies, but KEO believes in offering value and helping entrepreneurs first. This audit clarifies up front what a company needs to achieve its marketing goals, and many companies return to execute this work with Sheila and her team. Shelia shares some trends she’s seeing today in the B2B marketing space. She shares that you need to personalize marketing. This started in the B2C space, but now it’s becoming relevant in the B2B space. People want to KNOW who you are and what solution you bring for them specifically. Secondly, she’s seeing AI becoming more and more important when it comes to market and consumer research. Arming yourself with machine learning offers unprecedented data and research on your target market. Want to learn more? Check out the KEO Marketing website at https://keomarketing.com/. Check out KEO Marketing’s complimentary marketing audit at https://keomarketing.com/request-an-audit/. Check out KEO Marketing on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/keo-marketing/. Check out Sheila Kloefkorn on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheilakloefkorn/.   Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the founder of Virtua Consulting, Justin Esgar.Virtua Consulting is a management service provider that works in the virtual computing space. Virtua Consulting is a family of businesses including IT Consulting, Business Consulting, Conferences, and Learning. They also develop software and hardware solutions as well as apps. Justin shares that the catalyst for the idea for Virtua started with an app he developed. From there, he wanted to help other companies get through this process smoothly. They can consult on the idea behind an app, to outsourcing development, to launch and management. Virtua works with all types of businesses, even non IT companies like SaaS companies, apparel lines, food service companies, and more. Josh and Justin also explore how much spam and bad information there is in the IT space. Justin explains that MSPs all have one thing in common; they all want more business. He goes on to share that the tactics used for leadgen in the space are too generic. The only way to learn that as an MSP is to go through it, Justin says. Marketers who outsource to IT professionals use the same formula in a consultative sense, so it takes time for MSPs to figure out that those tactics simply don’t work. The only people who succeed in these scenarios are the marketers who are selling to these IT professionals. Be wary of these tactics and strategize how to lead personal, connective marketing. Justin also shares the importance of niche marketing within the MSP space. Virtua’s niche is that it works as an Apple/Mac consultant. However, there are deeper niches than even that. Virtua specializes specifically in being an Apple consultant for non-profit organizations. There are too many generalized MSPs in this space; the key is to dig an inch wide and a mile deep in your niche, not vice versa. You need to be an expert in your one, specific zone of genius to stand out. Don’t throw spaghetti at the wall and try to be extremely broad to try and attract more business. It just isn’t effective in such a saturated space. Focus your business on your area of genius and dial in your marketing accordingly. Look for conversations and communities online where you actually provide value and insight organically. Don’t sell, you don’t need to. The right people will find you if you focus on the right tactics. Want to learn more? Check out the Virtua Consulting website at https://www.virtuaconsulting.com/. Check out Virtua Consulting on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/virtua-computers/. Check out Justin Esgar on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinesgar/.  Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to Dr. Ginger Bratzel. Dr. Ginger is a business developer and strategist. She began her career as a dentist, she shares, and she found out the hard way that business isn’t as easy as just being good at what you do. You need to tweak and reframe your business and serve your customers truly in order to see results. Dr. Ginger shares that once she started talking to her patients about what they wanted, her business turned around. Long story short, she has left practicing dentistry to help other healthcare professionals and service-based companies do the same work she did in reframing her business. Dr. Ginger helps service-based professionals in all verticals besides eCommerce. Josh and Dr. Ginger explore the biggest issues she encounters when working with her clients. They’ll often tell her that marketing doesn’t work and that they need new patients or customers. She’ll pull everything on the table for them to see in full view. She shares that it’s often at that point when her client realizes the issues weren’t what they thought. Marketing might bring in a handful of leads, but they won’t covert or follow through when you aren’t listening to their needs. A traditional marketing set up for a healthcare professional, especially dentists, is a bit non-existent in the space. Major oversights happen when you don’t build up relationships organically. Many professionals in these fields mistakenly think that just putting ads up is enough, but it’s not. Especially in a service-based role, you need your prospects to trust you. Nurture relationships with care and plant the seed over time, especially if you’re in the healthcare industry. If you’ve experienced these types of issues, reconnect with previous prospects and find out why they said ‘no’. Re-engage and learn from them. Listen more than you speak and reiterate what you’re hearing from your patients back to them. Dr. Ginger also shares where healthcare professionals should target their prospects. First of all, you have to actually find out where your target patients congregate. Next, diversify yourself from your competitors, don’t just be another doctor’s headshot on a mailer. Target your messaging about how the patient might feel and how you can help, not your accolades, certifications, or equipment. The work to convert only starts there. You also have to provide a top notch experience in the office. You need to explore how to clone the relationships that work for you and create patient dedication to your practice. Want to learn more? Check Dr. Ginger Bratzel’s website at https://gingerbratzel.com/. Check out Dr. Ginger Bratzel on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/drgingerbratzel/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the founder of South Street & Co., Kaitlyn Study. South Street & Co. is a digital marketing agency that helps small to medium sized businesses grow their reach online. They specialize in service-based companies, such as doctors, lawyers, landscapers, and more. They help with everything from email marketing and social media to optimizing their website, SEO, blogging, and more. South Street focuses especially on the Orlando area and on localized marketing, but they work with companies from all over the country. Kaitlyn and Josh explore how South Street works with their clients. First of all, they look at their client’s logo and brand. Next, they review their website. Then, they work on optimizing their website for conversion. Kaitlyn shares one great way to increase traffic is to ask your existing clients to leave reviews and ask them to be authentic about their experience in working with you. Another area of focus for South Street & Co. is automation and optimization. While you should personalize marketing for your audience, you definitely need to optimize and automate what can be. Google My Business is another great resource to take advantage of. This feature through Google shows where your business is located and Google user reviews. They introduce new features all the time, including posts and call tracking. You can even granularly specify your services. The biggest mistake Kaitlyn sees is that business owners don’t fill out everything on their Google My Business. You should add everything you can to it and answer every single review, good or bad. This shows your audience and prospects that you engage and care about feedback. Josh and Kaitlyn discuss how the investment of just an hour or two is all it takes to flesh out and optimize your Google My Business listing. Don’t miss an opportunity here for reach and optimization – fill it out and utilize its features to boost your local reach especially. Kaitlyn also explores the power of automation a little more. Make sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s when you streamline with automation. There’s no magic formula – you just have to use the right tools. Zapier, a favorite software of both our host and guest, connects two programs that otherwise wouldn’t be so that they can communicate with each other. You can integrate and automate using programs just like this one, all by building bridges between your major processes and applications. Want to learn more? Check out the South Street & Co. website at https://southstreetmarketing.com/. Check out South Street & Co. on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/south-street-&-co--a-marketing-agency/. Check out Kaitlyn Study on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlyn-m-cook/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the CEO of Creatively Disruptive, Andy Seeley.Creatively Disruptive helps businesses navigate the digital space to earn more business and revenue. They serve anything from small local businesses to larger, high-level eCommerce businesses. Their company has a lot of experience with the most difficult but also the most fun aspects of digital marketing. They have specific teams for specific niches so no matter who they work with, there are team members dedicated to their clients’ individual needs every step of the way.&nbsp;Josh and Andy also discuss how Creatively Disruptive mostly works with paid ads. He shares that they don’t do much social media marketing. This, he believes, should be kept in-house for a company. Social media messaging should be dialed in and specific to a brand’s voice and messaging at all times; in-house social media marketing is always better.&nbsp;There’s four pillars of paid advertising Creatively Disruptive utilizes and focuses on. Email marketing, Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, and they also focus on website conversion rate optimization. They’re constantly helping their clients develop their websites as well as running their paid advertising campaigns through these various channels.Content and copy is also very important, Andy shares. What you say, he explains, makes a difference. Brands are quick to forget that their voice and messaging directly impacts the effectiveness of marketing.&nbsp;Andy and Josh also explore some common mistakes they’ve observed in the space. People tend to think paid advertising is easy. This is a misconception. There’s an entire process behind what works and doesn’t. Platforms have made it easy to spend money on ads and it’s yet become more difficult to market to consumers on these platforms over time.Andy also discusses what solutions and specialists are for. You shouldn’t always do it yourself just because you can. You should always hire an expert to do your marketing right, in short. The biggest cost for these business owners is the lost opportunities; they often resign themselves and say ‘it doesn’t work for me’ when their DIY paid ads don’t see results. Chances are, you’ll see better results when you pay an expert to do it right for you. The second biggest issue he sees is that businesses will pair with the wrong types of agencies that say they’re effective, but aren’t really. The tell tale signs? They talk a lot about what they can do instead of asking you what you need. Good agencies ask questions about you. The other red flag is when an agency talks about their services more than their results. When a company can’t prove it can get you the end results you want, don’t trust that they can.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out the Creatively Disruptive website at https://creativelydisruptive.com/.&nbsp;Check out Creatively Disruptive on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/creatively-disruptive/.&nbsp;Check out Andy Seeley on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyseeley/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures.<a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the Principal, CEO, and owner of Evans &amp; Associates and the author of the book I'm Black, I'm a Minister, and I'm Gay, Benjamin Carlton.&nbsp;Benjamin shares that in 2012, he began his career in finance in accounting. He found he wasn’t in love with the work, so he began using his skills to volunteer to help out his community. The more he spent his time that way by helping others around him with their own ideas and ventures, the more people wanted to pay him to set up their events and businesses. He then went on a journey to discover himself while encouraging other black men to be themselves. The truth? He had been hiding himself from the world during that time. He came out as gay and now he teaches others about social equity, love, and acceptance.&nbsp;Benjamin shares that the pandemic truly changed how the world has expressed itself. Seeing injustice live on our television screens drove people to their tipping point. After the events of the year 2020, between the pandemic and social issues around the reality of police brutality against people of color, Benjamin has observed businesses and companies dedicating themselves more publicly to these issues.&nbsp;Communicating values around fairness and equity is required now of most brands. In order to build a community around these values, you have to do the right thing right away. Don’t wait until it's too late to show your team that you and your company’s mission care about those values. America is shifting, Benjamin shares. We are becoming less of a white majority country and this is upsetting to those in power, resisting these changes. He shares that certain things can’t be fixed overnight. When companies ask him to restructure their business in a more equitable way, it has to be strategic and all encompassing. Who is on their board? What are they communicating about equity to their team and the public? There’s more to being equitable than just messaging.&nbsp;Josh and Benjamin also explore that there are those that might accuse allies of being disingenuous or of “virtue signaling’. Number one, most people say those things from their own trauma and experiences. Benjamin explains that the truth is that you shouldn’t let fear, or the fear of being accused of such things, stop you. What someone else feels, and the narrative you assume is playing out, is on the perceiver. Be an ally anyway and take action because it’s the right thing to do. As long as the action leads to equity and helping someone – let reactions happen. Don’t ever avoid taking action that’s on the right side of history.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Evans &amp; Associates at their website, https://www.theevansbrand.com/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Evans &amp; Associates on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/evans-&amp;-associates-llc/.&nbsp;Check out Benjamin Carlton on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/benevans3/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:&#x2705; We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.&#x2705; Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the CEO &amp; Chief Wizard of InvisiblePPC and the founder and CEO of KUWARE, Avi Kumar.&nbsp;KUWARE is a full service agency with a big focus on strategy. Avi shares that his clients needed more strategy in the form of a fractional CMO in order to really determine a company’s needs and a solution-oriented approach. Being a full service agency, they can establish these strategies in-house for the companies they work with. They’ve made an impact and have worked with some major brands, including GM, Acer, Dell, Samsung, Intel, and more. Avi stresses that they work with brands and companies of all sizes.&nbsp;KUWARE sets itself apart by helping brands through transparency in strategy – sometimes by being very honest. If they feel they don’t see the success or a unique enough value proposition, they won’t work with those companies. They believe in applying their marketing in a way that will yield results.&nbsp;Achieving marketing goals today isn’t necessarily different than it was in the past. There’s no magic formula. The channels and means have changed, but not the core values of effective marketing. You have to have a good product or service that actually has a stand out value proposition for marketing to work. Once KUWARE has established this with a company, they target the low hanging fruit first and work their way forward. They strategically implement different channels in order to start seeing immediate results.&nbsp;They spend this time in the beginning achieving these results, which means their clients will stay with KUWARE for the long haul. Avi explains that it doesn’t take 6 months to build a successful brand through marketing. The ‘brand’ of a company is all tied up in your market’s perception of you. The customers educate you, so you have to change your product or service to meet the market’s needs, Avi shares.&nbsp;Josh and Avi also explore how ad copy has changed. Now, humor goes a long way. However, you can’t skip over the basics of selling. You can add humor, but if you don’t adequately explain the solution you offer and the problem you’re solving with your value proposition, you won’t get many buyers via advertising. If you want to attract consumers to even consider buying, tell them why (in a few seconds or less) why they should even click your ad.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out KUWARE’s website at https://kuware.com/.&nbsp;Check out InvisiblePPC’s website at https://invisibleppc.com/.&nbsp;Check out KUWARE on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/kuware/.&nbsp;Check out InvisiblePPC on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/9341873/.&nbsp;Check out Avi Kumar on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/avikumar/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures and the author of Mr. Monkey and Me: A Real Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs, Mike Smerklo.&nbsp;Mike worked his way through various entrepreneurial ventures and for various different companies before he finally co-founded the venture capital firm Next Coast Ventures. Mike shares that early on, he was money-motivated. He worked as a CPA and investment banker and he learned a lot, but wasn’t fulfilled by his work. He then worked in Silicon Valley before learning what he could from that and leaving that job to co-found his own business. He got to experience how to scale successfully and take something from a small idea to a publicly traded company.&nbsp;&nbsp;Next Coast Ventures invests in technology companies in either consumer or enterprise software. They look for early stage tech startups that are ready to scale. Mike shares that investing can be amazing, but also negatively glamorized. There’s a lot of hard work but also empathy involved in being a capital firm. Mike shares that 30% of the entrepreneurs they work with are women – far above the industry average. He explains that his company didn’t intentionally set out with that as a goal, but that he only wanted to work with the best and brightest – the demographic outcome came with that goal.&nbsp;Josh and Mike also explore the ideas behind Mike’s book. It’s all about taming your fears and hang-ups relating to being a business owner. We all have those doubts and anxieties, or maybe we avoid issues altogether. Whatever your inner fears stem from and manifest as, it’s a very common phenomenon.&nbsp;Mike and Josh also talk about how no one is good at everything. The adage says that it’s much easier to thrive through your strengths than to overcome your weaknesses. The best entrepreneurs are self-aware of their issues. Know what you're good at and align your time and effort with that zone of genius. Whenever you struggle, delegate to someone who thrives in that area. The mark of a true successful business owner is that they understand themselves and they surround themselves with a team that can help them collaboratively overcome their weaknesses.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Next Coast Venture’s website at https://www.nextcoastventures.com/.&nbsp;Check out Mike’s website at https://www.mikesmerklo.com/.&nbsp;Check out Mike’s book, Mr. Monkey and Me: A Real Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs at https://www.mikesmerklo.com/mr-monkey-and-me-book/.&nbsp;Check out Next Coast Ventures on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/next-coast-ventures/.&nbsp;Check out Mike Smerklo on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikesmerklo/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder of The Freedom Ad Agency, Alexandra Ramirez.&nbsp;The Freedom Ad Agency focuses on helping high ticket coaches get amazing results and business, and maximize their profits. They work with a variety of coaches in various spaces. Alexandra shares that the Apple iOS 14 update threw a wrench into the works for advertisers, especially on Facebook. What this update does is offer users the option to “not be tracked”. Alexandra shares that this has attached a negative misconception to being tracked. As a consumer, being “tracked” simply means ads will be targeted towards you. Alexandra says she knows she’s a little biased as an advertiser herself, but these changes make it more difficult to target the right people for the right businesses.&nbsp;Josh and Alexandra explore outdated practices that simply don’t work anymore. One major mistake she sees companies make in their marketing and advertising is using automated funnels. Especially the older ways to use automated funnels – you can’t draw people in with ‘secrets to be revealed when you sign up’ anymore. You need to actually make a conscious, targeted effort to find the right clients. The connection between yourself and your audience has become far more important and effective than using total automation. However, you can use an automated funnel that ALSO builds those connections.&nbsp;For instance, using live events like webinars to make connections is one strategy. When you run a results-based seminar or event, you get not only more connections, but you make more sales. If you give your audience a tangible result after interacting with you, you build the know, like, and trust factors authentically.&nbsp;You also have to look at what you’re offering – a low ticket versus high ticket offering can’t be funneled the same way. You can’t always use automated funneling for high ticket items. The best price points for webinars tend to be between $3 and $97. Alexandra shares that you can sell $1,000+ offerings through a webinar, but you have to actually offer the support the buyer needs to feel confident in purchasing. You can also schedule one on one calls for high ticket offerings from your webinars to further build those individual relationships and connections. Think about your consumers' needs and what they’re looking for when you build funnels. The needs change with the product offerings, so you can’t advertise the same way to all of your leads. You have to strategize.&nbsp;Alexandra also advises to not use a script on sales calls. Don’t go in with an expectation; put service and authenticity first. Ask the lead what they want, don’t “sell” to them in the traditional sense. Meet their needs where they’re at.&nbsp;&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out The Freedom Ad Agency’s website at https://www.thefreedomadagency.com/apply-now.&nbsp;Check out The Freedom Ad Agency on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-freedom-ad-agency/.&nbsp;Check out Alexandra Ramirez on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-ramirez-387476170/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the co-founder of Fireside Strategic, Dan King.&nbsp;Fireside Strategic works with creator CEOs to grow mission-driven, creative, and impactful businesses. Dan shares that creative CEOs can struggle to focus on the right ideas. When they get distracted, so do their teams and clients. Fireside helps these CEOs choose the right strategy, make the most impact, and grow their businesses exponentially.&nbsp;Josh and Dan explore how Fireside Strategic helps these CEOs focus. Step one is to find the ‘white space’ for them. Fireside uncovers the deepest, but best business choices for the individual businesses they work with. Step two is aligning the company’s team so that it’s not just the CEO behind that strategy; everyone is rowing in the same direction. The third step is that they maintain accountability across the entire team to make sure the progress stays consistent and focused.&nbsp;Dan shares he got started in this space because he himself is a creative entrepreneur. He spent years as a lawyer, he shares, doing work that didn’t speak to him. His job was to help Shark Tank investors keep the businesses they invested in focused from a legal standpoint. What he found was that he didn’t care about the legal issues; he cared about the business owners and their businesses. From there, he combined his business expertise with his love for this work and so he co-founded Fireside Strategic to help solve these issues in a unique way.&nbsp;The best employees can choose where they work, and this is where creative CEOs and entrepreneurs can shine. They can inspire their teams to actually work towards their company’s impact-driven mission. While these CEOs might need guidance on the best strategy out of many, they also have a unique gift that allows them to inspire the best employees and teams to push forward their vision.&nbsp;Dan also shares that some of these CEOs utilize COOs to stay focused, but not all. Some CEOs don’t think about hiring a COO, or the CEO and COO don’t always see eye to eye. Fireside Strategic can help implement and align these various roles within an organization to ensure its leadership teams are well-rounded and working towards the same goals. Work within your zone of genius, implement other leaders within your business that can work complimentary to your skills, and work in the same direction as your team.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Fireside Strategic’s website at https://www.firesidestrategic.com/.&nbsp;Check out Fireside Strategic on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/fireside-strategic/.&nbsp;Check out Dan King on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmking/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO of Very Social and accomplished New York real estate broker, Ryan Garson.&nbsp;Ryan has been in real estate for 8 years based out of Brooklyn, NYC. About 2 years ago, he started Very Social. He shares he dipped his toes in social media brand marketing by selling properties on platforms like Instagram. By connecting with his sphere of influence on social media, he found amazing opportunities to grow his portfolio. He realized more brokers should be branding and marketing themselves on social media and so Very Social was born. They’ve seen immense success since their launch 2 years ago.&nbsp;Ryan shares how short form video content has really blown up in his niche and he believes these platforms are going to become even more popular. Content creation is now an integral part of how Ryan run’s his real estate ventures. He invests time, money, and energy into creating professional content for these platforms.&nbsp;Josh and Ryan also explore what entrepreneurs should be doing with their socials these days. Ryan explains that you should start small, just be consistent. If you’re a real estate agent, post things about where you live. Pick things you’re passionate about and that are authentic to you. Beyond that, engage with your followers on your social media. If you don’t show your sphere of influence love online, why should they show you love? Social media is a way to stay connected and keep up with your entire network. Dedicate yourself to actually starting and facilitating conversations, don’t just post and ghost. Don’t sell, either. Be an indispensable resource in your community and provide value in every conversation you have. It may feel pedestrian and tedious at times, but it’s not all about mass marketing; the only way to forge genuine connections with your audience is to put in the effort.&nbsp;Ryan shares that 75% of your content should be about your lifestyle and passions and only 25% should be transactional/promotional posts. You need to have an actual, personal connection with your audience. Share your successes and market views, but make it more about your expertise rather than selling. You need to be likable and trustable for people to want to buy from you.&nbsp;Very Social is a collaborative company that helps manage YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and more for their clients. They put together a social media posting calendars for their clients that are both consistent and curated to match their brands and stories. Consistency is key, so scheduling posts in advance is definitely a top best practice to stay top of mind.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Very Social’s website at https://www.verysocialnyc.com/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Very Social on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/very-social-nyc/.&nbsp;Check out Ryan Garson on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-garson-9436a917/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to Marine Corps veteran, founder of LumAware Safety, author of Warrior Entrepreneur, and host of the podcast, The Warrior’s Voice, Zachary Green. Zachary shares he experienced many challenges in his youth and he began his warrior’s journey to prove those who doubted him wrong. The warrior’s journey is all about grit and transformation and as soon as he turned 18, he joined the Marines and went through that experience. He shares that those who experienced hardship in their youth were better equipped for work in the military, and this was a new experience for him. Ultimately, he left the Marines after serving and became a firefighter to continue giving back to his community. What he shares about this experience is that he found himself becoming extremely disoriented while navigating dark buildings during rescues with the fire department. What he developed was a solution that utilized glowing crystals to help cast literal light in these exact life-or-death situations. His solution became so popular locally, he took it to a trade show to see how his product would fare. During that trade show alone, his company booked more than $100,000 worth of business. The problem? Zachary explains that they didn’t have the production means or funding. His Marine mindset pushed him to take the risks to make it happen – this resulted in almost 30 million dollars worth of business to come. Not only did this experience save his life, but it also granted him immense success. It didn’t come easily, though. Zachary shares he endured the most difficult challenges he’s ever faced – and he was infantry in the Marine Corps and a dedicated first responder as a firefighter. He stresses that your love for your business creates even more strain and difficulty – he explains that the first mistake business owners make is not letting their businesses go so it can grow. Iron sharpens iron, Zachary says, and you need to always be sharpening your grit in preparation for the challenges you will inevitably face. He shares that his business had to fail first before it could succeed. Entrepreneurship is the highest of highs and lowest of lows, and when you go through the crucible your business will endure, you will see the darkness of the abyss. The depths of your journey must transform you – you have to conquer and destroy your old self. You must forge yourself into something greater, Zachary shares. The warrior’s journey is transforming during your crucible. Want to learn more? Check out Zachary Green’s website at https://lumawaresafety.com/. Check out Zachary’s book Warrior Entrepreneur at https://www.warriorentrepreneurbook.com/. Check out Zachary’s podcast, The Warrior’s Voice, at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-warrior-s-voice/id1602134212. Check out LumAware Safety on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/lumawaresafety/. Check out Zachary Green on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAAVE8P0B4VaYOliTU5ArQpsk5-g8seZqKBQ/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the co-founder and CEO of Absolute Internship, Fredrik Van Huynh.&nbsp;Absolute Internship connects university and high school students with global internship opportunities. They work with over 800 companies across 10 countries. If you’re a business owner looking to source interns from across the globe, reach out to their team.&nbsp;What sets them apart is that they have partnerships with universities in the United States and all over the world. They offer top students top internship opportunities at different types of companies. Freddie shares that he and his team saw a need to connect students to these companies in different countries. Students need the impact and experience of having a cross-cultural experience, and this is where Absolute Internships fills a gap.&nbsp;Absolute Internships works with universities and high schools who commission them to send groups of students abroad for short internships. They organize the visas and cultural activities, and they also ensure the students are safe and comfortable.&nbsp;Freddie shares that 45% of their students do their internships from home online, and the other 55% actually travel abroad for their internships. They work with various companies and nonprofits in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. They also work with numerous prestigious schools in the U.S. to provide these internship opportunities.He also explains how B2B business models became the accidental catalyst to growing Absolute Internships. He realized that universities would provide students in bulk for internships, so they began cold emailing various universities to forge the relationships and network they have today.&nbsp;According to Absolute Internships’s website, whether universities are looking to build a new international internship program from the ground up, or expand their program within an existing framework, they offer the expertise to assist them in providing global internship opportunities for their students. Universities have set goals, and Absolute Internships have on-site relationships, operations expertise and local knowledge; together they can build a sustainable program meeting their academic and institutional targets.Absolute Internship has an award-winning international internship program for their company partners, too. They place talented interns at companies based in Barcelona, Beijing, Hong Kong, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm and Tokyo. From multinational firms to startup companies, they strive to provide our interns with a taste of work life.There is no charge to host one of their interns, and each individual is carefully vetted through a comprehensive application process.Want to learn more? Check out Absolute Internship’s website at https://absoluteinternship.com/.&nbsp;Check out Absolute Internship on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/absolute-internship/.&nbsp;Check out Freddie Van Huynh on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredrikvanhuynh/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the co-founder of Cheap Pricks, Matt Bowler.&nbsp;Cheap Pricks (it’s not what you think!) is a brand that provides low cost wellness and preventative care by licensing to veterinarians who can operate under the brand. Matt shares that he and his partner have run pet facilities for over a decade and they saw inefficiencies in how pet appointments were scheduled and in the day to day operations of vet offices. Vets aren’t known for their timeliness because time in their offices isn’t used efficiently.&nbsp;Matt realized the customer experience shouldn’t be rigid; they lighten their branding on the front end, which can only ease a stressed pet parent in the moment on the backend. Matt shares that he and his partner aren’t actually vets but they wanted to bring their vision of an efficient practice to market. What they decided to do was define their brand by offering distinct services at competitive prices by providing all non clinical tech and administrative components.&nbsp;This approach is groundbreaking, and not all veterinarians are embracing the change, but their approach is definitely innovative. There was pushback to their system initially, but there are also many practices embracing Cheap Pricks and its approach to handling the non-clinical elements of a veterinary clinic. Cheap Pricks reached out to the known vets in their network and haven’t needed to expand beyond that circle yet to see success.&nbsp;Matt shares that most veterinarian practices grow by accident, and those that intend to grow do so exponentially. It’s a field with good opportunity, but with definite room for improvement. With so many issues with time efficiency rampant across the industry, better practices are on the horizon.&nbsp;Cheap Pricks uses a licensing model to work effectively with vets and give them the hands-off approach to the business elements of running a practice. They cover everything from marketing to customer service to cleaning the office. They help these offices grow strategically and find their target audience. Even in such an opportunistic industry, you want to care about the details of your messaging as a veterinary practice. Matt shares that you want to know what your target market looks like and who your customers are. He also shares his philosophy behind both the name of his business and his business model; you might turn off some of the market by being authentic and groundbreaking, but you’ll also attract a lot of amazing clients that are perfect for you.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Cheap Prick’s website at https://cheappricks.com/.&nbsp;Check out Cheap Pricks on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/cheap-pricks/.&nbsp;Check out Matt Bowler on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattbowler/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the President and Board Member of Huntington Learning Center, Anne Huntington Sharma.&nbsp;Huntington Learning Center is the nation’s leading K-12 tutoring and test prep provider. They were founded in 1977 by Anne’s parents. They change lives and are mission-driven; their mission is to provide the students that come through their doors with the best education possible. They help students build the skills and confidence they need to succeed. Huntington Learning Center began franchising in 1985 and they have about 300 locations in 42 states. They’re still growing, and this growth is driven by their goal to help business owners and students across the country.Anne shares that some of their franchise owners participate day to day and others take a more delegated approach. No matter their system, Huntington Learning Center works with business owners where they are.&nbsp;Anne also shares that the tutoring industry has grown immensely in recent years, especially during the age of COVID. Teachers and schools are doing the best they can, and Huntington Learning Center partners with them to help supplement the education crisis occurring in America today.&nbsp;Josh and Anne also discuss what business owners should learn from the current climate. She shares that we should be going away from a culture of blame and move towards a culture of collaboration. When you foster a business and a team, get the key stakeholders around the table to ensure that everyone involved is working towards the business’s vision. Everyone should have a voice and your business team should work together and avoid a siloed approach. What impact is your leadership team having? If that impact is not all positive, come back to center and collaborate with your team to problem solve.&nbsp;Anne also explains their franchise model; they do offer manuals and booklets, but moreover they feature an award winning training department. This helps franchise owners new to the space develop a good understanding of how Hunting Learning Center operates across the board. Many of their top franchisees aren't even in the tutoring field; their training process is so comprehensive and organized that entrepreneurs across many verticals can open a franchise with Hunting Learning Center. It’s a very individualized style of business growth, and Anne and her team work to make sure no matter how their franchisees approach business, they're ready to help students learn.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Huntington Learning Center’s website at https://huntingtonhelps.com/.&nbsp;Check out Huntington Learning Center Franchising at https://huntingtonfranchise.com/.&nbsp;Check out Huntington Learning Center on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/huntington-learning-center/.&nbsp;Check out Anne Huntington Sharma on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-huntington-sharma/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures.<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/b2b" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the author of Strong Language: The Fastest, Smartest, Cheapest Marketing Tool You're Not Using and CEO of Verbal Identity, Chris West.&nbsp;Chris shares that he and his company helps businesses use language better. As a niche business, Verbal Identity focuses solely on helping companies earn more customers, loyalty, and sales through effective language. Josh and Chris explore what makes the betterment of language authentic. Many companies feel they’re just “okay” with their language, but know there’s room for improvement. But how do you improve something like tone and language? Companies should always be authentic to what their brand and mission are – but remain relevant and up to speed on changes with the times.&nbsp;Chris also shares that most brands have sweated and stressed over how they front face -- everything is curated and tailored. The problem is that they don’t have their language dialed in. Being friendly and approachable is the bare minimum. You have to deliberately design language that resonates with your audience. Magic and mechanics are what make language so powerful, Chris explains.&nbsp;Josh and Chris also explain the process with how Verbal Identity works. Their first meetings with clients are often revealing. While a business owner or marketing executive may know something isn’t dialed in with their language, they don’t know why. Chris helps to diagnose the issues with a brand’s language and then come up with a writing framework that they can use going forward. Writing for your company should always create a clear picture of who you are and how you sound via tone. Verbal Identity’s work creates more customers and deepens loyalty for the businesses they work with. They create language style guides for brands so that when they’re done refacing the brand’s tone and language, they can continue being consistent with their messaging. Consistency is key, Chris shares, and he teaches brands ‘how to fish’. He wants them to know how to design their language for years to come. Their style guides are bespoke and curated personally for their clients. They can write 40-page guides or 8-page frameworks depending on the needs for the business as well as its size and vertical. You have to paint a three-level picture with your writing to make your ‘voice’ unique; what world do you believe in, what do you stand for, and what do you stand against?Want to learn more? Check out Verbal Identity’s website at https://www.verbalidentity.com/. .&nbsp;Check out Verbal Identity on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/verbal-identity/.&nbsp;Check out Chris West on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswestverbalidentity/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures.<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/b2b"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the founder of Intentionality, Finnian Kelly.Finnian shares that he loves to activate the light within others. He offers keynote speaking, facilitates retreats and breath journeys, and generally he loves to help people unveil the extraordinary traits already within them. He shares that many of his clients know something is missing but can’t put their finger on it. Many of his clients are successful entrepreneurs, but there’s still an emptiness they experience despite their accolades and achievements.&nbsp;Finnian also talks about how it’s impossible to separate your personal life from your work; humans are designed to live holistically. It’s against our natural order to disconnect these aspects of your life; you shouldn’t seek to separate your life and your work, you just need healthy boundaries between them.&nbsp;Entrepreneurs are visionaries who live in the future. Finnian shares that this mindset is a two sided coin; it can push innovation and drive success, but it leaves many business owners feeling dissatisfied because they’re never existing in the present moment, they’re always striving for the next ‘big thing’ in their business. You don’t want to spend all of your time focusing on what you feel still (and likely in your eyes, will never be) isn’t ‘good enough’ when it comes to advancing your business. There are better factors to assess to determine where you’re really at. For one thing, don’t run everything with your mind. You need to address things from a heartfelt perspective in order to operate away from your ego and from the grind of your business.&nbsp;Operating from a heartfelt perspective will afford you more extraordinary days where you can discover what it is you really want. You define what your intentions and successes are when you think about your own personal sense of joy, peace, and fulfillment. Balancing logic and emotion requires you recognizing how these aspects work together. The truth is that life is unpredictable; don’t expect things to go your way. Exist in the present, work on what matters NOW (not later), and live productively. In this life, time is finite, so when you choose to do one thing, you’re choosing not to do something else. How much time with your loved ones are you literally willing to delete from your life for an unexpected meeting or work related task? There are consequences for every choice, and the only solution to this is to live with intentionality.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Finnian Kelly’s website at https://www.finniankelly.com/.&nbsp;Check out Intentionality on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/beintentionality/.&nbsp;Check out Finnian Kelly on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAAVE8P0B4VaYOliTU5ArQpsk5-g8seZqKBQ/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the CEO of Crowd Favorite, Karim Marucchi.&nbsp;Crowd Favorite works with larger Fortune 500 organizations to create what they need to fix their digital problems. Very basically, they create websites. On a deeper level, they help with integrating digital business needs and can address everything from streamlining workflow issues to improving client relations in the businesses they work with. Karim shares that he’s worked with enterprise clients for 27 years, and the one thing that has stayed consistent was that many of his clients weren't utilizing the right technological solutions to address their issues. In short, Crowd Favorite creates bespoke solutions for their clients’ problems.&nbsp;Karim shares that he became a major proponent for open source technologies after seeing how proprietary technologies were forcing businesses down their own closed road maps. Open sourced technology is both community-based and constantly evolving to serve the user base first. The variety and openness in an open source platform makes for a much more unique roadmap for users.&nbsp;Karim and Josh also discuss when to avoid open source architecture. One downside is the security issues; when an open source project first starts, it's prone to hacking attacks. The upside to this is that after a piece of technology has the proper infrastructure and testing added, most corrupted pieces of code are already removed before it can spread to other users. Another caveat to using open source software is that the ‘crowd’ might want to go in one direction and your company wants to go in another. The way to address this is to strategically implement the aspects of an open source software that work for your business, and use it in the way that benefits you (even if you’re only using part of a software.)&nbsp;Karim also shares how he’s helped major brands like Disney transition from building their own proprietary softwares that became money sinks to using open source software, such as WordPress. Josh and Karim also explore how enterprises can work with WordPress. It will run great if you apply the correct infrastructure, he shares. Enterprises need robust hosting and plugins that are to scale in order to use an open source program like WordPress, but when executed in a scalable way, it can do anything.&nbsp;You can also add on other plugins and softwares to improve the personalization with WordPress – these additions can extend your open source software enough that it rivals other expensive, 7-figure solutions on the market. When you have a deep infrastructure with hosting and security in check, you won’t have issues.Want to learn more? Check out Crowd Favorite’s website at https://crowdfavorite.com/.&nbsp;Check out Crowd Favorite on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/crowdfavorite/.&nbsp;Check out Karim Marucchi on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimmarucchi/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free<a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the CEO of Morro Capital and president of Joel Gandara Coaching, Joel Gandara.Joel shares that he’s a family-oriented entrepreneur and he loves to share what he’s learned and help others develop and learn. Joel shares that his specialty is addressing the harder issues with his entrepreneurial clients. Sometimes, business leaders need an objective guide who will tell them the truth and help them forge their own path. Joel gets his clients to the next level by addressing the deep issues and helping them improve as business owners and leaders.&nbsp;Joel explains that he focuses on red flags and overcoming issues with his clients as they arise. The number one issue he sees over and over is that business owners overcomplicate things. It doesn’t always need to be a complex web; sometimes you just need a second pair of eyes on things to show you your own blind spots. If you lay out every issue, you can start with step one and go from there. Overcomplicating things is the fastest way to avoid dealing with an issue; Joel helps business leaders face these issues head on.&nbsp;Josh and Joel also explore how to address issues once you realize they exist. Don’t just seek the ‘how’ of the fix – find the ‘who’. Hire an expert, someone more qualified than yourself, to operate in their zone of genius and provide a fast and effective solution. It only costs you more money to try and DIY complex issues when a professional could fast track success for you.&nbsp;Joel also discusses his fulfillment company, Morro Capital, where he invests and acquires various businesses. He works in the eCommerce space and he explains that most of the businesses he has acquired weren’t even for sale; he knows he wants the business, and he knows how to help the current owner get to their own goals where they’re ready to sell. He also talks about looking for businesses to acquire that he knows he can make more profitable; when he knows he can reconfigure and streamline a business, he flips it and turns things around. Between providing better fulfillment and back end treatments as well as getting the previous owners where they want to be, Joel and his team thrive in this space.Want to learn more? Check out Joel Gandara Coaching’s website at https://www.joelgandara.com/.&nbsp;Check out Morro Capital on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/morro-capital/.&nbsp;Check out Joel Gandara Coaching on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/joel-gandara-coaching/.&nbsp;Check out Joel Gandara on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelgandara/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the President of Pivot Business Group, Pam Jordan.&nbsp;Pam shares that she worked in the corporate world until the construction company she worked for went bankrupt. After that, it became her personal mission to help business owners really understand their numbers. Pivot Business Group helps business owners translate these numbers into actual sustainable strategies.&nbsp;Josh and Pam explore how Pivot rolls up their sleeves and gets to work. They look at all factors, from profit to revenue to scalability. They go through and make sure businesses are charging enough, offer enough products, have enough clients, and overall, get them closer to true profitability. Pam sometimes encourages clients to have hard conversations, such as when an entrepreneur lives their lifestyle through their business. She shares that, for instance, payroll can’t be met if money is being spent on a lifestyle beyond their means. Most of the time, though, Pam shares that many business owners just need to dig into the details and see where the money sinks are.&nbsp;Josh and Pam also explore how much money pours into things, sometimes without the business owner’s full awareness. Focus on profit first; top line is an ego metric, and the bottom line is a real profitability metric. Sometimes, uncomfortable conversations need to happen to make necessary pivots. A lot can be done and there are many drivers that can tip the scale; Pam and her team are experts at digging down and prioritizing these drivers. CFOs provide the road to a successful business and/or exit, and this is where Pivot Business Group thrives.&nbsp;Pivot starts working with their clients by first conducting a profit analysis. They discover how money is really moving in a business and where things work and where they don’t. They see opportunities and issues and they are completely equipped to renovate and then maintain a sustainable business.&nbsp;Most of Pivot Business Group's industry agnostic clients make 7-figures or more at the topline, but struggle with how they spend money. They’re looking for companies wanting to get to the next level; the answer to their solution is financial clarity. The truth? Everyone thinks that everyone else has it together when it comes to their business finances… But this is a misconception. It’s more common than you’d think. Many businesses share the same struggles relating to financial lack of clarity, across various verticals.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Pivot Business Group’s website at https://pivotbusinessgroup.com/.&nbsp;Check out Pivot Business Group on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/pivot-business-group/.&nbsp;Check out Pam Jordan on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamjordan/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the founder of Automation Wolf, Matthew Hunt.&nbsp;Automation Wolf, based in Toronto, Canada, works with B2B entrepreneurs to create all of their social media in a single hour. Matthew Hunt shares that busy entrepreneurs never have enough time – and that his company saw a need they could fill. They help these busy business owners consistently post on social media such as LinkedIn in a short form, snackable way. Matthew shares that they pull micro content from an hour long meeting he and his company conduct with their clients. This single hour of answering questions and talking about their business can offer months of evergreen content to post on their platforms.&nbsp;Matthew also shares that consistency is required in order to get your audience to know, like, and trust you. Automation Wolf utilizes three pillars of different types of content; short form, snackable content, long form content, and controlled form content. Not any one of these types of content is enough to see your business transform, but the combination of these pillars with consistency will build your audience’s relationship with you. You don’t get transformation until you demonstrate your abilities via long form content. Controlled content is all community focused – own the relationship and encourage your audience to engage with you. This is how your audience will begin to trust you.&nbsp;The problem, Matthew shares, is that not many entrepreneurs have the time for this. One way to get started is to hold a once-monthly event you conduct for your community. Run a poll and see who signs up – they don’t even need to attend live. An event is an amazing way to get your audience to like you through long-form content. Matthew describes each pillar as corresponding with know, like, and trust; short form content is helping your audience get to know you, long form content will get your audience to like you, and controlled content will help your audience trust you.&nbsp;But who do you invite to your event? Find a way to get yourself ‘in the room’ with those you’re trying to target – virtually or otherwise. Run a mastermind event, break bread, don’t pitch, and you’ll fastrack earning authentic trust from your target audience. The bottom line? The byproduct of strategizing the know, like, and trust process will result in leads and sales. Don’t aim for sales, aim for trust and community.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Automation Wolf’s website at https://automationwolf.com/.&nbsp;Check out Automation Wolf on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/automationwolf/.&nbsp;Check out Matthew Hunt on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewhuntme/#experience.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the VP of Partnerships at Hawke Media and an advisor to Partnerhub, Ashley Scorpio.&nbsp;Ashley’s work revolves around business partnerships. She shares that not all industries have established ‘partnerships’ as a common business function. Ashley would love to see a variety of verticals adopt smart partnerships more broadly. Partnerships offer unique opportunities in the way of scaling. Hawke Media, the company Ashley works for, has over 1,200 partners over several different categories. Not only can partnerships be beneficial in the way of scaling, they’re also lucrative.Ashley shares that at the end of the day, business is relationships. Partnerships are dedicated relationships in business; make smart partnership choices and you’ll experience unprecedented growth and success. A partner leader can even become the face of your business if that’s what you need to generate revenue. A combined effort can make all the difference when trying to become more profitable.&nbsp;In the B2B world, if you and someone you know resonate and there is target audience overlap, why not collaborate? You don’t have to compete with those in adjacent niches. Collaboration should be the first thing you think of when networking, not competing.&nbsp;Josh and Ashley explore what partnerships look like today. Josh shares his philosophy in that he likes to be authentic and share his real experience in a partnership rather than just blast his email list with information about someone else. You know your audience better than anyone, Ashley shares, and co-marketing should be tackled strategically. There are all types of partnerships, but you have to go about them in the structure that makes the most sense for your audience.&nbsp;Ashley shares that you need to discover what it is your company’s marketing needs in relation to working with a partner, and then choose a partner that resonates with that need. Partnerships shouldn’t be embarked upon lightly, remember that you don’t want to rush into these types of relationships. They should build up organically over time, and both companies should resonate with each other’s missions.&nbsp;Ashley also shares that there are community building opportunities in the partnership co-marketing space. There are community-wide events across different partnerships that simply exist to help everyone in the community. This sense of giving and assisting with co-marketing is one amazing way to not only be a part of a community of partnerships, but also helps you discover new partnership opportunities to build upon.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Hawke Media’s website at https://hawkemedia.com/.&nbsp;Check out Partnerhub at https://www.partnerhub.app/.&nbsp;Check out Hawke Media on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hawkemedia/.&nbsp;Check out Ashley Scorpio on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyscorpio/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with email marketing expert, Liz Wilcox.&nbsp;Liz is an expert on how to write amazing emails to send to your network and client base. Her philosophy is to make email marketing as simple as possible for entrepreneurs. Josh explains that he feels the best emails are personal, relevant, and are all focused on what the recipient needs. Liz shares her three step email marketing framework; first, you earn a follower through some medium online, you get them onto your email list, and then you strive to become their friend. You need to catch their interest with whatever your common interests are and then deliver information and legitimate value with each and every correspondence. Treating your email list like they’re your friend and feeding the commonalities between yourself and your network is everything. Interact in your inbox the same way you would send letters to friends in the mail. Be that one person your recipient wants to hear from, the person whose correspondence they want to open.&nbsp;Liz and Josh also explore open rates. For one thing, make each email high value and make sure it’s always within whatever you promised your email list upon sign up. How do you turn your email list into your friends, though? Number one, invest time into building a genuine relationship. NEVER lead with sales, share in a relatable and authentic way, and be interested in what your network has to say. When you appear in their inbox consistently, you also stay top of mind. If once a week is overwhelming, send biweekly or once monthly. As long as you actually stay consistent with whatever you set as the expectation, you’re starting to build a friendship.&nbsp;As for tone when writing emails, write how you speak! Liz shares that however your demeanor is when you talk to people in person should be how you write in an email. It needs to actually sound like you to resonate and build the friendship. If you’re only just getting into email marketing, consider writing a newsletter for your business. This also allows you to evolve your brand and practice maturing your email tone. It’s the same with every medium of communication; with media, you adapt with your audience’s needs. The same applies to email marketing.&nbsp;There are four essential types of emails to send to your email list, especially if you’re trying to regengage a list you haven’t consistently emailed for some time. For one, send your freebie to them (again, if needed.) Next, add emails with your best content and valuable information. The third email type to send is a newsletter expectation – let them know what you’re going to be offering, especially new content and new free or paid products. The final email to work on is the friendship reengagement email; this is where you share your story and your why. Liz stresses that this should never be the first email you send; by the fourth email, the subscriber is invested, so this is when to send this message.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Liz Wilcox’s website at https://metriccollective.com/.&nbsp;Check out Liz Wilcox on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-wilcox-58740b1b0/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures.<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/b2b"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the CEO of Metric Collective, Rob Huntington.Metric Collective is a vertically integrated franchise and technology company. They work in all areas of franchising, from top of funnel onward. They can also help with franchise leads, franchise sales, and equity investments into franchisors. Metric Collective is also a franchisee and ‘eat their own dogfood’ when it comes to their technology.&nbsp;They’ve dialed in their services and earned their domain authority through years of franchise work and their backend is intricately designed. Their leadgen system is quite sensitive and they prioritize filtering their leads for their clients. They can generate and filter reasonably, long before they sell them to a brand.&nbsp;Rob and his team also believe direct marketing is constantly changing – there’s no secret sauce. They stay up to date on all platforms and target niche audiences that they find through advanced lead generation.&nbsp;Rob also shares why lead collection and the selling of leads can be seriously negatively impacted by how a purchaser treats the leads. Metric Collective’s franchise leads tool allows their users to automatically reach out and begin the relationship-building process without as much of the manual hassle. If you’re letting leads accumulate and you’re calling them all one day per week with a few seconds or less, you’re simply not going to see results.&nbsp;Metric Collective is a few different companies that offer various franchising services. FranchiseHelp is the largest lead generator for franchisors in the country, according to Metric Collective’s website. Through this company, they offer highly qualified leads through their specially designed proprietary matching quiz. FranFunnel is their SaaS product offering that gives franchisors and franchisees the ability to communicate with their leads more effectively through automated texting. Finally, they also offer their third business, a Franchise Development company called Oakscale, which is a fully outsourced franchise sales organization.Metric Collective makes franchising “cool” and attainable for those who are new to franchising or for seasoned franchisors. Franchising allows you to be your own boss, without any capital, and offers you an opportunity to become a franchising entrepreneur. No matter how far along you might be, they have an innovative, high-level offering for you. This method of business is becoming more and more popular, and Rob shares that he and his team have spread awareness about how amazing the space can be when tackled effectively.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Metric Collective’s website at https://metriccollective.com/.&nbsp;Check out Metric Collective on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/metric-collective/.&nbsp;Check out Rob Huntington on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertahuntington/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to Word of Mouth consultant and the author of The High Five Effect, Matt Ward.&nbsp;Matt helps service-based business professionals build better relationships and make more sales through referrals. Josh and Matt explore why professionals struggle with referral-based business. The reality is that many service-based professionals think they’re better at word of mouth and referral based business than they think. Someone in your center of influence needs to know who you are and why they should direct business to you. List your referral sources (that weren’t referred by other existing clients), find the common denominator, and find your ideal center of influence and ideal referral sources.Once you discover this, double down, focus, and build relationships with people. You need to outrun your competition by staying in touch with your center of influence. Stay top of mind and reach out more than your competitors do.&nbsp;Matt also advises to send more than just email when building these relationships – mail adverts in the mail, send handwritten cards, and show you’re dedicated beyond just virtual communication.&nbsp;&nbsp;Matt’s philosophy is to work with clients that truly bring you joy. Entrepreneurs give up so much during the first five years of their business to create success. In reality, they lose money, time, and relationships by constantly overextending themselves. When you build relationships with like-minded people, Matt shares, they know, like, and trust you. They want to send business your way. You want to go a step beyond – you want people in your sphere to know, like, and care about you. This is the basis of referral-based business. Transition away from business and move towards knowing someone personally when you build a relationship with someone. What are their hobbies? Do you know their family? Ask yourselves these things and invest in your center of influence as though they’re your friends.&nbsp;Josh and Matt explore the ways sales have become sleazy and unenjoyable for most people being sold to. When you aren’t authentic, everyone you sell to can pick up on this. Businesses and consumers are more wary than ever of being sold to, so when you manage to strike up a relationship with a company or brand, don’t jump to selling. Ask how they are, check in, and be willing to have these types of conversations. Touch points and reaching out should never be sales-driven; play the long game and invest time and energy into them long before they’ll even consider investing money with you.&nbsp;Check out Matt Ward on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwardspeaks/.&nbsp;Check out Matt Ward’s book, The High Five Effect at https://www.amazon.com/High-Five-Effect-Business-People-Bring-ebook/dp/B09HXXKYX7.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In the first ever sponsored episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the founder and CEO of 30 Day Leadership, Nils Vinje.&nbsp;&nbsp;Josh and Nils explore high-level networking and how the B2B world is built entirely on networking. Put yourself in a position to make these connections – but not in a sales setting. Paying a little extra to be in a VIP setting at events, masterminds, and functions is an amazing opportunity to forge these connections organically.&nbsp;Nils explains how he adapted and pivoted once the pandemic hit. He realized he needed to build something more sustainable and focused. The pandemic forced him to pivot away from one-on-one high touch consulting and towards a one-to-many model. He focuses now entirely on leadership coaching. He wrote the book, the 30 Day Leadership Playbook, available for free here!&nbsp;Nils also explores how being a leader in a B2B business requires you to inspire your employees to believe in the solutions you offer. You also need to understand what your team needs and they need to understand your company’s message and vision. All of these factors, universally, depend upon good leadership.Josh and Nils also talk about how good leadership is created. Nils breaks this down into four pillars; leading yourself, leading others, leading with communication, and leading with metrics.&nbsp;Leading yourself requires you to manage yourself and your time efficiently (not to mention knowing the areas you need to improve upon); self awareness is key here. Leading others requires you to drive your team’s performance – don’t just ‘lead’, coach your team forward. Leading with communication means, fundamentally, you have communication tuned in internally and externally when it comes to your business. Leading with metrics means being data driven – prioritizing logistics and understanding the actual numbers that run your business. These pillars round out what it means to be a successful leader; implementing these pillars can be a challenge, which is where 30 Day Leadership can help.&nbsp;Nils also talks about how he and his team measure success in their B2B leadership academy. They maintain scorecards that track each participant's pillar progres as well as where they are in their leadership modules. By tracking these aspects, participants will learn to integrate the tools and lessons they learned into their businesses in real time.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out 30 Day Leadership’s website at https://www.30dayleadership.com/.&nbsp;Check out Nils Vinje’s book, the 30 Day Leadership Playbook at https://www.30dayleadership.com/book.&nbsp;Check out 30 Day Leadership on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/30-day-leadership/.&nbsp;Check out Nils Vinje on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nilsvinje/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures.<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/b2b" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the founder and CEO of High Impact Coaching, Zander Fryer.&nbsp;High Impact Coaching helps coaches build 6 and 7-figure businesses in a variety of verticals. Zander and Josh explore how coaches struggle in their space. He talks about owning and recognizing our own individual obstacles and limiting beliefs. Coaches become niche experts in their space, and may spend years or decades honing that expertise. However, coaching and business expertise aren’t always learned or honed simultaneously. If coaches don’t learn the business side of things and become a CEO and not just a coach, their business won’t thrive or scale.&nbsp;In early stages of business, it’s easy for a coach to stay in their zone of genius. The issues arise as their businesses start to grow and need to scale. You can’t be predictable if you don’t have reliable, consistent lead generation, which only comes with being an entrepreneur as much as you are a coach.&nbsp;Being a great coach from the beginning isn’t the challenge – it’s learning how to grow your business sustainably and reliably. Zander shares a bit of wisdom he was given by a mentor – you can either have a crappy product that reaches a lot of people but doesn’t deliver, or you can have an amazing product but be terrible at marketing. The truth is the latter situation is worse. You need to become an expert marketer to be an effective, impactful coach.&nbsp;Zander shares how he experienced self-limiting beliefs and how it doesn’t matter if you’re starting from scratch. Anyone can become a marketer, but you have to put in the time to hone that mindset. Zander’s philosophy is that a coach should also be their own marketing master, but this takes years. Mastery isn’t something that happens overnight.&nbsp;But what about tactics? One of the biggest shifts Zander learned through his research is that until you make your first 7-figures, 80% of your focus should be on sales. As long as you’re focused on selling, you’re having active conversations and you’re learning more about your target market. Until this point, you likely haven’t narrowed that down completely. If you’re working with a minimum viable product, talk to as many people as possible to find out how to improve that product to then launch the next iteration. You need to study every aspect of what these leads are wanting out of your solution – this is the only way you’ll grow in the right direction for your target audience.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Zander Fryer’s website at https://zanderfryer.com/.&nbsp;Check out High Impact Coaching on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/sh-t-you-don-t-learn-in-college/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Zander Fryer on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/zanderfryer/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder and CEO of Markerly, Justin Kline.&nbsp;Markerly is a technology company and agency that works in the influencer space. They began in 2012 and work in a massive variety of verticals. Justin and Josh explore how influencer marketing has evolved from its origins. It’s become easier to become an influencer, but the space has also matured. Justin explains that marketing and advertising came about through the desire to influence in general. This concept predates even modern advertising and marketing, he shares.&nbsp;Markerly runs large scale influencer campaigns and they work in a couple of ways. One half of their business is the influencer database they maintain, and the other half is their advertising services. Justin shares that niche content creation and audience targeting gets harder and harder over time, but Markerly amplifies content by recognizing how to market to these niches using influencer marketing.Justin and Josh also explore certain aspects of influencer marketing to be aware of. You should be asking questions about engagement rates – and doing your own research on these topics. Influencers aren’t exactly keen on sharing these details necessarily. Justin shares some tips on looking at these indicators. Use third party engagement tracker tools and external data sources. Also, follow your intuition. If something pings as fishy to you, it probably is. Look at the types of accounts following the influencer you’re looking at, for instance.&nbsp;You also want to think about brand alignment. You have to pair the right influencers with the right brands – and the right customers. Brand affinity, especially with larger brands, is one way to target specific audiences with the right influencers. If an influencer has looked at similar brands and align with the ethos of a brand, that’s how Markerly chooses brands and influencers to pair together.Josh also asks about performance indicators. You have to remember that bigger influencers are much busier, and require more touch points than just an affiliate code. However, if you’re willing to pay for more ‘expensive’ influencers, you’ll see a larger return more quickly. It all depends on what your brand is striving to do and what your goal is for your influencer campaign. Smaller influencers are likely less expensive but don’t underestimate their reach. If they really speak to their niche, and you see an opportunity in that niche, consider trying to work with them on a single campaign to see what happens. Establishing relationships with the influencers you work with is not only good public relations, it’s pragmatic and can only serve to improve the work you do together.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Markerly’s website at https://markerly.com/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Markerly on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/markerly/.&nbsp;Check out Justin Kline on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/klinejustin/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free<a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the President and CEO of Comtec Systems, Mike Vertolli.&nbsp;Almost 30 years ago, Mike started Comtec Systems. In high school, he worked in telecommunications and installation and he had an unprecedented opportunity to work in the budding tech space in the 90’s. Today, Comtec Systems works with 300 agents that sell their services nationwide. Their current mission is simple; they help their clients run their companies better through technology.&nbsp;Their client base is scattered across various industries. Mike shares the number one vertical he serves that has the most pain points is the healthcare space. They teach various different technological skills to healthcare teams in order to execute working with patients more effectively. Many healthcare professionals are shocked at how much business they lose every year because their automated systems are not good. Mike shares that some practices are skeptical of their services – until he shows how poor these analytics really are.&nbsp;Josh and Mike also explore the lack of awareness with the customer journey experience. You might think you have a good thing going, but your blindspots are just that; you don’t know what you don’t know. Mike shares that a poor customer experience is the quickest thing to be shared and circulated online, and you need to make it your goal to have exceptional customer service. Average service isn’t acceptable; complete excellence should be the bar.&nbsp;Mike also shares ways to better convert online traffic, as well as some tips on optimizing how your staff communicates. Can they handle phones and website inquiries at the same time? If that’s feasible, optimize time by stacking applicable tasks that can be done back and forth with ease.&nbsp;Mike also shares some thoughts on how remote work will likely be the permanent future of many industries. You can use tools like what Comtec Systems offers to source top talent nationwide. If you don’t have to keep your hiring pool to your immediate geographical region, absolutely leverage and take advantage of high-level talent sourcing software. This, believe it or not, ties into your customer experience. You might have been underutilizing high-level talent across the board, which means you don’t have a top notch team to manage and facilitate the customer experience. Investing into this type of talent is another amazing way to boost your customer journey through innovative tech solutions. Don’t turn a blind eye to your customer journey; do a deep dive and see what you can improve for immediate results.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Comtech Systems’ website at https://comtecsystems.net/.&nbsp;Check out Comtec Systems on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/comtec-systems-inc-/.&nbsp;Check out Mike Vertolli on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-vertolli-66b60112/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization NeighborShare, Diana Zhang.&nbsp;NeighborShare’s mission is to help our neighbors through moments of pivotal need with 400 dollars or less. NeighborShare helps our community by empowering community frontline heroes – teachers, social workers, and more. They spotlight these major needs in communities and provide help through this empowerment.&nbsp;This type of platform allows you to know exactly where your help is going. It’s a little difficult to know how to help your neighbors in your local community, Diana shares. NeighborShare’s platform tells you who in your area needs help, what they need help for, and it’s all laid out in small, affordable incremental donations.The success of a society is the strength of its safety net, and helping others is not something most of us would say no to, sometimes we just don’t know the best ways to help as donors. NeighborShare addresses this need and vets everything in the process. You know exactly where things are needed and who has need in your immediate community.Diana shares that NeighborShare strives to fill in the gaps and provide that extra safety net so that people aren’t being forgotten or neglected. Any neighbor that has a desire to help someone can benefit from using NeighborShare’s platform.Diana shares that helping others doesn’t need to be as complicated or difficult as it has become – you can browse NeighborShare’s network based on need and location. You can help in a way that resonates with you in just a few minutes.&nbsp;According to NeighborShare’s website, 40% of American families can’t afford a $400 emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionally affects lower-income Americans who were already struggling to make ends meet.Facing low wage growth, high unemployment, and expensive healthcare and housing, millions of Americans don’t have the resources to withstand the economic and public health impacts of an extended pandemic. Local nonprofit and government assistance programs do great work, but they often can’t help everyone who needs it. That's where you, and NeighborShare, come in.This is why NeighborShare’s threshold is 400 dollars – this symbolically and literally shows this statistic and how close any given family (40% of them) is to a make or break incidental or emergency. NeighborShare has become the additional resource – they’re a non-profit looking to be the extra safety net for struggling individuals and families across the nation.Want to learn more? Check out NeighborShare’s website at https://nbshare.org/.&nbsp;Check out NeighborShare on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/neighborshare/.&nbsp;Check out Diana Zhang on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-zhang-02b4aaa4/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder and CEO of Get Some Class, Joseph Gerstel.&nbsp;Get Some Class is a virtual events provider that builds high-end virtual events for corporate teams. Joseph shares that much of the world has gone virtual permanently. This spawns a challenge – how do you connect your team so that there isn’t social friction and so that there is a sense of workplace community. How do you replace parties and watercooler chats, though? Joseph and his company provide these high-end virtual events that are semi-regular and are actually legitimate fun for your team. There are tons of different options that are curated specifically for your team and business.&nbsp;Practically speaking, Get Some Class utilizes Zoom. Joseph shares that the challenge with Zoom is that you have to make things engaging. This has to be executed strategically and thoughtfully. You don’t want your team just sitting in a Zoom meeting for hours – the experiences have to be designed to be fun and not feel time consuming.&nbsp;Another challenge with Zoom is that on its own, it doesn’t support individual interactions. Joseph shares that there are other video programs out there that revolutionize this. Video tech and virtual avatars allow your team to enjoy a more unique, engaging experience, all on a virtual platform.&nbsp;Joseph shares that these challenges for companies aren't going to go away; most of the workforce that is remote will stay remote. Over the next few years, we’ll only see more of a boom in remote work. Honor the challenge and be willing to experiment and be thoughtful with your team bonding experiences.&nbsp;Josh and Joseph also explore how to make general meetings more engaging and interactive. Incorporate new, fun things into the daily grind for your remote team. First of all, don’t overcomplicate things. Introduce things casually – let your team make small talk before a meeting, or designate and facilitate simple team bonding activities. You can start small and work up to bigger events as you observe your team’s response. Chill out the social environment a bit and signal that being light and social when appropriate is completely okay.Fostering this environment in a remote workplace is very important, especially if you want honest feedback and thoughts from your team. You can be mindful and proactive by simply paying attention to your team. Increase your own awareness through connecting to your team personally, sharing things about yourself, and encouraging them to share things. Be open to this sort of engagement and invite your team to participate consistently.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Get Some Class’s website at https://getsomeclass.com/.&nbsp;Check out Get Some Class on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/getsomeclass/.&nbsp;Check out Joseph Gerstel on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephgerstel/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1" rel="noopener...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with marketing consultant and the President of Parkin Consulting, Tim Parkin.&nbsp;Tim is a marketing advisor to global marketing executives. He helps them dramatically improve the effectiveness of their marketing and their marketing teams. In short, he discovers what works and what doesn’t for specific teams. His journey throughout his career has been wild, but he shares that he realized along the way that software and products weren’t the issue with businesses he encountered – it was their marketing.&nbsp;Marketing is understanding the consumer, how they think and what they feel. He shares that you have to deeply connect with and understand your audience in order to execute marketing successfully. If you aren’t connected to what resonates with your target audience, you’re probably wasting a lot of money on poor strategies. Consumers are as sophisticated and savvy as ever – and there is now pushback on data privacy. With data privacy challenges, you have to be creative and find new ways to tune into your audience.&nbsp;Tim sees some common issues as companies grow; they either hit a wall as far as scaling, or they struggle to accelerate that growth. Tim offers expertise on accelerating growth and addressing bottlenecks – as well as implementing the long term solutions that permanently bridge the disconnect between consumers and businesses.&nbsp;Josh and Tim also explore the issues with companies that think they’re customer-centric. The truth? They aren’t talking to their customers at all. Data and numbers are great, but it’s not keeping eyes on the customer’s needs and thoughts. Don’t just send out a survey, actually make an effort to engage with and find what your customers want and need.&nbsp;Tim shares a trick to get better customer data – read your own reviews and the reviews of your competitors. Take those reviews into account and take them to heart. Another trick? Hire your customers! Hire those who would purchase and use your product or service and build an internal community around that. This is a great way to have access to real, impactful feedback that will resonate across your customer base. No more assumptions, just reliable data straight from the source.&nbsp;Tim works in a wide range of industries (B2B and B2C businesses) and shares some of his predictions for 2022 in the world of marketing. Data and privacy changes are at the top of the list – he believes in the next year, more data breaches will cause more privacy issues and blocks. Data is integral to marketing, and relying on advertiser data isn’t ideal. Use authenticity and sensitivity with your customers as these issues continue to change.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Tim Parkin’s website at https://www.timparkin.com/.&nbsp;Check out Parkin Consulting on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/parkin-consulting/.&nbsp;Check out Tim Parkin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketing-consultant-tim-parkin/#experience.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Creator and Founder of Find Calm Here, Deb Schell.&nbsp;Deb helps entrepreneurs build online communities with newfound peace and ease. Deb shares that having a thriving online community while running a successful business can be chaos. She wanted to help other entrepreneurs find calm in running an online business, so Find Calm Here began as a wellness community. The more people joined, the more she realized there she filled a need – she helped guide entrepreneurs create and utilize their own self-made communities. Now, that’s what she does with the Find Calm Here community.&nbsp;Josh and Deb also explore how resourceful and collaborative a community can be. As a business owner, you may not have all eyes on your customers and their issues at all times. The more you scale, the more relevant this problem becomes. Having a self-driven community can help, but it takes work and really investing into connecting your network in order to have something effective that fills the role.&nbsp;Deb also talks about how community-based softwares have evolved over time. There are many different options out there, especially when you’re looking to get away from Facebook groups. A popular option that both Deb and Josh have used and loved is Might Networks. Using a platform like this empowers your customer base to become impactful within itself. Deb shares that ‘community’ is more often than not the missing magic in your business. If you’re an entrepreneur, agency, wellness or mindfulness professional, or a coach/consultant, building a dedicated community is always a best practice.&nbsp;Josh also asks about how to build a community truly. It’s not just the software, Deb shares. You want to notice those who are engaging with your community already (perhaps on social media or in a Facebook group you’ve implemented) and invite them to join the community you’re building. You want to establish a community with those who already like to engage with you – and you want to ask them what they really want to see. Collaborate with your community and make them part of the direction it goes in, don’t just take them along for the ride. Your community knows what it wants, so leverage that by asking them! Deb suggests using something like a Google Form to ask your audience questions about building your community – do some trial “market” research here to see what’s actually in demand in your network and client base.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Find Calm Here’s website at https://findcalmhere.com/.&nbsp;Check out Find Calm Here on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/find-calm-here/.&nbsp;Check out Deb Schell on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/debschell/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the President and founder of Trackstar, Clint Lotz.&nbsp;Trackstar is a consumer advocate brand. It tackles problems in the space uniquely by building software that helps people help people. Specifically, they innovate the loan space. They saw an opportunity to put state of the art technology into the hands of lenders – they wanted consumers to be protected from false negative credit reporting by giving lenders data that’s fast, efficient, and accurate. Clint shares that there are many false negative reports floating around the American credit system, and Trackstar can build software to identify these false reports so that someone’s credit isn’t ruined.&nbsp;Clint also talks about how difficult it is as a consumer to identify and report these damaging false reports. For the most part, it’s an entirely manual process and it’s tedious and time consuming. Trackstar tackles this issue and allows for these types of checks and balances to be available quickly and efficiently.&nbsp;Josh and Clint also explore where Trackstar fits into the industry more holistically. He shares that most credit bureaus listen to their consumers, but their data is almost always inaccurate. They don’t seek to improve the quality of their data, Clint shares, and they’ve been aware of this for a long time. At the end of the day, this bad data and these errors are bringing consumer credit scores down. It’s a major issue, but it doesn’t improve their bottom line, so little has been done to address it. Who uses Trackstar’s tech? Those on the customer experience team are often the first to consider using this type of advanced data technology. Those who take charge of the customer journey are the number one candidates that Trackstar will connect with; they care about their consumer’s experience, which makes the investment in this technology all the more attractive. Clint shares that he believes lenders should do more than just lend money; they should invest in making the consumer journey fair, easy, and equitable.&nbsp;Trackstar identifies errors on credit reports and they are looking to work with personal, mortgage, auto, and other types of lenders. They also work with online aggregators who work with multiple lenders to extend their reach across the board. If you’re a lender or aggregator, there’s likely a big data oversight occurring somewhere in your business. Trackstar will help you serve your existing client base now – and actually add something positive, and in protection of the consumer, to the lending space.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Trackstar’s website at https://trackstar.ai/.&nbsp;Check out Trackstar on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/trackstar-ai/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Clint Lotz on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/clint-lotz/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to veteran and the founder of Time On Target, Kevin Snow.&nbsp;Time On Target was originally launched as a public speaking and training company to train businesses on networking and sales. After being launched, Kevin was deployed with the Army overseas. With that, he had to pivot and then began offering prospecting services. He focused on tech firms and helping companies grow and optimize their sales teams. From there, Time On Target niched down even more and now they focus on helping companies discover how they sell and how their buyers make buying decisions. They add technology and automation to make things run faster so that sales teams have optimized ease of use.&nbsp;Kevin shares that building relationships is still extremely important when it comes to sales. You can’t assume your sales teams can cultivate good relationships - they sometimes jump too quickly to the sales processes. This is a byproduct of the environment of COVID. When we’re not interacting face to face, it’s harder to build those personable relationships. Kevin shares that he had to manually build in the “relationship” process into his sales funnel. You need to ask questions and actually get to know these leads. From there, you can educate them on where they could improve or automate, and this trust and expertise will lead to sales far more often.&nbsp;Josh and Kevin also share how being an introvert is actually a strength in the sales process. Introverts are curious, good listeners and are detail-oriented. Utilizing these skills helps you dig deeper so you can actually sell a real solution, not what you assume they need. You need to build your solutions to serve the lead first and foremost – a cookie cutter approach isn’t going to see success. It’s a lengthy process and it requires dedication and attention to detail, but you have to sell from a place of service first. Sales aren’t about convincing people, it’s about helping them know, like, and trust you AND your authority.&nbsp;If you can solve problems, that’s great, but listen to your market first. Ask yourself how many meaningful conversations you can have in a day and try your best to hit that target. Don’t pitch to someone – listen to them and offer a tangible solution. Accept that not everyone will be a fit for your solution and don’t chase and force leads that just aren’t fits. That’ll detract from your business’s value. Be a true solution provider and only pursue leads you can deeply serve.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Time on Target’s website at https://www.time-on-target.com/.&nbsp;Check out Time On Target on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/time-on-target/.&nbsp;Check out Kevin Snow on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinesnow/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder and CEO of Outlier Audio, Spencer Carpenter.&nbsp;Outlier Audio began during COVID-19. Spencer shares he worked extensively in the music industry before the pandemic in talent representation. During this time, he realized those who relied on in-person networking needed alternatives. Podcasting was an opportunity for people to perform virtually. Spencer shares that many people in the space either didn’t know how to podcast or didn’t have the time. This is how Outlier Audio was born!Spencer shares that the need for the space was the initial draw for him to podcasting, but what he realized was that in a world where advertising is constant, podcasts get you in front of audiences who actually want to listen to you. Inviting someone onto your show invites them to become a fan after their own interview and creates the impression of the personal touch of a genuine conversation. Listeners like what you have to say – you don’t have to sell yourself, you just have to be authentic.&nbsp;Josh and Spencer also explore what makes an amazing podcast guest. He shares that he’s scoured for the best tips across the web and compiled them (while also leaving out the redundancies and creating a succinct guide.) Optimizing the quality of your own audio is key. Also, don’t waste your opportunity as a podcast guest. You’re there to educate an audience, not sell your program or product. As a guest, be authentic and be a respectful, considerate guest to your host. Josh shares his take; a podcast is like a first date. Don’t run out of the gate trying to make a pitch.&nbsp;Spencer also shares that you don’t need to make a pitch to sell to someone’s audio. Just showing your authority and expertise in a real conversation will draw the right clients to you just from an audience base who hears you once and wants to learn more. It doesn’t matter what vertical you work in; you’ll only draw business to yourself from podcasting if you start from a place of service and value as a guest.&nbsp;Bring stories, anecdotes, and real nuggets to the table. But how does one get on podcasts, or prepare themselves beforehand? Spencer shares to keep things short and sweet when you pitch yourself as a guest and make sure to curate which shows you want to be on. Don’t throw spaghetti at the wall – go on podcasts in your niche and branch out as you gain more experience as a stand out podcaster.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Outlier Audio’s website at https://www.outlieraudio.com/.&nbsp;Check out Outlier Audio on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/outlier-audio/.&nbsp;Check out Spencer Carpenter on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-carpenter-49988166/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the owner of BeefySites, Jared Mitchell.&nbsp;BeefySites started as Jared’s passion project and it has now become an extremely successful company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their e-commerce businesses.&nbsp;Jared shares that the methods e-commerce businesses are using to grow aren’t actually improving their brand or business because it doesn’t build upon it. When your business depends on other factors, like platforms you don’t control, you have to build things from the ground up so you aren’t relying on those factors entirely for success.He also discusses things like the risks of relying mostly on Amazon for your e-commerce business. He shares that he's been shut down at least ten times by Amazon – so if you tell yourself it can’t happen to you, think again. Even competitors can shut you down between leaving false bad reviews and opening false trademark disputes. Amazon is a slippery slope for e-commerce companies, so absolutely do not put all your eggs in that one basket.&nbsp;Jared and Josh explore how to diversify your strategy and approach. Number one, you need to strive for perfection. First of all, sell QUALITY products and don’t cut manufacturing corners. Ship on time and have a competent and prepared customer experience team right off the bat. If you don’t, your brand and its reputation will suffer. Next, invest in selling e-commerce you’re passionate about. Yes, you can be passionate about making money, but that’s not going to be enough drive for you eventually. Sell products you use, care about, and enjoy talking about. Base your brand around things you care about on a personal level.&nbsp;Differentiating yourself in a busy market is another aspect that requires a tactical approach. Find your niche and be AMAZING at it. You need to then hone in on that audience, ideally one that needs a solution provided, and operate in that area. Become an expert in that niche and don’t make the mistake of trying to branch out into areas outside your zone of genius thinking you need a broader, more extensive reach. Only sell products you know well and like the back of your hand.&nbsp;Jared shares that people don’t want to be sold to, they want to be helped. You need to be the right solution to their problem and show your business is the expert in your space very quickly. You need to establish yourself as a real brand to your audience. As far as utilizing influencer marketing, Jared stresses caution. You need to manually check not just the size of an influencer's audience, but also the engagement they have with their audience. Influencers can often have “fake audiences”, so do this research before you even approach an influencer regarding a marketing campaign.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Beefysite’s website at https://www.beefysites.com/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Jared Mitchell on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jareddmitchell/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO and founder of Red8 Interactive and Inn8ly, James Hipkin.&nbsp;Inn8ly offers websites without worry. James shares that Red8 Interactive is a custom web development company focused on acting as a constructive general contractor for mid-sized design agencies. They offer quality, outsourced development services to major enterprises.&nbsp;However, James shares that they noticed that smaller businesses (who generally weren’t at the level to invest in Red8 Interactive’s services) desperately needed their expertise and support. With this in mind, James then founded Inn8ly. They now offer cost-effective subscription-based software for small businesses. Their proposition is solving the problem many business owners have – they don’t WANT to be master developers. They want to have a cost-effective, professional and competent team to manage their websites for them. They send emails, develop, and update all of these development aspects on the behalf of their clients. They also actually answer the phone! James shares that actually reaching your outsourced development teams is one of the biggest issues in the industry.&nbsp;Even if a business owner IS competent in web development, is it a cost effective use of their time to manage it? Inn8ly makes it as smooth and easy as possible, so business owners can truly operate in their zone of genius and focus on what really matters.&nbsp;Josh and James also explore how many SMBs don’t hold their developers to high enough standards. James shares that when he talks to business owners who struggle and underutilize their website, he observes massive confusion around digital marketing. When you invest in tactics in isolation, you’re not looking at things holistically. He describes the ideal framework is to treat your website and digital marketing like a tire and wheel hub. Your website should be the wheel hub, your digital marketing tactics and channels should be the spokes, and your content marketing and messaging strategy should be the rim that holds everything together.&nbsp;The power doesn’t come from each piece of the puzzle, but rather the connections you make by following a holistic model. Tactics in isolation is just noise; the power of your strategy comes from connecting everything together. You should be driving people to your website FIRST, not your social media. That’s what builds long term relationships with your audience – when you rely on tactics in isolation (especially ones beyond your control, like using platforms you don’t own), you become susceptible to many more strategic risks.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Inn8ly’s website at https://inn8ly.com/.&nbsp;Check out Red8 Interactive at https://red8interactive.com/.&nbsp;Check out Inn8ly on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/inn8ly/.&nbsp;Check out James Hipkin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameshipkin/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures.<a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder of Corporate Value Metrics, Ken Sanginario.&nbsp;Corporate Value Metrics offers a value creation software platform they created eleven years ago to help companies control the value of their businesses. Their platform can help double or even triple a company’s value over the course of 3 to 5 years. It’s being tested all over the United States and even around the globe!Ken shares that they offer three different tiers of their software. Their lightest tier is for business averaging less than 5 million in revenue annually. Their next tier is the middle tier, aimed at growth, for those businesses making 5 to 15 million in annual revenue. The highest level tier is aimed at businesses making 15 million or more in revenue. Their software offers a unique flexibility and flexes with the size of the company as well as the vertical.&nbsp;&nbsp;Josh and Ken also explore how businesses get started with this software. Their onboarding process helps identify fifteen different points of consideration that tells Ken and his team what the company needs strategy wise, as well as laying out a timeline for success. The problem is that revenue and profitability growth don’t just happen on their own, but too many business owners focus on ONLY these factors – you have to grow within your means to avoid imploding. Ken calls this phenomenon “growing for broke.” What he learned by observing this is that business owners should NOT focus on these factors directly, but rather the qualitative aspects of their businesses that will naturally lead to growth. The truth is, if you’re only focused on growing as fast as possible, you’re actually eroding the value of your business because you haven’t prepared it for that level of growth.&nbsp;Ken also discusses the importance of identifying blindsports and imbalances. The weakest parts of your businesses are constraints, and if you ONLY grow within your comfort zones (where you’re usually already thriving), there’s more pressure on the weak areas of your business. You have to balance what you grow and invest time and quality into in order to grow sustainably. THIS work is what triples the value of a business. There aren’t external factors here – this is all within your control.&nbsp;What Ken and his team have found is that business will do one (or all) of three things that are common mistakes. They either chase revenue by stretching beyond their core competency in their product offerings, slash costs that are “non-customer facing” which can lead to a lack of efficiency, or they merge with or acquire another business which can often become too complex to direct. If your business isn’t strong in its own foundation, any acquisition or merger will fail. All of these mistakes actually erode the growth and value of your business.&nbsp;&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Corporate Value Metrics’ website at https://www.corporatevalue.net/.&nbsp;Check out Corporate Value Metrics on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/corporate-value-metrics-llc/.&nbsp;Check out Ken Sanginario on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksanginario/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the President and CEO of The Author Incubator, Dr. Angela Lauria.The Author Incubator is exactly what it sounds like – they help create and incubate authors. Angela shares that people approach her and her team when they have an idea for a book, but not necessarily the knowledge or skill sets to write their first book. What Angela shares is that her ideal clients have a successful business and idea for a book, but don’t necessarily see themselves as “authors”. She shares that a well written book can improve your business in all facets – and it can communicate effortlessly and clearly with your audience.&nbsp;The Author Incubator helps train their clients and their support systems to incubate these authors in the most holistic and effective ways possible. You have to treat a book with this ‘incubation’ mindset to write a real, impactful piece of literature.&nbsp;Angela also shares some of her clients’ success stories and how they leveraged their books after becoming published. Between generating new revenue for their business with their books, authors can also create networks using their written work as well as create marketing campaigns that celebrate their book and their business. No matter how Angela’s clients utilize their works, there are endless options and opportunities when you’ve written something successful, succinct, and authoritative.&nbsp;She also shares some thoughts on giving away your book during marketing campaigns versus selling it. Giving away your book grants you more reach and eyes on your business and campaign, but this may not necessarily translate into sales right away. On the other hand, if you choose to charge for your book, you’ll likely see more sales from those who purchase it, but less publicity and reach. How you market your book all depends on your business strategy and goals for the book.&nbsp;Josh and Angela also explore how often these books are actually read by those who receive it. According to Angela, 16% of these books have even ONE page read. It doesn’t sound great, but she shares some hopeful insights. The good news is that while non-buyers are unlikely to read your book, once someone buys it from you, they’ll not only READ your book, they’ll share it with the people around them and likely read it more than once themselves. Again, this is all impacted by how you decide to utilize your book and share it with your network.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out The Author Incubator’s website at https://theauthorincubator.com/.&nbsp;Check out The Author Incubator on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-author-incubator/.&nbsp;Check out Angela Lauria on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelalauria/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the author of Tenacity, Ron Coury.&nbsp;Ron is a Las Vegan businessman who survived the Marines, corruption, and cancer – and successfully ran over twenty businesses throughout his career. Ron shares that he was a student in Brooklyn when he was drafted into the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He chose boot camp with the hardest training but ultimately wasn’t sent as the war de-escalated. Ron shares that the grit he gained through the military is what afforded him the business mindset that led to his success. Train to teach yourself that failure isn’t an option. You can’t predict the hurdles, but you know they’ll be there. Ron says that the key is not to let the hurdles and challenges stop you. Work your way around each obstacle and solve the problem.&nbsp;After Ron got out of the Marines, he shares that he moved to Las Vegas. The city afforded him the ability to enter into many verticals that are very specific to Vegas – he then started a business, but maintained many side gigs. He was in the tavern business to start with and he scaled and grew. He shares how he grew his business and retained customers – and all the innovations he made along the way. Adding video poker to the bar business also opened doors into the gaming business as the industry developed.&nbsp;Josh and Ron also explore how to know when you should start your next business venture. He says it’s not always a conscious feeling, but he wanted to continue to grow and challenge himself – so he did. He trained and led his team to continue to nurture his various businesses as he would continue onto the next challenge and venture. But how do you know who is fit for the job? When you see someone with amazing talent, bite the bullet and invest the time and money into training them to make the same decisions you would make.&nbsp;Ron shares he would constantly shadow people, and though it can get boring, it teaches your best employees how to act as you would in times of struggle or crisis. But what about when you can’t control the outcome? Gauge pivoting by predicting how an industry will develop. You can’t always accurately predict, but look over the context clues and innovations in technology to stay on the cutting edge of your vertical. You need to stay on top of these changes to stay successful. This is all part of having grit and tenacity as a business owner.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Ron Coury’s website at https://roncouryauthor.com/.&nbsp;Check out Ron Coury on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/roncouryauthor/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to patent attorney and the owner of Martin IP Law Group, Rick Martin.&nbsp;Rick works with a broad array of clients, from the individual inventor to corporations. They can do patents, trademarks, and anything to do with IP. They’ll work with multimillion dollar companies, their employees, and everyone in between.&nbsp;Rick and Josh explore the risks of not going through the proper trademark and IP steps when trying to develop a product. Rick shares that it depends. It’s a good idea to register your ideas from the beginning – there are requirements and duties as far as policing that trademark, and you have to make efforts in protecting your intellectual property.&nbsp;Trademarks are specified based on domestic or international registration. Outside of the U.S. if you don’t register your trademark, that protection stops overseas. Trademarks are generally protected by common law but need to also be registered to be protected federally.&nbsp;When you see your content has been copied, that falls into the category of copyright violations. If you record a video, that is automatically protected; you’d have to register such a piece of content before pursuing a lawsuit, but it’s federally protected. Rick shares that you should contact an attorney if your content was infringed online. The next step is typically sending a cease and desist letter before trying to file a lawsuit.&nbsp;Registering your domain is not all it takes to protect your brand. You have to protect your intellectual property and protect your identity as an entrepreneur and as a brand. Rick shares some basics, too. Copyrights protect creations and the expression of ideas. A logo, for instance, can be protected by both trademark and copyright laws as they require creative design. A trademark links the goods or services provided to consumers back to the provider of those goods and services – and prevents confusion in the marketplace around where products come from.It’s definitely worth the investment to have an attorney assist you in filing to register intellectual property. There are websites that advertise doing it yourself, but Rick shares that having the advice and guidance from an expert in the space is essential, especially if you’re serious about protecting your intellectual property.&nbsp;If you apply for patent protection incorrectly, your IP can become public domain and there’s not much that can be done if someone infringes that IP in such a circumstance. Invest in an attorney and get the experts on top of things – before you lose your IP.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Martin IP Law Group’s website at https://ipsolutionslaw.com/.&nbsp;Check out Martin IP Law Group on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/martin-ip-solutions/.&nbsp;Check out Rick Martin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickmartinlaw/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1" rel="noopener...