In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Virtual CFO and the CEO of Profit Concierge, Pam Prior. Pam explains that she began in corporate finance – she then worked her way into the mid-market and now works with entrepreneurs. She brings an amazing amount of insight to the space and she shares that the finance industry really neglects the entrepreneurial space in general. These skills and the knowledge and best practices aren’t something you’re born with. Ultimately, Pam explains that there’s no shame in not always knowing the depths of your company’s finances. If you were never shown these things, how could you know how to implement them? Pam shares that helping entrepreneurs overcome shame and fear around finances is just as important as the actionable tactics. Pam’s one to one client base is made up of six-figure or more organizations. Profit Concierge will also work in a group format with newer entrepreneurs and startups. This format is more affordable for the less-seasoned business owner who wants to get started on the right foot. The biggest thing they help with, though, is helping an entrepreneur really understand their business. They help explain things in ways that help these business owners figure out solutions and trajectory on their own. Josh and Pam explore how business owners can problem-solve when they recognize profit issues. She explains the two most common scenarios she sees; either the business is profitable but the business owner has nothing in the bank, the business owner has a lot of money but needs to scale to get out of the weeds, or they’re out of money altogether and hit a cash flow wall.  Dealing with the crisis in question is important, but Pam takes it a step further by permanently changing the business owner’s systems and path. They offer their clients that ease and peace of mind. They simply help get you and your team performing well within the system. Pam also discusses how she works with her one on one clients and who would do well making that investment with her and her team. She shares that she puts educating her clients first and foremost. At the end of the day, she just wants to help entrepreneurs take better steps on their business journey. What Profit Concierge offers is true business peace of mind and a deeper understanding of your business’s finances and profitability. Want to learn more? Check out Profit Concierge’s website at https://www.profitconcierge.com/. Check out Profit Concierge on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/pampriorinc/.  Check out Pam Prior on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelapriorcpa/. . 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 CEO of Coolperx, Lou Elliott-Cysewski.&nbsp;Coolperx is a sustainable branding merchandise company that works with enterprise companies to help them create brand merchandise programs that are built on sustainability. This means they’re offering innovative merchandise that's meaningful to their stakeholders.Lou shares that she went on a discovery journey to discover the innovations of new products with branding opportunities. She saw opportunities for companies to turn the typical expectations on their head and offer something with enterprise branding to consumers that they could truly use. She wanted these items to help communities and show that these companies really do appreciate their customers.&nbsp;Lou also talks about what items are being branded during the pandemic. Right now, they’re seeing sanitization products and even sweatpants to help communities feel comforted and cozy!Josh and Lou also talk about other products Coolperx has sourced. One company they worked with, she shares, wanted to reinvent backpacks. The backpack they chose is totally sustainable and are refurbished after they are discarded. This is a way for major enterprises to show they care about sustainability and actually giving back to the community. Offering products that serve a purpose on a sustainable foundation is an amazing way to send these messages.&nbsp;It all starts with research, Lou shares. Networking is one way she grew her expertise, and she continues to invest in networking to consistently grow her business.&nbsp;Josh and Lou also explore her military experience. As an Army nurse, she understood how to function without a sense of stability. This training and experience contributed to how she runs her business today. She shares that she responds as needed – this is what helps her cope with the daily stressors of running a successful business.&nbsp;Most of Coolperx’s business comes from referrals. Their approach is so unique and different that they only target enterprises that value sustainability. No matter how you slice it, Coolperx is redefining the ‘swag’ space in big business. As thought leaders in the space, they are pushing for the industry to adapt. There are standards the industry should live up to – and they push for that message to become the norm.&nbsp;Understanding the carbon footprint of the products you choose to disperse as an enterprise is incredibly important and wildly under practiced. Coolperx can help enterprises take an innovative, sustainable look at their merchandise product offerings.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Coolperx’s website at https://www.coolperx.com/.&nbsp;Check out Coolperx on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/coolperx/.&nbsp;Check out Lou Elliott-Cysewski on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/louelliottcysewski/#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<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the co-founder and CEO of Monarchy, Nicole Tabs.&nbsp;Nicole has a background in being an internet influencer. Monarchy started as an influencer marketing company that connects brands and influencers. They have evolved over time and added more people into their company that really understand the industry and can achieve results. Over time, they added more and more expertise until they finally became a marketing agency in general. They then evolved again into an “engine” that helps with business development strategies and solutions.&nbsp;Josh and Nicole also explore some best marketing practices overall. If you want to see an impact in your sales, first make sure you choose the right influencers – but only within an entire strategy. If you align your entire marketing strategy with the influencer marketing, you’ll see optimized results. Your personal social media accounts, website, email marketing, landing pages, messaging, copy, message per platform, optimization per platform, and your influencer marketing all have to move together like an oiled machine. Strategizing to align these aspects can be both cumbersome and complex – but it is definitely important if you want to see results.&nbsp;Today’s public is inundated with content all the time, which means it takes better ads and targeting to achieve your goals. It’s harder now than it’s ever been to reach your target audience with ads, but it is possible to grab the attention of the right audience.Thinking through the whole marketing journey is incredibly important. Influencer marketing is only the very top of the funnel. Assume every consumer is fickle – they might click if an influencer they trust is informing them about it for the first time, but if you don’t have a well thought out funnel and targeting, you’ll lose a bunch of those leads. Leave no barriers in place, especially when it comes to advertising.&nbsp;If you’re a business owner who has seen some success and traffic but just can’t seem to break into the next level, consider reaching out to Monarchy and their team. If you want to make a difference by making a bigger impact, you need to see results. Monarchy takes a holistic approach to marketing and offers unique insights into the influencer marketing space. Monarchy is industry agnostic and works with brands of all shapes, sizes, and verticals.&nbsp;If you’re interested in learning more about their background and origin story, check out their About page here.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Monarchy’s website at https://monarchy.io/.&nbsp;Check out Nicole’s website at https://www.nicoletabs.com.&nbsp;Check out Monarchy on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/monarchy-io/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Nicole Tabs on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-tabs-38b66119b/.&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

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO and Fund Manager at PetroFunders, Maurice Dukes.&nbsp;PetroFunders is a fintech-powered investment platform that aims to provide income from the oil and gas industry in a simple and easy fashion. They offer an online dashboard where people can check their investments and distributions. They've created the oil and gas version of a real estate investment trust. They have a vehicle someone can subscribe to and leverage PetroFunders’ oil and gas expertise. At that point, PetroFunders can go and buy royalties on that person’s behalf. Royalties are portions of income strains that are already creating cash flow.Marucie shares what makes this attractive to investors. For one, the oil and gas industry is generally low risk. They only purchase royalties, they aren't going out and drilling to find new oil. They only deal in cash flow. Due to inflation, this is a natural hedge that investors are looking at. It can fit in many different types of portfolios and it is accessible to more diverse income backgrounds.Maurice’s background is in petroleum engineering. He ended up in asset management and corporate management of assets across the country. As a fund manager, that experience gives him an edge. He's not just coming from finance, he’s coming from asset management and petroleum engineering.&nbsp;Josh asks Maurice what types of investments people should look at the oil and gas space. He shares that the people typically attracted to this space are those who need income as part of their portfolio. Oil and gas exposure can help protect your portfolio from inflation. Consistent, regular income entering your portfolio can hedge off higher inflation prices. This is one of the most accessible platforms to use to gain access to investing in the oil and gas industry. Their platform lets anyone invest, not just those who are accredited. It’s meant to be easy and accessible, whether you’re high net worth or not. The best part? Their target return is 9 - 10%. Again, because these are royalties, they’re investments that are already generating cash flow. If you’re looking for income, check out PetroFunders.&nbsp;As far as growing their platform, they are seeking to get in front of new investors every day. They have already been networking with their existing connections and are also able to leverage their presence on social media. If you have a strong affinity for income generating investments, check out PetroFunder where the minimum starting investment is $10,000.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out PetroFunder’s website at https://petrofunders.com/.&nbsp;Check out Maurice Dukes and PetroFunders on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/petro360/.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 CEO of Havoc Shield, Brian Fritton.&nbsp;Havoc Shield believes security is a top competitive advantage when it comes to gaining customers. Brian started as a software engineer but ultimately became a cybersecurity expert. He shares that many businesses engage contractors for their cyber security needs, but the issues start when it comes to costs, not to mention the complexities of the foundational work. Getting serious about cybersecurity is essential, and many contractors are also booked up. Too many business owners are seeing the negative effects of bad cybersecurity, so this boom in investing in cybersecurity will only get more intense.&nbsp;Doing cybersecurity internally is much more difficult than you might think, and hiring a third party expert to provide top notch protection is often your best bet, both time wise and financially over time. Brian shares that it’s always been important to him to protect others, and protecting other business owners and founders gives him purpose.&nbsp;Brian and Josh also explore how to audit your cybersecurity measures. For one thing, your login credentials need to be truly secured. Those are your ‘keys to the kingdom’ and are extremely vulnerable. Brian says you MUST enable multi-factor authentication to secure your credentials. Use the app, not text messaging, when you use multi-factor authentication. Brian also explains that the human element also has to be considered; if your team members are sharing passwords or clicking suspicious links, the tech you invested in isn’t effective. Make the education about protecting your company’s security a learning moment, not a punishment. Humans can be used by thieves for attacks. Protect your team by teaching them all about this topic.&nbsp;Josh also talks about how password security has changed. Brian shares that new technology is coming out that will eliminate the need for passwords using behavior based and hardware token based technologies that work together with your biometrics, behavior, and location. It will take years, though, for this to be commonplace. There’s been updated guidance on how passwords should be changed; what’s recommended is that your password is at least 12 characters long (mixing character case can’t hurt but isn’t as important), but your passwords MUST be unique to everything you use. You might be asking yourself how you could possibly remember it all. Brian explains that password managers are either&nbsp; free or extremely affordable and remember and autofill your passwords for you. There are ways to protect your business’s cybersecurity affordably, but look into all of your options and make sure to invest in better cybersecurity for the sake of your business.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Havoc Shield’s website at https://havocshield.com/.&nbsp;Check out Havoc Shield on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/havoc-shield/.&nbsp;Check out Brian Fritton on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bfritton/.&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...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Inspired Purpose Coaching, Tony Martignetti.Tony details that he helps accomplished leaders climb the right mountains and connect with their own inspired purposes. Even high achievers can get lost when trying to find their purpose, and this is where Inspired Purpose Coaching can help.&nbsp;Tony shares that he does both one and one coaching as well as facilitated group activities that help these leaders grow as a team. Bringing people together really made a big impact, Tony observed, and so this is how he does a lot of his work. Team building can be one of the best ways to uncover your purpose.&nbsp;Tony also explores the lessons he learned from his own experiences. He spent most of his life in the biomedical field – but he realized something was missing in his life. He was left feeling unfulfilled, burned out, and ultimately not happy. He wanted to change the view from his “mountaintop”, and so he tried something new, and this is how he found the path to coaching.&nbsp;Josh and Tony explore how to know when you’re climbing the wrong mountain. Is each day feeling more like a chore? What is causing your lack of fulfillment? Tony shares thoughts on which paths to explore and take and he advises experimenting rather than taking a big leap until you’re ready. Don’t put it off forever, either, but don’t rush into things when you need to do some soul searching first. Tony says that taking time for yourself to sort through these feelings and let these thoughts settle and reveal themselves is critical. Finding a new path requires adopting new perspectives.&nbsp;Tony and Josh also talk about finding balance. There’s never a one size fits all solution to a problem – sometimes you have to take a step back and ask yourself if the results of what you want to do will have a negative impact. You have to move fast and slow and be both compassionate and accountable. Balance is the starting point, but that goes hand in hand with being humble in the face of new challenges. You won’t have all the answers when the world is constantly changing – but you can solve problems flexibly. Offer intellectual humility, admit when you’re not the expert, and be transparent with both yourself and your team to truly live your inspired purpose.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Inspired Purpose Coaching’s website at https://www.inspiredpurposecoach.com/.&nbsp;Check out Inspired Purpose Coaching on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspiredpurposecoach/.&nbsp;Check out Tony Martignetti on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonymartignett1/.&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 life design coach, advisor, and founder of Life Design, Carlos Hidalgo.&nbsp;For the last 25 years, Carlos had been a marketer. He’s worked for massive brands before embarking on his first entrepreneurial venture – he’s worked for himself ever since. Since then, his consultancy has grown, he learned lessons along the way, started a second consultancy, and he wrote a book. Now, he’s coaching people on how to live their lives by design.Carlos shares that companies get caught in the “shiny new object” syndrome – all while losing focus of what really matters; doing the basics and truly connecting to your customer. Know what your customers need and want to feel and empathize with them.&nbsp;Carlos’s book, The Unamerican Dream, is an autobiography about how he misprioritized his life by putting his family on the back burner to grind at work. As he dived into his own business, he realized many of his peers felt the same misery in their work. America has a problem with overworking, and while we do live in the land of opportunity, we are all chronic workaholics. If heart disease is on the rise as a result of work stress, something is definitely wrong.&nbsp;Life should be lived by design, rather than lived as a rat race. Carlos and Josh discuss the ways that Carlos changed his life after he had these realizations. After he hit rock bottom, he relocated to live a simpler life. Ask yourself why you’re working as hard as you do and what for. Don’t think about your business plan – think about your LIFE plan and fit work in where it will. Work is only a part of your life, and it shouldn't be your number one priority.&nbsp;Carlos works with his clients to discover what they really want out of life, how they need to start making changes to achieve that, and then they work on execution. He offers one on one coaching for a more individualized and intimate approach. He also offers cohort coaching, which just launched in January of 2022. This is a mix of peer and one on one coaching, which is where he felt he saw a need in his space.&nbsp;At the end of the day, you don’t have to make a massive change in a single day. Take daily strides towards what you want. You don’t need to give up your lifestyle or wealth, you have to strategize the ways in which you can live well and work less.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Life Design’s website at https://www.yourlifedesignjourney.com/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Carlos Hidalgo on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosahidalgo/.&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 owner and President of ENCON, David Indursky.&nbsp;Started in 1968, ENCON is a self-performing contractor in the mechanical electrical space. They serve most of the state of New Jersey in the commercial industrial sector.&nbsp;On their website, ENCON shares that it has built a legacy of trust, client care, collaboration, safety and industry leadership throughout its first 50 years. Now, it’s taking its evolving heritage and modernizing for the next 50 years of positive growth.&nbsp;The company started more than 50 years ago with a single humidifier installation and now features multiple divisions: Design/Engineering, Build, Connect, Maintain, Electrical Power Wiring &amp; Systems. The core mission to create systems that help buildings run more efficiently and more comfortably remain Encon’s guiding principles.Josh and David explore how taking over a family business can be an opportunity for growth and innovation. David shares that his father had the wisdom to know his son could offer a new perspective and this is how they had a smooth familial transition. Part of this is also achieved by earning the respect of your team. You have to work just as hard, especially if you’re carrying on a family legacy. Be willing to do the dirty work when you’re called upon to do so.&nbsp;David also discusses how ENCON has traversed the pandemic. He shares that his business was essential during the pandemic, so they invested in safety equipment to keep his team and customers safe. They have continued their successful work throughout the pandemic, all while being thoughtful and aware of what was going on in the world they operated in.&nbsp;David also shares how ENCON priotritzes their employees’ family and home lives. Their leadership teams want their people to see their families and attend their kids’ ball games and recitals. Being grateful for your team and respecting that they have lives just as much as they have jobs is key.&nbsp;One of the biggest leadership challenges David shares he has experienced was the lack of engagement with his team during the pandemic. They’ve had to work entirely remotely and he’s missed the ‘little things’ with his employees.&nbsp;They have internal and external people they’re looking to work with; they’re always looking for young, talented people and they offer a lot of training in their industry. Externally, if you own a large building or campus in the tri-state area, feel free to contact ENCON. They’re a boots on the ground solution and a self-performing contractor.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out ENCON’s website at https://www.enconmech.com/.&nbsp;Check out David Indursky on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-indursky-2b81917/.&nbsp;Check out ENCON on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/encon-mech/.&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 to business growth consultant and sales marketing strategist, Jessica Yarbrough.&nbsp;Jessica’s focus is breaking the myth of the traditional ascension model approach to internet marketing. She says enough of the funnels, upselling, with only the vague hope to sell high ticket items. She shares that this approach actually just isolates you from your ideal prospects. Ascension model marketing doesn’t work with high level leads – it just doesn't. High ticket prospects are sophisticated and recognize amateur marketing when they see it. They don’t have time to be sold to. The people who have time and need money will invest in an e-course, the people who have money but not time won’t. You can’t sell to those prospects in the same way. Jessica shares that you have to share your high ticket offer in an intimate setting after developing an established relationship with a prospect.&nbsp;Jessica explains that you have to flip the ascension model on its head. You need to offer a high ticket, intimate experience for your high level clientele. This model is faster and more profitable – you’ll hit your revenue goals faster than ever. This is easier and also more impactful, too. You’ll also get feedback in real time and you’ll know, with integrity, that your offer is proven and validated.&nbsp;If you’re really advocating for your audience, you should teach them what you know. Josh shares that he feels you need to feel great about your market and your offering before going broad. You have a more superior product when you take it through its various iterations before going broad; let it evolve and level itself up by being an intimate, feedback-heavy program. You can scale your product through great delivery. Acquisition is great, but if your delivery on the back end isn’t tip top, your reputation will suffer. The high touch experience can only scale when you truly help your clients and provide great results.&nbsp;How do you find big ticket clients, though? Jessica and Josh explore how to build relationships with high level prospects. Is your offer correct and are you marketing to the right people? They’re either not at the level to buy your product yet or they’re not seeing the value and aren’t taking you seriously. It needs to solve an urgent need and truly be impactful to attract high ticket leads. People will always be willing to pay you more if you treat them as though you’re their mentor, not their peer. They should want to aspire to achieve your level and authority.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Jessica’s website at https://jessicayarbrough.com/.&nbsp;Check out Jessica Yarbrough on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicayarbrough-bizconsultant/.&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 CEO of Adapt.io, Sanjit Singh.&nbsp;Adapt.io is a B2B contact data and intelligence provider. They have more than 4 million contacts worldwide in their database and they compete in terms of freshness. They see numerous updates and iterations each and every week.&nbsp;Sanjit shares his prediction for the future of lead gen; using artificial intelligence to generate leads takes away the transactional feeling of lead generation. He also shares that it’s important to deeply understand your customers and that you focus on only selling to those you know you can truly make happy. They should be fans, advocates, and evangelists when it comes to what you offer.&nbsp;Josh and Sanjit explore some of Adapt.io’s key differentiators – their freshness of data and their upcoming AI work. They help to keep your data “fresh” meaning you’re never worried about trying to find those good fits – the freshness keeps the data pool in your CRM moving.&nbsp;Josh also explores how SMBs can benefit from the use of these types of platforms and data. It can definitely help to grow their businesses and Sanjit shares that Adapt.io offers programs for entrepreneurs in all verticals and levels of growth. Those looking to grow can buy a small plan and work their way up.&nbsp;Sanjit shares how you can use the data. One way is to create cold lists, but he shares the better practice is to seek out the warmer leads by looking at who has visited your site. You’ll also have access to leads adjacent to those warm leads. Not only that, but you can custom curate contacts if you’re trying to target specific companies. Certain companies may be entrenched in LinkedIn/Sales Navigator and Adapt.io also has tools to address those needs, too.&nbsp;Using inexpensive sources for email addresses risks bad data, which risks bounce rates, which risks a bad reputation on your domain address. These are serious repercussions, so Sanjit recommends only ever sourcing quality data. Don’t use cheap email scrapers unless you’re comfortable with these risks.&nbsp;LinkedIn has unfortunately become a spam palace, as Sanjit puts it. It’s extremely tough to generate leads on LinkedIn right now, so you need to be making investments outside of Linkedin. A multi touch point outreach strategy is key to achieving standout marketing, so don’t put all your eggs in one basket and be ready to branch out and continue to grow.&nbsp;Want to learn more about their programs and services? Check out Adapt.io at https://www.adapt.io/.&nbsp;Check out Adapt.io on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/adapt-io/.&nbsp;Check out &nbsp;Sanjit Singh on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjitsingh3/.&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 podcast host and founder of Underdog Empowerment,&nbsp; Zach Babcock.&nbsp;Zach shares his story – he made some poor choices in his youth. He’s seen detention centers and prisons, but after he got out in 2014, he changed trajectory for the better. He shares that taking accountability and accepting responsibility for his choices was the first step towards the success he’s achieved.&nbsp;Zach also talks about how he became humbled by his experiences – however, he is a resilient and confident entrepreneur. His personality and experiences grant him intense grit and determination when it comes to his business.&nbsp;Within his first 6 months coming out of prison, he was profiting over $2,000 monthly. This doesn’t seem like a lot now, but at that time and coming from the situation he did, he was on a roll.&nbsp;Josh and Zach also talk about his work today. Zach loves podcasting, but shares that he stumbled into the space by total accident. He said he was reluctant at first to dive into podcasting and traditionally preferred the video medium. His prospects didn’t take him seriously at first because they made snap judgements based on Zach’s history. This is why he launched the Underdog Empowerment Podcast. Within a week, Zach went from being dismissed to being well regarded in with his guests.&nbsp;As far as his business goes, Zach offers various programs for entrepreneurs at different stages of growth. Primarily, Zach coaches entrepreneurs on how to build their audience – and how to adequately utilize their podcasts. Josh and Zach also agree that podcasting is the best medium to build relationships with your prospects. It’s not always easy, Zach says, but podcasting builds the know, like, and trust factors faster than almost any other medium.&nbsp;Josh and Zach also talk about the history of podcasting and how far the space has come since they first started. It’s simple – but it’s not always easy. It’s easy to start and create a podcast, but the hard part is the consistency. Many entrepreneurs have underlying fears around putting themselves out there; overcome these limiting beliefs and attach real commitment to your show. Zach talks about how many entrepreneurs don't make it past episode 13 when they start a podcast – they want their success overnight. The reality? You have to be consistent and work for it. It doesn’t come overnight. You have to dedicate yourself to consistently podcasting for a long period of time and properly leverage your podcast to reach your visibility and impact goals.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Underdog Empowerment at https://underdogempowerment.com/.&nbsp;Check out Underdog Empowerment on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/underdog-empowerment-podcast/.&nbsp;Check out &nbsp;Zach Babcock on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/realzachbabcock/.&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<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the CEO of Cyberbacker, Craig Goodliffe.&nbsp;Cyberbacker ensures you have the suitable partner of your choice for your business. Their services offer virtual partners that will help you run your business day to day. Craig shares finding great partners is hard, and finding a great partner you can actually retain is even harder.&nbsp;Josh and Craig explore the differences between VAs and Cyberbackers. Cyberbackers are vetted thoroughly in advance for equipment requirements, competency, and aptitude. They are vetted for retention reasons. Cyberbacker offers amazing benefits to their employees to encourage and incentivize staying.&nbsp;Craig shares that entrepreneurs are trying to achieve three things when they operate their businesses; they want freedom, flexibility, and money. To be a great entrepreneur, you have to prioritize profit to get freedom and money. Craig also talks about how Cyberbackers vet their employees so that every hire is the right fit for the businesses they work with.&nbsp;Craig shares that the best talent is attracted by bad past experiences with clients; because Cyberbackers are given unprecedented opportunities and benefits with Craig’s company, they perform optimally and stay with the company.&nbsp;Craig also discusses some of the common issues entrepreneurs face when hiring VAs – regular VAs work for a variety of clients, not just you. Cyberbacker’s profit sharing system gives employees an even greater incentive to stay partnered with the entrepreneurs they work with. The relationships stay one to one, rather than one partner to many.Josh and Craig also explore what entrepreneurs are looking for the most when they work with Cyberbacker; they are looking for partners to keep them focused in the day to day and they’re looking for social media managers. Other popular needs include appointment setters, accountants, transaction management, legal compliance management, and more.&nbsp;There are many benefits to working with a firm like Cyberbacker. Craig shares that lower, entry level partners on their platform are paid about $1,200 to $1,500 monthly. He adds that if you’re looking for partners like this, budget $15,000 to $20,000 annually for their pay.&nbsp;Josh shares some nuggets about the investment of delegation and time freedom and how to weigh your options. What makes the most sense for your business? Will it be more lucrative for you to have more time available to you? If you need someone to help you manage your day to day, commit to making that investment. Deeply assess where your needs are, then consider hiring a partner.Want to learn more? Check out Cyberbacker at https://cyberbacker.com/.&nbsp;Check out Cyberbacker on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyberbackerinc/.&nbsp;Check out Craig Goodliffe on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/craiggoodliffe/.&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<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/1" rel="noopener...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the founder of Peak Results, Inc. and the Chief Revenue Officer of Intelligent Contacts, Paul Daniels.&nbsp;Paul is also a speaker, and while he is the Chief Revenue Officer of Intelligent Contacts by day, he also has an advisory firm called Peak Results. He works with business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders that find themselves wanting to grow and innovate in the face of challenges. Paul has a passion for this work and began his firm after becoming a speaker.&nbsp;For Paul, it all goes back to how he has worked with his Peak Results clients since he launched his firm in 2007. He shares that there’s a set of secret skills that only about 10% of the population is born with – but these skills make for prolific performance no matter the space. You don’t need to have been born with these skills, however, Paul shares. In the last 15 years, the code to these skills was cracked. Paul calls it “peripheral thinking” which mirrors those natural super skills. The secret? To overcome challenges, no matter the time, you have to become “dyslexic”. It’s not a disability or disease – it’s a learning difference. Studies have shown that those with dyslexia have far better peripheral vision. This sharper peripheral vision has amazing benefits. In fact, between 20% and 30% of entrepreneurs and nearly 40% of self-made millionaires are dyslexic. Even NASA actively recruits those with dyslexia. Dyslexia has been coined ‘the MIT disease’. No matter how you look at it, dyslexia offers an unprecedented skill set that offers peripheral perspective.&nbsp;Paul shares that this peripheral perspective is exactly what you need to find unique solutions to apply to your business. He also talks about some previous case studies he has conducted. In one study he was a part of, he saw a client experience a breakthrough in real time. This study showed the value of peripheral thinking. A solution his client needed in the healthcare industry was found on a vacation – in the hospitality industry! To stay relevant in your space, you have to think outside of the box and consider things from all angles. Be willing to try new, innovative, and disruptive solutions from unexpected places.&nbsp;Paul suggests you expand outside of your audience and network. Truly try to find what can correlate from one vertical to the next and use those ideas via peripheral thinking to grow and improve your business.&nbsp;Check out Paul’s website at https://www.pauldanielsjr.com/.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Intelligent Contacts at https://intelligentcontacts.com/.&nbsp;Check out Intelligent Contacts on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/intelligent-contacts/.&nbsp;Check out Paul Daniels on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauldanielsjr/.&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 the founder and CEO of Russell Marketing, Will Russell.&nbsp;Russell Marketing is a launch marketing agency that works with various consumer brands. They’ll work on various product ventures, but most of the time they work with consumer hardware and product development.&nbsp;Josh and Will explore how crowdfunding is the way that many of these ventures launch. Will shares that working with his product launch marketing team on so many different products has given them valuable insight into a variety of industries and verticals. This unique insight is part of why Russell marketing helps product-based brands achieve success – they have the experience and authority to be leaders in their space.Some of the first products Will launched were crowdfunded. He shares that it was easier back then than it is now to start from scratch. The space has become more and more complex as time goes by, and now crowdfunding and the industry itself have evolved considerably. It’s really important to resolve objections and market issues before you launch. You’re investing a lot when you launch a product, so you need to make the effort to really understand the market research. Why might someone not buy your product (who might otherwise normally?) You need to solve these problems first and foremost, before you launch, in order to see success.&nbsp;There’s considerable work involved in crowdfunding, and Will suggests you keep a few things in mind. For one thing, early traction is entirely your responsibility. The platform won’t give you visibility until you get your audience invested first. Next, be completely transparent as the founder. No one knows who you are, so why should they trust you? This challenge can be addressed when you personalize your transparency to your audience. They need to know you and trust you beyond just your brand. How are you, as the founder, going to present your product to your audience? Consider these points before diving into crowdfunding.&nbsp;Josh also talks about how no matter what, expect to invest in your own business’s product launch. If you want to crowdfund successfully, be ready to spend money to move quickly and gather funds. On the other hand, if you don’t decide to frontload your investment, it will take longer to build your buyer base. The upside to this is that you can reinvest your profits later on to build your visibility if you’re trying to bootstrap.&nbsp;Want to contact Will? Reach him through his website or by emailing him at [email protected]. Want to learn more? Check out Russell Marketing at https://russellmarketing.co/.&nbsp;Check out Russell Marketing on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/russell-marketing/.&nbsp;Check out Will Russell on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/willrussellmktg/.&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 founder of Group Coach Nation, Chris Williams.&nbsp;Group Coach Nation helps experts develop high-ticket mastermind group coaching programs of their own. Chris shares that it’s just as easy to sell something low-ticket as it is to sell something high-ticket – so why not make more money in the process? He also shares that it helps these experts transform when they have some skin in the game that’s real and relevant. Why does transformation matter? Because you have to be willing to grow and get better at educating people on your expertise.&nbsp;Josh and Chris explore how important the delivery of information is – you might be an expert, but you won’t make any impact if you’re not teaching and delivering the information effectively. Chris also discusses the beauty of masterminds – because you and your audience are getting involved and engaged, this is a face to face process where everyone wins. You’ll see a lot more success selling mastermind seats than self-paced e-courses. Josh also discusses the benefits, pros and cons of selling high-ticket offerings.&nbsp;Chris discusses how engaging with someone you trust is so powerful – you know that someone is workable with you because they’ve earned your trust by proving their system works.&nbsp;Josh and Chris also discuss the differences between masterminds and coaching services. If you’re running a mastermind, you should have authority in your space but what matters more is that you truly are an expert. As long as you really know your stuff, there is a guarantee that there are people out there who want to learn what you know. Chris shares that each entrepreneur has their ‘place’ – they need to find their audience, but having heart is how you build a loyal audience base.&nbsp;Chris also talks about the myth that you ‘can’t’ start a mastermind or mingle with high-ticket people simply because of imposter syndrome. He talks about how it’s all about offering packages at every step of the process. You have to also be able to predictably generate your client base by reaching new people via networking. If you rely solely on referrals, you’re not prepared for economic shifts. You have to predictably and replacatably meet new people to share your offer with.&nbsp;You should also spend some time identifying the various personas of your prospects. Start watching for patterns when you connect with new people. Narrow down your client personas and tailor your content and sales tactics based on these observations.&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out Group Coah Nation at https://groupcoachnation.com/.&nbsp;Check out Group Coach Nation on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/group-coach-nation/.&nbsp;Check out Chris Williams on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswilliamshq/.&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 CEO of Satic, B.D. Erickson.&nbsp;Satic is a tech firm that offers a line of clean energy products that they manufacture right in Montana, USA. They are the leaders in their field and their niche has exploded in recent years. They believe they are solar industry disruptors because they’ve created an innovative filter to use along with other types of solar technology. B.D. shares they are selling their products faster than they can produce them.&nbsp;Josh and B.D. explore how and why they designed their products to work optimally and with the highest quality. B.D. shares how Satic’s technology protects your electronics through the culmination of repurposed advanced wave-form and harmonics filtering technology. He also talks about the quality of electricity. The truth? There is such a thing as “dirty electricity” and it destroys your electronics over time.The voltage and amperage must be exact in order for it to work well with technology, but dirty electricity doesn’t have consistent voltage and amperage. EMFs are also real, and interference between these fields can also damage your electronics.&nbsp;B.D. talks about electromagnetic interference and how these occurrences cause harmonic distortion. He shares that you should always surge-protect your home electronics. Satic offers their filter that filters and conditions all of these aspects of your power usage. You’ll save on your power bill, protect your home’s electronics, your home will be more power efficient, and it’s made right here in the USA.&nbsp;Satic’s website details how their technology sets itself apart from its competitors. According to their website, each Power Perfect™ product is thoughtfully engineered with the specific goal in mind of effectively replacing what is currently available with a new paradigm being clean power. They also come with ten year warranties and 30-day return policies.&nbsp;A great partner to work with Satic would be either a solar company or a health practitioner. The massive savings brought to you by Satic’s technology are often seen on a large scale especially, so they often partner with those wanting to streamline and clean their commercial property power use. Residential homes can also definitely benefit from the use of Satic technology, especially over the course of many years.&nbsp;The best way to connect with and learn more about Satic and their team is to call or email them.&nbsp;Reach Satic by phone at (406)-493-1861.&nbsp;Want to connect with B.D.? Email him at [email protected].&nbsp;Want to learn more? Check out SaticShield at https://saticshield.com/.&nbsp;Check out SaticSolar at https://www.saticsolar.com/.&nbsp;Check out B.D. Erickson on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/b-d-erickson-ii-a5362621/.&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...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO and founder of The Radix Group, Robert Clinkenbeard.&nbsp;The Radix Group primarily works with service-based, blue collar business leaders through two main methods. They offer one on one coaching that helps these leaders grow, scale, and plan for their business’s future. They also offer mastermind style group coaching where these leaders can share insights, challenges, and solutions with one another.&nbsp;&nbsp;When Robert works with businesses, he starts operationally and helps them operate a little leaner to begin with. Optimizing the execution of jobs and contracts requires efficiency. This is one way Robert can help these leaders improve their businesses. He can also help with the sales process, as well.&nbsp;One of the biggest issues Robert has seen is lost revenue. He’s also seen a lack of labor force and wages rising, which these business owners need help navigating. Some of the solutions might be a little outside the box, but seeking different job pools and networking is one approach that sees results.&nbsp;Robert also shares more about his mastermind. It’s facilitated every few months over the course of two days, and Robert has seen entrepreneurs come in and find solutions with insights shared at the mastermind he organizes. He creates a trusted, confidential environment for business owners to share their obstacles and deal with them.&nbsp;Josh and Robert also talk about the importance of attending masterminds and seeking advice from an expert. Robert says it’s great to be that busy, but as your company grows, so will your challenges. He encourages leaders to step away from their day to day business operations every so often and take a serious look at the big picture of your business. What are you missing when you get stuck in the weeds of daily work? This is why mentorship and masterminds are important. You need to be able to address the big picture issues, and one of the best ways to do that is to learn from other business leaders.&nbsp;Also consider that you need to be a leader to your team – and lead by example. Don’t constantly get stuck in the weeds or you risk becoming shortsighted. Don’t work so much in the operations of your business, rather work on your business. Align your team, lead by example, and remember to stay humble. Be willing to share your business challenges and ask for advice and solutions once you take steps to surround yourself with like-minded business leaders.&nbsp;Check out The Radix Group at https://www.theradixgroupllc.com/.&nbsp;Check out Robert’s podcast, The Commercial Landscaper at https://www.thecommerciallandscaper.com/.&nbsp;Check out Robert Clinkenbeard on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-clinkenbeard-480a3510/.&nbsp;Check out The Radix Group on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/theradixgroupllc/.&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 founder and CEO of Symphony Advantage, Kent Gregoire.&nbsp;Symphony Advantage is helping to create the widespread adoption of conscious capitalism around the globe. They primarily do this by helping entrepreneurs release their own entrepreneurial spirit for good. What is conscious capitalism and what does that mean, though? Kent shares that you have to connect better to your workers and approach things with innovative solutions to build a world that’s better for everyone.&nbsp;Kent and Josh explore how the movement was founded and how large public companies want to be a part of this movement, too. Kent also shares how to take steps to become a more conscious entrepreneur. He shares that you should compare traditional capitalism to conscious capitalism. Traditional capitalism follows a shareholder model, whereas conscious capitalism follows a stakeholder model.&nbsp;The viewpoint to start with is your relationship with your stakeholders. Ethics is essential in conscious capitalism. You’re doing work to understand your stakeholders’ higher purposes, so commit your business to actually benefiting you, your stakeholder, and everyone else along the way. In stakeholder capitalism, innovation is at the core. Create and embrace ideas from the fringe and not just the ivory tower. This is one key component of operating in a conscious model.&nbsp;Josh and Kent also share that more profit is more opportunity to do good, but don’t wait for profit to do good. Look to actually solve problems and measure that success. If your product or service isn’t necessarily altruistic, look to serve and do good for your team, which will improve their life and extend awareness to others outside the business.&nbsp;Josh also talks about how workers in the younger generations want work that serves a purpose and makes an impact. Your employees want to see the fruits of the company's labor – everything is a team effort, which means everyone is invested in the outcome.&nbsp;Kent shared a profound statistic – seven out of ten American people believe that businesses have a moral obligation to be triple bottom line. This is absent of political divide, meaning roughly 70% of the American population is saying businesses have a moral obligation to do good and contribute positively to society.&nbsp;Kent and Josh also talk about how operating a capitalistic model with a conscious lens really does benefit everyone. It will take societal change, though, and it’s society that needs to dictate the ethical standards of how we operate our businesses. We need to all strive to make these changes as well as leave a lasting, positive impact.&nbsp;Check out Symphony Advantage at https://www.symphonyadvantage.com/.&nbsp;Check out Kent Gregoire on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kentgregoire/.&nbsp;Check out Symphony Advantage on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/symphonyadvantage/.&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...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the creator of E3 Consulting and Business Fitness University, Brad Tornberg. Brad is an author who offers a course all about business fitness.&nbsp;Brad shares that Business Fitness University started when he had a realization – when you compare entrepreneurs and their businesses to human anatomy, you catch some striking resemblances. Brad turned this realization into a course in order to help business owners achieve peak performance both for themselves and their businesses.&nbsp;Brad tends to work with small companies that are stuck trying to figure out how to scale and grow. You need people on your team who will help you look at things differently, and this is where Brad comes in. He helps especially with putting organizational structures into place. He can help startups or companies looking to scale.&nbsp;Josh and Brad discuss how many business owners have skewed perspectives - they may think they have an issue in one area, but Brad’s diagnostics might shed light on a lack of process or organization under the surface. You have to build off of an organized foundation to scale with success. Brad also shares that when he works with clients, they often work backwards when discussing goals and ambitions. He shares that some entrepreneurs can’t see far enough to plan and future-proof, while others are looking too far ahead and not paying attention to present issues. You need a balance of both perspectives, and that all begins with setting goals.&nbsp;Brad also discusses some common pain points he sees. Response time in customer service can often see improvement, and it’s one of the most priority areas to tackle, he shares. This often leads to the need for better logistical technology that can track vendors, stock, shipping, and more for customer service teams. There’s a lot of industry pain associated with the supply chain issues right now, so consider investing in tech to better assess these aspects of your business.&nbsp;Another major issue Brad sees is political issues within a small company's team. He shares that you have to lean in, operate with empathy, and be willing to be open and vulnerable. Facilitate team building with your employees and have an open door communication policy with a foundation built on trust and empathy. The team should work together towards a common goal, not operate as people working towards individual goals.&nbsp;Reach Brad at [email protected]&nbsp;Check out E3 Consulting at https://e3businessconsultants.com/.&nbsp;Check out Business Fitness University at https://www.businessfitnessrevolution.com/.&nbsp;Check out Brad Tornberg on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradtornberg/. .&nbsp;Check out E3 Consulting on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/e3-consulting-partners-llp/.&nbsp;Check out Business Fitness University on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-fitness-university/.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the co-founder and CEO of Very Big Things, Chris Stegner.&nbsp;Very Big Things is a leading high-end software design development ideation and strategy firm. If your company needs very well polished and intuitive mobile device applications, they’d be a company you might work with. Very Big Things can work through any mobile medium to bring your exceptional digital business idea to life. Chris shares a quote by Stephen Hawking that inspired the creative naming behind the firm: “ We are very, very small, but we are profoundly capable of very, very big things.” They wanted to start something that seemed impossible. You have to be one of the best players in the world to make it, and they have performed exceptionally well in their space.&nbsp;Chris and Josh explore what types of companies work best when they collaborate with Very Big Things. Companies that offer a truly exceptional product are great fits for what they do. A start-up that has raised 5 million dollars or more in funding is a good fit, or an enterprise looking to improve their product and bring more exceptionality to the digital medium. Your product and app truly needs to surpass what most mainstream competitors offer in order to begin standing out, Chris shares. Very Big Things works with enterprises at their level to meet their individual needs.&nbsp;Very Big Things loves helping clients along with the ideation process. Innovative creation is a longer process than just having the idea itself, obviously. There are various layers and ways to implement the idea, and this is where Chris and his team shines. Their work is intuitive, polished, developed, and constantly evolving. They help their clients with the entire journey of implementing their new ideas and technology.&nbsp;If you want to find out if you’re the right fit to work with Very Big Things, Chris shares this: if you’re looking to do something amazing in a digital format, know you only get a few attempts at such an endeavor. If you wish to do something ambitious, game-changing, and exceptional, then your company is a fit to work with them. They want start-ups that seek to disrupt or enterprises that seek to regroup and innovate to disrupt.&nbsp;If you’re interested in reaching out to someone on the Very Big Things team, go to their website and scroll to the bottom of their homepage to find out more.&nbsp;Check out Very Big Things at https://verybigthings.com/.&nbsp;Check out Chris Stegner on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-stegner-30175825/.&nbsp;Check out Very Big Things on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/very-big-things-inc/.&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 Thrv, Jay Haynes.Thrv is an enterprise product management software application. In essence, they build software that helps teams build better products. They have some amazing customers, too – Microsoft, American Express, eBay, Twitter, and more.&nbsp;Josh and Jay explore where Thrv fits in operationally for businesses – they are on the extreme front end of innovation. If you want to know what your customer wants, this is the route for you. There’s a ton of work this software can do to mitigate your risks when you begin the development of a product. Once you build this product, you’re spending money. You only earn revenue once the market starts to buy.&nbsp;Jay shares that you really need to know about what your customer really wants – at the end of the day, they don’t necessarily love your widget, but they love what it does. Your products need to be solution-focused and actually solve a problem in the market.&nbsp;Jay also talks about why certain endeavors fail when you’re copying competitors. The problem is that these companies often copy the products themselves, not what their competitors are doing. The problem with this logic is that it doesn’t account for innovation or actually seeking to improve upon a previous technological iteration. Don’t focus on what your competitors are doing – focus on what your customers need.&nbsp;Jay shares that Thrv works with enterprises as well as small to medium sized businesses and start-ups. He says they want to work with teams that are innovation-focused and are going to be well integrated into your team and business. This will put your customer front and center. If you put the customer’s struggles first, it increases product development, which boosts sales. Everything you do should be to improve the customer experience.&nbsp;At the end of the day, if you put your customers and the market first, you will see innovation take center stage. Josh shares an insight that he believes is tried and true; you aren’t smarter than the market. Future-proof and anticipate what your next solution needs to be. Assume your current solution will become irrelevant, so always plan for the next version of what you will bring to the market.&nbsp;Jay shares that Thrv has plenty of resources on their website, including an ebook, blog, free demo, and more.&nbsp;Check out Thrv’s ebook at https://www.thrv.com/app/&nbsp;Check out Thrv at https://www.thrv.com/&nbsp;Check out Jay Haynes on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayhaynes/.&nbsp;Check out Thrv on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/thrv-com/.&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 Mike Malatesta.Mike is an entrepreneur, author, and coach and has seen great success in the waste management industry. He got into space accidentally, and it began when he drove a garbage truck in college. Not only did he enjoy the work, but he really liked the industry. He trained and became a manager at a large waste management company and went on to become the company’s youngest divisional vice president. This all came to a shocking end when he was let go suddenly. He didn’t have a network or large support group. This led him to start his own business with an old coworker. Six months later, he owned a waste management company himself that he successfully ran and operated.&nbsp;Josh and Mike explore the opportunity in working in these trade industries. There’s an abundance of opportunities for entrepreneurs because these spaces aren’t celebrated or recognized enough. Mike shares that there is glitziness in waste management. He didn’t want to work in a space dominated by big players – there is space for start-ups in trades and it can be a good move if you have a good lay of the industry. If you’re able to differentiate yourself and offer new solutions in a space such as this, you can see some great success.&nbsp;Mike also shares how he started building his client base in this space. One of their first clients was a metal processing facility. He shared his story honestly and explained the solutions and differentiating factors their company addressed – and the facility took a chance on them. Sometimes, it takes a leap of faith, honesty and transparency, and a genuine authenticity in approaching your first set of customers. It can be difficult building your client base starting out, but be resilient, take advantage of your whole network, and continue building it even when you get discouraged. A humble grassroots beginning takes time, but if you’re consistent and don’t give up, you’ll see the fruits of your labor.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mike shares that the combination of his business’s grit, his dedication to making it work, and his authenticity when approaching leads are the steps to how he grew his business. Josh also explores company culture in trades, and Mike shares that the waste management space is very people-centric. Don’t just look at an industry for what it is – look at it for what it does. This industry keeps things clean and orderly and it’s a noble, service-based pursuit. This is how trades should be considered, especially by business owners.&nbsp;Check out Mike’s book, Owner Shift at https://mikemalatesta.com/owner-shift-book-by-mike-malatesta/.&nbsp;Listen to Mike’s podcast, How’d It Happen?&nbsp; https://mikemalatesta.com/howd-it-happen-podcast/.&nbsp;Check out Mike Malatesta’s website at https://mikemalatesta.com/.&nbsp;Check out Mike Malatesta on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemalatesta/.&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.<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/b2b" rel="noopener

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to attorney at law, Mohaimina Haque, PLLC.&nbsp;Mohaimina’s law firm is a general practice firm located in Washington D.C. They represent both individuals and companies and they’re a one-stop-shop and work in various legal practice areas.&nbsp;Mohaimina and Josh talk about how entrepreneurs, specifically franchise owners, need to protect themselves legally. It’s a heavily regulated space and before you can expand into franchising, you need to legally protect your brand and IP. Do you have your trademarks filed? In the US, you have to make sure the trademark is filed domestically and internationally. You also need to be aware of both federal and state regulatory requirements. There are many legal steps and audits involved with franchising, so prepare to seek out an attorney and check these boxes before you jump in.&nbsp;Business owners need to make sure they are registered properly in their home state and any states their businesses operate in. They also need to understand franchising disclosures.&nbsp;It sounds like a lot of work, and it might be for some, but this puts in place a system that protects franchises and business owners. Putting a slight barrier in place also means those entering the space really understand both the opportunities associated with franchising as well as the obstacles and logistical challenges.&nbsp;Mohaimina also shares that you should consult with a trademark lawyer. There are franchise disclosure laws in the US and in foreign countries and they’re not the same from place to place. Consulting a dedicated trademark attorney is one of the best ways to navigate these complex legalities.&nbsp;One way to protect yourself in the legal sense when it comes to your employees – have an employee handbook available to them so everyone knows what the expectations are. Employee handbooks are also a great place to educate your employees about how they’re protected by certain laws – and to educate your management team and yourself.Mohaimina also shares what she and her firm have been up to in recent months and how her work has changed over the course of the pandemic. She also plans on entering the franchising space herself and continues to offer legal support to franchise owners through her firm. She wants her clients to feel they have a trusted attorney by their side when she works with them, and she makes it easier than ever to work with her and reach her when she’s needed.&nbsp;Interested in learning more about Mohaimina’s work? Contact the Law Office of Mohaimina Haque, PLLC at https://www.attorneymina.com/contact-us.&nbsp;Check out the Law Office of Mohaimina Haque, PLLC at https://www.attorneymina.com/.&nbsp;Check out Mohaimina Haque, PLLC on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/minahaque/.&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 CEO of Commercial Investors Group and author of the book Commercial Real Estate Investing, Mike Sowers.&nbsp;Mike shares that within his company are 3 divisions; the commercial division, the franchising division, and their fund.&nbsp;Josh and Mike explore the advantages of commercial investing over residential. Mike shares his insights about how he realized he couldn’t scale the way he wanted in the residential market. He shares that residential investing is also harder because it’s competitive in most major markets. You have to strategize hard to find deals. Mike shares part of why he loves working in commercial real estate; you’re usually dealing with entrepreneurs, go-getters, and like-minded business people in the space. To him, this is more exciting than working in residential real estate. Not to mention that you’re usually only contacted by your tenants during business hours – not weekends and holidays.&nbsp;Mike shares that his company watches trends, but nothing changes his company’s ability to find deals. Mike has seen all of the recent real estate swings, and shares that they usually get better deals during harder times because there are less buyers on the market.&nbsp;He also shares that there's a discrepancy between perceived risks and true risks – always play things by the numbers and look at data analytics, don’t just follow the media’s trends. Mike talks about how he scores amazing deals in times of inflation and economic hardship.&nbsp;Mike is excited to share the value-add investing strategy at his company. He only buys underperforming properties – assets that have net-income that's depressed for some reasons. There are 2 types of problems with these properties: people problems and property problems. “People problems” can be with owners, tenants, etc. “Property problems” are issues with building maintenance, etc.&nbsp;Mike shares he doesn’t invest in properties that are businesses within the real estate vertical. If it’s a niche property, like mobile homes, mini-storage, or what have you, you need to be proficient within those niches to be successful.&nbsp;Mike’s company also pushes creating an amazing online experience for buyers. Images should be professionally taken, there should be a solid and succinct sales processes, leases should work digitally with e-signatures, and more. If you alleviate the inconveniences of leasing by having an amazing digital system, you start to alleviate the vacancy issues.&nbsp;Learn more about Mike’s book, Commercial Real Estate Investing at https://www.commercialinvestingmastery.com/book-offer-page.&nbsp;Check out Commercial Investors Group at https://www.commercialinvestorsgroup.com/.&nbsp;Check out Mike Sowers on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikesowers/.&nbsp;Check out Commercial Investors Group on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/commercial-investors-group/.&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.<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/guest"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to author and founder of RLVNT Media, Tina Wells.&nbsp;Tina Wells started her first business as a marketing agency when she was only 16. This led her to become a product reviewer, which then led her to a career in market research. For over 20 years, she passionately ran a millennial-focused marketing firm. During this time, she became a bestselling tween author. Honing in on this creativity led Tina to found RLVNT Media and become an author on a new content venture.&nbsp;Josh and Tina also discuss how marketing is one of the only industries you could break into as a young person and become as successful as Tina has. Tina’s advice to young people today looking to follow the same path – just do it. Just start, make mistakes, learn lessons, and embrace failure. Learn from your failures and apply those lessons. This is a lot easier when you’re young, Tina shares.&nbsp;Tina works with business owners today by focusing on how to bring business ideas to life. She assesses what needs to change and be pivoted and shares that she enjoys the creative process of working directly with her clients. Tina shares she learns a lot from her clients, too, and this is part of why she truly loves her work.&nbsp;Tina talks about where newer businesses can get stuck. Do a small business check up or diagnostic. What’s working and what’s not? Take a hard, unbiased look at your systems, processes, and customer journey.&nbsp;Tina shares that she sees people thinking things in their business are working without pausing – and missing mistakes they would have caught had they done so. If you take pauses, you can better assess and predict. Future proofing is just as important as the day to day grind, to take the time to deeply and unbiasedly assess your business.&nbsp;Tina explained how she was able to dedicate her time to her creative passions at the same time that she ran a marketing agency. She treated her creative project like a client – she dedicated a little time to it every day. You have to be disciplined and actually set aside that time each day. Self development CAN create income – if you work on it consistently.&nbsp;Tina shares that entrepreneurs who see their challenges and want to formulate a plan are great fits for her work. Tina can help plan and execute a team-wide solution. Her ideologies can save you time and money as you try to grow your business for the better.&nbsp;Learn more about Tina Wells at her website at https://tinawells.com/.&nbsp;Check out RLVNT Media at https://rlvntmedia.com/.&nbsp;Check out Tina Wells on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinawells/.&nbsp;Check out RLVNT Media on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/rlvnt-media/about/.&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 CEO and founder of SMALIK Enterprises, Stephynie Malik.&nbsp;Stephynie is a global business consultant who does high-impact performance coaching for her clients. She helps executives oversee massive teams become more refined and better business leaders.&nbsp;Josh and Stephynie explore leadership “blind spots” and how to be more cognizant of them. Stephynie shares that it depends on the executive. How open are you? How well do you listen? These are the questions to ask when looking for your own blind spots. Listen with everything, not just your ears. How does your team engage with you as you walk around the office? Do you engage with them, or do you keep your eyes on your phone? Stephynie shares that you should engage and talk with your team more often to form better leadership relationships.&nbsp;Josh also shares that there are some pretty incredible consequences if you’re not self-reflective as a leader. Stephynie shares that it’s much harder to coach executives and leaders who don’t see their own issues at all. It’s a long road and takes deep human behavioral changes to improve as leaders.&nbsp;Stephynie shares that in order to change, you have to be willing to work. There has to be real stakes and you need to prioritize improvement truly and deeply in order to succeed. Change yourself before you ever try to change your systems or team and always set goals and visions for what success looks like. You and your team work towards the same greater good, so build off of that foundation.&nbsp;Josh and Stephynie also talk about the “don’ts” of leadership. Stephynie explored some tools that she prefers over others; personality tests and analytics tools are nice, but that’s only a piece of things. Be willing to talk to your team in an “outside of the office” sense. Treat them like human beings with lives outside of their job and take an interest in their development. Ask them mindful questions during reviews and conversations and be as invested in their growth as they are. Stephynie shares that at the end of the day, it’s not about how you get all of this information… It’s about how you handle your team, it’s about what you do with that information. Treat your team like they matter, pay attention to what their needs are, and choose your professional family with unprecedented accuracy.&nbsp;Stephynie shares that she meets SMB owners where they are. She wants to deeply understand where they are personally and professionally to help them see these issues and grow as leaders.&nbsp;Check out Stephynie’s Thoughtful Entrepreneur offer! Contact them using the word ‘THOUGHTFUL’ and get 30% off Group Coaching and 20% off One on One Coaching. Go to https://www.stephyniemalik.com/contact to reach them.&nbsp;Learn more about Stephynie at her website https://www.stephyniemalik.com/.&nbsp;Check out Stephynie Mailk on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephyniemalik/.&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<a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to personal brand strategist and the CEO and founder of the Claire Bahn Group, Claire Bahn.&nbsp;Claire works with both concierge clients and she also coaches individually and in groups. She typically works with angel investors, entrepreneurs in the high 6 to 7 figure range, and executives.&nbsp;Claire and Josh explore what brands should be doing right now in her space. For one thing, she believes in an omnichannel approach when it comes to social media. She also advises that you take a hard look at your website. You could likely be doing more to improve your SEO, and this is where many entrepreneurs fall short.&nbsp;Branding today compounds upwards. The more you improve and add to your brand, the more you own your story and push your brand’s message forward. Claire shares some trends she’s seen that you should avoid – for one thing, there’s not enough consistent content. You need to consistently share and create content that helps and serves your audience in order to really show people that you love to serve. This expedites the know, like, and trust process. She sees too much focus on sales sales and not enough on giving in the coaching space. It needs to be insanely easy to get to know you as a person – so create content to share this with your audience.&nbsp;PR is also changing. Right now, it’s about utilizing someone else’s platform to give your knowledge in an act of service – all the while, you’re engaging with new audience members.&nbsp;Claire shares that ultimately, you need to give more than you get and more than you ask. You need to be generous and altruistic at heart.&nbsp;At the end of the day, you also need to truly be an expert. You can’t just say you can do something – you have to show your audience that you can through valuable and consistent content.&nbsp;Claire also shares that social media, branding, and marketing aren’t overnight processes. It takes consistency because it takes time. You have to give great information consistently with your content and do it all the time. It’s not going to get you millions of followers overnight, but if you show up and deliver with that consistency, you absolutely will see the results.&nbsp;Networking is also key. You have to work to increase the visibility of your peers so that they are willing to increase yours. There always has to be a ‘give’ first – serve your network and your network will take care of you.&nbsp;Learn more about the Claire Bahn Group at their website https://clairebahn.com/.&nbsp;Check out Claire Bahn on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairebahn/.&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 Isaac Ho.&nbsp;Isaac’s areas of expertise are helping entrepreneurs increase cash flow and helping them outsource work they want to delegate so they can improve their quality of life. He shares there's only two ways to make more money in business – raise your prices or sell more. To dig in and improve that process, you also have to improve your own quality of life.Issac shares that in the beginning, he strived for success due to his own feelings of inadequacies. He eventually hit a point of extreme burnout and he became quite ill. This forced him to take a good look at his business and his health. His poor health resulted in his inability to grow his business for two months. He shares that you have to love yourself enough to want to give yourself a good quality of life.&nbsp;Josh and Issac dive deeper into this. Be willing to love yourself, even if sometimes it’s not the most logical thing to do. Be kind and generous to yourself by, at times, giving yourself what you desire and loving yourself enough to do that without remorse.&nbsp;Josh also shares that there is value in giving yourself nice, emotionally abundant things so you can experience the success you’ve earned. This can also translate to business investments, though, Issac explains.&nbsp;He shares that you should ask yourself the same question in business; are you going to be kind enough to yourself to hire someone to delegate work to? Are you going to love yourself and your business enough to invest in your growth? Learning new skill sets and pivoting towards better patterns are the fastest and most sustainable ways to grow yourself and your business.&nbsp;Issac also shares that in order to have a breakthrough, you have to love yourself enough to take on the risk of failure. He tells you to ask yourself what your pattern is for NOT succeeding. If you’re the common variable, accept that, forgive yourself, and find a better pattern to adopt. Don’t keep repeating the same process over and over without changing things if you don’t find success. Love yourself enough to do the legwork to better yourself and your business.&nbsp;Josh and Issac also talk about how sometimes entrepreneurs get caught up in their own subconscious and they aren’t always coachable. Sometimes, it takes hard breakthroughs, self searching, and an honest look in the mirror. You can only succeed here if you have enough self-love to do it, so be willing to put forth the effort to grow.&nbsp;Text 'AND' to 66866 to find out more about Issac's work.Learn more about Issac Ho and his business online at https://www.isaachocoaching.com/.&nbsp;Check out Issac Ho on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaac-ho-coaching/.&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 founder, President, and CEO of Engagency, Jason Perry.&nbsp;Engagency is a company that creates a personalized marketing experience that actually works for large corporations. Josh and Jason explore what works well in customer engagement today. Jason shares that what works well is creating a user experience that is the ‘path of least resistance’ for all of your market. Now matter what field you’re competing in, your end goal is keeping your customers engaged for the lifetime of your relationship with them. You need to organize the user experience so that it shaves off annoying extras and things that detract from the experience for consumers.&nbsp;There’s also been massive progress when it comes to market testing and experimentation. These studies help companies discover why their audience buys and how to engage with them more. Jason also shares that “engaging” is really just a matter of staying relevant and top of mind to your audience.Jason also explores some consumer trends and how businesses engage today with their audiences. The most obvious trend right now is personalization marketing, which is very popular. Jason shares that artificial intelligence is coming into play for marketing firms, too. The work that goes into correlating data points for market research manually is both expensive and extensive, but companies that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to sort this data are ahead of the curve. Jason predicts that in the future, A.I. will be able to create images and ads on its own (maybe in real time!) His hope is that the future of artificial intelligence and personalization marketing will benefit the consumer and create positive business relationships for companies.&nbsp;Engagency tends to work with enterprises and companies that average over a billion dollars in revenue annually, with a large customer base. They come in,clean up, and organize these companies and the end result is a complete digital transformation. Engagency puts their clients at ease and gets things working and functional.&nbsp;Jason also shares some best practices on how to engage better with your customers. First of all, make a phone call to a good, reputable hosting company. You want to invest in good online performance early on so that it’s not an obstacle as you grow. You also want to invest in a security suite, especially if you’re in a regulated industry. Keep it simple, protected, and responsive. Keeping it simple is the play right now, so don’t overthink the engagement process. Hire a great designer who captures your vision and start with these few best practices to pave the way for the future.&nbsp;Learn more about Engagency at their website https://www.engagency.com/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Engagency on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/engagency/.&nbsp;Check out Jason Perry on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpengagency/.&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<a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder and CEO of GiftPocket, Brooke Yokam.&nbsp;GiftPocket is the app that manages all of your gift cards for you. Brooke started GiftPocket when she was just 12 years old! GiftPocket solves the everyday (and ever pervasive) problem regarding losing your gift cards. Brooke shares that 10% of all gift cards purchased are never used – this is simply money lost. Keeping track of your gift cards has now been made easier than ever through the GiftPocket app. Gift cards are the number one requested gift in the country, so organizing them can only help ease your everyday life. Filing them away in bags and drawers only guarantees you’ll lose them.&nbsp;In the digital age, sending gift cards digitally is really the way that makes the most sense. GiftPocket allows you to add your gift card to your virtual wallet and it will generate a code for scanners at stores. Your gift cards are all neatly kept and maintained, without the fuss of keeping track of plastic cards and in your wallet or around the home.&nbsp;Brooke shares her story and how she became inspired to solve this problem. A childhood experience turned into Brooke’s journey to building GiftPocket.&nbsp;A fun feature? On GiftPocket, you can exchange gift cards for others! There’s about 3,000 brands GiftPocket works with that you can choose from. You can also accumulate GP Points, GiftPocket’s in-app currency, to purchase other gift cards to add to your wallet.&nbsp;Brooke explained how her platform connects brands to gift card buyers (something they’re not legally allowed to know otherwise.) GiftPocket offers a fresh network of buyers to brands in an innovative way.&nbsp;Every brand is different, Brooke shares, and all have their pain points as to why gift cards go unused. GiftPocket is an aggregator of various brands, and they’re&nbsp; streamlining using gift cards, which always benefits the customer.&nbsp;Using GiftPocket is as easy as downloading the app and adding them to your virtual wallet. Brooke shares that she’s always seeking new users and loves to do demographic research on college campuses.&nbsp;Brooke shares a final nugget – the lifeblood of their platform is local businesses and vendors. They love giving brands that platform on their app and they appreciate reaching new customers by partnering with these brands.&nbsp;You can search for GiftPocket in the App store and Google Play!&nbsp;If you’re interested in connecting with someone on the GiftPocket team, go here.&nbsp;Learn more about GiftPocket at their website https://www.giftpocket.com/.&nbsp;Check out GiftPocket on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/giftpocket/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Brooke Yokam on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-yoakam-71a1b413a/.&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 CEO of Bunker Labs, Blake Hogan.&nbsp;Bunker Labs is a national nonprofit organization that works with veterans and their families to help them start their own businesses and pursue their dreams. They run three small cohort based programs for their veteran entrepreneurs.&nbsp;Blake shares thoughts on how you need a mission-focused mindset to succeed in business and entrepreneurship can be just the calling for veterans and military families. Blake shares some entrepreneurial wisdom and says to have grit and be resilient. You’ll make mistakes and encounter gray areas, but military veterans are built with the grit needed to enter entrepreneurship.&nbsp;Bunker Labs wants to rally smart thinkers and civic leaders around veteran entrepreneurs to help these companies grow and thrive. Blake also shares that you don’t need to get started with a lot; an idea, some research, and the determination and willingness to succeed are all it takes to start.&nbsp;Josh and Blake also explore how these veterans can use the grit they learned through their military service and translate that into successful entrepreneurship. Blake shares that if you have that grit and drive, go and join their community. He shares that taking action, showing up, and connecting with one person is truly how you can make a difference. Networking, especially in the veteran entrepreneurial space, is a major way these businesses grow. Help other veterans grow their businesses, and they’ll help you grow yours.&nbsp;Josh also shares some wisdom to other veteran entrepreneurs like himself. He stresses that if the resources are there for you because of your military service, take them! Don’t let pride hold off any growth or networking that’s in your best interest (or your business’s.) Blake explains that networking is vital, and veterans are the business owners and entrepreneurs people want to connect with because they’re also business leaders.&nbsp;The three main programs Bunker Labs facilitates are the Veterans in Residence program, the CEOCirlce Growth program, and the Ambassador program.&nbsp;Blake shares where Bunker Labs intends to grow and how they will continue to offer amazing experiences for their members. He shares the visions behind his programs and which business owner is fit for each program.&nbsp;Blake also reminds us that it’s not about offering charity to veteran entrepreneurs – these are simply remarkable leaders that you’ll want to work with. If you’re not a veteran, you can do your part and help just by looking for connections in the veteran space.&nbsp;Learn more about Bunker Labs at their website https://bunkerlabs.org/.&nbsp;Check out Bunker Labs on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/bunkerlabs/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Blake Hogan on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakehogan/.&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 talks to Andres Moran, the General Manager and VP of Wunderkind.&nbsp;Wunderkind is a software/SaaS that helps their clients convert website visitors into customers. Their team creates one-to-one messaging to pull leads further into the conversion funnel.&nbsp;Once you take the action and show you’re invested in the consumers’ interests and send them these messages, you're much more likely to create a sale. This can be done through triggered emails or text messages. Wunderkind also uses unique ad formats that are behaviorally triggered so ads aren’t intrusive or interrupting to consumers.&nbsp;Josh and Andres also explore what sets Wunderkind apart. Almost every E-commerce company uses triggered emails, but they’re only able to do that if the user actually has a website login and didn’t checkout as a guest. Wunderkind can identify if a company has permission to send a user who visited a website triggered emails – if so, you can reach far more consumers who visit your website later on with these emails, no sign up necessary. This type of marketing subtly guides the consumers through products that fit them and what they’ve expressed interest in before on an online storefront.&nbsp;Tech and insight leverage is vital, and that’s what Wunderkind can offer their clients. Wunderkind also doesn’t track you across websites – they only look at what you’ve liked in a specific store. Wunderkind is very privacy compliant and they are buttoned-up when it comes to data privacy.&nbsp;Wunderkind has worked with countless major brands and they’ve accomplished these milestones by having performance guarantees that Wunderkind themselves drive. These promises change the tone of a sales conversation and their social proof further speaks to their authority in their space.Josh and Andres also explore when a company should consider working with a SaaS company like Wunderkind. They set this threshold at about 4 million in revenue annually for their E-commerce offering.&nbsp;Andres also explains that Wunderkind has used custom store frameworks in the past, but they’re actually steering away from that as they move into 2022. From a coding perspective, keeping uniformity is key.&nbsp;Brands don’t typically love to offer discounts on their items since it devalues the brand, but Andres explains that context is everything. If you offer a starter deal to get your consumer hooked on your brand, you won’t struggle to keep repeat customers and you won’t devalue your brand that way.&nbsp;If you’re interested in trying out a Wunderkind demo, get in touch with their team here.&nbsp;Contact Andres Moran via email at [email protected]&nbsp;Learn more about Wunderkind at their website https://www.wunderkind.co/.&nbsp;Check out Wunderkind on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/bewunderkind/?originalSubdomain=mz.&nbsp;Check out Andres Moran on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andresmoran/.&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.<a

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the author of The E5 Method, Todd Brown. Todd also does work in the marketing world, helping entrepreneurs that are looking to grow from 1 to 10 - 12 million in revenue and are also looking to do it on the back of effective direct response marketing. The E5 Method is a process for engineering the front-end customer or client acquisition marketing campaign that almost any entrepreneur can use to predictably source buyers from paid media. Todd breaks this down further. There are five stages, the first being the examination stage. This is all about examining your prospects, competitors, and products they’re selling. You need to know what your goals are, your major pain points, and then you also assess your competitors. When you engineer your own campaign using the E5 method, you’re developing a campaign using a superior, irresistible, no-brainer offer (a SIN offer, according to Todd.) Todd also stresses that differentiation is key. If you allow your product or service to commodify, your price points are dependent upon market value. There are two main ways to differentiate your offer – one is having a USP (unique selling proposition), the second is how your product or service works to deliver results consumers care about. This is a unique “mechanism” that diversifies that brand, according to Todd, and why examining competitors is so important. From a strategic perspective, you have to differentiate, but where the E5 Method sets itself apart is how it tactically applies those strategies. The way that many entrepreneurs try to differentiate themselves is typically ineffective. The truth? Commerce has changed and what used to be valuable points of differentiation aren’t as valuable now. Tactically, what you do to differentiate yourself is more effective. Identify your company’s unique mechanism (how it delivers the results you’re promising and how it’s different from your competitors) and leverage that to set yourself apart in your vertical. At the end of the day, educate your audience about your company’s mechanism and describe how you are truly the best solution on the market. This is how you position yourself with a key differentiating factor to consumers. What consumers care about is that they don’t necessarily want an improvement, they want something new that can replace an old system or product. When you can demonstrate to your market that your product or service works in a unique way and prove that, you have adequately differentiated yourself. You’re offering to replace an old method, not improve upon what’s existing. Check out The E5 Method book online, learn more about Todd Brown and his work, and check out Todd’s bio at his website https://toddbrown.me/. Check out The E5 Bundle online at e5bundle.com 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 Director of Events at the Social Media Examiner, Phil Mershon.&nbsp;Social Media Marketing World is an annual event in San Diego, California. This conference is an industry event led by the Social Media Examiner. They teach advanced skills and industry insights at this conference and they welcome cutting edge experts to speak at the event. This is a place where marketers can learn and connect. People come from all over the globe to attend this conference.Social Media Marketing World started in 2013 and has gone on each year (except for one during the COVID-19 pandemic) since its creation and has only grown and attracted more attendees every year.&nbsp;Josh and Phil also explore how the pandemic has affected physical gatherings and conferences. Josh talks about the differences between learning online/on social media and learning in a physical environment.&nbsp;A good instructor provides an excellent learning experience and a way to keep the attention of the audience longer. There’s no way you could keep someone’s focus for a long period of time through a digital medium. Physical conferences and well conducted educational experiences are how people learn long form skills from others.&nbsp;Phil also talks about the ideal speaker. High-level speakers are informative, helpful, put service first, and love interacting with the audience and conference-runners. Phil says he believes in the power of networking and the power of culture, and he wants to invest in speakers and connections that add to culture. Conferences feel gross when it feels self-serving and that everyone is there just for themselves. In marketing (and really and vertical, for that matter), you need a safe, open, culture-driven space to explore new ideas and forge industry connections. Beyond that, you can keep your education in your space up to date by attending conferences that educate with a cutting edge.&nbsp;In 2022, Social Media Marketing World will feature new sessions not seen in previous years, including major sessions on TikTok marketing (which has skyrocketed in popularity since 2020.) There are also some shocking revelations about what platforms are declining in popularity, too. This is just part of what Social Media Marketing World does to keep the industry up to date each year. Learn more about the conference below!&nbsp;If you’re interested in attending the Social Media Marketing World conference, get tickets here.&nbsp;Learn more about the Social Media Examiner at their website https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/.&nbsp;Check out Social Media Examiner on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/social-media-examiner/.&nbsp;Check out Phil Mershon on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/philmershon/. 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 CEO and founder of McGaw.io, Dan McGaw.&nbsp;McGaw.io helps companies build their marketing technology stack and revenue infrastructure. They help their clients choose and build their marketing and sales technologies and help them to leverage their stack to grow their business. Dan has worked with Maserati, Club Med, King’s Hawaiian, and more well known brands.&nbsp;The biggest issue Dan sees with the companies he works with is either an issue with customer journey visibility or an issue with customer conversion. McGaw.io assesses and determines the company’s true goals and then helps the company reorganize their customer journey so they can both understand and improve the company’s growth. When you choose a tool or stack, your number one problem is adoption. The team needs to be able to handle their tech stack to reach their objectives, which is where McGaw.io comes in to help them choose the right stacks and operate those tools moving forward.&nbsp;Make sure you listen to your clients and operate with their input heavily involved. Work with them where they’re at, and they may not love every necessary growth move, but if they understand why changes need to be made, you’re on the right track.&nbsp;Making hard decisions and learning new things are hard pills to swallow, but these changes are necessary for sustainable and fast tracked growth. You have to do what’s best for the business – don’t buy into fads or “hype sauce”. If you want to scale, you have to make optimized business decisions and stay away from fad systems and tools. You really need to choose your tools with your business’s future in mind, and perhaps that won’t be easy, but if you don’t future-proof your business now, replatforming will slow you down later. You must be absolutely focused on growth and the future when making major business decisions and changes.&nbsp;When you know problems do lie down the road, Dan suggests you prepare today as much as you can for tomorrow’s problem. It may be a while before a problem you foresee actually hits, but you want to make small steps each day to figure out that problem. Today’s best decision may not be tomorrow’s, but if you’re always making small steps to improve and address an issue, you’re still making incremental progress.&nbsp;If you’re interested in checking out what McGaw.io does, you can contact someone on the team here.Learn more about McGaw.io at their website https://mcgaw.io/.&nbsp;Check out McGaw.io on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/mcgaw-io/.&nbsp;Check out Dan McGaw on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmcgaw/#.&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 Ecom Automation Gurus, Kirk Cooper.&nbsp;Ecom Automation Gurus was founded to give people the opportunity to run a business passively. This allows you to work your 9 to 5 job or run your other business, yet be the owner of your own passive ecommerce business.&nbsp;Kirk shares that he learned about ecommerce when he needed to find a way to generate revenue each day, passively. He did his research, began operating, and took the right steps to increase his success. A piece of the puzzle? Dropshipping is one example of a key component that increases ecom success.&nbsp;In any case, Kirk shares that this business model works but demands a lot of your time to start. But what if you could outsource this management to another team? This is where Ecom Automation Gurus comes in.&nbsp;Leveraging retailers and supplies is also part of the system. By automating price mismatches and streamlining listings, you’re always generating profit.&nbsp;Josh also asks Kirk about the product motivation of your business – do you choose what products to sell, or follow the market? The reality is that you need to see where the monetary opportunity is in what’s being sold at your store. It’s going to be an online superstore, so be ready for that if you enter the space.Kirk also talks about how to source the products. Kirk wasn’t leveraging software to start, but you can find product information and pricing by searching for wholesale items that you can sell for cheaper than what your takeaway would be after Amazon collects their cut. This is possible without fancy software, so you can let this trickle and grow as you operate your business.&nbsp;You’re probably asking whether the opportunity to do this is still there. The answer? Absolutely! You’re selling brand name items at the end of the day. Optimize your listings and have the systems to refine all of this. How do you optimize your listings? Adjust your prices often and follow the trends. Amazon can actually measure how often you update your listings and operate your store, so the longer you spend (or have outsourced teams spend) working on optimizing your store, the more likely Amazon will be to partner with and feature your store.&nbsp;The biggest risk with this space is that Amazon’s rules and regulations are what goes. You’re not in control of those changes or when they’ll want to review your account and look things over. Understand that Amazon’s rules dictate moments of pause in your business, so prepare for that.&nbsp;If you’re interested in checking out what Ecom Automation Gurus does, you can contact someone on the team here.&nbsp;Learn more about Ecom Automation Gurus at their website https://ecomautomationgurus.com/.&nbsp;Check out Ecom Automation Gurus on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecom-automation-gurus/about/.&nbsp;Check out Kirk Cooper on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-cooper-03a90640/.&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.<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/guest" rel="noopener...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with speaker, coach, author, and creative disruptor, Steve Sims.&nbsp;Steve Sims came from humble beginnings as a brick layer – and ended up creating the world’s first experiential concierge firm for billionaires. Steve would create the most WOW experiences for the richest people across the planet. The truth? Steve wanted to know why these billionaires had their wealth. This is what he focused on more than anything as his business grew. He interviewed the wealthiest people on earth and wrote a book – The Art of Making Things Happen. His book went viral, so to speak, and he had readers all over the globe. The book made bestseller lists, and Steve officially became a coach and industry disrupter.&nbsp;Josh and Steve also explore the premise that proximity leads to familiarity, which leads to know, like, and trust in the networking world. How do you position yourself, though, to invite yourself into high-level conversations? Steve shares his thoughts; always enter conversations by bringing something to the table first. Ask no less than two questions before logistics or details – find a way to immediately show you want to offer value.&nbsp;Make sure not to put yourself in a negative position with someone by acting familiar before you nurture the relationship. Show up with value and allow the lead to invite you in – build up relationship credibility, introduce yourself and your intentions, and lead with value. It’s that simple. It doesn’t matter who you meet, these methods work in relationship and proximity building. Don’t start transactional and lead with service.&nbsp;Focus on the other person when you create your brand and market yourself. Your brand needs to amplify you and what you do best. Be the solution to someone’s problem, that’s all that matters. Being yourself shouldn’t be something to avoid; embrace and share yourself authentically and let the natural attraction start.&nbsp;Be on brand and be yourself – if you’re unconventional, full of passion and character, and you break the status quo, show that to your customer base. You stand out, stay memorable and top of mind, and if you start with offering value, you’ll attract the right people and repel the wrong people. Don’t let your leads sit on the fence – their honest gut reaction to you and your brand is actually what you want! Stand up, be yourself, and let the right leads come through.&nbsp;Learn more about Steve Sims at his website https://www.stevedsims.com/.&nbsp;Check out Steve Sims’s LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevedsims/.&nbsp;Check out Steve’s book The Art of Making Things Happen at https://www.stevedsims.com/art-making-things-happen/.&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 founding partner of Scalewerks, Mark Jacobs.&nbsp;Scalewerks strives to help companies achieve accessible scaling. Scalewerks is an accelerator for mid-life companies (these companies make about 50 million dollars in revenue annually). The types of companies that fit with Scalewerks are the ones that offer unique value to their audiences, but need to utilize or identify these offerings and get them out into the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;Josh and Mark talk about how to get to 7-figures. There are many levels to developing the structure to scale to that size, but it’s all about listening to your team, according to Mark. Celebrate your team’s perspective and scale and grow in an environment that celebrates collaboration.&nbsp;Mark also shares that it's not about marketing anymore, it’s about strategic thinking and the market systems that support that strategic thinking. Then, you can take it to scale. There are different strengths found in different types of leaders and there’s a difference between the energetic entrepreneur and a seasoned executive, and every style of leadership has its place.&nbsp;Josh and Mark explore how entrepreneurs need to be careful and operate in their area of genius. If you can quantify yourself and your skills, you and your company can grow together if you know what to work on.&nbsp;Mark also talks about strategic placement. If you place yourself in a role where your leadership style thrives, maintain that style as your company grows. Don’t force yourself to change rapidly, rather make any changes that are needed to keep going, but don’t try to work outside of your area of leadership competence, either. It’s all about growth perspective.&nbsp;Josh also asks Mark about how to grow in sales. It’s sales before scale, Mark shares. Your approach to selling should reflect the look and feel of your business, so find sales team members who can do that. Also, do your market research. What do you offer? What problem do you solve? Don’t forget to ask your customer base why they’re loyal to your brand. If you’re successful in understanding why your loyal customers love what you do, you can build communities out of those customers, which will ultimately result in new customers.&nbsp;There are three phases to go through when companies work with Scalewerks.The lab is a two day intensive exercise. Scalewerks’ lab exercises offer epiphany moments to business leaders – and catalyst moments for high-level problem solvers. The accelerator program lasts 6-8 weeks and does the loyalty research for the business so they can formulate an achievable growth plan. Finally, their protocol phase is when a business wishes to partner with Scalewerks in order to continue that work.&nbsp;Learn more about Scalewerks at https://www.scalewerks.co/.&nbsp;Check out Scalewerks’ LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalewerks/about/.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Mark Jacobs on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbjacobs/.&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 speaks with the co-founder of BombBomb, Darin Dawson.&nbsp;BombBomb scales face-to-face communication with your clients, potential customers, and anyone else you want to contact through your business. Darin and his associates founded BombBomb because they found that many entrepreneurs and business owners wanted more face-to-face interaction, but didn’t have the time or bandwidth for it. BombBomb now has over 100,000 users in over 40 countries. This company re-humanizes the planet through video communication.&nbsp;Darin and Josh talk about the decline in communication as everything went remote during COVID-19. BombBomb seeks to remedy these negative changes by allowing for recorded video communication that’s personalized to each recipient. Darin describes the problems with digital pollution – there’s so much out there, you have to shine and stand out uniquely. Your solution needs to address relevant and current issues. Only a human being can communicate with empathy and emotion, yet we’ve taken some of the human connection out of standard business communications. With BombBomb, you deliver messages to your clients and customers with warmth, tone, and true human interaction. BomBomb allows you to create video messaging the same way you already create your videos, making its integration into your preferred platforms seamless.&nbsp;BombBomb allows you to maintain a real relationship with your people, not just someone anonymous and intangible behind a blanket text or email. While a lot of the physicality of human interaction has been lost in the age of the pandemic, Darin and his team seek to reattribute these aspects of communication and increase the longevity of your business relationships.&nbsp;Josh and Darin also talk about the book Human-Centered Communication by Ethan Beute and Stephen Pacinelli, who are on the BombBomb team. This book gives a diverse look at the issues with digital pollution and tackles how to maintain human-centered communication in the digital world.&nbsp;Don’t forget to be genuine and authentic when you contact people in your network. If your communication feels automated, they won’t hear you. Sending videos is a way to say their name, show them a smile, and really talk to them is how to forge lifelong client relationships.At the end of the day, Josh details that there’s a lot of junk advice out there that tells you to automate your nurturing process. The reality is that some things can be automated, but not a human relationship. Be willing to put in the effort to talk to your clients directly and you’ll see lifetime results.&nbsp;Learn more about the book Human-Centered Communication at https://bombbomb.com/book/human-centered/.&nbsp;Learn more about BombBomb at https://bombbomb.com/.&nbsp;Check out BombBomb’s LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/bombbomb/.&nbsp;&nbsp;Check out Darin Dawson on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/darin-dawson-6a62351/.&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...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder of Rader Co., Marcey Rader.&nbsp;Rader Co. is a health-powdered productivity company. They work with people on their emails, tasks, time boundaries, and more – but not at the expense of their health. At Rader Co., health and wellness come first. They help their clients make their work time more effective so later, their time for wellness is maximized.&nbsp;Josh and Marcey discuss information input and how most people are always engaged in processing information. Everyone needs no or low sensory moments. Remember, don’t fear boredom – letting your mind wander allows you to be creative and strategic.Marcey also explains that entrepreneurs tend to tunnel, especially in the age of back-to-back Zoom meetings. Our brains become accustomed to the endless grind, so much so that we don’t give ourselves time to innovate and change.&nbsp;Marcey also explores how switch tasking and meditating have their purpose and place in life. However, you really should give yourself moments of ‘white space’ - this is when ideas come and it also gives your brain an opportunity to rest, according to Marcey. Going remote has made each day more taxing on the brain, so you have to give yourself these breaks.&nbsp;Josh also talks to Marcey about the dopamine and interruptive responses behind notifications. She advises that you silence notifications during moments/blocks where you need to be focused. It’s even more tiring for your brain to switch between moments and contexts all day long.&nbsp;Marcey also explains multitasking versus switch tasking. These are not the same things – switch tasking involves moving between tasks quickly and back and forth. Multitasking, truly, is error prone and not reliable. Switch tasking can cause burnout easily, though, so be careful with interruptions and notifications.&nbsp;Josh and Marcey explore how leaders can help their remote workers avoid this type of burnout, too. Be a leader who sets precedents and boundaries your contractors and employees will follow. Don’t expect anyone to answer at night or on weekends or holidays – and tell them that. You can talk about having balance, but make sure you’re reflecting what you want to model. Your employees follow your lead, so set the example.A best practice? Delay and schedule your outbound messages. If you don’t want to forget to ask an employee something, but don’t want to forget, schedule the message for the next morning.&nbsp;&nbsp;If you like what you’ve heard and are interested in learning more about Rader Co., you can contact them here.&nbsp;Learn more about Rader Co. at https://www.helloraderco.com/.&nbsp;Check out Rader Co.’s LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/rader-co/.&nbsp;Check out Marcey Rader on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marceyrader/.&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 with Attention Grabbing Media’s Manuel Suarez.Manuel believes that an incredible first impression starts with having an amazing studio. This grants you a level of authority even just starting out, because you were willing to spend the time and money to present yourself fantastically. You come off as professional, successful, and intentional. Investing in yourself – and how others perceive you – grants you an excellent advantage in any vertical.&nbsp;Josh and Manuel also talk about how to stand out better in your space on social media. Manuel shares that he developed a term – “omnispreading.” This is a way to describe your content strategy. You’ll see optimal success by putting yourself everywhere, on every medium. You attract all sorts of unique traffic you wouldn’t have otherwise. This is the ideology behind Manuel’s strategy.&nbsp;Building your content starts with volume, but needs to improve in quality over time. Never stop improving, because you only have a few seconds (about six, according to Manuel) to grab a consumer’s attention. This is how you really stand out from the crowd.Manuel and his family built Attention Grabbing Media from the ground up and it has seen tremendous growth over the last couple of years. They believe in investing in your future to open doors for you now, and they’ve lived by that sentiment.Attention Grabbing Media strives to educate business owners on how to maximize their social media presence. They can also help to scale eCommerce businesses, provide various levels of education, offer marketing takeover services, and more.&nbsp;Manuel shares his marketing thoughts towards companies in 2022. Overall, he advises brand owners with less than 3 products to hold off on advertising (focus on building your brand.) Another best practice? If you’re product-based, start on Amazon. Create your own traffic by starting with an organic content strategy.&nbsp;Manuel also offers some other nuggets. Focus on the present and the future. These are two separate strategies, though. Focusing on the present moment means that if you’re trying to offer services, Facebook will be a never ending source of leads. If you have a few products (3 - 6), create content around those products that shows people how it can solve problems. Focusing on the future means omnispreading and putting yourself everywhere. Offer value, build out and invest in your social media presence, and you’ll see long term success.If you like what you’ve heard and are interested in learning more about Attention Grabbing Media, you can contact them here.&nbsp;Learn more about Attention Grabbing Media at https://agmagency.com/.&nbsp;Check out Attention Grabbing Media’s LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/agmagency/.&nbsp;Check out Manuel Suarez on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmanuelsuarez/.&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...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Lydia Pierre, the senior director of brand management at Pierre Branding Group.&nbsp;Pierre Branding Group helps their clients discover who they are in terms of their brand identity. PBG helps create stories that resonate with audiences to forge unforgettable, unique brand experiences. These stories ultimately become infused with all aspects of their clients’ branding.&nbsp;Having your skillset is important, according to Lydia, but you have to couple that with top notch branding that sets you apart from your competitors. Lydia assures that these strategies can set you above your competition which will position you to charge premium prices for what you do.&nbsp;Lydia explores how your company looks to your audience – the way you look at people is the same way people look at businesses. Do you look professional and put together? First impressions are everything, so spend the time to really determine how your potential clients truly see you.&nbsp;Josh and Lydia also explore some of the most common mistakes and red flags in branding. Branding isn’t always tangible, so if you seem too money-driven and transactional, you’ll scare away more clients than not. Be willing to teach your client slowly about your company, mission, brand, and story.&nbsp;Everything becomes easier when you understand your business’s true purpose and value proposition. Your company can become firm and unshakable even in the face of fierce competition. When your branding effectively communicates who you are and what you believe in, you set yourself apart automatically.PBG encourages the executives and entrepreneurs they work with to celebrate themselves and to spotlight who they are. Positioning these founders as people making changes in their spaces through mission and purpose is an essential part of how PBG builds brands for their clients.&nbsp;Lydia shares that NOW is always the best time to approach a new market. Don’t box yourself up with limiting beliefs – the more you can grow into new spaces and diversify, the better. When your clients can see themselves in your team and brand story, you give them something they can connect with and share with you. Having sensitivity for diverse backgrounds will create a better brand experience that will resonate with your audience.&nbsp;Effective branding is all about creating a journey for your brand and creating the story, narrative, and impact around it.&nbsp;Interested in contacting someone on the Pierre Branding Group team? You can connect with them here.&nbsp;Learn more about Pierre Branding Group at https://pierrebrandinggroup.com/pbg.&nbsp;Check out Pierre Branding Group’s LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/pierrebrandinggroup/.&nbsp;Check out Lydia Pierre on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiapierre/.&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 CEO and managing director of Business Legal Lifecycle and author and business coach, Jeremy Streten.&nbsp;Jeremy and Josh discuss common starting mistakes that new entrepreneurs make, and both agree that you have to have the right growth plan and foundation. Don’t tell yourself you’ll “fix that later” – start strong and on the right foot. Business adulting is an important part of starting any business.&nbsp;Jeremy admits that law is not something that most business owners find exciting, but it’s vital that you seek proactive legal advice. Jeremy is passionate about helping business owners see where their proactive legal issues are so they can put the right things in place to protect themselves and their businesses.&nbsp;Josh and Jeremy also talk about Jeremy’s book, the Business Legal Lifecycle. The book lays out 13 phases, with the first three phases being the business conception phases. This is all about how you develop the proper foundation to launch your business off of. Jeremy also talks about the importance of setting your goals along with the building of your business foundation so that it grows in the direction you want it to.&nbsp;Risk reversal marketing can be successful, but make sure you proactively line up expectations and clarity on the front end. This is a great example of being legally proactive with your business.&nbsp;Jeremy shares stories of how companies with massive potential failed and went bankrupt simply because they never consulted a lawyer. Putting legal safeguards in place for your business should be one of the first things you prioritize while building your business.&nbsp;Josh and Jeremy also explore how to structure liability among your team, employees, and clients. Always make sure to protect yourself legally in terms of your specific agreements and terms.. Jeremy explains that the first step in this process is to have the adult conversation and better communication on the front end with your clients. Honesty and transparency up front, especially relating to risks and liability, are an important part of this communication.&nbsp;Josh offers some ideas to facilitate this communication, including filming a video that explains your agreements to your clients rather than just handing them a thick document. You don’t want your agreement or the time it takes to go through it to be a roadblock. This will also ensure your client always understands the details of your agreements.&nbsp;Learn more about Jeremy and his work at https://jeremystreten.com/.&nbsp;Check out Jeremy Streten’s Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremystreten/detail/recent-activity/posts/.&nbsp;Check out Jeremy’s books at https://jeremystreten.com/books-by-jeremy-streten/.&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 Lathan Craft, the owner of Made for Purpose.&nbsp;At Made for Purpose, Lathan believes everyone is born uniquely. The fog of corporate America often strips people of their humanity. Lathan says people are being born uniquely and are dying generally. Corporate America has consumed our lives so much that the deepest, most unique parts of ourselves have been overshadowed by our jobs.&nbsp;Lathan shares his experiences and how he came to the realizations he’s reached. He helps people find their lost or undiscovered purposes. Through coaching clients, Lathan has found that people do know who they are, but they need to work through the baggage of self limiting beliefs and more. Lathan helps his clients work through these issues so they can reach their true selves and purpose.&nbsp;Most people forget or are told their true callings and purposes “aren’t enough”. The way corporate America is designed is to eliminate room for anyone’s true purposes in their jobs. Work consumes lifetimes, and society is reflecting that.&nbsp;Josh and Lathan explore the obstacles around leaving corporate America and what to do as you start contemplating your reality and life trajectory. We often believe the pain and failures we experience don’t serve a purpose – but what if your scars were storytellers and your pain taught you life lessons? Failure can tie into your uniqueness in order to help you fulfill your purpose.&nbsp;Learning and growing from pain isn’t easy, but it starts with accepting your failures and stories. Let them help to build you up and add to your life’s purpose.&nbsp;When you’re contemplating your reality, ask yourself who you are without your job and titles. Contemplate why you started hating your job and what you can do to begin to create change.&nbsp;The way to help yourself isn’t to give yourself a new job. Rather, change your mindset and view on work. You have to change the problem, not just the process, according to Lathan.&nbsp;Josh and Lathan also talk about how you have to combine discomfort with self-reflection in order to grow. There are often major issues with employers, but at the same time, everyone on the planet is having a human experience. Figure out the story your scars tell, what makes you who you are, and how to move forward.&nbsp;If you’re interested in Lathan’s work, check out his Made for Purpose blog and the welcome video found on their website. Don’t hesitate to email Lathan if you want to learn more.&nbsp;Learn more about Made for Purpose at http://www.madeforpurpose.us/.&nbsp;Check out Made for Purpose’s Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/company/made-for-purpose/.&nbsp;Check out Lathan Craft on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lathancraft/#.&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 Kimberley Seldon, the Advocate in Chief of Business of Design. She’s also a TV personality in Toronto, Canada.&nbsp;Business of Design helps professional creative designers build businesses that thrive. Kimberley explains that there’s a massive gap in what creative professionals are taught about business in school. Business of Design seeks to fill that gap with project management and business profit solutions.&nbsp;Kimberley explains the origin of Business of Design and about how it grew organically over time and has now become the industry’s only true resource on the topic. She stresses that the one thing these creative professionals didn’t learn in design school was business skills.&nbsp;Kimberely also explains that she grew into her business role. She always thought she was the only one struggling in her space – but she wasn’t alone. As she started sharing her experiences publicly as a TV personality, she realized that other creative designers all over Canada (and now across the world) had the same issues she did.&nbsp;Josh and Kimberley also discuss how the supply chain crisis has impacted the interior design space – lengthened timeframes and delays have greatly impacted the space.&nbsp;Kimberely explores her busy schedule; she’s an interior designer in the morning, a business owner in the afternoon, and a TV personality, too! She has a lot of creative ‘irons in the fire’ and she loves what she does.&nbsp;Kimberley advises new creative professionals to always prioritize satisfying your current customers. Don’t focus too heavily on marketing starting out – your best resources are your repeat and referral clients. Make sure to prioritize correctly and create happy clients and good relationships.&nbsp;She also mentions those creative professionals who don’t necessarily charge enough for their work because their partners might make enough income to keep things comfortable. Kimberley says to hustle anyway and build a business, don’t sell yourself short because you don’t need to in order to pay your bills. Always grind, hustle, and shoot high for yourself.&nbsp;Make sure to develop your discipline and feed your creative engine, always. Make sure you’re not underestimating how important it is to meet the basic needs of your business. Focus on making your clients happy and go from there; organic business will follow.&nbsp;Kimberley also stresses not to give away your work so easily – make sure the pro bono work you do really offers you direct benefits and referrals.&nbsp;Learn more about Business of Design at https://businessofdesign.com/.&nbsp;Check out Business of Design’s Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/company/businessofdesign/?originalSubdomain=cm.&nbsp;Check out Kimberley Seldon on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberley-seldon-99341015/detail/recent-activity/posts/.&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...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to Sherman Mohr, the co-founder of Shared Spirits Marketing.&nbsp;Shared Spirits Marketing digitizes sampling across the wine and spirits space. Their technology allows people to maintain digital credits online across various bars and spirits manufacturers.&nbsp;This technology offers a new, innovative way for these manufacturers to take ownership of their relationships with their customers – and create new loyal ones in the process. This is all about networking and credit distribution. Their marketing strategy creates a network of restaurants and bars that will promote and distribute these cocktail credits to market these brands and beverages.&nbsp;Sherman explains that the primary marketing goal of these manufacturers is to have the customer truly experience their drinks. These experiences translate into loyalty and preference for customers – brands simply need to get their beverages into the hands of their customers once to forge a lifelong loyalty based on that first experience.&nbsp;Their technology also offers artisan/craft drinks more menu traffic than they ever would have received otherwise, which is how smaller brands can get in a backbar and become popular and well known. Not to mention that this will greatly increase bar and restaurant traffic. No matter what side you fall on, this technology is totally revolutionizing the wine and spirits digital marketing space. The ownership of these brands' relationships with customers can also be further fostered by influencer marketing.&nbsp;Sherman also shares the origin story of Shared Spirits Marketing and how the business came to fruition. Once the technology was created, they launched and began their journey.&nbsp;Sherman shares that juggling the various aspects of marketing in the wine and spirits industry is difficult but necessary, including staying connected to the consumer, distributors, and more. Sherman explains that until a company has network effects, a company can’t scale. No matter what space you’re in, always prioritize having a network effect.&nbsp;Josh and Sherman explore the restaurant marketing model at Shared Spirits Marketing – they provide restaurants free access to their program and encourage them to market their presence on the platform. This platform allows restaurants to reach hundreds of new customers at an extremely low cost – an invaluable resource in this space. Acquiring new customers is easier for restaurants in Shared Spirits’ network, and Sherman discusses the data behind this.&nbsp;Visit their website to subscribe to their newsletter to stay updated on what restaurants are in Shared Spirits Marketing’s network.&nbsp;Learn more about Shared Spirits Marketing at https://sharedspiritsmarketing.com/.&nbsp;Check out Shared Spirit Marketing’s LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/shared-spirits-marketing/.&nbsp;Check out Sherman Mohr on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/blueoceanstrategists.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 with the founder and CEO of eCommerce Badassery, Jessica Totilla Coster.&nbsp;Josh and Jessica explore the importance of holistic and authentic branding. Jessica shares that you should always brand with intentionality and don’t be afraid to be yourself with your audience. The people you’re meant to work with will find you – if you’re authentic. Jessica also acknowledges that this takes time, trials, and iterations. Just be yourself and dedicate yourself to always improving incrementally over time.&nbsp;They also discuss how so much can change quickly when you’re focused on the right things. Understanding that you’re never done developing is key to constantly growing for the better.&nbsp;At a high level, Jessica helps eCommerce business owners grow their traffic, sales, and profits through a few different ways. Email marketing is one of the main areas where Jessica can help. She discusses the various email marketing platforms that are ideal for eCommerce traffic and how she noticed that eCommerce businesses didn’t utilize the medium enough. This is why Jessica started her business – she knew eCommerce businesses didn’t experiment with email marketing enough. Jessica can also help with SEO, driving traffic, and more.&nbsp;Jessica has built community and relationships with her clients. She serves her clients by building custom email marketing strategies for them, from scratch. She digs deep into their customers' journeys and how they can improve things from the ground up.&nbsp;Jessica says she really stresses teaching her clients how to do what she does. She’s also launching a membership program in 2022.&nbsp;She also talks about the misconception that eCommerce is akin to passive income. Jessica clarifies that there’s necessary hard work and ‘shiny objects’ to avoid. Every business needs to invest where their company needs it, rather than following marketing fads. Focus on your customer and what they need from you, and listening to your customer base will always teach you more than your competitors’ strategies. Provide value, create relationships. She also reminds the listener to remember that not every client will fit with you, and if you’re real and authentic with your branding, the right clients will come.&nbsp;Josh and Jessica also discuss how to fix major issues with organization, time management, and other problems that have to be fixed over time. Remember that major changes take time and be willing to give yourself that time to grow.&nbsp;Learn more about Jessica Totilla Coster and what she does at https://ecommercebadassery.com/.&nbsp;Check out Jessica’s membership program at https://ecommercebadassery.com/membership/.&nbsp;Check out Jessica Totilla Coster on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicatotillo.&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 Robin Hills, the founder and CEO of Ei4Change. For 16 years, Robin has been advocating and raising the awareness of emotional intelligence. He explains that emotional intelligence is a fundamental principle of life.Josh asks Robin what emotional intelligence is, and Robin explains that it is utilizing our emotions to make good decisions. However, emotions are constant and they fluctuate, which affects the way we think, communicate, and engage with others.Ei4change works with anyone interested in learning more about themselves. They focus on improving especially business relationships and communications. Leadership, team work, and relationships are where Ei4Change specialize.Ei4Change offers unique and valuable courses to teach emotional intelligence skills and techniques. Robin also explores how critical it is that leaders are highly aware of themselves and their impact on their team. What makes leaders good at what they do is that their emotional intelligence sets them apart and drives their decisions.&nbsp;Emotion can also be used strategically; Robin says that it’s easy to become angry, but once you're angry, what do you do with that emotion? How you handle and utilize these emotions are all a part of emotional intelligence. Leaders should always lead with empathy first.&nbsp;Leaders should also lead with self-awareness – to know their own weaknesses and be able to work around them. Emotional intelligence can also be utilized for negative reasons, such as manipulating an audience. Robin warns that good leaders should be very conscious of how they utilize their emotional intelligence. These skills should never be used for personal, malicious gain.&nbsp;&nbsp;Understanding your own emotional peaks and valleys is an important part of stress relief, too – often the areas that aren’t your strengths give you the most anxiety. Understanding how to better yourself starts with the areas you’re weakest in. Taking steps towards self betterment starts with the recognition and acceptance of your weaknesses. Embrace them to improve and move forward.&nbsp;Robin also talks about how you can utilize unpleasantness to positively work through each day. Treating bad moments as opportunities for fresh starts is one way to frame things with newfound positivity.&nbsp;Robin also stresses the importance of self care. Self care helps you understand and accept yourself, stay nourished and well in all ways, and improves your relationships with others. Take care of yourself to take care of the people you care about.&nbsp;Learn more about Robin Hills and his work at https://ei4change.com/.&nbsp;Engage with Robin by reaching out to [email protected] out Robin Hills on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinhills/?originalSubdomain=uk.&nbsp;If you’re interested in contacting the Ei4Change team, you can reach them here.&nbsp;Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, thanks 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...