Have you ever felt awkward about asking clients for a testimonial?  Or reached out to a client for a review or recommendation and got back crickets?   In this episode, Trudy Rankin shares four tips to get amazing client testimonials without having to feel embarrassed about asking. Trudy helps busy business owners create and sell new online products and services that people want, without having to work harder or hire a big team.  Want to hear more about getting testimonials to grow your...

At age 26, Andrew Guttormsen was living with his parents and took an unpaid internship to get his foot in the door at Teachable. His persistence and great ideas led to him becoming a core team member and he went on to eventually co-found Circle, a community platform now used by over 10,000 businesses. With experience scaling two highly successful startups, Andrew shares valuable insights on implementing customer feedback as a growth strategy, why having tough conversations matters, and...

As an engineer, developer or other IT professional, are you sick of meetings and managers?   And you dream of starting your own business so you can escape your cubicle? Michael Frew has a unique perspective - after 18 years working as an engineer and architect for top tech companies, he made a big shift to acquire online businesses instead of starting them.  In this interview, he shares why IT professionals may be better suited to buy (instead of start) an online business, and takes us...

Have you ever wondered what it really takes to sell a consulting firm or an agency?   In this special evergreen episode from 2023,  we're diving into the secrets behind preparing your consultancy business for growth and eventual exit. And, I pose the question, if you could sell your business someday, what would it take to get it ready? My guest, Professor Joe O'Mahoney, has over 20 years of experience advising boutique consulting firms on achieving high growth and successful exits. And Joe...

Have you ever wondered if starting a niche website could be a viable business for you?  In this special evergreen episode from 2023, we're revisiting my conversation with Jake Lang, an expert at starting profitable niche sites. Jake has an incredible story of building niche sites while working a full-time job, eventually leading to a six-figure business that allowed him to quit and work for himself.  He shares his step-by-step process for identifying promising niche topics, validating the...

Have you ever wondered how a simple passion can transform into a thriving business? Or what it would take to turn a love for making things with your hands into a profitable venture? It’s a question that a lot of people ask when they start thinking about setting up their own business.   Or whether they could do something to bring in a bit of extra cash to supplement their day job. In this episode I am resharing an interview I did earlier in the year with someone who asked themselves this...

Have you ever had to revive a neglected website that was costing you potential revenue? In this episode, Online Business Launchpad host Trudy Rankin talks about the journey of renovating her website The Menopause Effect, which had become neglected over time.  After a Google update tanked her website's traffic and revenue, Trudy realised she needed to take drastic action to resurrect the dying site. Trudy brings deep knowledge from running her own online business for over 8 years and helping...

When you’re a small business owner trying to do it all, how do you find time for marketing without neglecting customers?  Sarah Noel Block went from working for seven bosses to starting Tiny Marketing, where she helps time-strapped marketers punch above their weight.  With over 7 years experience streamlining marketing for multi-company corporations, Sarah shares her proven Tiny Marketing framework to help small businesses build high-impact marketing campaigns. We also talk...

Do you worry that AI tools like ChatGPT are going to replace you and potentially even destroy your business? Well, you’re not alone.  But there is something that you can do to stop that doomsday scenario from becoming real. Steven Lewis is the Founder of marketing agency, Taleist.  He’s been writing professionally as a journalist and copywriter since 1994. He has lectured in PR and journalism, and his book on persuasive storytelling has been taught at Sydney University and translated for...

What do you do when you need investor funding for your startup, but you’re struggling to convince anyone to open their wallets? Rob May, engineer turned entrepreneur, knows what that feels like.  Even though he had experience with startups, he still found it a struggle to convince investors to fund his ideas.   However, he finally cracked the code. And in this episode Rob shares how constant practice pitching and getting feedback eventually made him a master storyteller that helped him...

Have you reached the point in life where you or your business or personal partner are starting to experience menopause-related symptoms?  Things like brain fog or hot flashes?  And you and/or your partner are starting to feel the impact, not just on work tasks, but also on relationships and self-confidence? Menopause and its various associated symptoms can have a huge impact on women and their careers.  And for Tracy Minnoch-Nuku, that impact was the trigger for changing the direction of her...

Building a community can be a really tough job.  People come and go for so many reasons. Sometimes it’s because they’ve outgrown what the community can offer.  Sometimes it’s because life just happens and they need to cut back on expenses or take a break for awhile or whatever.  And sometimes people leave because they weren’t a good fit in the first place and didn’t find what they were looking for in that community. In today’s episode I’m talking with David Masnato, the Community Experience...

Danny Maloney is the CEO and Co-founder of Tailwind. Tailwind gives over 1.5 million businesses worldwide the marketing team they need through A.I. that drafts ads campaigns and posts for you so you can accomplish far more in far less time.  Prior to founding Tailwind, Danny spent a number of years working at Google and YouTube on new product initiatives including Street View and the YouTube Creators Program, and then worked on the turnaround team at AOL after it spun off of Time Warner, ...

If you’re fortunate enough to be in a position to invest a bit of extra cash … but you’re not into real estate or the share market (or bitcoin), then this episode will be of interest to you. Kyle Kuderewski is the Operations Manager for webstreet.co (formerly Empire Flippers Capital)) - He has a wealth of expertise in passive investing, entrepreneurship,  and alternative investments.  Kyle's journey from the corporate world to WebStreet began when he discovered the potential of online...

Molly Rose Speed is an expert in creating what everyone wants more of -- time freedom. She is the creator of Virtual Assistant Academy and the Founder of Virtual Assistant Management, which provides trusted VA certification and placement in the online market.    Molly Rose is also a military spouse and solo world traveler who believes in creating a business and a life that allows you to do more of what you love. In this episode we talk about Molly Rose's transition from a traditional 9-5 to...

Have you ever set goals for yourself or your business, only to fall far, far short and feel extremely disappointed with yourself?  I know I have. In this insightful podcast episode with Cody Limbaugh, we delve into the world of goal setting and personal transformation. Cody Limbaugh has been a Strength & Conditioning Coach for nearly 20 years. He's coached people from all walks of life, from youth teams to retirees, from Olympic athletes to elderly patients recovering from joint...

Don Finley gets to use his skills every day to help startups take new and emerging technology and turn them into viable, sellable products.   He is the founder of FINdustries, a leading product development agency with a focus on the tech and financial sectors.  And his expertise in fusing science, art, and technology has helped propel his agency to the forefront of the industry.  Bolstered by a global network of 60+ partners and 16,000 developers, FINdustries has helped clients generate...

Starting out at age 25, Tanya Alvarez self-funded her first New York ad agency, using credit cards, and achieved zero to 1 million in revenue in the first year.  Along the way, she traveled to 42 countries, completing the Boston and NYC Marathons and a Half Ironman, all while battling a rare brittle bone condition.  Since that first year, Tanya has founded, bootstrapped, sold and invested in five companies.   In this episode we talk about Tanya’s journey of self-funding her first ad agency...

A few years ago, Kristian Hansen accidentally bought a pair of women’s jeans.  In the process, he discovered a problem that needed to be solved in a way that didn’t replicate existing challenges within the fashion industry. Fast forward to today, where Kristian gets called “the Jeans Guy” and for good reason. Kristian is the co-founder and CEO of Slø (pronounced “slow”).  At Slø, Kristian and his team are redefining what it means to build companies through community. Having generated a...

In this episode I’m talking with Justin Chen, co-founder of PickFu, who is interested in good information about customers and potential customers.  PickFu is a consumer research platform companies use to get fast, reliable feedback from real people. And companies can use this data to help them make better data-driven decisions about their products.  We talked about: The story behind PickFu The primary function of PickFu in aiding decision-making processes The importance of continuous...

Collaborations that bring benefits to everyone involved are so cool to be involved in. Recently, I jumped on a call with this week’s guest, Therman Trotman, to see whether I could help out the people he works with. Therman is a family man, an Army veteran and IT guy with 16 years of experience.  He teaches project managers how to implement Microsoft Sharepoint.   And he had some questions about how the financial side of project management works.  I’ve got a lot of project management...

Have you ever struggled with creating an online presence for your brand new business?  Especially if you have zero experience with website building or how to build a sales funnel? Anhely Millan, the voice behind Sustainability for Kids, has “been there, done that” and learned how to turn those challenges into learning opportunities. Anhely is on a mission to provide education in sustainable practices and develop collaboration opportunities for the greater good of our planet. She discovered...

Digital assets are an interesting alternative to real estate these days in terms of investment opportunities. I’ve been doing some “learning by doing” hands-on research in this space and I’ve got a couple of longer-term projects on the boil.  One of my ongoing projects is to buy an existing content-based online business and increase its value.  And one of my other projects is learning how to build a content-based online business from scratch.  One that will, at some point, generate more...

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing the amazing Patti DiNucci. Patti is an expert in something that has always intrigued me: networking. And not just any kind of networking, but doing it better, rather than doing it more. As entrepreneurs, we are constantly bombarded with advice about the importance of networking to find clients. But for someone like me, there's a limit to how much networking I can handle before needing a breather. Patti's perspective is refreshing and makes...

If you’re like most small business owners, you’ve had to make decisions about what tools to use in your business.  For example, which email service provider should you use?  Or which website platform should you use? Should you use WordPress? Or Squarespace? Or … the list of options just goes on and on. Recently, I went through the process of selecting a new social media scheduling tool.  The one I was using just wasn’t doing the job anymore.   And I needed something with more functionality,...