Have you ever tried to come up with a business idea that's mostly automated and creates a great passive income stream? Or tried to figure out how to take your skillset and turn it into a low-effort lifestyle business? Well, that's almost exactly what my guest today has done. Tina Wilmott already knew the Public Relations agency business, so when she wanted to take control of her time and her life, she found a gap in how brands were able to get their news in front of the media. She...

With the start of a fresh year, I thought it'd be fun to talk Mindset. We're all probably thinking through the ways we can perform better, manage better, grow our companies, and, hopefully, strike a better balance between work and life. My guest today is entrepreneur mindset coach Joe Trodden. He focuses on working with early stage founders, those who have launched and built a small team, usually in their first few years of business. His goal? To help them, and us, push past some of the pain...

We've all seen subscription boxes for everything, and kids toys, coding boxes, learning kits and more are common. But a toy RENTAL service that's focused on eco-friendly sustainability whose toys are returned and sent back out to a new family? How does that even work? How is it safe? Is THAT business model as sustainable as its products? I interview founder and CEO Rachael Classi on how she launched, where the idea came from, and how this early startup is sourcing products and pricing their...

This episode is a mix of startup story and content marketing ideas, perfect if you're: looking for an uncluttered channel to promote your brands or products. wondering how someone creates a totally unique app in today's crowded landscape. In this episode, Magma co-founder Jake Warner recounts his inspiration for creating an app that lets anyone create a well designed, easy to share, searchable digital magazine straight from their phone! Not only can you share it, but it can have links, videos...

Hello Builders and Content Creators! It's been a while, but we're back in action with a new sound, new guests, and a few new topics to help you grow your business! This is a quick episode, just letting you know what's coming up, and explaining why it's been a while since the last episode went live. And, as usual, there's at least one little takeaway to help you along your entrepreneurial journey. Here's what's new: Fresh intro music More streamlined intro and outro Adding more brand-building...

We deal with PR agencies and PR people all the time over on my cycling tech blog, Bikerumor.com. Some are great, others could use a little help. And we see a mix of brands small and large, new and established, choose to work with a PR agency all the time, with mixed results. To say there's a lot of bouncing from firm to firm would be an undestatement.So I reached out to Verde Brand Communications' founder Kristin Carpenter to learn more about how a company should work with a PR firm, what...

Are you struggling to come up with good content marketing ideas?  Trying to figure this whole content marketing thing out? Not sure where to start? My guest today is Melanie Deziel and she has a super simple framework for helping anyone come up with a limitless supply of content ideas. Even better, she helps you pick the right ones based on your message, your strengths as a communicator, and the publishing mediums available to you. Her experience as a journalist turned brand story teller took...

Ever wondered how to start a conference? Launch a seminar? Or host your own event? Then this episode is for you! After launching and selling two separate events-related companies, AppsEvents founder Dan Taylor found himself also running Google Suite educational conferences. Now, his company hosts more than 300 events globally In this episode, we talk about how he started, how he chose the topic and curriculum for his events, and how to market an event to attract more attendees. If you've ever...

The very first time I saw Tifosi's products in the store, I knew they were absolutely going to kill it. With a retail price that was one third of the premium brands that were popular at the time, but a look and feature set that seemed on par with those premium brands, Tifosi offered something people wanted at a price point they were willing to pay. And it worked. They've grown like crazy, now owning more than 70% of the cycling specialty market for sunglasses, and they continue to develop top...

One of the biggest hurdles to managing startup life is balancing expectations at home with the drive to spend every waking hour (and every last ounce of energy) launching your company and fostering its growth. It can be all consuming, which leaves little for anything else. Brendan Moore, co-founder of cycling components brand Wolf Tooth Components shares how he and his wife set expectations in advance, and set some boundaries, which set the stage for them to succeed professionally and...

This is the first episode I’ve done where we talk about retail strategy, but there’s a strong undercurrent of brand communication strategy throughout. And there’s a lot of different facets to building community around your brand, having meaningful conversations with your customers, and integrating your products, service or brand into their lives. There’s literally something here for any company looking to improve any of those aspects. My guest is Alex Barseghian, author of Local Motion, a...

CBD oil and products are one of the hottest industries right now. I literally get 4 oorur 5 emails from PR companies and new brands every week trying to get us to post a story about their new CBD oil. It sounds a whole lot like the energy drink boom 15 years ago when there were literally twenty new brands launching every week. And then disappearing just as fast. So what’s the deal? What’s changed in the hemp industry and legal status that’s causing CBD to blow up? And how hard it is to start...

I really struggled with how to title this episode. Stefan Loble is the founder of Bluffworks, a clothing company that makes travel clothes that don't look like travel clothes. So, our conversation is based on his apparel brand, and it does provide a fascinating and revealing look at how the fashion and garment industry works. But, this is a wide ranging episode that goes far beyond the apparel industry, with concepts you can apply in your own business, regardless of your industry. Stefan's...

As an entrepeneur, the one thing I struggle with most is finding the time to do the important work that grows my business. But Belay Solutions co-founder Bryan Miles has figured it out, owning a company with 700 plus people. Notice I said "owning" a company, not "running" it. That's an important distinction, and truly "Owning" it can only happen when you learn to delegate. Belay Solutions launched in 2010 when Bryan and his wife, Shannon, both tired of working full time for others. He had...

How does a former pro NFL player launch one of the fastest growing meat snacks in the country? If you think it's only because he was a celebrity athlete, think again. Stryve Biltong co-founder Gabe Carimi switched gears from playing for the Atlanta Falcons to assembling a team of business all stars and working both smart and hard. This episode is packed with advice for anyone launching a consumer packaged good, but especially one in the food or beverage space. This is an extremely wide...

Everyone wants to get better at sales, but once you've had some success, could you explain why? Could you repeat that and train others to mimic that success? Cirrus Insight cofounder Brandon Bruce has grown his sales integration software company into a $12MM business by focusing on the process and creating systems that show where growth comes from and how to replicate it. But there's a surprising benefit to this: It allows you to predict potential customers' needs, which you can use to lead...

What if I told you that some of your people are dragging you down? That they're slowing your growth and limiting your company's potential? Would you know who they are? If not, do you want to know how to find them? And get rid of them? That's exactly what my guest today will teach us, and it's massively entertaining! Jeffrey Hayzlett recounts his time as CMO of Eastman Kodak and how he reset the culture to one of accountability and results-oriented action by weeding out the naysayers and...

This episode discusses two important things any entrepreneur should know. First, how to use sponsorships to grow your brand and sales. Second, and much more important, is how to lead.  Santini is an Italian, family run premium cycling apparel company doing north of $30 million in annual sales. Started more than 60 years ago by her father, Monica Santini now runs the company her younger sister heading the marketing department. Together, they've grown through strategic sponsorship alliances and...

Are you stuck figuring out what kind of business to start, how to start it, or just tired of being a Wantrapreneur? Or do you just feel like you’re spinning your wheels with busy work? Or you can’t figure out out how to optimize for real growth? Yeah? Then you’re going to LOVE this episode!   My guest is AppSumo founder Noah Kagan, and he’s constantly launching new companies to solve his own pain points. Today, he walks us through how to come up with a new idea, launch a company, and grow it...

More and more entrepreneurs, myself included, are launching with a direct-to-consumer business model, and for good reason. It’s never been easier.  But just because you can start easily, doesn’t mean running and scaling that business will be easy. Today, I’m talking with Fezzari Bikes founder Chris Washburn about how they’re selling high ticket items, sight unseen, by building trust with customers, plus how they deal with inventory forecasting, production, and all the other things you might...

Do you want to make more sales? Do you struggle to close the deal? Then you're probably doing it all wrong. Matthew Pollard bills himself as "The Rapid Growth Guy", and that branding is just the teaser to bring you into his world of story telling as the best sales method. It's not a fairy tell. As you'll hear, using facts and figures to convince someone to buy from you is a fool's errand. Better to tell stories that exemplify your knowledge and understanding, and combine those with...

What if I told you there were simple little things you could do that would double your revenues and profits? Sound to good to be true? At the top level, doubling your business can seem like a monumental task. Where do we start? What do we do? In his new book, Cadence, author Pete Williams breaks it down to just seven things that drive growth, then walks us through the process of finding small, consistent wins in each. Before you know it, these small improvements across your business quickly...

Do you want to create a brand that stands out? Wondering how to create a world class brand that people actually care about and love? Then you'll love this Branding Master Class with Ponysaurus Brewing co-founder David Baldwin, who is also the founder of Baldwin&, an award winning advertising and branding agency in Raleigh, North Carolina. Using Ponysaurus as a case study, David discusses how to create a memorable and impactful brand for your product, service or company by finding its...