It's All About the Questions

Data, data, data. Now considered a more valuable resource in some circles than gold or diamonds. But what does all that data mean and how do you access and use it? Rick Francart loves all things data and helps his clients harness their data for more than just sales and marketing. Data is a living, breathing thing and the way you use it can make your business thrive or fail. So how can you use your...

As an entrepreneur your worst fear is often what happens to your  business if you get sick. You might ask yourself, "How do I continue until I am better? What will happen to my staff? What happens if my illness lingers a long time? What if I am not the issue but a key team member is ill?" Joe Petroski asked himself those questions, and many more, when he was hospitalized and wasn't sure he was goi...

Ted Pankiewicz created For the Love of Paws in 2014 after a devastating loss. Their mission is to help seniors who can no longer take care of their beloved pets. They provide food, to seniors and their pets, care, foster placement and more. That more is where it gets even more interesting. What started as a singular vision has grown as they realized the needs of their clients has expanded. There a...

Ashlyn Szilva says that demographics are no more when it comes to selling and marketing to your clients. If you are not thinking about culturegraphics then you are missing out on clients. If you want to do business in the world today you have to be able to move fast and respond to, and capitalize on, trends on a daily basis.  Convenience is key to marketing to more and more people. They want to do...

Lisa Cummings has been a road warrior her whole career as the leading consulting firm for helping businesses Lead With Strength using the Strength Finder model. Most of her year was spent travelling to and from clients to run live workshops. One day she asked herself, "Can I do what I do without all the travel?" Two years after she asked herself that question her business went from 80 percent trav...

On this episode Maura Nevel Thomas explains why attention management is more powerful than time management. Time management is over and done with. Forget it. Throw those thoughts away and focus on where you put your attention. According to Maura, if you spend your time focusing on where you pay attention, then you can maximize your time and minimize your time to achieve your goals. By breaking fre...

Did you know that you should never charge your phone at a communal charging station? Did you know you should be careful where that charging cable for your phone or other smart device came from or how you can protect yourself while using public WiFi? These and other questions are answered by my guest, Alexis Perdereaux-Weekes. He is a cybersecurity professional with over 20 years of extensive exper...

Be kind. Remember the Golden Rule. Treat others as you want to be treated. Every heard those phrases? Growing up my parents and grandparents always said to me, "be kind, you never know what someone is going through." Nathan Caldwell has been studying kindness for a long time now and all his research shows that building a business where kindness is the foundation stone of everything you do wins eve...

Terry Whalin has been in publishing for over three decades on both sides of the aisle. He has seen the industry change and has also seen authors change. Over the course of his career what has not changed are the myths around publishing, being an author and money. Enter his latest book, 10 Publishing Myths - Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed .  How does one succeed as an author? By understandi...

What is the point of writing a book if you cannot get it in the hands of the people who can benefit from your message and wisdom you have learned? All too often writers write a book and, if they manage to publish it, have boxes sitting in their garage or basement with less than 100 books sold. How do you sell books to more than your family and make a business out of writing? Michael Ebeling has be...

Holidays are not just joy and light for those who are dealing with loss of any kind. It can be a nightmare to navigate all the happy, happy, joy, joy that is dished out if you have lost someone you love. Even friends and family don't really know how to include those who are grieving. So how do you navigate your grief or the grief of others during the holiday season? My guest, for the 3rd time this...

Brian Kurtz has been in direct response marketing for close to four decades. He's learned from the best and is the best when it comes to understanding, and implementing, marketing that gets your  prospect to buy, subscribe, share and use the products and services you are are selling. Direct marketing is not a dirty word and Brian says we all need to embrace our products and services and share them...

Is that the best you can do? A common question if you've even negotiated a purchase of a new car but have you ever thought of asking that question of yourself in all aspects of your life and business? Kevin Hunter has applied that question to every action he takes and it has transformed his life and the lives of his clients. He wrote the book on that topic and it is life changing.  During this int...

Lori Ruff, the original LinkedIn Diva herself, and Joe Frankie III discuss how to succeed with LinkedIn in 5 minutes/day. They call it a 5 minute drill. I call it simple to do every day. What is LinkedIn and why should you care? If you are in business today LinkedIn can help your find clients, source vendors, find employees, get that new career you've always dreamed about, connect to like-minded p...

Conflict resolution seems to be especially difficult around the holidays, well really all the time for most folks. I mean just think what is happening today around business, politics, religion. sexual definition and more. Most parents told us if you want to have an enjoyable meal with someone don't discuss politics or religion at the dinner table. With social media and a 24/7/365 news cycle the wo...

When I look back at the songs that influenced my life, that inspired me when I was down and that are always there when I need to express an emotion, I realized that Thomas Bahler invariably had a hand in the creation or production of the song. We met at a conference years ago and he helped me pick a song to bring me on stage for my keynote. he just seemed to know who I am via song. On this episode...

Pat Grillo shares how a vendor decision cost his 35 year company over 10 million dollars in sales and how it changed his business and life for the better. Did that get your attention? It can happen to any entrepreneur. You choose a vendor partner that has products that your clients can use and you enter into a relationship with them that allows you to provide better pricing to your clients and hig...

Negotiations happen every day and not just in business. We negotiate with our families, at work, with vendors and more. Negotiation is not about win-win or win-lose. Rather according to Mari Frank it is about finding the sweet spot where each party knows their needs and can express them so results happen without anyone feeling like a loser. Mari Frank reveals how she uses negotiation as a legal me...

Dr. Anita Jackson has 5 advanced degrees including ones in organizational psychology and Marriage and Family therapy and through it all she realized she never felt she was enough so she kept getting more letters after her name. Then one day, at the very bottom, after having lost, her house, her car, er health and more she realized, I am enough. Cut to today where she is the Founder and CEO of The...

Marilyn Horowitz teaches screenwriting at NYU and is herself a screenwriter and producer and author. Screenwriting is in her blood and she has even been called in to be a script doctor when scripts need some fixing. What is it about movies, TV Shows and plays that makes mostly every author want their book to come alive on the big or small screen? I've always wondered why some books succeed on the...

Have you ever taken one of those personality or strength tests like Meyers-Briggs, Strength Finders or another in an attempt to understand what drives you and how you think? Kathy Tagenel says learning what makes you tick can make your business and life choices have a greater chance of success without all the drama. What seems to be missing from several of the assessments is your action model. How...

Sarah Santacroce says its time to stop the, "But wait, there's more" way of marketing. The deluge of ads and emails that hit your inbox and TV and news feed saying buy now or miss out, only 5 left, or signup now and start making money today are overwhelming. They are enough to make you say, STOP THE MADNESS! But they work for a specific segment of the population so businesses continue to use that...

There is a new article everyday about disconnecting from tech, not working 24/7/365 and increasing your productivity in fewer hours. Yet most of us cannot seem to stick to the ideas of those articles. We cannot seem to find a way to make time for life beyond work to the levels we say we want. Karl W. Palachuk has been living a life that grows his business while growing his life outside of work. He...

Everyone has a story. Some are able to tell their stories in a way that transforms the listener. Others, have a story that can change people but cannot seem to share it due to fear or some level of fear that minimizes the sharing. Ethan Freckleton had been so filled with fear that he was unable to lift himself up at one point and then something changed. He recognized that fear was the only thing b...

From a bookstore in a hair salon in 1927 to a world dominating force in 2019 in getting books into the hands of readers while supporting the authors, Porchlight Books, formerly 800CEOReads, takes a chance on a name change. Sally Haldorson has worked at 800CEOReads for over 21 years and for the last four years she has been at the helm. How do you navigate and thrive in a world where, as Sally puts...