The Academy - Your source for business growth.

Today's customer is extremely powerful. They're armed with knowledge from technology, social media, review sites, and access to reams of information and data. They have very high expectations too that are combined with low trust in businesses in general. Their willingness to put up with errors and poor service is at an all-time low. Competition is high these days as well. Increased competition in...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be talking again about Instagram. We're diving into part 2 of our series that's designed to help you with the foundational best practices that will help you rise above the competition on the platform. As a marketer and business owner during the day and an artist in my free time, I've mentioned previously that I'm extremely interested in this platform. Instagram...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be talking about Instagram. As a marketer and business owner during the day and an artist in my free time, I'm extremely interested in this platform. Instagram is a simple concept on the surface... people posting visual content. But, success with Instagram goes far deeper than just posting images. Our goal with this podcast is to provide advice that's evergreen...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be talking about success and happiness in business, work, and in life. As busy working professionals and business owners we all struggle with balance. By that, I mean that we're trying to build and run and grow successful companies, all while working to find happiness and fulfillment along the way. I haven't got it all figured out. I struggle every day to achiev...

Today we're going to be starting a new segment called Academy Quick Tips. We're all busy and need to continually learn. But sometimes we just don't have the time to read entire articles or listen to a 30-minute podcast episode. This series will be a solution to that problem where I'll challenge myself to give you all the information you need to learn something new in 5 minutes or less. So with tha...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be talking again about sales. Sales grow your company. That’s the bottom line. But just pushing your salespeople to “sell more”, at all costs, is not the ideal solution. There’s more to it and in this 3rd and final episode of our series, we’ll discover why. We'll be exploring concepts around coaching, education, process development, collaboration within your tea...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be talking again about closing sales. But the advice isn’t going to be obvious or the traditional things that you’ve likely heard in the past. Sales grow your company. That’s the bottomline. But just pushing your sales people to “sell more”, at all costs, is not the ideal solution. There’s more to it and in this episode we’ll discover why as we explore the buyer...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be talking about closing sales. But the advice isn’t going to be obvious or the traditional things that you’ve likely heard in the past. Sales grow your company. That’s the bottom line. But just pushing your salespeople to “sell more”, at all costs, is not the ideal solution. There’s more to it. Over the next few episodes we’ll discover why. Most companies want...

Today on the Academy I'd like to spend a little time talking about what inbound marketing is and why the approach is a great way to reach your target audience and ultimately grow your business. Inbound marketing is different than traditional marketing and advertising. I believe it's a better way to approach your marketing strategy and invest in the growth of your company. As a business owner, you'...

Today on the Academy I thought we could spend a little more time talking about yearly planning since we’re approaching the end of the year. If you don’t actually have a yearly planning session at your company, it’s understandable. It’s the end of the year, work has been building up, and you’re just trying to get things done and settled before taking a little time off for the holidays. Ye...

Today on the Academy I thought we could spend some time talking about yearly planning since we’re approaching the end of the year. If you don’t actually have a yearly planning session at your company, it’s understandable. It’s the end of the year, work has been building up, and you’re just trying to get things done and settled before taking a little time off for the holidays. Yearly planning is im...

Today on the Academy we're going to do another segment that's quick and direct, but hopefully helpful to those who are working hard to start, manage, market, survive and grow in the world of business. This week is a short holiday week, and because of that, I think my advice today will resonate. It's all about using your limited time wisely. Before we get started, I wanted to just say how thankful...

Today on the Academy we’re starting season #2 of our podcast with a series around an important, but misunderstood and undervalued concept: positioning. If you're trying to market your business or a product, or even yourself, proper positioning is a foundational and essential task. But many people don't approach positioning properly, or at worst, they don't even understand what it is, why it's impo...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be talking about what I've learned and the advice that I have to share after successfully producing 50 podcast episodes. If you're interested in marketing and growing an existing podcast that you've been doing for a while, this episode probably isn't going to be for you. But if you need advice to just get started and take the first steps, or you need motivation...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be exploring the concept of trust in your organization and within your company culture. It’s blatantly obvious to say that trust is important. The alternative is simply distrust and nobody wants that. But building and sustaining trust can be difficult, even for the most well-intentioned people. It’s a complicated goal that can impact your team, your customers, y...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be talking about how to really grow your followers and your business using social media. I’m sure you’ll be expecting me to unload a lot of specific tactical advice around “how” to do this. But today I’m going to focus on explaining one big idea that I think overrides most others. It’s something that goes against the natural inclinations of most people when...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be listening in on a recent community training event that we put on at Sanctuary that was led by our Director of Strategy Lauren Zils. We know that many companies struggle with hiring and retaining employees. It can be quite a challenge these days to get the word out, to convince good people to even show up to an interview and to influence their decision to come...

Today I thought I'd take a different approach to the podcast and take a minor, but important detour and talk about motivation.  Today's advice will be quick and direct, but hopefully helpful to those who are working hard to start, manage, market, survive and grow in the world of business. I'm going to strip away all the production today and just get right to the point and let you get on to th...

Today on the Academy I wanted to talk about how to close more sales. Sounds like a great topic right? I mean, who doesn't want more sales? But surprise, I'm not going to talk specifically about sales tactics today. What I want to talk about is how to effectively take the leads, and even the customers that you already have, and close more sales through the process of building an effective customer...

Today on the Academy we’re going to be exploring the concept of relationship building and going deep to uncover your own, personal relationship-building type. For most people and businesses, relationships are at the heart of what makes them happy AND successful. As a business owner, I know firsthand how important relationships can be to your success and growth. As the old saying goes “It’s who you...

Today on the Academy I'm going to be having a wide-ranging conversation with Matt Bailey from SiteLogic. Matt is an industry-leading marketer, educator, speaker, author and entrepreneur. We'll cover everything from how he got started to where he is today and beyond. Along the way we'll explore many topics related to marketing and growing your business, we'll listen to his advice about being an aut...

“I’m a big fan of money. I like it, I use it, I have a little. I keep it in a jar on top of my refrigerator. I’d like to put more in that jar. That’s where you come in.” - Adam Sandler Today on the Academy I wanted to talk about goals and purpose as it relates to starting and running a business. For many people, goals and purpose are one in the same. The goal of a business is to sell som...

Today on the Academy I wanted to talk about Inbound marketing. If you've never heard of inbound marketing, check out episodes  #30 and #17 for an introduction. I've heard many people say that they're confused about why inbound is different from traditional marketing. The answer is in the details and they're important. Today I'm going to discuss some of the main principles that separate inboun...

Today on the Academy I wanted to talk again about how to build a lasting company. I'll do this by walking you through the 12 "myths" that are described in one of my favorite business books, Built To Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras. Built To Last is a classic and timeless business book in my opinion. It's a foundational guide to building a company that's going to stand above the status quo and...

Today on the Academy I wanted to talk about how to build a lasting company. I'll do this by walking you through the 12 "myths" that are described in one of my favorite business books, Built To Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras. Built To Last is a classic and timeless business book in my opinion. It's a foundational guide to building a company that's going to stand above the status quo and build...