The Idea Climbing® Podcast

Idea Climbing ® Podcast Episode 39 Your reputation and what people say about you when you’re not around means everything in business. Credibility means everything. My guest in this episode is Mitchell Levy. Mitchell is a TEDx speaker and international bestselling author of over 60 books. We’re discussing how to bring your big idea to life through credibility and how credibility helps with marketin...

Idea Climbing® Podcast Episode 38 In this episode I speak with David J.P. Fisher (also known as D. Fish) about creating a hybrid marketing, networking and outreach business plan during the pandemic and beyond. David is a speaker, coach, and author of 9 books, including the best-selling Hyper-Connected Selling and Networking in the 21st Century: Why Your Network Sucks and What to Do About It. David...

Many companies’ primary marketing focus is on getting new clients. That can be the wrong way to go about business development. A better way is to focus on your current clients and stay in front of them as much as possible. They already know, like and trust you which shortens the sales cycle and opens the doors to more referrals. I recently spoke with Matt Deutschman about this. He runs Doubl...

Everyone has great ideas from time to time. To create success in life you have to combine your great ideas and share them with the world. I recently discussed this concept with Richard Mulholland, the founder of presentation powerhouse Missing Link. Richard first shared that there are idea hunters and idea gatherers . Idea hunters seek out answers to questions. They’re the leaders in your life and...

In this episode Thomas Kim tells his story of and gives advice for leading in crisis and explains why a culture of mentorship is good for your business. Thomas is the founder and CEO of Everclean Car Wash. Mentorship is important to Thomas because his dad left when he was seven. He’s grateful that scenario didn’t leave a gaping hole in his life because he always had men in his life that would take...

Recently I spoke with Matt Clark about how to successfully turn your LinkedIn connections into clients. Matt Clark is the founder of The Virtual Edge and co-creator of The Rainmaker System – an online marketing system that helps entrepreneurs get 2-5 high-value leads per day from LinkedIn without paying for ads. Why does Matt prefer LinkedIn over other social media platforms? Because it’s th...

You probably know that social media has to be part of your marketing strategy. Jerome Myers believes that if you’re not on social right now you’re irrelevant. After building a $20 MM division at a construction company and having to layoff his teammates two years in a row, Jerome had enough and decided to become a full-time real estate entrepreneur.  He says that social media also helps with making...

Recently I spoke with Frank King about topics ranging from chasing your dreams to entrepreneurship to suicide. Frank King is a Suicide Prevention speaker and Trainer was a writer for The Tonight Show for 20 years. Frank decided to become a comedian while he was in the fourth grade. He told a joke in front of the entire class and they laughed, and the teacher said it was hysterical. He was hooked....

Rory Prendergast and I recently discussed that predictable success is something that many people want and many people can experience. Rory Prendergast is author of The Game Changer Formula and a qualified coach. He has built and sold two multi-million-dollar businesses and skippered a boat across the Atlantic with no previous sailing experience. He now helps business owners achieve ambitious goals...

Pat Helmers recently said to me that “Big ideas aren’t great, follow through is.” He grabbed my attention with that statement, and I had to learn more. That’s what we discussed on this episode. Pat is an international business consultant for technology start-ups, founder of the Sales Babble podcast and brings decades of experience to draw from which he shared during our conversation. Many people t...

Mentoring is an important part of the business world. But it’s only valuable if you know HOW to go about it. That’s what I discussed in this episode with Sande Golgart. Sande is the President at Zonez, He is a disruptive technology and business enthusiast. He is passionate about helping companies solve for their biggest issues. Sometimes you find the most value in mentorship in retrospect. It’s th...

Recently I had a conversation about sticking with what you’re good at and delegating the rest with Bill Bloom. Bill is an abundant thinker, delegator and lifetime income specialist.  He just released his latest book, “Money Habits For Success.” The first thing that he brought up is that he knows that he is a simplifier and not a multiplier. Simplifiers take things that are difficult to...

Networking and business development are different things – you shouldn’t sell someone as soon as you meet them. That’s what I recently discussed with Steve Fretzin, who coaches and trains lawyers in modern-day business development skills, providing precise tips, fresh ideas, and actionable tasks that drive tangible results. Steve is also a three-time author, monthly contributor to the Chicago Dail...

There’s a lot of negativity in the world these days. It’s more important than ever to be happy and share happiness. In this episode I discussed HOW to be happy with Steven Lefkoff, the founder of Small Claims Academy, a business established during the pandemic in 2020 to empower individuals and businesses to perform as well as they can in small claims cases. When it comes to building a business du...

Everyone is moving to Zoom for meetings and presentations and there are a LOT of mistakes that you can make. There are distracted learners, the ever-possible Zoom fatigue, multi-tasking and more that can destroy the effectiveness of virtual communication. The key is to know what NOT to do and what you SHOULD do instead. That’s what I spoke about in this episode with Matthew Confer, who is the VP o...

Mentorship is VERY much needed in the business world. You just need to know how to find mentors, engage with them and build successful relationships with them. That’s what I discussed in this episode with Matt Granados. Matt is an international coach and trainer working with individuals and teams to increase bandwidth, increase motivation, and minimize stress.  This ranges from CEOs of billion-dol...

If you want to build your personal brand you probably know that writing a book will help. The challenge becomes know HOW to write a great book. That’s what I discussed with #1 Bestselling Amazon author and architect Bill Hirsch. As soon as you write something down and publish it you’re seen by your reader or anyone that’s hiring you as a consultant and expert in your field more than the day before...

Recently I spoke with Brian Wallace about influence. Brian Wallace is the Founder and President of NowSourcing, an industry leading infographic design agency based in Louisville, KY and Cincinnati, OH which works with companies that range from startups to Fortune 500s. Many people do not have a clear understanding of what influence is. There’s a gap between the word “influencer” and “influenced”....

Many people are going through tough times right now and giving back and paying it forward is more important than ever – you just need to know HOW. That’s what I discuss with Jon Ferrara, the creator of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in this episode. “You can get anything you want in the world by helping other people get what they want.” ~Zig Ziglar What is Important in Life and Why? We’re...

The networking landscape has DRASTICALLY changed. We’re not seeing our clients, potential clients or people that we want to get to know in person anymore. We’re at home and we’re trying to make networking work from behind a screen. That’s a BIG challenge if you’re the type of person that’s used to shaking hands and having lunch meetings. There are things you can do instead, and that’s what I discu...

The pandemic is affecting everyone in some way shape or form. If you’re staying home more that gives you extra time to work on your business. It’s an opportunity to work on your branding or rebranding, your marketing strategy and many other things. That’s what Troy Sandidge, A successful social media marketer who provides marketing strategies and solutions for growing small to medium size business...

During the pandemic Zoom has been doing VERY well and it seems like everyone wants to have a video call these days. But are they doing their video calls the RIGHT way and making them as productive as possible? That’s what I recently spoke about with Susan Ibitz, professional “Human Behavior Hacker”. Some Tips for Video Meetings Video conversations have great benefits. Having video conversations sp...

Mentors can change your life if you know how to create and leverage mentorship experiences like entrepreneur Danielle Pierce learned to do over the years. When Danielle got started things seemed really challenging because she had to wear all of the hats in her company; the graphic designer, the accountant the attorney and everything else. The missing piece is that you can accelerate your results s...

Recently I spoke with Aaron Stahl about his journey in entrepreneurship. One of the first things he brought up was the importance of mentoring. To be a good mentor you need to listen to what the other person has to say. You’re listening to learn what specific problems they’re facing and discovering if you can help them. If you can’t help them you can try to connect them to someone who can help the...

Mentoring can change the arc of someone in Generation Z’s career, and that’s what I recently discussed with 23-year old entrepreneur Austin McCulloh who has been a mentor and been mentored. Two of the biggest lessons from one of Austin’s early mentors was not to burn bridges and not to take everything personally. If someone cancels a meeting or ends a conversation abruptly that doesn’t mean...