The Pollinator Podcast

Jeff Stay built the largest privately held referral and networking organization in the South East US in Miami - a town known for being made up of a lot of very distinct, tight-knit communities. Not bad for a guy from Minnesota. There is a lot that could be said about generating referrals (and Jeff and have had many multi-hour conversations about it over cigars and whiskey).  But I asked him t...

CRM and Marketing Automation software come with this amazing promise of making everything easier. All the amazing functionality that they provide will have your business running so smoothly that all you have to do is lie back on a beach and sip fruity cocktails. But that never happens, because it takes a hell of a lot of work to set a system up to do that.... and it's constantly evolving. Ian Camp...

Amy Donner is one of the most helpful people for new business owners you will ever meet. She has witnessed the digital transformation in marketing and advertising first hand. She is a huge fan of the democratization that digital media has brought to small business owners but also knows that there is still a place for bringing your message into the tangible realm and putting it in print. According...

Quality over quantity. It's easy to say, but not always easy to execute. Kristin Abele with The Found Gen takes the Madison Avenue experience to both small businesses and Fortune 500 companies alike. She explains distinctions between branding, advertising, marketing, and sales and the content needed at each stage. But this is key: stop trying to through everything against a wall. Focus on these ke...

The Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce is the #1 Chamber in the South Florida Market as ranked by the South Florida Business Journal, which is impressive since it's compared to the large regional chambers of commerce across multiple counties. Its President, Mark Trowbridge, has now led it through two economic downturns and recoveries - the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 and the global COVID-19 Pande...

Everyone "knows" that your most profitable sale is the sale to your existing, satisfied customer. And yet, so many folks keep the transactional mindset. Eric Serrano has a breadth of experience selling and managing sales teams in diverse industries, and shares some of his keys to long-term success... things that really shouldn't blow people's minds... but do. Connect with Eric here - https://www.l...

The Old "Always Be Closing" Ideal is Dead. My friend Carlos Garrido talks about how to deal with leads in modern sales environments, and instead of ABC... ABQ. There are some things that hard sales tactics are good for, however, and he explains what those are. And whether you're in business promoting yourself, or are in a selling role, Carlos explains what a salesperson's principal responsibility...

Adding video into your branding and marketing mix can seem overwhelming. I asked Neto Almanza to come on and break it down and help business owners overcome some of their hesitations. He has produced all type of video content, from videos for small law firms and mom and pop shots, to telenovelas, to promotional content for huge corporations and international organizations. He has some solid techni...

Brent Bardales is a walking entrepreneurial spirit. He took what he used to grow other businesses online into his own agency that provides a whole suite of digital marketing services. I asked him to come on and discuss the mistakes people often make when setting up paid ad campaigns in Facebook and Google, and he did not disappoint with some great nuggets you may want to go check – immediately! #c...

A super exciting (and somewhat sultry) episode of the Pollinator Podcast, as I interview my wife, Shannon. She is in a medical sales role for a larger corporation and was recently awarded the President's Award for being number one in the nation. She talks about what it's like to come into a sales role from a technical role (she's a dietician by trade), facing rejection, the power of consistent act...

Everyone wants to be found online. But Search Engine Optimization can often be seen as the "mystery box" of marketing. It's easy for small business owners to make mistakes, not be optimized, and to get taken advantage of when it comes to SEO. And yet, a solid presence online, that is easy to find is one of the key factors in establishing trust and credibility ("Preparing the Soil" in the Client Cu...

What happens when you don't know your product and don't know your customer? And what happens if you don't like the price of coke in a nightclub? Today we're launching the first episode of The Pollinator Podcast! Kelly Ritchie is the founder of the multi-national service franchise, Housemasters, and has been a key advisor to Robert Kiyosaki and the Rich Dad Organization.  He has been one of my...