Be an expert and find your niche

Happy Thursday everyone.  Today on the Appitalize On Your Idea podcast I have Jerry Zigmont and Sam Valencia, who are both Apple Consultants and 2 of the three members of the Command Control Power podcast.  The CCP team was at ACEs Conference this year to both do a presentation on Managed services and also taped a live episode of their wildly famous podcast.  

Today we discuss why they started the podcast.  In their mind there wasn't a niche filled for Apple consultants.  They bring on other experts to not only share their experience but the hosts themselves even learn new things from their customers.  Much like how ACEs allows me to bring experts in, the goal of the conference was really to learn how to run my own consulting business.  We also discuss monetization.  Many people believe that if they start a podcast, like CCP and the Appitalize On Your Idea podcast, that the money starts rolling in. 

Joe, Sam and Jerry actually figure out who would be a good fit for their show and target those sponsors specifically.  They also, as they say in the interview, never allow a sponsor who they haven't used the product from in some way first.  The team is supposed to be the expert, and hence they need to provide the most correct and truthful answers to the Apple community.

Ok enough reading - start listening to the episode!

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:

Command Control Power's home page

The Live show - first Tuesday of every month at 8pm

CCP on Twitter

Mac Geek Gab

Empower your Customers

Hey Hey everyone!  It's time for another great episode of the Appitalize On Your Idea podcast.  Today we have Mac Spa owner Amy McKnight on.  Amy was an attendee of the 2015 ACEs Conference who then turned into a speaker for the 2016 conference.  Amy has a great angle on empowering customers.  Many of us would believe that teaching a customer how to do something would eliminate the need for us, but not with Amy.  She believes (and rightfully so) that if you empower your customer the return is 100 fold.  Not only will that customer keep coming back, but they will more than likely spread the word about you and bring you new customers. 

So many of us believe that we need to sell hard to get the sale done.  "Get the product into the customers hands", as it were.  But honestly that's the wrong philosophy.  

Listen to Amy discuss passive income for her active job, and also about empowering your customers.  

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:

Mac Spa's home page

Free trial of Mac Spa MD

Visualize the Spoon

Happy Tuesday everyone, and welcome to another episode of Appitalize On Your Idea: The Podcast. Today we have Randy Krum, author of Cool Infographics and owner of InfoNewt, a company dedicated to data visualization and infographics.  

Randy and I discuss the reason for using infographics.  So many times an infographic is incorrectly listed, as many just thing if it has pictures it's an infographic.  On Randy's blog Cool Infographics, he posts about different types of graphics that are the right kind. 

So why use an infographic to tell your story?  You know the phrase "A picture tells a 1000 words"?  Imagine telling 1,000,000,000 words with just some simple graphics.  Now there is a caveat (when isn't there one?).  The story must be 1 cohesive story articulating 1 particular set of data.

But don't just take my word for it.  Listen to todays interview with Randy Krum.

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:

InfoNewt

Randy's Blog

Cool Infographics - Randy's Book

Know Thyself

Happy Tuesday everyone, and welcome to another episode of Appitalize On Your Idea: The Podcast. Today we have Peter Shankman, most famously known for the founder of HARO (Help a Reporter Out), and now a public speaker.  Peter has a great grasp on customer service, and even has written the book on it - Zombie Loyalists. Peter's golden rule is to "hire for people". Hire people who can deal with people first and then teach them the technical aspects of their job.

Peter has a new podcast out Faster Than Normal, where he discusses how he deals with ADHD in business.  What's great about this is Peter being a public figure is bringing ADHD to the foreground, and helps entrepreneurs deal with their mental issues.

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:

Peter's home page

Faster Than Normal

Zombie Loyalists book

Shankminds

The Mortons Story

Season 2!

Ok so it's been a year or so since my last episode, but its are back!  It could be worse.  I could have followed the Sherlock seasons on BBC (for those who don't get it, there are 3 episodes a season and they are like 2 years apart!). 

So here goes again.

Welcome to the Appitalize On Your Idea Podcast.  This short re-introduction episode is to just explain what's been happening in the last year.  Why I haven't produced the show, and what's been happening to me personally.  Now that it's all out on the table I feel like a weight has been lifted off and we can speak more freely.

In the last year I was diagnosed with clinically depression.  It took a toll on my work, my relationships, and my body.  I'm happy to report that I have been receiving treatment, and I'm in a MUCH better place now. I'm sharing this information because I want us to be honest with each other.  The only way you can succeed is if you are honest with yourself and everyone around you. I urge you to check in with yourself. Get help if you need it.  Don't bottle it up.  Believing that if you push those feelings down will not make anyone or anything you work on any good.

I also touched on my conference, the ACEs Conference which I just did for the second year. Once I starting having a healthy lifestyle, I was able to clear my mind and put on what I think was the best work I could do for this conference.  With great content, over 100 entrepreneurs will now be able to increase their IT businesses.  Topics ranged from IT related, to marketing, legal and customer service.  I couldn't have asked for a better turnout.

Welcome back to the Appitalize On Your Idea podcast and enjoy the ride!

Interested in being on the podcast? Contact me!

Tell The Story

Happy Monday everyone, and welcome to another episode of Appitalize On Your Idea: The Podcast.  Today we have on Victor Agreda Jr, of Angry Dad Gamer and SuperPixel studios.  Victor has done a lot of things in his life that has brought him to where he is now.

Having started as just a commenter on a blog, turned him into the Editor-in-chief (yes I'm skipping a lot of that story here) and when that blog shut down he continued on telling stories with his comedy, his magic and now his new gaming web series.

Victor mentions a great thing I want to share with everyone: Test, observe, and course correct.  So often in business we think we know the path of least resistance.  We know our product, we believe there is one clear way to get to the end goal, and go with blinders.  That's usually never the case.  Many times we have to be able to pivot.  Pivoting is all part of the story though.  Remember the last time you saw a horror movie?  There was for sure a pivotal turn in the movie flipping your thoughts of what was going to happen on its head.  That's telling the story!

My thanks to Victor for not only being on the show but for letting me be a part of the The Unofficial Apple Weblog while it lasted. 

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:Angry Dad GamerSuper Pixel StudiosTwitch.TVConnor Franta's You Tube Channel

Be a part of the process and give value up front.

Welcome back Appitalizers.  Now that the ACEs Conference is over, I'm back to bring you some great content and podcast episodes.  We kick off the return with my good friend Tony Ubertaccio.

Tony is a business strategist and consultant.  He helps businesses by figuring out how to add value to the business.  This could be anything from showing them how to capture emails, to social media strategy to brand positioning.  Tony's goal is to help you as a business owner and entrepreneur keep your company fun and easy.  He specifically targets people who love what they do.  If you don't love what you do, you are in the wrong line of business.  

I like Tony's story because he talks about how he took his skills as a salesperson and was able to convert that into selling his knowledge.  Tony read a lot of business books, and finally when the opportunity arose to use that knowledge he inadvertently sold himself on his first client.

Tony talks about how companies need to share their story - and I believe this episode is a great way for Tony to share his story.  You can see just how Tony add's value to his clients.

Listen all the way to end as Tony gives away some goodies to the Appitalize listeners. Tony's Giveaway

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:Tony's homepageTony's Twitter pageTony's Giveaway

Alto's Adventure

Today we have Ryan Cash from Snowman software on the podcast. Ryan and his team built an amazing game for iOS called Alto's Adventure. Ryan and I discuss how the game came to fruition, and the marketing strategy. I know a lot of you have been asking about how to go about building a game, so here's the episode for you!

As in previous episodes, we discussed treating the app like a movie — releasing tidbits of the game in teasers and trailers, and then showing some behind the scenes such as how the game was built. Ryan learned how to build his audience using this method. Having posted a few things on the website, he was able to build up the anticipation for the game, much like a producer would for a big Hollywood blockbuster.

My thanks to Ryan and the entire team at Snowman for releasing Alto's Adventure. Go play it today!

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:

Snowman - Ryan's company

Alto's Adventure - game site. Check out the easter egg with the bird flying around.

Ryan's personal home page

Ryan's Twitter page

Today we have Ryan Cash from Snowman software on the podcast. Ryan and his team built an amazing game for iOS called Alto's Adventure. Ryan and I discuss how the game came to fruition, and the marketing strategy. I know a lot of you have been asking about how to go about building a game, so here's the episode for you!

As in previous episodes, we discussed treating the app like a movie — releasing tidbits of the game in teasers and trailers, and then showing some behind the scenes such as how the game was built. Ryan learned how to build his audience using this method. Having posted a few things on the website, he was able to build up the anticipation for the game, much like a producer would for a big Hollywood blockbuster.

My thanks to Ryan and the entire team at Snowman for releasing Alto's Adventure. Go play it today!

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:
Snowman - Ryan's company
Alto's Adventure - game site. Check out the easter egg with the bird flying around.
Ryan's personal home page
Ryan's Twitter page

Help advance your idea

With today's episode, I have brought on Doug Fluckiger from Silver Creek Studio. Doug happens to be my outsourced graphic designer, but I didn't have him on to talk about us. I brought Doug on today to talk about how to find a graphic designer. With some great tidbits, Doug talks about finding someone who will not just do the graphics and be done, but will help you advance your idea.

When you are outsourcing anything, you want someone who will be a partner on the project not just a "yes" man/woman. You want someone to ask questions about how the system is being constructed, or why do this instead of that. Doug isn't just a graphic designer — he's an idea man.

As with choosing any outsourcing personal, look at things like feedback, ratings, and the portfolio. Doug happens to have a 4.92 rating with over 1000 job hours logged on oDesk so it was pretty easy for me to want to use his services when he bid on the project.

I have to apologize in advance, we had to use a conference call system to have the interview, so it's not as sharp as previous episodes.

If you like the content in this episode please do leave a review in iTunes.

Links Mentioned During the Show:

Silver Creek Studio - Doug's company

Doug's oDesk Profile - you have to log into oDesk to see it.