Business Reimagined with Danny Iny

You know that feeling of dissatisfaction that haunts you, no matter how often you tell yourself you should be happy? When you look at your career trajectory or business, you just know you weren’t ‘born for this.’ It’s not what you were meant to do in life. Is there something wrong with you? Are you ungrateful and restless? According to today’s guest, Chris Guillebeau, not at all. In fact, feeling dissatisfaction is a GOOD thing. It will help you make changes in your life, the kind of changes bring you closer to what you were BORN to do. Chris offers three words to live by: Joy, Money, and Flow. In today’s episode, he explains what each of them means, how they can guide you through everyday AND life-changing decisions, and how to know when you’ve discovered what you were born to do. If you feeling the crushing weight of dissatisfaction and don’t know why, then you really need to check out today’s Business Reimagined. KEY POINTS: At 2:00 – Chris explains that it’s okay to give up on something, as long as you consider two simple questions. At 10:00 – Chris touches on his ‘Joy, Money, Flow’ model, and how you can apply it to decisions, changes, and situations in your career and business. At 14:00 – Chris explains why people miss out on what they were born to do, and problem number one is when you narrow your options before you should and stunt your potential. At 16:00 – Some entrepreneurs have projects going that are partially successful, so they hang on to them. Chris explains why this is a hard habit to break, but necessary. At 25:00 – Chris tells you what you can do RIGHT NOW to get started on the path to Joy, Money, and Flow, and what you were born to do.

As a small business owner, how can you compete with the 800-pound gorilla in your space? Easy! You can be human. But you’re not going to accomplish that with marketing. You do it with branding. Do you know the difference between marketing and branding? Glen T. Campbell does, and on today’s Business Reimagined, he explains why he believes that ‘marketing’ has become a dirty word, and why great branding is what will give you an advantage over everyone else. Glen has been honing his skills for nearly 3 decades with some of the top marketing agencies across the globe, and now works directly with leaders. You’ve GOT to hear his 3 step process to create a winning brand, and it starts with you, the CEO or entrepreneur: Understanding, Pulse, and Connection. Glen talks about how these 3 things will filter out through your organization, and into the minds and hearts of your audience. If you’re sick of false marketing and want to create something meaningful, you’re going to LOVE today’s episode with Glen T. Campbell. Key Points: At 4:00 – Glen shares his 3 step process that starts with the leader or entrepreneur: Understanding, Pulse, and Connection. At 8:00 – Glen explains what happens to a brand when all three things are achieved, and gives some real-life examples of companies that exhibit top-notch branding, including the owner of a small chain of butchers, led by Ray the Butcher. At 14:00 – Danny asks a very pointed question: Is Walmart a brand? Glen gives his surprising answer that reached back to the genesis of the company and its original vision. At 17:00 – Glen explains exactly what he means when he says ‘brand,’ and what happens when a company starts with a great brand and loses it. At 25:00 – Sometimes business owners don’t have time to build a brand before they make money, and Glen sets those concerns to rest. He explains how brand is built not just through communication and marketing, but also with every transaction a business makes.

Do you know the difference between being ‘big’ and being ‘great?’ Bo Burlingham, author of Small Giants, does, and he was one of the driving forces that shaped entrepreneurship as we know it today. Today, Bo talks about what it means to be a small giant, to have ‘mojo,’ and what choices those companies make that the others don’t. He explains that client and customer relationships aren’t the only ones that matter. Finally, would you DARE show your employees your financials? Bo says you should, but he lays an even more important groundwork for creating the type of company culture where everyone cares because they have a stake in the company’s success. If you believe it’s better to be great than to be big and that there are more important things than maximizing revenue, you’ll love this episode of Business Reimagined. Key Points: At 5:30 – Bo talks about the defining differences between companies that choose to be great instead of big and those who don’t, and what he means when he says a company has ‘mojo.’ At 9:00 – According to Bo, you DO have a choice in what kind of business you want to run, and there are consequences to pollution and cheating your customers. You can’t blame it on business. At 11:00 – Bo addresses the trade-off between great and big, and whether you have to choose one or the other to succeed. At 16:00 – Company culture is a relatively new idea, and Bo talks about working with one of the shaping forces behind open-book businesses. At 20:00 – Bo reflects on the impact of his career on entrepreneurship, and whether or not he thinks he’s really done the heavy lifting or not.

Think about the last time you went in for a job interview or a meeting with a potential client. What was your frame of mind? It probably had nothing to do with the sense of creating an extraordinary life. In fact, most people think the same thing. “Oh please, pick me! Pick me!” But what if you went in with the confidence that you had something valuable to offer, and the interview was as much for you as it is for them? Then, if you landed that job, what if you weren’t afraid to ask presumptuous questions of someone way above you on the hierarchical ladder? Would you have the guts to ask for a quarterly dinner alone with the CEO? Today’s guest, Stever Robbins, has a lot to say about happiness and success, and it comes straight from his research into the lives of Harvard Business School and MIT graduates. In fact, as a HBS graduate himself, Stever has been an executive coach for many years, helping his clients understand how to live an extraordinary life, and it all comes back to daring to do what you think you shouldn’t. Do you want to realize how much value you really have, and your potential to live an extraordinary life? Then you don’t want to miss today’s episode. KEY POINTS: At 4:00 – Stever talks about his experiences he had interviewing his fellow HBS grads, and asking them if they had an interesting, satisfying, happy life. He also talks about the two kinds of happiness. At 10:00 – Stever explains that entrepreneurs don’t necessarily have more control of their destinies than corporate employees. In fact, corporate employees just pretend they don’t have control, but they really do, if they have the guts to seize it. At 15:00 – Want to know how to talk with your CEO and know how to contribute? Stever explains how to catch the attention of higher ups – and even high profile clients – by asking great questions and doing the legwork they don’t have time to do. At 21:00 – Danny and Stever discuss the important of learning how to learn, and understanding what is good content. At 24:00 – Stever gives listeners three concrete actions they can take today to live a more extraordinary life.

When you think of the term strategic philanthropy, one company comes to mind: Tom’s Shoes. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of them. For every pair of shoes someone buys from them, they send another pair to a developing country. That strategy, do good to make money, has made them incredibly successful. Today’s guest is Tom Matzen, and in this episode, he explains exactly what strategic philanthropy is, how your customers will thank you for raising prices, and a simple formula any company, from start up to corporation, can use to do good and make more money – ethically. Today’s episode is a little longer than normal, but it’s one you’ll want to come back to more than once. KEY POINTS: At 3:00 – Tom describes the difference between a small business owner and an entrepreneur. At 8:00 – It was a poor review from a customer Tom helped to increase her sales by 50% that finally made him realize that he wasn’t truly meeting all of his clients’ needs. At 12:00 – Tom dives into what strategic philanthropy is, and how to pick a great cause to support that makes sense for you and your customer. At 20:00 – Tom describes the formula any company can use to do good and make more money in an ethical and sustainable way. At 26:00 – Tom shares his vision of how it’s up to business to save the world, not government. At 33:00 – Tom explains how a company can use a simple formula to ensure they are sustainable as they work toward their good cause.

Productivity is something every single entrepreneur, and aspiring entrepreneur, struggles with. Whether it’s finding time to keep your business running smoothly, or finding time to launch your business while you have a day job, people are looking for a magic bullet. While there isn’t a way to make all your work disappear, there IS a way to make sure it gets done, whether or not you’re the one doing it. Today’s guest, Ari Meisel, is a productivity and automation master. Using what he learned through taking back his life and health from Crohn’s disease, he put together a system that revolutionized the way he did business. While he may seem super-human, he’s got just as many hours in a day as the rest of us. He just uses them more wisely. Plus, he designed an awesome app to tell you when you’re most productive, to make the best of your own hours. Find out how supercharge your own productivity on today’s Business Reimagined. Key Points At 6:00 – Ari talks about the two key points of the system he created. First is the 80/20 rule, and second, the external brain, which is a system you use to capture your best ideas and organize them. You might have heard of these ideas, but Ari talks about how to automate and outsource them. At 8:00 – Ari talks about his ‘Less Doing Peak Time’ app that measures your productivity with a simple tap test, and what you should be doing with your peak time. Hint: It’s not the things you don’t like doing! At 16:00 – Ever wonder how to take your first step into mindfulness meditation, and what it even has to do with productivity? Ari give you a great starting point and the reasoning behind it. At 18:00 – Hiring staff can be expensive, and Ari addresses which services and tools are available – many of them FREE – to get you to a place where you’re spending more time doing what you love. At 20:00 - Ari talks about how much time you can actually save using his system, and gives several key points about his book, and how he wrote it.

Steve Jobs knew how to inspire people. So did Howard Schultz when he rescued Starbucks. What did these two men have that so many other leaders don’t? Inspired leadership. They understand that there is a greater arc of story in their businesses, one that is instinctively felt and driven not just by them, but also by their employees. They understand that story, ceremony, and symbolism are important for the growth of an organization. Today on Business Reimagined, Nancy Duarte talks to all types of leaders. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading a small group or global powerhouse. You’ve got to be a torchbearer, the type of leader who can shed light on an organization’s journey, even if it’s into unfamiliar and risky territory. Do you measure up to what it really takes to be a leader? Key Points: At 6:00 – Nancy describes the 5-act structure an organization goes through as they collectively strive for a goal, and the warning indicators that accompany each phase. At 10:00 – Nancy discusses how moments become ‘movements’ that your employees, or travelers, can get behind, and it all has to do with staying tuned in with each other. At 14:00 – Nancy goes into more details about that 5-act structure and how it can help you as a leader know what to do to inspire your employees. She also talks about what happens when you have to repeat steps. At 19:00 – Manufacturing movements or creating insincere moments is the quickest way to invite resentment and distrust among your employees, and Nancy discusses the pitfalls and how NOT to do that.

What do you think of when you hear the words ‘urban monk?’ Do you picture some guy in a robe meditating on top of a skyscraper? Maybe you’re thinking of meditation 2.0 and some guru’s new, flowery method of finding inner peace. Not even close. Today’s guest, Pedram Shojai, is anything but flowery. While his knowledge is ancient and comes from his time with kung fu masters, ascetic monks, and even the Dali Lama, Pedram is a dad. He’s an entrepreneur and a realist. And he wants you to be well. It starts with three minutes at a time, and they type of meditation you can do while driving. Then, take a look at your schedule. Do you suffer from ‘time compression?’ Have you scheduled in the things you need to be well, things like family? What is all your busyness really doing to your energy level, and how do you get more of it? Pedram answers these questions and more on today’s Business Reimagined. At 4:00 – Pedram talks about the average person, and his motivation for writing the book, Urban Monk. At 9:00 – These are the questions you need to answer as an entrepreneur, and a practical way to increase your energy levels. Pedram calls it energy profit, and explains where to reinvest it. At 12:00 – The real secret to meditation, and it’s not nearly as complicated or flowery as you’ve been led to believe by other gurus. At 14:00 – The best word you can learn to say is ‘no.’ Pedram talks about the concept of time compression, and what it does to your mind. There is a formula for directing your attention, and Pedram explains what it is. At 20:00 - Pedram explains one simple way to feel more present and connected without the lure of the entire world at your dinner table.

There’s a big misconception going around about business. Either you climb the corporate ladder as fast as you can and retire, or you become an entrepreneur trying to hit a homerun, and you work yourself into oblivion to get there. Corbett Barr of Fizzle used to believe the same thing, but a trip to Mexico completely changed his perspective of what business is, specifically entrepreneurship, and how people really CAN put their lives in front of their businesses. What’s more, they can build something that’s not just big, but great, the type of company to truly makes a positive impact on the world around it. There might be growing pains along the way, but Corbett talks about how to avoid as many of them as you can, and how to remain sane during the scaling up process. At 5:00 – Corbett talks about his amazing experience in Mexico that reshaped his entire way of thinking about entrepreneurship and his future. At 9:00 – Scaling up is daunting, especially when you’re used to operating alone, and Corbett talks about the transition from a company of one to where he is now. He also describes what TYPE of people he hired. At 12:00 – Corbett explains what his benchmarks are for business. The first one has NOTHING to do with money but EVERYTHING to do with how and why you build your business. He also points out that Airbnb and Uber may be huge, but aren’t necessarily great. At 19:00 – Even though he disliked just about everything about the consulting company he worked for, Corbett brought one highly important concept with him, a metric that measured something other than company profit. He shares that thoughtful way to look at your employees. At 21:00 – Corbett digs into exactly how he sees business differently than other people, from start up to scaling up, and the very first thing you can do to avoid a lot of trouble and heartache in YOUR business.

Imagine a place where everyone was on the same playing field when it comes to marketing skills and know-how. In this place, ideas would be standing out based on their own merit. It’s a fantastic idea we can get behind, and today’s guest, Dorie Clark, is making it her mission to teach people who have great ideas how to put them out into the world. Dorie can’t stand the thought of ideas that can truly make a difference languishing or dying. Her strategy is simple: build a brain trust, build your audience, and make your audience into a community. If you have a great idea that can change the world for the better, you don’t want to miss this episode. At 4:00 – Dorie talks about her difficult experience trying to get her first book published, even though she did everything to guarantee her success, including getting an agent. At 8:00 – Dorie shares the two key factors to her success, and how you can implement them in your life. At 15:00 – Dorie gives her thoughts on where good ideas come from, including mixing disciplines. At 19:00 – What happens when people have great ideas but don’t know how to get them out there? Coaches often experience this, and Dorie talks about their struggles and how they can get past them. At 24:00 – Dorie explains what happens when the marketing playing field is leveled: those who truly deserve to stand out.