On this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut Khierstyn wanted to focus on a much more foundational area that every entrepreneur needs, the importance of building relationships. Stuart Knight is a guy who’s made it his business to learn the practice of relational intelligence and how to apply it in casual and business settings. He is a graduate from the School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University and is an award winning entrepreneur, critically acclaimed author, and hit producer. The conversation today hovers around the topic of relationship: why they matter, what it takes to get beyond the surface level where most people stop, and what impact a consistent practice of that depth of relational interaction can have on an entrepreneur’s life and business.

In Stuart Knight’s mind relationships are relationships, whether they are initiated and developed in real life or online. What is important is not where they develop but HOW they develop and what each part does to facilitate that development. It comes down to the components of conversation and interaction, the things each person says and does to push the relationship to a deeper level. Stuart shares a ton of insight into this issue through personal examples and common situations so that when you hit the “stop” button at the end of this episode, you’ll have some very practical things you can do to take your relationships to a new, more helpful level.

On this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut, Khierstyn Ross asks entrepreneur and networking expert Stuart Knight to unpack what he means when he says that every needs to learn how to ask better questions. An example he gives is a conversation that might happen around the water cooler or coffee pot at the office…

YOU: “Hey Jim, how was your weekend?”

JIM: “It was one of THOSE weekends…”

YOU: “Yeah, I know what you mean, I’ve had quite a few of those myself.”

Stuart points out that a typical interaction like this one doesn’t do anything to push the relationship to a deeper level. What might happen if you responded with something like, “Really? Tell me what made it a challenge?” There are lots more gems like this on this episode, so be sure you listen to get all the good stuff Stuart’s got to share.

That’s what they’ll remember later in the day or as they are laying in bed at night. That’s what will form their greatest impression of the type of person you are. Stuart Knight says that if you focus on that in your communication you’ll be much more likely to develop relationships that not only serve you over time, but also bring benefit to the people you’re in relationship with. It’s a key to building relationships that matter, and Stuart shares lots of insights like that on this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut with Khierstyn Ross.

Do you even know? It’s not accomplished by the things you do for them, though that’s an important thing that shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s done by the way you show interest in them and draw them into sharing their life with you when you’re in conversation with them. That “others focused” approach to conversations causes others to feel good about you, to wish they were able to make others feel like you’ve made them feel, to value your insights and opinions, and overall feel like you are someone they like. On today’s episode Stuart Knight upacks a variety of topics surrounding this issue, so make sure you take the time to listen.

BOOK: Awaken the Giant Within

Stuart’s website: www.StuartKnight.com

www.CrowdFunding.EntrepreneurUncut.com Get your FREE Crowdfunding book!

Brandon T. Adams is co-founder of an upcoming event that is already poised to be a huge success. The Young Entrepreneur Convention will be happening in Des Moine, Iowa and is going to be a life changing event for many. Already scheduled to speak are John Lee Dumas, Ken Shamrock, and many more high profile entrepreneurs who are giving their time and expertise to the young entrepreneurs who will be gathering at the conference. In this conversation Khierstyn chats with Brandon about his life and entrepreneurial background, why he had the idea for this conference, how he’s made the Indiegogo campaign so successful, and what people can do who want to be a part of the movement.

Today’s guest, Brandon T. Adams has launched a number of companies and has the kind of real world entrepreneurial experience that comes from doing the work to build a thriving business. After inventing his first product, attempting the start of a few companies (some failed and some succeeded), and starting a podcast (The University of Young Entrepreneurs), Brandon came to the conviction that it shouldn't be so tough to follow your dreams. His failures, mistakes, and the advice he received have given him insight that enables him to start a movement among the millennial generation to do more, together. His enthusiasm and vitality are contagious, which you’ll hear on this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut, so be sure to listen.

Brandon T. Adams put together the Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for his upcoming conference… but he didn’t do it off the cuff. He and his team were very strategic. They took it upon themselves to prepare the soil for a very fertile crowdfunding campaign. Some of the things they did was in person meetings and presentations prior to the launch of the campaign, live events during the campaign, building buzz before launch, using effective video emails, creating a quality, compelling video for the campaign page, and much more. If you’ve been considering a crowdfunding campaign you need to listen to this conversation because Brandon shares everything they did. It’s a very enlightening conversation.

For The Young Entrepreneur Convention to be a seriously appealing event to the people he was trying to reach, Brandon T. Adams knew he’d have to get the right speakers. Some of the big names he considered reaching out to were John Lee Dumas, Ken Shamrock, and Seth Godin. How could he reach out to them in a way that would not only get his email read, but also secure them as speakers for the conference? He’d heard from many people about using video in an email to make yourself stand apart from the hundreds of emails high profile people get daily, so he gave it a try. It was a hit and in this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut Brandon shares the story of how he made that happen in way that actually DID result in big name speakers agreeing to participate in his event.

The vision of the Young Entrepreneur Convention is to inspire those with the ambition to do big things to join a movement with the potential to redefine what it means to lead. The convention is the focal point around which all that will happen. It’s an event that supports entrepreneurs and those thinking about making the leap into business for themselves and it brings together like-minded individuals and lays the groundwork for cooperative efforts that lead to personal success. Young entrepreneurs all over the globe, including the founder of the million-plus listener "Entrepreneur on Fire" podcast John Lee Dumas, are eagerly anticipating the launch of this movement. Listen to this episode to get details on how you can participate.

Today’s guest, Nathan Chan, is wired to be an entrepreneur. He’s built a 6 figure digital publishing empire from scratch, and admits that in the beginning he knew exactly nothing about how to do it. Foundr magazine is a huge entrepreneurial success and there are tons of lessons to be learned from Nathan’s story and he shares them generously in this episode. If you’re an entrepreneur who’s just starting up your business endeavors, Nathan’s story should be very encouraging to you, so stick around!

That’s the first line you’ll see on Nathan Chan’s LinkedIn profile and it’s true. You can tell from the energy and enthusiasm that he exudes on this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut that it’s true. Nathan started building his online media empire before he really know what he was doing. Now his online magazine, Foundr, is one of the top 10 digital magazines on the iTunes store and he’s very pleased with how things have turned out (naturally). In this episode Khierstyn finds out how Nathan got started, the first steps he took, and how he landed some of his biggest interviews, including the cover story on Richard Branson that he used to put his magazine on the radar of many other high profile people who would one day be a part of his media publication. You won’t want to miss this episode.

Most online enterprises today are launched with a very carefully thought out strategy for getting the most eyes on it as possible, right away. But back when Nathan Chan began his online magazine (it wasn’t called Foundr then) he didn’t have any launch plan. He just build a website, began designing his magazine, and started contacting people he wanted to have featured in its pages. That was it. Through a lot of trial and error he was able to land some “big fish” who he then used as leverage to attract more big fish. Richard Branson was the first and many others followed. In this episode you can hear the details of what Nathan did to track down Richard Branson, get an interview with him, and use that connection to get more high profile interviews to move the Foundr brand forward.

As he began his digital magazine, Nathan wanted to get an interview with Richard Branson. He figured that Richard was the epitome of an entrepreneur and that he’d be a perfect fit for his niche audience. But it wasn’t easy to get the interview. He worked tirelessly to find just the right person, the “gatekeeper” he could speak to in order to make a good connection with Richard. When he finally did, he worked very carefully and consistently to make sure he was able to land the interview. Though he originally lobbied for a Skype interview, it wasn’t possible given Richard’s schedule so he opted for an email exchange. That interview and the cover article he published were the catalyst for the future success of Foundr magazine. In this conversation with Khierstyn Ross, Nathan shares how he went about getting that connection, step by step - and how the results were more than he hoped for.

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, but for those who have it in their blood to start and grow their own business Nathan Chan has two words of advice: Extreme focus. In his words, “You have to be hungry if you want to build a successful business.” There can’t be any part of the process that you allow to intimidate you or hold you back. You have to be constantly learning, constantly growing, and constantly pushing past the barriers to your next step so that you can eventually reach the pinnacle you’re shooting for. It takes that kind of relentless effort to make your business the success you want it to be. You can hear Nathan unpack those concepts as he discussed the issue of extreme focus, on this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut.

https://sensortower.com/ - App store optimization tool

Foundr Magazine - Nathan’s flagship publication

Being so extremely focused provides an extreme amount of hustle ~ Nathan Chan http://entrepreneuruncut.com/?p=426

I don’t feel like I’ve attained success ~ Nathan Chan http://entrepreneuruncut.com/?p=426

You have to be hungry if you want to build a successful business ~ Nathan Chan http://entrepreneuruncut.com/?p=426

If things don’t work, you just keep moving and keep building ~ Nathan Chan http://entrepreneuruncut.com/?p=426

A 6 figure digital empire built from nothing, Nathan Chan’s story http://entrepreneuruncut.com/?p=426

What is your greatest fear? According to many polls, public speaking ranks near the top for most people. Today’s guest, David Nihill was no exception. Public speaking caused him a tremendous amount of stress (and still does), but he determined that he was going to overcome the fear - and as he did, he documented every step and eventually put it into a book. As he started the journey into his greatest fear he noticed that stand up comedians are some of the best, most practiced public speakers there are, so he decided that he’d get his training on the stand up stage. David’s daring and transparent journey is the topic of conversation on this episode of Entrepreneur: Uncut.

In the entrepreneurial space we hear the 80/20 rule referenced all the time, but what does it really mean? Simply put, it refers to the observation that in most things 80 percent of your outcomes come from 20 percent of your inputs. So boiled down in a practical sense it’s an admonition to discover what 20% of your work is bringing you the most results so that you can maximize your efforts around that 20%. David Nihill noticed that when it came to public speaking, stand up comedians were the ones who made the most of the 20%, so he began studying them to overcome his fear of public speaking. The insights he gained are many and apply directly to all kinds of opportunities you might have to speak, make presentations, or just become a better communicator in everyday life. In this episode you’ll get to hear David’s refreshing way of looking at public speaking and applying it to life.

David Nihill believes that great comedians are not great because they are funny. They are great because they know how to write. They understand how language works. They understand things like pacing, timing, tone of voice, and story flow. Those are all the tools of a writer and comedians always write their routines before they speak them. It’s that writing that enables them to hone their presentation, remove things that don’t lead them toward the ultimate goal of a gag or story, and walk off stage knowing that they’ve pleased their audience. The same applies to public speaking in business. Without a clear plan, put down on paper and crafted for maximum effect, your public speaking will lack the pop and memorability you want. You can hear David’s insights elaborated on this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut, with Khierstyn Ross.

Stories in business presentations.

The human mind is geared toward stories. It’s why books, movies, and television shows have the allure that they do. We naturally track with stories and are drawn to engage with a good story more than any other form of communication. David Nihill learned that truth as he studied stand up comedians. His goal was to learn how to be a comedian so that he could overcome his fear of public speaking. What he found was that using stories as the basic component of any presentations - in comedy or business - was one of the most effective ways to communicate. In this conversation with Khierstyn Ross, David unpacks how to find your own personal stories, how to integrate them into good presentations, and how to make the link between the story and your topic in ways that are natural and impacting. You won’t want to miss this conversation.

David Nihill has discovered that the best way to improve his public speaking is by reviewing talks he’s already given. In his study of stand up comedians he noticed that many of them reviewed a video or audio of their act either immediately after they got off stage, or the next morning. Why? They were evaluating everything they did. In the spontaneity of the performance they often did or said things they didn’t plan but that actually added to the performance. They took note and added it to their outline for future performances. If they noticed distracting or unneeded things, it was scratched from the performance. David recommends that business people do the same thing… but most don’t. David’s got lots more to share about how you can improve your presentation skills through improving your presentations through rehearsed spontaneity, on this episode.

David’s book: Do You Talk Funny?

David’s website: http://www.7comedyhabits.com/

Today’s episode features entrepreneurs Emma and Carla Papas, ”The Merrymaker Sisters” who are also real life sisters. Khierstyn has invited them on the show today to inspire you with their delightful story. The two of them were working full time in jobs they hated when they first started blogging. After a while they began to think it was more risky to stay in their hated jobs for years than to step out and find their dreams by creating their own income. Sound familiar? You’ll be inspired by their journey and the steps they’ve taken to build those dreams into a reality. You’re going to enjoy this one.

Emma and Carla (The Merrymaker Sisters) are health and happiness advocates and health coaches who are on a mission to merrymake over the world! They offer real food recipes, positive mindset advice, and ways to find and follow your purpose. But that mission has come to them over time. The clarifying of their blog and purpose took time, and that process was instrumental in helping them determine what they were about and what value they wanted to give to the world. This episode walks through their bubbly, fun-filled story and highlights the steps they took to get their blogging business profitable within a year’s time. Interested? Give it a listen.

After quitting their full time jobs to build their blog into a business, Emma and Carla Papas knew they had to get some money coming in right away. But they weren’t sure how to do it. One of the projects they took on was creating products, primarily recipe ebooks at first. Their approach was to create the product, put it on their website, then move on to the next. But their eyes were opened when they attended a conference and discovered that there was much more they could be doing to promote their products in a way that would take advantage of the opportunity they had to make those products available to their followers. Their journey is one of learning and application, learning and application, and you’ll learn a lot by hearing how they tweaked things over and over to make their blog profitable.

The 4 week detox program was the first thing Carla and Emma Papas created after they had learned how to do a better job promoting their products, and they began promoting it and taking money for it before it was even created. By preselling their program through an effective landing page (complete with a video that explained the benefits of the program) they were able to get money coming in before the program was even completed. The launch was a huge success and the people who have been helped by it number in the thousands. And all of that came about because they learned how to create a buzz before the product was actually ready. You can do the same thing by learning how on this episode.

Focus. There are so many ideas, opportunities, and distractions that come across an entrepreneur’s path every day, it’s easy to get side tracked. New entrepreneurs need to know that reality and prepare for it. Focus is the word that makes all the difference. If it takes productivity apps, time blocking, stronger accountability, or whatever, you’ve got to learn how to focus your attention on one project - the most important project - until it is complete. It’s that discipline of focus that will translate into methodical steps of success that will make your business thrive in the ways you want it to. Learn the lessons that Emma and Carla Papas have learned the hard way by hearing their story, on this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut.

http://www.themerrymakersisters.com/

The 4 week plan: http://www.themerrymakersisters.com/make-life-merry/

www.ProBlogger.com

www.TropicalThinkTank.com

www.MailChimp.com

Jill Stanton was finished - with her long time role as a bartender and with the way her life was going. It all came to a head one early morning after she had endured a long shift and a customer mocked her in the middle of closing down her bar. She was done and began working toward something new, something more. In today’s episode Jill shares her journey from bartender to successful entrepreneur as a co-founder of Screw The Nine To Five, an online community that helps people step out of their job and into an entrepreneurial business of their own. She’s going to share what it’s like to take that step, how to keep yourself going, why you can’t quit, and the qualities you need to stick it out. It’s a great, raw conversation you’ll enjoy.

When Jill Stanton started out online she was working with her fiance - and she knew NOTHING about online business. They started with affiliate marketing because that’s a means of income generation he’d had some experience with, and that’s where Jill’s online education began. They decided to build a site themed around skin care products (since Jill had some experience in that niche). She wrote the content, he did all the technical stuff. Together they built out the site and began seeing some income. Then they built another. And another… until they had over 30 sites, all affiliate, all generating income. In this episode you can hear the entire story of how Jill made it out of her 9 to 5 job and how they pivoted those sites into an online community with thousands of members.

When Jill Stanton quit her job as a bartender it took a while to get started. But after things were rolling and her income was supplied by her online work, she and her fiance began taking trips. People were curious, asking her over and over, “What are you doing? How are you taking these trips? You don’t work anywhere.” That’s when she and her fiance came to the realization that there might be some type of income opportunity teaching others how to do what they had done. The idea of Screw The Nine to Five was born. Jill shares a lot of the details on this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut, so makes sure you set aside some time to listen.

When Jill Stanton and her fiance began their site Screw The Nine To Five, neither of them knew what it would take to build a community. The only thing they did know was that they’d need to get some attention to the site. So Jill began searching for places to do guest posting. Through her efforts the site began to get more attention and members began connecting with them. Over time Jill discovered a step by step process to finding niche specific places to submit her guest posts and her efforts paid off big time. In this episode she shares that step by step process - step by step - and gives suggestions about how to use it to advance your site and your cause. Stick around and give it a listen.

That’s what Jill Stanton thinks. In her mind, you’ve given too much and have come too far to turn back. What are you going to do instead? Go find a J-O-B that you hate? Do what somebody else tells you to do? Make money for somebody else? The entrepreneurial spirit and role is not one for the faint of heart, but it’s one that gives you a taste of true freedom. To give up on that is like giving up on yourself. That’s how Jill sees it. If you are on the brink of giving up on your entrepreneurial dreams, her encouragement to you is to have a good cry if you need to. Talk it out with someone who understands, but get back after it as soon as possible. Often your biggest breakthroughs are just beyond the point where you want to give up.

www.InfusionSoft.com

Lead Pages

Slack

Edgar

ScheduGram

Hootsuite

Screw the Nine to Five - Jill’s website community

www.ScrewCommunity.com - The Screw the Nine to Five community on Facebook

When you’re almost at rock bottom is when you have to push through ~ Jill Stanton

A system to find targeted #GuestPost opportunities, from Jill Stanton

Sometimes you just need to sob it out to realize #WhatYouWant ~ Jill Stanton

Quitting is a big deal when you’ve gone “all in.” You can’t do it ~ Jill Stanton

Ultimately you have to want your business to succeed. Otherwise you WILL quit ~ Jill Stanton

Way back in 2010 Nick Francis co-founded a company called Help Scout with two of his friends, Denny and Jared. In just over 4 years Help Scout has become an international company with over 3000 subscribers. How did they take a company from 0 to 3000 in that short period of time? In today’s conversation Khierstyn will be chatting with Nick about that reality - and a whole lot more. It’s a great interview that covers issues about Software development, scaling a business, true customer communication and service, and many other topics. Take a break from what you’re doing and listen to this chat. It’s worth your time.

Nick Francis is quick to say that when they built Help Scout, he and his 2 partners built something that they personally needed and knew they would use. They didn’t see any sense in building something that they wouldn’t be intimately involved with. So in that way, Help Scout was the natural outgrowth of their own experience and desire to build a software company. 4 years and 3000 customers later, it seems they picked a winner. Khierstyn digs into the history and journey the Help Scout team has been on in this episode to mine the insights and strategies that made the company success… so you can learn and do the same types of things. Be sure to give it a listen.

When Nick Francis and his partners started Help Scout they established some core values to guide them in how they would develop and run their new business. One of those was that they wanted to market to other people in the way they wanted to be marketed to. That meant no outbound marketing. Instead, they chose to take the content marketing route, and over 3000 customers later, the story is history. Nick chats about that decision in this episode of Entrepreneur: Uncut.

Help Scout has grown into an international company in just over 4 years. That kind of growth requires a vast amount of scaling in an obviously short amount of time. How did they do it? Nick Francis says it’s because their initial idea proved to be right on target with their ideal customer’s needs, and that they continued to validate that fact every step they took through direct and consistent communication with their customers. Consistently hitting the right need enabled the growth and fueled their product development as well. Nick’s got lots of great insights to share from the Help Scout story, so take some time to listen.

“It’s never going to be easier than it is right now.” When he was first starting out Nick says that his concept of building a large, SaaS business was that once things got rolling and the automation kicked in, he’d be able to take it easy. But that was no place close to the truth. As the team has grown and the software has become more and more complex, there has been nothing but increasing pressure over the years. He thinks it would have been helpful to know that from the beginning. What can you take away from that insight? How does it impact your dreams about the company you’re building. Hear more insights like that on this episode of Entrepreneur: Uncut.

https://www.helpscout.net/  

Email Khierstyn at entrepreneuruncutATgmailDOTcom

Nick on Twitter https://twitter.com/nickfrancis

Contact Nick through HelpScout

An international #SaaS company build only on #InboundMarketing? Yep.

Why ongoing customer communication is the only way to build an on-target product

Nick Francis of Help Scout on #startups, #scaling, and communication, on this episode

How do you #scale a company from 0 to 3000 customers in just 4 years? Find out

The key to #scaling quickly: A conversation with Nick Francis of Help Scout

If anyone knows what it means to be an entrepreneur it would be Chris Ducker. Chris is a world-famous figure who’s really made it big in the entrepreneurial world. His book “Virtual Freedom” is an Amazon best-seller and his community www.YouPreneur.com is abuzz with activity about building a successful business as an entrepreneur. In this episode of Entrepreneur:Uncut Chris share his definition of an entrepreneur. Here it is: An entrepreneur is someone who is building a team to solve a problem. It’s that simple. Hear this great conversation with Chris on this episode.  

Every entrepreneur will hit the point when he or she hit what Chris Ducker calls “the point of overwhelm.” It’s that place where you simply can’t do another thing, but if you don’t your business is going to crash and burn. Chris says that when you feel you’re at that point, or almost there, it’s time to get some help. Chris hit that point himself back in 2009 and spent an entire year reorganizing his business so that he could get his life back. In this episode Chris shares his insights about the task of outsourcing in his characteristic style. You’ll really enjoy this episode.

It’s a common thing for entrepreneurs to get to the point that they recognize their need to get help with their business activities. But how do you know what to outsource first? Chris Ducker has written the book on outsourcing, literally, and gives some great advice on that point in this episode. His “3 Lists of Freedom” are a surefire way to find out what you need to outsource first, and then second, and then after that, and after that. It’s great to hear Chris explain it in his own words and he does so with wit and persuasion on this episode. Be sure you give it a listen.

Chris Ducker developed his entire book, “Virtual Freedom” around what he calls “The 3 Lists of Freedom.” It’s an exercise he encourages every entrepreneur to do to discover their need for outsourcing and the things that need to be offloaded first. Briefly, here’s the basics of the list: On a sheet of paper create three columns. The first column is where you will list the things you do daily that you hate doing. The second column is the list of the things you can do but struggle to do well. The third column is the things you feel that you shouldn’t actually be doing as CEO of your own company. Once you get those columns completed, you are ready to make some decisions. Find out how as Chris Ducker explains it on this episode of Entrepreneur: Uncut.

That’s only one of the great questions Khierstyn asked Chris on this episode and his answer was equally great. Chris would tell his younger self to become active in the internet world of social media, video creation, and product marketing earlier than he did. In his opinion he messed around trying to create a business offline for far too long. If he’d started sooner he would have reached greater levels of success, faster. This conversation is filled with great insights from a guy who has been in the trenches for years and has learned the smart way to run a business. Be sure you make the time to listen.

www.ChrisDucker.com

The New Business Podcast

www.VirtualStaffFinder.com

Chris’s book: Virtual Freedom

Chris’ mastermind community: www.YouPreneur.com

Email Khierstyn at [email protected]

Think #Digital First | Warren Knight Warren Knight is a digital marketing specialist who’s focus is increasing e-commerce through digital and social strategy. He’s the author of Think #Digital First, a step-by-step guide any business can use to move their brand online.