What does it take to walk away from a six-figure income, start over from scratch, and build a thriving ad agency from nothing? In this episode of DissedMedia: A Startup Story, Ben Olmos sits down with Jeremy Yang, a paid media expert, agency owner, and one of the sharpest minds in digital advertising, to unpack the real journey behind building a successful marketing business.

Jeremy's story is unlike most. At 36, after years running a franchise business, he went back to university as a mature-age student, graduated at the top of his class, and still couldn't land a job. What followed was a full year of unpaid internship work, updating WordPress sites and manually transcribing YouTube videos, before he found his calling in paid advertising and media buying.

In this episode you'll learn:

Whether you're a startup founder, a small business owner trying to crack social media marketing, or an aspiring entrepreneur looking for a real-world roadmap, this episode delivers the kind of hard-won insight you won't find in a textbook.

Website: https://digitalgoliath.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-yang/

Topics covered: paid media, media buying, digital advertising, Facebook ads, startup growth, social media marketing, entrepreneurship, agency building, immigrant entrepreneur, career pivot, marketing strategy, ad spend ROI, organic vs paid social

If this episode gave you something to think about, drop a comment and let us know your biggest takeaway. We read every single one. And if you haven't subscribed yet, we are on a mission to hit 100,000 subscribers on YouTube in 2026 and we would love your help getting there.

Subscribe to The Daily Pitch on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thedailypitchnews and join a growing community of entrepreneurs, founders, and builders doing the work every day.

Connect with DissedMedia: Website: www.dissedmedia.com | Newsletter: www.dailypitch.news | YouTube: The Daily Pitch

DissedMedia: A Startup Story is the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of building a business from the ground up, raw, real, and unfiltered.

What do you do when the content is good… but the growth is not there?

In this raw update, I break down the strategic pivot that is reshaping DissedMedia from a blog-first platform into a video-driven business engine.

This episode is for founders, operators, coaches, and creators who are wrestling with:

• Organic growth that feels too slow

After attending a media event in Atlanta, one question stopped me cold:

“What are you actually selling?”

At the time, I did not have a good answer.

So we rebuilt the model.

Inside this episode, I walk through:

We are currently at 17,000+ subscribers and pushing toward 100,000 by the end of 2026.

This is not theory.

If you are building a business in public…

This episode will challenge how you think about media, leverage, and growth.

Listen in and see how we are turning a passion project into a scalable platform.

What if your marketing has been speaking to the wrong customer all along? In this episode of DissedMedia: A Startup Story, founder Ben Olmos sits down with Amber Gaige, founder and chief marketing advisor at Far Beyond Marketing, to break down exactly why most small business marketing fails, and what to do about it.

Amber brings 20 years of marketing strategy experience, a background in private equity, a run as CMO and CIO overseeing 90 subsidiaries across 10 states, and a bestselling book that helps entrepreneurs stop wasting money on marketing that does not work. She also holds one of only a few hundred StoryBrand Guide certifications in the world.

In this episode you will learn the Four Cs of effective marketing (clear copy, consistent branding, customer demographics, and channel management), why video is no longer optional for small business growth, how AI is transforming what a lean marketing team can accomplish, what high buyer intent targeting is and why it may cut your sales cycle in half, why going viral is the lottery ticket version of a marketing strategy, how to speak the language your actual customer is using, and what happens when you stop doing a la carte marketing and start building a full system.

Whether you are a startup founder, solopreneur, franchisee, or small business owner who has ever burned money on marketing that went nowhere, this episode is built for you.

Connect with Amber Gaige: farbeyondmarketing.com | LinkedIn: Amber Gaige

Most people overlook raw land as a real estate investment. No utilities, no structures, no obvious appeal. Abi Asija saw something different. Starting with just $5,000, no debt, and a strategy most investors had never considered, Abi and his wife built a seven figure land business from the ground up, completing more than 700 deals across the United States over eight years.

In this episode of DissedMedia: A Startup Story, host Ben Olmos sits down with Abi to unpack the business principles, hard lessons, and unconventional strategies that turned desert parcels into a thriving operation. This conversation goes well beyond real estate. It is a masterclass in business fundamentals that applies to any entrepreneur at any stage.

What You Will Learn:

Abi breaks down the core formula at the heart of his book and his business: Money equals Goodwill times Number of Offers. It sounds simple. The way he applies it will change how you think about revenue, customer relationships, and growth.

Beyond the formula, this episode covers how to find and flip raw land for two to five times your investment, why the key to the land business is not buying but selling and how to do it online without a realtor, the real due diligence process for raw land including wetlands, arroyos, environmental contamination, easements, and soil testing, how Abi and his wife went from two deals on eBay to 700 plus properties sold, why customer lifetime value matters more than customer acquisition as your business scales, the show up rate problem in sales and creative ways to solve it, how to build goodwill in the marketplace through daily content and relationship building, and why Abi got rejected by business podcasts and started his own show instead.

About Abi Asija:

Abi Asija is a land investor, author, and founder of Honest Wealth Builders, a platform dedicated to helping people transition from a nine to five into entrepreneurship through land investing. Over eight years Abi and his team have completed more than 700 land deals across the United States and built a seven figure business without taking on debt. He is also the host of the Honest Wealth Builders podcast, where he sits down with active business owners to discuss real time strategy and problem solving.

Abi's Book: The Land Business by Abi Asija is available on Amazon.

Connect With Abi Asija and Honest Wealth Builders:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HonestWealthBuilders

LinkedIn: Search Abi Asija

Website and Free Resources: Search Honest Wealth Builders

Connect With Ben Olmos and DissedMedia:

Website: https://www.dissedmedia.com

Daily Pitch News: https://www.dailypitch.news

Ben's Book: 10 Topics to Help Managers, Leaders and Entrepreneurs Get Better at What They Do, available at https://shop.dailypitch.news and on Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Ben's Personal Site: https://www.benolmos.com

DissedMedia: A Startup Story is the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of building a media company from the ground up. No outside funding, no shortcuts, no overnight success. Just real conversations with real entrepreneurs about what it actually takes to build something from nothing. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and help us reach 100,000 YouTube subscribers in 2026.

The audiobook industry just crossed $2 billion in U.S. revenue and is projected to double. So why are most entrepreneurs, coaches, authors, and podcast hosts still sleeping on it?

In this episode, Ben Olmos sits down with Tina Dietz, CEO and founder of Twin Flames Studios, one of the most respected audiobook production companies in the world. With over 500 audiobooks produced, a pioneering remote narration model, and more than a decade at the forefront of audio publishing, Tina breaks down everything entrepreneurs and independent authors need to know about turning their expertise into audio.

Whether you are a first-time author, an established podcast host sitting on years of untapped content, or a business owner trying to build a brand that outlasts the algorithm, this conversation is for you.

What You Will Learn:

Who Should Listen:

This episode is essential listening for entrepreneurs, managers, leaders, authors, coaches, consultants, course creators, and podcast hosts who want to expand their reach, build credibility, and create lasting content assets. If you have a book idea, a manuscript collecting dust, or years of podcast episodes that have never been monetized, Tina explains exactly how to put that content to work.

About Tina Dietz:

Tina Dietz is the CEO and founder of Twin Flames Studios, an award-winning audiobook and audio publishing company that has produced more than 500 titles across fiction, nonfiction, and multi-voice formats. She is a pioneer in remote author-narrated audiobook production and the creator of Voice Powered Publishing, a framework that helps experts and thought leaders build books from their existing podcast content. You can connect with Tina and access free monthly events for authors at TwinFlamesStudios.com.

DissedMedia: A Startup Story is the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of building a media company from the ground up. No hype. No overnight success stories. Just real conversations with real entrepreneurs about what it actually takes to grow something from nothing.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who is ready to stop ignoring audio.

Is your business one phishing email away from a devastating data breach? In this episode, cybersecurity expert and bestselling author Robert Siciliano breaks down exactly how today's hackers, scammers, and organized cybercriminals are targeting small businesses and what you can do right now to stop them.

Robert reveals why traditional security awareness training is failing your employees, how AI-powered deepfakes and voice cloning are being weaponized to impersonate CEOs and executives, and why the human element, not technology, is the #1 vulnerability in your organization. With 15 billion stolen credentials currently circulating on the dark web, no business is too small to be a target.

In this episode you'll learn:

Robert Siciliano has been a leading voice in cybersecurity, identity theft prevention, and data protection for over 30 years. He's appeared on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and has spoken to thousands of organizations worldwide. His no-jargon, plain-English approach makes complex cybersecurity concepts accessible to everyone, from the C-suite to the front desk.

Whether you're a startup founder, small business owner, or corporate leader, this episode is your wake-up call.

🔗 Connect with Robert: ProtectNowLLC.com | LinkedIn: Robert Siciliano

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What if you could run your entire podcast; recording, editing, repurposing, publishing, and monetizing, from one platform, for less than the cost of a single tool you're already paying for?

In this episode of DissedMedia: A Startup Story, Ben sits down with Nathan Gwilliam, serial entrepreneur, founder of Adoption.com, and current CEO of PodUp, an all-in-one platform built to help creators grow, monetize, and operate their shows like a real business.

Nathan has spent 30 years finding what he calls "tectonic shifts", the moments when technology and behavior collide to create massive opportunity, and then building companies around them. From the internet to mobile to AI, he's made a career of spotting those inflection points before the market catches up. His latest bet? The creator economy is broken, pod fade is real, and the solution isn't another tool, it's one platform that replaces all of them.

In this conversation, Nathan breaks down how PodUp's 60 integrated tools replace the 30+ subscriptions most podcasters are duct-taping together, why over 80% of creators quit before they ever see a return, and how his team built a done-for-you podcasting service inside PodUp's own building in Jaipur, India, serving CEOs who want a show but don't have time to run one. He also gets into the AI-powered Repurposer tool that turns one episode into 15–20 pieces of content with the click of a button, and why he believes monetization, not better microphones, is what will actually save podcasting.

If you're a podcaster, content creator, entrepreneur, or anyone who's ever said "I'd start a show if I had the time", this episode was made for you.

🎧 Listen now and find out why the Shopify of podcasting might already be here.

Most entrepreneurs don't think about legal protection until it's too late, and by then, it can cost them everything. In this episode of DissedMedia: A Startup Story, we sit down with Bobby Klinck, a Harvard Law graduate with over 20 years of legal experience, former federal prosecutor, and founder of the legal tech platform Plainly Legal, to break down the legal mistakes that quietly destroy businesses before they ever reach their potential.

Bobby shares the real story behind leaving a prestigious Washington D.C. law firm (where one of his mentors was Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch), going out on his own, and the hard-learned lessons that shaped everything he now teaches entrepreneurs and business owners.

In this episode we cover:

Whether you're just starting out or scaling a business, this episode is a masterclass in protecting what you've built, before someone else takes it from you.

🔗 Find Bobby Klinck:

📚 Mentioned in this episode:

Subscribe & follow DissedMedia: A Startup Story 🎯 Goal: 100,000 YouTube subscribers by end of 2026, help us get there!

#BusinessLaw #Entrepreneurship #StartupAdvice #LegalTips #SmallBusinessOwner #OnlineBusiness #ContentCreator #CopyrightLaw #BusinessContracts #PodcastEp47 #BobbyKlinck #DissedMedia #PlainlyLegal #BusinessProtection #HarvardLawyer

With Dr. Tom DuFore | Big Sky Franchise Team

Franchising your business can unlock national expansion, recurring royalty revenue, and long-term brand growth. But it can also destroy your systems, culture, and reputation if done incorrectly.

In this episode, Dr. Tom DuFore explains what it really takes to build a successful franchise system and how founders can scale sustainably without losing control.

Tom has helped more than 600 businesses evaluate and launch franchise models, and he breaks down the practical framework every entrepreneur should understand before pursuing franchise growth.

00:00 – Introduction to Franchising and Entrepreneurial Growth

03:30 – How Tom Got Into Franchising

06:30 – The 3 Tests to Know If Your Business Is Franchisable

Profitable prototype

National customer demand

Ability to train others to operate the model

If you cannot check all three boxes, franchising may not be the right growth strategy.

11:30 – Service Franchises vs. Restaurant Franchises

15:00 – Unique Franchise Examples

18:00 – Top Franchise Trends Right Now

Home services

Mobile business models

Value-focused consumer offerings

Operational automation and AI tools

22:00 – The Social Media Growth Trap

29:00 – Red Flags When Franchising Your Business

Get rich quick promises

Giving away equity too early

Overpromising franchise sales

Doing everything yourself without expert guidance

35:00 – Maintaining Brand Standards Across Locations

41:00 – Success Stories in Franchise Growth

45:00 – AI and Automation in Franchising

47:30 – What Success Really Means to Entrepreneurs

Franchising is not a shortcut to wealth. It is a structured growth strategy.

You must have a profitable, repeatable prototype before expanding.

Cultural alignment with franchisees determines long-term brand health.

Sustainable franchise growth beats explosive growth without support systems.

Value creation for customers is the dominant trend moving into 2026.

Big Sky Franchise Team

Multiply Your Success Podcast

Tom DuFore on LinkedIn

If you are a founder considering franchising your business, expanding into new markets, or building a scalable business model, this episode provides the blueprint to do it the right way.

Listen now and learn how to franchise your business without destroying your brand.

What happens after the startup exit?

In Episode 45, Kevin Rice shares the real story behind scaling a digital agency to 250 employees, navigating high-pressure Fortune 500 clients, surviving a COVID-driven restaurant tech pivot, and discovering that executive success doesn’t guarantee personal fulfillment.

After co-founding and exiting his consultancy, Kevin realized burnout, emotional disconnection, and “robot mode” had quietly taken over his life. Today, he hosts CEOs and ABCs, a podcast focused on helping leaders build sustainable executive work-life balance without sacrificing ambition.

🎙 CEOs and ABCs Podcast: https://ceosandabcs.com

In this conversation, we unpack startup growth, executive leadership pressure, founder burnout, single parenting, and practical frameworks for showing up fully at work and at home.

If you’re a founder or executive chasing growth while trying to protect your family life, this episode delivers honest insights and actionable perspective.

Subscribe, share, and join the conversation.