FIR Podcast Network

#669: Erin Liman and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Framing your problems and giving you the capabilities you need to solve strategic problems. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Erin Liman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinliman/). She is the Principal of Innovation Social, LLC. Erin helps leaders develop regenerative and resilient businesses and cultures.

Erin partners with innovation leaders and teams who are willing to do the challenging, rewarding work of transforming systems from “what is” to “what must be.” The journey requires new mindsets and capabilities in order to form a creative, results-driven team with the curiosity, grit, and resilience to design and implement a large-scale change.

If you’re a senior leader and you have a problem where there is no playbook answer to it, you should reach out to Erin Liman by visiting https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinliman/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Senior leaders who need to #SolveStrategicProblems that have never been solved before should reach out to Erin Liman at https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinliman/.

* There’s an art to framing and solving #StrategicProblems. First, we need to deeply understand the problem itself to really understand the root cause.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinliman/ @liman

* The second part to solving #StrategicProblems is getting employees fired up about the problem and ensuring they have the supporting structures and capabilities to experiment and learn what works to solve it. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinliman/ @liman

* Senior leaders and teams who need to #SolveStrategicProblems can’t do what they’ve always done. It requires staffing teams differently to gain new perspectives on the problem and context, and solving it very differently. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinliman/ @liman

* This work requires vulnerability and psychological safety. I’ve been a certified coach, product management and design leader for a very long time. I understand the problems and contexts and accelerate action. #SolveStrategicProblems https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinliman/ @liman

To view the video interview click here.

#670: Piyanka Jain and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Transforming your work by using data. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Piyanka Jain (https://www.linkedin.com/in/piyanka/) who is the President and CEO of Aryng. She is also an author, keynote and speaker.  She is changing the world one company at a time using statistical methods, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and AI.

Piyanka Jain is a leading expert in Data Literacy, building Data Culture, Machine Learning, Data Science and Analytics. She has developed the BADIR framework which enables 10X+ faster insights, 20X+ impact, and has driven $1b+ in business impact for her clients.

If you’re not leveraging the data that you already have inside your company, you should reach out to Piyanka Jain by visiting her website at  https://aryng.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/piyanka/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

Eric Schwartzman, an early contributor to the “For Immediate Release” podcast, has written a new book, “The Digital Pivot,” and discussed it with Shel and Neville. In the book, Eric explains what successful digital marketers do differently. We also discussed the benefits of podcasting, which are covered in Eric’s book as well.

From the Amazon description of the book:

We are living through a time of unprecedented migration, from analog to digital business practices. Find out what it takes to stake your own claim online, so you can participate in the ever-growing digital economy, and get your share of the profits.

Through real-world stories and numerous examples of digital marketing pivots told in easy-to-follow, nontechnical language, you’ll learn the secrets of what it really takes to be competitive online, so you can increase revenue, decrease costs, and control your future.

Drawing on his experience leading online marketing programs for clients such as Toyota, UCLA, Marine Corps, US Dept. of State, LA Opera, and dozens of small and midsize companies, Eric walks you step-by-step through the process of pivoting to digital marketing.

This all-in-one, practical playbook covers everything you need to know to about the people, processes, and technology that power a successful digital business

About our Conversation Partner

Eric Schwartzman is a digital marketing consultant, entrepreneur, and author of The Digital Pivot: Secrets of Online Marketing and Social Marketing to the Business Customer. His Digital Pivot Program helps clients grow their businesses two to five times in six to twelve months by implementing his 4-Step Digital Pivot Framework.

Eric has led digital marketing initiatives for Boeing, Britney Spears, Cirque du Soleil, Johnson & Johnson, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Olympics Games, the US Dept. of State, and dozens of small and midsize companies. He ran promotions at a global PR agency, founded a content management SaaS platform provider with clients such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Linkedin, NVIDIA, and Verizon, and oversaw the center for digital innovation at a $1B company where he led pivots from homegrown to enterprise software and developed an online marketplace.

Eric is an award-winning podcast producer and host of The Earned Media Podcast and the B2B Lead Gen Podcast. His library of on-demand digital marketing training courses has more than a quarter-million enrollees worldwide.

Eric has been featured in Adweek, Business Insider, Forbes, Hollywood Reporter, PR Week, Variety, and VentureBeat. He lives in Santa Monica, California with his wife Celia, son William, and his dog Ace. Eric enjoys tennis, performing arts, gallery exhibitions, and BBQ.

Connect with Eric on Twitter.

#665: Nancy Sherr and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Unlock your preeminence and joyfully put it to work in the world. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Nancy Sherr (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysherr/), a career coach and consultant.

Nancy Sherr is a pundit in optimizing career and job transitions. She has developed CareerDNA, her signature framework, to help seasoned professionals and executives achieve their preeminence. She has an obsession with creating great career outcomes.

If you are experiencing career malaise and you need to unlock your preeminence, it is best to reach out to Nancy Sheer by e-mailing her at [email protected] or by visiting her LinkedIn profile on https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysherr/.

Here are several AHA messages from this episode:

* Individuals who are experiencing career malaise should reach out to Nancy Sherr. #Preeminence @NancySherr https://nancysherr.com/

* Through my work, leading teams of people, and helping people to grow and optimize their careers, I became really curious, even more so, about what really brings a person into their best self at work. #Preeminence @NancySherr https://nancysherr.com/

* Leaving my corporate life, I did a ton of research, testing and developed a framework that’s in place today. I’ve taken hundreds of people since then to help them get a superior result and do work which is relevant and truly them. #Preeminence @NancySherr https://nancysherr.com/

* I have a long corporate career. I worked at Fidelity Investments for 22 years. When I joined that firm, there were 715 employees, and when I left, there were 45,000. So, I was a part of the phenomenal growth period for that firm. #Preeminence @NancySherr https://nancysherr.com/

* I work with seasoned professionals and senior-level leaders who have reached their career crossroads, and truly want to make a change, and really want to unlock what makes them unique and amazing. #Preeminence @NancySherr https://nancysherr.com/

To view the video interview click here.

#667: Jim Vasconcellos and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Helping leaders with an undefined execution issue by assessing and defining their problems. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Jim Vasconcellos (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimvasconcellos/). He is the Senior Consultant at ProAction Consulting. Jim helps clients develop and manage strategic, cultural, and structural changes in their organizations.

Their uniqueness lies in their “inside-out” approach, which uses the skills, knowledge and creativity of your people to focus on individual, and organizational growth. Their experience enables us to facilitate solutions that achieve maximum results with minimum investment, and they do it quickly.

If you’re a leader within undefined execution problem, you should reach out to Jim Vasconcellos by visiting his website at https://proactionconsulting.wixsite.com/home or

Last week, we had a discussion about the different pricing models you can consider, particularly if you work for or in a service business.

This week, I’d like to take that conversation a step further and discuss what my Agency Leadership co-host, Chip Griffin, calls the “goldilocks” client strategy.

Remember Goldilocks and the three bears? She started out by eating porridge that was too hot, then some that was too cold, and then some that was just right.

Then she sat in a chair that was too big and another chair that still didn’t fit right, but the third chair fit perfectly. And so on.

That’s how I want you to think about the clients you work with—some will be too big, some too small, but some will be exactly right. You have to get your pricing right, as we discussed last week.

And when you do that, the magic begins to happen.

It also gives you a massive amount of freedom because you know exactly how much something costs with profit on top, and it makes it lots easier to say no when a prospect wants to negotiate it. 

This, by-the-way is one of my biggest pet peeves, No one goes into a restaurant and sits down and says, “This menu looks great! I’d really like to pay only half of the price you have listed here. Can we do that?”

Yet, everyone wants to do that when they hire a creative agency. It makes me nuts! But that’s why knowing exactly what things cost in your agency, with profit added in, is so important.

Once you have that down, it’s time to think about who the clients are that are just right.

Clients who can just barely afford your services create one set of problems. Those who think your fee is a drop in the bucket also have their issues.

This is why you need to follow the Goldilocks Principle when signing up new clients. 

And that is what we discuss on this week’s episode of the Spin Sucks podcast.

Resources Included

* Different Pricing Models Discussion

* Agency Leadership Podcast  

* Chip Griffin

* Spin Sucks Community

#662: Gail Sussman-Miller and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Improve resilience, well being and career joy, especially in uncertain times. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Gail Sussman-Miller (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailsussmanmiller) who works with women executives and their employees to improve resilience, wellbeing, and career joy, especially in uncertain times.

It’s Gail’s mission to help women achieve new levels of leadership and impact by bravely leveraging their feminine power and emotional intelligence. Since founding Inspired Choice in 2002, it has been her delight to help business leaders, individually and in groups, achieve the results they want by reversing a common-held formula.

If you’re a woman executive who is stressed and you see your employees are stressed as well, and you’re looking for some support, reach out to Gail Sussman-Miller. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailsussmanmiller/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Women executives who are stressed or have employees who need to improve their resilience should reach out to Gail Sussman-Miller for additional help or coaching. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailsussmanmiller/.

* I work with stressed women executives and their employees. I help them increase resilience and well- being in uncertain times so they can reclaim career joy! https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailsussmanmiller/.

* It’s my mission to help women achieve new levels of leadership and impact by bravely leveraging their feminine power and emotional intelligence. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailsussmanmiller/.

* I work with women executives and their teams depending on who’s in the room. I’ve been doing a lot since just literally since the isolation started this March. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailsussmanmiller/,

* I’ve done tons of personal growth work. I was just kind of cruising through my life living for Fridays, thinking that was happiness. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailsussmanmiller/.

To view the video interview click here.

#663: Lisa Marie Platske and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

From being successful to being significant by creating your own leadership legacy. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Lisa Marie Platske (https://www.linkedin.com/in/LisaMariePlatske/), a leadership coach at Upside Thinking. She is also a speaker and International bestselling author.

Lisa Marie is a trusted coach for leaders, difference makers, and change agents. She helps them transition from being successful to becoming significant by helping them create their leadership legacy. She guides them on their journey through speaking and various coaching programs so they can make a more significant impact in the world and be what they are called to do.

If you’re a leader and you recognize the need to create your #LeadershipLegacy, you should reach out to Lisa Marie Platske by visiting her website at https://upsidethinking.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/LisaMariePlatske/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

#659: Filipe Carrera and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Helping professionals and organizations do their own digital transformation. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Filipe Carrera (https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipecarrera/) who is an international speaker, trainer, consultant, mentor, and Creator of the Knowledge Pills Methodology (KPM).

Filipe helps empower people and organizations to go beyond expectations with wisdom and digital tools.  He did hundreds of presentations in English, Spanish and Portuguese in about 50 countries, in 4 continents, helping thousands of people and organizations to win in more global and social world. Filipe was also awarded “Most Outstanding Trainer in Europe” and “Most Outstanding Trainer in the World” by JCI.

If you’re stuck or at least know that you need to thrive in some way or another, reach out to Filipe Carrera by going to his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipecarrera/ or to his website at https://filipecarrera.com/en/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Professionals that need to thrive in the digital world who need help or counseling should reach out to Filipe Carrera. https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipecarrera/.

* I help professionals across the world to develop skills in networking, digital marketing, and online learning. https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipecarrera/.

* I help people to thrive and get rid of digital traps. I do that through training, consulting and teaching. https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipecarrera/.

* I’ve been a remote worker since 2000. I teach about digital transformation in leading universities across Europe and Ecuador. https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipecarrera/.

* I’ve been a keynote speaker in more than 50 countries across four continents. I published several books that are available in more than 80 countries. https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipecarrera/.

To view the video interview click here.

#660: Mitch Russo and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Overcoming revenue dislocation by mapping out and exploiting untapped opportunities. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Mitch Russo (https://www.linkedin.com/in/MitchRusso), Chief Executive Officer at Mindful Guidance, LLC. He is also a business coach and best-selling author.

Mitch provides business coaching for smart, successful people, from NFL stars to world-class keynote speakers. He helps his clients deal with and overcome revenue dislocation by mapping out and exploiting untapped opportunities through rapid and proven strategies and systems.

If something happened in your life and you’re thinking, “Man, I have #RevenueDislocation” and you don’t know what to do, you should talk to Mitch Russo by visiting his website at https://mitchrusso.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/MitchRusso.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Smart, successful people who are going through #RevenueDislocation should reach out to Mitch Russo. https://mitchrusso.com/ @MitchRusso

I have a team of amazing podcast producers from One Stone Creative. One of the founders, Megan Dougherty, often sends me topic ideas for this very podcast. Because she also runs an agency, she has many of the same questions we all have and she provides me great fodder for thought. One of the ideas she sent me was a discussion about how to provide different types of services—at different price points—for many different clients.

Offering different priced services for different sized organizations. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Like many entrepreneurs, I started my business thinking I could scale by offering communications services to small businesses because they’re underserved. Well, there is a reason for that: it’s incredibly challenging to scale a business on $500-$1,500 per month retainers. You can only hire junior-level employees and they’d each have to service 20 clients at one time. If you had one weekly meeting with each of them, you’re at 20 hours a week, just in meeting time, not to mention all the work you have to do.

Not to say it’s not possible, but it’s extremely challenging. That’s why, rather than try to be all things to all organizations, it’s important to figure out the right pricing model for your business (or, in this case, agency) and then how you might be able to package things for the clients that can’t afford your “done for you” services.

Chip Griffin and I had a similar conversation to this last July on the Agency Leadership podcast. We decided there are eight types of pricing models to consider:

Billable hours

Project-based

Buckets of hours

Fixed-fee retainers

All-you-can-eat

Productized services

Points based

Pay-for-performance

And that, my friends, is what we discuss on this week’s episode of the Spin Sucks podcast.

Resources Included

* One Stone Creative

* Agency Leadership podcast

* PESO Model certification

* Spin Sucks Community

#656: Paul Epstein and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Helping leaders with a disengaged workforce. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Paul Epstein (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulepsteinspeaks/), who is a leadership and culture Expert, a former NFL & NBA Business Executive, personal transformation coach, and keynote speaker.

Paul is an expert at achieving elite business performance with nearly 15 years experience as a professional sports executive in the NFL and NBA. Surrounded by high performance leaders and teams my entire career, he has found one common theme as the foundation for all thriving organizations and championship cultures – purpose.

If you’re a leader with a disengaged workforce, you should reach out to Paul Epstein by going to https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulepsteinspeaks/ or https://paulepsteinspeaks.com/purpose-labs-llc.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Leaders with a disengaged workforce should reach out Paul Epstein by visiting his LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulepsteinspeaks/ or by going to his website at https://paulepsteinspeaks.com/purpose-labs-llc.

* I help disengaged individuals and teams get out of that hole, and bring out the fire in their hearts. https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulepsteinspeaks/.

* I know success is the name of the game. And that’s the language we speak in https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulepsteinspeaks/.

* I started to understand these universal truths about leadership and that inspired me to the point that I started Purpose Labs. https://paulepsteinspeaks.com/purpose-labs-llc.

To view the video interview click here.

#657: William Tate and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Helping women in financial transitions with the money landscape method. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert William Tate (https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-h-tate-8a23237/), who is a co-founder of Wealth Master Club, a family man, globetrotter, USA women’s empowerment advocate, and retired army veteran.

He co-founded Wealth Master Club to be a USA WOMEN’s ONLY action-oriented and rapid progress alliance specifically designed to benefit, empower and transform their female members’ mindset, beliefs, and actions (MBA) regarding their life/work/money balance by doing a deep dive book study process from some of the top USA though leaders.

If you’re a woman in transition, or you know somebody reaching out to William H. Tape makes sense. William Tate. https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-h-tate-8a23237/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Women who are undergoing financial transition should reach out and contact William Tate by going to his website at https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-h-tate-8a23237/.

* I work with women who are going through mental, emotional and spiritual transitions. https://www.linkedin.

This week we talk to Priyanka Sharma, who is the General Manager of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. The group has assembled a massive collection of 600 vendor members, ranging from little-known startups to the biggest companies on the Internet. The foundation is the steward of more than 80 open source projects that support Kubernetes, Prometheus, Vitess, Envoy and other technologies that deal with distributed data structures, network policies and cloud orchestration. The foundation helps to put on an annual conference, which has a business value track this year, and has a library of webinars to help spread the word about the revolutionary technology called software containers. She told us during the podcast that “Life isn’t a zero sum game and we have to work together” to help market cloud tech.

Our interest in this portfolio is high — Paul has written most recently about the foundation here for SiliconAngle.  We spoke to her about her role at CNCF and the tactics the foundation has found to help mainstream IT adopt cloud and container technologies, getting her members to agree on a single standard, how to sell open source to the prototypical “pointy-haired boss” and what tech marketers can learn from the cloud evolution that they can apply to solve their own business problems.

 

 

#654: Deidra Cox and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Build your own brand through career imagery. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Deidra Cox (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecareermaker/), the Founder and Chief Brand Strategist of Career Imagery, LLC. She utilizes a 3-tiered strategy,

(optimization-branding-marketing) which propels audience engagement and props the job seekers ahead of the game through high visibility.

Deidra Cox is committed to career development coaching, brand marketing, executive coaching, resume writing, brand consulting, interview preparation, and public speaking. She has expertise in branding through digital resume and LinkedIn transformations. She puts back the “humanity factor” into the automated recruitment process through targeted networking-based marketing approach.

If you’re in a job search and just not getting the results you need, you should reach out to Deidra Cox by logging on to https://careerimagery.com/ and by visiting https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecareermaker/.

Here are several AHA messages from this episode:

* Job hunters who are navigating through drastically changing job marketing strategies should reach out to Deidra Cox. #CareerImagery https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecareermaker/ @The1CareerMaker

* In terms of job seeking, I can say that technology has definitely changed the game! #CareerImagery https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecareermaker/ @The1CareerMaker

* I will say experience is the primary factor in establishing my credibility. I’ve been in the recruitment industry for over 20 years and have worked with tens and thousands of clients. #CareerImagery https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecareermaker/ @The1CareerMaker

* As a servant leader, I enjoy working with my clients, holding their hand in the process to make sure that we’re really taking care of all their questions, and to make them feel very comfortable. #CareerImagery https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecareermaker/ @The1CareerMaker

* We’re more than just a resume company. We actually brand and market our clients through accomplishment driven resumes, not just task-oriented, but through optimizing the LinkedIn profile. #CareerImagery https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecareermaker/ @The1CareerMaker

To view the video interview click here.

#655: Kevin Donahue and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Create a better future for your own people and your clients through impactful thought leadership. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Kevin Donahue (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kdonahuepro/), successful communications and PR executive, long-term business associate and senior director for Protiviti’s Global Marketing and Communications team. He manages the leading global consulting firm’s thought leadership program overseeing the development of a wealth of content.

Kevin is a highly experienced manager with proven leadership and staff development skills...