FIR Podcast Network

#562: Tim Hagen and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Increase the trust level in your organization for talent development and retention. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Tim Hagen (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhagen/), keynote speaker, trainer, and President of Progress Coaching where he is the premier workplace coaching expert teaching organizations and leaders how to coach to drive and retain top talent. He also leads and speaks at the Coaching Conversation Podcast and is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, which is a select group of coaches in the country selected by Forbes Magazine.

Tim is the leader in coaching and training reinforcement where he helps companies decrease traditional training costs and build engaging work cultures. His work includes keynote speaking and projects, helping publicly traded companies , professional sports teams, large service, and manufacturing companies drive success through coaching.

If your employees are lacking leadership and engagement, consider reaching out to Tim Hagen by visiting his websites http://ProgressCoachingLeader.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhagen/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Business owners with a lack of trust in engagement inside their organization should reach out to Tim Hagen. https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhagen/

* The fundamental problem in many organizations is the lack of trust. If you don’t have this, in essence, you have nothing. How do you address this concern? #ConversationalLeadership http://ProgressCoachingLeader.com @TimHagen

* I can bring expert knowledge and a history of providing custom, tailored workforce skill development programs with my perceived credibility in employee engagement initiatives to meet the unique needs in your team. #ConversationalLeadership https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhagen/

* If you’re a support manager, I can teach you in your endeavors such as in the way you schedule time with your employees to coach, motivate, and inspire your people. #ConversationalLeadership http://ProgressCoachingLeader.com @TimHagen

* Do you have employees falling behind the excuse of “I don’t have time?” Or maybe you find yourself with the same excuse, too? I can position you and your team to build engagement through #ConversationalLeadership. http://ProgressCoachingLeader.com @TimHagen

To view the video interview click here.

#563: Robert Pizzini and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Gain superior executive level competency and confidence in lifelong leadership. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Robert Pizzini (https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-pizzini-70a27715/), award-winning CEO, consultant, speaker, retired US Navy and bronze star recipient, managing partner and chief executive officer of iFly Virginia Beach Indoor Skydiving, and founder of Elevate Your Leadership. He’s an unconventional mentor to many, a leadership coach and a high energy speaker who helps to develop and advance leaders at all levels in a most genuine manner.

Robert is passionate in refreshing and energizing leaders for the re...

You know what you know – and if you’re lucky, you know what you don’t know. But do you know what affects what you know without you knowing it?

Try saying THAT five times fast! It’s a mouthful. Lots of “knows” in there! 

This might be easier: do you ever sit back and think about where your knowledge, decisions, and understanding are coming from—and if all of that information is accurate?

We all have internal biases and are prone to errors in decision making. So do the people we work with.

And that means we often don’t know everything we really NEED to know about a situation we’re developing a plan for.

This is how the things going on inside our heads, and the things we have nothing to do with can influence the quality and success of our communications plans. Plus, we have to know how to mitigate the damage it can cause.

There are a whole lot of categories of things we don’t know. My personal list includes astrophysics, why it’s not legal to hunt squirrels for sport, and the economics of high-end children’s clothing.

Narrowing it down would be helpful now; we’re talking about how the things we don’t know relate to our communications strategy, after all. That means both our internal biases and the external factors that can throw us for a loop when we don’t stay aware that we don’t know everything. I mean, unless you’re me because my kid is still young enough to think I know everything. 

This happens a lot in politics and around the coronavirus. We find things that support the way we think and poo-poo facts that support a different opinion.

It’s a problem in our personal lives—and a bigger one in our professional lives.

We have confirmation bias, the curse of knowledge, and the context from which those two things stem. And that, my friends, is what we discuss on this week’s Spin Sucks podcast episode.

#558: Mario Martinez and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Accelerate your growth by increasing qualified conversations. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Mario Martinez (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/), CEO, Founder, Modern Sales Evangelist, Keynote Speaker, and Host of the Modern Selling Podcast.

As a Speaker & Digital Sales Evangelist, Mario is passionate about sales. He has spent 84 consecutive quarters in sales & leadership helping to grow revenues for small to large fortune 100 sales teams. He began the Digital Sales Transformation movement in which he aims to change the rules of modern buyers. He believes that sales and marketing professionals must align their understanding to the needs of the buyers. That they must meet in their digitally connected, socially engaged, mobile attached, video-hungry preferences.

If you recognize that as a B2B sales leader, your organization is not generating the quantity or quality of quality of qualified sales conversations than it should, you might want to reach out to Mario Martinez by going to his profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/ or visiting his profile at https://vengreso.com/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* B2B sales leaders struggling to increase qualified conversations should reach out to Mario Martinez. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/

* We provide virtual sales training done over a period of time with B2B sellers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/

* We have different solutions that we provide to clients and it’s standardized based upon actual science of how learners learn over the course of time. What we do is customize our virtual training. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/

* We customized through our virtual sales teams to virtualize our training, the information, and context about how to engage with buyers over the digital platform and that’s our main focus. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/

* Our main focus is digital sales training done virtually teaching sellers how to leverage these digital formats like social media, video, and create more sales qualified conversations as a result of the right engagement. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/

To view the video interview click here.

#559: Chris Bryant and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Sprucing up fan engagement through a game-based learning and service-centric culture. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Chris Bryant (https://www.linkedin.com/in/MrChrisBryant), is the Chief Experience Officer of Bryant Group Experience. He is also an award-winning expert, master trainer, and speaker in elevating the customer, client, and fan experience.

Chris brings years of experience working with legendary brands like Nordstrom and the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. He works with professional sports franchises that are seeking to spruce up their fan engagement. He deploys game-based learning and programs and promotes a service-centric culture to help them not only engage their fans but to keep them coming back.

Whether you’re in a corporation or sports franchise, if you realize the need to spruce up #FanEngagement,

#554: Kieran Flanagan and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Inject inspiration and creativity to laugh and learn in a corporate setting. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Kieran Flanagan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkkieranf/), leadership speaker, author, trainer, mentor and co-founder of The Impossible Institute and The Behaviour Report. She is rated in the “Top 25 C-Suite Speakers to watch” by Meetings & Conventions USA; appears as an expert commentator on ABC’s 702 Breakfast Show with Wendy Harmer, and in Channel 7’s Sunrise, Sky Business News and SBS News.

Keiran leads training and innovation with corporates, entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals to help them think differently about what they do and how they do it. She helps organizations laugh while smart people are taught how to be people-smart.

If you’re seeing syndromes of a boring corporate training and need to get that fixed, consider reaching out to Kieran Flanagan by visiting her websites https://www.kieranflanagan.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkkieranf/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Organizations that think corporate education is boring should reach out to Kieran Flanagan. https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkkieranf/

* Corporate training and education is still as boring as it was during the industrial age. I can help you and your company have fun while your smart people become more people-smart. #Edutainment https://www.kieranflanagan.com/ @ThinkKieranF

* My training, webinars and keynote speaking can inspire your people to laugh and learn at the same time. Are you ready to change the way you approach learning and training in your organization? #Edutainment https://www.kieranflanagan.com/ @ThinkKieranF

* My role is to teach you how to read and lead human behavior. Do you know how to motivate people, including yourself? Do you know how to hack who you are and get you to where you want to be? #Edutainment https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkkieranf/

* I can train you to develop your change leadership through influence, ideation and implementation in a way that’s not boring at all. #Edutainment https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkkieranf/

To view the video interview click here.

#555: Kim Walsh Phillips and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Transform and grow your business with supercharged creative digital marketing. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Kim Walsh Phillips (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimwalshphillips/), social selling strategist, podcaster, coach, and founder of Powerful Professionals, a business coaching and education company. She was recently named #475 in the Inc 5000 as the best-selling author of the “The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business” and “The No BS Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing.”

Kim is a multi-seven figure business entrepreneur with no business degree but she’s spoken to many spectacular stages including Synergy Business School in Moscow, GKIC Super Conversion, and Etisilat Corporate in Dubai, among others. She is obsessed with empowering entrepreneurs to ten times (10x) the...

Welcome back, everyone…and welcome to 2021! While I don’t have high expectations of the first six months of this year, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. A big, bright, yellow light in the form of a vaccine that will allow us to eventually go places without masks, see our friends and family again, and, most importantly, hug all the people!

I, for one, cannot wait!

As I am wont to do at the start of each year, we have a PESO Model primer on today’s Spin Sucks podcast episode. Why you need it, why your communications program should evolve, how to measure it, and why executives love it. I mean, love. It’s something they can wrap their arms around and they appreciate knowing what we do isn’t some dark arts magic. They understand how what we do affects their business goals—and how we can measure it, too.

So let’s start this year off with some thoughts on how we might do more with the talents and skills we have in 2021.

What Is an Integrated PESO Model?

The PESO Model takes the four media types—paid, earned, shared, and owned—and merges them together.

Paid Media. Paid media, in this case, doesn’t refer to big, fancy commercials and highly creative print ads. On the contrary, paid media for a communications program is social media advertising, sponsored content, and email marketing.

Earned Media. Earned media is what you know as either publicity or media relations. It’s getting your name in print. Having a newspaper or trade publication write about you. Appearing on the noon news to talk about your product. Appearing on podcasts. It’s what the PR industry is typically known for because it’s one of the few tangible things done. Until now!

Shared Media. Shared media is also known as social media. It’s evolving as well and continues to build beyond just marketing or customer service teams using it. Organizations have begun to use it as their main source of communications internally and externally. It includes not just social networking, but community, partnerships, distribution, and promotion. 

Owned Media. Owned media is otherwise known as content. It is something you own, and it lives on your website or blog. You control the messaging and tell the story in a way you want it told. 

When you integrate the four media types, you may find you also have influencer engagement, partnerships, and incentive programs that extend beyond your internal walls.

And when the PESO Model is working at its best, it can help you establish authority. Authority means you’re a thought leader. Others see you as an expert … even your competitors. And Google links to you on the first page of results because it also sees you as an expert.

This is the golden ticket. But how do you achieve it?

Listen to this week’s episode to learn more.

Resources Included

* CoSchedule

* PESO Model Content Map

* The Communicator’s Playbook

* PR Metrics

* PESO Model Certification

#550: Brandon Dawson and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Grow your business and maintain your core values and family life by leaning in to your team’s passion and aligning it to the business. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Brandon Dawson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/BrandonMDawson), the Co-Founder, CEO, and Managing Partner of Cardone Ventures. He is also a serial entrepreneur, business strategist, and author.

Brandon is a respected and sought-after lecturer and CEO advisor on entrepreneurship, leadership, and business-building strategies. He provides mastermind coaching and partnership programs for business owners who are looking to scale their business without compromising their core values and family life. He is focused on helping business owners and entrepreneurs maximize their value and quality of life through the attainment of personal, professional, and financial goals.

If you want to #GrowYourBusiness but you’re struggling with doing that while maintaining your #CoreValues and family life at the same time, reach out to Brandon Dawson and Cardone Ventures via https://www.cardoneventures.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/BrandonMDawson.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Business owners who struggle with growth while maintaining value within their business and the quality of life that they’d like to have should reach out to Brandon Dawson. #GrowYourBusiness #CoreValues https://www.cardoneventures.com/ @BrandonMDawson

* The constant problem that people are talking about is serving their shareholders while at the same time serving their families. And, most of the time, the family side loses. That’s where we come in and help. #CoreValues https://www.cardoneventures.com/ @BrandonMDawson

* We help align the technical aspect of growth for the business owners and their team members in order to impact the relevant things that they can control. #GrowYourBusiness #CoreValues https://www.cardoneventures.com/ @BrandonMDawson

* Our mastermind coaching programs and partnership programs can help you grow and scale your business while maximizing the profitability and overall value. #GrowYourBusiness #CoreValues https://www.cardoneventures.com/ @BrandonMDawson

* Having acquired and managed hundreds of companies and generated millions of revenue gives me the credibility to help business owners scale up their business while maintaining their #CoreValues and family life at the same time. https://www.cardoneventures.com/ @BrandonMDawson

To view the video interview click here.

#551: Gary Hernbroth and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

How to make something important happen by knowing the things that you need to work on. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Gary Hernbroth (https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyhernbroth/), the chief motivating officer and founder of Training for Winners. He is an engaging, transformative professional speaker and business trainer who inspires audiences and clients to achieve greater success and innovation by finding ...

#546: Ellen Grace Henson and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Ramp up your revenue with a cross-functional team. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Ellen Grace Henson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellengracehenson/), a business consultant. She is the founder and managing director of Marketing Mechanics.

Grace Henson helps executives and teams to have strategic conversations on what is at the core of their company– their customer. She aims to engage and align towards 100% customer satisfaction and business success.

If you are a C-suite executive and you recognize that you’re losing revenue, Ellen Grace Hanson can help turn it around. Connect with her via https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellengracehenson/. You can also check out http://www.mktgmech.com/ for more information.

Here are several AHA messages from this episode:

* C-suite executives who are losing #Revenue should consider reaching out to Ellen Grace Henson. http://www.mktgmech.com/ @EGHenson

* I do a lot of research on customers; I aggregate other people’s research as well. There’s been a lot of research done about the advantages of high employee engagement. Consequently, I aggregate those and share them with my audience. #Revenue http://www.mktgmech.com/ @EGHenson

* I do have what I call alignment think tanks, which are a series of workshops that bring that customer knowledge to cross-functional teams. And ultimately, that delivers the value to the customer throughout the full customer experience. #Revenue http://www.mktgmech.com/ @EGHenson

* I bring in other consultants to complement my services to ensure clients are getting exactly what they need, so that they can have happier customers, engaged employees, and fix their #Revenue challenge and really have an increase in revenue. http://www.mktgmech.com/ @EGHenson

* I’ve worked with over 100 companies across a range of markets. And out of all that experience that I mustered, I’ve been able to develop methodologies and frameworks that help my clients deliver higher levels of customer satisfaction. #Revenue http://www.mktgmech.com/ @EGHenson

To view the video interview click here.

#547: Susan Thomson and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Helping business owners turn their stress into a stronger, better and healthier business by having a strategic plan. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Susan Thomson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmthomson/). She is the CEO of ActionCOACH Business & Executive Coaching and a Board Director of Buy Build Sell WI. She helps business owners from all industries and all sizes take their businesses from good to great.

Susan and her team live by a simple premise. They build confidence, challenge you to see what’s possible, and inspire you to transform the business you have into the business you want. They are also dedicated to giving back to communities and supporting the efforts of those working to improve their own lives and the lives of others.

#542: Dr. Jeffrey Magee and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Lead your organization profitably and efficiently into the future through accountability. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Dr. Jeffrey Magee (https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjeffspeaks/), bestselling author, global talent development expert, publisher, leadership trainer, speaker, sales management coach, and strategic advisor of the C-suite network. He brings over two decades of Executive and Corporate Development expertise working on both start-up to mature-growth market business sectors.

Dr. Magee maintains long term clients working with associations and organizations at the board level, including profit and nonprofit, private and public sectors, to work with the multi-million dollar earnings market through achieving billion-dollar earnings. He helps organizations achieve collapsing down years of needed growth into months, months into weeks, and weeks into days.

If you want to increase your understanding of accountability in leading, growing and developing human capital, consider reaching out to Dr. Jeffrey Magee and visit his websites https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjeffspeaks/ and https://www.jeffreymagee.com/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Business leaders and C-suite executives in need of productivity through accountability should reach out to Dr. Jeffrey Magee. https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjeffspeaks/

* Accountability is the biggest word on the planet today. It is huge, powerful and fundamental in life and in your existence in the space that you own to show credibility. https://www.jeffreymagee.com/ @drjeffspeaks

* I can teach you how to have the commitment and drive to succeed in life and in business through sustainable solutions leveraging your human capital into the future that deliver ROI now. #Accountability https://www.jeffreymagee.com/ @drjeffspeaks

* Does your team have skill and experience levels that are behind what the market demands? I can help you develop a strong senior and executive bench-strength with fully engaged and productive talents to accelerate success. #Accountability https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjeffspeaks

* My role is to help you create systems, processes, and procedures that generate massive return of investment right now. #Accountability https://www.jeffreymagee.com/ @drjeffspeaks

To view the video interview click here.

#543: Sonya Sigler and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Create real world game plans to get unstuck and go to the next level. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Sonya Sigler (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonyasigler/), legal and operations executive, speaker, leadership coach, strategy consultant, philanthropist, COO of Real Identities LLC and CEO of PractiGal LLC. She has been an in-house IP and corporate lawyer for over 25 years, has worked with Fortune 500 companies like SEGA and Intuit, and shares her books “Welcome to the Next Level” and “What’s Next for Me” for free from her website.

Sonya focuses on strategic planning and the implementation of solutions to difficul...

#538: Tom Matzen and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Building your brand and global movement through effective high-ticket programs. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Tom Matzen (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommatzen/), who is the co-founder of Embark Million Dollar Authority Partnership. He helps entrepreneurs create high-ticket programs that guarantee results.

Tom is an international best-selling author and seminar presenter. He has been able to share his message of business success and failure to more than 100,000 people on 4 continents. His personal coaching clients have generated more than one hundred million in sales in dozens of industries. Tom’s vision is to empower entrepreneurs to be the greatest force for good they can be.

If you are an unknown entrepreneur, and you’re trying to get your brand out to the marketplace, you should consider reaching out to Tom Matzen by visiting his website https://embarkmilliondollarauthority.com and going to https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommatzen.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Unknown #Entrepreneurs should reach out to Tom Matzen. https://embarkmilliondollarauthority.com @ravingfans4life

* Part of the problem in this world is that way too many #Entrepreneurs fail even when there’s more money and knowledge than before. Our mission is to reverse the failure rate of small businesses across the globe. https://embarkmilliondollarauthority.com @ravingfans4life

* We can help #Entrepreneurs succeed by inspiring change and getting them to lead with strategy. As a result, they can build their brand and make the type of income they deserve to make. https://embarkmilliondollarauthority.com @ravingfans4life

* We create high-ticket programs where we work with #Entrepreneurs to build skills, accountability, and mentorship for them. If you are an unknown entrepreneur, we can help you deliver the impact that you desire. https://embarkmilliondollarauthority.com @ravingfans4life

* Every business is a movement. I’ve spent the last 10 years helping #Entrepreneurs figure out how to create movements where people will support their vision. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommatzen/ @ravingfans4life

To view the video interview click here.

#539: Stan Phelps and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Shift your business paradigm and drive loyalty and sales. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Stan Phelps (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanphelps/), Keynote Speaker and Workshop Facilitator at StanPhelpsSpeaks.com and PurpleGoldfish.com, In-Person and Virtual Keynotes & Workshops That Drive Differentiation.

Stan is a Forbes Contributor, TEDx Speaker, and Certified Speaking Professional. He is passionate about creating meaningful differentiation to win the hearts of both employees and customers. He aims to increase loyalty, retention and referrals. Since he focuses on loyalty and business growth, he helps companies shift their business paradigm so that they can build a culture of ongoing commitment rather than a campaign.

If you’re part of a company with anemic referrals and loyalty, you should reach out to Stan Phelps by going to his website at

What a crazy year! For those working in internal comms, it’s been nothing short of a rollercoaster, personally and professionally. Yet, we had some silver linings – and for Sharon and me, it was about tapping into experts to guide us through these trying times.

At the end of every EE Voice podcast, we always ask our guests for their one piece of advice to leave with listeners. Here, we gather them all in one place, in less than 15 minutes. Our amazing guests this year included:

* Andy Gilman, on crisis comms during Covid

* Mark Dollins (twice!), on employee comms during this crisis year– and how to get in front of the third wave

* Stephanie Bickel of Speak by Design, on how to spice up virtual meetings

* Laura Field on going gently with yourself into these trying times

* Steven Crescenzo, on how to make the important interesting

* Jon Stemmle, encouraging students to take a chance on internal comms

* Louis de Schorlemer from Corporate Diplomat, on starting with the end in mind

Sharon and I wish all our listeners happy holidays and look forward to even more engaging conversations in 2021!