Growth Driven

Growth Driven

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Growth Driven episodes

  • After Interviewing 50 Business Experts, Here's What I've Learned

    https://virtualcmo.expert/​

    Whether it’s getting an “in” with an influencer, intriguing a new audience or adding a totally unique angle to an existing idea, tapping the right people on the shoulder for their insight with an expert interview is a move that makes a lot of sense for brand publishers.

    Have a goal, not a narrative.
    Interviewers often try to shape the interview to get experts to say very particular things. They’ve got the story pre-planned in their minds and instead of treating an interview like a fact-finding session, it becomes a sort of game to see how they can get their interviewees to agree with their point of view.

    Yes, you need to have a goal for the piece and an idea of the information your audience is hoping to gain from the interview. But no, don’t ask leading questions or try to shove your expert’s experiences into a narrow box.

    Study up on your subject. 
    Contrary to popular opinion, there IS such thing as a stupid question, and they come when you have no idea about the subject you’re investigating.

    Interviewing an expert is not the time to be looking for basic definitions or probing them for statistics you could have found somewhere else. Take the time to fully understand the issue and the angles you’re investigating so that you can hold a conversation without sounding like a redneck at a knitting convention.

    As a bonus, look at interviews they’ve done in the past. Are they being asked the same questions over and over again? Look for a different angle or a way to surprise them; in-demand experts love when an interview feels like something new instead of a rehash of past engagements.

    Study up on your expert.
    Building rapport and creating a comfortable atmosphere is hugely important to an interview. Not only that, but you’ll look completely foolish if you don’t know anything about the person you’re interviewing.

    You can impress experts by quoting things they’ve said in the past, researching their position on an issue or making note of some of their accomplishments in the field. You can also put them at ease by making small talk (if they’ve got the time) about some of the things you know they’re passionate about, opening them up to answer some of your tougher or more detailed questions.

    Choose open-ended questions.
    Yes/No questions don’t really make for great conversation. Your goal is to come up with questions that invite your expert to expand on what you’re asking. Matters of opinion, accounts of past events or even presenting an alternative viewpoint for their commentary are all ways to get them to offer meaningful answers instead of binary responses.

    Group questions into topics of discussion.
    When you get into the interview, you don’t just want to rattle off questions one by one. You need to be prepared to be fluid with the conversation and to ask the things that get to the heart of the matter. Group the questions you’ve prepared in a way that inspires a natural flow of conversation.

    Don’t open with the toughest questions, build up to them. Arrange questions in a way that allows experts to build on their answers to your previous questions. And mentally, learn to treat an interview like a discussion on a topic instead of a Q&A period.

    15 min
  • Michael Hellickson - Real Estate Coach & CEO of Club Wealth

    Michael Hellickson - Real Estate Coach

    https://clubwealth.com/​

    Michael Hellickson sold real estate for over 20 years, listing and selling over 100 homes/month, and carrying over 750 active and pending listings at one point. He began his real estate career in 1991 and has been among the top 1% of all agents nationally, before he even graduated high school! At the pinnacle of his sales career, Michael and his team were literally #1 Nationwide, out of over 1,000,000 real estate agents/teams!

    In addition to posting big numbers in retail and REO, Michael is considered by most to be the #1 short sale expert in the World. During his career, Hellickson has spoken to thousands of agents and organizations nationwide and has also been featured on several national television and radio programs including Glenn Beck, CNBC, The Dave Ramsey Show, and The Fox Business Network among many other local and regional programs.

    He is the founder and President of Club Wealth® Coaching and Consulting. Unique in the industry, EVERY Club Wealth Coach has sold MORE real estate than the agents and/or brokers they coach. The only Real Estate Coaching Company that offers a “Double your income, money back guarantee”, Club Wealth® is the #1 Coaching Company in the World in the Team space!

    Michael served a 2-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Hamburg Germany. He and his wife, Tara, and their two children, Austin and Madison, make their home in Bonney Lake, Washington together with their 2 English Pointers, Ginger and Ruby. Connect with Michael at www.ClubWealth.com

    42 min
  • Three Organizational Basics for Leadership

    https://virtualcmo.expert/​

    Three Organizational Basics 

    1. A Set Schedule. One that does not hinder production, but facilitates productivity. 

    2. Established Agendas. Always publish an agenda so team members can properly prepare.

    3. Assign Tasks In Writing. Be specific in what you expect in terms of performance and duties fulfilled. 

    An organization that is established as a means for achieving defined objectives has been referred to as a formal organization. Its design specifies how goals are subdivided and reflected in subdivisions of the organization. Divisions, departments, sections, positions, jobs, and tasks make up this work structure. Thus, the formal organization is expected to behave impersonally in regard to relationships with clients or with its members. 

    According to Weber's definition, entry and subsequent advancement is by merit or seniority. Each employee receives a salary and enjoys a degree of tenure that safeguards him from the arbitrary influence of superiors or of powerful clients. The higher his position in the hierarchy, the greater his presumed expertise in adjudicating problems that may arise in the course of the work carried out at lower levels of the organization. It is this structure that forms the basis for the appointment of heads or chiefs of administrative subdivisions in the organization and endows them with the authority attached to their position.

    11 min
  • How To Improve Local SEO - Become The “Digital Mayor”

    How To Improve Local SEO - Become The “Digital Mayor”
    https://virtualcmo.expert/​

    The term “digital mayor” was made famous by Gary Vaynerchuk, an online marketing leader, as he spoke at the Inman Connect Conference in the summer of 2016. 

    This concept, applied to your market, can exponentially improve your local SEO and online marketing results.

    Whether you’re already focused on a specific neighborhood or you’re planning to target a specific area in the future, getting a vision for becoming a “digital mayor” is a necessary first step to becoming the go-to expert for your area.

    Whether you’re already focused on a specific neighborhood or you’re planning to target a specific area in the future, getting a vision for becoming a “digital mayor” is a necessary first step to becoming the go-to expert for your area.

    In order to become more effective digital marketers, agents and brokers must develop this same depth of community knowledge and use it to market their listings and services.
    Once you identify a target neighborhood or area, then you can start thinking about how you can own the area digitally. Do some research, really get to know what it’s like to live, work, and play there. And share that information online. Work to establish yourself as a digital mayor: the online, go-to, local information source for prospective

    Create daily content about the 20-mile radius around the area where you’re doing business. 
    Review the establishments in your area (restaurants, coffee shops, etc.)
    Put out a daily piece of content featuring a local school
    Interview the individual teachers
    Find the stories tucked away around the neighborhood, and all the iconic things that make your area what it is (and create content that tells those stories!)
    Review every single local shop and business
    Interview people who have lived in the neighborhood for 50 years

    How To Improve Local SEO - Become The “Digital Mayor”

    13 min
  • Top 5 Small Business Marketing Tactics for 2021 With Cebron Walker

    Top 5 Small Business Marketing Tactics for 2021 With Cebron Walker
    https://www.walkerkreative.com/​
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClwe...​

    Walker Kreative, led by Creative Director and CEO, Cebron Walker, was founded in 2015 with the mission to provide innovative, effective, and integrated branding and communications solutions that help our clients grow their businesses and realize their marketing goals.

    Our team has been working in the field of marketing for decades. We won’t claim to have done it all… but pretty darn close. The 1990s and 2000s saw a massive transformation from traditional marketing and advertising to today where everything is done digitally. We grew up through all this. We know the craft and its rules, techniques, and tools and we want to help you reach your business goals and dreams.

    As the world grows noisier and more chaotic by the day, you need strong brand presence and marketing to drive awareness, engagement and leads to your business. You must be visible and stay top of the consumer mind for existing clients as well as potential new customers. Impressions of your brand, as seen on social media, a website or in videos on YouTube, should create a perception of quality and credibility that attracts people to you. These “touches” out there in the “the local or global market place”, repeated over and over reinforce existing relationships and bring new ones to life.

    While every business or practice begins with the boss doing it all and getting help from a family member or staffer while they grow the business, there comes a point, often sooner than expected, where doing it all by yourself gets to be too much. This can be especially true with the field of marketing. There are so many pieces and all of them play important roles: branding, social media, graphics, responsive website design, video, public relations, content writing, digital advertising and analytics tracking to mention a few. Keeping these all in play can be quite a burden and time consuming.

    At Walker Kreative we take on the marketing hat, relieving owners of this burden and letting them do their own jobs. Our passion is to help the small business owner, the practitioner, the medium sized company executive take the next growth step.

    If your company has an in-house marketing coordinator, fantastic. We work well as a powerful support team to pick up pieces of the marketing mix that are falling by the wayside or would be better handled by an outside agency.

    When you begin with Walker Kreative you will find that developing your brand is our first target—the foundation from which everything else builds. It isn’t always required, especially if you’ve been in business for a while. But it tends to need a little review and refreshing. Branding done properly will yield years of sustainable growth. This includes a mission statement, motif, and graphic standards including a logo, fonts, colors, image style and layout. These establish the way the world sees you and your company on every digital and traditional platform. With this foundation in place all the marketing tools, including your website, get built and unleased on your market to drive new people in your digital or brick-and-mortar doors.

    Our comprehensive services and tailored-to-you strategies mean you get only what you need and want, when you need it.

    42 min
  • 10 Biggest Business Trends in 2021 | New Small Business Trends 2021

    The 10 Biggest Business Trends in 2021 That Everyone Should Be Ready For
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardm...​

    10 Biggest Business Trends in 2021 | New Small Business Trends 2021

    While there are many who can't wait to bid adieu to 2020, there's no doubt the coronavirus pandemic and the ways businesses had to adjust to ensure their survival changed the trajectory of what 2021 will look like and what businesses should do to get ready for the upcoming year. As a futurist, I help companies understand the latest trends and technologies and offer guidance on how to prepare their businesses for them. Here are the top 10 trends that will drive every business in 2021. I believe every business around the world needs to be ready for these trends.

    For small businesses across America, 2020 has been one of the most challenging years in history.  Despite the coronavirus pandemic, small business owners have been resilient, pivoting, and adapting their business models to navigate continually changing conditions. With the new year on the horizon, there are potential new opportunities to take advantage of and ways to adapt to challenges you may face.

    10 Biggest Business Trends in 2021 | New Small Business Trends 2021



    12 min
  • How to Make A Great Living As An Artist with Leisa Collins

    Making A Great Living As An Artist with Leisa Collins
    https://leisacollins.com/

    Leisa Collins believes that art is a powerful means of communication and a potent weapon to bring about change. A successful working artist, she specializes in architectural art. Leisa travels extensively, is always involved in community art projects, and loves helping other artists fulfill their artistic passion by sharing her experience about the business side of the art world.
    A native of New Zealand, Collins carved a unique niche for herself as an acclaimed architectural artist, and her journey has been anything but conventional. 

    Passionate about architecture and travel, she rejected the confines of formal art training and instead honed her craft by exploration, practice and learning about her architectural subjects first-hand. Trips to Europe and other ancient corners of the world cemented her fascination with the historic roots of building styles and how they evolved into the modern era.

    Eventually settling in the United States, she became interested in the people and cultures that defined architecture throughout the history of this country. She made it her mission to drive from coast to coast, creating original paintings of homes that inspired her in every state. Due to her fine eye toward detail and her deep respect and curiosity about the stories behind each home, Collins’ commissioned house portraits were soon in high demand.

    In 2013, she established the Leisa Collins Historic Preservation Award to honor exceptional individuals committed to saving and restoring old buildings across the country. Collins’ work has been seen in many publications such as The New York Times, Huffington Post and Los Angeles Times.

    Nomads at heart, Collins and her husband Bruce enjoy experiencing the cultural and architectural diversity of new cities and have lived in all regions of the USA. They currently reside in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are always on the lookout for their next adventure.

    34 min
  • A Beginner's Guide To Public Relations Strategy

    A Beginner's Guide To Public Relations Strategy 
    https://virtualcmo.expert/

    DEFINITION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS - “GOOD WORKS, WELL PUBLICIZED”

    Good Works - Acts and deeds which are honorable or charitable. One of the qualities of good works is that it inspires others. 

    Well - 1. With skill and aptitude. 2. With a degree of completeness.

    Publicize - To give publicity to or draw public attention to; make widely known to the public.

    What Are Some Examples of Good Works?

    * Happy customers
    * Happy employees 
    * Successful partnerships
    * Case studies and success stories 
    * Volunteering
    * Community involvement 
    * New services and products 
    * Productivity achievements 
    * Recognitions and awards
    * Features in the media and industry news

    How Do We Publicize These Well?

    * Newsletters - email and snail mail
    * Blogging on your website
    * Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
    * Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)
    * Retargeting  
    * Social Media channels 
    * YouTube videos
    * Press and media outlets
    * Press releases and media relations 
    * Influencer collaboration
    * Positive reviews
    * Events and presentations 
    * Word of Mouth 

    A PR strategy will help you organize your PR activities and make strategic decisions about the best ways to communicate. It can also help you to use the stories in your business to draw in your target audience as well as increase your profile and build brand awareness.

    Public relations defines how a company communicates with people — customers, partners, journalists, philanthropists, politicians, and the general public. All businesses need public relations, regardless of their size or industry.

    Why? Because, nowadays, customers want to trust the brands they do business with — and nothing builds and fosters trust like public relations.

    Earned media
    Earned media is the tactic used to boost conversation around your brand. It’s essentially word-of-mouth and is arguably the best PR tactic to build your reputation.

    Earned media is the hardest type of PR media to obtain. It takes a lot of effort, consistency, and hard work to establish it — hence why it’s “earned”.

    Earned media includes:

    Mentions in industry news and reviews
    Praise from customers on social media
    High rankings on search engines

    10 min
  • Family Intervention for Drug Addiction with Robert O Newman

    Family Intervention for Drug Addiction with Robert O Newman

    https://www.newmaninterventions.com/about/

    The intervention planning process starts with contacting Newman Interventions to answer your questions, talk about addiction, and learn about the many resources families can access.  If you are unsure of who an intervention is for or if it is the right time to organize an intervention, these are questions that a professional interventionist will answer. Intervention is done at any stage of addiction.  Typically, intervention is for an addict who is unwilling to recognize they have a problem and does not want to go to treatment. The family may have tried to convince them to seek out help or have never broached the topic with them.  Whichever the situation is, a professional intervention does ensure they become committed to treatment. There is never a wrong time to stage an intervention, and early intervention does save lives. However, it is common for families to stage interventions after something horrible has happened.  If the family knows there is an addiction problem, an early intervention prevents an awful event from happening.

    Understanding the process of an intervention is essential, and when you engage Newman Interventions, our team takes the family through every step.  Planning is extensive, and preparing the family for everything to come contributes to a successful intervention. There are also different intervention modalities that a family can explore when organizing an intervention.  The certified intervention specialist you are speaking with can go over these modalities and methods used during an intervention.

    The intervention planning process is extensive, and the first phone call made to Newman Interventions provides vital information about how an intervention is planned.  When our intervention teams travel to your state, there is extensive planning done on the family education day. The proper planning and preparing the family for what is to come will ensure a successful intervention.

    Whether a family is planning a solo intervention with no intervention specialist or is hiring a certified interventionist, there is extensive preparation involved.  Successful intervention preparation starts with contacting Newman Interventions. Speaking with experts helps with gathering information and preparing your own intervention or organizing one with a professional interventionist.  The execution of an intervention is successful when everyone involved is on the same page, and all the problems leading up to the intervention have been sorted out. Professional interventionists are qualified to help families be prepared as possible and go into an intervention expecting anything to happen.  When the intervention is a success, there is still much work to be done. The addict is to be transported from the intervention location to the treatment program. This is best done with a professional interventionist because they know what to expect along the way during transport.  


    The family will still have much to do when the intervention is a success.  Family members will have to stay firm and committed to their bottom line and the boundaries they have set.  Newman Interventions has extensive experience with helping families stay organized when the intervention is a success, and if it happens, the addict does not agree, the family must be prepared and know what to do.  During the entire time an addict is in treatment they may still try to manipulate the family and find a way to leave treatment. Newman Interventions stays committed to the family and will work with them before, during, and after the intervention.

    38 min
  • Effective Presentation Tips with Fred Miller

    Effective Presentation Tips with Fred Miller
    https://nosweatpublicspeaking.com/

    Many meetings, conferences, and seminars are now on-line. These virtual gatherings are very different from in-person, live events. Attending can be challenging.  While presenting can be extremely challenging, it can lead to new OPPORTUNITIES!

    Focus on your Audience’s Needs
    Your presentation needs to be built around what your audience is going to get out of the presentation.

    As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs and wants to know, not what you can tell them.

    While you’re giving the presentation, you also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and react to that.

    You need to make it easy for your audience to understand and respond.

    29 min

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Learn from top CEOs, CMOs, authors and industry leaders on proven strategies which are driving growth in influence, new customers, and profits.