INspired INsider Podcast

Kellee Johnson is the Principal of The Ballast Group, an award-winning, integrated communications strategy firm. The Ballast Group helps leaders shape and articulate stories while reaching audiences and channels that matter. They have helped well-known companies such as Hyatt, Kaiser Permanente, Stericycle, Safeway, Target, and Cisco in all aspects of marketing, consumer products, healthcare, and high tech. Kellee founded The Ballast Group after serving as Director of Corporate Marketing for Abbott Laboratories and managing corporate communications for Tropicana, a multi-billion dollar division of PepsiCo.

Kellee's company also excels at positioning these organizations and others as thought leaders, featuring them on the US News, News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and other traditional media. In addition to her work at The Ballast Group, Kellee is a mentor for DePaul University's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center and 1871 Chicago, a board member of the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation, and a former member of the Rollins College Board of Trustees.

You've done the hard work of starting a great business but still face the struggle to create your story and put it in the news. The thought of it leaves a sour taste in your mouth and makes you think: 'why do I have to do that? Shouldn't I just wait until my brand gets noticed and talked about organically?'

Today's guest, Kellee Johnson, says the chances of getting in the news organically often require you to do something beyond being a fantastic business; you've got to earn it. It starts by knowing how to create your story to make it newsworthy and knowing who to share it with.

Learn more about branding, storytelling to take your brand to the next level on this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast. The host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz, sits down with Kellee Johnson, Principal at The Ballast Group. She explains their six-step process of getting brands on the news using the paid, earned, shared, and owned media model. Stay tuned to catch the details about it — and lots more!

Wesley Mathews is the Chief Revenue Officer of High Level Marketing, which he co-founded in 2009. It has quickly become one of the fastest-growing web marketing firms in Michigan, with revenues over $6.5 million. High Level Marketing provides website development, SEO, PPC, email marketing, social media, and more.

Wesley likes to describe himself as a "scrappy entrepreneur." Still, he is a strong leader who cares about helping small businesses grow. He is also on the board for EO Detroit. When he's not working, he takes part in golfing, fishing, and playing hockey with his four boys.

Growing a digital agency is a steep climb. For each step, you may struggle to grow your team and serve more clients while maintaining a high retention rate with existing clients. Unfortunately, not too many digital agencies can find the sweet spot between those areas. High Level Marketing is one of the few agencies that has cracked it and grown from 45 to 100 staff members with an 88% client retention rate.

How has High Level Marketing achieved such a feat, and how can you secure those same results? Wesley Mathews is here to share his tried-and-true solutions to scale your company, successfully serve your clients, and avoid common mistakes that agencies make.

Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz and the High Level Marketing agency's Chief Revenue Officer and Co-founder, Wesley Mathews. They talk about how Wesley's agency serves clients to achieve a high retention rate, how they grew their staff from 45 people to 100 people, their near misses, and the deep learnings along the way.

John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and was a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and has run his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

John has been the host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast since 2012. He has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, from Peter Diamandis and Adam Grant to Gary Vaynerchuk and Marie Forleo.

John is also the Co-founder of Rise25 Media, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners and generates ROI through their done-for-you podcast service.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25. He has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a Senior Producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders.

Dr. Weisz has also been running his podcast, Inspired Insider, since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs of companies such as P90X, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, the Orlando Magic, and many more.

In addition to running Rise25, Dr. Weisz owns a nutritional supplement business and continues to run his own chiropractic and massage facility, Chiropractical Solutions & Massage.

Podcasting is not just about the tools and software. Unfortunately, some people spend time and money on gadgets but spend no time thinking about the people they're going to feature. They also don't think about how a podcast will dramatically change their network of people.

If you're confused about which tools you need for creating podcasts — and don't want to buy equipment that'll be sitting on the corner of your desk — this episode is for you. You'll be pleasantly surprised that you don't need to spend a ton of money on sophisticated gadgets. Are you ready to get started?

Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz and his guest, John Corcoran, Co-founder at Rise25. They discuss why expensive podcast tools and software are not as important as you think. Their conversation covers what you should focus on when starting a show, how to seamlessly record your podcast, and where to host your show. And yes, they recommend affordable equipment to kick off your podcast.

Rod Holmes is the Managing Partner at Pilot Digital Marketing, a business that helps other companies with SEO, PPC, and strategic web development services. Rod has been working with the web since its inception in the mid-90s and has been focused on digital marketing for more than 10 years. During that time, he has seen many clients' businesses grow and transform.

He has a bizarrely wide range of experience: he has a background in manufacturing, he rode a bicycle around the world for 2 years, lived in Tokyo for 10 years, and started two businesses — and sold them. Rod returned to the States and ended up starting Pilot Digital Marketing with a partner, which he's been working at for 12 years.

Digital agency owners risk growing too quickly, expanding their services prematurely, and finding it hard to maintain a high level of client satisfaction. Over the last 14 years, Rod Holmes and the Pilot Digital Marketing team have focused on growth by cash flow to avoid this fate.

Growing by cash flow involves niching your services, building a solid culture, hiring for culture fit, and creating a great workplace.

How do you achieve all this for your agency? Rod is here to share all of the details with you!

Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz and guest Rod Holmes, Managing Partner at Pilot Digital Marketing. They talk about how Pilot Digital Marketing has evolved over the last 14 years and the insights along the way. Rod also reflects on his strategies for sustaining a great culture, getting more views on YouTube ads, and raising brand awareness.

Johnathan Grzybowski is the Chief Marketing Officer and Co-founder of Penji. Penji is an on-demand graphic design service that simplifies the creative process by offering unlimited and real-time access to vetted designers that will deliver a project in under 48 hours.

Penji obtained an Inc. 5000 in under three years and was nominated as a "top startup to watch" according to Philadelphia Magazine. Johnathan is also the host of The Blind Entrepreneur Podcast, which has been mentioned as a "top business podcast" on Apple Podcasts and downloaded over 100,000 times.

Imagine becoming a brand that offers complete creative services to businesses whose design needs are limitless. How significant would your monthly recurring revenue be? Now visualize how much work and chaos you'd have to face to become that brand — the struggle to find and retain good talent, keeping high client satisfaction, and the whole gamut.

Johnathan Grzybowski had to 'eat dirt' to get his graphics design services brand, Penji, off the ground. Not only are they offering unlimited design services at a monthly flat rate, but doing it in record time, quality, and with vetted and highly skilled designers. How have they managed to build such a brand with limited resources, and how can you do the same?

Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz and guest, Johnathan Grzybowski, Co-founder of Penji. They discuss the challenges of building a brand that renders unlimited services with a limited pool of promising talent. They talk about Johnathan's humble beginning to keep the lights on, the Penji marketing process, and more. You don't want to miss it!

John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and was a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and has run his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

John has been the host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast since 2012. He has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, from Peter Diamandis and Adam Grant to Gary Vaynerchuk and Marie Forleo.

John is also the co-founder of Rise25 Media, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners and generates ROI through their done-for-you podcast service.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25. He has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a Senior Producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders.

Dr. Weisz has also been running his podcast, Inspired Insider, since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs of companies such as P90X, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, the Orlando Magic, and many more.

In addition to running Rise25, Dr. Weisz owns a nutritional supplement business and continues to run his own chiropractic and massage facility, Chiropractical Solutions & Massage.

If you have a podcast, chances are that you're already creating thought leadership content. However, thought leadership isn't the only type of material you should feature on your podcast. There are four other types of content you should be creating to get ROI from podcasting.

If you don't already have a podcast and are wondering if it's a good fit for your brand, the answer is yes! You not only stand to create thought leadership content through it, but you also get an avenue to form new — and strengthen existing — business relationships. A podcast will allow you to grow your business, your network, and your knowledge.

Learn more about the types of content to feature on your podcast in this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast. The host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz, sits down with his Rise25 Co-founder, John Corcoran, to discuss the value of thought leadership, referral, and strategic partner-focused and client-based content. Plus, they share how to diversify and leverage your podcast. Stay tuned.

Dave Ulrich is Co-founder and Principal at The RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value. Dave has been named the "#1 Management Guru" by BusinessWeek, and Fast Company has profiled him as one of the world's "Top 10 Creative People in Business." He is also recognized as a "Top 5 Coach" in Forbes.

Dave has been a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business for over 38 years. He has published over 200 articles and over 30 books. Dave is most proud of his three children and ten grandchildren. He and his wife Wendy love connecting with family. Dave also loves sharing ideas with impact and enjoys helping others improve.

What are the values your company is known for in the marketplace? Do your internal leaders' behaviors reflect those values? Many business leaders say they want to bring merit to the market, but they struggle to do so because of how they define value.

According to Dave Ulrich, Co-founder and Principal at The RBL Group, business leaders don't determine value — customers do. So how do you define the core principles that determine how customers experience your brand?

Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz as he interviews Dave Ulrich, an author, Co-founder, and Principal at The RBL Group. They talk about defining the value you create in the marketplace, assessing your core principles, and differentiating your brand through your core values. Stay tuned.

Kellee Johnson is the Principal of The Ballast Group, an award-winning, integrated communications strategy firm. The Ballast Group helps leaders shape and articulate stories while reaching audiences and channels that matter. They have helped well-known companies such as Hyatt, Kaiser Permanente, Stericycle, Safeway, Target, and Cisco in all aspects of marketing, consumer products, healthcare, and high tech. Kellee founded The Ballast Group after serving as Director of Corporate Marketing for Abbott Laboratories and managing corporate communications for Tropicana, a multi-billion dollar division of PepsiCo.

Kellee's company also excels at positioning these organizations and others as thought leaders, featuring them on the US News, News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and other traditional media. In addition to her work at The Ballast Group, Kellee is a mentor for DePaul University's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center and 1871 Chicago, a board member of the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation, and a former member of the Rollins College Board of Trustees.

Is your company doing great work without getting noticed by your target audience? As a business leader, you're not alone. We are always looking for the best way to articulate our stories and reach our target audience in the channels that matter. However, we often come up short. How can we change that and drive growth for our companies?

Kellee Johnson, Principal of The Ballast Group, has developed the PESO (Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned) model to get your brand story out and generate leads. What is the process of the PESO model, and how does it work?

Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz to learn about driving growth through the PESO model with Kellee Johnson, Principal of The Ballast Group. They discuss the elements of the PESO model and how to achieve each one. Kellee also talks about what to expect from press attention, how to manage it, and how to share your story with an audience. Stay tuned for more.

Tucker Max is the Founder of Scribe Media, a professional publishing services company where they help you unlock your knowledge into a book. They help entrepreneurs, executives, and experts write, publish, and market their books because it's not just a book: it's your legacy. Scribe Media has worked with clients including David Goggins, Tiffany Haddish, Nassim Taleb, and more.

Before founding Scribe Media, Tucker wrote a New York Times best-selling non-fiction book about the sex-filled and drunken escapades of his 20s. Since then, he has gone on to publish many more books, making him a 4x New York Times best-selling author.

Have you ever read a book about how to solve a problem, and it felt like the creator was giving out their trade secret? Some people will try to use that information to solve the problem themselves — and succeed. However, many of us will prefer to outsource and hire the author instead. Why so? The answer lies in the power of knowledge sharing.

Through knowledge sharing, you can build and scale your company just like Tucker Max is doing at Scribe Media. Tucker is happy to share his knowledge on book publishing, growing your company, and finding success as a writer. Here's what to expect:

On this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz, you'll learn about developing and scaling a company from the Founder of Scribe Media, Tucker Max. Tucker reveals why he needed to write a book about the process of writing, and how it helped him market and build his company. Plus, he discusses why writing a book is a savvy and revenue-generating move, and how you can achieve those same profitable results. Stay tuned.

Gray MacKenzie is the CEO of ZenPilot, an agency training business that gives digital agency teams the structure they need to grow quickly and sustainably. They've helped over 1,600 agencies over the past 10 years. ZenPilot enables agency transformations from chaos to clarity through a combination of hands-on consulting, analysis, community, training, pre-built assets, templates, and processes. They serve to accelerate and de-risk your agency's journey towards growth.

Gray is also the Founder of GuavaBox, a company that helps B2B tech and SaaS companies build a better growth strategy by applying a proven process to the four pillars of growth: positioning, lead generation, sales, and pricing.

Your kickoff call can either create an efficient onboarding process or set off alarm bells in a client's mind. One of the biggest onboarding mistakes your agency can make is mismanaging the kickoff call. How so? A common misstep is forgetting to restate expectations or misrepresenting them.

You can misrepresent expectations when your sales promise does not align with the deliverables you state during your kickoff call. Such misalignment of expectations is one of the many onboarding roadblocks. What are the other onboarding frictions, and how do you smoothen them out?

Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Gray MacKenzie, Founder of ZenPilot. They talk about productivity tools for agencies, how to create a smooth onboarding process, and how ZenPilot is helping agencies grow. Stay tuned to catch all the insights.