Leveling Up with Eric Siu

2020 is full of unpredictability. This is a long term strategy that is almost guaranteed to build growth, if you can implement it. 

Product Led Growth has worked extremely well for companies like HubSpot. How can you apply it in your own business?

Not enough people in the SaaS world are customer-obsessed, but Derek O’Carroll, CEO of Brightpearl is changing that, and he joins us today to dive into how. Brightpearl is a scalable retail operations platform designed specifically for high growth multi-channel retailers wishing to automate and integrate their e-commerce and accounting operations. Derek got into startups in the 90s and while Senior Vice President of Global Field Sales and Marketing for Norton under Symantec he was responsible for $1.7 billion in global revenue. Today, Derek talks about leaving Symantec to join Brightpearl after looking for an area in the market that was undergoing disruption with a good product but challenges on product/market fit. He gets into what exactly Brightpearl does, how they make money, their deal client types, and their amazing growth metrics since he joined the team. After that, we turn our attention to how Derek manages teams with a focus on communication and the benefits of this approach, before zooming further into one of the biggest takeaways for today: how Brightpearl differentiates themselves by locating functional and non-functional attributes to build into their product. Here Derek talks about the process they went through to arrive at fast deployment, pricing, customer success, and automation. Next up, we chat about changes in customer behavior post-COVID and Brightpearl’s swift response to it, before wrapping things up with our usual rapid-fire questions for our guest.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
• [00:50] Startups in B2B/e-commerce Derek was involved in leading up to Brightpearl.
• [02:21] Complexities Brightpearl manages around the process after a product is bought online.
• [02:57] The transparent, configurable subscription model Brightpearl uses to make money.
• [03:56] Brightpearl’s clients: merchants trading across multiple channels with above $1M GMV.
• [04:30] The thread running through Derek’s projects; differentiation in disruptive spaces.
• [06:31] Derek’s approach to managing teams focussing on optimizing communication.
• [10:09] Statistics of Brightpearl’s yearly order value, market location, revenue, and more.
• [12:00] Functional and non-functional differentiators of Brightpearl’s product.
• [15:10] Time to value and how Brightpearl’s deployment speed frees client resources.
• [16:48] The fluidity of customer behavior post-COVID and how Brightpearl has dealt with that. 
• [20:49] Tools Derek recently added to optimize his business: Slack and Donut.
• [21:44] A book recommendation from Derek.

Resources From The Interview:

• Derek O’Carroll
• Brightpearl
• Derek O’Carroll on Twitter
• Derek O’Carroll Email
• Symantec
• Norton

• Escaping the Build Trap

• Jeff Bezos
• Oura Ring
• Peloton
• Slack
• Donut

• Must read book: Rubicon

Leave Some Feedback:

• What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

• Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here

• Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes

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Connect with Eric Siu: 

• Growth Everywhere

• Single Grain

• Eric Siu on Twitter

Everbowl is a superfood brand, headed up by their inspiring founder and CEO, Jeff Fenster. Jeff joins us on Leveling Up today to talk about his amazing business and the impressive growth it is experienced in its young life. Jeff unpacks the idea of relationship capital, a concept that has made a huge impact on his success and how he goes about his work. We hear from him about his formative years and how his original plan to be a sports agent did not pan out in the way he initially imagined. Now Jeff aims to help everyone be their best selves through eating and moving the way that we are meant to. This means better, healthier practices throughout the day and that is where his amazing acai bowls come into the picture. They are packed with superfoods and all the stuff your diet might be missing to get you to your peak performance. Jeff generously shares some inside information about the company, his eight minute trick to making the most of his time and why he aims to be the dumbest guy in the room! We also touch on his parallel superfood coffee business, Superfuel Coffee! So for all that and then some, be sure to listen in!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:31] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
• [01:05] The quick and dirty version of Jeff's story leading up to Everbowl.
• [04:03] Jeff's passion for serial entrepreneurship and health. 
• [05:53] The products that Everbowl offers and their reliance on real food.
• [07:05] Employee numbers, 2019 revenue and future prospects for the company.
• [08:11] The merging of superfood and coffee for something unique to the market.
• [09:02] Jeff's concept of vertical integration and why more entrepreneurs should be using it. 
• [11:30] Factors that have contributed to Everbowl's impressive growth.
• [13:20] Jeff's deep care for relationship building and the idea of relationship capital. 
• [19:40] How to get started with a great network; Jeff's rules for amassing relationship capital.
• [22:01] Jeff's overarching mission in his business and life; helping improve lives.
• [22:51] Daily routines and practices that keep Jeff healthy and happy.
• [25:55] The main challenge that Jeff has faced in his life as an entrepreneur.
• [29:06] Jeff's favorite business tool and business book currently!
• [30:48] The two CEO's that Jeff is most inspired by: Steve Ells and Elon Musk.

Resources From The Interview:

• Jeff Fenster
• Everbowl 
• Superfuel Coffee 
• Four Sigmatic 
• Kobe Bryant
• Shaquille O'Neal 
• Tiger Woods
• Slack
• Zoom
• Tim Grover
• Chipotle
• Steve Ells
• Elon Musk
• Henry Ford

• Must read book: Relentless

Leave Some Feedback:

• What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

• Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here

• Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes

• Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed

Connect with Eric Siu: 

• Growth Everywhere

• Single Grain

• Eric Siu on Twitter

We speak about how your mental health affects your marketing and how to keep it healthy. Having the right mindset is so important for being effective and jumping on opportunities when they arrive, especially at a time like this. Tune in and hear some great hacks for optimizing your well-being, from setting a cap on daily calls to meditating, journaling, and a whole lot more!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:25] Today’s topic: How Your Mental Health Affects Your Marketing and How to Keep It Healthy.
• [00:30] Mental health doesn’t just affect marketing, but your overall effectiveness!
• [00:45] To be able to recognize a good opportunity, one has to be in the right mind frame!
• [01:25] Actions and habits that affect your life all start with your mental health.
• [01:55] The stress of the pandemic and how it encourages getting depressed or overworking.
• [02:56] Setting boundaries about how many calls to do per day.
• [03:50] Trying to only fill your calendar with things that produce ROI.
• [04:07] A tip for comparing yourself to others to get perspective and stay level headed.
• [04:50] Clearing your mind by meditating and taking time off.
• [05:28] Giving yourself time to be unproductive.
• [05:56] Setting things in order by journalling in The Five Minute Journal.
• [06:16] Going outside for a walk and monitoring your HRV using an Oura Ring.
• [06:55] That’s it for today!
• [06:56] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Calm

Headspace

Peloton

The Five Minute Journal

Oura Ring

We have spoken before about the ways in which writing and publishing a book can help you grow your business and authority. It sits alongside other tactics such as hosting a podcast, starting a blog, or creating a YouTube channel. Our guest today is a great example of the power of publishing! We are so happy to have the best-selling author of six books and CEO of Self-Publishing School, Chandler Bolt join us to talk about how you can put your thoughts and experiences into the form of a book and how this can lead to massive growth and revenue for you and your business! Chandler and his company have helped countless people publish their books and he walks us through exactly what his company does. They do not actually publish works, they help authors through the process, making it that much easier for anyone to become an author! Chandler explains why now is a better time than any for you to be writing and self-publishing that book you have been thinking about and we get into the differences between a traditional approach to publishing and the methods that Chandler espouses. For this hugely inspiring exploration of a market that anyone can exploit, listen in with us today on Leveling Up!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
• [00:58] Chandler's surprising story about getting into writing and publishing.
• [02:07] How Self-Publishing School operates and makes money. 
• [03:00] Numbers from Chandler's business; income, growth and publishing stats.
• [03:44] One of Chandler's favorite success stories from his publishing work!
• [05:03] Chandler's business psychology; goal-setting, accountability and transparency.
• [06:40] The hit-rate Chandler experiences with his goals. 
• [08:01] Why now is the best time you can publish your own book!
• [09:20] Free resources and paid services from Self-Publishing School. 
• [10:21] Traditional publishing versus the self-publishing route; weighing the pros and cons.
• [12:49] Understanding the idea of a book funnel and how useful it can be. 
• [15:25] The 'silent salesman' and how a book can generate business for you in the long run.
• [16:12] Chandler's heavy work ethic — publishing 6 books in 3 years!
• [17:35] The time that is spent writing a book and getting help with the heavy lifting.
• [18:46] Writing challenges that Self-Publishing School set for their clients.
• [20:04] The rebranding of summits as challenges!
• [20:55] Chandler's approach to scaling companies and his passion for operations.
• [22:08] Three business book recommendations from Chandler!
• [23:04] The tool that has improved Chandler's business the most recently.

Resources From The Interview:

• Chandler Bolt
• Self-Publishing School
• Self-Publishing School Podcast
• Published 
• Seth Godin 
• Inc 5000 
• Good Day Sacramento
• Measure What Matters 
• Isaac Newton
• Shakespeare 
• Pat Flynn  
• New York Times
• USA Today
• Wall Street Journal  
• Russell Brunson 

• Traffic Secrets

• From 6 to 7 Figures

• ClickFunnels
• Need to Breathe 
• Book Launch  
• 7 Figure Principle Podcast 
• Dan Martell  
• Keith Cunningham 
• Asana
• Slack
• Standuply

• Must read books: Influence, Extreme Ownership, How to Win Friends and Influence People 

Leave Some Feedback:

• What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

• Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here

• Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes

• Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed

Connect with Eric Siu: 

• Growth Everywhere

• Single Grain

• Eric Siu on Twitter

We have a true legend of digital marketing on the show today. Rich Schefren has done a lot in the marketing space, to put it lightly! He is a pioneer of the modern marketing world and has been a mentor to many of the most famous young faces doing interesting things right now. We are so excited to speak to Rich today as he breaks down his experience in this episode that is absolutely brimming with information. Rich packs so much wisdom into each answer, and his decades of expertise become so apparent that you are definitely not going to want to miss this one! We discuss the discovery of the video sales letter, how he got a billion-dollar testimonial and what it means to be resourceful during difficult times. Rich tells us exactly why he loves his iPad so much, what he learned from the old guard of legendary marketers and how he has gone about laying staff off when it was necessary. We discuss pruning your business, building a strong team through profit-sharing, and the definitive moments from his career, so tune in to hear it all!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
• [01:54] A brief background to Rich's work and how he landed up where he is today!
• [04:58] Working with legendary direct response marketers. 
• [09:12] Rich's move into coaching and mentoring new faces in the game.
• [12:15] How writing 'The Internet Business Manifesto' changed Rich's life!
• [16:02] Resourcefulness and creating value for others; evergreen lessons from Rich.
• [18:39] Pruning parts of your business and enabling its further growth.
• [21:42] Rich's strategy for setting up profit-sharing in his company.
• [27:54] Lessons that Rich learned through layoffs and handling employees.
• [32:30] Rich's best books about direct response marketing!
• [34:42] The value Rich found in learning to speed read and his note-taking process.

Resources From The Interview:

• Strategic Profits
• Rich Schefren on Twitter
• Ryan Deiss 
• Russell Brunson
• Zoom
• Fred Segal
• American Rag
• Timeout
• Jay Abraham
• Gary Halbert
• John Carlton
• Dan Kennedy 
• Stephen Pierce
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Agora Publishing  
• The Internet Business Manifesto 
• Jon Benson
• ClickBank
• Charlie Munger 
• QuickReader
• Calibre
• Voice Dream
• GoodReader
• Evernote
• Kindle 

• Must read books: Breakthrough Advertising

Leave Some Feedback:

• What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

• Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here

• Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes

• Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed

Connect with Eric Siu: 

• Growth Everywhere

• Single Grain

• Eric Siu on Twitter

Here are

give you three actionable lessons every marketer can learn from Tim Ferris! We talk about how Tim’s success can in part be attributed to his experimental nature, use of data in the content he produces, and willingness to keep learning! Tune in and hear what you can learn from Tim Ferris today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:25] Today’s topic: Three Actionable Lessons Every Marketer Can Learn From Tim Ferris.
• [00:32] Experimenting and building a brand by consistently marketing those experiments.
• [01:26] Don’t make claims! Content that uses data does better than content that doesn’t.
• [02:33] Tim is an obsessive learner; don’t stop learning no matter how successful you get.
• [03:27] That’s it for today!
• [03:29] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Tim Ferris

The 4-Hour Workweek

The 4-Hour Chef

Warren Buffet

Mark Cuban

Leave Some Feedback:

• What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below

Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review.

Thinkific has risen to become the top searched course platform since their CEO Greg Smith last appeared on the show and today he joins us again to share some amazing updates. Our conversation with Greg covers the story of Thinkific’s evolution, and the company’s best practices for marketing, hiring, subscriptions, and corporate culture. We dive right in hearing Greg’s story about his college how-to blog for passing the LSAT that he morphed into an online course with the help of his software developer brother. Next up, Greg gives us a bunch of metrics about the company’s gross revenue currently, how much the average course creator would pay and earn using Thinkific, and which types of courses tend to scale. He also touches on some of the company’s strategies around getting course creators prepared to put their best foot forward and create packageable content that adds meaning to consumers for growing their own businesses. Our interview then moves onto the topic of hiring and staff, and we hear Greg's thoughts on delegation, headhunting, keeping vision aligned, and how to involve late cofounders from an ownership perspective. Thinkific stands as a great example of a company that scaled fast through a great team and business model so make sure you don't miss this one.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
• [00:26] Opening comments on Greg’s company Thinkific, the top searched course platform.
• [01:16] How Greg’s LSAT college blog morphed into his first online course.
• [02:56] Metrics on Greg’s course: its price, continuing amazing monthly sales, etc.
• [03:36] How people are finding Greg’s course: YouTube and Google SEO converts.
• [04:39] The way that Thinkific makes money from a freemium option upwards.
• [05:27] Further metrics on Thinkific: 110 plus staff and 14 million ROI plus.
• [06:42] What course creators make on Thinkific: from 5000 to tens of millions of dollars.
• [08:00] Percentages of people who run courses on Thinkific that continue to scale.
• [08:42] Three milestones for a course creator that bode well for future success.
• [09:26] How the infrastructure trains course creators to make and market courses.
• [11:40] What qualifies as a valid reason to run a course.
• [12:50] Contributors to Greg’s success: a good team, paid ads, and refining focus.
• [14:14] What Thinkific is doing to manifest its corporate culture: investing in people.
• [17:43] How online course searches and Thinkific’s business focus bodes for their future.
• [21:40] What people who run cheap courses on Thinkific do to market on low budgets.
• [23:00] Greg’s biggest challenges in the last three years: knowing what to delegate.
• [23:50] Why Greg only focuses on team building and strategy now.
• [24:15] How well people that Greg hires do in tasks he thought he was good at.
• [25:10] Going beyond workplace gimmicks to build a corporate culture.
• [25:48] Whether a total hands-off leadership approach is really the best one.
• [26:50] Greg’s approach to keeping staff on track by helping them articulate the mission.
• [27:37] Employees who ended up merging into cofounder positions at Thinkific.
• [28:35] Strategies for adding cofounders and equity along the way.
• [29:30] Specifics of arrangements for how much equity to give cofounders.
• [31:27] Greg’s must read books, favorite business tool, and companies he follows.

Resources From The Interview:

• Greg Smith
• Greg Smith on Instagram
• Thinkific
• Exploding Topics
• Sam Ovens

• Who

• Glassdoor
• Tia Fomenoff

• High Output Management

• Let My People Go Surfing

• Matt Payne
• Miranda Lievers
• AngelList

• Slicing Pie

• Todd Herman
• Jim Collins
• Slack
• Excel
• Google Docs
• Audible
• Kindle
• Whispersync
• Better!
• Tobi Lutke
• Shopify

• Ready Player One

• Must read book: Turning the Flywheel, The Alter Ego Effect

Leave Some Feedback:

• What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

• Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here

• Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes

• Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed

Connect with Eric Siu: 

• Growth Everywhere

• Single Grain

• Eric Siu on Twitter

Gary Vaynerchuck has been innovating on different marketing strategies for years. But how does all that translate to tactics you can apply to your own business?

In this bonus episode, we learn 7 things that Gary Vee does exceptionally well and if you take even one of these tactics and apply to your own business you can see incredible results!

Today we are very excited to bring you a conversation with the originator of the Ask Method, Ryan Levesque! Through his company bucket.io, Ryan provides businesses with the powerful weapon of the quiz funnel and he is here to explain exactly how this works. Ryan lays out a reminder of how powerful data is and the ways in which quizzes can provide your business with data and leads in a completely unique way. He shares the universal application of this approach and many examples of how his methods have been used to great effect. In our conversation, Ryan dives into some statistics from Bucket, what exactly they are currently offering and who it can most benefit. Ryan explains how using quizzes suits both established brands and new companies looking to build an audience from scratch and we also touch on the future of networking and events in the current pandemic and during its lasting effects. For all this, join us on the Leveling Up podcast today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
• [01:29] Ryan's journey in the entrepreneurial world and the niches he has explored. 
• [03:17] Statistics from Ryan's business; email subscribers and revenue generation.
• [05:38] How quizzes work in lead generation and conversion rates.
• [08:34] Getting to know your audience and positioning your offer appropriately.
• [11:42] Examples of companies that have made great use of quiz funnels. 
• [16:18] Comparing Bucket with Typeform; what sets these frameworks apart.
• [18:26] Template libraries and educational opportunities that are available through Bucket.
• [20:24] Who the tool is aimed at; new or established companies?
• [22:24] Platform integration, site speed and lead generation through Bucket.
• [25:06] Contextualizing this conversation in the current pandemic.
• [30:56] Ryan's nimble strategy for virtual versus in-person offers and formats.
• [35:01] The usefulness of Ecamm Live and how Ryan has implemented it in his work!
• [36:23] Ryan's must-read book recommendation: RocketFuel.
• [37:39] An exciting announcement from Ryan about his live quiz-funnel workshop!

Resources From The Interview:

• Ryan Levesque
• ASK Method
• Bucket
• Ryan Levesque on Facebook

• Choose

• Ask

• The Wall Street Journal
• Forbes
• Entrepreneur
• USA TODAY
• Fox News
• NBC 
• SnackNation
• GOLFPASS 
• PayPal
• LoanBuilder
• Michael Hyatt
• Proactiv
• What's Your Real Age
• Fuzzy Yellow Balls
• Charlie Wallace 
• Typeform 
• Hay House
• Brendon Burchard
• Russell Brunson
• Jim Kwik
• Zapier
• Keap
• ConvertKit
• Drip
• Oura Ring
• Ecamm Live
• Traction 

• Must read book: RocketFuel

Leave Some Feedback:

• What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

• Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here

• Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes

• Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed

Connect with Eric Siu: 

• Growth Everywhere

• Single Grain

• Eric Siu on Twitter