Onward Nation

Creative story telling — Nic Natarella is the founder of AdWise Creative. He is known for his voice-over talents and directs his team in every project that comes into AdWise Creative. His involvement with each individual project assures that you have top-notch and maximum results for all of our clients.

Nic first started "on the air" back when he was eight years old. He started out by making cassette tape recordings of his "radio shows" on the living room stereo system, consisting of a turntable and built-in cassette player. You will have to google "turntable" and maybe even "cassette player" if you have never heard of that before.

His first real air time was just outside of Nashville as the news guy/sidekick on the morning show. His on-air career has involved morning host duties, middays, afternoon fill-in, and nighttime hosting. He also had responsibilities at the radio station with Program Director, Assistant Program Director, Webmaster, and Creative Services Director, just to name a few.

Nic has written radio and production magazine articles, conducted copywriting seminars for radio sales teams, and crafted thousands of commercials for clients looking to have a radio spot sent out. His voice-over work has been used for projects such as:

• Radio commercials
• Video games
• Corporate training materials
• And rock concerts

Want to catch Nic's attention? He's a fan of classic cars from the '40s and '50s and muscle cars from the '60s and '70s. While at home, he is called a shade tree mechanic, turf management supervisor, and natatorium engineer. He is known for cheering for many college football teams, so you will either love him, or he will become your rival.

Nic and his wife, Debbie, live outside Orlando, Florida. Debbie is a private horse trainer and riding instructor at Amazing Grace Equestrian. Their daughter has her Master's in Social Work and lives and works in Tampa. Nic and Debbie currently share the house with three rabbits and up to eight horses at any given time.

• The power of having creative story telling in advertising
• How to make meaningful connections through audio
• How to take your audience inside the emotion of an experience with a few powerful words
• Tips on uncovering the story behind your service or product
• Why there is gold in your unconscious competence

• Learn more about creative story telling, and you can find Nic here
• Explore more topics about creative story telling by listening to this podcast: Sharing stories and Forming Connections, with Chad Heeter
• Website: https://adwisecreative.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adwisenicnatarella/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adwisecreative
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adwisecreative

• Download The 5 Most Common Radio Advertising Mistakes That Are Costing You Money and How to Fix Them here

Hey Onward Nation — before we dive into the show notes for this solocast — let me first share a really big thank you. Thank you for the 6+ years of support. Thank you for all of the social media posts. Thank you for all the emails. And thank you for all of your encouragement over the last 1,000+ episodes. My Predictive ROI team and I are over the top grateful. THANK YOU!

Email marketing strategy examples — Okay, while thinking through what I wanted to teach and share during this episode — I decided to build it out differently than any other solocast, so that meant creating show notes that acted more like a companion to the audio instead of highlights. So for this episode — both the show notes and the audio are important. The audio will walk you through how to grow your audience — and — then how to nurture your audience over a day or a decade using the New Lead Sequence (NLS).

The NLS is a strategy I learned from Taki Moore, founder of Black Belt. And as soon as he shared it with us — we immediately put it into a test phase inside the Predictive ROI Lab — and HOLY BANANAS — it works.

Before we get to the email examples — here are the links to the books I recommended you add to your business library:

Content Inc, 2nd Edition

Killing Marketing

And — if you go here — you can order a 100% free paperback copy of Sell with Authority. No shipping. No credit card. Nothing. Just your free paperback copy shipped right to your door.

The New Lead Sequence will help you generate leads without your prospects ever feeling like they were a prospect.

If you have questions or concerns about the NLS or something else — please know — you can always email me at [email protected]. That's my direct Inbox, and I read and reply to every email.

I also invite you to join our free Facebook Group call "How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline." It's a super-engaged community of agency owners, business coaches, and strategic consultants just like you, sharing their insights, asking thought-provoking questions, and sharing their expertise. If that sounds interesting to you — please join us.

Until then — onward with gusto!

• Breaking down the timing, highlights, and main components of each six emails within the NLS
• Visual examples of each email to make it super simple for you and your team to take and apply the content into your system.
• Best email marketing strategy examples to boost your engagement and conversion rates

• Learn more about email marketing strategy examples by tuning in to this podcast: How To Build An Email List For Free
• Enhance your knowledge of email marketing strategy examples by applying the process in this free video
• Free Executive Leadership Summary report from Predictive ROI: https://predictiveroi.com/research
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

Strategic Gifting — Jamie Shibley believes that successful businesses are created through building strong relationships with prospects, existing clients and business associates.

Giving by nature, and from a young age working in her grandfather's floral shop, Jamie inherently understands the influence of a meaningful gift. Through her strategic gifting agency, The Expressory, she helps businesses develop long-lasting customer relationships through thoughtfully designed memorable customer experiences.

Jamie has designed experiences for numerous clients across the country, making it simple for companies to stand out and make a lasting impression. Respected as a market leader, Jamie's gift designs have been featured on Entertainment Tonight.

• Jamie shares how her career started out in corporate IT, and she explains why she left the corporate world and started her own business
• How her first business helped Jamie find her perfect target audience, and how she defines strategic gifting
• Why the right gift can build bonds, strengthen relationships, and open new doors for your business
• Why strategic gifting is about focusing on your prospects rather than on you, and how it can help you turn a prospect relationship into a collaboration
• How strategic gifting can also be a powerful way to engage with your existing clients and help nurture those relationships
• Why the minor cost of strategic gifting can pay massive dividends over the long term of your relationships, and how to get started developing a gifting program
• What kind of return on investment you can see from a gifting program, and why it's important to listen for further relationship-building nuggets
• Which key steps to follow to deploy your strategic gifting program, and how to build up your established process over time
• Why an ongoing gifting cadence and persistence are crucial for making inroads with your prospective clients

• Learn more about strategic planning, and you can find Jamie here.
• Enhance your knowledge about strategic planning by tuning in to our free video: Seed and Open Loops
• Website: https://www.theexpressory.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-shibley-76a3402/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheExpressory

What is the definition of the great resignation? Art and Sue are the best teachers for today's topic on that one.

Art Boulay's Biography:

Art Boulay, MBA, is CEO of Strategic Talent Management, a consulting firm he co-founded based in Maine with clients all over the US. Like you, he recognizes that organizations spend lots of money solving problems caused by a lack of soft skills among their leaders, managers, employees and new hires. He is an expert in solving those people challenges.

Art brings practical ideas, humor and common sense solutions to each assignment. He specializes in organizational planning, succession & leadership, and is a certified behavioral and leadership coach. He is an expert in applying assessment tools to solve real-world challenges in coaching & development, hiring, promotion and recruitment.

Art has lived in Maine most of his life and enjoys hiking and camping in the beautiful north woods of Maine. He currently makes his home in Brunswick, Maine with his wife Lori.

Sue MacArthur's Biography:

Sue MacArthur has developed Strategic Talent Management's national recruiting practice into being one of four key service areas. Prior to joining STM, Sue had a dynamic career in the areas of human resources and operations. She has worked for Westin Hotels, John Hancock Financial Services, and Manpower Staffing Services; and has worn many hats with a variety of startup companies.

Leadership, people, and problem-solving are her passions. Sue's non-traditional career path allows her to bring unique insights and diverse perspectives to complex situations and produce innovative solutions. As a reformed politician, building consensus and trust come naturally to Sue, which allows her to create relationships, build rapport, and understand the needs of others. Sue's professional strategy moving forward is to bring her expertise, experience, and passions together to leave a positive legacy.

• Art shares how he co-founded Strategic Talent Management, and he explains how his business has evolved over its existence
• Sue shares how she joined STM and quickly began helping to grow the business and evolving the solutions STM offers its clients
• Learn about the definition of the great resignation
• Why the recurring theme Sue hears from employees leaving their jobs is "I just couldn't go back there", and what factors are contributing to The Great Resignation
• Why your employer branding needs to be honest, clear, direct, and should avoid sounding too generic or overly rosy
• Why it's equally important for candidates to know who they are and what their goals for their career are, and how Art and Sue help candidates clarify their aspirations
• How STM's assessment works, what data points and tools they use, and how their process helps match ideal employers with right-fit candidates
• Art shares how his team helps employers avoid "bad hire" situations, and he shares how hiring mediocre performers is a bigger problem than hiring bad performers
• Why you shouldn't be looking for "perfect candidates" but rather should be focusing on what you need in a role and then finding someone who fits those needs
• How behavioral assessment tools (such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) can be useful for learning more about potential hires and how they would fit into the team
• Why your existing team can be an outstanding resource for building a pipeline for talent and bringing in great candidates even during The Great Resignation

• Email: [email protected]
• Here are more ideas about the definition of the great resignation
• Learn more about the definition of the great resignation, and you can find Art and Sue here.
• Website: https://strategictalentmgmt.com/
• Art's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/artboulay/
• Sue's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/suemacarthur/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-talent-management/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Strategic-Talent-Management-77066671390

Important business lessons are very essential for today's modern business. Despite the ups and downs of markets and new technologies, one thing always stays the same: the important lessons we learn from our experiences.

In today's episode of Onward Nation — I will be partnering with Peter Taunton, Founder and CEO of Lift Brands. Peter is an expert at understanding consumer desires and fulfilling them. Over the years, he has acquired or founded several brands to round out the consumer-fitness experience: 9Round, Farrell's, YogaFit, STEELE Fitness, and Fitness On Demand. Together with the Snap Fitness brand, they comprise the world's largest wellness franchise organizations with over 6000 locations open or in development across multiple brands serving 165 million workouts and counting.

Peter and I are going to cover the important business lessons that you should follow to attract the right clients. You'll undoubtedly walk away with several golden nuggets that you can apply to your business.

• How Peter learned his first important business lessons at just eight years old, selling popcorn in front of his father's grocery store
• Why one of Peter's most important business lessons to share is that sometimes it's necessary for things to get uncomfortable for you to achieve your success
• How Peter helps his coaching clients recognize the changes and pivots they need to make to restart the growth of their businesses
• Why getting your entire team aligned is vital, and what key lessons Peter's book "Impossible Hill" teaches about discipline, accountability and perspective
• Why we usually see a curated, fictional version of people's success, and why those who are truly giving of their wisdom are the best teachers
• How Peter built out a thriving, successful team full of coachable people at Snap Fitness, and why this team was crucial for the brand's success
• Why recognizing team members who are "pulling deep on the oars" with love and respect is vital for building loyalty and strengthening relationships
• How Peter tackled the tough challenge of turning around a failing business by focusing on the opportunity it presented rather than the difficulty
• How 22-year old Peter led by example and created a shared purpose for the club's team of 50 employees, and how he turned things around in just 8 years
• Why Peter wrote his book "Impossible Hill", and why he considers himself a "hill-taker" who can overcome unbelievable odds

• • Learn more about important business lessons, and you can find Peter here.
  • Enhance your knowledge about important business lessons by tuning in to this free video
  • Impossible Hill by Peter Taunton: https://amzn.to/3hKHbjv
  • Instagram: www.instagram.com/peter_taunton/
  • LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/petertaunton/
  • Facebook: www.facebook.com/Peter-Taunton-105472747590615/
  • YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCbhhYacl1jtVPURqqXGP0dA
  • Twitter: @petertaunton

How to control your emotion? Integrative Productivity™ Expert, Angela Kristen Taylor, is mostly known for creating the Productive Flow Mastery™ methodology, her integrative whole body approach to productivity and business growth.

She is an engaging and relatable speaker who has made it her personal mission to help ambitious, purpose-driven entrepreneurs and sales professionals overcome stress & chaos so they can create the life and business they want and ultimately, the freedom and security they created their business to achieve.

Angela's integrative productivity strategies helped her go from chaotic hot mess with big dreams and failed achievements to the woman who raised and homeschooled 5 children while running and growing a successful coaching company, and always creating the perfect balance for herself, her family, and her business, no matter what obstacle presented itself along the way.

• How Angela has found tremendous success and has managed to organize her life so that she works 4-5 hours a day and only 4 days a week
• Why Angela believes that productivity is rooted in emotion, and how dealing with the roots of her "emotional clutter" helped her in overcoming chaos in her life
• Angela shares effective techniques on how to control your emotion
• How Angela helps her coaching clients by first helping them to "set their GPS" with visualization exercises to help them identify their ideal life
• Why Angela's focus shifted to working on herself, and how in 2010 she decided to take a new direction in life after struggling through the real estate collapse
• What major changes Angela made that helped her in overcoming chaos and bringing order to her business and home life
• How the four key elements of the Productive Flow Mastery™ methodology are emotion, energy, time and focus
• Why the majority of Angela's entrepreneur clients struggled with a challenging or traumatic childhood, and why emotional work is key
• Why understanding your goals helps you take the right action to move toward them, block out time to do the work, and set your focus on the right work
• Why emotions are the root of many of our behaviors and unhealthy habits, and what steps Angela recommends you begin taking to begin overcoming chaos in your life

• Learn more about how to control your emotion, and you can find Angela here.
• Elevate your knowledge about how to control your emotion by tuning in to this podcast: SRT for Entrepreneurs: How to Promote Self Healing, Clear Emotional Blocks & Create Alignment
• Website: https://angelakristentaylor.com/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/angelakristentaylor
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/angelakristentaylor
• Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/productiveflow

Positive attitude in business — Jon Gordon's best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and nonprofits. He is the author of 23 books including 10 best sellers and 5 children's books. His books include the timeless classic The Energy Bus which has sold over 2 million copies, The Carpenter which was a top 5 business book of the year, Training Camp, The Power of Positive Leadership, The Power of a Positive Team, The Coffee Bean, Stay Positive, and The Garden. Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, The Golf Channel, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Los Angeles Dodgers, Campbell's Soup, Dell, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Miami Heat, The Los Angeles Rams, Snapchat, Truist Bank, Clemson Football, Northwestern Mutual, West Point Academy and more.

Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams.

• How Jon wrote his bestselling book "The Energy Bus" when he was at a low period in his life, and how he learned to overcome his challenges, fears and negativity
• Why having a positive attitude in business means having fun while following your purpose and continuing to strive for excellence
• Why some people lean towards optimism and some toward pessimism, and how you can train your mind to increase your optimism even if you're a natural pessimist
• Why success leads to fear, and why before you achieve real success you're naturally less fearful of taking chances and risks
• Why being fearless isn't the same thing as being reckless, and why being smart about the risks you take is crucial
• Why it is important to define what winning means to you, and why you shouldn't fear failure because it offers its own rewards
• Why "anxious" means "divided", and why developing your strength to face your anxiety is the key to unlocking your potential
• Why love is the greatest success principle of all time, and why loving what you do and who you work with is vital
• How feeling love allows you to perform at a higher level and is the ideal antidote for your fears

• Learn more about positive attitude in business, and you can find Jon here.
• Elevate your knowledge about positive attitude in business by tuning in to this podcast: Define the behaviors that drive success
• Website: https://jongordon.com/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jongordonenergy/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jongordonpage
• Twitter: @JonGordon11

Membership programs for businesses — Sandra Martini, founder of boutique coaching firm The Martini Way, offers her mentoring clients a perfect balance of marketing savvy, intuition and results-driven systemic implementation with a healthy dose of nurturing and love.

Sandra's style is to learn about your goals and then reverse engineer them to where you are now, so you can create the quickest path to your goals possible without sacrificing your sanity or self care.

The sustainable success Sandra teaches takes time and work. If you're looking for someone to tell you to call everyone you know and sell them a high level "X", Sandra isn't for you.

If you want a partner who understands the big vision and intimate details of running and marketing a successful, sustainable business; who understands you and where you are, who nurtures you while being completely honest and non-judgmental and who can pull from her years of hands-on business and marketing expertise, then Sandra Martini is ready to help!

• How innovating in her prior roles gave Sandra keen insights into membership programs for businesses best practices that she carried with her into her entrepreneurial career
• Why a great membership program takes intentionality, hard work, and a laser focus on providing ongoing value to your members to retain them in your program
• Why a thriving membership program needs a great backend to support it, with systems, processes, employees, information-tracking and problem-solving built in
• Why a powerful content library does no good if members in the program don't know it's there or how to access it
• What pitfalls, expenses and potential obstacles you should be aware of when considering about offering membership programs for businesses
• Why it is important to offer upgrades to your members in your value ladder, and why you should avoid overwhelming yourself by trying to over-deliver on your program
• Sandra shares a powerful strategy for targeting and curating your content to elevate your membership experience
• Why an easy-to-navigate onboarding and welcome process is crucial for retention, and why it is important to avoid forgetting your existing members in favor of new ones
• Why falling in love with your program can blind you to issues that can keep it from being profitable

• Learn more about membership programs for businesses at Sandra's website
• Learn these best practices for membership programs for businesses: Our "Seed & Open Loops" Framework
• Free eBook from Sandra: www.membershipprograms.info
• Website: https://themartiniway.com/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sandramartini/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/themartiniwayllc
• Twitter: @SandraMartini

Thought leadership marketing — For over 25 years, Stephen Woessner has been in the trenches working alongside and consulting with hundreds of clients — teaching them how to plant their flag of authority within the markets they serve, grow their audience, fill their sales pipeline with right-fit prospects, and ultimately — drive revenue.

Stephen founded Predictive ROI in 2009 and remains its CEO and owner. He's the host of Onward Nation — a top-rated podcast with listeners in over 140 countries and over 1,000 episodes. His marketing insights have been featured in major media, and he's the bestselling author of four books, including his latest entitled, "Sell with Authority."

He believes we're entering the era of the AUTHORITY. Brands that occupy the coveted "expert" status are afforded the highest level of confidence and trust from their customers, prospects, and other stakeholders because they have a depth of knowledge and point-of-view that can't be denied or easily replicated.

Stephen's practical and tactical training sessions help companies capitalize on the huge shift taking place in the market today. In our hyper-competitive market for awareness and attention — brands need to plant their flag of authority and then leverage this position to fill their sales pipeline with right-fit prospects while developing deeper relationships with existing customers.

Our purpose is to deliver predictable and measurable ROI by positioning our clients as THE AUTHORITY in their niches and then monetizing that position.

• Why Noah's outstanding initial email where he reached out to invite Stephen to guest on his Profit With Podcasting show immediately caught Stephen's notice
• Stephen shares the origins of the Onward Nation podcast and discusses how the show has grown over its more than one thousand episodes
• How the Onward Nation podcast led to the Trojan Horse of Sales strategy and Predictive ROI's focus on thought leadership marketing
• What the Dream 25 list is, and how you can utilize your Dream 25 as a roadmap for getting intentional about your ideal client prospects
• How a podcast can be an ideal vehicle for connecting with your Dream 25 perfect-fit prospects as a Trojan Horse to get you in the gates
• Why the follow-up process after a Dream 25 client appears on your show is the crucial next step for furthering your relationship
• Why your contacts with your prospect need to be about them and their expertise and not be self-aggrandizing
• Why it's important to slice and dice your podcast episode to share through other channels so that you don't become a "one-trick pony"
• How the Sell With Authority methodology has grown into an encompassing, multifaceted thought leadership marketing strategy

• Learn more about the power of thought leadership marketing with Noah Tetzner's Profit With Podcasting
• Elevate your knowledge about thought leadership marketing by tuning in to: Building a Business Through Consistent Thought Leadership, with Bill Jelen
• Email Noah: [email protected]
• Get a free copy of Sell With Authority: https://predictiveroi.com/free-book
• Profitable Podcasting by Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/3qH3yZV
• Free Executive Leadership Summary report from Predictive ROI: https://predictiveroi.com/research
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

How to become a thought leader? Natalie Ghidotti, APR, is principal of Ghidotti, which she founded in 2007 and has since grown to serve a wide range of clients, including some of the region's best-known brands. The firm serves clients that span all industries, including retail, healthcare, retirement communities, professional services, nonprofits and more.

Prior to opening her own firm, Natalie was a senior public relations account executive with another marketing/PR firm in Little Rock. Before joining the public relations world in 2004, Natalie served as special publications editor-in-chief at Arkansas Business Publishing Group, where she was editor of Little Rock Family, Arkansas Bride, Little Rock Guest Guide and other magazines for five years. While at ABPG, Natalie won national awards from the Parenting Publications of America for her stories published in Little Rock Family. In her public relations career, Natalie has garnered top Prism Awards from the Public Relations Society of America and Bronze Quill Awards from the International Association of Business Communicators.

Natalie is an active community volunteer, serving on the board of the Rotary Club of Little Rock and the Board Development Committee for the Girl Scouts Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and as an active volunteer with Holy Souls School and Catholic High School for Boys. She is a past president of the Arkansas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and a past chairman of PRSA National's Independent Practitioners Alliance. She serves on the Executive Committee for PRSA National's Counselors Academy, has served as one of a three-member leadership team overseeing National PRSA's Section Council and has been a speaker for several PRSA International Conferences. Natalie is a member of PRConsultants Group, a collaborative of 50 senior-level PR practitioners representing the top markets in the country.

She has served on the boards of directors for Reach Out and Read, Museum of Discovery, Centers for Youth and Families and the Girls Scouts. She is a member of Leadership Arkansas Class XII, Leadership Little Rock, Class XVI, was named to Arkansas Business' "40 Under 40," and is troop leader for her daughter's Girl Scout Juniors Troop.

• How Natalie's journalism career ultimately led to starting her agency, Ghidotti, and how her agency's focus is on the power of becoming a thought leader
• Actionable steps on how to become a thought leader
• How Natalie defines "the mindset of a journalist", and how capturing that mindset is a crucial component of her team's thought leadership expertise
• Why understanding what a journalist considers important is the key to focusing on the right angle for your content to best reach and serve your audience
• How being a consistently valuable source for a reporter can help you build a strong, trusted relationship that can be invaluable in becoming a thought leader
• Why a sense of urgency is important when working with media outlets, and how Natalie defines thought leadership
• How PR and content marketing interact with Natalie's comprehensive, integrated "PESO" content model: Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned
• How becoming a thought leader and then slicing and dicing your content can allow it to be used across all four channels of the PESO model
• How being intentional and strategic with your thought leadership content is crucial for reaping its rewards
• How Natalie is active within the Executive Committee of PRSA (the Public Relations Society of America) Counselors Academy
• How to learn more about the upcoming PRSA Counselors Academy conference taking place September 19-21 2021 in Nashville, TN

• Learn more about how to become a thought leader, and you can find Natalie here.
• Elevate your knowledge about how to become a thought leader by tuning in to this podcast: Making a Positive Impact through Thought Leadership, with John Dameron
• Website: https://ghidotti.com/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/natalieghidotti/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ghidotti/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ghidotticommunications/
• Twitter: @ghidotticomm