Onward Nation

Our special encore guest today is Melinda Emerson. Melinda is the founder and president of the Quintessence Group, an award-winning marketing consulting firm with notable clients including FedEx, Verizon, Xerox, and American Express. She is also the host of #Smallbizchat, the longest running live chat on Twitter for small business owners. Melinda's small business advice is widely read reaching more than 3 million entrepreneurs each week online and she was named the #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter by Forbes Magazine. And the author of the new book, "Fix Your Business".

• Why Melinda wrote her book "Fix Your Business"
• What the 12 "P"s are for running a successful business
• The importance of focusing on your most high value activities
• Why having a 90-day turnaround plan for your business is critical to your success
• What the three "people issues" are in your business
• The importance of having a mobile ready website
• Why having a business that works well for you is one way to define success
• The importance of having a balance of doers and thinkers on your team
• How to overcome fear in your business by creating a plan
• Why you never lose in business

• Twitter: @SmallBizLady
• Facebook: Small Biz Lady
• Instagram: Small Biz Lady
• LinkedIn: Melinda Emerson
• Website: www.fixyourbusiness.com
• Book: "Fix Your Business: A 90-Day Plan to Get Back Your Life and Remove Chaos From Your Business"

Our special encore guest today is Mark Faust. He is an expert on growth strategy, sales, and performance improvement. For the last 27 years, Mark has run Echelon Management, a growth consulting firm. He is an advisor on company boards and he has conducted hundreds of sessions for dozens of the worlds largest companies including John Deere, Apple, Bayer, IBM, P&G, and over four dozen third-generation family owned companies and many start ups.

• How growth is an aspect of strategy
• How all growth happens through relationships
• The benefits of reading "High-Growth Levers" together as a company
• Having quarterly depth interviews with your customers to nurture relationships
• The importance of asking your customers how you can help them grow
• Why the two core functions of business are marketing and innovation
• How success is a combination of defining the direction and the journey towards the path
• How management can intensify focus
• How to pivot from your competitors and leverage your positioning to gain an advantage
• Why you need to be improving yourself to be a better mentor to others

• Website: www.highgrowthlevers.com
• Book: "High-Growth Levers: How the Turnaround Mindset Propels Your Company"
• Twitter: @MarkFaustSr
• Phone: 513-621-8000

Good Morning – I'm Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and host of Onward Nation. And welcome to Episode 710 – this week's solocast.

Well, this is a solocast with a twist.

If you have been listening to Onward Nation for a while now – you know that sometimes I take an interview where I was a guest on someone else's show – and we essentially re-air it during my solocast.

I do this from time-to-time for several reasons.

First...doing this is an excellent opportunity for you to hear me in the hot seat per se. Someone gets to fire questions my way – and in the process – I get to share perspectives, insights, opinions, or strategies that I might not normally think to share during an interview with one of our Onward Nation or one of my solocasts.

Second...by doing this I am able to introduce you to another host who I think has some chops – someone who has an interesting point-of-view – or someone who I enjoyed talking with.

Which is definitely the case with Stephanie Scheller. Stephanie and I met through an introduction from Dave Denniston – and Dave was my awesome guest on Episode 244 of Onward Nation.

Following Dave's intro – Stephanie invited me to be a guest for her YouTube series. I said yes, for a couple reasons.

One – I knew it would be a lot of fun and I am always game to talk with someone about building and scaling a business.

Two – I knew it was going to be a video interview, and like I shared a couple months ago, being excellent on YouTube this year as a company is one of our vital priorities for 2018 – so the interview would be another asset that would help us do that.

What I enjoyed about my time with Stephanie is that she asked great questions about my story, how Predictive ROI landed on and decided to go deep in all things voice and video to help our clients win, and we even dug into trends behind podcasts...and whether or not it was getting harder and harder to stand out.

I shared my insights from the perspective of someone who has owned five companies – and – interviewed nearly 1,000 of today's top business owners – and hopefully Stephanie's audience found the strategies and recommendations helpful.

So for today's solocast – I wanted to share the conversation I had with Stephanie...with you...because there may be a nugget or two in there that could be helpful in your business.

And lastly, the reason I wanted to share this interview today is because it is another tangible example of how one piece of content can be transformed into another piece of content pretty easily.

Here's what I mean.

Stephanie and I connected on Zoom and recorded a video interview. She then posted the content to her YouTube channel and shared it with her community.

Then Dallas Hendrickson on my Predictive ROI team, grabbed the video file and stripped out the audio portion of the file, and now we are going to re-air the audio within the middle portion of this episode of Onward Nation.

All I am doing right now is giving you an introduction so you have context as to why – instead of just jumping into the interview with Stephanie and it potentially being confusing.

In addition, we will likely transform the interview with Stephanie into a blog post, social media posts, a LinkedIn article, and it will become a feature in our weekly email.

And you have similar opportunities with the cornerstone content you create – or could create – on a daily basis.

You don't need to create everything from scratch – it doesn't have to be perfect – but it does need to be helpful to your audience.

If you focus on being helpful, being generous with your expertise, and meeting your clients and prospects where they need you – then you will be successful in building your own nation of true fans and growing your business.

So ultimately, I wanted to share this interview with you as a tangible example – a recipe – that you could take and implement into your own biz dev strategy.

Go here for the video interview with Stephanie.

I hope you find what I shared with Stephanie to be helpful. Especially in the areas of voice and video – how they are growing – and why I believe so strongly that you, too, need to be there as part of your biz dev strategy.

There is so much happening right now with voice that it is becoming difficult to keep up with. All of a sudden, my Predictive ROI team is building Alexa Skills and Flash Briefings that are connected back into the podcast content for clients, and all of that is tied into a product or service rollout.

My mind starts racing with all the possibilities. Wow.

So if you want an overview of how voice is changing the game of biz dev, I encourage you to go back to last week's solocast, Episode 705, where I break down some of the latest tech and trends.

And more importantly – how you can drive your business forward if you begin taking action around these opportunities.

So with that said...I want to say thank you, Onward Nation.

Thank you for taking time to be here – thank you for sharing your feedback, opinions, and insights with us for over 700 episodes.

You are rock solid awesome!

Please know – I appreciate your time and attention so very much – thank you for helping us get better each and every day.

And I am thrilled that we crossed another milestone with 700 episodes – and we are continuing pushing forward and doing an even better job in how we look to serve you the best going forward this year.

I wish you a wonderful rest of your week and look forward to having you back tomorrow for another great interview with one of today's top business owners.

Until then...onward with gusto!

Anne Bahr Thompson is the Founder and Chief Strategist of Onesixtyfourth — a boutique consultancy that integrates cultural shifts and a social conscience into brand development. Anne was named a 2018 Top Thought Leader in Trust. She's the pioneer of the Brand Citizenship movement and has more than 25-years of experience as a global brand strategist, including a former executive director of strategy and planning and head of consulting at Interbrand, the world's leading brand consultancy. Anne is also an accomplished researcher, speaker, and the author of the new book, "DO GOOD: Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit."

• What Anne's trend research in 2011 showed regarding people's views on corporate citizenship
• A breakdown of the meaning and implications of Brand Citizenship
• The five step model of how Brand Citizenship moves across the Me-to-We continuum
• Why trust is the first step in the Me-to-We continuum of Brand Citizenship
• Why consumers are looking to companies to enrich their lives
• How corporate responsibility is the pivot point on the Me-to-We continuum
• Why consumers value companies who are focused on the community
• Why contribution is the final step on the Me-to-We continuum
• Understanding the symbiotic relationship between earning a profit and doing well
• Why being a good Brand Citizen not only appeals to consumers but also helps recruit prospective employees

• Twitter: @annebt
• LinkedIn: Anne Bahr Thompson
• Website: www.brandcitizenship.com
• Website: www.onesixtyfourth.com

Lee Caraher started Double Forte in 2002 as a new kind of communications firm designed to provide the best service in the business. Lee has managed multiple offices and hundreds of people of all ages and was named in the 40 under 40 by PRWEEK Magazine. She holds a bachelor's degree in medieval history — which she finds useful every day. You may also remember Lee and the wisdom she shared during episodes 180, 269, 523, 669, and 680 of Onward Nation. If you haven't listened to, studied, and applied all that Lee shared during our earlier interviews...I highly encourage you to add her episodes to your list of vital priorities.

• Why you need to pay attention to all your social media channels
• Why you should purchase any URLs that could be associated with your business
• The importance of using alerts on social media platforms
• Why you should have a set time to monitor your social media throughout the week
• The importance of having a plan for handling negative comments on social media
• How to get the conversation moved off of the social media platform
• How to handle an "internet troll" who is just trying to take advantage of your business
• The importance of handling legitimate complaints in a timely and professional manner
• Why you want to be as transparent as possible on social media
• The importance of not being drawn into public disputes on social media

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.double-forte.com
• Website: www.leecaraher.com
• Twitter: @LeeCaraher

• Social Media Checklist

Rob Dube is President and Co-Founder of imageOne, the leading organization in Document Lifecycle Management, which is well-known as an exceptional company, receiving local and national recognition for its multi-award-winning culture, including being ranked as one of the Top 25 Small Businesses in America on the 2017 list of Forbes Small Giants and one of Inc. 5000's Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. Rob is also the author of "donothing™: the most rewarding leadership challenge you will ever take" and organizer of the donothing™ leadership silent retreat.

• The importance of staying focused on your business' core competency
• How focusing your time allows you to accomplish great things
• Why your organization needs to define its values
• Using meditation to enhance your leadership skills
• The value of open-book management and how it helps your business become stronger
• Why listening and being present for the conversation is the most critical skill to master
• How to make your business stronger by incorporating best practices from other companies
• Why you should embrace a process for running your business and stick with it
• The importance of being mindful of emotional intelligence and being self aware
• The need to have really strong self management and empathy

• Website: www.donothingbook.com
• Twitter: @robdube

Susan Berkley is one of the most listened to voices in America. She's a top voice-over artist and telephone voice for Citibank and many others. An internationally known communications expert, Susan is the author of "Speak To Influence: How To Unlock The Hidden Power Of Your Voice" and her latest book, "The Persuasion Code." She is president and founder of The Great Voice Company and provides training in persuasive speaking techniques for business and sales professionals worldwide, as well as training in voice-over technique. A former radio personality and frequent media guest, she has been featured in on ABC News, CNBC, To Tell The Truth, and in The NY Times, The LA Times, and Business Week.

• How business owners can speak to influence
• The importance of meeting your audience at a level where they know you care
• How business owners can make the most of all points of contact
• Why speaking is one of the most powerful ways to grow your business
• Why we have to be an enhanced version of ourselves when we speak in front of others
• How your voice and the way you use it has the power to generate emotions and feeling in people
• The importance of not hiding behind your email
• Why making a to do list for the next day is a helpful daily habit
• Why communication is the fastest way to grow your business
• The concept of transparency

• Website: www.greatvoice.com/onward
• Website: www.greatvoice.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 800-333-8108
• Twitter: @greatvoice

Good Morning...I'm Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and host of Onward Nation – and I'd like to welcome you to Episode 705...this week's solocast.

In case you're new to Onward Nation...a solocast is where you and I take a deep dive into a topic...just you and me...without a guest.

And this one-on-one opportunity provides the necessary time to really explore a topic with some depth. And during a solocast, I typically share my point-of-view – when relevant – on trends my team and I are watching play out with business owners every day in the marketplace.

Or, I may share the most important lessons I am learning during conversations with other owners either during our Onward Nation episodes – sometimes during the recording or behind-the-green-curtain discussion I get to have – or – when I am out on the road teaching at conferences, or the new tools and tech I am learning about during mastermind sessions, or weekly check-ins with my accountability partners.

So these solocasts are the place where I can share all of these points with you – and hopefully – I am able to share them in a practical and tactical way that the information and ideas serve you, your team, and overall, are helpful as you work toward building and scaling your business.

So for today...I am going to explain why I believe so strongly that "voice" represents that next opportunity – that next patch of fertile ground – for significant business development.

Let's start off with some context around the word "voice" and what it covers. And then we will dive deeper into what, in my opinion, likely represent three of the most significant business development opportunities for you as it relates to voice – and how you and your team can win if you were to add a voice-centric strategy to your overall biz dev plan.

Okay, so what do I mean when I say "voice" and why does it matter?

The term "voice" today is being used to essentially encapsulate all voice-activated or operated devices, apps, and Internet of Things accessories that you may have in your home or office. So for example, if part of your daily routine while you're coffee is brewing is to say, "Hey Alexa, give me my flash briefing," you are using voice to get information.

Or, maybe part of your daily routine is to say, "Hey Google...dim the kitchen lights to 50 percent," you are using a voice command to get a desired result.

Or, let's say you are working on a research report and you grab your iPhone X and say, "Hey Siri...what is the 52-week high for Disney stock," you are using voice to pull data from a search engine.

Or, maybe you want to listen to your favorite podcast and you say, "Hey Alexa, play the Onward Nation Podcast," and the most recent episode begins playing.

And over the last couple of years, we have seen a real proliferation of voice-controlled devices or VCD for short...to the point that we are seeing a category emerge with a real acronym...VCD...voice controlled devices. And we as consumers are responding and voting with our wallets.

To help illustrate this...I want to share some of the trends and data points we are watching really closely here at Predictive ROI.

According to Techcrunch...the Echo Dot was the best-selling product on all of Amazon during the 2017 holiday season.

Amazon did not release the actual number sold, but they did confirm for Techcrunch that tens of millions were sold.

According to comScore...the number of U.S. households with smart speakers grew by 49 percent from June to November 2017. And smart speakers currently consist of Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod, and others. Amazon Echo continues to be the market share leader but Google Home is gaining ground quickly.

Here's a market share estimate that shows Amazon with 88 percent market share in 2016. Their share dropped to 52 percent in 2017.

Source: https://alpine.ai/voice-search-trends/

It is also important to realize that the overall market is exploding and that Amazon is still selling millions of Echos – and – from an software perspective...Amazon provides buyers with a library of over 30,000 Alexa Skills that can be verbally installed so that Alexa can perform certain tasks for you, as compared to Google Home's library of less than 1,000.

But, Google's major advantage is its dominance in search. Right now, when you ask Alexa to search for something online, she is only able to search the topic using Wikipedia, which is not as comprehensive as using Google, which comes native as part of Google Home.

This provides Google with a huge advantage to penetrate more and more areas of our home.

A results of a recent Google survey estimated that 72 percent of people who own a voice-activated speaker say that their devices are often used as part of their daily routine.

But the market share competition for voice controlled devices is not being waged just by Amazon, Google, and Apple. Samsung is expected to get into the smart speaker space – and according to Forbes, Spotify has been rumored to be preparing the release of their smart speaker.

And, Spotify is about to conduct a $1 billion initial public offering for their stock, so the stakes are high that they execute their products strategy carefully so they can diversify revenue beyond being a music subscription service – otherwise – the company would not be worthy of such a lofty valuation.

So let's shift our attention away from devices and think about search and how we as consumers are being to use search engines to find what we need.

According to Branded3 and data collected from IBM, 25 percent of searches on Windows 10 taskbar are voice.

According to a report in Search Engine People, 20 percent of mobile searches on Google are made via voice command. And according to comScore, 55 percent of teens and 41 percent of adults already execute voice searches multiple times per day, and the forecast is that by 2020, 50 percent of all searches will be via voice.

Onward Nation, I have even read reports predicting that by 2022, our computers will no longer come with keyboards because your laptop will essentially become a voice controlled device.

It blows my mind to think about that – but – the data does seem to point in that direction.

And what about podcasting as part of growth – is it still a growing category? And I get the fact that for me to have a bullish voice in this area makes me seem biased...so let me share some data from Edison Research.

They are the leaders in collecting and sharing the growth related data in their annual report, which you can download here.

Podcasting...even though it may seem like it is exploding right now...by the numbers...is growing at a slow and steady clip. There does not seem to be a podcasting bubble – instead – the data seems to indicate that there is some significant upside potential and we are just beginning to scratch the surface as more and more listening channels come online making the content that much more accessible.

24 percent of Americans have listened to a podcast in the last month – up from 21 percent 12 months ago.

And 40 percent of Americans have ever listened to a podcast...up from 36 percent 12 months ago.

The awareness of the term podcasting increased to 60% up from 55 percent 12 months ago.

And 15% of Americans said that they listen to podcasts on weekly basis up from 13 percent 12 months ago.

See what I mean?

Slow and steady growth – even though – sometimes it can feel like every business owner on the planet has podcast and everyone is listening...the reality is not that.

In fact, there are only a few podcasts – there is a lot of room in the market especially for really good content – and there is still a lot of blue ocean out there with growth potential.

And we are seeing this steady growth as smart phones become more and more sophisticated, podcasters are developing their own apps so their audiences can find their content with just one tap or click, and their continues to be a proliferation of channels where the content can be accessed.

For example, when we launched Onward Nation on June 15, 2015...705 episodes ago – yay! – you would have been able to listen to our episodes on iTunes, Stitcher, and our website.

That was it.

Now...you can listen to our episodes on iTunes and Stitcher as well as Amazon Echo by asking Alexa, you can find us on Spotify, on CastBox, on iHeart Radio, and on Google Play. And I am sure we will see more and more channels come online as the competition for subscribers and downloads continue.

Lastly...we are also seeing large brands beginning to make significant investments in voice as part of their overall marketing strategy.

According to AdAge, and what might be an industry first, JPMorgan Chase recently appointed VaynerMedia as its agency of record for "voice marketing" as the financial services giant looks to amplify its strategy around the nascent practice.

Onward Nation, there are a number of reasons why I think this news is significant – but most of all – brands have been resisting for years and years the naming of an agency of record for any part of their business.

Because awarding an agency with that title anoints them with a high level authority – certainly at the strategy level – above all other agencies. It is typically reserved for something very significant – and it is rarely used in today's advertising world.

Instead, brands are breaking up with agencies, slicing and dicing responsibilities across many agencies where they think they can get the best pricing, etc.

So for JPMorgan Chase to make the bold move toward voice and to do it such a way that named Gary and his team as the agency of record – is huge.

Huge kudos to Gary – major win. We are definitely witnessing the fulfillment of some of the predictions he made during Episode 42 of Onward Nation.

Okay, let's bring this full circle...all of this combined is why I firmly believe that the momentum we are experiencing around podcasting – and more macro – what we are experiencing around voice – is just the tip of the iceberg and all of this exciting momentum represents a myriad of opportunities for you and your team to plant your business development flag.

So let's take a look at four business development strategies that in my opinion, you and your team should seriously consider. These are not pie-in-the-sky ideas that you might be able to implement if we go keyboard-less computers in 5-years.

Hosting your own podcast is an exceptional opportunity for you share your point-of-view with your customers and prospects, to be helpful to them as they work hard to grow their businesses, and to grow your audience and influence. Once you launch your show...be sure to get your content into all of the major distribution channels like Spotify, Alexa, CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Soundcloud and the myriad of other channels were podcasts live today.

If you want a complete list of what we consider to be the big ones...go to PredictiveROI.com and click on "Podcast" and you will see a long list down the right side of the site with links to each channel.

A podcast will also provide you with numerous monetization opportunities from developing business relationships with your guests, to promoting products and services to your audience, selling sponsorships to third party brands who want to pay you to access your audience and many more.

If you're consider launching a podcast – or some other form of cornerstone content – I highly recommend going back to Episodes 676 and 659 so you and your team can refer to all of the step-by-step tactical plans I included in each episode for creating and monetizing your cornerstone content.

Okay, once your podcast is launched, and your episodes are available on Amazon Echo via Alexa voice commands, then I recommend you give some serious thought to building your own Alexa Skill or Flash Briefing.

At the time of this recording, we are about 2 weeks away from launching a beta version of our Predictive ROI flash briefing where we will provide helpful insights from our guests that were not aired during their actual episode – a collection of behind-the-green-curtain conversations – and the daily Flash Briefing would be the perfect channel for sharing that super exclusive content.

In addition, we may also include research points, the answers to FAQs, and other ways we can be helpful to business owners who may be looking for resources on how to gain clarity around their point of view and use cornerstone content to share their thoughts and wisdom with a larger audience.

A key point for you to consider as you map out your Alexa strategy is that Alexa can do more than just straight responses to specific questions. Alexa can also be configured to access and pull data from sources like Google Analytics – all of which is possible by making the correct API calls.

Incredible!

If you log into your Amazon account, you will be able to access the Alexa Skills Kit so you and your team can begin reviewing all of the technical specifications involved in the process.

One of the most interesting features for Alexa Skills is how you can require that someone who enables the skill – also "links" their account. Which means they have to accept granting linkage to their Facebook account which then you as the marketer have access to their email address and Facebook messenger.

So...if you build a rockin' awesome Alexa Skill, it can not only help you be helpful to your audience – but – the Skill can also build your email list.

SUPER AWESOME!!

Say you are struggling to think of how you might host a podcast – or – the thought of you interviewing your dream prospects as guest makes you uncomfortable – but – you also recognize the power of voice and you happen to have a rockin' awesome blog that you have spent the last several years building out.

Wonderful. Enter...Voxsnap.

Voxsnap is a recently launched service where you can provide them access to your written content – and they will convert it into audio files for you. Voxsnap has a stable of professional voice actors who will read and record your blog content and then give you back a professional sounding mp3 file of your content that you can then share via iTunes, etc...all of the podcasting channels we discussed earlier.

So if writing is your preferred way to create cornerstone content, and you are uncomfortable with the thought of recording audio, continue writing with excellent and then leverage the power of voice through Voxsnap.

And lastly, you and your team need to get up to speed with the changes voice is having on search engine optimization. I mentioned earlier how comScore predicts that nearly 50 percent of all searches in just a few short years will be voice activated – and that means we need to create different content – and serve it up to Google differently if we want to continue driving organic traffic to our websites.

And with voice search...there seems to be one vital priority at the moment and that is to create and optimize content so that it is worthy of becoming the "Featured Snippet" in the search results.

The featured snippet is the content that is ranked so high in the search results that Google tends to put it inside a box and it is typically the answer to a question you may have asked when searching.

So why is the featured snippet so important to voice? Because Google tends to highlight featured snippets in the voice search results and read them to you audibly.

So, if you score a featured snippet ranking for your content – you will not only be served up to searches who are using Google the traditional way – but you will also be served up first to voice searches and your content will be shared with them audibly.

Come on...how cool is that, Onward Nation?

So...how do you score a featured snippet ranking? Well, I will likely dedicated a future solocast just to this topic because as you might imagine – it is a deep one all by itself.

But for now...I will share several quick guidelines.

First, you need to begin creating content for your website that is focused on answering "what," "how," or "why" questions from searchers. "What" your product or service does, "how" your team solves problems, and "why" you and your team believe so strongly in supporting the industry through your annual research report on trends, etc.

So you need to think creatively about matching your content with the intent of voice search so that they sync up.

Second, Google has shared data about how searchers who are using voice are also using long keyword strings – or what is often referred to as long-tail keywords. Gone are the days of someone going to Google and searching for a single keyword but instead of searching for a solution to a problem.

For example...the deep dive solocast that I record that will focus on voice search might be entitled: "Okay Google, how do I optimize my website for voice search?"

Because I will want anyone who is struggling with that topic to find my solocast.

So you need to think of your keywords from a long-tail perspective but also from a question and answer or solution perspective.

And third, I would highly recommend you and your team doing some research and testing using Schema.org – often referred to as Structured Data. With Structured Data, you will have more opportunities to tell Google, Bing, etc. what your content page contains – to label it – identify it and to make it easier for them to index and rank.

Recent studies have shown that of all the content pages in the same that were ranked by Google with a featured snippet, over 40 percent of the pages were using Structured Data as part of their optimization recipe.

Again, I will record a separate solocast on voice search engine optimization to share all of our steps in full transparency – but for now – if you and your team begin reviewing your content from the perspective of those three areas, you will likely be ahead of 95 percent of your competition.

Okay, there is one final reason why I am urging you to immediately consider voice as part of your business development strategy.

Because if you truly want to be a thought leader – and you want to leverage your thought leadership so that it serves you in attracting new clients as I have shared with you in past solocasts, then you cannot be a one trick pony.

Here's a quick video snippet about why I think that is the case.

Your content cannot just be available on your blog...or just your YouTube channel...or just your podcast...or your latest book. Your content needs to be available across multiple channels and you reaching your audience and being helpful in multiple ways...and voice gives you that exceptional opportunity.

With voice...you have the opportunity to no longer be a one-trick pony.

With voice, you can create new content and then transform it into written content.

Now, with the launch of Voxsnap, you have the opportunity to take your written content and transform it into voice.

There is so much opportunity today to take one piece of cornerstone content and to transform it into many different spokes – and unfortunately – if you are not doing that – you are missing out on significant business development opportunities.

So with that said...I want to say thank you, Onward Nation – thank you for taking time to be here – thank you for sharing your feedback, opinions, and insights with us for over 700 episodes.

Please know – I appreciate your time and attention so very much – thank you for helping us get better each and every day.

And I am thrilled that we crossed another milestone with 700 episodes – and that feels wonderful – but I think we are just scratching the surface in how we look to serve you the best going forward this year.

I wish you a wonderful rest of your week and look forward to having you back tomorrow for another great interview with one of today's top business owners.

Until then...onward with gusto!

Our special encore guest today is Thor Conklin. He is an entrepreneur, profitability consultant, and host of his daily podcast, Peak Performers. The first company he created was a global risk management consulting firm that served the private equity community. His top 15 clients had a combined revenue of $12.7 billion and operated in over 100 countries worldwide. Now...you may remember Thor and the wisdom he shared during Episode 493. If you haven't listened to, studied, and applied all he shared during our first interview...I highly encourage you to add Episode 493 to your list of vital priorities.

• Why you should constantly evaluate your peer groups
• The importance of surrounding yourself with mentors that are accomplishing amazing things
• Why you don't need to learn more, you just need to do what you know
• The lesson of "just start" and why your product or service will improve over time
• Why consistency is the key to improving and honing your business
• How having a vision for your life can help you define success
• Overcoming fear with the strategy of "1-2-3 - Go"
• The importance of pushing and keeping momentum going within your business
• What characteristics do you need to become a great mentor
• The need for a highly visible scorecard of your business

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @ThorConklin

Russell Whitney is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a recognized worldwide leader in the business, real estate investment, and financial training fields. Over the past 15-years, he has traveled the world speaking to audiences and has spoken alongside luminaries including Robert Kiyosaki and Tony Robbins always spreading his message of how to take immediate action to achieve financial goals and dreams by following his easy-to-follow, step-by-step process. It was during that time he met his success coach, mentor, and eventual business partner, Kevin Harrington, one of the original sharks on "Shark Tank." Today you can find Russell speaking at events all across the country, giving his students the tools, guidance and knowledge they need to be wildly successful in their fields.

• The importance of seeking out help and not trying to do it all on your own
• How seeking out coaching and mentoring can help shortcut your process
• Why you should always be transparent in life and business
• How meditation and prayer can be beneficial daily habits
• The value of goal planning each day
• Why you should make a "not" to do list
• Selling is important, but marketing is a critical skill to master
• Why you should seek to hire people who are smarter than you in your business
• The importance of hiring and paying for quality people
• Why you should always try to set your employees up for success

• Instagram: @russellwwhitney
• Facebook: AskRussellWhitney
• Email: [email protected]
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