Onward Nation

Jessica Rhodes is the founder and CEO of InterviewConnections.com, the premier Guest Booking agency for podcasters and guest experts, and she is the acclaimed author of Interview Connections: How to #RockThePodcast From Both Sides of the Mic! Jessica is the host of Interview Connections TV, where each week she helps her viewers rock the podcast from both sides of the mic. She hosts/co-hosts three podcasts: Rhodes to Success, The Podcast Producers and The Parenting Rhodes. The Podcast Producers was selected by Apple as a "How to Podcast" show in iTunes and has also been included in the syllabus for a course about podcasting and audio journalism at Western University in Ontario, Canada. And, Jessica is has been a speaker at Podcast Movement, Podfest.us, and Dream Business Academy.

• What Jessica has been up to since we last talked with her in Episode 151
• Jessica's transition from virtual employees to full-time in-house employees and why she chose to go along that route
• How Jessica's role has changed in her business
• Why you're never too good to go back to the entry level job
• The importance of knowing where your ideal clients are coming from
• Ensuring that there's value in the content that you're creating
• The bigger purpose in marketing: building your brand
• Some of the biggest challenges Jessica has faced in building her team
• When hiring, why it's vital to find someone who fits in with the rest of your team
• Being okay with divorcing some of the strategies that you've used in the past

• Website: InterviewConnections.com

Ben Chiriboga is an entrepreneur, lawyer, and growth counselor dedicated to the idea of unlocking everyone's inner entrepreneur. Through his ventures "You the Createur," "En Masse Growth Counsel," and "LeanGC"…Ben is in the business of helping you get into business then thrive, grow, and protect that business for you, your employees, and your personal mission.

• Why there has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur
• A more affordable option for business owners when it comes to getting legal work done
• Making sure you deliver the most value up front
• How most outward challenges are due to a lack of internal organization
• Aligning your business goals are with your personal mission
• Why it's critical to have confidence with perspective
• What solving problems in business is really all about
• How what you're doing needs to fit in with who you want to be
• Why it's vital to get "you" right

• Website: www.youthecreateur.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @benchiribogaYTC

Matthew Turner is an author and storyteller who works with entrepreneurs, founders, and creative thinkers to build thriving businesses that light a fire within them. After interviewing 163 authority figures, Matthew's unearthed how successful people overcome failure and adversity, ensuring they fulfill their potential and craft epic successes.

• Some of the biggest lessons that Matthew has learned from
• interviewing people for his book, 'The Successful Mistake'
• Why your job as an entrepreneur is to make decisions
• The one mistake all entrepreneurs need to make at some point
• Minimizing risk risk in making a bad hire
• Taking time for personal reflection time
• Defining what success means for you
• Learning through interviewing people
• Mastering relationships: a key for business owners to thrive today
• Why you shouldn't have a fear of doing the right thing
• Being conscious of nurturing relationships

• Website: successfulmistake.com
• Email: [email protected]

Bobby Klinck is a best-selling author and intellectual property attorney. He helps entrepreneurs, startups, and innovators harness the power of their intellectual property rights and reduce exposure to lawsuits or brand challenges in the marketplace. His book "The Entrepreneur's IP Planning Playbook" provides a short, understandable roadmap for entrepreneurs – from solopreneurs to startup founders – to handle their intellectual capital.

• The de facto partnerships many entrepreneurs are in and why this is a huge mistake to make
• Why, as a founder, you need to assign all of your intellectual property to the company
• Eye-opening stories about how some business owners did not have written agreements in place in their businesses
• The importance of mastering the attribute of persistence for today's business owners
• How a lot of intellectual property issues are related to lack of focus
• The patent system: how it works and how many variables there are in the process
• Putting out a good product in a timely fashion rather than waiting for it to be perfect
• Why you should adopt non-traditional marketing techniques sooner rather than later
• How 'playing small ball' helps entrepreneurs succeed
• The importance of specializing your business on a particular client and not trying to be everything to everybody

• Website: www.klinckllc.com
• Free Online Course: www.klinckllc.com/podcast

Croft Edwards is a Master Certified Coach, Social Media Influencer, President of CROFT + Company, and the genesis behind LeadershipFlow, the study of how to help individuals and organizations be at their best. He has been helping leaders and their teams find their Flow since 2001 in a variety of fields: mining, refining, government agencies, sovereign nations, manufacturing, start-ups, small businesses, and healthcare. Two miles down in a mine or up on the 8th floor, Croft coaches wherever there are leaders who desire a different result.

• Croft's first book, "LeadershipFlow | Perfectly Square, A Story about Learning to Lead and Transforming a Company"
• Why the most difficult person you ever have to lead is yourself
• How showing up in our bodies determines what's possible
• Challenging yourself to look at what you really fear and why
• Why resignation and resentment are the two most common moods found in organizations
• Fundamentally changing an organization by having the right person in a leadership role
• Star leaders
• The key to being a great mentor
• Asking powerful questions and just listening for the response
• Looking at the conversations and moods within your organization

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.croftandcompany.com
• Twitter: @croftedwards
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/croftedwards

Mark Asquith is a serial entrepreneur who has built globally successful design & marketing, SaaS and digital businesses since he quit his job in 2005. A passionate podcaster, perpetual learner and helpful guy, Mark has a giant dog and an embarrassing beard.

• Mark's entrepreneur background
• Why many people still don't feel successful, even when they deliver 100%
• How a person can record and release a podcast without truly "podcasting"
• What strategy accomplishes for entrepreneurs
• Why it's important to be mentally prepared
• Why assuming that work and life can be equally weighted is dangerous
• How the "Triple I" Principle works
• Organizing a productive day
• Making time for other people
• How being helpful can grow a business
• Why Mark doesn't think of himself as an entrepreneur
• What happens when you compare your beginning to someone else's middle
• Why finding your own rhythm is crucial to success
• The difference in value between listening and pitching
• Why productizing your business can be effective

• Website: www.excellence-expected.com
• Product launch guide: www.excellence-expected.com/s1
• Website: podcastwebsites.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @MrAsquith

Bobby Martin believes that too many startup founders pivot too early, quit too early, and expect rapid takeoff. Through his experience of starting and selling First Research (a leader in sales intelligence) for $26 Million to Fortune 500 firm, Dun & Bradstreet, he's learned first-hand the challenges and solutions at each stage of entrepreneurial growth. Bobby is the author of "The Hockey Stick Principles: The Four Key Stages to Entrepreneurial Success," which was named an 800CEORead Bestseller. Bobby's current adventure is as chairman and co-founder of Vertical IQ, a leading provider of sales research insight for banks. Bobby is an angel investor and serves as an active board member with several innovative start-ups, including Local Eye Site, Boardroom Insiders, MyLifeSite, Sageworks, and etailinsights.

• The 80/20 rule for staying focused on your most vital priorities
• How most successful startups have revenue growth curves that are shaped liked a hockey stick
• Planning for at least 3 years of hardship and tweaks for your business to take off
• Selling: why it is the most important and overlooked skill a startup needs to succeed
• Why it's vital to know your KPI's (key performance indicators) really well
• Keeping things simple by choosing to say "no"
• Why you cannot predict what your actual cost is going to be when starting a business
• The systems Bobby would go back and put in place sooner if given the opportunity
• The two things that successful founders do to become successful
• Why most businesses should try to get to "ramen profitability" as quickly as possible

• Website: www.bobbymartin.me

Lindsey Anderson is often called "One-Click Lindsey." She is a web strategy expert who works with small business owners to help them utilize the web to produce more website traffic and leads. Lindsey is the founder and CEO TrafficAndLeads.com that specializes in driving traffic, getting leads and the art of nurturing leads to become lifelong clients. Lindsey is an expert in landing pages, email sequences, search engine ranking, newsletters, analytics, social media, pay-per-click ads, websites, blogging, and the list goes on. She knows how to utilize the myriad of online marketing options to generate more traffic and leads which produces more paying clients.

• Why business owners want more than just a website
• Lindsey's quest to help business owners succeed in online marketing
• Why the most important thing business owners need to do today is focus on their email marketing list
• What a good irresistible offer looks like
• Putting a Facebook Ads system in place in order to produce results
• Why business owners need to grasp the power of delegation & know where to spend their time
• All of the statistics that you need to look at to determine if an ad is performing well
• How working with a business coach really helped Lindsey
• Why you need to start your email list on Day #1 that you are in business
• Why you should be putting a pop-up on your website
• Why it's so important to install the Facebook pixel & Google Analytics code on your website

• Website: www.oneclicklindsey.com
• Website: www.trafficandleads.com
• Website: trafficandleadsmembership.com
• Twitter: @oneclicklindsey
• Podcast: Traffic & Leads

Thor Conklin is an entrepreneur, profitability consultant, and host of his daily podcast, Peak Performers. This marks his 17th year as an entrepreneur. 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. His background, in risk management, served him well when he lost 1/3 of his team, in the World Trade Center attacks, on 9/11. Since that time, he has started, bought and sold several multi-million dollar businesses making him a sought after, cross-industrial resource for entrepreneurs and executives in all stages of business.

• Thor's background & how he got his name
• The story behind how Thor lost a third of his team in the 9/11 attacks & how that affected his business
• How the 'ultimate success map' provides the foundation for everything that Thor does
• Why you need to ask yourself 'Is this business working for me or am I working for the business'
• The difference between making a decision and being committed
• Why you need to figure out what you want the vision for your life to look like
• Why Thor believes that work should be supporting our lives & vision
• How Thor sets micro-commitments every day to help him prepare
• Why you need master the 'personal touch' in order to thrive in business today
• Why you just need to keep moving forward & never give up to be successful
• Why the process of 'leaning in' has been so important for Thor
• Why culture has got to be at the center of every organization

• Website: www.thorconklin.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Thor.Conklin
• Twitter: @thorconklin
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thor-conklin-9b2b087
• Email: [email protected]
• Email: [email protected]
• Podcast: Peak Performers
• Free eBook: "The 7 Execution Killers"

Scott Schwertly is the Founder and CEO of Ethos3 and the creator of Badge, a proprietary presentation assessment tool, which helps presenters discover and maximize their presentation style. He is also the author of two books and his most recent entitled, "What's Your Presentation Persona?". If Scott is not working with his team building presentations, or co-hosting his Presentation Scientists Podcast, you will find him in the pool, on the bike, or on a long run since he is a two-time Ironman, seven-time marathoner, and competitive triathlete.

• Telltale signs that a PowerPoint presentation is not delivering to it's audience
• How knowing what your energy levels are like can help you capitalize on work or other activities
• How exercise & reading contribute to success
• Why you need pure, raw grit when it comes to chasing your dreams of starting a business
• Why it's critical to master the skill of patience to be successful
• Why you need to be responsive and timely with your communication
• The moment when Scott realized that there were multiple things wrong with his business
• How content marketing can help you in so many ways
• Why Scott believes in out teaching the competition
• How people who are passionate and have a good work ethic add value to a company
• Why you need to be working more on your business, not in your business

• Website: www.ethos3.com
• Book: "What's Your Presentation Persona"