Onward Nation

How to use a mentor effectively? If you're knowledgeable about it, it will help establish a good mentor-mentee relationship that has many benefits. So, make sure to stay for the entirety of this podcast episode and listen to what Kevin Harrington has to say.

As an "Original Shark" on the hit TV show Shark Tank, the creator of the infomercial, pioneer of the "As Seen on TV" brand, and co-founding board member of the Entrepreneur's Organization, Kevin Harrington has pushed past all the questions and excuses to repeatedly enjoy 100X success.

His legendary work behind the scenes of business ventures has produced more than $5 billion in global sales, the launch of more than 500 products, and the making of dozens of millionaires. He's launched massively successful products like The Food Saver, Ginsu Knives, The Great Wok of China, The Flying Lure, and many more.

He has worked with amazing celebrities turned entrepreneurs including, like Billy Mays, Tony Little, Jack LaLanne, and George Foreman to name a few. Kevin's been called the Entrepreneur's Entrepreneur and the Entrepreneur Answer Man, because he knows the challenges unique to start-ups and has a special passion for helping entrepreneurs succeed.

• How Kevin first became an entrepreneur in the early 1980s by way of his family business and how he grew and helped create an entire industry
• Why Kevin co-authored his book "Mentor to Millions" in an effort to teach others how to find and how to use a mentor effectively
• Why writing a bestselling book was a key goal Kevin set for himself, and how he and his own mentor Mark Timm created the book based on their relationship
• Why going all-in with your mentor and committing to being a good student is crucial for you to reap the rewards of the relationship
• What advice Kevin suggests for finding the right mentor to work with, and how he leveraged connections he already had to find one of his ideal business mentors
• Why now, even during the chaos of the global pandemic, is the ideal time to look for and begin working with a mentor
• What tremendous benefits you can receive as both a mentor and as a mentee, and why the relationship should be mutually beneficial
• Why it is important to be clear and set your expectations at the beginning of the mentor-mentee relationship
• What remarkable opportunities, business ventures, and networking growth Kevin was able to receive from being a mentor

• Read this blog on how to use a mentor effectively and accelerate your success
• Mentor to Millions by Kevin Harrington and Mark Timm: https://kevinmentor.com
• Website: https://kevinharrington.tv/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thekevinharrington/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/harringtonenterprises/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialkevinharrington/
• Twitter: @HarringtonKevin
• Learn how to use a mentor effectively and improve the mentor-mentee relationship

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

Good Morning…I'm Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and your host for Onward Nation.

One of the things that I love most about my role at Predictive — is that every single day — I have an opportunity to talk with, work alongside with, and teach and share with business owners just like you.

They might own a marketing or advertising agency as I do, or they might be a rockin' awesome business coach, or maybe the owners of a consultancy — and they too love being in the trenches being helpful…sharing the best of what they've got with their audience…and as a result…they've started to — or have already — built a nation of true fans.

All of the what, why's, and how to's for build a nation of true fans is what we're going to focus on in today's solocast.

I'll map it out in full transparency — and as always — please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I'm happy to help.

As you'll hear in a few minutes — your first step in building your nation of true fans has nothing to do with the actual content delivery platform — channel — or the type of cornerstone content you create — but has everything to do with the value and helpfulness of what you will be creating, sharing, and delivering to your audience, because your nation of true fans will be built on a foundation of valuable, super helpful content that your audience can use to be better at their jobs everyday.

Your nation of true fans will know your heart and that your intention is to help them grow, to learn, and to be better. It never feels like a transactional relationship.

They don't feel like you're trying to monetize them.

Do they spend money on your services and what your team provides — yes — your true fans do. And the rest of your audience are there just for the golden nuggets — and that's 100 percent okay.

So let's begin walking down this path — you and I are going to take a look at strategy and tactics for how you can build a nation of true fans from the cornerstone content you are creating on a consistent basis. The way you win long-term is by creating content that develops and nurtures long-term relationships with your audience.

These relationships are what Wired Magazine founder Kevin Kelly calls "True Fans." And in my opinion — true fans represent your ROI Scorecard's ultimate vital metric.

To paraphrase Kelly — any business owner can create a solid revenue stream around a community of approximately 1,000 people when they are "True Fans" of what the company sells and when there is a connection between the company and its fans based on the value provided. In this solocast — I will illustrate how a consistent effort toward creating consistent cornerstone content can create a nation of true fans for your business, too.

Your nation of true fans will be fans of you, fans of your point of view, and fans of the helpful content you create and share. Your fans will support you because of the sacred bond you have built with them and because you consistently delivered massive value through your content.

Okay — now let's get dialed in on building your nation of true fans: a sense of community, collaboration, and profitability around your business.

And could there be a more critical time than right now to do this for your business, Onward Nation?

If you get this right — it will be a super helpful strategy to not only help you come roaring out the other side of this recession — but — this strategy will help you future proof your business for years to come.

Let's begin by breaking the phrase "Build a nation of true fans" into its three core ingredients. The first is "build", the second is "nation", and the third is "true fans."

Ingredient #1: Build…as in your platform.

How would you begin to "build" a nation of true fans? You'd begin with selecting the form of cornerstone content where you intend to share your insights and wisdom with your audience — or eventual audience.

Whether that's a…

• Podcast
• Speaking
• Blog
• Video series
• Research project
• Writing a book
• Or something else

The platform you choose is irrelevant from a tech perspective. Any or all of the above can help you build a nation of true fans. The tech behind it all is relatively easy. Is there a learning curve? Sure.

Will you feel at times like you are trying to fly the space shuttle with so many knobs and buttons to push? Sure. How does Facebook Live work? What time of day should I create a story on Instagram? What kind of camera and mic are best if I want to be a serious YouTuber?

All of these are tech questions — and within an afternoon with your best friend Google — you can solve those problems and find the answers as long as you don't let the fear of the unknown become paralyzing to you.

So let's shift our focus away from the tech — and instead — focus on the value you will be providing through those channels?

What's your story?

How will you serve your audience?

How will you make what you are doing so valuable to their business or life, that they actually consider you to be indispensable?

How will you become so consistent in the help, advice, recommendations, and over value that you are providing on a consistent basis — that you BUILD deposits in their emotional bank account?

They begin to trust you — they begin to like you — and then because of them liking you and trusting you…they move even closer to you by truly KNOWING you.

So, your first step in building your nation of true fans has nothing to do with the actual content delivery platform and has everything to do with the value of what you will be delivering — because your nation of true fans is built on VALUE.

And if you get that right — the actual platform — or your conduit through which you share your value — will fall into place — and it will feel less stressful because the value you were called — put on this Earth to deliver — will then be in the driver's seat.

You, Onward Nation — will become unstoppable.

Will there be profit to be made for your business because you built a nation of true fans? Of course. To date — Onward Nation has helped Predictive ROI generate over $4 million in revenue and we feel blessed and honored about that result outcome. And we believe that this result outcome was made possible because we never placed ourselves first. Ever.

Now let's shift our attention toward Ingredient #2: "Nation."

And I want to make sure we address this because we live in a world where bigger lists, bigger subscribers, massive downloads, huge customer lists, etc. etc. etc. is what attracts headlines and massive attention.

You don't need an email list of 100,000 people. You don't need to have a podcast that gets a million downloads a month. You don't need to have a customer list with 20,000 prospects on it.

Nope. You don't.

That's not your Nation.

What you need — realistically — depending on the size of your business is somewhere between 100 to 1,000 high-qualified prospects.

That's it…100 to 1,000 of the very best prospects who precisely match your client avatar — in fact — your knowledge with some of these people is so deep that you can boldly claim them as your Dream 25 prospects.

If you need a refresher on why your Dream 25 matters — go back to Episode 308 of Onward Nation — and I map it all out — how to figure out who your Dream 25 is — and — how to romance your Dream 25 so they understand how important they are to you.

To take this point deeper — I want to share a very tangible example of a company that grew from zero to become a multi-billion a year company — yes — billion — with a capital B.

My mentor, Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS Magazine…decided to interview my friend Cody Foster, co-founder of Advisors Excel and to share the interview on the SUCCESS CD that rides along with the magazine.

During the interview with Darren, Cody shared several personal stories of very humble beginnings — and how those stories — helped shaped the kind of company Advisors Excel has become.

A company packed full — wall to wall — of incredible people — a team whose sole focus is to deliver more and more value every day to the financial advisors around the country they are there to serve. And Advisors Excel team does it masterfully well. They have BUILT their platform — a platform that is indeed built on a solid foundation of value.

But…did they build this platform by trying to serve the 60,000 financial advisors located in the state of Florida alone?

No.

How about all of the financial advisors up and down the west coast?

Nope.

Did they focus on spending large amounts of advertising dollars trying to reach everyone they could with their message of value, value, value?

Not at all.

Instead…they meticulously selected 1,000 of the very best financial advisors who they wanted to earn the opportunity to serve. Yes, Onward Nation, Cody shared with Darren that they built a list of 1,000 financial advisors — just 1,000 — and then they went to work to deliver more value than another other insurance marketing organization in the industry to the 1,000 advisors they wanted to work with.

The 1,000 advisors became their Nation…and advisors outside of the Nation didn't exist. Advisors Excel was solely focused on being the best they could be for this small group of prospects.

So what was the result outcome?

Well, in year 8 of the business…they reached over $8 billion in revenue. $8 billion, Onward Nation.

When they are the right prospects — you don't need 10,000…you actually only need a small number to make your business amazingly successful and profitable. 1,000 people — who you can love on — who you can support — who you can add value to — who then in turn are excited to do for you some of what you already shared with them.

Okay — now let's move to Ingredient #3 — True Fans

We'll begin by taking the number 1,000 — deeper — because it is a magical number and a vital priority for your business.

According to Kevin Kelly, if a business created a base of customers who were more like fans — 1,000 True Fans — then that business could become sustainable and profitable by simply focusing on the needs of its true fans.

And if you visit the Show Notes for today's solocast…you will find a link to Kevin Kelly's blog post as well as the long tail curve he created to illustrate the 1,000 true fans strategy.

Kelly describes "True Fans" as customers who will help you mobilize and move your business onward to that next level. They are true fans of you — true fans of your message — true fans of your business.

They will support you because of the sacred bond you have built with them.

A bond that was built upon — and continues to be built upon — the foundation of the value you create, you deliver, and the value you share with them on a consistent basis.

Whether you do that every day — every week — no matter what the schedule — no matter what the rhythm — the fact that you are consistent is what is important.

According to Kevin, "A True Fan" is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to visit your location.

They will buy the super deluxe version of your product even though they already own the standard version, too.

They have a Google Alert set for your name.

They have bookmarked your website.

They come to your product announcements — or — ribbon cutting ceremonies for a new office location.

They come to your book signings and ask for you to sign their copy.

They cannot wait for your next webinar — your next podcast episode — your next event — your next release of whatever.

And the best way to increase sales for your company is to connect with your True Fans directly…so you need to have a platform built on value…see? We keep coming back to that foundational truth.

Onward Nation, 1,000 true fans is a very reasonable number. As Kevin explains in his brilliant blog post… "if you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable.

Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating."

The key challenge is that you have to maintain direct contact with your 1,000 True Fans. And you do that through building your platform — delivering value — and making sure you are using the right conduit so it reaches your 1,000 true fans on a consistent basis.

Again…it doesn't matter if you use a podcast, blog, write a book, video series, or some other form of cornerstone content. What's important to identify is not the form of content where you're most comfortable — but — the platform your fans use the most. What's the best conduit to them?

For me — it's this podcast, the books I write, the annual research we do, the webinars where I can teach longer form, and the videos we share every Sunday.

But there is also another piece to True Fans…and that are the concentric circles of "Lesser Fans."

This segment of your audience will not purchase everything you produce, and may not seek out direct contact, but they will buy much of what you produce.

The processes you develop to feed your True Fans will also nurture Lesser Fans. As you build your nation of True Fans, you will also add many more Lesser Fans.

And as you are building…don't avoid…don't miss the opportunity to go deep…to develop intimacy with your audience…with your true fans.

Onward Nation…that's one of the reasons I ask for feedback so often.

My team and I legitimately want to get better — but — I also want to hear from you — to get to know you — to learn from you — and to deliver even more value so Onward Nation becomes — and hopefully remains — your most favorite podcast.

Okay…you now have a tangible recipe for building your own nation of true fans — and when you do — your nation will become this amazing, awesome, wonderful, beautiful, incredible community of people who are generous with their feedback and help guide your business in the right direction to deliver value.

Consider Kevin Kelly's lesson as you build out your cornerstone content. Ask yourself how you can continually add more and more value like Cody Foster and his team at Advisors Excel.

Because when you build your nation — and focus on being helpful not transactions — your business, your team, and your life move onward to a completely new level.

So with that…I want to say thank you again for taking the time to be here with me today.

It's always an honor to have you here. I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn from today's top business owners.

And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. That's how we get better.

Remember — now's the time to double down — all of the data is on your side.

Until next week — onward with gusto!

Leveraging data insights can help pivot your business if you know how to utilize them. Our expert today, Jonathan Silver, will guide us through how he implemented them in his business and gave himself an advantage over his competitors.

Jonathan Silver is Founder and CEO of Affinity Solutions. Affinity is the authoritative source of truth for news outlets, not-for-profits, research firms, and businesses in the US and the only source for purchase insights that can be analyzed by demographic, geographic, lifestyle segment, and political affiliation. Jonathan's vision is to transform data insights into experiences that improve people's lives.

• Jonathan's background and his journey into entrepreneurship with Affinity
• How privacy is respected, maintained, and never breached during the data collection process
• Why access to data plays such a profound role in a company's ability to navigate crises
• How Jonathan was able to pivot his business by leveraging data insights as the solution
• The licensing/subscription model Jonathan created for Affinity Solutions
• The skills we need on our team and in our business to make the right decisions using data insights
• Why leveraging data insights and solutions and then bringing them to your clients will drastically separate you from your competitors
• How mentorship has paid Jonathan dividends to this day

• Read this blog from Affinity Solutions about leveraging data insights in retail
• Website: https://www.affinity.solutions/dataforgood
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-silver-33b456/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AffinitySolutionsWorldwide
• Twitter: @affinitysolutns
• Listen to this podcast with Carey Weston on how leveraging data insights also became his business strategy

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

Scaling in business can help fuel your growth and improve your revenue in the process. Some companies don't follow this recipe and wonder why they haven't improved in every aspect. Don't be like one of them, and start scaling up your business today!

Sean Ammirati co-founded mSpoke, which was the first acquisition of LinkedIn. His next startup was Peak Strategy, which was acquired by Morgan Stanley.

Today, he focuses on being a partner at Birchmere Ventures, where they invest in seed-stage SaaS and marketplace startups. Since its start in 1996, they've invested in 135 companies with 51 exits. Sean also teaches entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business.

• Sean's entrepreneurial journey
• The philosophy behind "The Science of Growth: Why Some Companies Scale While Others Stall"
• Why entrepreneurship is more about being obsessive with the problems your customers have than it is about an idea
• Sean's 3-step framework for scaling in business
• How to adapt to a changing marketplace using Sean's 4 prerequisites
• 4 catalyzing events that can help startups drive growth
• How to vet and evaluate potential capital partners so that you are accepting smart money for your startup
• Why we need a greater number of entrepreneurs now more than ever
• How to start scaling in business to improve your revenue

• Website:
  • http://birchmerevc.com
  • https://www.seanammirati.com/
• LinkedIn:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanammirati/
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/birchmere-ventures/
• Twitter:
  • @SeanAmmirati
  • @birchmerevc
• Learn more about why Sean has been successful in scaling in business by checking out his company's portfolio

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/
• Listen to another podcast about scaling in business with our guest, Mike McDerment

A look toward the future of work and leadership drove Jacob to pursue a career as a certified futurist. There are so many lessons to learn from this, and glimpsing into the future will work wonders for your business without you realizing it.

Jacob Morgan is a four-time bestselling author, keynote speaker, and trained futurist who explores leadership, employee experience, and the future of work. He is the founder of FutureofWorkUniversity.com, an online education, and training platform that helps future-proof individuals and organizations by teaching them the skills they need to succeed in the future of work. He is also the host of the weekly podcast The Future of Work, where he talks with top-level executives and bestselling authors about everything related to the future of work.

• How Jacob's career journey started with him being a "terrible student", and why a negative experience with a former boss pushed Jacob into his entrepreneurial journey
• How Jacob is eager to look toward the future of work and leadership then develop a career around it
• Why the six key concepts for the future are AI & technology; the pace of change; the new talent landscape; purpose & meaning; morality, ethics & transparency; and globalization
• Jacob explains these six concepts and shares why each doesn't stand alone but serve as an interconnected system
• How the average lifespan of a company on the S&P 500 has gone from 60 years in the 1950s to 20 years in 1990 and is expected to drop to just 14 years in 2026
• How the framework of "job, purpose, impact and meaning" offers a guide to achieving your goals and maximizing results as a leader
• Why leaders shouldn't fear people disagreeing with them but should be more concerned about whether people understand what they stand for in the first place
• What Jacob has determined to be the four mindsets and five skills that business leaders need to master to operate in the future
• How there are two types of challenges for organizations, and how Jacob's Notable Nine skills can help you overcome both types of challenges
• Jacob shares some surprising research results highlighting aspects of the relationship between employees and their leaders
• Look toward the future and envision what your business is going to be by then

• Get your copy of The Future Leader at https://amzn.to/3bkLhdq
• Notable Nine PDF article from Jacob: www.theleadershipdigest.com
• Leadership assessment: www.futureleadersurvey.com
• Leadership course: www.futureleadercourse.com
• Website: https://thefutureorganization.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jacobmorgan8/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/FuturistJacob
• Twitter: @jacobm
• Look toward the future by employing these 14 principles to your organization

Additional Resources:

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/
• Look toward the future of work by listening to this podcast with Mike Glauser

Transformational experiences will help your client and yourself in a personal and professional manner. Cate is an expert at this, and she will share how her journey changed her life in ways that she can't even imagine.

Cate Stillman, founded Yogahealer.com in 2001, a $1 M+ revenue a year business. Cate is a leader and author in the field of Ayurveda, Peak Performance, and Habits (titles: Body Thrive; Master of You); podcaster with 2M downloads, and global community builder. She runs Yogahealer with her remote team (10 contractors + 40 work studies), so she can ski, surf and run rivers with her family in the Tetons and Mexico.

• How Cate recently released her new book, Master of You, and what key information and business skills the book teaches readers
• How Cate's team became dysfunctional and left her taking over 80% of her team's work, and how transformational experiences helped correct the issue
• How Cate reassembled her team with a diverse and global group of 1099 employees and built a seven-figure "lifestyle business"
• How creating courses and teaching others became cornerstone content that led to Cate's books, and how the books then feed into an interest in the courses
• How Cate's wellness business model became another way for her to teach and serve others within the wellness industry
• How the global pandemic has impacted Cate's business and what silver linings she has been able to identify for her business despite the crisis
• How Cate's business, at its core, is about helping people and businesses undergo transformational experiences
• What valuable lessons Cate learned through building her business and during the global pandemic crisis, and how alignment and intentionality were key
• How Cate uses peer mentorship as a cornerstone of her coaching business, and why influencers are powerful resources
• How Cate converted a relatively unsuccessful and unprofitable course she created into the future of her thought leadership cornerstone content

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://yogahealer.com/peak-performance/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cate-stillman/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/yogahealer
• Twitter: @yogahealer
• Undergo transformational experiences by booking a coaching session with Cate

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/
• Learn more insights about transformational experiences by listening to this podcast with Christine Kloser

How to get to the top of Google? This is what many business owners ask themselves when they want their website to be visible on Google's Search Engine Results Page (SERP). If you're also asking this question, then it's perfect that you're here because Tim will discuss with us his strategies on how to achieve this.

Tim Cameron-Kitchen is a Digital Marketing expert and Head Ninja at Exposure Ninja. Exposure Ninja works and consults with businesses in every imaginable market around the world, helping them to increase their website rankings, traffic, and profit. Tim has been working in Digital Marketing since 2005, setting up Exposure Ninja in 2012.

Tim's five bestselling digital marketing books, online courses, seminars, and the Exposure Ninja podcast, teach tens of thousands of businesses each year. Tim is a regular speaker at the B2B Marketing Expo at London's Excel and at private seminars and workshops.

When he's not Ninja-ing, Tim's trying to persuade his son Luca to come to the cricket with him, going to the gym with his wife, or fixing the destruction caused by three cat children, Ninja, Samurai, and Shinobi.

• How to get to the top of Google with the help of SEO fundamentals from 2012
• Why the quality of your content is growing to be more important than ever before as Google's algorithm has evolved over time
• Why posting content without a clear content strategy is the biggest mistake businesses are making in their SEO today
• How the three stages a person will go through when searching for content (curiosity, research, and intent) differ, and why it is important to target people at the right stage
• Why just a few posts will drive the majority of your blog traffic, and how creating a volume of posts is important for creating a few truly powerful posts
• Why having dedicated pages devoted to specific topics is more effective than catchall pages, and why long articles full of interesting content can be highly effective
• Why mapping out potential questions prospects would have about your business can help you determine what content to create to address those questions
• How consulting with your sales team can help you better understand what questions prospects are commonly asking and can give you guidance on your content
• Tim shares strategies for turning your content into more leads and potential customer conversions
• How creating content around trending topics within the news cycle can be a powerful way to be helpful to new audiences
• How to get to the of Google using the best SEO techniques from Tim

• Tim's bestselling book: How to Get to the Top of Google in 2020
• Website: https://exposureninja.com/
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/exposureninja
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/timcameronkitchen/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/exposure-ninja/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ExposureNinja
• Twitter: @timninjakitchen
• Twitter: @ExposureNinja
• You can listen to this podcast on how to get to the top of Google using a secret SEO guide

• Sell With Authority book written by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library
• Connect with Stephen Woessner on LinkedIn

Plant your flag of authority and become an industry leader like Chris Prefontaine. This is how he established himself in the world of real estate, and if you follow his advice, you will too!

Chris Prefontaine is the best-selling author of Real Estate on Your Terms: Create Continuous Cash Flow Now, Without Using Your Cash or Credit. He's also the founder of SmartRealEstateCoach.com and the Smart Real Estate Coach Podcast.

Chris has been in real estate for over 25 years. His experience includes the construction of over 100 single-family and duplex homes (mostly in the 1990's and selectively to date), has owned a Realty Executives Franchise (Massachusetts 1994-2000) as broker/owner which maintained high per-agent standards and eventually sold to Coldwell Banker in 2000. The 2000's included coaching ½ million and higher REALTORs® in order to scale & automate their business throughout the US and Canada. He also participated (and still does selectively) in doing condo conversions (multi-family homes to condos) and "raise the roof" projects (converting single-family ranches to colonials in growth neighborhoods).

Chris has been a big advocate of constant education and participates regularly in high-end mastermind groups, as well as consults with private mentors. He runs his own buying and selling businesses with his family team, which buys 2-5 properties monthly, so they're in the trenches every single week. They also help clients do the same thing around the country.

Chris and his family team have done over 80 million in real estate transactions. They mentor, coach, consult, and actually partner with students around the country (by application only) to do exactly what they do.

• How Chris's struggles during the 2008 economic crash taught him some painful and difficult lessons about guaranteeing his deals with personal credit
• How Chris and his team stuck to their specific niche and requirements regardless of the other areas they could have moved into, and why it matters
• Why firmly planting his flag in the real estate terms niche has positioned him to teach others, especially during these uncertain times
• Why times of crisis are the ideal times to double down on your expertise and be helpful to your audience
• How Chris developed his "stacking" philosophy, and how stacking his tasks and goals helps Chris and his family team continue to move the needle
• How Chris's theme this year is "bridging the gap", and how helping people address the gap between themselves and their audience has been key
• Why it is important to find what you love, get passionate about it, then find someone who is experienced with it and learn from them as much as you can
• Why you need to plant your flag of authority to help differentiate yourself from your competition, establish trust, demonstrate your value, and spread your message
• How Chris teaches his real estate terms deal students to plant their flags as well, and why consistency is vital for planting your flag
• How Chris made the transition from developing his methods to teaching others, and how sharing his own story helped him connect with others
• Plant your flag and see how it changes your position in the industry

• LIVE Event September 16-18, 2020: www.qlslive.com
• Website: http://smartrealestatecoach.com/
• Smart Real Estate Coach podcast: https://smartrealestatecoachpodcast.com/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisprefontaine/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/smart-real-estate-coach/about/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/smartrealestatecoach/
• Twitter: @SmartRECoach
• Learn how to plant your flag of authority through digital marketing

• Sell with Authority book written by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library
• Connect with Stephen Woessner on LinkedIn
• Listen to the podcast with Dr. Angela Lauria on how you can plant your flag of authority using her methods

How to get a Google featured snippet? This is a question that many business owners would like to get an answer to because having one will give you an edge on the search results page.

Fernando Angulo is the Head of Communications at SEMrush. He has been with SEMrush since the beginning of the company's marketing efforts and has built its all-star marketing team. Being one of the most recognized faces of the brand, Fernando is speaking at 50+ top conferences worldwide each year. Fernando specializes in B2B search marketing, e-commerce, influencer marketing, and trained marketing teams of companies such as Expedia, T-mobile, Prestashop, and Bing.

• How Fernando started out at SEMrush when the team was small, and how the company has now grown to over a thousand people in multiple countries
• How to get a Google featured snippet and drive massive traffic to your website
• How SEMrush expanded beyond their two main tools (keyword search and analytics) as search engine optimization (SEO) has grown more complex
• How SEMrush has recently achieved the new milestone of six million users from just 100,000 users
• How the SEMrush platform grew and expanded to meet the increasingly diverse needs of the company's growing customer base
• How SEO has become more complicated to achieve as internet user expectations have changed, and how SEMrush addresses this complexity by focusing on the user
• How 20% of your time should be devoted to creating helpful content and then the remaining 80% of your time should be spent featuring and promoting that content
• How there are three main types of featured snippets in Google search results: paragraph, list and table featured snippets, and how to correctly structure each type
• Fernando breaks down important key words that users often use and shares how these words indicate how you should structure your results
• How to get a Google featured snippet that is tailored for voice search, and how to position your site to land the coveted featured snippet position
• Why building a well-equipped marketing team requires equipping that team with the best technology and tools

• Website: www.semrush.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/fernandoangulo/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/semrush/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/SEMrush
• Twitter: @Fernando1Angulo
• Twitter: @semrush
• Learn how to get a Google featured snippet by reading this blog from SEMrush

• Sell With Authority book written by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library
• Connect with Stephen Woessner on LinkedIn
• Learn how to get a Google featured snippet by knowing how to create and structure your content first

Menlo Innovations CEO Rich Sheridan became disillusioned in the middle of his career in the chaotic technology industry. He had an all-consuming thought: things can be better. Much better. He had to find a way to overcoming hard times. Why couldn't a workplace be filled with camaraderie, human energy, creativity, and productivity?

Ultimately, Rich co-founded Menlo Innovations in 2001 to end human suffering in the workplace. His unique approach to custom software creation is so surprisingly different, that 3,000 people a year travel from around the world just to see how they do it.

His passion for creating joyful work environments led to his bestselling and widely celebrated book, Joy, Inc. – How We Built a Workplace People Love. His highly anticipated second book, Chief Joy Officer, came out December 4, 2018 and will continue to prove that a positive and engaging leadership style is actually good for business.

• Richard shares the story of Menlo Innovations and its focus on overcoming hard times in the workplace by spreading joy
• What the 5000+ visitors to Menlo Innovations have seen that sets the company's culture in a league of its own
• How the global pandemic has impacted Menlo Innovations, and how their powerful culture helped them make the transition to being a 100% virtual office
• How the team adapted to using remote work tools like Zoom and were able to maintain their unique culture even remotely
• How the team developed a sequence to overcoming hard times: survive, adapt, sustain, emerge stronger, and thrive again
• How the outbreak of the pandemic took Richard by surprise and was difficult to adapt to, and why it's natural to struggle through difficulties
• Why Richard wrote Chief Joy Officer, the follow up to Joy, Inc., and what important topics he covers in the new book
• Why the intentionally joyful culture at Menlo is helping the organization maintain optimism through these difficult times, and why joy isn't the same as happiness
• Why Richard feels the two strongest aspects of the culture at Menlo are that the team actually believes in it and that they want it to survive
• How Richard equates leading a business with flying an airplane, with forces of lift vs. weight and thrust vs. drag applying to businesses too

• Chief Joy Officer by Richard Sheridan: https://amzn.to/2XSv1KW
• Email: [email protected]
• Schedule a tour of Menlo: email [email protected] or visit https://menloinnovations.com/tours-and-workshops/factory-tours
• Website: https://richardsheridan.com/
• Website: https://menloinnovations.com/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/menloprez/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/menlo-innovations/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/menloinnovations/
• Twitter: @menloprez
• Read a related blog about overcoming hard times from Menlo Innovations

• Sell With Authority book written by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library
• Connect with Stephen Woessner on LinkedIn
• Listen to more content about overcoming hard times in this podcast with Brett Gilliland