People First Then Profit

This episode could not have aired at a better time.  This week, I am joined by Roger Burnett.  Roger is the founder of Social Good Promotions, a social enterprise built to teach and deliver purpose-based marketing strategies to businesses of all sizes while also donating marketing services to non-profit organizations in the communities they serve.  Self-designated #GOODnessWarriors, soGOOD employees connect commerce with purpose to help companies tell the story of their brand, using promotional marketing campaigns, creating lead generating virtual and in-person events and performing sales & marketing consulting for businesses looking to improve results.

We recorded our episode on the eve of World Kindness day and we are releasing the episode on the heels of the Thanksgiving holiday so it is rather appropriate that our conversation focuses on integrity trust, social good (among other things).  Here is your TL;DR take aways from this episode:

• Roger routinely hid from door to door salesmen as a kid so it was no wonder that he came to think of "sales" as a dirty word.
• Sales is about being the expert your audience needs
• Trust has exponential value as your potential clients move along the sales path 
• It is critically important to be memorable and for people to remember your story

Be sure to visit http://www.Peoplefistthenprofit.com for a ton of great content, free resources and links to the People First Then Profit Community

Resources

Website: https://socialgoodpromotions.com/

Book: Link to Purchase on Amazon

This week's episode looks quite a bit different than our traditional conversational style. Today is dedicated to GRATITUDE.   Largely based on my interview with The Biz Bros and their Content is Profit mantra, I decided that for the month of November I would commit to creating unique content EVERY DAY. (link to that episode below). Given it was November, I initially thought I would post something that I was thankful for each day. Then I realized that I would rather post SOMEONE I was thankful for instead. In that moment the Thankful 4 People First effort was conceived. I have learned so much throughout this process and I still have another week to go. This idea has allowed me to focus on the most important people and the contribution they made to my life and reminded me that it’s not the vanity metrics that matter but rather the impact each post has.   In alignment with my People First Then Profit rallying cry here is my challenge to you. Commit to identifying and recognizing these people in your life. Here are your calls to action in ascending order of awesomeness...

• Connect with someone by phone, text, email etc to tell them how much you appreciate them and why.

• Level up by doing something unexpected and thoughtful like send a card or a small gift or gesture of gratitude.

• Reach Gold star status by making this a consistent habit

  Be sure to visit http://www.Peoplefistthenprofit.com for a ton of great content, free resources and links to the People First Then Profit Community   Resources: Biz Bros Episode Link | https://donmamone.com/blog/ep-3-10-content-is-profit-with-the-biz-bros/ Website | https://peoplefirstthenprofit.com FB | https://www.facebook.com/donmamoneHQ Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/donmamone/ LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/donmamone/ Twitter | https://twitter.com/donmamone

Spoiler alert, not all entrepreneurs are refugees trying to escape the pain and anguish of the rat race.  Many take this huge leap of faith in search of fulfillment and based on a deep desire to serve their audience.  Dr. Lindsay Padilla is one such person. (and an academic to boot).

Dr. Lindsay Padilla is the ex-professor-turned-entrepreneur behind On Course Social, the dynamic prompt calendar tool, and Build a Better Beta, an online program that helps experts and educators alike launch their first courses quickly and easily. She is also the CEO and co-founder of Hello Audio, which takes your content and creates private audio feeds to make consumption easier for your people.  All of her frameworks were born out of her tenure-track years teaching adults online at a community college, the ridiculous amount of learning she's done in all things education, and the years spent growing her course creation business online.

Lindsay shares her journey and passion to help others curate their content, create their courses and successfully teach their online audience.

Key take-aways from this week's episode:

• It was at her first live event in the entrepreneurial industry that Lindsay first heard "If my students would just finish my course they would absolutely get results".  She quickly learned that she could help considerably more people with her education and experience as a coach and course creator.
• Once again a successful entrepreneur reassures us with her journey and achievement that it is rarely an A to B processes. There is a steep learning curve and a trial and error process that is simply a part of entrepreneurship.
• In order for things to CLICK you need to bring your whole self along to include the past knowledge and experiences that brought you to where you are today.   
  
• Take stock in your achievements and accomplishments. EVERYONE has a unique experience that can be distilled into a framework that has value and can be taught. This can be the jumping off point for how you determine your area of expertise and how you can start finding your niche.
• Just as important as overcoming the fear and taking the first step is the need to continuously reevaluate your progress, your business and how you measure success. 
• And finally, embrace your inner extrovert and taking LEAPS (not steps) toward Relationship Marketing in your business to find the people that you can serve and can support you in your efforts.

Resources:

Hello Audio: http://Helloaudio.fm

FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/drlindsaypadilla/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaypadilla/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlindsaypadilla/

Wealthy Teachers: https://courses.wealthyteachers.com/

Build a Better Beta Course: https://omg.lindsaympadilla.com/bbbinfo

On Course Social: https://omg.lindsaympadilla.com/ocs

OH MAN, this episode is packed full of interesting and insightful information regarding communication strategy, pitfalls and concrete advice on conversational intelligence, the future of communication and how you can side step getting caught in the "Addiction to Being Right" trap.

My guest this week, Jennifer Thornton, has developed her expertise in Talent Strategy & Leadership Professional Development over her exciting 20+ year career as an HR Professional. She’s led international teams to expand into new markets, managing franchise retailers, and developing key strategic partnerships - all while exceeding business objectives and financial results.

The rapid growth of her consulting firm 304 Coaching has been largely due to Jennifer’s unconventional approach to building innovative workforce development solutions for companies who are facing breakthrough growth and accelerated hiring patterns. She is a sought-after business strategist, specializing in start- ups and large value-based organizations. She assists her clients in building talent strategies that complement their business strategies to ensure exponential growth.

Key Take-Aways From This Episode:

- Did you know that the Addiction to Being Right is just like any other physical addiction? It originates with the introduction of dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure, because we like being right. We continue wanting (and needing) to be right because we like that dopamine hit.

- What the future of communication looks like and how the various generations in the work force will shape that change.

- Learn how to create trust and safety in team and other collaborative spaces.

- The importance of process planning and standard operating procedure creation in your business regardless of team size (or even if it is just you)

Be sure to visit http://www.Peoplefistthenprofit.com for a ton of great content, free resources and links to the People First Then Profit Community

Resources:
https://304coaching.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferrthornton/

Marketing in the digital age has changed the medium and methods that we use to reach our audience but the fundamental principles of marketing persist.  This week I have the pleasure of chatting with digital marketing expert Ronan Walsh.

Ronan has been working in Digital Marketing, specifically SEO for close to 10 years and today is hopefully going to help you understand the digital marketing landscape a little better. Starting off as a freelancer helping agencies Ronan saw that many service level agreements weren’t being met and so went out to start his own agency, Digital Trawler in 2018, who specializes in SaaS marketing. 

Ronan is also a lecture in Digital Marketing in his home town and loves nothing more than helping others with their marketing

Here are a few key take-aways from my conversation with Ronan:
- The marketing funnel and understanding the various stages of awareness is critical to your success.
- Even in the digital age it is critical to nurture your relationships and carefully curate your marketing messages to each person's level of awareness
- PRO TIP: When creating your online content 1) Write for a human 2) Review like a search engine 3) Finally, poof read it again for a human.
- My mind was blown when this digital marketing expert shared with me that the Google Algorithm is a RELATIONSHIP MARKETER.
- Understand the TOP 3 things that keep your client up at night and create long form content strategy around that!
- Is the marketing flywheel going to replace the marketing funnel? Ronan believes it is more of a compliment than a replacement. Is your flywheel spinning without friction so your business can blossom. Marketing Funnel is to acquisition as the marketing flywheel is to loyalty.

Resources:
Website: www.digitaltrawler.com
Free Resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronanwals/
FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/Digitaltrawler/

https://search.google.com/search-console/about
www.answerthepublic.com

Thanks for being a part of the People First Then Profit Revolution!  If you are joining us for the first time or you need a reminder one of the goals of this podcast is to provide successful business owners and entrepreneurs an opportunity to share their stories and expert secrets with you.  Y’all are in for a real treat today because Holly Flick is not only a brilliant and beloved entrepreneur she is also a heroine that has long championed the importance of relationship marketing and the value exchange economy as a core value in any business.  Grab a pen and plenty of paper because she’s here and she’s ready to share her journey with you!

- Learn about what The Value Exchange Economy is and how critical it is for business owners and entrepreneurs.

- Understand the importance of embracing your inner extrovert so you can meet people and form deep bonds with even the most prestigious and influential of people.

- Holly landed a job as the Director of Content for ClickFunnels and attributes that new opportunity to the genuine relationships she formed with people with no immediate concern or expectation for return from those people.

- The down cycles in her business were often based on turning attention away from relationship marketing in the digital space.  It allowed her "relationship muscle" to atrophy and will therefore always be a heavy focus of her businesses.

- Challenge yourself and ask "How Do You Define Profit" based on what you value and also how you define wealth!

Find Holly as @hellohollyflick on all the social media channels (but she is most active on Instagram)! 

https://www.instagram.com/hellohollyflick

She is also getting ready to launch her eagerly awaited podcast titled Content Empire Radio this fall!

 

Growing up, they fought.  Now, they  work together.  The journey shaped the skills...but the drive to help has always been there.  Piece by piece The Biz Bros built their own “Content Machine”.  Later, they decided it was time to help others do the same.  Now, they help businesses turn their long-form content into value-packed assets to build an audience and achieve frictionless sales.

In today's digital age your online presence and footprint is one of the most important elements of your business.  We live in a golden age of marketing opportunity with direct access to seemingly endless publishing channels.  Matter of fact, there are so many it's nearly impossible to know where to start or where to dedicate you time and effort to ensure efficiency and maximize your return.  What's an entrepreneur to do? 

On this week's podcast, the Biz Bros share their Content is Profit method and help you understand the importance of understanding your Minimum Viable Content threshold so you can crush your content CONSISTENTLY.  As an added bonus they explain the basics of their Publishing Pyramid and how we need to understand it from the top down but build from the bottom up so we have a solid and unshakable foundation.

Resources:

Website: Content is Profit

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/content-is-profit/id1503613963

FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/BIZBROSCO/

 

You dedicated a great deal of time and hard work to succeed and I suspect that you're REALLY good at your job! You love what you do and you adore who you work with and appreciate the professional partners you collaborate with to exceed expectations. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, something goes awry and you are faced with a conflict that you need to resolve. Well, you are not alone. We can safely say that it has happened to each and every one of us at one time or another.

Throughout her career, this week's guest has witnessed (and help resolve) her fair share of conflict. Using her considerable education and on-the-job-experience, Jennifer Trotter has keenly identified that most (if not all) conflicts can be prevented with exceptional communication skills. And, in the event of a miscommunication there are some proven tactics you can employ so you can resolve it quickly and without further incident.

Here are just a few tidbits from this week's conversation:

-Just because you know learn to identify the miscommunication and employ the communication strategies does not make it easy.

- Choose your battles. Sometimes it is better to let go of an off comment, misunderstanding and potential conflict if situational and with little to no potential for future challenge. Something that seems to happen repeatedly or is acute enough to cause real friction needs to be addressed.

- Prevent conflict at every opportunity. If it is a persistent challenge you MUST fix it to prevent it from continuing to cause pain and friction. This means you need to be paying attention so you can identify these challenges and take corrective action.

- When friction develops take action as soon as you possibly can. Utilize your communication skills and ensure you select the best communication method. As an example, use calm and patience and and do it over the phone rather than via email or text.

- Even when there is a challenge that is on the verge of becoming a potential conflict resist the urge to over apologize. Take responsibility and then move immediately into the solution

- Don't assume the worst case scenario when someone is asking questions, looking for clarification or just needs a little extra help.

- In many cases we have to take a long hard look at ourselves to determine if we are in some way creating or amplifying these challenges. Admittedly not always an easy process but the payoff when we do is HUGE. You can stay in business and LOVE what you do and with whom you work with day in and day out for a VERY long time!

Jennifer shows us that strong communication and prevention techniques can ensure that conflicts won't steal or diminish our joy.

Resources:
http://lipservicemakeup.com
http://instagram/lipservicemakeup
http://thejentrotter.com
http://instagram.com/thejentrotter

One of the most intimidating elements of striking out that bold new path towards entrepreneurship is financial uncertainty! Nevertheless, a great number of professionals leave established well paying careers with tremendous benefit packages for the all too often precarious life of an entrepreneur! We should all be exceedingly grateful that they have taken this courageous step because the contributions they have made to us and to society are considerable. Rest assured there is no need to go it alone!
There is a community of us ready to help with support and resources. Speaking of support and resources...

This week's guest, Janet Fish is a reformed corporate executive turned serial entrepreneur and found her passion in coaching others. She is known as a PAK, (professional ass kicker) and challenges her clients to get out of their own way and get into massive action. Janet is the host of the Breakaway Entrepreneur Podcast and author of the Amazon best selling book Quit Your Day Job – 10 Steps to Finding Financial Freedom 2nd Edition.

Janet and I chatted about the rewarding journey that is entrepreneurship while reviewing the first few steps in her 10 Steps to Financial Freedom process. Her advice for how to get started by determining how you can use your unique skill set to solve a problem or challenge and how you can do it more efficiently than your competition is something every new entrepreneur should know. From there Janet keenly highlights the importance of your revenue model, marketing plan and the plan to routinely review and gauge the success of all your efforts. You won't want to miss the difference between aspirin and vitamin marketing...that's just gold!

Resources:

Ultimate Podcast Launch Formula*: https://turnkeypodcast.mykajabi.com/a/35914/5TzrchXL

Janet's Website: https://breakawaybusinesscoaching.com
Janet's Book Link: https://breakawaybusinesscoaching.com/product/quit-your-day-job/
Janey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetfish/

*Please note that as an affiliate of the Ultimate Podcast Launch Formula I receive a commission for those that enroll in the course.  Rest assured, I recommend this course because it worked for me and if you want the education, tools and community to successfully launch and host your podcast I am confident it can work for you too!

I like to think that all our episodes are exciting but this week’s guest takes exciting to a whole new level. I am joined today by none other than Paige Mejia. She is something of a celebrity in the DFW event and hospitality industry. She is the founder of the “This Week in Networking” series and she legit gets to blow stuff up for a living.

Paige's journey in the events industry is both fun and interesting. She started as a business owner that provided a valuable service. When it was time to move along she tested the waters of corporate America once again to quickly learn that was not the right move. Her post on Facebook presented her with an opportunity to join a new team as a sales representative and, unbeknownst to her, would once again usher her into ownership of an event related business.

In an effort to increase her presence in the industry, Paige became something of a local celebrity by joining most, if not all, the industry associations and with the creation of her "This Week In Networking" series. This effort became an exceedingly successful branding and marketing effort for both Paige and Pyrotex.

As if that were not enough for our friend Paige, she recently worked with event professionals in Ohio and Colorado and trusted partners right here in Texas to create the Reopen TX Guide. This resource tries to make sense of the rules, mandates and creates best practices for event industry professionals as we navigate reopening in a pandemic riddled world.

This episode reinforces the importance of Living a Life by Design, the value of relationship marketing and paying it forward without waiting for change.

Resources:
North Texas Event Services Reopening Guide: https://qrcodes.pro/iiVDrD
Pyrotex on FB: https://www.facebook.com/PyrotexUS
Pyrotex on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pyrotexus/
Paige on FB: https://www.facebook.com/paige.mejia
Paige on LinkeIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigemejia/