Tales From The PROS

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Dan Olson, who is the CEO of UpCity.com, a successful entrepreneur who has spent over 15 years in the digital marketing industry. He is passionate about creating and empowering successful relationships between businesses and trusted marketing services providers.

We talk about Dan's story of how he built and scaled UpCity to becoming a leader in its space, the challenges of building up a successful business and the sacrifices he made during the process, he explains how to differentiate yourself in a competitive market, advice to other business leaders, and much more. 

 Questions:

1. Dan, I am glad that we have finally been able to connect on here, although I am aware of what you do, can you tell us more about your story?

2. My company is currently a customer of UpCity, what triggered you to differentiate your business platform and strategy from other digital marketing agencies? Since we all know it’s heavily saturated.

3. In your experience with marketing and helping startups and companies for so long, what do you see as their biggest challenges they have in common on marketing or business perspective, and what guidance or advice do you give to help them?

4. Any advice, tips, or strategies on how to market yourself or your brand in today’s competitive digital age?

5. What stage of growing and scaling UpCity would you say has been the most challenging for you? And what stage has been the most enjoyable?

6. Did you build UpCity from the ground up? If so, do you think bootstrapping is a good idea or is it smart to look for outside funding?

Three How's Explained:

1. How do you define failure?

2. How do you define your story in one sentence and in one word?

3. How do you define success?

Follow Dan Olson:

Website - https://www.upcity.com LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-w-olson/

Follow Me and Subscribe:

https://linktr.ee/mgeorgiou22

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with John Rampton who was recently named #2 on the Top 50 Online Influencers in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine. Time Magazine recognized this serial entrepreneur as a motivational speaker that helps people find a "Sense of Meaning" in their lives. He is also the Founder and CEO of Calendar.

We talk about John's story of how he overcame adversity, which allowed him to find his purpose, build valuable expertise in digital marketing, and executing them to a very high level of success. Additionally, we talk about storytelling, giving back, and much more. 

 Questions:

1. Me and you have spoken a few times, advising and helping each other out. Learning more about you, has been inspiring. Especially about how you broke your leg and the doctors said you won’t be able to walk again. Tell us a little more about that story and how that obstacle helped you.

2. How did you find your passion for online marketing and what were some of the things you did to create amazing business opportunities?

3. In your experience with marketing and helping startups and companies for so long, what do you see as their biggest challenges they have in common on marketing or business perspective, and what guidance or advice do you give to help them?

4. We know that personal branding is hugely in trend, but when do you feel it’s necessary to brand yourself alongside running a business? Like do you feel it’s important to connect what you’re company does with how you want to brand yourself or can they be totally different objectives?

5. Any advice, tips, or strategies on how to market yourself or your brand in today’s competitive digital age?

6. Do you feel leveraging and using your story for either your business or personal is vital in selling and marketing today?

7. What’s your approach to giving and helping others, and do you feel it always comes back 10 fold or do you believe in always giving with no expectations to receive?

8. Tell us a little more about your current product calendar.com and its future.

Three How's:

1. How do you define failure?

2. How do you define your story in one sentence and in one word?

3. How do you define success?

Follow John Rampton:

Website - https://www.johnrampton.com/ Company - https://www.calendar.com/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/johnrampton LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrampton/

Follow Me and Subscribe:

https://linktr.ee/mgeorgiou22

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Jonathan Griffith, who is an international Award Winning Alpine Climbing Photographer, and has climbed the world over including Mt. Everest, and established himself as one of the world’s leading mountain sports photographers. A keen interest in modern technology, this creative adventurer just released the first-ever high-resolution Virtual Reality Mt. Everest film following a Nepalese climber attempting a no-bottled oxygen ascent of the mountain- a story never shot before known as Everest Virtual Reality.

We talk about Jonathan's story of becoming a top photographer and journey making it to the top of Mount Everest. Additionally, we discuss his purpose and journey of filming the documentary called Everest Virtual Reality, along with his future plans in VR, climbing, and much more. 

 Questions:

1. Jonathan, what got you into alpine photography and being able to work with some of the world's largest brands? Tell us about your journey.  
2. How did you figure out your purpose in being a "creative", especially traveling the world and taking photos at the world's highest peaks?
3. What was your experience like on Everest? Is it as dangerous as they say?
4. How do you handle and manage all your other business tasks and goals due to all of your international traveling?
5. How were you able to get attention from companies like The North Face, Google, and Discovery Channel?
6. What is Everest Virtual Reality all about and what inspired you to create it?
7. What are your future plans for VR and alpine photography?

Three How's:

1. 1. How do you define failure?
   2. How do you define business?
   3. How do you define success?

Follow Jonathan Griffith:

Website - https://alpineexposures.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JonGriffithPhotography/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jongriffithphotography/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-griffith-442a2167/

Follow Me and Subscribe:

https://linktr.ee/mgeorgiou22

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Chris Do, who is an Emmy award-winning director, designer, strategist and educator. He’s the Chief Strategist and CEO of Blind, executive producer of The Skool, and the Founder of The Futur, which is an online education platform that teaches the business of design to creative thinkers. 

We talk about Chris's journey to building an award-winning design agency and gives his insight on how to grow and scale in business. Chris also discusses how to define and communicate your personal and business true value to your customers, and much more. 

 Questions:

1. Chris, how did you start your design agency Blind, and The Futur? Tell us your story of how you got to where you are today.
2. In your experience, what does it take to grow, scale, and maintain an agency? Any good tips and processes that worked for you?
3. Your design and consultancy agency being in a saturated space, what did it take for you to win over these larger brands?
4. At what point in time at your agency and in your career, how did you find your true worth and value?
5. I love your content on pricing, specifically value-based pricing, and I know many companies and people struggle with this concept, can you explain that further?
6. Another pricing question because I love your take on it, how do you respond to low budget clients?
7. How do you respond when clients say you're too expensive?
8. What did you unlock your full potential?

Three How's:

1. How do you overcome obstacles?
2. How do you create value?
3. How do you define success? 

Follow Chris Do:

The Futur - https://thefutur.com/ Blind, Inc. - https://blind.com/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechrisdo/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSkoolRocks Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thechrisdo/

Follow Me and Subscribe:

https://linktr.ee/mgeorgiou22

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Evan Carmichael. This amazing guest is a serial entrepreneur, social media influencer with over 2 million subscribers on YouTube, international speaker, and best-selling author. He is working to solve the world's biggest problem: Untapped human potential and has occupied the hashtag #Believe.

We talk about Evan's journey to becoming a thought leader and YouTube sensation, he gives his insight on how to find your purpose and passion. Then how to create a strong influence, community, and a following around it, the power of having a mentor, and much more. 

 Questions:

1. Evan, give us a little background on your story and how you got to where you are today as a business and thought leader.
2. You being a passionate advocate for entrepreneurs and being a successful entrepreneur yourself, in your experience what do you feel their biggest challenges are and how should they overcome them? 
3. What is your best advice on how someone can inspire others and build a strong community around them on and off social media?
4. From all the successful people you've interviewed, engaged and collaborated with, and content you've created for, what are your top rules for success?
5. How does someone like myself, a business owner, CMO, and podcaster create his "one word" or even hashtag?
6. How did you come up with your "one word" #Believe?
7. How does someone find their purpose and actually execute on it?

Three How's:

1. How do you define failure?
2. How do you define business?
3. How do you define success?

Follow Evan Carmichael:

Website - https://www.evancarmichael.com YouTube -https://www.youtube.com/user/ModelingTheMasters  Twitter - https://twitter.com/EvanCarmichael Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/evancarmichael/ Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/EvanCarmichaelcom

Please Follow Me and Subscribe:

https://linktr.ee/mgeorgiou22

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Fritz Lehman, who is a business leader and currently the Chief Operating Officer at Zencos. Fritz brings 34 years of experience in all aspects of solutions sales, delivery and customer support from his time at SAS culminating with the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer.

We talk about Fritz's journey to becoming a leader in customer experience and support, his insight on what it takes to create long-term trust and customer retention for enterprise-level clients, the future of big data, and more. 

 Questions:

1. Fritz, give us a little background on your story and how you got to where you are today as a business leader.
2. Tell us what you currently do at Zencos and what Zencos does, and why you chose to be a part of the Zencos team instead of retiring.
3. Where do you feel big data is headed in the US and even the global market? 
4. With your experience in building and working with customer support teams, and fostering trust with large enterprise-level clients, what is your best advice on ensuring the customer is happy?
5. What do you recommend to other managers, leaders, and anyone working with customers directly to build trust the right way?
6. What is your definition of building a great customer experience?
7. What do you feel people do wrong when they deal with customers?
8. What was it like working as an executive at SAS Institute for so many years, was there a specific memory or story that you would like to share?
9. You being a strong business leader, do you have any advice or tips for future or current leaders on what they need to do to ensure and maintain success?

Three How's:

1. How do you define failure?
2. How do you define business?
3. How do you define success?

Follow Fritz Lehman:

Website - https://www.zencos.com LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritzlehman/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/lehmanfritz

Follow Me:

iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tales-from-the-pros/id1371067192  Podcast Website - https://www.talesfromthepros.com  Company Website - https://www.imaginovation.net   Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/talesfromthepros LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgeorgiou22/

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Margaret Molloy, who is the Global Chief Marketing Officer at Siegel+Gale, a world-renowned strategic branding, and design firm. She oversees new business, sales and marketing and is one of the most visible CMOs on social media today. Margaret was awarded the 2017 B2B Marketer of the Year by The Drum.

We talk about Margaret's journey to thought leadership, her insight on the power of simplifying a brand, brand storytelling, marketing strategy, customer experience, the role of a CMO, and more. 

 Questions:

1. Margaret, you being a brand and marketing thought leader, can you tell us a little about your journey of how you got to where you are today in your career?
2. Being a very successful CMO and dealing with world-renowned brands, in your expert opinion what is the true role of a CMO in an organization?
3. I know you talk a lot about simplicity and removing the clutter from brands and companies, so can you explain some of the common clutter you experience?
4. Giving some detail, can you explain your strategies or insight on how to simplify a brand and the way they portray themselves to the public eye?
5. When you execute a brand and marketing strategy for your clients, what is your insight on including the customer journey experience as well as storytelling?
6. In your experience with funded or organically bootstrapped startups, how should they essentially keep their business "simple" and execute an effective brand strategy?  
7. What are some of the toughest branding or marketing struggles that you face with brands and how do you overcome them?
8. Do you have any specific thoughts and advice on future leaders to help improve their brand and provide the most value to their customers?

Three How's:

1. How do you define failure?
2. How do you define business?
3. How do you define success?

Follow Margaret Molloy:

Website - https://www.siegelgale.com/  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretmolloy Twitter - https://twitter.com/MargaretMolloy Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wearingirish

Follow Me:

iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tales-from-the-pros/id1371067192  Podcast Website - https://www.talesfromthepros.com  Company Website - https://www.imaginovation.net   Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/talesfromthepros LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgeorgiou22/

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Spiros Margaris, who is a venture capitalist and founder of Margaris Ventures, a TEDx speaker, and he is one of the foremost global thought leaders and influencers in the FinTech and InsurTech spaces. He helps others understand how technology and coding will change our lives, corporations, and nations.

We talk about Spiros's journey of failure and success, FinTech, VC funding, how to become a thought leader, technology, and more. 

 Questions:

1. Give us some insight on your story and journey of how you reached this point of success in your space, primarily FinTech.

2. There is a lot of media buzz about FinTech, AdTech, EdTech, and others. What does it mean to postfix Tech onto a traditional industry? Is this an announcement of disruption?

3. You speak about credibility and trust is critical for community influences and I agree. For someone looking to become an influencer, how do they build this?

4. For the dreamers listening, what do you mean by 'wanting something so badly you are willing to pay for it?' Is that the differentiator between dreamers and doers?

5. Failure is often the best teacher. Looking back, was there a pivotal moment of failure in your life that created a learning opportunity?

6. Knowing that you are a venture capitalist, you're obviously very experienced in the whole funding process. What essentially do VC's look for when businesses come to pitch for investments?

7. When it comes to the disruption of FinTech, what should we expect in the next year?

Three How's:

1. How do you define failure?
2. How do you define business?
3. How do you define success?

Follow Spiros Margaris:

Website - https://www.margarisventures.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/spirosmargaris LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spirosmargaris/

Follow Me:

Podcast Website - https://www.talesfromthepros.com  Company Website - https://www.imaginovation.net  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TalesfromthePROS/  Twitter - https://twitter.com/MGeorgiou22   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/the_mgeorgiou/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJv9pbImovknEluSLzAPTpg/featured 

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Kelvin Joseph, who INC Magazine once recognized him on their top 30 entrepreneurs under 30. He is also a sports marketing guru, American Advertising Federation Trendsetter, LinkedIn Marketing Influencer, Motivational Speaker, top relationship builder and was the COO and CMO of Steiner Sports, and is now the CEO of Kool Kel Marketing.

We talk about Kelvin's journey being the CMO at Steiner Sports and why he started Kool Kel Marketing. We also chat about how to build and nurture relationships, how to truly sell the right way, how to talk to buyers, his mentors, life advice, and much more.

 Questions:

1. Give us a little background on your story and how you got to where you are today.
2. I know you are an amazing salesman and marketer, how do you combine your marketing experience and sales tactics to achieve your business goals?
3. I see that you are incredibly connected, do you have any tips that worked for you in terms of building and nurturing relationships the right way?
4. I love your motto, “people don’t like to be sold to, but they love to buy”. Can you explain that more?
5. How do you leverage LinkedIn and other digital platforms to help you brand yourself and your company properly, and also achieve results?
6. What were some of the coolest athletes you know when you were at Steiner Sports?
7. What does the future look like at Kool Kel Marketing?
8. What is some of the best advice you received from someone else regarding business and life?

Three How's:

1. How do you define failure?
2. How do you define business?
3. How do you define success?

Follow Kelvin Joseph:

Website - http://www.koolkel.com   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelvinjoseph/ 

Follow Me:

Podcast Website - https://www.talesfromthepros.com  Company Website - https://www.imaginovation.net  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TalesfromthePROS/  Twitter - https://twitter.com/MGeorgiou22   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/the_mgeorgiou/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJv9pbImovknEluSLzAPTpg/featured 

In this episode of Tales from the PROS, I chat with Neil Patel, who is a New York Times bestselling author, The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies. He was also recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations, and co-founded companies such as Hello Bar, Crazy Egg & KISSmetrics and helped Fortune 500 companies like HP, Amazon, Viacom, GM and NBC in their revenue growth.

We talk about Neil's story on the steps he took to achieve a high level of personal branding and success, tips on effective SEO and digital marketing strategies, what people are doing wrong with their businesses, and much more.  

Listen and Subscribe on iTunes - https://apple.co/2HXH5Dx

 Questions Asked:

1. So Neil, most people have heard of you around the world. Me and my company have been following you and your content for years now, but I want everyone to hear your story. Give us a birds-eye view on how you got to where you are today.
2. Did you always see yourself as reaching this level of success with your companies and strong personal brand?
3. What steps did you take to build such a strong authority in the digital marketing and SEO niche?
4. In regards to search engine optimization, what would you say are the most important strategies to execute in getting a website's rankings to the top of Google search? Obviously content is king and social media is vital as well. 
5. Based on your expertise, and of course on a holistic view perspective, can you give us your best tips on how to create an online presence that essentially becomes a money-maker? 
6. What do you see a lot of people doing wrong while building their businesses? 
7. Do you think it's always smart to build a personal brand if you are already running a company or does it depend?
8. How do you think technology such as AI is effecting digital marketing and where do you think digital marketing is headed?
9. If you had to rewind, what would you have done differently during your entrepreneurial journey?

Three How's:

1. How do you define failure?
2. How do you define business?
3. How do you define success?

Follow Neil Patel: 

Personal Website - https://neilpatel.com/ Company Website - https://npdigital.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/neilkpatel  LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/neilpatel

Follow Me:

Podcast Website - https://www.talesfromthepros.com  Company Website - https://www.imaginovation.net  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TalesfromthePROS/  Twitter - https://twitter.com/MGeorgiou22   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/the_mgeorgiou/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJv9pbImovknEluSLzAPTpg/featured