John Corcoran is a former White House Writer, speechwriter, an attorney, author and podcasting expert.

He started his career as a Writer in the Clinton White House, and today is cofounder of a boutique agency, Rise25, LLC, that helps B2B businesses to connect with their ideal clients, referral partnerships and strategic partners.

He is the cofounder with Dr. Jeremy Weisz, of Rise25, LLC, a boutique agency which helps B2B companies with lead generation and done-for-you media and content marketing.

He is a recovering attorney and Chief Revolutionary behind SmartBusinessRevolution.com, where he shows entrepreneurs and small business owners how to turn relationships into more clients and increased revenues.

He is the creator of Smart Business Revolution and the Smart Business Revolution podcast, where he shares strategies for using intentional relationship-building to grow your network and your income, and since 2012 he has interviewed successful entrepreneurs about how they have used relationships to grow their businesses and their careers.

They also hold in-person and virtual trainings for ecommerce entrepreneurs and professional services business owners on topics such as lead generation and networking.

He is the author of 3 books about relationship building and client acquisition, and has been profiled in Forbes and in the books Entrepreneurial You and Stand Out by Dorie Clark, The Connector’s Advantage by Michelle Tillis Lederman, Success Is In Your Sphere by Zvi Band, and The Successful Mistake by Matthew Turner, and his writing has appeared in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Art of Manliness, Lifehacker, Business Insider, and numerous other publications, blogs and websites.

Contact John On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE

So What's a Hashtag?

When I was a kid, has was something we had at breakfast (with potatoes and corned beef). As a teen, it was something (I heard about ) that people put in pipes and smoked. Today, a hashtag is an integral part of many social media systems.

A hashtag is a type of metadata tag used on social networks like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and others. They allow you to apply a dynamic and widely used tool (in some cases) that makes it possible for others to easily search and find messages with a specific theme or content.

Hashtags have different clout and influence on difference social media platforms:

* Instagram - Big

* Twitter - Bigger

* LinkedIn - Meh

* Facebook - No

* Pinterest - Not So Much

In this episode, we will explore the positives and pitfalls of using hashtags to help your social media posts get noticed! Put that in your pipe... and smoke it!

Some Mentioned Links:

Top Instagram Hashtags - Click Here

Top Twitter Hashtags - Click Here

Top LinkedIn Hashtags - Click Here

Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives.

Mark’s authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills.

Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home.

Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE

Show Notes

Why do this? Run a Sustainable, scalable, profitable, and salable business.

Pope Gregory listed the seven deadly sins in 590 AD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues

For every sin there is an associated virtue.

The virtues protect one against temptation.

Sin = (Greek and Latin) failure, error, to miss the mark

Virtue = (Latin) Valor, Being your very best

Sin 1 - Sloth = laziness, without care

Ignoring the importance of marketing

Relying solely on word of mouth

The purpose of marketing: Trigger a meaningful conversation - in their mind, with your website, with your team

Virtue 1 - Diligence = persistence

Marketing is equally important to the product

Search, outreach, word of mouth

Sin 2 - Greed = focus on material gain

Product focus

Virtue 2 - Charity = Friendship

Customer outcome focus

Your value propositions have no meaning until they align with your customer's objectives, priorities, and criteria

Why do people buy?

1) To feel better

2) Prestige

3) Solve a problem

4) Achieve a valuable objective

5) To avoid a undesired outcome

Maslow’s hierarchy of need comes into play here. Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in Psychological Review

Self actualization, esteem, love/belonging, safety, physiological

Sin 3 - Lust = seeing the customer as an object

Focus on the transaction

Virtue 3 - Chastity - (Latin) castus = pure

Focus on the relationship

Lifetime value of the customer

Sin 4 - Gluttony (Latin) Gula = Gulp, overindulgence

Seeing marketing as a single event

“Buy now!” as the only view

Virtue 4 - Temperance = restraint, everything in its time

Marketing as a system

“When you’re ready.”

Sin 5 - Pride = hubris, arrogance

How we sell

Choosing the wrong marketing strategy

Have you noticed that social media is becoming more and more divisive lately? Something as simple and fictional as a mermaid is causing people lose their minds, get in fights, and spew hate, vitriol, and disdain.

I have been trying to be more positive on social media, posting fun stuff, positive quotes, and real life stories of overcoming life's obstacles. The amount of engagement has been outstanding and encouraging, and people love to share and be engaged and conversational around positive topics.

In this podcast I am going to lay out the Seven Deadly Sins of social media posting, and what I consider to be the antithesis to each. These include...

* Pride vs Humility

* Greed vs Abundance

* Lust vs Purity

* Envy vs Kindness

* Gluttony vs Order

* Wrath vs Peace

* Sloth vs Action

This has nothing to do with religion, unless you pray to the Gods of social media. It's about sharing your goodness, joy and hope with the world!  I would love to hear your comments and see your shares!

“I show women how you can be a badass chick when sometimes you feel like Gal Gadot in Wonder Women and other times like Roseanne Roseannadanna.”

I am a 50+, menopausal, married, have 2 semi adult children, love to binge watch Netflix, read about all things health & wellness interspersed with romantic trashy novels, don’t do sad movies, encore entrepreneurial women who believes all women can change their life, beauty and mindset to be a Badass Chick.

I’m Jean Zbinden and, as you might have guessed, I am all about helping women come into their badassiery even when or especially when you feel more like a comedy skit than Wonder Women through inspirational blogs on health, beauty, fitness, lifestyle, family and mindset,  all while keeping it real and fun!

In my life I have lost two babies, my father and, recently, my younger sister to cancer.  At 57, I am living proof that it’s never too late to be courageous, hopeful, inspirational, compassionate, kickass, strong badass chick doing what you love whether you want to write, dance, work, travel, be healthier, start a business or rock your life.  I believe we owe it to those we’ve lost, love and to ourselves.

Learn More About Jean & Becoming a Badass Chick - CLICK HERE

I have found that working for a company forces you to conform to the corporate culture... So does that make it a cult or a culture? Not all cults are bad, nor all cultures good.

People join cults not because people are crazy, but because they have two kinds of wishes.  They want a meaningful life, or they want to be taken care of. A social culture is an organized way of life which is based on a common tradition and conditioned by a common environment. There are some key difference though?

Cult

* Compliance with the group

* Dependence on a leader

* Avoidance of dissent

* Devaluation of outsiders

Culture

* Cohesiveness of the individuals

* Dependence on collaboration

* Civil discussion of new ideas

* Uplifting and encouragement of others

In this episode, we will discuss how groups on social media can be either cults or culture, depending on how the content presented is being created, moderated and discussed.

Points for discussion... A cult has its own culture, but a culture doesn’t have to include a cult? You can “join a cult” but can you * “join a culture?” You can “get out of a cult” but can you * “get out of a culture?”

Kurt Scholle is an entrepreneur who understands what it is like to own your own business and to be responsible for the livelihoods of your employees. He measures business success only one way: profits. He founded Web Asylum in 1996 and has had equity interests in a couple of local Internet Service Providers that delivered high-speed Internet and reliable web hosting.

Website success and social media are passions. Kurt speaks on developing successful website strategy, Internet Marketing and Social Media, including Twitter and Facebook workshops.

Join his Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/websiteroiguy or Email: [email protected]

Learn More About Kurt's Website Class - CLICK HERE

With today's communication technology, especially in the world of social media, change is a constant. No matter what platform you login to, on what ever day, there is change. Some of it is obvious, and some is subtly behind the scenes (buried in algorithms and pixie dust).Google is no different.

All of this change does not come with instructions or even a warning? That's because we don't pay for the services (unless you are advertising). And... they do what they want, when they want, without even asking us?

You can embrace or curse change, but with either, they cost you time... to learn, adapt, and re-strategize. You must learn to master and control time sucks and limited hour in the day with:

*

Time Shortages

*

Just To-Do It Lists

*

Email & Phone Interruption Corruption

*

Digital Addiction

*

Planned Breaks!

In this episode, we will discuss how you can claim back control of your time and avoid (what I call) Interruption Corruption! How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time (but I suggest you plan ahead and buy a fridge... it's too much to eat at one sitting!

Brynne Tillman is the LinkedIn Whisperer and CEO of Social Sales Link. For over a decade she has been teaching Entrepreneurs, sales teams and business leaders how to leverage LinkedIn for social selling.

As a former sales trainer and personal producer, Brynne adopted all of the traditional sales techniques and adapted them to the new digital world. She guides professionals to establish a thought leader and subject matter expert brand, find and engage the right targeted market, and leverage clients and networking partners for warm introductions into qualified buyers.

Learn More About Brynne & Social Sales Link - CLICK HERE

Images are integral to your content. When my wife broke the screen on her iPhone, I took it in to have the screen repairs. At the front of the store, there was a display case, with old broken screens lined up. I took a picture of it and posted it on Facebook and labeled it "The Boulevard of Broken Screens!". Have you ever seen the image called, "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams"? What emotion does that conjure up in you?

Creating graphics is a skill. So is photography, design, layout and using software to enhance and optimize them. You can choose to do it yourself or hire an expert, but either way, you brand is depending on the quality, the emotion, and the use of those graphics. Here are some thoughts about that:

* The art in your posts is like an emotional hook... like a chorus in a song

* It’s what stops scrolling in a noisy world

* It can build confidence in or confuse the message

In this podcast, I will give you some ideas on how you can start to visualize, optimize and utilize graphics in your posts that add value and enhance your messages in a positive way. There are dozens of Social Media Streams, that are just a "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" for not using some of these suggestions!