The Business Method: Interviewing Billionaires, Billion Dollar Founders & the World’s Most Successful People 🎧🔥

Cynthia Johnson~ Co-Founder of Bell+Ivy

~ Current Series ~

Cynthia Johnson is a global entrepreneur, marketing professional, author and keynote speaker. She is Co-Founder at Bell+Ivy, a marketing and PR firm in Santa Monica, CA, and Las Vegas, NV.  Previously, Cynthia was Partner & Director of Marketing for RankLab, a digital marketing agency listed in Inc. Magazine's Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2015. She is an Advisory Board member for The Millennium Alliance, a leading technology, business, and educational advisory firm serving Fortune 1000 C-Level executives. 

Cynthia has been a keynote speaker for companies and events such as Alibaba Group in China, World Government Summit in Dubai, Global Ventures Summit in Indonesia and Mexico, and Web Summit in Lisbon. She has been involved in influencer and marketing campaigns for PayPal, HereMedia, Chevy’s, PETA, and several other leading brands.  

Cynthia was listed as top personal branding experts in 2017 by Entrepreneur, top 50 marketers on SnapChat by Mashable, top 12 Female Entrepreneurs that Inspire by Darling Magazine, and top 20 people in SEO by Guardian. She is a contributing columnist to Entrepreneur, and has had work published in Forbes, TIME, and several other industry-specific and top-tier publications. 

Throughout the show we delve into influence and PR with Cynthia on how she handles the clients her company works with. She has a really unique take on building your personal brand and only working with people that can truly backup what they claim they can do. She walks us through her process of building a person or company's influence and PR and it is a process that any of us can benefit from when getting our brands more visibility! She also has a massive 1.7 million followers on Twitter and we get to find out how she made that happen too!

01:52: Who is Cynthia Johnson?

09:25: How Cynthia Got Into PR

17:22: How Cynthia Selects Her Clients

19:25: How To Get Press as a Young Company

20:44: Cynthia on Forming Opinions and Handling Backlash

29:32: How To “Tie Yourself To The Top”

34:08: Cynthia’s Tips on Growing Twitter Following

35:45: Cynthia on Goal Setting

46:21: Platform: The Art & Science of Personal Branding

47:13: The Importance of Knowing Your Why

48:33: Managing Your ROI on Events & Conferences

51:15: Cynthia on Building Your Personal Brand

53:38: Cynthia’s Tips To Grow Your Influence

56:05: Where to Find Cynthia

Contact Info:

[email protected]

https://www.bellivy.com/

https://www.cynthialive.com/

https://twitter.com/CynthiaLIVE

PicMonkey Discount: https://www.picmonkey.com/blog/cynthialive

John Hall~ Founder Influencer & Co

~ Current Series ~

As we dive down this rabbit hole of influence we have noticed there's a couple different types of influencers that are out there. There is the influencer that everybody knows. This influencer is the one that everybody sees. The influencer that has a massive public image, you see them all over Instagram, Twitter, the media, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. These influencers are what you could call Spotlight Influencers. Then you have another type of influencer that isn’t so much in the spotlight. This influencer is a more of an underground influencer. These are people that have significant influence but decide to stay under the radar just a little bit. They still have their personal brands, they still get into media sources, but they are not the typical faces you might see when you think of ‘influencers’. 

Today’s guest is a master at the second type of influence. John Hall has been called by Inc. magazine as “one of the most powerful people in media that you have never met!” He is Ernest and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016, he has been recognized as one of  Business Journal’s Top 100 Visionaries. The company he co-founded was ranked #239 on the Inc. 500 and #72 on the Forbes list of the most promising companies in America.  There's an art and science to this type of influence and on the show today John shares with us some of his best secrets to maintaining this influence. 

We talk with John about how he developed the company Influence & Co, how it became the largest creator and distributor of expert content for major media outlets. We talk with John about building influence with his clients and some of the key takeaways that he learned from seven years of helping other businesses gain influence.

John has some core values as an influencer, and it really boils down to simple things such as personal relationships, how he gauges every single personal acquaintance, and how he decides whether he's going to continue that personal relationship or let it go. Towards the end of the show we chat about two of his really awesome articles that I enjoyed reading, Perception of Influence vs. Actual Influence and how you can use both of those to grow your brand, as well as 7 Tips for Seeking Out and Seducing the Best Influencers to Love Your Brand..

     02:43: Who is John Hall?

     10:38: John on His Entrepreneurial Journey

     13:30: John on Influence

     15:41: John on Managing Your Ego

     17:29: The Story Behind Influence & Co.

     19:41: How John Obtained the Calendar.com Domain

     22:18: John on How To Maintain Relationships

     27:18: The Mission of Calendar.com

     34:46: John on How He Uses His Influence to Grow Calendar.com

     37:51: How To Get Started Pitching Your Writing To Major Platforms

     40:56: Perception of Influence vs. Actual Influence

     45:25: How To Identify Fake Influencers

     48:09: John’s Favorite Influencers

     53:05: How To Keep A Low Profile As An Influencer

     57:05: John on Choosing Influence Over Money

01:01:50: John’s Favorite Conferences

01:03:27: A Sneak Peek into John's Book, "Top of Mind"

01:05:21: John on The Future of Influencer Marketing

Contact Info:

http://www.johnhallspeaking.com/

https://marketinginsidergroup.com/strategy/12-keynote-sales-speakers-you-shouldnt-miss/

https://twitter.com/InfluenceandCo

https://twitter.com/johnhall

https://www.influenceandco.com/

https://www.inc.com/author/john-hall?cid=landermore

John on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/#28a7d6253845

Perception of Influence vs. Actual Influence: https://www.inc.com/john-hall/the-perception-of-influence-vs-actual-influence.html

7 Tips for Seeking Out and Seducing the Best Influencers for Your Brand

https://www.inc.com/john-hall/7-tips-for-seeking-out-and-seducing-the-best-influencers-to-love-your-brand.html

Calender.com: https://www.calendar.com/

Dr. David Rabin ~ Co-Founder of Apollo Neuroscience

~ Current Series ~

100 Interviews with 100 Major Influencers

Currently, the psychedelic industry is on the leading edge of helping people with trauma, psychological problems, PTSD, chronic distress, illnesses, empathy and many other issues related to the mind, body, thought process and emotions. People are finding that these substances when used in low doses in a controlled manner prescribed by the right person are having an astounding effect on healing people and these studies are coming from legitimate professionals, doctors and scientists that are also astounded by what they are finding. 

Today on the show, we have the doctor/scientist that is currently working on the largest controlled study for psychedelic substances in the world. His name, Dr. David Rabin. Dr. Rabin is a board-certified psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and inventor, and has been studying the impact of chronic stress in humans for more than 10 years. He has specifically focused his research on the clinical translation of non-invasive therapies that improve mood, focus, sleep, and quality of life in treatment-resistant illnesses. Dr. Rabin has six patent applications pending and many more on the way. Dr. Rabin or Dave received his MD in medicine and a PhD in neuroscience from Albany Medical College and trained in psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Throughout the show, we discuss with Dave the benefits that science is finding with these substances and the healing effects they deliver. We chat about the many ways that people are healing themselves where traditional therapy and medicine have failed them, how trauma can actually alter the structure of the person’s DNA and then can be passed down up to four generations. And, we discuss the future of these therapies and medicines and how his business ApolloNeuro is using wearable technologies to help people become the best versions of themselves. On top of that, Dave and ApolloNeuro are offering a 45% discount for their products. 

    02:19: Who is David Rabin?

    05:48: The Largest Controlled Psychedelics Study in the World

    14:55: The Side Effects of Psychedelics

    20:25: How Trauma Can Be Passed Through DNA

    25:19: How Trauma Alters DNA

    37:49: Testing The Effects of Psychedelics on Users

    50:47: Which is More Effective: Meditation vs Psychedelics

    54:51: The Science Behind ApolloNeuro 

 1:01:03: Dave on the Future of Neuro Technology

 1:07:03: Dave’s Routine to Maintain High Productivity

 1:12:55: Where to Find Dave Rabin 

Contact Info:

https://apolloneuro.com/

Promo: 

ApolloNeuro is offering 45% off services for their new launch at https://shop.apolloneuro.com/

Jodie Cook~ Founder of JC Social Media

~ Current Series ~

Starting a successful social media agency at twenty-two and building it to become one of the UK’s leading social media companies, getting on Forbes 30 Under 30, and the UK Powerlifting Team, creating a business model where she can travel one month out of every three, landing a TedX Talk, becoming an author and writing children's books, then getting them in every primary school in her home country. The list goes on and on but that is the start of our podcast today when we interview the incredible entrepreneur Jodie Cook!

I recently met Jodie after being introduced to her writing on Forbes and I was impressed with all that she had created in her life as an entrepreneur and influencer.  Jodie is the founder of JC Social Media and she has built it to be one of the largest agencies in the United Kingdom. 

On the show today, we chat with Jodie about her life, her habits and how she has created success. We first dive into a chat about personal habits for success, then moving into her story about how the children books she wrote got in all the primary schools in the UK. Later in the show, we chat more about the future of social media, getting on Forbes 30 Under 30 and we even touch on being an influencer in today's world. 

02:30: Who is Jodie Cook?

08:02: Jodie’s Powerlifting Training Routine

09:10: Powerlifting & Entrepreneurship

11:08: How Jodie Stays Focused

12:05: Jodie’s Visualization Process

14:19: Starting A Social Media Agency at 22

18:39: The Importance of Creating Useful People

20:08: Jodie on Writing Children’s Books

25:52: Jodie's Goal-Setting Process

32:42: Jodie on the Future of Social Media

34:02: Jodie on Achieving Work/Life Balance

42:21: Jodie’s Tips on Cold Outreach

46:15: Jodie on Making Europe’s Forbes 30 Under 30 List

50:45: How Jodie Manages Her Influence

53:58: Jodie’s Tips for Growing Your Influence

55:14: Where to Find Jodie Cook

Contact Info:

https://www.jodiecook.com/

https://www.instagram.com/jodie.cook_/

Josh Muccio~ Founder of The Pitch Podcast

~ Current Series ~

100 Interviews with 100 Major Influencers

Hey listeners, I got the exciting opportunity to hop on the mic with the founder and host of The Pitch Podcast, Josh Muccio.  The Pitch is one of the top podcasts out there today on business and entrepreneurship. The Pitch features entrepreneurs in need of funding and they get to “pitch” a panel of investors. Very much like Sharktank but, it is a real show where entrepreneurs pitch real investors for real money. 

We got to talk with Josh for well over an hour about how he started The Pitch and kept growing it even after having fifty-five shows with zero investments. Finally, he got the first investment on the show and everything changed from that moment on. Not too long after, Gimlet Media acquired Josh’s podcast, which then eventually led to Spotify purchasing Gimlet for over $200 million. This has changed everything for Josh as a professional podcaster and creative entrepreneur.  Now, The Pitch has been named the best business podcast on startup life by Fortune magazine and it is one of the top rated business podcasts in the world!

On the show today we chat with Josh about how he got his start as an entrepreneur and podcaster, his first failing podcast and the idea to create The Pitch. We talk a lot about what is making podcasts successful today, we share some methods of what works when building a successful podcast, and where we think the podcast world is headed in the next few years. We also touch a bit on influence and how Josh manages his influence as a top podcaster. 

    2:19: Who is Josh Muccio?

    8:47: The Humble Beginnings of The Pitch

   15:01: The Trials & Errors of Podcasting

   22:54: How Josh Landed Sponsorship for The Pitch

   27:44: Josh on Landing A $350,000 Investment

   30:26: Gimlet Media Acquisition

   33:36: Josh On Staying True To Yourself as a Creator

   40:24: The Pitch in 5 Years

   43:45: The Current State of The Podcast Industry

   47:41: Josh On Achieving Balance As A Podcaster

   54:17: Podcast Technology Trends on Apple, Spotify and Google

1:00:10: Josh On Managing His Influence

1:07:36: Josh on Personal & Professional Growth

1:14:30: Where to Find Josh Muccio

Contact Info:

The Pitch Podcast: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/the-pitch

The Pitch on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0L04op9D76TOfmzm7yOf9T

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshmuccio

Matt Kepnes ~ Founder of the Famous Travel Blog, Nomadic Matt

~ Current Series ~

100 Interviews with 100 Major Influencers

Way back in 2008, I first decided I wanted to make money online and travel the world. I used to read some blogs of travelers that were leading the way for this new lifestyle and somehow, I came across a book called ‘How to Travel the World on $50 a Day’. It was written by a guy named Matt Kepnes, also known as Nomadic Matt. Matt ran a blog that helped others travel the world on a budget while he made money from his blog and book while traveling the world. I thought it was genius and I said to myself, ‘Man, this guy has it figured out!”  So I bought his book so I could figure out how to do this as well. A couple of years later, I had a backpack and a one way ticket to Costa Rica. Thanks to Matt and others like him, I was about to start my journey traveling the world while making money online. I never ever thought one day, I would be interviewing Matt on my podcast telling him that story. 

That was eleven years ago and today I have been living and traveling to many different countries while business businesses online. It has been the biggest adventure of my life. Today, I get the chance to sit down with Nomadic Matt and talk with him about what he is up to these days. Matt’s blog was successful back in 2008, but once I started to travel, I didn’t hear too much from him.  It was good to find out that he is still running his blog and built it into an incredibly successful business. Matt now has quite a few books published about travel and runs a successful travel/business conference called TravelCon that sells out in just a few days. If you are interested in building and/or running a successful business while traveling the world, being a travel influencer, and what it is like to be a true digital nomad, this is the show for you. 

01:42: Who is Nomadic Matt?

06:52: Matt’s Travel/Work/Life Schedule

08:00: Lessons Learned as a Traveler

10:10: Becoming a Full Time Traveler

14:31: What Made Your Blog Stand Out Compared to Others?

15:59: How Does Matt Network While Traveling?

18:03: Strategy to Use to Start a Blog in 2019

18:33: Tips on Creating Good Content

22:23: Creating a Travel Conference

31:54: Tips on Getting Big Names to Events

33:57: What Does Freedom Mean to a Top Travel Influencer?

39:10: Balancing Finances Between Business and Charity

41:46: Matt’s Plans for the Future

43:23: Spoilers From the New Book

45:51: Responsibilities of an Influencer

Contact Info:

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/

https://travelcon.org/

On today’s episode, we are joined by the digital agency expert, Jason Swenk. Jason started off building websites online way back in 1999 and eventually grew that business into a full fledge digital agency starting from zero and selling it twelve years later as a multi-million dollar business. Today, Jason shares with us his story about growing his digital agency business. He also shares some valuable tips on his growth and vision strategies. Then towards the end of the show, he gives us some recommendations on what both digital agencies and entrepreneurs should be doing in business today.

​

​​

01:40: Jason’s Story

05:54: Key Tactics That Grew Jason’s Business

Clarity ~ Know where you want to go, not just for yourself, but for your businesses’ team.

Positioning ~ Position yourself to be THE choice, rather than A choice

Offering ~ How can you get them to raise their hand first, to get them to opt in?

11:14: Steps to Have Between the First Contact of Clients and Selling Them the Big Product

12:54: What Are Entrepreneur Really Missing When it Comes to Growing Their Business?

15:02: How to Know When You’re Doing Too Much and Time to Hire

16:19: How to Avoid Being Comfortable in a Business

18:53: The Questions Jason Asks Himself Before Bed Each Night?

21:27: Podcast Recommendations

24:22: Where Jason is Headed in the Next 5 Years

​

Jason’s About Page

Agency University

Tony Robbins Podcast

Gary Vaynerchuk

Jason Swenk YouTube Channel

​

​

swenk.me

https://jasonswenk.com/

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcHycBFrSxkPWyMTZ1s-74g

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/jasonswenk

Joshua Lisec ~ Celebrity Ghostwriter

~ Current Series ~

Today listeners, we are joined by Joshua Lisec. Joshua is the world's only award-winning, celebrity-recommended, #1 international bestselling Certified Professional Ghostwriter. He is the founder of The Entrepreneur’s Wordsmith, a multiple-time #1 International Bestselling Ghostwriter, a Forbes Contributor ghostwriter, a TEDx speaker, and a two-time published novelist.

 Since 2011, Joshua has ghostwritten forty books and have been featured in TED, TEDx, BBC Radio London, Foundr, American Express, Yahoo, The Huffington Post, The Write Life, The Side Hustle Show, and numerous other outlets. What is really cool, is that in just the past couple of years Joshua has helped his clients use a book to build a $1,000,000 product funnel, exceed book sales goals by 200% using media appearances, average 10,000 books sold per month, and achieve a 70x return on investment. 

 On today’s episode, we chat with Joshua, whose skill in translating others’ thoughts into narrations, can help you establish and expand your brand influence to drive business results. He shares his experience as a ghostwriter and the 6 principles you should abide to if you seek to create influential content. We also ask John about the pros and cons of traditional and self publishing and how authors can access corporate sponsorships. 

   01:47: Who is Joshua Lisec?

   12:14: Joshua Lisec's Accidental Journey into Ghostwriting

   16:30: How to Start Your Book Idea

   28:55: Creating Healthy Balanced Content as an Influencer

   32:07: Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing

   38:15: How Much Does It Cost To Work with a Celebrity Ghostwriter?

   41:50: Types of Corporate Sponsorships for Authors

   43:31: Do I Need a Large Audience Before I Write a Book?

   47:03: The Ghostwriting Process

   52:14: Hacks for Overcoming Writer’s Block

   54:35: Joshua Lisec on Creating a $1,000,000 Product Funnel

1:01:05: 6 Principles of Influential Content

1:10:56: Tips on Working with Influencers

1:20:16: Joshua Lisec on Vulnerability & Establishing Your Personal Brand

1:16:36: Where to find Joshua Lisec

Contact Info:

https://entrepreneurswordsmith.com/

Chris Reynolds ~ Host of The Business Method Podcast chats about what he learned from interviewing 50 major influencers

~ Current Series ~

Tim Gray ~ Founder of The Health Optimisation Summit

~ Current Series ~

Today listeners we are joined by the organizer of the largest biohacking conference in the UK, Tim Gray.  Tim is a dedicated health optimizing biohacker, a psychology specialist and is the founder and investor in several successful London based digital marketing agencies, the Biohacker London Meetup Group and London's first private hyperbaric oxygen clinic.

Tim is working on building a global movement in health optimization. This began with starting London's first Health Optimisation Summit, advising many well known influencers, doctors, and specialists in the health and wellness space all over the world, and is often featured on podcasts and media regarding practical health hacks.

He has been optimizing health, energy, and mind for over seven years using a vast range of modalities and is known as the UK’s leading biohacker due to his vast knowledge of human optimization, plus due to detailed tracking of more than 35 + biomarkers per day. The Biohacker London Meetup group has over 1500 active members with world renowned speakers attending every event.

Throughout the show, we chat with Tim about all areas of biohacking. He takes us though the biohacks that helped him regain his health and energy levels to continue to be a high-performing entrepreneur. 

     03:48: The Largest Biohacking Summit in the UK

     06:24: Tim on Biohacking

     08:52: The Science Behind Grounding/Earthing

     15:51: The Placebo Effect & Biohacking

     16:42: Tim on Sleep Optimization

     24:37: Boosting Mental Clarity with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy 

     27:07: Tim’s Daily Biohacks

     30:53: The Effects of Mercury Toxicity on the Immune System

     33:58: Tim’s Health Battles

     37:51: What You Thought You Knew About Hydration

     43:27 : Tim on Sources of Hydration

     46:47: How Often Should You Get Your Blood Tested?

     51:21: From Meetup Group to Biohacking Summit

     54:07: Creating a Conference with Major Influencers

01:03:24: How To Manage Relationships With Major Influencers

01:06:04: The Three Most Important Biohacks

01:07:31: Where To Find Tim’s Work

Contact Info:

@timbiohacker

https://summit.healthoptimisation.com/