The Entrepreneur Ethos

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Summary

Hey everyone. A couple things before we get going.

First, please take the survey to let me know what you think of the show. It’s on the top of the show notes. Second, stay tuned to the end and I’ll give you the actionable insights I learned from this episode.

Now on to my guest today, Nick “the Lamb” Dais, a sports podcaster on the Blue Wire Network. 

Nick calls himself “the sports dude” – the one in his friend group who is in the know about sports and who gets asked about sports betting. In 2014, he joined a friend’s podcast and has been doing podcasts ever since while also running the family business. Nick attended college, earning an associate’s in business from Nassau Community College and intending to finish a four-year-degree and become a police officer.  He juggled classes, podcasting, and working the family business in Manhattan, travelling back and forth between Long Island, Queens, and Manhattan multiple times a day on only a few hours of sleep a night. When a friend pointed out that he spent more time and energy on planning podcasts than on his coursework, he realized podcasting was what he really wanted to do. He walked out of class and didn’t look back. 

A self-described hustler, Nick teaches himself anything he needs to know through YouTube tutorials and spends any time he’s not working on the family business creating and disseminating content through his podcasts and social media.  On his podcast Veteran’s Minimum, Nick talks about sports and other topics he’s curious about, such as his obsession with the Colombian drug cartel. He has also been featured in a documentary about sports betting on PlayUSA News.

Nick and I also talk about the origins of Blue Wire and how we both met Kevin Jones, CEO of Blue Wire. If you want to know the origins of Blue Wire, this is the episode to listen to.

Now let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

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Summary

Hey everyone. I’m trying something new based on your feedback. Stay turned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from the interview. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest today, Sarah Beth Perry, founder of With the Band. 

Sarah Beth grew up in Nashville surrounded by people in music, so the music industry seemed a natural fit. She recalls going to shows and fan events for bands that she and her sister followed and being disappointed that there was little engagement with the actual artists. When she went to college to prepare for a career in the music industry, she decided she wanted to be part of improving fan engagement. While still a student Sarah Beth hatched an idea and won a pitch contest. She went on to participate in many pitch contests, eventually winning enough money to start her company, With the Band. 

With the Band started out as an app that helps plan activities to foster deeper fan engagement, such as having fans create a rainbow during one show. When the pandemic shut down live shows, Sarah Beth went to work figuring out alternative ways for artists and fans to connect online, looking at what the existing tools lacked and developing a platform that filled the needs of fans and artists alike. In particular to help fans feel a part of something bigger. She looks forward to using the tools she’s developed over the past year to bring to live shows when they eventually come back while continuing to foster engagement in the virtual world.

Now let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights

Perry’s already learned some key lessons as a young entrepreneur, including:

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Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

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Summary

Hey everyone. I’m going to try something new today. At the end of the interview, I’ll share some actions to try or Advice to Take that I learned from the interview. You can also read these same thoughts in the show notes.

Now on to my guest today, Farzad Rashidi, founder of Respona.com.

Farzad emigrated from Iran as a teenager. After college he took an internship with Visme, which has fast become a major competitor to Canva, offering visual tools for businesses. There he learned and honed strategies in marketing and SEO, becoming its director of marketing. Noting that only 10% of what a marketer does ends up being productive, he learned that SEO and backlinking have been key to helping Visme become more visible and attract more traffic to their site without having to pay for a lot of advertising. It also requires a lot of labor. Like many entrepreneurs, the idea for Respona arose out of a need that wasn’t being filled; in this case, an effective tool for effectively doing personalized outreach to scale for PR and marketing.

Respona is still in its early stages but shows promise. As Farzad explains, much of learning how to be a successful marketer is simply learning, experimenting, and reassessing. One constant he has found is the necessity of building relationships. Unlike other tools, Respona seeks to harness the efficiency of automation and put it to use for personalized connections. Respona makes it more efficient to practice the principles behind marketing: producing good content, building relationships, and being of service.

Now let’s get better together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

Rashidi and I share some valuable insights on best practices for PR and marketing, including: 

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Summary

Hey everyone. Thanks for listening to the podcast. I was wondering if you could do me a favor.

I’m doing some research on Podcast Market Fit and would love it if you could fill out a quick survey. Should take no more than 3-5 minutes. The link is at the top of the show notes. Thanks in advance.

Now on to my guest today, Dallen Reber, CEO of Realizations, a company that produces self-mastery journals.

Dallen played baseball in college and became interested in sports science, earning his master’s and working for a research company in Tampa. He soon realized, however, that he wanted more from life. Journaling was the tool he used to gain insight and clarity on moving from figuring out what he wanted to do to figuring out the man he wanted to be. 

Inspired by the insights he found in journaling, Dallen developed a journal product using a print-on-demand service, soliciting feedback and learning from customers how to make the product better. When he and his wife realized they were expecting their second child, he decided he needed to be an example for his kids and follow his dreams. He got more serious, revamped his product, put it up for sale on Amazon, and then started his podcast, Realizations: Defining Success Beyond Dollars. 

Now let’s get better together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

Reber is still early in his entrepreneur journey but some actions he’s taken that keep him moving toward success are: 

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Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. I wanted to quickly let you know about the release of the audio version of my book, The Entrepreneur Ethos, narrated by David A. Conatser. If you want to support the show, you can buy it wherever audiobooks are sold. Links are also in the show notes. 

Now on to my guest today, Swire Ho, cofounder of Garuda Promo and Branding Solutions, a promotional merchandise company. 

With a name that many people don’t remember, Swire calls himself “the promo guy.” He and his wife had another business they sold in order to open this one, which focuses on providing branded merchandise. When covid hit, Swire worried about what would happen. But he did as many others did: he pivoted. 

First he started sourcing face masks and then started selling the idea of dropshipping kits for virtual events. The idea came from watching his kids in virtual school, where they were given breaks to do activities and play games. 

As the director of sales and marketing, Swire credits his love of talking to others for his success. He has realized that connecting with the gatekeepers in companies, such as the secretaries and assistants, have been the secret to networking. He makes himself available, asks them what they need, and follows up to make sure they are happy with the service. 

Now let’s get better together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

Links to Explore Further

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Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR or Story Funnel

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Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

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Summary

Hey everyone. Thanks for your continued support of the show. It’s pretty darn awesome to see how much people are enjoying these conversations.

Now on to my guest today, Tracy Lamourie of Lamourie Media. 

Tracy’s beginning as a publicist was through her activism alongside her husband. Together they worked on a campaign demanding for the release of Jimmy Dennis, who was found innocent in 2017 after being in prison for over 25 years. They managed to bring international attention to the campaign, and Tracy realized she could use her skills to start her own business. She began as a freelancer and eventually made a name for herself, ultimately becoming Lamourie Media, with her husband as cofounder and COO. 

Like many business owners, Tracy found herself losing a lot of clients when Covid hit, but she quickly managed to recover, finding other ways to do the work she does and help her clients gain exposure. 

Tracy and I talked about the challenges of being in public relations and of explaining its value, especially to entrepreneurs. Tracy stresses the importance of trusting in the PR person you hire because it’s their expertise and connections you’re hiring. Going for the “low-hanging fruit” coverage is never a waste of time; it can inevitably lead to something bigger.

Now let’s get better together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

If you’re a an entrepreneur, here’s what you need to know about public relations: 

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Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. I wanted to quickly let you know about the release of the audio version of my book, The Entrepreneur Ethos, narrated by David A. Conatser. If you want to support the show, you can buy it wherever audiobooks are sold. Links are also in the show notes. 

Now on to my guest today, Roger Nairn of JAR Audio. 

Before he started JAR Audio, Roger worked in advertising, where he built a career he loved managing clients. But he was also drawn to the idea of starting his own company, and after some efforts that failed, he and two friends started talking about starting a podcast company. Before they’d even figured out a name, they’d landed a client through a connection -- talk about market validation.

In the last three years they’ve taken on such clients as Lululemon and Expedia, helping to build their brands through podcasts. Roger shares that he still struggles with the uncertainty of entrepreneurship, and how he is coming to terms with just having to push past the fear. 

While Roger and JAR Audio focus on branded content, they follow the principles of good content marketing. These include telling a good story and knowing your audience. The best podcasts, Roger explains, aren’t advertisements, but take into consideration the audience’s needs and challenges. As an example, a podcast produced for a bank helps people navigate the economy in the time of COVID. Another produced for a wellness company offers information on holistic health. While podcasting isn’t at a point where you can really assess its ROI, one of the advantages is what Roger calls “the halo effect,” where brands become respected and known through the high-quality information and engaging stories they offer. 

Now let’s get better together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR or Story Funnel

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Support the Show. Get the NEW AudioBook!

AudioBook: Audible| Kobo| Authors Direct | Google Play | Apple

Summary

Hey everyone. I wanted to quickly let you know about the release of the audio version of my book, The Entrepreneur Ethos, narrated by David A. Conatser. If you want to support the show, you can buy it wherever audiobooks are sold. Links are also in the show notes. 

Now on to my guest today, Ugi Djuric, founder of Contenthorse. 

Ugi may be only 21, but he’s already experienced failure as well as success in building a business. After trying to help market bars and restaurants in Belgrade, he found his niche in writing content for SaaS companies and then launched his own content marketing agency, Contenthorse. His newest venture is Podino, which seeks to incorporate podcasting into their clients’ content marketing strategy; not surprisingly, soon Ugi will be launching his own podcast.

Ugi shared some of the strategies they use at Contenthorse to produce good content that entices possible buyers to a site, stressing that it needs to be of high value and highly actionable. His team aims to set their content apart by doing their due diligence in researching what’s out there, crowdsourcing experts, and remembering that in the end, it’s people you’re trying to reach — not Google. He sees the promise of artificial intelligence in helping to do research, but believes that it’s only people that can make good copy.  

Now let’s get better together.

Actions to Try or Advice to Take

Links to Explore Further

Keep In Touch

Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR or Story Funnel

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

To date, I have published 88 interviews, meeting my goal of doing at least one episode a week. More on why that’s important later.

So on the anniversary of my first published interview on this podcast, I give you How I Consistently Create Podcast Episodes without Burning Out over the last year.