Leaders Love Company

 Influencer marketing seems to be quite the buzz-phrase these days, but for good reason. Tapping into social media influencers to help promote your product or service can be a viable marketing strategy for your business.  My guest today is Dr. Emmanuel Probst, a Director of Media and Digital presence at Kantar Millward Brown, a Professor at UCLA, and someone who has been studying consumer behavior and psychology for over 15 years. He's the author of the upcoming book entitled Tension: How to Grow Remarkable Brands By Fulfilling Consumers' Quest for Meaning.  What We Discuss in This Episode: What is “influencer marketing”? What makes an individual on social media “influential”? Should brands rely on influencers or become the influencers themselves? Why the more emotional your product is, the more important it is for you to work with influencers Can a service-based business use influencers? Should a brand always look for the right influencer who is in alignment with their brand or is the amount of followers su

Learning to trust your instincts and knowing that you are the expert of your own experience are what should act as a guiding light for anyone looking to take more risks in their lives. Joining me today is Salem Afangideh, a social justice lawyer, storyteller, podcast host, and startup founder. What You’ll Learn in this Episode: How you can recognize when you’re in a space that’s not conducive to your growth Should you go all in on risks or have a backup plan? Learning to appreciate the natural transitions of your career(s) Why you are the expert of your own experiences so trusting your process is key What self-leadership means and looks like Is leadership the same as influence? Can you be a leader on a micro-level? Why focusing on affirmations is better than setting goals  How to combine affirmations with “harder” business goals Resources Mentioned: Iban Care Thrive Table Podcast  Alex Elle  Contact Information: IG: @Salem_afangideh Thanks for Checking Out the Show Notes and for Listening! I really hope you

We live in an evolved eco-system. The context of our work and social lives is fundamentally different. We are now in the social age and that requires that we step up and become social leaders. What exactly is a social leader and what will it take for us to become social leaders? That’s what my guest and I discuss in this episode.   I’m joined by author, speaker, captain at Sea Salt Learning, a consulting firm helping organisations understand the Social Age, Julian Stodd. Julian’s work is an exploration of the changing nature of work, the evolution of forms of power, and how social nature of power is disrupting hierarchical structures. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Organizations exist to serve the community, not the other way around How a person or company with a compelling authentic story can hold the most powerful companies or governments accountable No longer are rigid structures and archaic organizations necessary because of the rise of social authority and communities How we, as the business owners,

There are several truths that are common to all exceptional customer service experiences and certain behaviors that, when performed by employees, truly elevate the customer service experience. My guest today is customer enthusiast, speaker, and a former 20-year Marriott International employee, Steve Curtin. Steve joins us to discuss these common truths and behaviors that are present in all exceptional customer service experiences. We discuss Steve’s book, Delight Your Customers: 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary.  What You'll Learn in this Episode: Why employees consistently perform their job functions but inconsistently perform tasks for which there is little to no reward Every job is made up of two parts: job function and job essence. What are these two?  How you can hire and ensure that job essence requirements are communicated properly Why it’s important for employers to validate and inspect job essence in order to convey its importance to employees The three tru

Customers don't want to be sold to. However, they do want to know about businesses that offer solutions to their problems.So how can you, as a business owner, craft your marketing and sales messages in a way that resonates with your prospective customers and gets them to take action? Through storytelling! I’m joined by leader, speaker, and Vice President of Products at Liquid Web, Chris Lema. Chris is a master storyteller with a story for every scenario. He shares a few with us in this episode and they will certainly change the way you think about sales pitches. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why most communication is forgotten within an hour and what you can do about making your message resonate If you improve memorability regarding your message, you’ll grow your business by simply doing that Attaching a new idea to a previous idea is how ideas and stories resonate with people. That’s why it’s important to tap into preexisting stories and ideas in order for your idea to stick The importance of storytell

As your business grows, so will your team. While many business owners might overlook the importance of hiring the right people and nurturing a team, we, leaders, know how important our team members are to our success as a whole. So how do you start building a team that works well together and provides the support you need to continue to grow? When you have a growing team, what can you do to make sure you’re providing the support your employees need to continually expand? In this episode, I’m joined by intellectual property attorney and fellow podcaster Autumn Witt Boyd who takes us into her law firm and breaks down how she’s been growing her team. What We Discuss in This Episode: The moment Autumn decided to start expanding her law firm and why she started with a Virtual Assistant (VA) How Autumn decided to take on another team member follower her VA How to decide where in your business you need the most help The fears that come along with hiring someone, mainly, financial fears! What about maintaining the s

Understanding how your customers make decisions when confronted with things like pricing, limited time offers, and diverse choices, can help you as a business owner make better decisions in your own business. There are certain patterns that can be extrapolated and accounted for when building your products and services. My guest is adjunct assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Linnea Gandhi. Along with teaching, Linnea runs a company called BehavioralSight, which applies insights and methodologies from the growing field of behavioral science to everyday business problems.  Our discussion revolves around behavioral science and the information we can extract as business owners from the behaviors of our customers that will help us provide better service. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why customers (aka humans) are working with limited cognitive resources and aren’t very logical in their decision-making The common decision-making errors that all huma

For many, public speaking is terrifying. For others, it’s just a fun hobby. For me, having the opportunity to stand in front of a crowd and capture their attention for a prolonged period of time is a privilege and an amazing opportunity for business development, when done right. 6 years ago, I decided to take public speaking more seriously and make it part of my business. Through my experience, which I share with you in this episode, I’ve learned how to work the stage, so to speak, to make public speaking an additional source of revenue in my business. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:   Before you begin your speaking journey, you should know what you’re talking about Why selecting a few topics to become known for is way more effective than listing about 30 things you can talk about Practice and preparation are key and can mean the difference between delivering a mediocre presentation and delivering a presentation that helps you secure business long after you present Even if you’re serving on a panel with o

It’s simple. You can’t do all the things. As your business grows, the list of tasks you need to get through grows as well. Knowing when you need to reach out for help is crucial to your continued growth as a business owner. In this episode, I’m joined by outsourcing queen, Dina Eisenberg, as she shares her tips on how to identify the tasks we shouldn’t be spending time on, cultivating our team (whether virtual or in-person), and covering the costs of outsourcing. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why your business requires you to be the thought leader and why you should delegate the administrative tasks to someone else What is the mindset needed to begin delegating? (because we all know it can be a huge mental roadblock to let go of control) How outsourcing allows you to solicit new ideas into the business As the business owner, you need to be at the creative thinking level and not at the “doing” level How to overcome excuses you tell yourself when considering outsourcing (ex: not having enough money, not h

Business leaders have much to learn from how humans behave on social media. By applying certain principles that make social media work so well, like trustworthiness, openness, and courage, business owners can humanize their company and allow for it to grow just as successfully as social media has grown. My guest today is accomplished speaker, author and consultant with deep expertise in workplace culture, generations, and growth - Jamie Notter. Jamie is the author of several books including the one discussed in this episode, Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World.  What You’ll Learn in This Episode: How social media is designed around human interaction, while organizational leadership is designed around machines The decentralized nature of social media, which disperses power throughout its users, is worth mimicking in your company 4 principles that make social media work and those which you should apply in your business Just like with social media, you don’t know how it works un

Is leadership an inside job? Why is it important for people to learn how to “be” before they can “do” and “have”? Can a business owner lead when he/she has no employees yet? These are all questions leaders must explore during their entrepreneurial journey. In this episode, we’re talking about how business owners can become conscious leaders when they’re still a company of one and as they grow.  I’m joined by the host of the Conscious Leadership Weekly podcast and founder of the Institute for Conscious Leadership, Kymm Nelsen. For nearly 20 years, Kymm has been on a mission to inspire professionals toward holistic business practices. She is completing her doctorate in Social Psychology, with her dissertation research focused on the impact leader stress has on organizational success.  What You’ll Learn in This Episode: What's so attractive about leadership? What is conscious leadership? Why conscious leadership begins with self-mastery and checking your ego How a huge part of conscious leadership is figuring o

Do you find it difficult to define your customer avatar? Perhaps you’ve read one too many blogs demanding that you describe your ideal customer down to a T. Well, on today’s episode, my guest and I chat about the better approach to defining your ideal customer and figuring out how your business can serve them. We also discuss the 4 archetypes of leaders that you can access when making decisions. I’m joined by author, speaker, and business consultant Carol Sanford. Carol works side by side with Fortune 500 and new economy executives in designing and leading systemic business change and design. For four decades, Carol has worked with great leaders of successful businesses such as Google, DuPont, Intel, P&G, and Seventh Generation, educating them to develop their people and ensure a continuous stream of innovation that continually deliver extraordinary results. Carol is the author of several best-selling books including The Responsible Entrepreneur; Four Game-Changing Archetypes for Founders, Leaders, and Im

How can you be the best partner to your customers? Customers are leaving signals and trails behind them each time they interact with your brand but are you paying attention? Listen to what customers are telling you by collecting and analyzing data about their behaviors, needs, and wants in order to better serve them.  My guest today is Chris Aarons, digital, sales, and marketing strategist and co-author of The Digital Helix: Transforming Your Organization's DNA to Thrive in the Digital Age and we discuss how to establish a symbiotic relationship with your customers.  What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why only 1 in 6 businesses is succeeding (and why the other 5 are not) The 7 components of The Digital Helix - what people have to do to become digitally transformed the right way What the customer experiential portfolio is and how that has replaced the customer journey Sales are about connected moments All segments of your business (marketing, sales, communications, etc.) don’t work in silos; they must work to

While there are many options you can pursue when it comes building relationships online, one powerful way is through the use of videos. In this episode, I share 5 different ways you can use video to help you connect with more people (aka potential customers) and begin building that relationship of trust. If you haven’t already, be sure to listen to last week’s episode, Episode 19, to learn about what your website needs in order to convey trust. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: The 5 ways you can use video to build trust: 1) introduction video, 2) live video, 3) how-to videos, 4) bio page video, and 5) email video What should be included in your introduction video How you can use live video to connect with potential clients in real time Tips to do livestreaming the right way Why teach-what-you-know videos are great in helping you build your thought leadership The topics you can cover in your how-to videos How you can personalize your bio/about page with this type of video How to best follow up with consults

Your website is the face of your business online. Often times, it’s the first point of contact between a potential customer and your business. So how can you make sure you’re conveying trustworthiness right on your website? I’m joined by Pamela Kilzer freelance writer, blogger, and entrepreneur, and she shares the top 4 things to keep in mind to build trust on your website. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: How your website is the face of your business online The 4 things your website should include in over to convey trust: 1) design, 2) testimonials, 3) integration, and 4) date references The importance of a website’s simple design and easy-to-spot buttons and Call-To-Action How to courageously ask for testimonials to include on your website What you can do when you’re just starting off with a new business and don’t have clients to request testimonials from Why you shouldn’t send a customer off of your website to make payments How the date references on your website’s blogs goes a long way to build trust T

Sure there might be a lot of hype around blockchain and bitcoin these days but let’s look beyond the hype and explore how these technologies can be used for good in the social sector. I’m joined by Paul Lamb, principal of Man on a Mission, a non-profit management consultancy firm.  What You’ll Learn in This Episode: What is blockchain exactly and how does it work? What is bitcoin and how is it used? How can cryptocurrencies and blockchains address challenges in the social sector? How some nonprofits are using the blockchain technology to help refugees with their legal documents If you want to begin accepting donations or payments through cryptocurrency, what’s the first step you must take? What social sectors could stand to be disrupted and innovated upon because of this new technology What role kindness plays in growing a profitable business Resources:  Paul's HuffPost article: Transforming the Social Sector: Bitcoin and Blockchain for Good   Contact Information: Paul's website: www.manonamission.biz paul@

We’re turning to nature to learn some important business lessons. How do honey bee colonies treat leadership? What can ants teach us about individuality and effective workplace structures? We’re joined by evolutionary biologist and biomimicry expert, Dr. Tamsin Woolley-Barker as she shares her knowledge about innovation and nature. Dr. Tamsin is the author of Teeming: How Superorganisms Work to Build Infinite Wealth in a Finite World   What We Discuss in this Episode   What nature can teach organizations about facing challenges What is biomimicry? Are the way companies are structured impeding their progress? How underground fungal networks teach us how to be resilient Diversity is what allows ants to innovate and that innovation is what allows the ants to survive and thrive How delineating a common purpose and goal in your company can help engage employees Why most hierarchical structures are limiting and finite and what we can do to tap into the infinite resources within our businesses Why small businesses

It’s time for a reimagining of capitalism. Conscious Capitalism is a fresh approach to business. Although the principles have been around for a very long time, this movement as we know it is gaining popularity in today’s business world. My guest today is Alexander McCobin, the CEO of Conscious Capitalism, Inc., a US-based organization dedicated to elevating humanity by improving the practice and perception of business. What We Discuss in This Episode: How conscious capitalism emphasizes the human nature of business endeavors How the “conscious capitalism” title is fairly new but the underlying concept has been around for a long time Why conscious capitalism is what businesses should strive for Is the sole purpose of business to maximize profit? Why solely focusing on earning profits as a business will negatively affect your performance as a business The 4 tenets of conscious capitalism: 1) higher purpose, 2) stakeholder orientation, 3) conscious leadership, and 4) conscious culture What affect, if any, does

Consumers want to do business with companies that stand for something. It’s not enough for your company to create a fabulous product or offer a phenomenal service. Your company has to get clear on its values and its personality in order to attract lifetime customers. In this solo episode, I discuss the notion that companies nowadays must stand for something in order to grow. I support my argument by exploring some case studies from businesses that have joined in on social conversations and either found themselves attracting more customers or repelling them. Thanks for Checking Out the Show Notes and for Listening! I really hope you enjoyed this episode. I would really appreciate it if you shared this show with a friend who could benefit from listening to this particular episode. Please don't forget to SUBSCRIBE so you can get each new episode delivered directly to you when it’s ready. You can find the show in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play.  Leaders sure do love company so be sure to get soci

Of all the leadership traits that a business owner can have, grit is probably one of the most important ones. We discuss the concept of being a gritty leader and how that can help you engage with your employees, reduce turnover rates, and grow your business strategically. I’m joined by Sarah Panis, Founder and CEO of Gritty Movement, a consulting and coaching agency help female founders with their leadership, expansion, and employee engagement needs.   What We Discuss in This Episode: How Sarah leveraged LinkedIn, conferences, and networking to learn what she needed to learn to perform her COO duties, despite not having built-in mentors at her company Where the name “Gritty Movement” came from Is there a difference in the way women and men lead? How can you reduce the amount of turnover at your company? Are your employees brand ambassadors for your company or are they searching for another job? Sarah shares how to find out Why we need to shift our perspectives as to how long an employee stays with our compan