Interviews with CEOs and Entrepreneurs about the frameworks they are using to build and scale their businesses.
Episodes
Monday Jul 18, 2022
Monday Jul 18, 2022
Brandon Leibowitz is the founder and owner of SEO Optimizers, a full-service digital marketing agency, specializing in search engine optimization, website design, social media, and paid advertising. We talk about the importance of having niche-relevant backlinks, how to rank your website using SEO, and the anatomy of the perfect blog post.
Time Stamps
[00:27] Brandon's entrepreneurial journey
[02:09] The most exciting things about SEO
[02:52] How to keep up with the ever-changing SEO trends
[04:39] SEO versus paid search advertising
[06:40] Brandon's Digital Marketing Blueprint
[09:45] What are backlinks, and how do they work?
[12:35] How to use backlinks for better search rankings
[15:05] The importance of having niche-relevant backlinks
[16:15] How podcasting can improve your search engine ranking
[18:24] Does a press release for higher search rankings still work?
[19:30] How to get traffic and convert them into customers
[21:43] Ways to optimize your website for higher conversions
[22:57] The anatomy of the perfect blog post
[25:23] How Brandon creates content that people want to read
[26:52] Where and how to use keywords the right way
[29:51] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Claim your free gift here Seooptimizers.com/gift
Monday Jul 11, 2022
Monday Jul 11, 2022
Natasha Miller is the Founder and Chief Experience Designer of Entire Productions, an Inc 5000 corporate event planning and entertainment management company. She is also the author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book Relentless: Homeless Teen to Achieving the Entrepreneur Dream. We talk about the power of delegation in business, why musicians make great entrepreneurs, and how to become a relentless entrepreneur.
Time Stamps
[00:34] Natasha’s entrepreneurial journey
[02:00] How Natasha first got into entrepreneurship
[04:08] Understanding the Entire Productions Project Management System
[07:52] The main cogs in Natasha’s management blueprint
[09:13] How Natasha’s management system is like a supercharged CRM
[11:40] Key components of successful workflow automation
[14:14] Why you need to reduce complexity in your systems
[15:41] How reliability strengthens business relationships
[17:20] Why delegation is a superpower in business
[20:25] Why musicians make better entrepreneurs
[23:45] Natasha’s Book Relentless: Homeless Team To Achieving The Entrepreneur Dream
[26:41] Traits of highly relentless people and how to become one
[29:07] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Relentless: Homeless Teen to Achieving the Entrepreneur Dream by Natasha Miller
Monday Jul 04, 2022
Monday Jul 04, 2022
Matt Davis is the CEO and Owner of Davis Business Law, a group of business lawyers dedicated to helping companies and entrepreneurs deal with the complex vulnerabilities in their business. He is also the author of The Art of Preventing Stupid: How to Build a Stronger Business Strategy through Better Risk Management. We talk about the business immune system report, how constant improvement always leads to success, and the difference between ignorance and ineptitude in business.
Time Stamps
[00:39] Matthew’s entrepreneurial journey
[02:03] How Matthew transformed his law practice into a functioning business
[03:36] Matthew’s thoughts on working on the business, not in the business
[04:45] Constant improvement is the key to business success
[06:06] What is the Prevent Stupid System?
[09:38] Understanding The Art of Preventing Stupid
[11:03] Matt’s modified Eisenhower matrix
[14:22] The difference between ignorance and ineptitude in business
[18:32] Why you need to constantly address areas of vulnerability in your business
[20:16] The Immune System Report and why it’s so effective
[23:01] How to address problems in your business before they manifest
[25:23] How to build a one-partner law firm
[31:42] Smart entrepreneurs proactively protect their business
[34:38] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
The Art of Preventing Stupid by Matthew Davis
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
Andy Neillie is an adjunct professor, best-selling author, and the owner of Aqua-Tots Swim School of Central Texas. He's also the principal of the Neillie Leadership Group, where he helps organizations turn managers into leaders. We talk about the four leadership necessities, why communication is the most important skill in leadership, and best practices for holding tough conversations.
Time Stamps
[00:40] Andy's entrepreneurial journey
[03:47] Andy's time management practices and running multiple businesses
[05:09] The Four Leadership Necessities
[09:31] Covenant Leadership and why it's so powerful
[10:32] How to leverage the 4 C's of Leadership to grow your company
[13:35] Understand that we all can grow our passions
[15:07] Competence and character in leadership
[20:36] Your business is not a family; it's a team
[23:57] Communication is the most important skill in leadership
[25:27] The three main types of conversations in leadership
[30:28] Best practices for holding hard conversations
[31:21] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Andy's email: Andy@neillieleadership.com
The Golden Principles by Andy Neillie
What Got You Here Won't Get You There in Sales by Marshall Goldsmith
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Steve Alexander is the CEO of MSP-Ignite, an organization that helps managed service providers achieve maximum equity and recurring revenues through facilitated peer groups. We talk about the benefits of being part of a peer group, the recurring revenue model’s impact on business valuation, and how to maximize your profit margins as an MSP.
Time Stamps
[00:30] Steve’s entrepreneurial journey
[01:54] What is an MSP?
[07:10] How Steve launched his first business advisory group
[07:53] Mastermind groups and how they operate
[11:13] Top tips for building trust in a mastermind group
[13:53] The difference between project revenue and recurring revenue
[16:22] How to build a recurring revenue business model
[20:44] Why you should consider joining a peer group
[23:38] The main reasons why people join and stay in business peer groups
[25:10] A glimpse into what a typical peer group meeting looks like
[28:21] How to deal with an unmanageable peer group member
[31:34] The subtle art of managing efficient mastermind groups
[37:32] Steve’s process of onboarding new peer group members
[38:59] How to maximize your profit margins as an MSP
[41:47] Parting thoughts
[43:04] How the recurring revenue model has evolved over time
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary’s New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Monday Jun 13, 2022
Monday Jun 13, 2022
Dennis van der Heijden is the Founder, CEO, and Head of Global Happiness at Convert.com, where they make e-commerce A/B and multivariate testing easy for agencies and experts. We talk about the Holocracy management system, why your website needs frequent testing and monitoring, and how to analyze the traffic coming to your website.
Time Stamps
[00:50] Dennis’ entrepreneurial journey
[02:48] How Convert.com improves website performance
[03:59] The recommended number of times you should A/B test your website
[05:34] Basics of website performance testing and monitoring
[07:40] Why all small business owners should frequently A/B test their websites
[10:47] How to analyze the traffic coming through to your website
[12:16] Why you should focus more on traffic before thinking about A/B testing your site
[13:15] Best platforms for A/B testing before making changes to your site
[17:41] Dennis’ experience with management blueprints
[20:47] How to commoditize the human element of your business
[24:54] What it looks like for a company running on Holocracy
[25:33] Key aspects of the Holocracy constitution
[29:39] Understanding the Convert Main Circle of leadership
[32:06] Democracy within an organization
[35:02] The pros and cons of the Horocracy management system
[39:40] How entrepreneurs can get the most out of the Hollocracy constitution
[42:44] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources:
Dennis’ email: Dennis@Convert.com
The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris
Buyable: Your Guide to Building a Self-Managing, Fast-Growing, and High-Profit Business
Monday Jun 06, 2022
Monday Jun 06, 2022
Jack McGuinness is the co-founder of Relationship Impact, a consulting firm focused on helping great leaders build great leadership teams. He is also the author of a new book, Building Great Leadership Teams: A Practical Approach for Unleashing the Full Potential of Your Team. We talk about the benefits of having a great leadership team, how to build trust inside a team, and why leadership is not about having all the answers.
Time Stamps
[00:40] Jack’s entrepreneurial journey
[04:02] How the 2008 crash impacted Jack’s entrepreneurial journey
[06:23] Lessons learned from running a business during the 2008 financial crisis
[07:57] The importance of having a strong leadership team
[10:56] The tension between productivity and business health in leadership
[12:22] Is toxic productivity good for the work environment?
[14:41] The secret to building a great leadership team
[19:28] How to build trust inside your team
[24:24] How to intentionally compose an effective leadership team
[28:55] Understanding the role of the CEO in a leadership team
[33:15] Why leadership is not about having all the answers
[36:06] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve’s and Greg’s New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Building Great Leadership Teams by Jack McGuinness
Monday May 30, 2022
Monday May 30, 2022
Amit Kothari is the CEO of Tallyfy, a technology platform that helps business owners document and automate processes without being technical or process savvy. We talk about process improvement in small businesses, what it means to have a scalable business, and the drawbacks of using flowcharts when documenting business processes.
Time Stamps
[00:49] Amit’s entrepreneurial journey
[03:01] How Tallyfy is revolutionizing business processes
[05:06] The drawbacks of using flowcharts when mapping business process
[07:42] How Amit successfully challenged the status quo when building his business
[09:38] How to answer the trickiest entrepreneurship question
[11:15] The key differences between a process-focused and project-focused business
[13:03] What it means to have a scalable business
[15:07] How to productize a service
17:58] Understanding how process improvement is about creativity
[19:24] Critical steps for optimizing a business process
[20:50] How to significantly improve your business processes
[23:41] Why giving employees a voice improves engagement
[27:08] The difference between processes and workflows
[28:12] What is workflow automation and why is it so important?
[31:19] Automate repetitive tasks to save time and productivity
[35:07] How Amit and his team can improve a team’s productivity by 20%
[38:23] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve’s and Greg Cleary's New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
https://StevePreda.com
Monday May 23, 2022
Monday May 23, 2022
Shane Foss is the founder and CEO of Hooray Health, a limited benefit medical plan provider focused on providing practical health care plans and protecting their members against predatory balanced billing practices. We talk about the main stages of a business life cycle, how to avoid the predatory balance billing trap, and the main drivers of the medical debt crisis.
Time Stamps
[00:41] Shane’s entrepreneurial journey
[02:16] The Darkside of healthcare in the US
[04:49] Understanding the main stages of a business lifecycle
[08:12] How to measure the main phases of a business lifecycle
[11:55] The right time to scale your business
[12:34] Key elements of the business testing phase
[13:47] How Hooray Health stands out as a health insurance provider
[18:45] Why Hooray Health is not a replacement for major medical
[20:13] Gen X and Millennials love for supplemental health benefits
[21:54] How to avoid the predatory balance billing trap
[24:10] Explaining the meaning of balance billing in health insurance
[26:15] How heath care providers tackle the medical debt crisis
[29:32] Growth drivers in a health insurance firm like Hooray Health
[31:31] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve’s and Greg Cleary’s New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Monday May 16, 2022
Monday May 16, 2022
Greg Cleary is the Founder of Pinnacle Business Guides, a community of entrepreneurial guides with real-world, hands-on experience running businesses. We talk about why people are the most important assets in your business, why you need a business operating system for your company, and why you would want to customize it for your business. Also learn about Steve and Greg’s new book, Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain.
Time Stamps
[01:00] Greg’s entrepreneurial journey
[05:00] The key challenges of building a coaching community of guides
[05:55] How Greg developed the 5 principles in the Pinnacle business framework
[08:03] Why people are what matters most in business
[11:23] What makes the Pinnacle business operating system unique
[15:15] Why Greg believes Pinnacle is the 100% solution
[17:40] The essence of having tools for your business
[20:45] Greg’s obsession with helping companies grow
[21:58] Why every business needs a customized operating system
[25:09] Rocks as the secret to achieving business goals
[30:00] How to 5X your business in 5 years
[31:20] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg's New Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Pinnacle Business Guides website
The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey