Podcasts about businesses

Plus: JPMorgan Chase ended its banking relationship with Polymarket over regulatory concerns. And analysts say Lenovo seems confident in managing the headwinds for consumer electronics. Julie Chang hosts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A.M. Edition for Aug. 13. A Journal investigation finds that thousands of North Korean operatives have landed jobs at American companies and are funneling millions of dollars back to the regime. Plus, big businesses like Apple and FedEx start reeling in hundreds of millions in tariff refunds. And the WSJ's Stu Woo details how American chatbots are towing Beijing's party line. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does it really take to grow as an entrepreneur without spreading yourself too thin?In this episode of the Social Proof Podcast, David Shands and Donni Wiggins break down the dangers of trying to build multiple businesses before mastering one. They share what it actually looks like behind the scenes to manage multiple brands, build strong communities, develop new ideas, and still stay focused on the work that created success in the first place.David and Donni also discuss the evolution of their brands, building The Selection Process, lessons from Invest Fest, and why entrepreneurship should change you internally instead of only being about money and transactions.If you're constantly jumping from idea to idea, trying to build multiple income streams, or wondering when it's time to expand into something new, this conversation is for you.Subscribe to the Social Proof Podcast for more conversations about entrepreneurship, business, mindset, money, and building something that lasts.Join the Social Proof Circle:TheSocialProofCircle.comOur Sponsors:* Check out Storyblocks and use my code storyblocks.com/socialproof for a great deal: https://www.storyblocks.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Treasury Department is changing the rules on which businesses have to report their ownership to the government. The Biden-era requirements were intended to prevent money laundering, but critics say they were too onerous. Will the changes make it easier for dirty money to get into the U.S.? Then: Even though the Trump administration says we're in control of the Straight of Hormuz, barely any ships are getting through. But unlike at the start of the war, oil markets don't seem spooked. We explain. Stories featured in today's episode:Treasury changes rules for business reporting ownershipEvery story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

The Treasury Department is changing the rules on which businesses have to report their ownership to the government. The Biden-era requirements were intended to prevent money laundering, but critics say they were too onerous. Will the changes make it easier for dirty money to get into the U.S.? Then: Even though the Trump administration says we're in control of the Straight of Hormuz, barely any ships are getting through. But unlike at the start of the war, oil markets don't seem spooked. We explain. Stories featured in today's episode:Treasury changes rules for business reporting ownershipEvery story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Could the real reason enterprise AI projects remain stuck in pilot mode be hidden inside the company's unstructured data? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I welcome back Oded Nagel, CEO of CTERA. We discuss why enterprise AI success depends on the condition, location, permissions, and business value of the data sitting underneath models and agents. Oded defines AI-ready data as information that is searchable, classified, and permission-aware. Many enterprises have petabytes of files distributed across offices, edge locations, legacy network-attached storage, and cloud platforms. Before introducing AI, leaders need to know what information they possess, where it resides, who can access it, and whether it remains valuable. The cost implications are significant. Copying every available file into an AI ecosystem can create expensive ingestion and storage bills. It may also reduce answer quality when stale, duplicated, irrelevant, or personal files enter the model's source material. Oded describes a customer classification project where approximately 80% of the data examined was stale or archival. The company also discovered personal content, including MP3 files, stored alongside enterprise information. Feeding such material into an AI system would consume resources without improving business results. We discuss Oded's recommendation to bring AI to governed data rather than moving data outside existing controls. Keeping intelligence close to the file system can preserve access permissions, audit logs, snapshots, and recovery mechanisms. Those protections become increasingly important when autonomous agents can read, move, modify, or delete files. Oded argues that every agent should be identifiable and its activity monitored. Businesses need to know which agent accessed which information, what action it performed, and whether the result can be reversed. Without those controls, a misunderstood instruction or malicious input could cause serious damage. The conversation also covers CTERA InsightAI, an agentic intelligence layer built into the company's data platform. Oded says it analyzes security activity and file-system metadata, allowing users to ask questions about stale data, file types, access patterns, deleted files, and ransomware impact using natural language. Rather than working through traditional dashboards and filters, users can question the data and request conclusions or recommended actions. Oded says some customers are piloting InsightAI while others already use it in production. For leaders measuring enterprise AI ROI, Oded recommends concentrating on storage costs, time savings, and speed to production. AI tools should make complex information easier to understand and reduce the time required to act. A ten-page report generated instantly provides limited value if nobody knows what decision to make from it. Does your company have enough visibility and control over its unstructured data to support production AI, or would classification uncover years of stale information and unnecessary expense? Listen to the conversation and share your thoughts with me.

AI isn't going to replace painting contractors — but contractors who know how to use AI might.In this special episode of the Contractor Secrets Podcast, Tanner Mullen is joined by Mike Hickman, founder and CEO of Painter Growth, for a deep dive into what an AI-native painting business actually looks like.Mike breaks down practical ways contractors can start using AI across their sales, marketing, estimating, websites, strategic partnerships, and day-to-day operations — including live examples of what's already possible.In this episode, you'll learn:• The 5 levels of AI adoption• How AI can transform your sales process• How to build a website using AI• How to create personalized proposals in minutes• Using AI to visualize projects before the work begins• Automating strategic partner outreach• How AI can help you operate with fewer people and higher margins• Why contractors who wait too long may struggle to catch upThe goal isn't to remove the human element from your business. It's to use AI to handle more of the repetitive work so you can spend more time selling, building relationships, leading your team, and growing the company.If you own a painting or home service business, this is an episode you don't want to miss.Start your Free 14 Day Trial for Routemize - https://routemize.com/Coaching Session Signup: https://calendly.com/dripjobs/breakthroughPurchase the 31 Days of Value and build an EMPIRE: https://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Value-home-service-businesses/dp/B0FQSH32X7Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0D0SNSBofqJJE6zApEE1DripJobs Demo: https://calendly.com/dripjobsteam/dripjobsdemoGusto: https://gusto.com/i/tanner269OpenPhone: https://openph.one/referral/8Kc17aqFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173750747824373/?ref=shareFollow me on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/officialtannermullen#PaintingContractor #ContractorBusiness #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #PaintingBusiness #HomeServices #BusinessGrowth #ContractorSecrets

Behind every tagline, there's a story and a process.  In this episode of Circana Unpacked, Circana's Chief Marketing Officer Misty Muscatel Davis unpacks the strategy behind the organization's own rebrand nearly four years ago and shares advice for marketers as they establish and enhance their identities in an increasingly complex market.

What will separate the most successful farm businesses from the rest over the next decade?Dr. David Kohl and Lynn Paulson of Bell Bank join Peggy Coffeen to discuss the economic and global trends producers should be watching—from consumer demand for protein and AI-driven agriculture to global competition, regenerative agriculture, the coming land transition, and relationship-based lending.They also break down what separates the top 20% of farm businesses: knowing the numbers, having a plan, managing risk, building strong relationships, and consistently doing the small things right.00:00 – Economic & Global Trends01:05 – Protein & Precision Agriculture02:15 – Following the Consumer03:01 – Global Competition04:37 – The Changing Global Landscape07:18 – Regenerative Agriculture08:58 – Agriculture's Story to Consumers10:59 – The 2032 Land Opportunity12:42 – Land Ownership vs. Control14:04 – Advice for Young Producers17:09 – Planning & Financial Management20:23 – Family Business Accountability22:01 – Relationship Lending26:33 – What Makes a Good Lender?29:01 – What the Top 20% Do Differently30:32 – Excellence at the Margin

Source: Epoch Times

Who is Allen?Allen Kopelman is the seasoned founder of a forward-thinking payments company, with an impressive professional career spanning over 25 years in the payments industry. Previously involved in the hospitality sector as a restaurant owner and chef, Allen transitioned to the payments industry with a resolve to help business owners optimize their transaction processes. His deep understanding of both sides of the payment equation empowers him to create client-centric solutions that enhance business growth and efficiency. Allen is a problem solver at heart and a respected voice in the industry, also contributing as a writer for the Green Sheet magazine.Episode Summary:Welcome to It's Not Rocket Science: Five Questions Over Coffee, where Stuart Webb engages with Allen Kopelman, the innovative founder of a successful payments company. In this enlightening episode, Allen delves into the intricacies of payment solutions, outlining how tailored payment software can significantly reduce costs for business owners. Through sharing his rich experience, Allen illustrates the transformation from traditional payment setups to today's software-centric approaches. The conversation touches upon key elements that businesses need to consider when scaling their payment operations, with insights into common challenges faced by startups and how his company provides resolute solutions.The discussion highlights practical advice on leveraging payment technologies to maintain cash flow, avoiding the pitfall of becoming a financial buffer for clients. Allen underscores the importance of invoice automation and understanding interchange in order to enhance business operations. His valuable insights and real-world anecdotes underscore the critical role of payment strategies in ensuring business viability. Business owners and payment professionals alike will find this conversation both informative and inspirational, offering actionable strategies for optimizing payment processes and fortifying cash flow.Key Takeaways:* Understanding your payment system is crucial to effective business operations, especially when considering scalability and customer service.* Automated billing systems can significantly improve cash flow and free up resources for core business functions.* Business owners should avoid negotiating long-term payment terms, thereby mitigating cash flow issues by effectively utilizing credit options for customers.* The importance of understanding interchange rates in optimizing payment transactions, particularly as businesses expand.* Transitioning from traditional business approaches to embracing software solutions can improve operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.Notable Quotes:* “Payments is all about software...using the proper technology based on whatever business it is that you have.”* “Your customer already has a bank. You shouldn't really be doing that as a business owner.”* “Cash flow is king...you shouldn't really be doing that as a business owner.”* “You have to make decisions, you can't just wallow around.”* “Don't be the bank. Your customer already has a bank.”Resources:* Allen Kopelman: LinkedIn Profile [Not explicitly mentioned but relevant]* The Green Sheet: Industry magazine where Allen contributes.* Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, a recommended book.* The Five Second Rule by Mel Robbins, another highly recommended book.* Visit It's Not Rocket Science: Five Questions Over Coffee for free resources and more insights from the episode.Dive into the full episode to grasp the depth of Allen's expertise and stay tuned for more discussions that demystify complex topics with simplicity and p

UAE restaurants, cafes and shops playing copyrighted music will pay new annual licensing fees from December 1, 2026, starting at Dh1,500 for smaller venues and Dh1,700 for shops. The new tariff is part of a government framework to regulate music rights and royalties across the UAE. Listen to #Pulse95Radio in the UAE by tuning in on your radio (95.00 FM) or online on our website: www.pulse95radio.com ************************ Follow us on Social. www.facebook.com/pulse95radio www.twitter.com/pulse95radio www.instagram.com/pulse95radio

Source: Epoch Times

140+ real business ideas database: https://clickhubspot.com/pkce Episode 850: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk about massive businesses hidden in plain sight.  — Show Notes: (0:00) The wild economics of lab testing on monkeys (11:01) Salad oil crisis (15:35) the art of noticing  (24:38) enthusiasm (27:39) know thy 8-year old self (32:32) be shameless (37:08) Sam goes to SF for 7 days — Links: • Qoves - https://www.qoves.com/  • Charles River - https://www.criver.com/  • How To Do Great Work - https://www.paulgraham.com/greatwork.html — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com  • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/  Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

Businesses making wild ass claims about their products is nothing new... but Joe couldn't control his urge to ask a local gas station about one of their record setting claims. Let's talk about that, an AI robot that could be so dangerous it comes with instructions on how to kill it if it ever goes rogue, having sex with famous statues, and more on today's episode of Can You Don't?!*** Wanna become part of The Gaggle and access all the extra content on the end of each episode PLUS tons more?! Our Patreon page is LIVE! This is the biggest way you can support the show. It would mean the world to us: http://www.patreon.com/canyoudontpodcast ***New Episodes every Wednesday at 12pm PSTWatch this episode YouTube: https://youtu.be/SwbfmLfzL2YSend in segment content: heyguys@canyoudontpodcast.comMerch: http://canyoudontpodcast.comMerch Inquires: store@canyoudontpodcast.comFB: http://facebook.com/canyoudontpodcastIG: http://instagram.com/canyoudontpodcastYouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3wyt5rtOfficial Website: http://canyoudontpodcast.comCustom Music Beds by Zach CohenFan Mail:Can You Don't?PO Box 1062Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816Hugs and tugs.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Patrick Manning, CEO of ROK Financial, a technology-driven commercial finance firm helping small and mid-sized businesses access fast, flexible funding solutions.Through tailored financing options, advisory support, and a robust affiliate platform, Patrick and his team help business owners secure the capital they need while giving brokers, affiliates, and referral partners the tools to grow their own financing businesses.Now, Patrick's journey of building ROK into an ecosystem that supports clients, partners, and a growing team demonstrates what can happen when speed, transparency, and opportunity come together.And while navigating shifting markets, constant decisions, and the pressure of scaling, he continues to focus on building something sustainable that creates real impact for the people around him.Here's where to find more:www.rok.biz https://x.com/ROKFinancialLLC https://www.facebook.com/ROKFinancialLLC/ https://www.instagram.com/rok_financial/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/rokfinancial________________________________________________Welcome to The Unforget Yourself Show where we use the power of woo and the proof of science to help you identify your blind spots, and get over your own bullshit so that you can do the fucking thing you ACTUALLY want to do!We're Mark and Katie, the founders of Unforget Yourself and the creators of the Unforget Yourself System and on this podcast, we're here to share REAL conversations about what goes on inside the heart and minds of those brave and crazy enough to start their own business. From the accidental entrepreneur to the laser-focused CEO, we find out how they got to where they are today, not by hearing the go-to story of their success, but talking about how we all have our own BS to deal with and it's through facing ourselves that we find a way to do the fucking thing.Along the way, we hope to show you that YOU are the most important asset in your business (and your life - duh!). Being a business owner is tough! With vulnerability and humor, we get to the real story behind their success and show you that you're not alone._____________________Find all our links to all the things like the socials, how to work with us and how to apply to be on the podcast here:https://linktr.ee/unforgetyourself

Businesses have dealt with customers not paying their invoices over the years, and this is putting additional stress on business owners like you.  As a business owner, you know that you need to receive payment on your customer's invoices to continue to have the cash flow you need for your business to survive.  Do you have any customer invoices that you are still waiting to collect payment on, or are you one of those business owners who have been lucky enough so far in your business that you have been able to receive payments on all your invoices?  If you have invoices that have been unpaid or are overdue, collecting on these accounts receivable amounts are very important for you.  Make sure you track and ensure you are still collecting on money that is due to your business.  In today's episode, I am going to talk about how you can manage your customer invoices as well as the best practices to ensure you are receiving payments on time.  You may not even believe what the top reasons are that most customers have to say about not paying invoices and the simple steps you can take to get those payments on time.  Whether you are getting ready to start your small business, you're a solopreneur, entrepreneur, small business owner, virtual online bookkeeper or virtual assistant you are going to want to listen in to today's episode so that you stay on top of your accounts receivable game.  I even have tips for you about how you can eliminate the stress of tracking and receiving payments from your customers in the first place… Join us in a community built specifically for accountants and high-stress professionals.  You'll receive support, accountability, and a community that understands what you're going through. We focus on stress reduction, increasing productivity, time management, goal achievement, health, happiness, and desired lifestyle:  https://www.financialadventure.com/community Schedule your Complimentary Stress Audit And Clarity Session, where we'll work together to create a clear and focused plan and overcome the obstacles that stand in your way so that you can move forward and immediately start enjoying your life with less stress, increased productivity, and more time to spend doing what you love with the people you care about: https://www.financialadventure.com/work-with-me Accountants, CPAs, Bookkeepers, Tax Preparers & Financial Professionals, sign up here to get updates on upcoming opportunities & grab the Audit Of Your Well-Being & Balance Guide here: https://www.financialadventure.com/accountant Ready to set up your business?  I have a program to help you get your business set up so that you can start making money.  Sign up for this program here: https://www.financialadventure.com/start Are you ready to try coaching?  Schedule an Introductory Coaching Session today.  You'll have the opportunity to see how you like coaching with an Introductory Coaching Session: https://www.financialadventure.com/intro Join us in the Mastering Your Small Business Finances PROFIT LAB if you are ready to take control of your business finances and create the profitable business you are striving for.  Are you ready to generate revenues and increase the profit in your business: https://www.financialadventure.com/profit If You Are Ready To Choose, Start Or Grow Your Side Hustle, Get Your Free Checklist And Assessment Here: https://www.financialadventure.com/sidehustle Grab Your FREE guide:  5 Essential Strategies For Stress-Free Bookkeeping: https://www.financialadventure.com/5essentials Your FREE Online Virtual Bookkeeping Business Starter Guide & Success Path Is Waiting For You: https://www.financialadventure.com/starterguide Join Our Facebook Community:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenbusinessownersultimatediybookkeepingboutique The Strategic Bookkeeping Academy, including Bookkeeping Basics, is open for registration!  You can learn more and sign up here: https://www.financialadventure.com/sba Looking for a payroll solution for your business?  You can get an exclusive 15% discount on your payroll services when you sign up here: https://www.financialadventure.com/adp QuickBooks Online - Save 30% Your First 6 Months: https://www.financialadventure.com/quickbooks Sign up for a virtual coffee chat to see if starting a Bookkeeping Business is right for you: https://www.financialadventure.com/discovery Show Notes:  https://www.financialadventure.com This podcast is sponsored by Financial Adventure, LLC ~ visit https://www.financialadventure.com for additional information and free resources.

Most small business owners juggle a dozen separate tech bills and hours of DNS and email headaches every week. Lib from Jim's IT hands them one bill and takes the whole problem off their plate.Lib runs Jim's IT Abbotsbury and spent 10 years in IT across government, corporate and MSP roles before starting her own business. Six months into Jim's, he has a perfect run of five-star ratings. In this episode she explains what a managed service provider does for small and medium businesses.You will hear how he folded one client's 12 tech bills into a single monthly invoice, what she runs for a 54-staff manufacturing business from the internet line to every laptop and phone, and why full-time IT support no longer needs a full-time salary. He covers cyber security, NAS storage, corporate Wi-Fi, and the risks of hooking AI tools up to your email before you understand them.If you run a business and manage your own tech, this one will save you hours.

Everyone is racing to adopt AI, automate processes, and keep up with the latest technology breakthroughs. But is moving faster always the right strategy? In this episode of The Peggy Smedley Show, Peggy explores why businesses need their own version of "recess" to step back, think clearly, and innovate with purpose. She discusses the difference between activity and innovation, why leaders must make time for reflection, and how AI should enhance critical thinking rather than replace it. Key topics include: Why speed without direction isn't a strategy The risk of solving the wrong problems with AI How reflection drives better innovation Creating intentional "business recess" time The role of leadership in the age of AI Why wisdom may be more valuable than speed What if your greatest competitive advantage isn't moving faster, but thinking better before you act? #ArtificialIntelligence #Leadership #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #BusinessStrategy #AI #FutureOfWork #PeggySmedleyShow https://peggysmedleyshow.com/

Can AI make founders more efficient without making business less human?Recorded around a real fireside, this special episode of Building The Brand brings together Ideas Fest founders Frankie James and Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE with $100M exited founder Andrew Hulbert for an honest conversation about entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, business growth and founder loneliness in 2026.Connect with Ideas Fest:https://ideasfest.uk/Want more from Building The Brand? Connect here:https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletterWith customers spending more carefully, operating costs remaining high and AI changing how companies work, Frankie, Dyan, Andrew and James discuss why building a successful business has become more challenging - but also why the right founders now have access to more powerful tools than ever before.They chat about why most businesses are barely scratching the surface of AI, how founders can use automation to remove repetitive administration and why simply using ChatGPT to create social media content is unlikely to provide a lasting competitive advantage.Plus Andrew shares the practical lessons behind building his business from a bedroom start-up into a business generating more than £50 million in annual revenue.KEY MOMENTS:0:00 — Welcome to Founders By The Fireside01:29 — The state of UK entrepreneurship in 202601:52 — How the cost-of-living crisis is affecting business03:52 — Using AI to automate business administration05:46 — Why most businesses are barely using AI properly06:11 — The businesses that will win in the AI era07:04 — The danger of building a business entirely on AI08:27 — Why AI is increasing demand for human connection10:04 — Why community-led business events are growing11:34 — Founder loneliness and the reality of entrepreneurship13:24 — Using networking events to build a personal brand16:40 — Growing Ideas Fest from 1,200 attendees20:39 — How the first Ideas Fest was launched22:13 — Why cancelling can sometimes be the right business decision24:56 — Why sustainable business scaling takes experience26:47 — The hidden costs of running a major business event31:07 — How entrepreneur awards can build credibility32:13 — Why founders need to escape their industry bubble33:18 — The power of networking across different industries35:53 — Why SMEs are critical to the UK economy38:38 — How to scale a business from £1m to £10m40:06 — Finding the founder skill you should go all in on40:54 — When founders need to start hiring and delegating41:16 — How £1m investment helped Pareto scale beyond £20m41:42 — Delegating without losing company culture43:54 — Using AI for finance, customer service and operations44:38 — What 25 years of fast-growth business data reveals45:20 — The three foundations of sustainable business growth45:53 — Why hiring and developing great people comes first46:08 — Managing cash and finance during business growth46:25 — Why customer retention beats customer acquisition48:11 — Growing your business alongside fast-growth customers48:48 — Working with ASOS, Deliveroo and Paddy Power Betfair52:16 — Why entrepreneurs should attend Ideas Fest53:30 — How founder communities combat business loneliness57:11 — Why accessibility makes Ideas Fest different59:48 — Why great businesses often start by solving your own problem

Orleans-Essex County Senator Russ Ingalls will recap the VT Primary elections taking place Tuesday 8/11, who voters should blame for the cost-of-living crisis, the policies driving VT to be unaffordable, the Vermont Promise, and why this year is the most important for Vermonters to make their voice heard in the elections.Dave Soulia from FYIVT.com rejoins the show to discuss his recent series on “What VT Hospitals cost.”  We will break down the issues, costs, how the system is impacting Vermonters, and solutions.and Drew Cline, President of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, reveals the recent study showing NH business tax relief has resulted in more revenue for state coffers, how the decade-long strategy has made the Granite State a national destination for business growth, and what Vermont could learn from the strategy.

AI is transforming aviation—but in a high-stakes industry, using artificial intelligence without the right data, safeguards, and grounding can create serious risks. In Aviation Insurance Podcast Episode 128, host Tim Bonnell Jr. shares Part 1 of a TriVector Labs webinar exploring how AI is being integrated into aviation workflows and why aviation professionals need to understand the difference between general-purpose AI and technology grounded in verified aviation data. Together with Danny Maco and Art Jimenez of TriVector Labs, Tim discusses why aviation requires a different approach to AI. From regulatory requirements and flight planning to data security and risk management, the information behind an AI-generated answer matters. The team also puts this into practice by comparing a standard ChatGPT-generated IFR flight plan with Avia Pilot, an aviation-specific AI solution grounded in sources such as FAA and NOAA data. The comparison demonstrates how seemingly convincing AI answers can contain incorrect altitudes, nonexistent navigation points, and other inaccuracies when the underlying system isn't properly grounded. For pilots, aviation businesses, insurance professionals, and anyone exploring AI in aviation, this episode provides an important framework for adopting AI without losing sight of safety, accuracy, security, and human expertise.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dave Charest. Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, shared practical advice for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and startup founders on marketing, customer engagement, business growth, and the future of AI in marketing. Drawing from his experience helping small businesses worldwide, Charest explained why entrepreneurship is booming, how businesses can effectively market themselves with limited budgets, and why building direct customer relationships through email marketing remains one of the most valuable assets a company can own. Purpose of the Interview The interview was designed to: Explain why more people are starting businesses and pursuing entrepreneurship. Educate business owners on effective marketing strategies. Highlight the advantages of email marketing over relying solely on social media. Discuss common mistakes made by new entrepreneurs. Help small businesses understand how to build customer relationships. Explore how AI is transforming marketing and business operations. Provide actionable guidance for growing a brand through consistency and community engagement. Key Takeaways 1. Entrepreneurship Continues to Grow According to Charest, people are increasingly motivated to start businesses because they want: Greater independence Better control over their schedules Increased financial potential Many entrepreneurs are turning side hustles into full-time businesses and pursuing ownership rather than traditional employment. 2. Email Marketing Is More Valuable Than Most Entrepreneurs Realize One of the strongest themes of the interview is the importance of owning your audience. While social media platforms can help businesses attract attention, email marketing provides direct access to customers without relying on platform algorithms. Charest encourages entrepreneurs to use social media as a discovery tool but move customers into channels they control, such as email and text messaging. 3. The Real Asset Is the Relationship Businesses that own customer contact information have a direct connection that cannot be disrupted by changes in social media platforms. Unlike followers on a social network, email subscribers have chosen to hear from a business directly. The stronger the relationship, the greater the opportunity for future sales and engagement. 4. Small Lists Can Produce Big Results Charest challenges the belief that businesses need massive audiences to succeed. A small, engaged audience often produces better results than a large, passive following. For many local businesses, quality relationships matter more than audience size. 5. Consistency Beats Perfection When marketing a business, consistency is more important than trying every available platform. Business owners should: Choose channels they can maintain consistently. Show up regularly. Stay visible to customers. Build trust through repetition and reliability. His message is simple: people can't buy from businesses they forget about. 6. New Entrepreneurs Often Try to Do Too Much One of the most common mistakes startups make is attempting to launch every marketing tactic simultaneously. Charest recommends: Starting small. Building a solid foundation. Creating manageable marketing habits. Avoiding unrealistic expectations. Businesses grow more effectively when they focus on a few activities and execute them well. 7. Community Matters Successful local businesses build relationships beyond customers. Charest emphasized the importance of connecting with: Other local businesses Community organizations Referral partners Customers in person Strong community connections often become a business's most reliable growth engine. 8. Choose Marketing Channels That Fit Your Strengths Different social platforms serve different purposes. Rather than chasing every trend, entrepreneurs should focus on: Where their audience spends time What content they naturally enjoy creating Which platforms they can use consistently A sustainable strategy beats an ambitious one that is quickly abandoned. 9. Marketing Is About Staying Top of Mind Charest defines marketing in a straightforward way: Businesses need to remain visible so customers think of them first when they need a product or service. The more consistently a company appears in front of its audience, the stronger its brand becomes. 10. AI Is Becoming a Powerful Marketing Tool Charest views AI as a major opportunity for small businesses. He discussed how AI can help: Generate marketing content Create email campaigns Build marketing plans Repurpose content across multiple channels Analyze customer behavior Identify new opportunities Rather than replacing entrepreneurs, AI allows them to save time and make smarter decisions. 11. Business Owners Must Continue Learning Technology and marketing are evolving rapidly. Charest advises entrepreneurs to stay informed and remain open to new tools and trends, even if they do not adopt every new technology immediately. The key is to remain adaptable and avoid being left behind. Memorable Quotes "People are determined to become their own bosses." "Our mission is to help the small stand tall." "The money is in the list." "Your goal should always be trying to move those people to channels that you own." "The relationships you build with customers are always going to be your most valuable asset." "You don't really need the big numbers." "Start small." "Consistency is the big thing that makes marketing work." "Marketing at its simplest level is about keeping your business top of mind." "Small business owners are resilient." "There isn't a Plan B. Plan A is to own this business." "AI can save time so you can get back to the things you'd rather be doing." Bottom Line Dave Charest's interview is a practical playbook for entrepreneurs looking to grow a business in a crowded digital marketplace. His core message is that successful marketing is not about chasing every trend or building massive social media followings. Instead, businesses win by building genuine relationships, creating direct connections with customers through email and text marketing, staying consistent, embracing new technology like AI, and becoming a trusted part of their community. For entrepreneurs seeking sustainable growth, Charest advocates focusing on ownership, relationships, and long-term customer engagement. Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast #SHMS #BEST #STRAWSupport the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dave Charest. Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, shared practical advice for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and startup founders on marketing, customer engagement, business growth, and the future of AI in marketing. Drawing from his experience helping small businesses worldwide, Charest explained why entrepreneurship is booming, how businesses can effectively market themselves with limited budgets, and why building direct customer relationships through email marketing remains one of the most valuable assets a company can own. Purpose of the Interview The interview was designed to: Explain why more people are starting businesses and pursuing entrepreneurship. Educate business owners on effective marketing strategies. Highlight the advantages of email marketing over relying solely on social media. Discuss common mistakes made by new entrepreneurs. Help small businesses understand how to build customer relationships. Explore how AI is transforming marketing and business operations. Provide actionable guidance for growing a brand through consistency and community engagement. Key Takeaways 1. Entrepreneurship Continues to Grow According to Charest, people are increasingly motivated to start businesses because they want: Greater independence Better control over their schedules Increased financial potential Many entrepreneurs are turning side hustles into full-time businesses and pursuing ownership rather than traditional employment. 2. Email Marketing Is More Valuable Than Most Entrepreneurs Realize One of the strongest themes of the interview is the importance of owning your audience. While social media platforms can help businesses attract attention, email marketing provides direct access to customers without relying on platform algorithms. Charest encourages entrepreneurs to use social media as a discovery tool but move customers into channels they control, such as email and text messaging. 3. The Real Asset Is the Relationship Businesses that own customer contact information have a direct connection that cannot be disrupted by changes in social media platforms. Unlike followers on a social network, email subscribers have chosen to hear from a business directly. The stronger the relationship, the greater the opportunity for future sales and engagement. 4. Small Lists Can Produce Big Results Charest challenges the belief that businesses need massive audiences to succeed. A small, engaged audience often produces better results than a large, passive following. For many local businesses, quality relationships matter more than audience size. 5. Consistency Beats Perfection When marketing a business, consistency is more important than trying every available platform. Business owners should: Choose channels they can maintain consistently. Show up regularly. Stay visible to customers. Build trust through repetition and reliability. His message is simple: people can't buy from businesses they forget about. 6. New Entrepreneurs Often Try to Do Too Much One of the most common mistakes startups make is attempting to launch every marketing tactic simultaneously. Charest recommends: Starting small. Building a solid foundation. Creating manageable marketing habits. Avoiding unrealistic expectations. Businesses grow more effectively when they focus on a few activities and execute them well. 7. Community Matters Successful local businesses build relationships beyond customers. Charest emphasized the importance of connecting with: Other local businesses Community organizations Referral partners Customers in person Strong community connections often become a business's most reliable growth engine. 8. Choose Marketing Channels That Fit Your Strengths Different social platforms serve different purposes. Rather than chasing every trend, entrepreneurs should focus on: Where their audience spends time What content they naturally enjoy creating Which platforms they can use consistently A sustainable strategy beats an ambitious one that is quickly abandoned. 9. Marketing Is About Staying Top of Mind Charest defines marketing in a straightforward way: Businesses need to remain visible so customers think of them first when they need a product or service. The more consistently a company appears in front of its audience, the stronger its brand becomes. 10. AI Is Becoming a Powerful Marketing Tool Charest views AI as a major opportunity for small businesses. He discussed how AI can help: Generate marketing content Create email campaigns Build marketing plans Repurpose content across multiple channels Analyze customer behavior Identify new opportunities Rather than replacing entrepreneurs, AI allows them to save time and make smarter decisions. 11. Business Owners Must Continue Learning Technology and marketing are evolving rapidly. Charest advises entrepreneurs to stay informed and remain open to new tools and trends, even if they do not adopt every new technology immediately. The key is to remain adaptable and avoid being left behind. Memorable Quotes "People are determined to become their own bosses." "Our mission is to help the small stand tall." "The money is in the list." "Your goal should always be trying to move those people to channels that you own." "The relationships you build with customers are always going to be your most valuable asset." "You don't really need the big numbers." "Start small." "Consistency is the big thing that makes marketing work." "Marketing at its simplest level is about keeping your business top of mind." "Small business owners are resilient." "There isn't a Plan B. Plan A is to own this business." "AI can save time so you can get back to the things you'd rather be doing." Bottom Line Dave Charest's interview is a practical playbook for entrepreneurs looking to grow a business in a crowded digital marketplace. His core message is that successful marketing is not about chasing every trend or building massive social media followings. Instead, businesses win by building genuine relationships, creating direct connections with customers through email and text marketing, staying consistent, embracing new technology like AI, and becoming a trusted part of their community. For entrepreneurs seeking sustainable growth, Charest advocates focusing on ownership, relationships, and long-term customer engagement. Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast #SHMS #BEST #STRAWSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Pierce and Sean Graham dive into other asset-heavy businesses, medical practices, dental offices, or operating brands with real estate holdings and how ownership structure and the IRS's grouping elections affect your depreciation and loss-offset strategies. Sean provides practical guidance on navigating the complexities of Section 179, Bonus Depreciation, and the critical need for collaboration with a knowledgeable CPA to avoid costly mistakes like double-dipping or misclassification. We break down the key topics: the nuances of asset-class classifications, the importance of detailed engineering studies, and how to leverage property features such as roll-up doors and partition walls for maximum benefit. You'll also understand the broader market drivers, such as housing movement and interest rates, that influence self-storage demand and why timing your investments with these factors can enhance your tax strategy. Sean Graham, CPA Maven Cost Segregation Tax Advisors Based in: Detroit Metropolitan Area Where to find them: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-graham-cpa/ mavencostseg.com Chris Pierce Account Executive of Maven Cost Segregation Tax Advisors Based in: Salida, Colorado Where to find them: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierce-christopher/ Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit https://malabarhillcapital.com/ for more info. Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have the latest reading on how small businesses are feeling in this economy, courtesy of the National Federation of Independent Business's Small Business Optimism Index. Small businesses are more upbeat and are looking to hire. We discuss that and other economic data drops. Then, as part of Marketplace's "What's That Like?" series, we hear what it takes to become a game designer behind Hasbro's "Magic: The Gathering."Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

We have the latest reading on how small businesses are feeling in this economy, courtesy of the National Federation of Independent Business's Small Business Optimism Index. Small businesses are more upbeat and are looking to hire. We discuss that and other economic data drops. Then, as part of Marketplace's "What's That Like?" series, we hear what it takes to become a game designer behind Hasbro's "Magic: The Gathering."Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

What happens when an AI agent is compromised, manipulated, or simply does something nobody expected, but already has permission to access your most sensitive systems? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I speak with Geoffrey Mattson, CEO of SecureAuth, about why securing enterprise AI requires businesses to think beyond protecting models and start paying much closer attention to identity, authorization, access control, and what AI agents are actually allowed to do. Geoffrey argues that AI agents present a different security challenge from traditional software. Conventional applications can be tested against relatively predictable behavior. AI models are far less deterministic, particularly when prompt injection, excessive permissions, unexpected behavior, and autonomous actions enter the equation. His advice is to assume an agent could behave unpredictably and control what happens when it attempts to access a database, execute a financial transaction, call an API, or interact with another business system. We discuss what this means as companies race to introduce agentic AI. Geoffrey shares examples of employees granting AI tools permissions without fully understanding what they have approved, along with agents gathering information that creates unexpected privacy and compliance problems. This creates a difficult challenge for CIOs and CISOs. Boards want AI adoption because of its potential competitive value, while employees increasingly depend on AI tools to do their jobs. Simply blocking agents is unlikely to work. Security teams instead need mechanisms that allow innovation while controlling what those agents can access. Geoffrey explains why Zero Trust becomes particularly relevant here. Rather than authenticating a user or agent once and assuming it remains trustworthy, enterprises need to continually evaluate whether an action should be permitted at that specific moment. This leads to the concept of continuous authorization. Geoffrey explains how identity security is moving from asking "Who are you?" toward understanding intent, behavior, context, and authority for individual actions. This becomes increasingly important when one AI agent can create sub-agents, which can then create additional agents and pass permissions down the chain. We also discuss why agentic AI is exposing years of accumulated security debt. Many of the underlying problems are familiar: excessive privileges, inconsistent access controls, incomplete Zero Trust implementations, and systems that trust identities for too long. AI agents amplify those weaknesses because they can operate at machine speed. Geoffrey describes this as combining the unpredictability of humans with the power of machines. For CIOs, CISOs, security architects, identity teams, and business leaders deploying agentic AI, this conversation offers practical questions to ask before connecting agents to enterprise resources. What can the agent access? What authority does it have? Can that authority be reduced as tasks are delegated? Is every important action evaluated independently? And can access be revoked immediately when behavior changes? The goal is not to prevent organizations from using AI agents. It is to create a security layer that gives developers and employees room to experiment while ensuring agents only have the authority they need at the moment they need it. As autonomous AI becomes part of the enterprise workforce, identity alone may no longer be enough. Businesses increasingly need to understand intent, control authority, and continuously decide whether the next action should be allowed.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dave Charest. Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, shared practical advice for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and startup founders on marketing, customer engagement, business growth, and the future of AI in marketing. Drawing from his experience helping small businesses worldwide, Charest explained why entrepreneurship is booming, how businesses can effectively market themselves with limited budgets, and why building direct customer relationships through email marketing remains one of the most valuable assets a company can own. Purpose of the Interview The interview was designed to: Explain why more people are starting businesses and pursuing entrepreneurship. Educate business owners on effective marketing strategies. Highlight the advantages of email marketing over relying solely on social media. Discuss common mistakes made by new entrepreneurs. Help small businesses understand how to build customer relationships. Explore how AI is transforming marketing and business operations. Provide actionable guidance for growing a brand through consistency and community engagement. Key Takeaways 1. Entrepreneurship Continues to Grow According to Charest, people are increasingly motivated to start businesses because they want: Greater independence Better control over their schedules Increased financial potential Many entrepreneurs are turning side hustles into full-time businesses and pursuing ownership rather than traditional employment. 2. Email Marketing Is More Valuable Than Most Entrepreneurs Realize One of the strongest themes of the interview is the importance of owning your audience. While social media platforms can help businesses attract attention, email marketing provides direct access to customers without relying on platform algorithms. Charest encourages entrepreneurs to use social media as a discovery tool but move customers into channels they control, such as email and text messaging. 3. The Real Asset Is the Relationship Businesses that own customer contact information have a direct connection that cannot be disrupted by changes in social media platforms. Unlike followers on a social network, email subscribers have chosen to hear from a business directly. The stronger the relationship, the greater the opportunity for future sales and engagement. 4. Small Lists Can Produce Big Results Charest challenges the belief that businesses need massive audiences to succeed. A small, engaged audience often produces better results than a large, passive following. For many local businesses, quality relationships matter more than audience size. 5. Consistency Beats Perfection When marketing a business, consistency is more important than trying every available platform. Business owners should: Choose channels they can maintain consistently. Show up regularly. Stay visible to customers. Build trust through repetition and reliability. His message is simple: people can't buy from businesses they forget about. 6. New Entrepreneurs Often Try to Do Too Much One of the most common mistakes startups make is attempting to launch every marketing tactic simultaneously. Charest recommends: Starting small. Building a solid foundation. Creating manageable marketing habits. Avoiding unrealistic expectations. Businesses grow more effectively when they focus on a few activities and execute them well. 7. Community Matters Successful local businesses build relationships beyond customers. Charest emphasized the importance of connecting with: Other local businesses Community organizations Referral partners Customers in person Strong community connections often become a business's most reliable growth engine. 8. Choose Marketing Channels That Fit Your Strengths Different social platforms serve different purposes. Rather than chasing every trend, entrepreneurs should focus on: Where their audience spends time What content they naturally enjoy creating Which platforms they can use consistently A sustainable strategy beats an ambitious one that is quickly abandoned. 9. Marketing Is About Staying Top of Mind Charest defines marketing in a straightforward way: Businesses need to remain visible so customers think of them first when they need a product or service. The more consistently a company appears in front of its audience, the stronger its brand becomes. 10. AI Is Becoming a Powerful Marketing Tool Charest views AI as a major opportunity for small businesses. He discussed how AI can help: Generate marketing content Create email campaigns Build marketing plans Repurpose content across multiple channels Analyze customer behavior Identify new opportunities Rather than replacing entrepreneurs, AI allows them to save time and make smarter decisions. 11. Business Owners Must Continue Learning Technology and marketing are evolving rapidly. Charest advises entrepreneurs to stay informed and remain open to new tools and trends, even if they do not adopt every new technology immediately. The key is to remain adaptable and avoid being left behind. Memorable Quotes "People are determined to become their own bosses." "Our mission is to help the small stand tall." "The money is in the list." "Your goal should always be trying to move those people to channels that you own." "The relationships you build with customers are always going to be your most valuable asset." "You don't really need the big numbers." "Start small." "Consistency is the big thing that makes marketing work." "Marketing at its simplest level is about keeping your business top of mind." "Small business owners are resilient." "There isn't a Plan B. Plan A is to own this business." "AI can save time so you can get back to the things you'd rather be doing." Bottom Line Dave Charest's interview is a practical playbook for entrepreneurs looking to grow a business in a crowded digital marketplace. His core message is that successful marketing is not about chasing every trend or building massive social media followings. Instead, businesses win by building genuine relationships, creating direct connections with customers through email and text marketing, staying consistent, embracing new technology like AI, and becoming a trusted part of their community. For entrepreneurs seeking sustainable growth, Charest advocates focusing on ownership, relationships, and long-term customer engagement. Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast #SHMS #BEST #STRAWSteve Harvey Morning Show Online: http://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SHOW NOTES: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.haileyrowe.com/shannon-simmonsJoin my free Facebook community for business support & to connect with other health coaches: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/themarketinghubgroup/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/haileyrowecoach⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/hailey_rowe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/hailey_rowe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

What separates businesses that scale from those that never break through? Marcus Lemonis, entrepreneur, investor, and star of The Profit, reveals the principles that have guided decades of building and transforming iconic companies. He explains why financial literacy, customer lifetime value, and hiring the right people matter more than chasing quick wins. Marcus also shares how artificial intelligence is reshaping decision-making, why entrepreneurs must think beyond transactions, and the philosophy that has helped him invest in businesses with lasting impact. From leadership and data to resilience and purpose, this conversation delivers a practical blueprint for entrepreneurs determined to build companies that stand the test of time.Key TakeawaysMaster your numbers before trying to scale your business.Build around people first, then strengthen process and product.Focus on customer lifetime value instead of one-time sales.Use AI as a strategic thinking partner, not just a search engine.Create a business that reflects the values and principles you admire.Notable Quotes"Most business owners that do not succeed have no comprehension of their numbers.""It does start with good people.""I'm only selling things that add value to their life, not mine.""Use AI as an enhancement to your brain.""There's no such thing as self-made. You could be homemade."Connect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter

Ep 134 - He Turned His Passion for Hunting Into Two Successful Businesses Crockett Carothers Haiden Mensik had some great mentors that helped turn his passion into a business. Haiden loved hunting, fishing, and the outdoors so he got a job working for a hunting guide. Though his job isn't glamorous it opened his eyes to the industry. He branched out on his own and started guiding hunts. He was able to scale this into an actual business and not just a job. It turned into South Texas Hunting Outfitters. Through building relationships he decided to get his real estate license and eventually started Mensik Ranches and Residential. Haiden offers some great insights on building two successful businesses from scratch and what it takes to do it. Review Wizard:https://www.reviewwizard.io/io-demo486587?am_id=crockett9437Sponsorship:https://form.jotform.com/251243256767057Diversified Payments:https://www.diversifiedpayments.com/wealthycowboyhttps://form.jotform.com/260584054076054The Wealthy Cowboy VIP:https://www.skool.com/the-wealthy-cowboy-vip-6536/about?ref=d30cd83cb8824bc7885158a8ec9366a5

Send us Fan MailWhat if AI didn't have to mean doing more—but could actually help you do less?In this episode of The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast, I'm talking with Ashley Gross, Founder and CEO of AI Workforce Alliance, about how mom entrepreneurs can use AI as a partner to reclaim their time, reduce mental load, and create more space for the work—and people—that matter most.And if you don't consider yourself "techy," this conversation is especially for you.Ashley wasn't always an AI expert. In fact, she shares how becoming a mom and unexpectedly facing life without maternity leave pushed her to look for a better way to work. That search eventually led her to AI and a completely different approach to building systems in both business and life.We talk about moving beyond the all-or-nothing conversation around AI and instead asking a much more useful question: Where could AI make my life easier?Ashley shares practical examples you can start thinking about right away—from triaging your inbox and organizing your calendar to automating client onboarding, reducing family mental load, planning activities with your kids, and even making those never-ending family to-do lists easier to manage.In this episode, you'll learn:✨ Why you don't need to be "technical" to start using AI✨ How to identify repetitive and mentally draining tasks that could be automated✨ Practical ways to use AI for your inbox, calendar, client onboarding, and weekly planning✨ How Ashley uses AI in motherhood and family life—not just business✨ Why AI should amplify what's already working instead of trying to fix a broken process✨ How automation can reduce the cognitive load so many moms carry✨ Why Ashley doesn't believe AI will eliminate the need for humans—and where the human experience still matters✨ How to stop chasing every new AI tool and instead build a tech stack around the problems you actually need to solveOne of my favorite reminders from this conversation is that we don't get a medal for doing everything the hard way.AI doesn't have to replace your creativity, expertise, intuition, or relationships. Used intentionally, it can simply become another tool that helps you spend less time on the repetitive work and more time being the business owner—and mom—you want to be.About Ashley GrossAshley Gross is the Founder and CEO of AI Workforce Alliance, where she helps businesses identify where and how to implement AI into their workflows so technology strengthens human capabilities rather than replacing them.Ashley is also the author of The AI Work Week and shares resources and education to help people approach AI in practical, strategic ways.Connect with Ashley:Find Ashley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theashleygross/Visit theashleygross.com for Ashley's resources, newsletter, and more information about her work.https://www.aiworkforcealliance.com/https://www.aiworkforceacademy.io/https://www.instagram.com/theashleygross/The AI Work Week is available for pre-order and, as Ashley shares in this episode, is scheduled to be available at Barnes & Noble beginning September 9.If this episode helped you think differently about AI, share it with another mom entrepreneur who feels like she's carrying way too much. And don't forget to follow The Good Enough Mompreneur Podcast so you don't miss the next conversation! 

Send us Fan MailBonus episode # 99: Your P&L says you're profitable, but the bank account keeps hovering near empty, so what's actually happening? I walk through the gap between profit and cash and why small businesses can look healthy on paper while still running out of money. Cash flow is the fuel that keeps operations moving, and when you don't manage the timing of cash in and cash out, even a “good” month can turn into a scramble to cover payroll, rent, taxes, and loan payments.Please connect with me on:1. Instagram: stephen.mclain2. Twitter: smclainiii3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiiiFor more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy:  financeleaderacademy.com.Support the showStephen is an experienced Finance Professional and Leader who offers fractional CFO services and development opportunities. Please visit his LinkedIn profile or Finance Leader Academy for more information.The views and information shared on The Finance Leader Podcast are intended solely for educational and informational purposes. They do not constitute financial, accounting, tax, legal, investment, or other professional advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified professional before making decisions related to your specific circumstances. 

Send us Fan MailSmall businesses won roughly $179 billion in federal prime contracts in FY2025. But those dollars were not spread evenly across the government.Some agencies send a surprisingly large share of their contracting dollars to small businesses. Others offer enormous opportunity, but come with tougher competition, higher barriers to entry, or very different ways of buying.So where should your company actually focus?In this episode of FedBiz'5, we follow the money and look at 10 federal agencies that deserve attention from small business contractors in 2026. More importantly, we explain why the agency spending the most may not be the best target for your business.You'll hear where small businesses are winning, which agencies offer particularly strong small-business participation, and how to narrow a massive federal marketplace down to the agencies, offices, and buyers that actually purchase what you sell.Because the goal is not to chase more contracts.It is to chase the right ones.If your government contracting strategy still starts with “Who has the biggest budget?”, this episode may change where you look next.Visit us: FedBizAccess.comStay Connected: Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on LinkedInNeed help in the government marketplace? Call a FedBiz Specialist today: 844-628-8914Or, schedule a complimentary consultation at your convenience. 

Labour says small businesses are our economy's engine room, as the party launches a new election policy in Rotorua. It's campaigning on a $2 million annual fund to help smaller businesses adopt AI tools. It would also go into topping up an advisory group to help with AI use, and boosting mentoring and support. Leader Chris Hipkins says small businesses want to adapt to this new technology, and they want additional support to make this happen. "So that they can weigh up how AI could help them, what the risks of using AI could be - it's just levelling the playing field." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Award-winning reporter (New York Times, National Geographic, L.A. Times), and author (Dreamland, The Least of Us) Sam Quinones gives his insight from decades of reporting on the drug crises in America and Los Angeles, highlighting what the City of L.A. Is doing wrong in its approach and treatment. We also discuss his latest book, Our Lady of the Angels: The Virgin of Guadalupe on the Walls of Los Angeles, and how the protection of a patron saint is a driving force underlying many L.A. Businesses.

✏️ Short Description Profit and cash flow are not the same thing. Learn why your business can be profitable on paper but still have no money in the bank, and what you can do to fix it.

https://youtu.be/eUqMjIq3r2U Brian Hong, Founder of Infintech Designs, Flowbots.ai, and BigEasyData.ai, is driven to Build AI Revenue Engines that create freedom by helping businesses generate more leads, sales, and revenue while increasing the productivity of their teams. By combining SEO, AI automation, business intelligence, and human expertise, Brian helps companies improve their marketing, systemize their operations, and enhance their people with AI rather than simply replacing them. In this conversation, Brian introduces his Team Building Framework—Attract and Assess A-Players, Productize and Systemize, Hire People Who Can Follow Instructions, and Enhance with AI Capabilities. He explains how placing people in roles where they can thrive creates stronger teams, why clear processes and blueprints make it easier to scale, and how AI can enhance employees by increasing their productivity instead of replacing them. Brian also discusses how SEO is evolving with ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, why businesses need to build brand authority and entity breadth, and how business intelligence can identify the specific areas where AI can create the greatest revenue impact. — Build AI Revenue Engines with Brian Hong  Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast, and today my guest is Brian Hong, the founder of Infintech Designs, Flowbots.ai, and BigEasyData.ai. These are New Orleans-based companies, including a digital marketing agency, focused on building more leads, more sales, and more exposure online with strategic SEO and digital marketing strategies. Brian, welcome to the show.  Thanks. Thanks for having me.  So you have quite a portfolio. I also read on your LinkedIn page that you invest in other companies, and then you support them as well. So it sounds like you have a lot of irons in the fire. But before we get into all that, my question to you is, what is your personal “Why,” and how are you manifesting it in your business, or businesses?  Why do I work so hard? Why do I want to build all these companies? To me, money creates freedom. I’m trying to bank as many freedom points as I can to live life on my own terms, and to do and have experiences with the people I love. That’s my “Why.”  Wow. How does that manifest in your businesses?  That’s a good question. I'm building AI automation to get my time leverage, to create duplication, so I can 10x the productivity of my employees. Not hire more people, but keep my A-players.Share on X Because if I have an A-team, or can cultivate an A-team, then I think I can bank more freedom points at a more efficient and scalable process. Don’t hire more people. Hire people intentionally, and 10x their productivity. That would be a domino effect to align with gaining more freedom points.  So what’s the maximum number of freedom points? Is it like a 100-point scale? What does it look like to have 100 freedom points?  It’s working because I want to, not because I have to. Because I love working. It’s living life on my own terms and focusing my time on things that I want to do. For instance, I have a house cleaner. I don’t want to clean the house. My time is better spent doing something else that I passionately want or love to do. Unless I loved cleaning houses. That’s fine. Maybe that’s therapeutic for some people. But it allows me to live life on my own terms. Money is the key that unlocks those opportunities to live life on my terms.Share on X  How do you maximize your freedom points? What does it look like when your freedom points are maxed out?  Then I’m working because I want to, not because I have to. I still want to work. I still want to build. I love building things. I’m not the type of guy who wants to go to the beach, sit on the beach, and do nothing all day. I might do that for an hour. I’ve got to be doing something. I have to be building. It’s just the way I’m programmed. Maybe I don’t want to work as much as I do now, but I can’t imagine a life doing nothing. To me, that doesn’t serve a purpose.  Yeah.  I like building. I love contributing. I love being a part of the equation of success. It's just fun to me. I get gratification out of it. I like creating jobs.Share on X I like creating communities. I like meeting people. It’s interesting to me. It fills my bucket. That bucket is filled to then, I mean, try and give me freedom points to then go spend some personal time creating experiences with the people I love, mainly my wife and my child.  That’s amazing. Okay, let me take a step back. You have multiple companies. You have Infintech Designs. You have a couple of AI companies as well. How does that portfolio work?  I essentially do this. I have a construction company as well, TurnKey Renovators, a GC for residential. I have a couple of e-commerce companies. Really, I’m doing the same thing over and over. Earlier in my life, I used to wait tables. My takeaway from that experience, from working at Applebee’s to fine dining, is: How many different dishes can you make with the same ingredients?  With my knowledge, my resources, and my skills, how many different things can I do with them? This is my version of it. All those companies, by the way, I’ve never stroked a check. I pretty much say, “Give me half your company, and I’ll help you grow it.” I’ve never cut a check because I give them what they really want, which is the outcome they want to achieve with that money. They want the money to help grow their company. What if I just help you grow your company?  So I ask for an equal seat at the table, and in exchange, I’ll install what I know and go grow it. I’m essentially doing that over and over. My time is spent on high-level decisions, systems, processes, automation, and marketing.  Yeah. Love it. You know, I always wondered about marketing agencies. If they really know how to grow sales, why are they not doing it for themselves, and why are they offering it to others? It sounds like you are drinking your own Kool-Aid, and you are using your own product.  Yeah. Definitely. We practice what we preach. I see some companies doing that because there’s also an abundance mindset. If I can do it for me, and I can do it for someone else, let me just create another revenue stream and do it for both of us.  Okay. That makes sense. This podcast is all about frameworks. I wonder, what is a framework that you have created or discovered that helps you be effective in what you do, and that you could share with the audience so they might also find a way to leverage it in their business?  I guess it depends on many things. From team building, it may be doing a DiSC Assessment and Kolbe tests to make sure we place each person in a situation where they thrive. Sometimes when things aren’t working, maybe the owner, the manager, or the person needs to look in the mirror and say, “This is my fault, not the employee’s fault.” “I didn’t set them up for success.” “I’m trying to stick a round peg into a square hole.” “I’m trying to put them in a position that they may not thrive in, and they’re not programmed to naturally do.”  So we’ll sometimes do these assessments, whether it’s a personality clash or a personality type, and make sure we place them in a role where they’ll thrive. So that could be a framework. Setting the employee up for success. Once we do have an employee, the better the plan, the better the outcome. So try to productize and systemize everything we do. If we have a blueprint people need to follow, then I can spend more of my time not finding specific talent and skills, but finding people who can follow instructions.  Because if we have the blueprint, and this is what you need to do, then I can get a lower-wage worker who doesn’t have a specialized skill. That specialized skill will be developed because I’m handing you the blueprint of what you need to execute.  So that’s the three-step framework. Set employees up for success by delegating tasks that fit their personality. Then productize and systemize. Then find people who can implement. To what extent does that work in the AI age? Are these people who just execute tasks according to instructions still solving the problems, or is that no longer working because of the fast pace of change?  It depends on what the activity is, but generally, and more often, it’s human enhancement, not human replacement. So instead of saying, “Let’s just say I have a web developer, and I get more business, so I need to hire a second web developer, web designer, programmer, then a third one, then a fourth one.” The new version today is: keep the one you have, and instead of hiring another human, 10x their productivity with an AI-driven solution.  Allow them to do more with less. Allow them to duplicate their activities so they focus on their revenue-generating activities, on the decisions and activities that AI cannot do, as of yet. That’s how we turn an A-player into an A-plus player. That’s how we turn a B-player into an A-player. That prevents me from having to hire people I don’t want working for me, which are C-players.  Isn’t there a risk that when you have too few players, even if they are A-plus, there’s too much dependence on a single person? Well, I mean, we’ll hire more than one. I have a seven-person leadership team. I have two main managers. I have a department head and then an associate, so there’s always some level of duplication. Then you have an AI layer in between that. So between all of that, yes, if someone gets struck by lightning or someone is sick, the ship needs to keep sailing. We can’t shut down the business.  Love it. What is driving growth in your business?  Relationships. SEO. Ranking in LLMs. Google AI Overviews. ChatGPT. I’d say those are the main pillars that are creating opportunities. I also own a conference, rockstarsconference.com. We’re entering our 15th year. That’s network value, positioning of expertise, and relationship building. Things that AI cannot replicate. Human connections. Then I also do SEO for myself, right? Our last handful of leads that came in through Flowbot.ai. This one particularly stands out. There was this roofing company that sent me an email. We actually talked on the phone.  He really blew up my ego and talked about how great I was. I thought he was a referral. I’m like, “Man, why does this person think I’m so great? It’s really odd.” I said, “Can I ask how you heard about me?” He’s like, “Oh, I spent the last two hours talking to Gemini because I discovered you through Google AI Overviews, and it just told me you’re great.” So I’m like, we’re entering a new world. That is a referral. It’s not from someone I know who spoke highly about me. It’s through a language model. Gemini said I was great, so this person believed I was great.  That’s amazing. That’s very cool. So you have these four pillars. I love it. Relationships, SEO, GEO—or whatever AI referrals you want to call it—and the conference. Would you bucket the conference into the same category as relationships, or is that more of a proactive way of creating a community beyond personal relationships? Is it the same thing?  It checks a lot of boxes. A few of my business partners were born out of that conference. New opportunities and getting clients were born out of that. Knowledge gain. Knowledge transfer that I gained to go implement. So it checks all the boxes. I’m gaining knowledge. I’m gaining relationships. I’m gaining partners. I’m gaining new systems. New processes. I’m gaining sparks, catalysts, and kind of tracks to go down and explore. So it kind of checks a lot of boxes.  Yeah. Love it. So the SEO and GEO piece, is it something that is static, or is it dynamically changing all the time?  Dynamically changing. It’s SEO 3.0, right? SEO is dead. It’s dead if you’re doing SEO the old way. Getting ranked in ChatGPT, the LLMs, and Google AI Overviews. Let’s just say it’s everything you do with SEO, plus more now because you have ChatGPT citations. You have sources that these LLMs frequently query. Then, in the world of SEO—the search engine Google—you have broad core updates. Broad core updates. Updates to the algorithm. That’s pretty much what it means.  They also occur within LLMs. So it’s pretty much do SEO, plus more. What is the plus more? If I had to distill it, it’s get brand mentions and actually become a brand. Do podcast interviews like this. Get press releases. Get write-ups. Be on SoundCloud. Do social media. Post on LinkedIn. Get write-ups in news and media publications. Appear in Google News. Have a website that has dynamic content. Create your topical map. The list keeps on going. Build your brand. That’s the SEO of today. That will put you in a position to get mentioned in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews.  Yeah. That’s fascinating. I’m just thinking about my business. We had a website that actually got some referrals from AI. We even got some clients last year. Then we split the website into two websites, and things dried up. It was kind of an interesting situation. We still had the same amount of content, but we moved it to a different domain, and it did not register the same way. Do you see that often?  Yeah. You want Google and LLMs, at the most basic level, to have a better understanding of who you are, what you do, where you do it, and the services you offer through having something called breadth of entities. Entities are the nouns of the internet. Entities are a signal. A language. All Wikipedia pages are entities, but not all entities have Wikipedia pages.  They’re the nouns of the internet. It’s a layer of clarity for search engines, algorithms, and LLMs to understand who you are, what you do, and where you do it. It’s not the only signal, but at a foundational layer, that should be implemented. So what we’re talking about is creating content. What does that mean? Create content on your website. Don’t create content for the sake of creating content because anybody can create content with AI.  Create intentional content that satisfies the user and aligns with certain algorithmic components, such as Google's E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust.Share on X Everything we’re talking about is SEO. You want optimized content. You want pages. The first 150 to 200 words are important. The last 150 to 200 words are important. Add tables. Add bullet points. Make sure your content is clear. Position yourself with authority.  Have links pointing to it. Interlink it. These are all SEO kinds of activities. So SEO is alive and well, but there are new layers you need to add on top of that to create optimal positioning in Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT.  Yeah. I saw one of your videos on your LinkedIn page where you actually explained what is the wrong way to do SEO and the right way to do it. I think you had your alter ego disputing with you. Yeah. That was pretty funny. So that sounds like a lot of work. Can you delegate that to AI agents to do this kind of stuff?  Yes and no. It’s not like I just click a button and step away. It takes a human-in-the-loop system, and that’s what we’ve developed. So yes, I don’t need as many humans, but I still need humans.  So you said that in one of these companies you have 100 AI agents working on SEO, creating SEO impact for your clients. What is it that the AI agents can do, and what is it that you still need the human to do?  The AIs collect information, rapidly digest it, find patterns, perform pattern analysis, do research, and create content briefs. But there needs to be thought leadership. AI is very directional. It’s, “Go do this,” but we need a human to point it in the right direction. We need to create guardrails. We need to create a source of truth. It needs to know where to look for the right information. It needs direction on what to do with this information.  How should I digest it? How should I format it? How should I break up the heading tags? It needs that element where it can go do it, but the human is part of that last-mile conversion. So maybe the AI does zero to 80, and maybe the human does the 80 to 100.  Yeah. That’s very interesting. So what’s one thing that you’re actively trying to figure out in your business?  How to automate everything. Everything is a complete agentic workflow that is proactive, not reactive. Where I have a board of advisors every day looking at how they can serve me.Share on X Identifying the patterns in my life that I need to stop doing and they can do. Developing skills, if they don’t have them, to go execute that. Having a feedback loop to constantly improve.  This has become superintelligence. Agentic work, which is kind of here. That’s what maybe some people have heard about: OpenClaw. Then you have something called a Hermes agent. These things are here, but they need to be trained. They need to be fed the right information and given the right guardrails. But it has begun, and I’m trying to go down that journey.  Isn’t that overwhelming to think of all these details, managing these agents, and making sure they’re not going rogue or getting confused by what every one of them is doing?  It’s overwhelmingly exciting, but not overwhelmingly bad, because this is the worst it’s going to be, and it’s mind-blowingly good. It’s overwhelming because it’s so amazing and so awesome. It’s garbage in, garbage out. I am the architect trying to create the blueprint on how to control these agents. To me, that’s incredibly exciting and incredibly amazing. To be a part of this time in history, it’s like that feeling when I dropped out of college and this thing called the internet was born in 2000.  I knew the world wasn’t going to be the same again. That same feeling came again in 2022 when I heard about ChatGPT. I created my first AI company in 2023. I said the world isn’t going to be the same again. I have the same feeling I had in 2000, but times 100. So to me, it’s overwhelming, but overwhelmingly exciting.  Yeah. So what does one do if they want to get, okay, let’s say it’s me. I use ChatGPT actively, but I’m not building AI agents. What would you recommend that I do? How do I even get started?  What is your pain point? Is it communication? Is it writing emails? Is it reporting? It kind of depends, right? You can customize it based on your pain points. Where are you spending your time, and where should you be spending your time?  Yeah. That’s a good question. I think the first question is, what should I even use it for?  I can give you some ideas. A handful of things I use it for, but not limited to. I can give you use cases that we do for other people. So to construction company, inbound and outbound calls. We never miss a phone call. We answer every single one. We qualify the lead. We seamlessly connect to a CRM. We know if it’s a new customer or an existing customer. If it’s an existing customer, we can look at their history. We can now have an intentional conversation through voice.  I can clone that. I can qualify them. I can book the appointment. I can put it on the salesperson’s calendar. I can receive a text message. I can read the message. I can set the salesperson up for success. I can then pull their address. I can then pull their demographics. I know their net income. I know their affinities, their interests, their hobbies. I know whether their house has a pool. I know the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. I know their credit score. I know their disposable income.  My layer of intention is going to be very different if I have all of this data to interact with that person, either through a voice agent, an AI agent through SMS, through email, through voice, or I can pass that information to the salesperson so they know what they’re walking into. They know the opportunity. So we have lead scoring. We have prioritization. That's one thing we could do: taking over your appointment setting and lead qualification.Share on X Then we can create reporting.  Then we can create trend forecasting. We can turn your business into a mathematical equation. We know 10 leads equals 3 appointments, equals 2 shows, equals 1 person who shows up, average ticket $10,000. We know that formula. Then we say, “Well, we need to feed it more.” The math equation is 10 equals $10,000. Whatever that math equation is, that’s the position I want to be in. I want to make data-driven decisions. So AI is an accelerator to achieve that.  What’s at the top of the funnel? Is it advertising?  Yeah. It could be Facebook Ads. Google Ads. SEO. It kind of depends. Do you want expensive and fast, or do you want cheap and slow? Expensive and fast. When I say expensive, I mean cost per acquisition and cost per visibility. That’s going to be Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn, TikTok—anything where you’re buying media. That’s going to be expensive because you have to pay on a per-click basis or a per-impression basis. The cheap and slow is going to be something like SEO.  Do the work now to feel the impact later. It’s signal building. You don’t have to pay on a per-click basis. You don’t have to pay on a per-impression basis. But you have to build signals. Those signals cost money. You have to do the work, but it’s not going to happen overnight. You do the work now to feel it later. It’s an investment. So ideally, you do both. You take a blended cost per acquisition because your SEO channels almost 99% of the time are going to have the lowest cost per acquisition. But speed is going to come from Facebook Ads and Google Ads. So you take the best of both worlds with a blended cost per acquisition.  Is the formula the same for business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies, or is it different?  Yeah. The algorithm doesn’t change. The algorithm is the algorithm. The messaging is different, but it’s the same across the board. The concepts are the same. There are some things, like in medical. Google specifically has something called YMYL—Your Money or Your Life. That’s going to be finance businesses, payday loans, and medical. Those things have a high impact on your life.  So they may have a little more scrutiny, and it might be harder to build trust and validation because of the category you’re in. In that aspect, yeah, the formula is a little bit different. But the activities you engage in are the same. You need to build content. You need to build your brand. You need to build links. You need to optimize your website. You need to create on social media. It’s all the same.  Yeah. Fascinating. So who is the ideal client that you would like to respond to this podcast?  Man, I get asked that, and I’m having more difficulty because I have a lot of companies in my portfolio, right? I have, as of now, about seven companies. I’d say companies that want to automate. Why do you want to automate? The first step of that is maybe building intelligence—business intelligence. You can’t improve what you can’t measure. What if we build a system where maybe you take two steps back to take 10 steps forward?  The two steps back is building business intelligence through AI-driven systems to have segmentation and attribution on exactly what’s happening. How many leads are you getting? Where are they coming from? What is your workflow? Create the math equation. Now we have a measurement. We have a benchmark. Now we can build custom AI agents to say, “This is what we need to focus on first.” So we have our foundational layer, our source of truth.  Maybe that’s a good first step, so you’re not doing a spray and pray. You can say, “Now I know what I need to do. Now I know where my problems are.” Let’s remove the emotion of, “I think.” It now becomes, “I know this is a problem.” Now let’s zoom in and say, “Well, how do we solve this problem?” Are leads the problem? Or is it connecting to the leads? Is it showing up to the appointment? Is it closing the deal? Are we closing deals, but the average ticket is low?  If we close one deal, is it upselling to a second deal? What is the one-year value? Lifetime value? First transaction value? If we don’t know that, then how do we create a math equation of success? How do we know what bucket we need to feed? How do we know where the problem is or isn’t? If we do know where it is, then we can say, “Let’s build a second AI agent.” How do we augment and enhance maybe lead-to-connection rate? Let’s build an SMS agent.  A voice agent. An outbound agent. Let’s build nurture and upsell. Let’s follow up in perpetuity, forever. Let’s tackle that first because we have clear, data-driven insights showing this is a problem. I would say people who want clarity on where their problem is, or maybe they know where their problems are. Then that could be a starting point. So it’s hard for me to answer because I’ve got my hands in so many different buckets.  I’m top of funnel. I’m middle of funnel. I’m bottom of the funnel. I’m top of funnel. Introduction. Brand. Product or service. Google Ads. Facebook Ads. SEO. GEO. I’m middle of funnel. Turning visitors into customers. That’s follow-up AI systems. That’s operational efficiencies. That’s touchpoints. That’s nurturing. I’m bottom of funnel. I’m business intelligence. Segmentation. Attribution. I can help with all stages. I just need to talk to businesses. Businesses that want to grow and generate more revenue. That’s my audience.  Love it. Love it. So if you have a business that wants to grow and generate more revenue, then make sure you check out Brian Hong on LinkedIn. Where else should people go if they want to learn about your companies?  Yeah. I’ve got Brian Hong Digital on Instagram. I’m trying to build my own personal brand. I’m about to relaunch some videos again. I’ve been busy with another acquisition of another marketing agency. I’d say check out the socials or send me an email through Flowbots.ai or InfinTech Design.  Okay. Sounds good. So check out Brian. I mean, that’s pretty amazing. The complexity that you’re managing. Not just the number of companies. The number of investee companies you’re in. The products you’re building. The conferences. It’s kind of mind-boggling how you’re managing that complexity. But I guess you have a couple hundred AI agents at your service. If you’d like to learn more and explore Brian’s products, go to his LinkedIn page.  Then you can connect to his different companies from there. If you enjoyed this conversation, make sure you stay tuned because every week I bring a couple of amazing entrepreneurs like Brian who will open your eyes to the opportunities ahead of you. So thanks, Brian, for sharing your knowledge and insights. Thanks for listening. Thanks, Steve. Appreciate it. Important Links: Brian's LinkedIn Brian's  website

More than 80 businesses have signed a letter asking the state for help after wildfires in northeast Minnesota forced closures around the Boundary Waters during what is normally the busiest time of year. It comes after Gov. Walz said there would not be a special session held to address the economic impacts of the fire. MPR News host Nina Moini spoke with two of those businesses owners, both based in Ely, who voiced their concerns: Elli Piragis, general manager of Piragis Northwoods Company, and Abby Dare, owner and operator of The Meadows Gallery and Studio.

We just launched our new book! You can grab The Power of Your Personal Brand: A Playbook for Struggling Middle Managers Who Want to Do Big Things on Amazon or at ForthRight-People.com It's no longer good enough to just have a solid SEO (Search Engine Optimization) campaign.  Now, you need AI to trust you so you appear in AI searches, like the very top “AI Overview” bubble in Google. Unfortunately, there's a lot of competition out there, which makes it even harder for SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) striving to be seen. But, hope is not lost. Unlike traditional SEO, you can't just pay your way into building authority. You must earn it with consistent conversation that can be attributed to you. We wanted you to learn from a specialist in this space, so we welcomed on Tom Schwab. He's the Founder & Chief Evangelist Officer of Interview Valet, and the Author of several minibooks. For more about ForthRight Business by ForthRight People or for 1:1 consultation, check us out at ForthRight-Business.com And as always, if you need Strategic Counsel, don't hesitate to reach out to us at: ForthRight-People.com FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/forthrightpeople.marketingagency INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/forthrightpeople/ LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/company/forthright-people/ RESOURCES https://www.forthright-people.com/resources VIRTUAL CONSULTANCY https://www.forthright-people.com/shop

Tennessee's new hemp ban has been in effect since July 1, bringing big changes to the industry and forcing farmers and other businesses to adapt. WPLN power and equity reporter Marianna Bacallao sits down with host Rachel Iacovone to talk about how the ban is changing what you'll see on the shelves of smoke shops, liquor stores, and bars, and the impact it could have on our economy.  Learn more about the sponsors of this Aug. 10th episode: Hoffmann Brothers VOTE FOR US in the Nashville Scene's Best of Nashville 2026 Awards! Election Day is Thursday, Aug. 6! Here's everything you need to know to go vote. Get more from City Cast Nashville when you become a City Cast Nashville Neighbor. You'll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members only events and more. Join now at membership.citycast.fm/nashville Want some more City Cast Nashville news? Then make sure to sign up for our City Cast Nashville newsletter.  Follow us @citycastnashville You can also text us or leave a voicemail at: 615-200-6392 Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE.

Discover entrepreneurship, innovation, business growth, scaling, and intellectual property strategies from successful founders and industry leaders. Richard Gearhart and Elizabeth Gearhart, co-hosts of the Passage to Profit Show interview Dima Negodjuk from Negodjuk AI, Delphine Le Grand from Protocole and Business Coach Drea Lynn, Author of Smart Quit. What happens when AI becomes your workforce? Dima Negodjuk, Founder of Negodjuk AI, reveals how entrepreneurs can use AI agents to automate customer service, invoicing, marketing, sales, and other repetitive business tasks—helping businesses operate 24/7 and scale without constantly adding employees. Dima also shares how he built his own AI call center, created a digital AI clone, uses virtual “boards of directors” to make business decisions, and went from being a non-technical entrepreneur to building AI-powered businesses. Discover practical AI automation strategies, the future of work, and why entrepreneurs who start using AI now may have a powerful competitive advantage. Read more at: https://negodiuk.ai/ GLP-1 medications like Ozempic have sparked worldwide interest in peptides—but that's only the beginning. Delphine Le Grand, Co-founder of Protocole, explains what peptides are, how they may support recovery, weight management, sleep, cognitive performance, healthy aging, and regenerative wellness, and why personalized treatment is essential. Learn why working with knowledgeable clinicians matters, how peptide therapy differs from supplements and traditional medications, and what the future of personalized health could look like as peptide research continues to expand. Read more at: https://theprotocole.com/ Thinking about leaving your corporate job to become an entrepreneur? Drea Lynn, Founder of The Smart Shift System, Keynote Speaker, Business Coach, Author of Smart Quit, and Certified EOS Implementer, shares the lessons she learned after leaving a successful six-figure career only to find herself six figures in debt before rebuilding an even stronger business. In this episode, she explains why aspiring entrepreneurs need more than passion—they need preparation, the right network, strategic timing, and an owner's mindset. Learn how to know if you're truly ready to start a business, avoid common startup mistakes, build resilience through failure, and create a successful transition from employee to entrepreneur without launching in panic. Read more at: https://www.drealynn.co/ and at: https://www.howtosmartquit.com/ Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur, startup founder, inventor, or small business owner, the Passage to Profit Show is a leading podcast for insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, intellectual property and business strategy. Hosted by Richard Gearhart and Elizabeth Gearhart, the show features industry leaders, investors, and founders who share real-world lessons on scaling companies, protecting ideas, building generational wealth, and navigating today's evolving business landscape. Visit https://passagetoprofitshow.com/ for the latest episodes, expert interviews, and resources designed to help you grow, protect, and profit from your ideas. Chapters (00:00:00) - Seeking Clutter Awareness Week(00:02:26) - The Weirdest Food You Ever Eat(00:04:05) - In the Elevator With Dima Nagoyuk and Delph(00:05:06) - The One Decision That Changed the Direction of Your Business(00:07:41) - What was the decision that changed the trajectory of your business?(00:09:44) - Dima Ngojuk on AI and Jobs(00:16:24) - I Heart my Clone(00:17:43) - AI Agents(00:20:09) - AI Agents(00:22:03) - Car Shield: Before a Breakdown(00:23:07) - Better Health Insurance for You(00:24:07) - How to Automate a Complex Task with AI(00:27:03) - Dima Ngodyuk(00:29:18) - Know your pain first-hand(00:30:16) - Ukraine's restrictions on people leaving the country(00:31:33) - AI Expert Dima Ngodyuk on Starting a Business in New(00:33:00) - Real AI Uses in the Law Firm(00:38:35) - Divorce Debt Relief Hotline(00:40:34) - Can You Own The Sound of Your Own Voice?(00:45:01) - Peptides: What Do They Do For You?(00:50:42) - GLP1s and Side Effects(00:53:31) - Many medicines help with sleep(00:54:11) - GlP1s for Weight Loss(00:57:15) - How to Smart-Quit Your Career(00:59:07) - What Would I Do Different If I Had Quit My Job to Start(01:05:38) - How to Cultivate an Owner Mindset(01:07:08) - Can Each Person Be an Entrepreneur?(01:09:16) - What Made You Start Your Business?(01:09:44) - How to Win at Entrepreneurial Challenges(01:10:58) - The Shield: Protect Your Car and Wallet(01:12:32) - Noah Fleischman on Personal Finance(01:13:46) - Six Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind(01:17:24) - Passage to Profit

Jimmy Kimmel called Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses "Pervert glasses." Now some businesses are banning them. Plus, the question that everyone's been asking. Now that AI does much of the work, should lawyers charge flat fees? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elliott Caldwell made $3.5 million in 2025. Without the strategy in this episode, he would have paid over $1 million in taxes. Instead, his bill was $160,000. Elliott is the CEO and co-founder of The Rise Collective, 13 businesses built starting from a single Airbnb tax loophole he found on YouTube in 2019. From BNB Turnkey (a done-for-you Airbnb investment service with a negative customer acquisition cost) to a nationwide property management company managing over 1,000 homes, he built all of it bootstrapped, with no private equity or VC money. In this episode we get into: - The short-term rental tax loophole that can wipe out your tax bill, and how much it actually saved him - Going from a $37,000 teaching salary to over $200,000 in his first year of sales - How a $220,000 tax bill in 2019 sent him down the rabbit hole that built his empire - Building 13 companies without a single acquisition, and how they all feed each other - Scaling ad spend without killing your pixel, and why he's in most of the ads himself - Why he protects a 9am to noon block every day, no meetings, no phone Subscribe for more real conversations with entrepreneurs building real businesses, and share this with someone who needs to hear it. Want the exact framework I use with business owners to unlock hidden profit and increase enterprise value? It's called the Value Clarity Roadmap, and it typically unlocks over $150,000 in profit. Comment ROADMAP and I'll send it to you personally. Connect with Elliott Caldwell: Website: https://elliottcaldwell.com/ Instagram: instagram.com/elliottcaldwell LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliott-caldwell-85b234141 YouTube (Successful DNA): https://youtube.com/@elliottcaldwellpodcast Recorded at Elite Podcast Studio, Tampa Bay's premier podcast facility. Premium. Polished. Powerful. Website: elitepodcaststudio.com Email: hello@elitepodcaststudio.com Instagram: instagram.com/elitepodcaststudio YouTube: youtube.com/@ElitePodcastStudio Facebook: facebook.com/elitepodcaststudio LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/elite-podcast-studio Everything about business. Nothing held back. All Business with Vince Perri is built for business owners who want straight talk about starting, scaling, and building something worth owning. New episodes every week. Subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss an episode. 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:00 - Life in Tarpon Springs & Family 00:05:22 - BNB Turnkey Explained 00:11:05 - Overcoming a Difficult Childhood 00:16:41 - Transitioning to High-Income Sales 00:23:52 - A $220k Tax Bill & Real Estate 00:28:49 - Building a Nationwide Management Company 00:35:43 - Scaling Without Outside Capital 00:40:02 - The 13 Businesses in The Rise Collective 00:48:03 - Leadership & Ad Strategies 00:53:01 - Managing $100M+ in Revenue 00:57:07 - Entrepreneurial Mindset & Mental Health 01:02:21 - Faith & Conclusion

Most people think entrepreneurship is about big ideas, venture capital, and building the next tech unicorn. I don't see it that way. In this conversation, I break down why almost every business ends up looking the same at scale and why chasing passion is one of the worst ways to start. I talk about how I think about opportunity, why "boring" businesses win, and how geography can be your biggest advantage. We get into what it actually takes to build something real: hiring, firing, delegating, and making tough decisions. I explain how I approach leadership, how I think about incentivizing people, and why not everyone in your company should want to be the CEO. I also share how I evaluate businesses, what I look for in underserved markets, and why simple services like cleaning, moving, or fixing things can outperform flashy startups if you execute well. At the end of the day, this isn't about ideas. It's about execution, leverage, and putting yourself in a position to win over a long period of time. Grow your business:   https://sweatystartup.com/events   Book:   https://www.amazon.com/Sweaty-Startup-Doing-Boring-Things/dp/006338762X     Newsletter:   https://www.nickhuber.com/newsletter     My Companies:   Offshore recruiting – https://somewhere.com   Cost segregation – https://recostseg.com   Self storage – https://boltstorage.com   RE development – http://www.boltbuilders.com   Brokerage – https://nickhuber.com   Paid ads – https://adrhino.com   SEO – https://boldseo.com   Insurance – https://titanrisk.com   Pest control – https://spidexx.com     Sell a business:   http://nickhuber.com/sell     Buy a business:   https://www.nickhuber.com/buy     Invest with me:   http://nickhuber.com/invest     Social Profiles:   X – https://www.x.com/sweatystartup   Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sweatystartup   TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/404?fromUrl=/sweatystartup   LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sweatystartup     Podcasts:   The Sweaty Startup & The Nick Huber Show   https://open.spotify.com/show/7L5zQxijU81xq4SbVYNs81     Free PDF – How to analyze a self-storage deal:   https://sweatystartup.ck.page/79046c9b03  

Denmark is preparing to scrap its royal warrant system, ending a centuries-old royal seal of approval used by businesses to market everything from beer to cars. Similar warrants are used by monarchies around the world and awarded to everyone from brewers and carmakers to pest controllers. What do the Danish companies affected think, and could other royal households follow Denmark's lead?(Photo: Packets of sweets with a Danish Royal Warrant in a Copenhagen shop. Credit: Daniel Rosney)You can email the team: businessdaily@bbc.co.ukProducer/presenter: Daniel Rosney

This week on my podcast, I read Why businesses lie about AI, a recent essay from my Pluralistic newsletter that breaks down Nikhil Suresh’s essay describing the total absence of any proof that any business is benefiting from AI deployment. One person who’s had a lot of opportunity to observe the shear between the stated... more

On a classic edition of Weekend Conversations on the Elevate Podcast, host Robert Glazer and producer Mick Sloan discuss the importance of detailed preparation, rehearsal and training before conducting key business activities. They talk about how leaders can improve their training to ensure excellence performance consistently. Thank you to the sponsors of The Elevate Podcast Shopify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/elevate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Masterclass: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠masterclass.com/elevate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Framer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠framer.com/elevate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Northwest Registered Agent: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠northwestregisteredagent.com/elevate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Whatnot: Search "Whatnot" in the app store to download Indeed: ⁠indeed.com/elevate⁠

What happens when roughly a million people working legally in the U.S. suddenly lose that right to stay here? We're starting to find out in places like Miami, Florida, home to one of the largest Haitian communities in the country. There, we talk to people on what the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) means for their businesses and the wider economy. Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.Your Next Listen — Your American Dream is pending reviewConnect with The Indicator — Sign up for The Indicator's weekly newsletter!— Buy the Planet Money book— Find our socials, YouTube and more!— For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show's perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy