Podcast appearances and mentions of casey graham

In this special episode of Grow My Business, I'm sharing the recording of our first-ever Women in Small Business Book Club meeting! We dove into The No B.S. Small Business Book: How to Win When Most Fail by Casey Graham—and let me tell you, the conversation was full of powerful insights for women entrepreneurs and small business owners. But first, I give a quick update on the beta launch of my Sales Course and share what one student had to say about how learning buyer psychology helped her land a new client right after listening to Module 2! Whether you're looking to grow your business, boost your sales skills, or just want a supportive community of women in small business, you'll love this episode. In this episode, you'll learn: ✅ Key takeaways from The No B.S. Small Business Book ✅ Why mindset and alignment are crucial for success ✅ How real business owners are applying what they learn in sales strategy ✅ What to expect inside my upcoming Sales Course ✅ How to join the Women in Small Business Online Community and our next Book Club! If you're serious about building a business that thrives—and doing it with less hustle and more intention—this episode is for you. Resources & Links:

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Sarah Allen discuss:The importance of consistency and discipline in achieving business successLeveraging video marketing to build credibility and save timeUnderstanding and overcoming common barriers to adopting video marketingThe value of clarity and focus in business strategy and client engagement Key Takeaways:Starting with short videos that address frequently asked questions allows lawyers to engage clients effectively while also reducing the time spent repeatedly explaining the same concepts.Tailoring video content to a specific audience builds trust, credibility, and professional authority, making it more effective than chasing viral success or trying to appeal to a broad, unfocused audience.Creating high-quality videos does not require expensive equipment, as a simple setup with a smartphone, webcam, and external microphone can produce professional and engaging results.Videos that focus on providing solutions to client problems or answering their common questions not only save time but also help establish the creator as a knowledgeable and trustworthy expert in their field. "The biggest benefit of video for attorneys is you get your time back... it's literally duplicating yourself." —  Sarah Allen Got a challenge growing your law practice? Email me at steve@fretzin.com with your toughest question, and I'll answer it live on the show—anonymously, just using your first name! Thank you to our Sponsors!Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/Rainmakers Roundtable: https://www.fretzin.com/lawyer-coaching-and-training/peer-advisory-groups/ Episode References: The No B.S. Small Business Book by Casey Graham: https://www.amazon.com/No-B-S-Small-Business-Book-ebook/dp/B09N9TZTW3 About Sarah Allen: Sarah Allen's career bridges the worlds of big business and entrepreneurship, with leadership roles managing $100M+ divisions at Old Navy, Banana Republic, and eBay. Her time at eBay sparked a passion for empowering entrepreneurs, leading her to channel her corporate marketing expertise into helping small businesses succeed. Through her signature 5-step video marketing framework, Sarah has driven over $1M in revenue for her clients by helping them attract and convert new customers with ease. Connect with Sarah Allen:  Website: http://www.sarahallenconsulting.com/Email: sarah@sarahallenconsulting.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-ann-allen Connect with Steve Fretzin:LinkedIn: Steve FretzinTwitter: @stevefretzinInstagram: @fretzinsteveFacebook: Fretzin, Inc.Website: Fretzin.comEmail: Steve@Fretzin.comBook: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!YouTube: Steve FretzinCall Steve directly at 847-602-6911  Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Defining Your Business DNA   Hey Sales Squad!  Welcome back to Sales & Business Growth for BUSY Entrepreneurs. I'm your host, and resident sales and business nerd, Lindsay Fletcher, and this podcast is the place for small business owners to learn sales skills, business growth strategies, and how to squeeze more out of your day.    I have a FREE new-to-you tool on my website that you can download that we have used to figure out which sales and marketing activities create revenue. My SALES GROWTH TRACKER is now available for download on my website - go to LindsayFletcher.co/free-resources. Click on Sales Growth Tracker and drop your email and I will send it over to you immediately, along with steps on how to use it. It has been THE TOOL that we've used in our service-based local business and I'm using it to track my sales activities in my consulting business. So go to my website LindsayFletcher.co and click on the free resources tab and you'll see sales Growth Tracker at the top of the page! Download it and use it, and be on your way to Sales Success!!!   If you haven't already, be sure to hit the “follow” button on your podcast app so that you don't miss anything!    In today's episode, we are talking about Defining what I call your "business DNA". This is the who, what, how and why of your business.    The who is your customer.  Who are they?  What is their income?  What are their ages?  Married or single?  Reasons for buying?  Where are they located?  Where else do they shop?    Let's talk about how your generation tells a lot about your buying habits.   Gen Z - ages 12-27 are focused on price and are on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. They read reviews and rely on social proof for purchases.    Millennials are ages 28-43 and mostly use Facebook and Instagram. Looks at price and quality, and want to buy from brands that align with their values. Their experience and convenience as a consumer is important.    Gen X-ers are aged 44-59. They use Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, and want value, practicality, and durability. They also appreciate time savings, safety and security.    Boomers are ages 60-78 and use Facebook. They rely on online news sources and TV, and value brand longevity and quality over price.they look for brands that align with their values - think “Made in the USA”.    Think about who your customer is and where they hang out, and you can save yourself a whole lot of time. If you are marketing to boomers and you are on TikTok, your people aren't there. Save yourself some time, energy and sanity and go where your people are!!! Boomers are on Facebook.    Next, let's talk about how you serve them. In the “what and how” category we have your services, packages, building customer relationships, and differentiating your business. This category is where we under promise and over deliver! The how category should be delivered well consistently. FYI, this category might take some adjusting and time to get nailed down really well if you are newly in business. Give yourself some grace. No one gets it right right out of the gate and 100% of the time. We are constantly tweeting things in our business to serve our customers better than before!    Last up we have the “why” category. We all want to do good things for our customers, but on the why of your business, I want you to take a look inward. Why do YOU do what you do? What is your reason for your business? Why will you continue when thing get hard? What's YOUR why???     If you haven't read the book “The No B.S. Small Business Book” by Casey Graham, I highly recommend it! In his book he talks about creating a statement, a sentence or two, about your why and it should be a filter that you run decisions through. He calls it an “owner's intent”.  It is not selfish to build a business for wealth, or time, or whatever your reason is. Casey talks about his own Owner's Intent: to build a business that his kids will want to work for if they choose to. Yours could be to support a certain lifestyle, or get out of debt, or pay for 3 vacations a year, or build wealth. Whatever your reason is, it is a good one.  Your why is what will keep you motivated and consistent. Wrote it down, put it on a post-it on your computer, tell your business friends.   If you haven't figured out your Business DNA, take some time to figure out these things. Do market research. Get to know your customers better. They will tell you what you need to know!    Defining your business DNA will set you on a clear path forward. It should make your sales and marketing pillars clear. It should help you make decisions because you have a clear vision of what you want out of your business.   With that, I send you on your way wishing you more sales, more time and lots and lots of business growth! Talk to you next time! XO, Lindsay Fletcher —------------------- I'd love to connect with you!    If you are a woman in small business, I'd love to have you in my *FREE* online community! Click here to join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/367731782244780    Have questions, comments, or feedback?  Leave me a voice message at https://speakpipe.com/lindsayfletcher or email me at hello@lindsayfletcher.co.   Business Growth | Sales Growth | Revenue Growth | Scaling Your Business | Business Strategy | Market Expansion | Customer Retention | Sales Planning | Sales Strategy

Stories we're covering this week:• Mansfield votes along with the rest of the state• Fire destroys local restaurant• Everyone loves a parade, especially when it honors our veterans• The culinary event of the year takes place this week and we'll have the details• In Sports, Timberview and Summit advance to the football playoffsIn the Features Section:• Angel Biasatti has a secret that'll give you a jump on holiday shopping in Methodist Mansfield News to Know• Realtor Beth Steinke talks about what goes through the mind of a Realtor during a house showing in the Mansfield Real Estate Market Update• Brian Certain continues his fall-themed drinks with a “man killer” in the Cocktail of the WeekAnd in the talk segment, Steve talks with a non-profit president as the Mansfield Kiwanis Club celebrates its 50-year anniversary. Plus, your chance to win a $25 gift card to a Mansfield restaurant of your choice with our Mansfield Trivia Question, courtesy of Joe Jenkins Insurance. We are Mansfield's only source for news, sports and conversation. This is About Mansfield.

EP Title: Music Biz, Education & Strategy Feat. Casey GrahamEpisode Info: In this episode Durell is joined by music publisher and music industry strategist Casey Graham. Durell and Casey begin the episode talking about Casey's earliest memories of music and how they got connected through a few mutual friends and colleagues within the music industry. Durell and Casey talk about him studying at the Conservatory Of Recording Arts & Sciences in Phoenix Arizona and graduating in 2005. He shared that he made the move to Atlanta with the goal of being a recording engineer in 2006 and then moved into music production around 2008. Durell and Casey talk about his production for artists such as Keith Sweat, Keshia Cole, Faith Evans, Idris Elba, Jamie Foxx, and several others. Casey also shares about his songs being licensed by TV networks such as BET, & TV One as well Rickey Smiley's reality show “Rickey Smiley For Real.” Durell and Casey end the episode talking about what made him decide to pivot into the music publishing world as well as become a music industry strategist and educator as the creator of “The Music, Money, Makeover Show” For more info on Casey Graham, please visit his website below: https://www.musicmoneymakeover.com/Got What U Need NetworkInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwun.network/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GWUNNetwork Website: https://gwunnetwork.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeA-JJasR0-64nBb1efDJ1Q/featured

EP Title: Music Biz, Education & Strategy Feat. Casey GrahamEpisode Info: In this episode Durell is joined by music publisher and music industry strategist Casey Graham. Durell and Casey begin the episode talking about Casey's earliest memories of music and how they got connected through a few mutual friends and colleagues within the music industry. Durell and Casey talk about him studying at the Conservatory Of Recording Arts & Sciences in Phoenix Arizona and graduating in 2005. He shared that he made the move to Atlanta with the goal of being a recording engineer in 2006 and then moved into music production around 2008. Durell and Casey talk about his production for artists such as Keith Sweat, Keshia Cole, Faith Evans, Idris Elba, Jamie Foxx, and several others. Casey also shares about his songs being licensed by TV networks such as BET, & TV One as well Rickey Smiley's reality show “Rickey Smiley For Real.” Durell and Casey end the episode talking about what made him decide to pivot into the music publishing world as well as become a music industry strategist and educator as the creator of “The Music, Money, Makeover Show” For more info on Casey Graham, please visit his website below: https://www.musicmoneymakeover.com/Got What U Need NetworkInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwun.network/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GWUNNetwork Website: https://gwunnetwork.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeA-JJasR0-64nBb1efDJ1Q/featured

Last week, Kat and Macy talked about a quick warning if you're good at selling, and it sat on the foundation of sell | build | lead. In discussing being happy with the trajectory of your life, Instagram became the center of conversation and generated some good conversations. It resonated with so many of you, but not in the way we thought that it would. Something that we heard alot was "I don't want to be selling on stories in 10 years". Today, Kat + Macy unpack the conversations that led them to shift from selling on their personal IG (spoiler alert: what do braids at the beach, a newborn, and Casey Graham all have in common) to selling solely on @theguideculture.In today's episode we cover:selling a personal brand vs. a business brandturning the ship one degree at a timekeeping the "on mission" mindframeThis episode stems from one of the myths in our book, - "share your life and sales will come".  If this podcast resonated with you, we dive deeper into this myth and nine others in Persuade for Good. You can purchase it HERE.To learn more about School of Sales, click HERE to enroll in Cohort 36 (deadline to enroll is April 28)Follow us on IG @theguideculture

It's 2023. You've set your goals for the year. You've bought the new planner, the colored pens. You probably have your word for the year picked out. But now what? Are we still focused on those goals + words on December 31st, 2023? More than likely, 95% of us aren't. Change is hard and doing hard things isn't natural for us.Today, Kat sits down to talk about how her goal setting, inspired by Casey Graham's “Decade of Destiny” changed her life in 2022. In this episode we cover:Envisioning your life in 10 yearsHow do achieve your 10 year goal in 2.5% incrementsBecoming unrecognizable brick by brickEnroll in School of Sales (deadline to enroll is January 27, 2023).Connect with us: https://www.instagram.com/theguideculture/Purchase your copy of Persuade for Good HERE!Grab Casey Graham's Decade of Destiny HERE!

Casey Graham is the CEO of Gravy and the Co-Founder of Command AF. There are real nontraditional benefits to building a strong LinkedIn culture in your organization. Casey shares how personal brands give sellers headstarts for success, and that helping these individuals do so circles back with mutual benefits down the road. Casey digs into how he created Gravy's LinkedIn culture by fostering freedom of expression and using metrics that demonstrate the impact of a LinkedIn personal brand. One of Casey's greatest lessons for others is that creating a personal brand is something that you get to keep forever regardless of educational attainment.  HIGHLIGHT QUOTES Breaking down the posts that work and don't work guides sellers - Casey: "We broke it down to where there's 13 different types of post that I post and we branded them different things to say, hey, this post is the Twitter post. This post is what we call the vulnerable proverb. This post is called this, and so we would break it down and create a system that would say this is this type of post and this is the structure of the post and this is the question that you ask of this kind of post or this is why you do it." Create a culture in your organization that people don't want to leave - Casey: "People say, well, you're helping all these people, and what happens if they all get recruited away? And I go, well then that means we didn't create a good enough culture for them to stay. So my job is to create a culture where they want to stay even though they're getting recruited away and if they do, then it's a good opportunity for them. There's a win-win for everybody." A rich LinkedIn network beats a flashy resume - Casey: "It's not about where you went to school or any of that. The number one way to get any opportunity in your life is who you know. So the best who platform currently is LinkedIn. And so that's why, while the window is open, which I think is a very short window on LinkedIn, we're going to help as many people as possible build this personal brands." Find out more about Casey in the link below: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseygraham1/ More on Andy: Connect on LinkedIn Get Andy's new book "Sell Without Selling Out" on Amazon Learn more at AndyPaul.com Sponsored by: Revenue.io | Unlock exponential growth with an AI-powered RevOps platform | Revenue.io Scratchpad | The fastest way to update Salesforce, take sales notes, and stay on top of to-dos | Scratchpad.com Blueboard | World's leading experiential rewards & recognition platform | Blueboard.com Explore the Revenue.io Podcast Universe: Sales Enablement Podcast Selling with Purpose Podcast RevOps Podcast

You're in for a very special treat on today's episode of the Guide Culture podcast. Casey Graham is a lifelong entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Gravy Solutions - the first and only payment recovery solution for subscription-based businesses. He joins Kat and Macy today for an incredibly insightful and inspirational conversation all about hitting your first million in sales and becoming a better person in the process.Casey shares his wisdom on why the culture of sales matters just as much as selling itself. He also discusses one of the biggest mistakes new entrepreneurs can make, which involves relying too heavily on social media reach and digital ads. Next, he shares the most important thing that entrepreneurs need to focus on - conversations.In this important conversation, Casey shares his advice for entrepreneurs who want to reach the $1 million mark, and why mentorship, conversations, and talking to the right person at the right time are crucial ingredients in your recipe for success.This episode is a must-listen for any business owner and entrepreneur, no matter what you're selling, how long you've been in business, and what big goals you might have for yourself.In this episode, we cover:Why the culture of sales matter just as much as sellingWhy relying on social media reach and ads when you're first starting can be a detrimentWhy one-on-one conversations are so importantHow staying connected to conversations is the key to avoiding burnoutAdvice for entrepreneurs who want to reach $1 millionThe importance of mentorship, conversations, and talking to the right person at the right timeWhat's the cost of not going all in and trusting the process?Rapidfire round with Casey Connect with us: https://www.instagram.com/theguideculture/  

My Catalyst this week is Casey Graham.  Casey is the Founder/CEO at Gravy and Author of The No B.S. Small Business Book.   What does it mean to be the best version of yourself - it may be something differet then you think.  From Visionary Arsonist to Owner's Intent, to The Inc. of you, we go pretty deep in this conversation.  Casey shares why leaders struggle with creating the environment where employees can share their intent, and what you can let go of, to get better. Leadership, mindset, perspective, communication - are just a couple of the topics we get into during the discussion. Show Links Connect with Casey The No BS Small Business Book Execute Better. Start getting the right things done, in the right order, and grow your business. http://catalystsale.com/game  Connect with Mike Mike Simmons Catalyst Sale

In this episode, Ben sits down with Casey Graham, Co-Founder and CEO of Gravy Solutions, the first-ever payment recovery solution for subscription-based businesses. Prior to launching Gravy, Casey founded the Rocket Company, which he successfully exited in 2016. During this episode, Casey opens up about how his grandfather's suicide initially led him to the path of entrepreneurship, how his successful company exit resulted in a deep depression, and his overall perspective on company culture and leadership. He also discusses the importance of understanding your big why, separating your identity from your role at work, and much more.

A recurring revenue model is one of the most popular business models today. Whether you run an online or a subscription-based business, you rely on this payment model to ensure recurring revenue and stable income. But a simple payment failure can disrupt your entire business flow and even make you lose customers.In this episode of the Reverse Engineered podcast, our host Jon Penland welcomes Casey Graham, the Founder and CEO of Gravy. They talk about the reason for failed transactions, why we shouldn't put too much trust into technology, and the importance of knowing your owner's intent.

In this episode of No Nonsense Music Marketing, we talk to Casey Graham from Music Money Makeover about how NFTs & Web3 are reshaping the music industry as we know it. Links from this episode:Omari Music Promotion: www.omarimc.com/promotion Tunecore Discount (Receive 20% off your first upload with our link): https://www.tunecore.com/?ref=omarimcpodcast&jt=omarimcpodcast Merch: https://musiquo.com/$OMARI Coin: https://rally.io/creator/OMARI/ Learn More About Our Incubator Program: https://www.omarimc.com/incubator/Get Your Free Social Tokens Here:https://socialtokennews.io/ Other links mentioned in this episode:Subscribe To Music Money Makeover:Website: https://www.musicmoneymakeover.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MusicMoneyMakeoverShowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicmoneymakeover/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@musicmoneym

In this episode of No Nonsense Music Marketing, we talk to Casey Graham from Music Money Makeover about ways to avoid leaving music royalty money on the table. Links from this episode:Omari Music Promotion: www.omarimc.com/promotion Tunecore Discount (Receive 20% off your first upload with our link): https://www.tunecore.com/?ref=omarimcpodcast&jt=omarimcpodcast Merch: https://musiquo.com/$OMARI Coin: https://rally.io/creator/OMARI/ Learn More About Our Incubator Program: https://www.omarimc.com/incubator/Get Your Free Social Tokens Here:https://socialtokennews.io/ Other links mentioned in this episode:Subscribe To Music Money Makeover:Website: https://www.musicmoneymakeover.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MusicMoneyMakeoverShowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicmoneymakeover/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@musicmoneym

In this episode of No Nonsense Music Marketing, we talk to Casey Graham from Music Money Makeover about how to structure a record label LLC.from this episode:Links from this episode:Omari Music Promotion: www.omarimc.com/promotion Tunecore Discount (Receive 20% off your first upload with our link): https://www.tunecore.com/?ref=omarimcpodcast&jt=omarimcpodcast Merch: https://musiquo.com/$OMARI Coin: https://rally.io/creator/OMARI/ Learn More About Our Incubator Program: https://www.omarimc.com/incubator/Get Your Free Social Tokens Here:https://socialtokennews.io/ Other links mentioned in this episode:Subscribe To Music Money Makeover:Website: https://www.musicmoneymakeover.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MusicMoneyMakeoverShowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicmoneymakeover/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@musicmoneymakeovershow

In this episode of No Nonsense Music Marketing, we talk to Casey Graham from Music Money Makeover about valuable information that record labels do not want music artists to know about.Links from this episode:Omari Music Promotion: www.omarimc.com/promotion Tunecore Discount (Receive 20% off your first upload with our link): https://www.tunecore.com/?ref=omarimcpodcast&jt=omarimcpodcast Merch: https://musiquo.com/$OMARI Coin: https://rally.io/creator/OMARI/ Learn More About Our Incubator Program: https://www.omarimc.com/incubator/Get Your Free Social Tokens Here:https://socialtokennews.io/ Other links mentioned in this episode:Subscribe To Music Money Makeover:Website: https://www.musicmoneymakeover.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MusicMoneyMakeoverShowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicmoneymakeover/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@musicmoneymakeovershow

Here at GUIDE Culture, we're big readers and typically, as a team, we have a few books that are always circling around.Macy and Kat just finished reading the No B.S. Small Business Book by Casey Graham, which has been so inspiring for how to lead a team, build a business and create a culture that people want to be a part of.If you're a long time podcast listener, you've likely heard us say that, "Leadership is Sales and Sales is Leadership."We believe they both go hand in hand.Leading people is getting them excited to take action in a direction, which is EXACTLY what sales is.In this podcast episode, Macy and Kat break down 5 sales strategies that you can implement in your leadership.It's worth noting that these 5 strategies can also overflow into your home and overall your life!MENTIONS:No B.S. Small Business Book by Casey GrahamTraction by Gino WickmanTik Tok Example for asking for help 

You've probably seen countless examples of creatives like you quitting their jobs and making real money from their creative talent. You know that building a business is possible, but why does it seem like it's working for everyone besides you?Building a long-term sustainable business will require you to continue to operate in your role as a creative but also step into a new role as a business owner. Listen in today as I talk about how you can build confidence as a business owner so that you can build a truly sustainable business. I'll be exploring:>> How our internal beliefs can keep us stuck and unable to learn new skills>> Where real business success is actually built (hint – not the exciting, external stuff but the boring internal stuff)>> How clarifying your owner's intent can help you stop caring about what other people are doing and focus on your own businessFREE TRAINING: How to Build a Sustainable Business Doing What You Lovehttps://katiewussow.com/webinar KATIE'S INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/katiewussow/KATIE'S WEBSITE: https://katiewussow.com/GET THE FREE 90-DAY PLAN TEMPLATE: https://katiewussow.com/planNo B.S. Small Business Book by Casey Graham

This is one hell of an episode! Casey Graham is a lifelong entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Gravy Solutions. In this episode, he helps you unpack the truth within your “Owner's Intent”: The single most important sentence for your business or career. Because honestly, most people can tell you exactly what they DO NOT want. But less than 1% can tell you exactly and in a single sentence what they want and why they show up for work each day. Learn and leverage this tool after listening to his empowering advice! Learn more about Casey HERE.  ALSO: Wanna hang out with Britney in Houston this summer? Social Success 2022 is the first ever in-person event for members of Small Biz Social Society! Early bird pricing ends April 29, 2022.  Get all of the details HERE.

This episode of the Live Better Seller Better Podcast features Casey Graham, Founder and CEO of Gravy and author of The No B.S. Small Business Book. Being honest with yourself reveals your true and specific intentions.This is critical in providing clarity in what you want out of your business and, by default, clarifies the role of other people in it too. This owner's intent is more than likely not a grand and nebulous thing.As humans, we are driven by basic desires and owner's intent can be something as simple as "I want to become a millionaire." Casey also discusses aspirational intent and the cumulative nature of assets like relationships and skill sets to get you there. SHOW NOTESHIGHLIGHTSOwner's intent: What stresses you out reveals your true intentionsThe 5 whys: Drill down to a single answer you always arrive atAspirational intent: Assets like relationships and skill sets stackIntentions clarify decisions and relationships and provide peace of mindQUOTESCasey: "I learned how to be honest with myself because most of us, we're not honest with ourselves about what we truly want, and we're scared to just go, 'I want to be a millionaire and that's why I own this business.'"Casey: "Their intention is their intention whether we talk about it or not. And so, my whole thing is people are already thinking it, so why don't we just say it? And that will create a culture where culture can be honest about what they want."Casey: "In any different stop that you make in your career, I think there's assets that you pick up and there's some liabilities that you can work on. So assets you can pick up, number one, is obviously your relationships. People undervalue that."Casey: "Peace of mind, meaning, a lot of people don't know the answer to the question 'what do you want?' And so they're always searching and unhappy and unfulfilled because they don't know. And if you don't know what it is, then you'll never be happy."You can find out more about Casey in the links below:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseygraham1/Book website: https://dontfail.biz/Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/No-B-S-Small-Business-Book-ebook/dp/B09N9TZTW3

{cue the beat} Guess who's back? Back again. Casey's back...tell a -- {record scratch} Sorry, sorry, sorry. That was uncalled for. We're better than that. We'll leave 2002 alone. But, Casey Graham is back and he's got a lot to say about LinkedIn and why he asks everyone at Gravy Solutions to share their "aspirational intent." Get your pencil and paper ready. You're gonna want to write down the wisdom he's about to drop. Enjoy! _______________ ClayScroggins.com AdamTarnow.com

The Sales Warrior Within | Season 2 Episode 8 - Book Review: The No B.S. Small Business Book by Casey GrahamAndy Olen is a Sales & Leadership Trainer and High-Performance Coach. Andy works with talented salespeople, business teams, and leaders who seek empowerment, improvement, and insight. Andy's clients strive to be the best in class."Good Selling, Good Leading, Good Living." - Andy OlenBook Review: The No B.S. Small Business Book by Casey Graham  - A highly recommended, easy to read, and thought-provoking book with significant business and applicable sales lessonsAndy Olen reviews Casey Graham's business bookBuild your "Owner's Intent" to give your effort focus and purposeDevelop values that connect with your Owner's IntentAndy uses Casey's best practices and shares his work-in-progress "Owner's Intent" for his company Andy applies the lessons from the book to salespeople and encourages sellers to build their Sales Intent and Product/Service IntentA thumb's-up  recommendation to invest your time in Casey's bookConnect with Casey on LinkedInBUY Casey's Book on Amazon.comConnect with Andy OlenAndyOlen.comThe Sales Warrior Within PodcastAndy Olen's Book: The Trilogy of Yes

Buckle up! This is the first of two episodes with the one and only Casey Graham. Casey loves to ask leaders, "Do the people on your team know what you really want?" Can you answer that question without spouting out some corporate mumbo-jumbo? Unfortunately, for far too many leaders, the answer is "no," and Casey believes that needs to change. How can you start to get your answer to that question? It begins by checking out this episode of How to Lead. ___________________________ Click here to check out Casey's new book. ClayScroggins.com AdamTarnow.com

“Bigger vision calls for lighter packing”. This is just one of the 40 lessons in 40 years that Casey Graham, CEO and Founder of Gravy and Command AF shares in this episode of The Revenue Engine podcast. Listen to one of the most hard-hitting, authentic, thought-provoking and inspirational discussions with 4 time company founder Casey Graham as he shares lessons learned, practical advice, and a fresh new perspective on being a leader and being successful in business and in life. Connect with Casey https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseygraham1/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseygraham1/) Connect with Rosalyn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosalyn-santa-elena/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosalyn-santa-elena/) Thanks to Sales IQ Global https://salesiqglobal.com/ (https://salesiqglobal.com/) for powering the Revenue Engine.

What You Will Learn: Casey explains how Gravy's payment recovery solutions work, and why he chose to put employees first as a core part of his organization's culture How Casey and his team set the lofty goal of recovering $1 billion in failed payments by the end of 2023, and how they built their company and strategy around that goal What obstacles and opportunities Casey experienced while quickly scaling beyond $1 million in revenue, and why “Vision as a discipline” has become a core part of his company How Casey learned the importance of having a set and non-negotiable meeting rhythm for his nine-person leadership team Why Gravy's leadership meetings are divided so that half the time is spent on strategy and the other half of the time is spent on team building and trust Why learning to have conversations across the organization was one of the primary skills Casey needed to develop post $1 million Why Gravy's strong culture enables the organization to attract great talent when they put employees first, even before clients or shareholders Why the return on investing in the company's culture is powerful, and why strong culture helps Gravy navigate any challenge they face Why investing in team members and company culture takes intentionality and hard work, and why the rewards make it all worthwhile How Gravy spends a full 7% of their operational budget on developing their culture and people, and why “culture at scale” is a key strategy they are focusing on About Casey Graham Casey Graham is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gravy, the leading failed payment recovery and customer retention solution for recurring revenue companies. Prior to launching Gravy, Casey is known for founding The Rocket Company, an organization that helped church leaders scale their financial leadership and fundraising. The company grew quickly from 2008 – 2015 and was on the Inc 5000 list three years in a row. When faced with a customer churn problem in late 2015, Casey and his team created what would go on to become Gravy. And in 2016, The Rocket Company successfully exited to a venture capital group. Caseys passion for entrepreneurship and bold vision for leadership are the driving force behind his energetic and engaging presence. When he's not actively driving Gravy forward, Casey enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, a good cigar, Alabama football, and riding around on a rented tractor. Resources: Website: www.gravysolutions.io LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/caseygraham1/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/gravysolutions/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/gravysolutions/ Additional Resources: Elite Business Health Assessment: https://growwithelite.com/health Email: info@GrowWithElite.com Website: https://growwithelite.com/

“Great leaders love chaos.”Casey Graham, CEO and Co-Founder of Gravy Solutions, is no doubt one of those leaders. For him, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic meant much more than leading a business through uncertainty. It meant supporting his team and seizing the chaos for what would become opportunity.In February, the company was set to lose nearly $600,000 in the span of four short weeks, and up until recently, Graham says, “Nobody knew Gravy existed. Like, nobody.”A self-proclaimed “people company,” Gravy used the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to be generous to their team members, share more about who they are, and broadcast the vision for their company. And things took off.In this episode of The Wrap, Casey Graham joins our hosts to explain how he and his company navigated and will continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, share the story of his “desert season” as an entrepreneur, convey his approach to leadership and offer advice to other businesses leaders looking to make the most of their roles.

Do you have recurring payments in your business that supplement a percentage of your revenue? You could be missing out on income due to failed payments! Casey Graham created Gravy Solutions when he found that he was loosing 6 figures a year to failed payments in his business from recurring revenue. The solution to this […] The post Episode 134: How to Maximize Recurring Revenue Retention with Casey Graham appeared first on b is for bonnie design | brand design, strategy & education for creative boss ladies.

As you've heard on this podcast, Casey Graham started a business called Gravy that is on a mission to return $1 billion back to small businesses. Casey is now hosting Gravy's new podcast called Gravycast that gives listeners and inside looking at building a billion dollar business. Join us over at Gravycast! 

[Ep 204] My son participates in value debate. The competitors take either the affirmative or negative stance on a resolution and argue for or against it based on a value. The judge determines which side best upholds their value. I've served as a judge for these debates many times, and the more I listen to these clashes, the more I've come to realize we make decisions based on personal values all the time in our everyday lives. Just as an example, I've talked with the kids about this, and let's say they've gotten an invitation to a quiet gathering with close friends where they'll just hang out and chat. But then they receive another invitation on the very same night to a fun activity, like a concert, with people they don't know as well. How do they choose? They can decide based on what they value more: time with close friends doing something quiet or a chance to attend a concert. Which is the higher value at that time in their lives? Personal values form the core of our decisions and are critical to determining our ROI. A Writer's Values As writers, we could take on countless tasks and sign up for numerous activities, all of which bring various results. So we bring in the idea of our return on investment, or ROI. If we invest something of ourselves—time, money, resources, energy—what are we getting back from it? What's the result—the return—on that investment? Our values are behind it all, at the core of our choices. Whether we realize it or not, we inevitably return to our values to determine our ROI. Does any given activity and the investment it requires fit with what we value most? Know Your Values We all have deep-seated values, whether we're aware of them or not and whether we've ever identified them or articulated them or not. They may be high-level, ethical values—like not hurting someone else in your pursuits. Or they may be smaller, personal values, like carving out time each day to exercise. In part one of A Writer's Guide to ROI, I shared how Crystal Paine determined if her time devoted to a task or activity was worth it. For her, the time invested must result in money and helping people—that's how she knows it's worth devoting time to a project or task. She's come to value that as a business owner. What Are Your Values as a Writer? As you see, one of her values is helping people. You may share that value. As a writer, you may long to help people with your ideas and solutions. You may have other values, as well. You may value the satisfaction of producing something creative or taking the risk to delve into a personal struggle so you can share it with others so they might find hope. You may value storytelling as an art form and strive to write beautiful narratives. You may value poetry and commit to daily practice regardless of whether your final versions end up in a literary magazine. Knowing your values helps determine the ROI of an activity. When Values Are Revealed But sometimes your personal values may not be easy to identify. You may not have articulated them. Our values have a way of revealing themselves as we take action. You get to a certain level of success or achievement and realize, wait, this isn't what you thought it was going to require or feel like. This isn't aligning with your values. This isn't what you want. Jeff Goins' Story This happened to Jeff Goins. For years as a blogger, Jeff created content about writing, publishing, and creativity. Over time, he decided to build this part-time pursuit into a business, and it grew. He hired employees and farmed out some of the articles he used to write to other freelancers. But he was stressed out with the work of managing it all. He reached out to Seth Godin, who reminded Jeff that he didn't have to do this—he didn't have to build a business. But if he wanted to build a business, he had to commit to that work. Jeff then reached out to business coach Casey Graham,

In this podcast, Todd sits down with friend Casey Graham to talk about ways to help worship leaders develop multiple income streams.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_057__Taking_Control_Of_Your_Business_With_Kim_Walsh-Phillips.mp3″ title=”7CEO 057: Take Control Of Your Business With Kim Walsh-Phillips” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Kim has two companies that are all about creating ROI for her clients through lead generation. She hates awareness campaigns because for too long she thought you marketed just for awareness, but learned it is all about ROI. You can market through results and not just pay to get your name out there. She founded and runs two companies: Lead Digital Group – generates revenue for companies using social media Elite Capital Advisors – generates seminar attendees for financial advisors She spent 10 years struggling going day to day hoping she could pay the bills and made a change when a friend gave her No B.S. Direct Marketing by Dan Kennedy. She started applying direct response marketing ideas with social media and started seeing great results. Over time she was able to present what she had done to Dan, which led to them writing a book together, No B.S. Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing (his #1 selling book of all time). After 10 years in business and many iterations, they reached the 7-figure mark.   LINKS Elite Digital Group: Connect with Kim & her team No B.S. Direct Marketing by Dan Kennedy & Kim Walsh-Phillips No B.S. Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing by Dan Kennedy & Kim Walsh-Phillips BuzzSumo: Find the most shared content & key influencers Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com   TOP TAKE-AWAYS BREAKING THROUGH 7 FIGURES Kim realized she had to take charge of her life and business. After 10 years in business, she did a few things that helped her & recommends them to other business leaders: Shut Up Your Head Trash – stop telling yourself the story that you can't do it or what people will think when you do do it. We all have things we tell ourselves and mindsets that we must overcome to breakthrough Invest In Education – you have to spend money and time to help you find a different path, new skills and challenge the way you've always done things Position Yourself As The Expert – you have to provide valuable content from your voice and experience every week to your audience Take Control Of Your Prospect Meetings – instead of chasing your leads around, you have to take charge and “prospective client interview” Say “No” To The Wrong Clients – if there are clients you don't want to work with, you have to get rid of them – they're not worth the income & you need more leads so you can replace them Raise Your Prices – price is not an arbitrary number, it should be equal to the value you're providing HOW TO PRICE YOUR PRODUCTS/SERVICES The prices of your products and/or services should be based on the value that you're bringing. You need to be able to prove the value you're providing for the end user to validate their cost. If your prices are too low, the perceived value is low as well and they're more likely to get rid of you or not buy from you again. But, if your prices are higher, they perceived value is higher as well. BE THE EXPERT You have to step and platform yourself as the expert in your niche. You can do this by sharing valuable content to your audience. To learn what people are interested in, use BuzzSumo. That shows you what people are sharing on social media and you can give them exactly what they're looking for. You can create a monthly content calendar using that information. Do not spend time highlighting other people – you become the expert in your field. HIRING THE RIGHT PEOPLE Always make your candidates jump through hoops. That will prove that they are willing to go above and beyond. You need to have a quick Round One in your interview process so you're not wasting a bunch of time. Two tools to use are: Indeed – you can post your job listings and get more applicant leads Acuity Scheduling – that's an online scheduler that helps setup interview calls Kim also gives each new hire 90 days for intense on-boarding. She understands they need time to understand your company and services before they're able to represent them well. And they need time to understand the expectations you have of them. DAILY MEETING & TEAM SYSTEM Kim's team has a very specific system on how they interact on a daily basis. They have a daily meeting that includes the following: Word Of The Day – Each person shares one word that describes how they're feeling Daily Theme – Each day they focus on a different area (Motivation Monday, etc.) Basecamp Review – Each person shares their Basecamp projects for accountability Numbers Review – Each person shares where they stand with their Key Performance Indicators Agenda Items – Someone can add an item to the agenda ahead of time they need to talk about with the team LEARN FROM THE PEOPLE YOU WOULD TRADE PLACES WITH A lot of people will give you advice, but you need to filter through what they're telling you. Listen to the people who you would be willing to trade places with. If you don't like or agree with what their advice has done for them, you probably shouldn't listen to them. Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_056__Beginning_With_The_End_In_Mind_With_Oliver_Billson.mp3″ title=”7CEO 056: Beginning With The End In Mind With Oliver Billson” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Today we're joined by Oliver Billson – a brilliant leader who shares about starting & running multiple 7+ figure businesses. Oli started his entrepreneur journey at 15 years old building & selling custom computers to friends and eventually exporting them outside the United Kingdom. His next business came out of his passion for cars and he eventually dedicated time to learn marketing so he could take control of growing his businesses. That led to teaching people how to market & grow their business using the systems they created to scale their company. He currently spends his time building their full-service marketing agency in the UK that serves businesses worldwide. They broke the 7-figure mark (via monthly run rate) within four months of starting. LINKS OliverBillson.com: Check out the Blog & schedule a call Scaling Up & Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish Traction & Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman Beyond Entrepreneurship by Jim Collins The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com TOP TAKE-AWAYS TEAM ALIGNMENT One of the most important tasks you need to own in your organization is to strategically align your team with the bigger picture of where you're going. That means you need a vision or north star for where you're heading and a mission your team can get behind. Your team will have great success when you're all clear on where you're going and what you're working to accomplish. When you have this, you're able to create a meeting rhythm to practically stay the course & remain aligned, reducing ambiguity. 7-FIGURE CEO SKILLS NEEDED If you're not working to grow your leadership skills as quickly as your business, there will be a problem. The skills that got you to 6-figures are not the same skills you need to get you to 7-figures in your business. You have to develop new skills that will help you lead with control without being controlling. The links section recommends several books that will help you develop the skills needed to lead your business to the next level. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND Knowing the end goal for your business is important, but it's also key when you think about how you want new leads to interact with you. Before you create a new marketing campaign, it's important to start with what you ultimately want them to do – book a sales call, sign a contract, visit your business, etc. Once you know that, you can then decide what it is you need from them when they first make contact with you. One of the most successful ways Oliver's team makes this happen for them & their clients is using Facebook Lead Ads. Most people are using Facebook daily and you can get your message in front of them easily and cheaply, gather their information, drive them to relevant content & get them to take the next step with your business. FUNNEL DESIGN FORMULA FOR MAXIMUM RESULTS FINISH: What's the end? What do you want people to do? START: Where do people start? How are you first interacting with them? MILESTONES: What milestones do they go through to get to the end? CONTINGENCY: How do we get people back to the milestones so we can keep them moving forward? IMPLEMENTATION IS THE BRIDGE Implementation is the bridge that takes you from feeling stuck in your business to getting the results you want. You must be able to implement what you're learning to break through to the next level. Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_055__Self-Sabotaging_Your_Business_With_David_Bayer.mp3″ title=”7CEO 055: Self-Sabotaging Your Business With David Bayer” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] After David Bayer graduated from college, he created an online business to sell posted for college dorm rooms. That led to him doing internet marketing for Ducati Bikes as they launched, as well as starting a company that built out a network of financial service sites using SEO. He went through a very difficult time with substance abuse and depression that led him down the path of studying the patterns of the human mind and behavior. So in the past two years, he's worked to create David Bayer Business as a coaching and training company which works with entrepreneurs to develop an invincible mindset and teach them the tactics and strategies to be successful in business. The belief is that success in business is based on your mindset, so when you get a healthy mindset, you are able to better set yourself up for success. They quickly grew past the 7-figure mark and are one of the fastest growing companies in the personal development space. LINKS Free Ebook: Mind Hack: The 4 Mental Habits of the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs 7CEO Episode 037: How To Use Speaking To Grow Past 7 Figures With Pete Vargas Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com TOP TAKE-AWAYS YOUR BRAIN IS GOAL-ACHIEVING ORIENTED The core of your operating system is your brain and your beliefs determine what your life will create because your brain simply wants to achieve what it believes is right and true. Your perception of the world and your decisions are changed based on your core beliefs. So it's important to align what you believe with the vision of the future you want to create. INCONGRUENCE LEADS TO SELF-SABOTAGE You can literally miss opportunities because of the beliefs you have and the decisions you've made about certain things. For instance, if when you were young you heard your parents argue about money, you likely decided that money causes problems. As you go through life, your core belief that money causes problems manifests itself when you're faced with any situations related to money, likely causing you to miss opportunities. It becomes automatic thinking until you decide to reprogram your brain and beliefs. CHANGE YOUR AUTOMATIC THINKING & REPROGRAM The first two steps to reprogram your brain and core beliefs are: Understand you have automatic thinking happening in your life and become aware of what that thinking is Create new thoughts and believes that align with the future you want Instead of asking, “Why am I stuck in my business?” ask questions like, “How am I not stuck? What am I doing that is working for me? How am I perfectly as far along as I should be right now?” THE POWER OF IMAGINATION Based on psychological studies, our brains do not understand the difference between reality and imagination. Thinking about “How” to achieve your preferred future stops you from achieving it. If you think you need to know the how to create something, you won't be able to imagine it. You won't imagine something that you don't have the answer to how for it if you believe the how is required. Therefore you must not focus on the “how” and begin to imagine. When you imagine, your brain physically changes which inspires new thoughts and ideas that become the “how”. If you can realize you don't need to know the how and make decisions about how your life will be, you will be able to imagine it and create mental pictures of it, which allow you to move forward rapidly. THE TWO STATES OF BEING There are only two states of being and you can only be in one or the other: Beautiful State – joy, calm, peace, excitement Suffering State – boredom, anxiety, overwhelm, jealousy Suffering is only caused by your own thinking. Suffering is separate from the experience and you have the ability to change your thinking that will put you in a beautiful state instead. So you have to proactively change your mind and thinking. Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_054__Grow_With_Webinars_With_Mariah_Coz.mp3″ title=”7CEO 054: How To Explode Your Business With Webinars With Mariah Coz” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Mariah Coz is the founder of Femtrepreneur – a company that helps entrepreneurs with digital products and premium programs that help with the creation of online courses. The courses are typically geared for small niches where they can create a big difference and impact in that industry. She created her first online course about how to live in a vintage camper that was very successful. Based on her success of this course and the online marketing of it, she started Femtrepreneur. Within 3 years, they're on track to be a $3MM business. Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com LINKS Contact Mariah Coz: Website Podcast – TheFemShow.com Social Media: @MariahCoz – Twitter Scrum: The Art Of Doing Twice The Work In Half The Time – Amazon Profit First: A Simple System To Transform Any Business From A Cash-Eating Monster To A Money-Making Machine – Amazon The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear And Take Life To The Next Level – Amazon DotCom Secrets: The Underground Playbook For Growing Your Company Online – Amazon Ketogenic Diet TOP TAKE-AWAYS JOINT VENTURE WEBINARS Mariah credits the success of her fast-growing business to doing joint venture webinars. These are webinars hosted by both parties – so each person with an audience is on the webinar, promotes it to their audience and sells their products. They created product bundles that sold and produced a lot of revenue. This was the most successful thing to get started and she focused on doing this only. STOP DOING LIST You have to recognize what provides the most ROI for your time and your business. And then STOP doing everything else. Your success will be dependent on your ability to say “NO”. HIRING FOR YOUR TEAM Hire people because you see they have real talent and can bring something to your team. Once they're on the team, take 30-60 days to notice what they are specifically talented or skilled to do. That may mean they change roles or get added responsibility. Hiring the right people to fill the right roles will help you position yourself as the leader/CEO to do what only you can do – and what you enjoy doing. WEBINAR PROCESS TO PROMOTE SALES & GROW YOUR BUSINESS One of the best ways you can promote your products and brand is to do a webinar. It's a perfect platform to showcase what you're selling and create revenue. There are great systems and templates you can get (from Mariah here) and plug in to your business. You don't have to create anything from scratch when it comes to webinars and they can provide a big boost in your business. Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_053__Think_Bigger_With_Zach_Smith_and_Thomas_Alvord.mp3″ title=”7CEO 053: Think Bigger With Zach Smith and Thomas Alvord” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Zach Smith and Thomas Alvord of Funded Today join us in this episode from Utah. Zach is the CEO and Co-Founder and has been in sales and the digital space for about 10 years. Thomas was in law school when he became intrigued with digital marketing. He used his background and skills most recently working on the political campaigns of Ted Cruz and Ben Carson building email lists using digital marketing. Zach and Thomas decided to join forces about 2.5 years ago and now Funded Today is the world's largest crowd-funding platform – a place for someone with an idea to raise money to get the process started for their new product or idea. In 2.5 years, they've raised $110 Million and exceeded the 7-figure market quickly. Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com TOP TAKE-AWAYS MAKE THE NUMBERS MEANINGFUL It's important to have key metrics you look at and hold your team accountable and visibility to review them at any time. In general, entrepreneurs live off gut while CEOs live off dashboards. The larger your company the more important it is to have clear, accurate data to be able to make informed decisions. Keeping up with numbers will also allow you to view month over month and year over year data for good comparisons. PARETO PRINCIPLE (80/20) Pareto Principle implies that only 20% of your efforts produce 80% of your results. This principle makes knowing your numbers so important. You have to know your metrics – the one you care the most about and a few others that help lead you to that number. This principle is true regardless of what industry you are in or what type of product or service you're selling. YOUR TARGET MARKET The first thing you must decide when selling is your target market. Ask the questions: Who is your market? How big is the market? How fast is it growing? Can you be the leader in the market? Once you have the right marketplace, you can systematize your sales process so that more than just you can sell your product/service. You elevate yourself by letting go of the sales and empower others to run the sales. Once you have someone else running sales, determine what other products or services you could offer that compliment your core offering. HOW TO THINK BIGGER IN YOUR BUSINESS Use Thomas and Zach's SLCRR approach to ask the questions to generate new ideas and ways to increase sales, profits and value. S – Services – what other services can we sell? L – Leads – what can we do to get more visitors? C – Close – how can we close more leadss? R – Results – how can we create greater results to add more value for our clients? R – Repeat – how can you get repeat business? Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_052__Lead_Generation_With_Vince_Reed.mp3″ title=”7CEO 052: Lead Generation With Vince Reed” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Vince Reed became an internet marketing junkie in 2007 during the real estate market collapse when he needed to make a career change just to pay the bills. He learned lead generation and created three companies around what he learned. He recently sold one of those marketing companies and now focuses on teaching entrepreneurs how to drive traffic to their business through the major online platforms available (i.e., Google, Facebook, etc.). He loves empowering entrepreneurs to control the flow of their business leads believing leads are the lifeblood of every business. Each of his companies grew beyond the 7-figure mark.   LINKS Connect with Vince Reed – Facebook Internet Traffic Factory – Website Vince's New Book Internet Traffic And Leads – Amazon Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com   TOP TAKE-AWAYS THE VALUE YOU OFFER You have to pay attention to what your customers want and allow that to dictate what you're offering them and how much they're willing to pay. Even if you're not changing the price they pay, you might be able to change the way you explain the value they receive and grow your business. RAISING UP TEAM MEMBERS One of the best ways to get new team members and even business partners, is to offer them an internship initially. That will allow you to see how serious they are, what they're capable of and how well you work together. The important thing to remember is to allow people room to grow and escalate in your business. ABOVE AND BEYOND VALUE For all your customers, you need to ensure you're able to provide more and more value. To scale, you need to focus on the people who are already paying you and interested in what you have to sell and the value you can add. You can be smart about marketing your products and services just to your existing customers (using Facebook ads, etc.). Getting something physical into the hands of your customers (i.e., book, gift, letter, etc.) will help them remember you and keep you top of mind as someone who adds value to their lives and businesses. All you really need to reach 7 figures in revenue is to win over your existing customers! That provides the depth to your business that makes your lead flow more valuable. DRIVING TRAFFIC Learn how to drive traffic to your business yourself – no one will care as much about your business as you do! You can hire an agency or have someone in-house to do it, but you need to understand how to do it yourself first. Regardless of how good your sales funnel is, if you don't have any one to sell to, it won't do you any good. You can get better results doing it yourself versus paying an agency, even if you mess up and don't get results right away. The amount you pay an agency can be used as ad spend! KNOW YOUR NUMBERS One of the most important things you can do is know your critical numbers. You have to know what's going on in your business – with leads, sales and customers. Some to look at are page views, leads, conversion rates on sales funnels, and customer value (leading indicators). By knowing the numbers, you can work to do better month after month. CHECK YOUR EGO You have to put your ego aside and realize that unless you're a billionaire you have NOT arrived – you have something to learn and can learn from anyone. Go to events, join a mastermind, read books, ask someone to mentor you.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_051__Sticky_Business_With_Benj_Miller.mp3″ title=”7CEO 051: Sticky Business With Benj Miller” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Benj Miller is a serial entrepreneur – I call him the “Atlanta Richard Branson” – he has three businesses over the 7-Figure mark with a fourth on its way! He is passionate about helping small business owners build their businesses and provide the assets they need for growth. 1. Syrup Marketing works with companies ($3-30MM revenue) to help them understand their brand and visualize it and take it to market with digital marketing services. 2. CodeSmith Development is custom software development and integrating multiple softwares to help companies work more effectively. 3. Transcend is a commercial real estate brokerage that helps small companies find office space that reflects their company culture and mission. 4. Traxion is a SaaS platform for companies that run EOS. LINKS Connect with Benj Miller – Website Twitter LinkedIn EOS Model – entrepreneurial operating system – Traction by Gino Wickman Toggl – app to track what you do to create your “Stop Doing” list Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com TOP TAKE-AWAYS STOP DOING LIST Syrup began in 2004 as a way for Benj to quit his job as a creative director and start his own company. In 2009, the company grew 300% and by 2012, they broke the 7-Figure revenue mark. One of the best decisions he made was to elevate another leader in the company to run the day-to-day operations of the business. Benj realized he was a great visionary, but not a good operator. With that decision, he was able to do what he was best in the world at and empower others to do what they're good at. Ultimately you're going “CEOs are a tuxedo in the front and a hospital gown in the back”. The quicker we can turn over to others the things we're not good at, the better our company and team environment will be. HIRING TIPS Force yourself into pessimism – look for the reasons to NOT hire someone. Then if you do hire them, you know where they will need coaching. Realize what gear they work – make sure you're hiring people that work in the same gear as you. You don't want someone that will cover more or less ground than you will in a given day. Be thorough with what you expect for the job. One way to do this is to walk through an exercise with them that could take a while, but will be beneficial in the long run! Provide a list of the roles and responsibilities you expect from the new hire Ask them to chart how they rate themselves at each role and responsibility of the job (How well they like it and how well they would perform it Ask them, “How do you think we should measure how well you're doing at each of these roles and responsibilities?” and create their performance measurements together. MUST-HAVE BUSINESS PROCESS Understanding who you are as a business is the most important thing you can do for your business. Asking who you are, what you do, who you serve, etc. are the most important questions you can answer before you spend money on any other thing to grow your business. You have to start with who you are and who you are helping with your product and/or service. Going through this exercise every 3 years is crucial to continued growth. KEY METRICS In addition to looking at your financial reports regularly, you need to define and measure the most important numbers in your business. For example: 1. Magic Number – Future Revenue divided by Fixed Monthly Operating Costs (tells you how long of a runway you have if you don't sell another contract or product) 2. GAP Number – The amount required to hit your profitability goal for the month Having key numbers like this will simplify what you're looking at and keep you on track.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_050__Prioritizing_Your_Day_with_Bryan_Miles.mp3″ title=”7CEO 050: Prioritizing Your Day With Bryan Miles” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Bryan Miles is the Co-Founder and CEO of Belay Solutions (formerly Miles Advisory Group with brands eaHelp, MAG Bookkeeping). He and his wife, Shannon, started Belay a few years ago as a virtual services organization to serve leaders around the country. They live in Georgia with their 11-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. Bryan joins us for a second interview to take a look at the more personal side of being an entrepreneur and CEO. Check out his first episode here, as well as his wife Shannon's here. LINKS Bryan's first episode on The 7-Figure CEO Podcast: Episode 2 Bryan and Shannon's Virtual Services Organization: Belay Solutions Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com TOP TAKE-AWAYS As many business owners have, Bryan has dealt with anxiety due to the stress of running a business (i.e., payroll, growth, decisions, etc.). A few years ago he made a decision to change his approach to leading his business and prioritize his personal life and health. As owners, we have to acknowledge we have limits as humans. We have to be willing to say “No” and pass up opportunities that may seem good, but don't fit what we ultimately value and want to accomplish. We must also realize there will be times things aren't going to go as planned and we must make decisions how we will handle them so they don't crush us. OWN THE BUSINESS INSTEAD OF RUN THE BUSINESS One of the best decisions Bryan made is to empower people to lead and run the business, so he and Shannon don't have to be involved in the day-to-day operations. They have brought in and raised up leaders that run operations while they are able to work in their strengths. One of the best ways they've done this is taught their team how to be better problem solvers than themselves. They've helped their team learn that a problem doesn't get presented to them unless they have a few solutions to present as well. This is a great way to get out of the operations of your company. PRIORITIZING YOUR DAY Bryan also shares how he and his team prioritize their day, which can transform how you schedule your day and actually accomplish the important things in your business. Each day, write down three tasks in each of the following categories: – MUST – you must do these tasks today – SHOULD – you should do these tasks today – COULD – you could do these tasks today You complete the “MUST” tasks before you begin working on the “SHOULD” tasks and the “SHOULD” tasks before you begin working on the “COULD” tasks.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_049-Your_Perfect_Day_With_Andy_Levine.mp3″ title=”7CEO 049: Your Perfect Day with Andy Levine” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Andy Levine started his company, Sixthman, 15 years ago which takes fans and bands on vacation together on cruise ships. He sold it in 2012 and continued to run it until 2016 when he stepped into the role of Chairman. He was a previous guest of the podcast on episode 28. Today we're taking a different approach to the podcast and talking about some more personal stuff that leaders of an organization deal with. Andy shares about how he has developed a rhythm for his days that is best for him, his family and his leadership. LINKS Andy's first episode on The 7-Figure CEO Podcast: Episode 28 Productive App – Productive habits and daily goals tracker Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com Apply for a Breakthrough Call with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Action   TOP TAKE-AWAYS Andy journaled for a year and logged what he did with his time and what was going on with his family. He started on the journey to help build the optimal day for him and his family. He used his phone to write about 300 words a day to describe what happened during the day, how he spent his time and how the day went. Through this he developed an ideal rhythm for him. YOUR PERFECT DAY IN THREE PARTS 1. MORNINGS FOR ME – Exercise – Crossfit, Yoga, swimming or running – Learning – Listening to a podcast or reading – Music – Playing guitar or piano – Mindfulness – Identify five things, touch four things, pick out three unique sounds, two unique smells and one unique taste (which helps with anxiety) – Nutrition – Make a good food choice first thing in the morning To Business Owners and Entrepreneurs: You CAN take time for you! You don't have to buy into the idea that you have to work so hard that you neglect yourself and those you love! If you're leading people, you're going to do a better job if you show up feeling confident about yourself and ready to connect with and lead people! You don't have to always be the first person in the office! Anxiety is a big issue that entrepreneurs go through and maybe it's a result of a noisier, busy world that our bodies aren't able to process everything that's coming in. Physical exercise is one of the best therapies for anxiety. 2. DAYS FOR OTHERS Each of us have gifts that should be used to help others. As the leader of an organization, you should plan to spend the first hours of your day serving others – helping them achieve their weekly wins. You can also invest in your customers to serve them! If you're investing in yourself first then you will have the energy and bandwidth to serve others for a few hours. It's also very important to expand your network and go out and meet with people. Through getting out of your everyday, office routine to meet with others and go to conferences, you help others, hear of opportunities, and innovate new ideas for your business and life. 3. NIGHTS FOR US This is meeting your family or loved ones in a shared orbit of interest. Ask your loved ones what they enjoy doing just with you? By asking them you take the guess work out of how to best love your family and friends. By showing initiative, you communicate they are important. There are three big relationships we have that should be prioritized. Create a daily rhythm to take care of these relationships and that works well for you! 1. Ourselves
 – This is probably the hardest relationship because we know everything about us. 2. Others – customers, employees, peers 3. Significant relationships – those you love and friends   Feeling Stuck In Your Business? I'm currently offering free 30-minute Breakthrough Calls to help business owners, presidents and CEOs with their current business challenge. If you have over $400K in annual revenue and would like help, schedule your free Breakthrough Call today.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_048__How_To_Scale_Your_Business_With_Cindy_Eagar_From_Infusionsoft_Elite_Programs.mp3″ title=”7CEO 048: How To Scale Your Business With Cindy Eagar From Infusionsoft Elite Programs” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Today we're flipping the mic and my friend, Cindy Eagar from Infusionsoft is interviewing me. Infusionsoft is best know for it's small business automated marketing software. While they sell software, they're really on a mission to help small businesses succeed. One of the avenues they do this through the Elite Programs, which Cindy runs. LINKS Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com Elite Programs Stages Of Business: Text STAGES to 72000 to receive the follow-up for this conversations on the 7 stages of a business. Apply for a Breakthrough Call with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Action   INTERVIEW Cindy: How did you come up with the idea for The Rocket Company? Casey: I was on staff at a church and I saw a huge need to fill the gap of very practical steps to lead a healthy church – raising money, recruiting volunteers. After two years of talking about with my wife, I left my position at the church and started my own business. Cindy: Did you go after your passion/dream? Casey: Totally. My dream was never to build a big company. I just wanted to help people. As a result of helping enough people, we ended up building a company. I didn't know anything about digital marketing and the stages of business. Cindy: What did you end up doing in business that you didn't think about when you started the company? Casey: I hate administration – the follow up of calls and quotes were awful. I had sheets of paper everywhere. That's part of how I found Infusionsoft. The numbers and finances were rough too. I also didn't think about the weight of having employees and the responsibility of payroll when I started – the stress was more than I ever thought. I was passionate about the work, but hated the business of it. Cindy: Who did you hire first? Casey: A part-time assistant and part-time bookkeeper. These were the roles I was worst at and needed help. I would verbally close a deal, but had issues getting contracts signed and invoices sent so they would pay me. I needed help. Cindy: What didn't you know that you didn't know at that time? Casey: I didn't know how to effectively lead people – as a visionary, I would have a new idea everyday and was wearing out my team because they never knew what was going to happen next. I didn't know anything about email or automated marketing. We grew to $550,000 revenue without ever sending an email to our list. Cindy: Did you ever think, “I don't want to grow because that just means more of the same problems”? Casey: Absolutely. If four people were confused, I couldn't imagine having 40 people and the destruction that would come. Our only focus before coming to Elite Forum was SALES SALES SALES. We didn't have any structure and the only number we cared about was sales – I didn't know about customer lifetime value and the other ways to grow a healthy company. Cindy: What changed for you? How did you transition to a structure in your company that grew? Casey: Pain! The sales grew in spite of us. We were first to market with automated marketing, so there was a bit of luck on our side. We grew to a million in sales and that's when I came to Elite Forum. I was on a webinar and you guys were talking about a meeting rhythm…all I knew was to wake up, tell people what to do and make sales. And honestly it was working with our sales numbers. But I knew there had to be a better way and the meeting rhythm intrigued me. Cindy: Many entrepreneurs feel like they're allergic to meetings. Did you feel that way too about them? 
 Casey: I definitely hate sitting around and wasting my time with a pointless meeting. But, when we came to Elite Forum, Clate and the team leading the meetings explained the meeting rhythm as a way to take the vision of your company and make it a reality. Cindy: I imagine you were doing this naturally though – you're a visionary. Casey: I did, but I did it quarterly. And I was driving the team crazy because I was dreaming with them and it was just chaos. The meeting rhythm was life- and company-altering. We learned from you how to set a vision and values and mission as a company. Then setting annual priorities that lead to what we're focusing on monthly and daily. Cindy: I love your term “visionary arsonist” – you would bring new ideas all the time and not moving in one direction. Were you frustrated – thinking you had the wrong people on the team or what? Casey: Of course. Sometimes I thought it was me and other times I thought it was the team. It just felt like chaos all the time. If you don't know the why (purpose) behind the goal you're going after (mission), then your team members won't care about reaching the goal. Cindy: What did you do to get the right people on the team? And how did you keep them motivated and in the right direction? Casey: Yeah…it's hard! We were trying to get A+ people on a C+ budget. But…when you have a strong purpose, values and mission, it's very attractive to people when you're trying to recruit them. Even stronger is to have a job profile that connects the person with what they're doing to how it makes a difference to the mission. People will be willing to work for you for less when they can connect the dots with something they believe in. Clarity attracts the right people and it repels the wrong people which speeds up the hiring process and keeps you from wasting your time and theirs. Cindy: Looking back – do you have a story about landing someone you didn't ever think you could get on the team? Casey: Oh yeah. I recruited a guy for two years and towards the end of the recruitment period, I invited him to our annual planning retreat. He came and helped us plan the next year and afterwards decided he wanted to be a part. He was able to see exactly what we were doing and what his role would be. Cindy: We do that at Infusionsoft too – we ask candidates to come consult with us for three months and five years later they're now working here. You do a lot of interviews on your podcast – what would you say is the biggest difference between a 7-figure and 8-figure CEO? Casey: The 7-figure CEO still likes to be in control. The 8-figure CEO likes to have people who are in control. An interview I just did with an 8-figure CEO said you need to own the business, but not run the business. The 7-figure CEOs often are still doing things they're not gifted at and that they should be giving away to someone else on the team. Cindy: So how do you process and transition from the 7-figure to 8-figure CEO? There's mindset you have to change, but what are the tangibles to letting go of control and empowering others to run the company? Casey: Three things: 1. Nail down Purpose, Values and Mission and how that connects to your operations. You have to get those out of your head, communicated and visible to your team and hiring to those for every role in order to breakthrough. 2. Hire and develop a leadership team. You need people who can make decisions and manage their own P&Ls. They are likely experienced and will cost more, but they will be able to lead the people who are doing the work. 3. You need a meeting rhythm – a structure that will create control for your team so you don't have to control everything. Nothing changed my business more than that one process. Cindy: At what stage do you need to recruit other leaders into the business? Casey: As you approach the 7-figure mark, you need to be recruiting people and then bring them on after you hit a million in sales. Cindy: How did you get excited about your day once you were doing less and leading more? Casey: I had much more fun when I accepted the fact that it was my role to motivate the team around our purpose, mission and values. It was a transition when my to do list was a lot shorter, but I enjoyed it more and more. I evaluated my job based on how the company did at accomplishing our goals, not did I get everything done on my to do list. Cindy: After working with so many business owners, what do you see as the biggest lie entrepreneurs tell themselves? Casey: They say, “It's going to get better.” Whether it's about the team member they've have issues with or getting to the next revenue level. Things don't just get better and hoping they will is NOT going to work. If you don't address the issues, they don't just go away. Every day the leader has to step up, even when it's tough, and make the decisions to make things better. Things don't get better unless you get better as the leader. Cindy: So, it's about taking action and taking responsibility. Casey: Yes. Our tendency is to blame the market or people, but the reality is the buck stops with you, the leader. You may not be able to fix it today, but you can address it today and start moving. Another lie is that a bigger business is a better business. A bigger business is more responsibility and risk than even when you stepped out to start the business because you have more to lose and more people on the team. All your problems aren't solved when your business grows, they're solved when you solve them! Cindy: What kind of lies do you tell yourself? Casey: I tell myself that I suck. I say, “Maybe I just got lucky” because I'm scared that maybe my best days are behind me. Cindy: How do you manage the self-doubt and keep going? Casey: If I'm left alone, it gets worse. I have anxiety and depression, so I have the manage those with exercise, counseling. Working out helps me feel good about myself, which improves my state. Being able to talk with a counselor and admitting what I'm feeling gets it out of my system and releases it. Being with friends and not isolating myself is huge for me. It reminds me that I got in to business so I could have the freedom to experience life with my family and friends. Cindy: When you focus on these life hacks to help manage your self-doubt things seems to be better? Casey: Yes. When I take responsibility for what I'm thinking and choosing not to have expectations of others, things change because you change. Cindy: When you were building The Rocket Company, what did you have to say no to so you could focus on growing the company? In your career, family, hobbies, etc.? Casey: During the early stages, I said no to myself most often, which was totally unhealthy. I was obsessed with growing it. So I've had to recover a bit by my drive where my soul suffered. I was doing crazy stuff in order to keep the business alive. I had to fire the staff in one day because the account balance was low and the line of credit was tapped out. I outsourced the business operations to the Philippines and flew there with our last money in the bank. Because of the time difference, I would work all day and then all night when they were working to make sure our customers were taken care of. It was just crazy! I said no to friends and missed a lot of stuff that I really care about. Cindy: Was it worth it? Casey: Some of it. I have regrets about the things I missed like missing my daughter's preschool Daddy Night because I was sitting in a hotel in another state. Those are the things I sacrificed that I regret. The flip-side is that now I get to take my daughter on an annual trip. Cindy: All we have is the present, so right now, what do you do to deal with some of the regrets you have? Casey: I would say I don't dwell on them even when they come back. I feel the regret for a moment and then I just decide to change it. Pain motivates me to take action more than anything. So if I hate the way things feel, I will take action. Cindy: What are you most proud of? Casey: I think I'm most proud of the people who I've had the opportunity to work with that have enjoyed what they were able to do and enjoyed their time working with us. We don't always get it right and it's not a perfect place to work, but I'm proud of providing a great, learning environment for people. I'm proud of my daughter who is a hungry learning and loves entrepreneurship. I'm proud of my son who loves taking care of people. Cindy: Let's do some rapid fire questions…1. What's one thing you do everyday? Casey: I text about Alabama football with two of my best friends. 365. Cindy: 2. What's the most money you've ever spent on yourself at one time for coaching? Casey: $25,000 at once Cindy: 3. What's one goal you're working on right now? Casey: Buying industrial real estate that has amazing recurring revenue that will be around for years to come. Cindy: 4. What's one bad habit you have? Casey: Talking bad about myself Cindy: 5. What's the best advice you've ever been given? Casey: My mentor helped me see that I was a manipulator and helped me see the real reason for life and what brings the most joy was helping others. Instead of kicking me out, he took me under his wing to mentor me and gave me a chance in his organization. When I look back, I realize that when I started businesses to help people that's when the business was most successful. Casey: Let's talk about Elite Forum a little bit. What is it? What do they get to experience? Cindy: Elite Forum is about transitioning from doing everything to having people who do things. It's like an intervention for controlling entrepreneurs. We give them tools to let go with confidence. We teach the way Infusionsoft grew from $1MM to $10MM – from hiring to meeting rhythm. Elite Forum is an event at Infusionsoft headquarters for business leaders who want to grow their companies. It's amazing to see the transition in the business owners to implement what they learn and empower people in the organization to think and act like owners as well. Casey: If someone wants to take the step to learn about it and come, what can they do? Cindy: If you text STAGES to 72000, we will share with you the STAGES of business we've discovered and how to get to the next stage. You'll get a PDF and video from our CEO, Clate Mask, explaining the stages and helping you determine where you are. 
Casey: Elite Forum changed the direction of our business and even my life and I highly recommend you checking it out and connecting with Cindy about their programs.   Feeling Stuck In Your Business? I'm currently offering free 30-minute Breakthrough Calls to help business owners, presidents and CEOs with their current business challenge. If you have over $400K in annual revenue and would like help, schedule your free Breakthrough Call today.  

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_047-Building_Your_Target_Audience_With_Brian_Clark.mp3″ title=”7CEO 047: Building Your Target Audience With Brian Clark” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Brian Clark is the CEO and Founder of Rainmaker Digital which “provides tools and training for content marketers and digital entrepreneurs”. They're the company behind Copyblogger, StudioPress, and Rainmaker Platform. Initially, they built individual companies that reached 7 figures or more that were eventually rolled into one company (Rainmaker Digital) in order to provide a holistic solution for entrepreneurs and content marketer. They currently have 65 employees, most of them virtual, and they ran $12 million in 2015 revenue. Brian is an 18-year veteran of online businesses. He started out as a business lawyer, but didn't enjoy his profession and quit to start his own company in 1998. He realized the potential of the internet and combined it with his passion for writing. He grew an audience and email list by writing about pop culture and things he loved, but didn't know how to monetize what he was doing. So, he transferred his efforts and created content and a service-based business around his business law skills. He was doing content marketing before it was called that. He learned by watching other businesses and marketers, teaching himself marketing and copywriting. By 2005, he was well over 7 figures, but was burned out and doing all the work himself.   LINKS Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com Rainmaker Digital: http://rainmakerdigital.com/ Permission Marketing by Seth Godin: http://www.sethgodin.com/permission/ MyCopyblogger (free training for content marketers and entrepreneurs): http://my.copyblogger.com/ Rainmaker Platform: http://rainmakerplatform.com/ Apply for a Breakthrough Call with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Action   LEARNINGS Building A Company That Will Last You have to be willing to say “No” to 98% of opportunities that come to you so you stay true to your long-term success of really helping solve the problems of your audience. There will be plenty of opportunities that come along that seem like good options and could generate quick profits, but may ultimately hinder the bigger vision of your company. You must determine what you're motivated by and stay true to what you want to build. Begin with the end in mind. Having Low Employee Attrition The majority of Brian's employees and partnerships came from the audience he created with the valuable content they continued to release. All but three of his hires have worked out in the last 18 years and he credits that rare success mostly to how well-aligned people are with the values of the company when they're hired. People knew what they were getting when they were hired because they already knew so much about the company and culture Brian built. Process-Driven Business Most entrepreneurs are not process-driven. In order to scale a business, you'll need to create processes and often times that requires bringing in someone who it process-oriented. As the entrepreneur, you'll need to be willing and open to adopt a new way of doing business. Getting Your Business Growth Unstuck Often many businesses get stuck because they try to use the same marketing message and strategies that got them to their current success. Oftentimes, to continue growing, you must change and pivot your message to reach a different crowd. You often can sell to the “low hanging fruit” one way, but will have to change your message to reach the next sphere of potential customers. You should start with this smaller change before you scrap your product and try to reinvent what you're doing. Email Is Not Dead The stats still show the most effective sales engine is email. Email marketing is not going away anytime soon. So the most important activity of your business regardless of industry is collecting email addresses. Who Is Your Target Audience? You need to narrow down your audience to a small group of people who relate with what you're talking about. Your message should be polarizing to attract the exact right person and the rest of people should either ignore your message or be turned off by it. If you try to appeal to a broad audience you will fail.   Feeling Stuck In Your Business? I'm currently offering free 30-minute Breakthrough Calls to help business owners, presidents and CEOs with their current business challenge. If you have over $400K in annual revenue and would like help, schedule your free Breakthrough Call today.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_046__Effective_People_Management_with_Yuri_Elkaim.mp3″ title=”7CEO 046: Effective People Management With Yuri Elkaim” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Yuri Elkaim was propelled into the health, fitness and well-being industry after going through some medical circumstances he faced at a young age. He had a rebellious, entrepreneurial personality and decided to start his own company to help people become healthy. In his first year, he made $6,000 online working part-time. After four years, they broke the 7-figure mark. Over the years he has published three books, including a New York Times best seller, and now coaches wellness and health professionals to grow their businesses. He has a vision to reach a billion healthy people on the planet.   LINKS Connect With Yuri: YuriElkaim.com Download “The Idea Filter†: Healthpreneurgroup.com Upwork (online freelance platform): https://www.upwork.com/ Groove HQ (simple help desk software): https://www.groovehq.com/ Apply for a Breakthrough Call with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Action Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com   Take-Aways How Do You Set A Good Goal The point of setting a goal is not that you get the exact right number, but that you set a direction for yourself and your company to start moving. Focus more on setting things into motion than making sure you have the precise goal or number in front of you. 2. Recruiting A Team When you first begin you will likely be doing a lot of work and handling most of the details. But as you grow, it’s important recruit a team so you will be doing what you’re best at and what gives you the most energy. 3. Getting Unstuck One of the best things you can do to get unstuck in your business, leadership and life is to get out of your normal routine and meet new people. You can connect with other industry leaders at conferences and meet ups. These relationships can lead to mentors and ideas to help you move beyond your current place in life and business. 4. Hiring In A 7-Figure Business Yuri attributes low turnover to hiring people that are deeply passionate about their industry, plus providing a flexible schedule with clearly defined results they are expected to hit. They tend to hire people who are young, committed to growing and learning and developing their skills and particular craft. The most important part of hiring is to start with a very clear job profile so you know who you’re looking for. You can go to sites like Upwork to find a people, as well as ask your customers and team members who they know. Verne Harnish teaches “the organization’s biggest weakness is the CEO’s biggest strengthâ€. To make your business stronger, you must be willing to give away the responsibilities and results that are your strengths. That will create a well-rounded organization that’s not dependent on you. 5. Have A Defined Meeting Rhythm Schedule a Weekly Team Meeting: Thirty minutes to recap a success from the previous week, review key metrics, highlight a customer story, look at the week ahead and evaluate the progress of quarterly goals. Be cautious that you’re not meeting your people to death. The best way to do that is to lead by numbers and review those once a week. Effectively Managing People For Results The best way to manage your people well is to setup Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each role. These are the most important results they are consistently working towards. KPIs are the 3-5 most important metrics that help move your business forward. Example KPIs include: New daily opt-ins, unique visits to blog via search (non-paid), average time on website, ROI on ad spend, membership retention/churn rate Cash Is King It’s important to stay connected to your financials and review reports regularly. For example, daily sales, cash flow report for what’s expected for income and expenses and monthly financial reviews. Yuri has decided to save 10% of all sales to make sure they’re able to tackle any issues they face. Another idea is to save three month’s operating expenses.   Feeling Stuck In Your Business? I'm currently offering free 30-minute Breakthrough Calls to help business owners, presidents and CEOs with their current business challenge. If you have over $400K in annual revenue and would like help, schedule your free Breakthrough Call today.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_045-8_Non-Negotiables_Of_Business_Finance_With_Casey_Graham.mp3″ title=”7CEO 045: The 8-Non-Negotiables Of Business Finance With Casey Graham” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] How do you take control of your business finances without spending a bunch more time you don't have and reduce your stress? After starting & selling multiple companies, including a three-peat INC 5000 business, Casey Graham has put together “The 8 Non-Negotiables Of Business Finance” and he shares them in this recent training for business owners, Presidents and CEOs.   LINKS Apply for a Breakthrough Call with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Action Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com   The 8 Non-Negotiables of Business Finance 1. Take Responsibility While you may not be an accountant or certified financial planner, you still must take responsibility for your personal and business finances. Casey learned this the hard way and ended up with a surprise tax bill one year because he wasn't engaged in the finances of the business. You must make a commitment to keep your eye on the finances and the system outlined in the following non-negotiables. 2. You Don't Have To Do It All Yourself Just because you're responsible doesn't mean you have to do all the work.  There are three people you need to create a financial system that will work for you. 1. Bookkeeper – this person pays the bills, handles data entry and keeps things organized 2. Controller – this person takes the date provided by the bookkeeper and creates reports that mean something for you and your business. They interpret the information and help you see what happened in the future as well as forecast what’s anticipated in the near future. 3. CFO – a part-time or fractional CFO will help you take your business further, faster. They help you see the bigger picture and make long-term decisions. 3. Stay Focused On The Goal What’s the most important number you and your team are focused on? If you have a goal you’re focused on, you’ll be much more likely to hit it versus getting pulled in different directions of options and possibilities. The number could be daily sales or new subscriptions or signed contracts – it depends on your business and the mission you’re on. Once you have this number, have your bookkeeper send a DAILY report of where you are with that goal. 4. Know Where You Are You must know where you are with your finances at all times. Visibility of your income and expenses month to date will help give you clarity and make real-time decisions. Most business owners receive a report on the 15th each month on how the previous month went. This “rearview mirror†approach will lead to getting stuck – you must be able to see where you are what’s coming ahead. I recommend getting a weekly snapshot report that shows you what the income and expenses are month-to-date and what is expected to happen the rest of the month. 5. Look Ahead As Much As You Look Back As important as knowing what happened in the past is to making decisions, you must be looking forward to predict what’s coming down the line as well. You can accomplish this with a 90-day forecast report you get weekly from the Controller. This report predicts what income and expenses look like in the next three months. You will be able to adjust your sales efforts and budgets for spending based on what you forecast. 6. Make Decisions Off Data Not Gut Looking ahead with your finances is important, but looking back shouldn’t be totally given up. Reviewing the previous month’s financials will give you great data to be able to make good decisions. Getting an ugly report out of the finance software in your inbox doesn’t have to be the only way you review the previous month. If you’re like most business owners, you prefer to see things in pictures/images. The controller should create simple graphs of your data so you can see what’s happening. It allows you to view trends for the year and how you need to adjust to optimize your business. 7. Pre-Determine The Business Profit It’s possible to decide ahead of time how much profit you will receive each month. The best way to do this is to budget off percentages. You can put your finances in three categories and decide what percentage each will account for your business. The budget categories are: 1. Staff – these are all the people required to make your business run 2. Operations – these are all the expenses necessary to run your business (excluding people) 3. Profit – this is your net profit (pre-tax) of your business. Every industry will require different percentages, but the goal is to predetermine what they are and stick to them. That will mean you need to adjust month-to-month with your expenses and sales efforts to reach your profit margin. 8. Get Cash Out Of Your Business Without Hurting It Many business owners don’t take as much cash out of the business as they should. But you can pre-decide how much and when you take money out of your business without hurting it. It requires planning and making decisions with your business partners and leadership team. You don’t have to do all this at once, but taking steps to implement a system in your business for finances will make a big difference for you as the owner. The first step is definitely to find the right people to help you. You do NOT need to spend your time in the details of the finances, but take responsibility to make sure they’re handled by a qualified person or team of people.   Feeling Stuck In Your Business? I'm currently offering free 30-minute Breakthrough Calls to help business owners, presidents and CEOs with their current business challenge. If you have over $400K in annual revenue and would like help, schedule your free Breakthrough Call today.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_044__Time_Management_That_Actually_Works_With_Casey_Graham.mp3″ title=”7CEO 044: Time Management That Actually Works With Casey Graham” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Traditional time management is often one of the biggest barriers to growth and fulfillment as a business owner. Casey recently hosted a free training call for business owners, presidents and CEOs to talk about why traditional time management doesn't work and what to do about it. When starting a business, it requires a different kind of focus and energy than when your business is established and ready to scale. Many business leaders get stuck and don't know how to transition so their company can scale.   LINKS Apply for a Breakthrough Call with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Action Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com   LEARNINGS The Problem With Time Management Time management keeps people busy, focusing on activities and filling up the schedule. It often leaves you feeling stressed out and out of control. Every day looks the same with a hodge podge of events that have you feeling scattered. It doesn't have to be this way! To transition to a system that works for you, you must make the decision to do less, more productive work. That requires a commitment to only doing what you can do as the leader. This shift can be difficult and takes discipline, but if you commit you will see you can go from accomplishing more and more to accomplishing the most important things. It's About Results Management Not Time Management So, instead of focusing on filling up your calendar with random activity, you need to outline the most important results you want to accomplish each week and then plan your time and calendar. This allows you to take control of your calendar and what you spend time doing versus it controlling you. Your days will be focused on the most important things, instead of the urgent fires you have to put out for your business and team. Work In 30-Day Sprints The process of managing results begins by outlining what you want to accomplish for the next 30 days. Every month, take an hour and write out what you want to accomplish in your life and business. Set 1-2 goals for each of these six areas: Business Financial Family Fitness Friends Personal WARNING: It's easy to set too many goals – as leaders we have a big vision for our lives and business. Start by writing out all the things you want to accomplish. Then come back through with a realistic perspective and narrow them down to 1-2 per area. Think In Days Not Hours In this new way to manage your time and results, you have to think in days, not hours. If you categorize your days in three categories, you can bucket your activities to achieve the 30-day sprint goals you've outlined. The three days are: Money Days – focus on money-making activities that help you grow the business. It could be sales calls, product development, strategic planning, etc. You should focus 80% of your day on these activities. Planning Days – accomplish the things needed to make your Money & Off Days successful. These days will include team meetings, team delegation and development, learning new skills and cleaning up messes. Off Days – you need time to disconnect and recharge as the leader. An Off Day is a 24-hour period where you have no business-related activities – no thinking or talking about business or with your team. You need to shoot for at least one Off Day a week. Depending on your goals for the month, you will be able to determine if the other days are Money-Making or Planning Days.   Set Three Weekly Wins As you begin the week, you should look at your 30-day goals and determine three wins – these are the three things you will get done if nothing else gets done this week. Setting these three wins will help you stay focused and make sure you accomplish the most important things in your life and business. Tips To Make The Transition To Results Management One of the most important things you can do is to hire an assistant, if you don't have one already. If you're not sure where to find one, we recommend our friends at Belay. If you do have an assistant, then they need to listen to this training and help you make the transition. If you treat every week like a new week, then you will be able to start over even if you fail. It's not about perfection, but about progress. If there's something you don't accomplish one week, don't give up and throw the towel in on this system. Learn from the week and move forward into the next. The best way to do this is to work ahead and make sure you plan the next week on Fridays. This allows you to review the current week and get your mind in the right place for the next week.   Feeling Stuck In Your Business? I'm currently offering free 30-minute Breakthrough Calls to help business owners, presidents and CEOs with their current business challenge. If you have over $400K in annual revenue and would like help, schedule your free Breakthrough Call today.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_043__Work_Place_Environment_With_Elizabeth_Dukes.mp3″ title=”7CEO 043: Invest In Your Team With Elizabeth Dukes” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Today we're talking with Elizabeth Dukes, co-founder, EVP & Chief Marketing Officer of iOffice – a workplace management solution for fast-growing businesses. They offer a variety of software solutions to help create fantastic work environments that promote collaboration and productivity. Elizabeth helped start the business 15 years ago and they broke through the 7-figure mark after three years of business. They currently have 42 team members. Elizabeth manages the marketing and sales, while her partner manages the operations and technology development. They are passionate about investing in the team of people who really make the business run and creating an environment where they thrive.   LINKS Check out iOffice: Website   Facebook   Twitter   LinkedIn Email Elizabeth: edukes@iofficecorp.com Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com   LEARNINGS Hiring As You Get Bigger When you first start out, you should hire people to help cover the skills that are your weakness. The most important things to look for are people with character, strong work ethic, sense of urgency and most important a willingness to learn. As your company grows, you will be able to hire more skilled people to cover every area of your business, even where you're strongest. You can also hire people with more experience who have less of a learning curve in your business. The most important lesson in hiring is to understand the culture of your business to ensure you hire the right personality to fit that. Your culture is unique and you need to make sure people understand and fit. Hiring As Needed Or Ahead Of The Growth Curve Early in your business you will likely need to hire one at a time and as people are needed. As you grow you'll be able to begin hiring ahead of the curve to ensure you're prepared and structured for sustained growth. The most important thing is to have a good pipeline of people you want to hire. Measure Your Team's Performance Each position in your team needs to have defined benchmarks that can be easily measured. These will help determine if they're performing their jobs well and it also helps them know what's most important to focus on. There should be a system in place to review these regularly and talk about how things are going, what roadblocks they're facing and how you can help. Your People Are Your Power House Without a team of people, your business doesn't have profitability or satisfied customers. They are the linch pin for your business success. Therefore, the most important thing you can do is to create a place where they love to come, are able to collaborate and are productive. You need an environment conducive to your culture and their personalities. You might need to provide different environments based on who you're hiring and what you want to accomplish. If your business is large enough to have your own office space, you need to think through this and possibly make some changes based on what results you're looking for and who's on your team. Co-working spaces are a great alternative if you can't afford your own office yet. There are many around the country now that offer great environments for people to collaborate without the high overhead costs. Growing Your Business Early On The key Elizabeth attributes to their quick growth early on is having channel partners. These companies they aligned themselves with had established audiences and customers bases that cared about the products iWork were launching. No matter what your industry, you might be able to partner with other businesses that you can plug into that will share your products and help you grow faster than if you were on your own.   Can Your Business Run Without You? I offer personalized coaching to help entrepreneurs create the business they dreamed of when they started. It's 1.5 days to tackle your current challenges and help you break through to the next level. Apply today and our team will follow up for a consulting call if it's a good fit.    

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_042-How_To_Delegate_Work_And_Ensure_Its_Done_Right.mp3″ title=”7CEO 042: How To Delegate Work And Ensure It's Done Right” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Delegation is a big issue among entrepreneurs and hinders the ability to scale their leadership and business. Today I'm sharing a web training from a few weeks ago on how to delegate and ensure the work is done right.   LINKS Check out Belay (Virtual Executive Assistants – formerly eaHelp): BelaySolutions.com Purchase Assistant Rocket: AssistantRocket.com/Offer Email your top take-aways and learnings to Casey@CaseyGraham.com Apply for personal coaching with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Breakthrough   LEARNINGS What To Delegate, When Any repetitive tasks that you're doing should be delegated. Most of the time there is someone else that can do these tasks just as effectively. Projects with a start and end date are great items to delegate as well. One of the best ways to figure out these activities is to do an inventory of all the activities you spend your time doing and categorizing them into four categories: $10/Hour: answering the phone, running errands, etc. $100/Hour: customer follow up, writing an email, etc. $1,000/Hour: planning your day, writing sales copy, etc. $10,000/Hour: creating new and better offers, selecting team members, etc. As the leader of your organization, you should delegate all $10/Hour and $100/Hour activities. Most of the $1,000/Hour activities can be delegated as well so you can spend most of your time at the bottom of the activity funnel. The Happiest & Healthiest People… …Are those whose expectations meet reality. That's a quote that's stuck with me for years! One of the best things you can do is to clearly define reality so you can communicate your expectations to your team. That will reduce frustration for you and your team significantly. Step One: Fill Out The Delegation Matrix Worksheet The Delegation Matrix is a simple tool to create a written, agreed upon delegation of a task or project. You can complete the matrix before meeting with team member(s) who will be responsible or you can fill it out together. There are five parts of this tool and I've walked through each one for a family vacation planning project I did with my assistant recently. Cast The Project Vision: Define who's responsible, what you want accomplished and what the result looks like Determine The Evidences Of Success: These are the details of the project that you must get out of your head so people know what you expect Clarify Success Details: Inside each evidence of success are other details and preferences you may need to outline. Determine Action Steps: These are the steps that must be taken to get the project or task started. Come To An Agreement: Once you walk through the Delegation Matrix, take time to have a conversation about the details and timeline, make any adjustments and then sign to indicate you're in agreement. Step Two: Meet To Talk Through Delegation You will take time to walk through the Delegation Matrix you filled out with the person you are delegating to. It allows you make sure the details and results are clear, as well as time to negotiate the timeline and expectations. As an entrepreneur oftentimes we don't fully understand the work load of the people on your team. The period of negotiation allows them to talk through how it affects the other responsibilities they have in the business. This conversation in total will take about 20 minutes and has the potential to save you a lot of stress and tension in the working relationship. Step Three: Manage The Delegation On a weekly basis, you should have check-ins to have a conversation on how the project or task is going. It's also a chance for the person to communicate any road blocks they're facing they need help with. My assistant and I have a weekly meeting system that allows me to delegate so many tasks – we walk through the meeting system, plus how we work together in Assistant Rocket.     Can Your Business Run Without You? I offer personalized coaching to help entrepreneurs create the business they dreamed of when they started. It's 1.5 days to tackle your current challenges and help you break through to the next level. Apply today and our team will follow up for a consulting call if it's a good fit.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_040__From_Bankruptcy_To_7_Figures_In_9_Months_With_Leah_McHenry.mp3″ title=”7CEO 041: From Bankruptcy To 7 Figures In 9 Months With Leah McHenry” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Leah McHenry is our first success story from podcast listeners to break through the 7-figure mark. Leah and her husband and business partner, Steve, started listening in the fall of 2015 as they launched an information business for musicians. They were broke, living paycheck to paycheck less than 12 months ago, and now they're making over 7 figures. Even though they were in a desperate financial place, Leah decided to invest money into learning information marketing to grow her online music fan base and to start selling an online course to other musicians teaching them what she'd learned. Over just a few months, they moved beyond just financial stability to record sales months and business success. They just passed over $200,000 in sales in one month. LINKS Connect with Leah: Savvy Musician Academy or Leah's Tribe or Facebook Family Wealth by James E. Hughes: Amazon Email Casey: Casey@CaseyGraham.com Apply for personal coaching with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Breakthrough   LEARNINGS You Value What You Invest In No matter where you are in your business, investing in learning and your personal development is key to breaking through. At every level of business there are barriers and obstacles that you must overcome or skills you need to acquire. Investing in coaching is one of the keys to moving forward.  If you're interested in a coaching relationship with Casey Graham, click here to learn more about attending a Breakthrough Day like what Leah and Steve did earlier this year. Leah, Steve and their five children have created an environment of learning in their home. They are constantly reading books, listening to podcasts, purchasing courses and paying coaches. As humans, we value what we invest in. They weren't able to invest a lot always, but the key is they invested what they could. Marketing Is Measurable Measuring and monitoring your marketing numbers will help you make informed decisions, specifically how much to spend on marketing. You need to be able to identify how much it costs for you to acquire a customer and then a predictable process to continue acquiring new customers to grow. Leah's team uses Facebook primarily to get their leads which allows you to target your audience and track your numbers. Know Your Target Audience You need to create the avatar of your audience to be able to market to them directly and specifically. There is so much power in addressing the exact pain points your product/service can resolve with them in your marketing campaigns. One question you can ask to find out their pain is, “What are your top two questions related to XYZ?”, with XYZ being your niche/product/service. The answers will help you develop your marketing language so prospects relate and are drawn in to your offer to help. Another thing to note is that your customers think they know what their problem is, but in reality it's another thing.  When you call out the true problem or issue they're facing, you elevate yourself as the “expert” and you have more credibility with your audience. Hiring Leah and Steve created a very specific hiring process they take every candidate through. It helps them identify the prospect's strengths and personality type to determine if they're a good fit for the role. Having multiple steps in your hiring process helps you identify those who are truly interested and qualified. If someone isn't willing to go through all the necessary steps, then they aren't a good fit and you need to move on. One step to include is an “audition” – a project the prospect must complete before moving on in the process. The project is related to the role your hiring for and allows you to observe how well they follow directions and if they're willing to do the work required. Action Creates Traction One of the most important things you can do to break through, is to implement something and take action. If you feel stuck, you can't delay and worry about taking the right action – just take action and get moving. Even the wrong action will help create the momentum you need to break through.   Can Your Business Run Without You? I offer personalized coaching to help entrepreneurs create the business they dreamed of when they started. It's 1.5 days to tackle your current challenges and help you break through to the next level. Apply today and our team will follow up for a consulting call if it's a good fit.  

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/7figureceo/7CEO_040__Master_Your_Hiring_Process_With_Brad_Weimert.mp3″ title=”7CEO 040: Master Your Hiring Process With Brad Weimert” artist=”Casey Graham” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Brad Weimert started Easy Pay Direct in 2009 – an online credit card processing company for high-level e-commerce businesses. Specifically they began to help “high risk” businesses susceptible to consumer disputes have stable merchant services. He started the company after his personal experience with other processing companies and wanted to solve the need in this niche. The company broke the 7-figure mark within three years despite not acquiring large amounts of funding necessary to scale quicker. LINKS Easy Pay Direct: www.easypaydirect.com/ ARXFit: arxfit.com/ Spark Hire (video interviewing platform): www.sparkhire.com Email Casey: Casey@CaseyGraham.com Apply for business coaching with Casey: CaseyGraham.com/Breakthrough   LEARNINGS Details Make Your Marketing Stand Out Take note of the details in your marketing to ensure your product stands out and gets noticed. Changing and enhancing your message will help you reach your audience and increase your market share. If marketing is not your strength as the entrepreneur, it's critical that you outsource or hire someone to help you. Hiring In A Tech Start-Up Without a lot of capital, Brad outsourced contractors to get the job done. As they got closer to the 7-figure mark, he was able to be strategic about the hires he made and building a team that would help them scale faster. Fast, well-done, & cheap production cannot happen at the same time – you can never have all three when you're outsourcing or hiring a team. You will need to make an investment in your team to get the quality you want. Coaches And Mentors Matter One of the most influential people in his life and business has been Tony Robbins. Robbins says, “Proximity is power”. You must be willing to invest heavily in your personal development to surround yourself with the people who will help your leadership and influence expand. If you are financially constrained, your brain works differently and your conversations are different than if you're financially free and successful. But, if you can deliberately create an environment where you are around financially successful people, the way you think about life and finances and business will change. Make choices to be around people who are intentional and deliberate about living successful lives – people who are where you want to be. Who are you around? Who are you paying to be around? How are they affecting your outlook on life and business? Master Your Hiring Process Brad's key process to success at Easy Pay Direct has been their hiring process. He outlined their system to build a great team: One of the best ways to find the right people is to use good copywriting for your ads and job postings. It's worth hiring someone to write great copy to qualify AND disqualify potential candidates. You should provide a colorful description of your company, the job and who you AREN'T looking for. Be sure to include a call to action that will help you eliminate people and narrow down the field. Next you can conduct a video interview using Spark Hire asking them specific questions to help you determine if they fit your company culture and the role. This can be automated and doesn't require any time of you or your team. A personality test helps you to match with the job role and responsibilities. A technical assessment ensures they're tech-savvy and can keep up with your team. A Skype interview will be the first interaction with you and will give you an idea of culture fit. By this point, you have narrowed the field to well-qualified candidates without wasting any of your time in the process. Last is an in-person, group interview – this is a series of collaborative tasks to see how well they interact with the existing staff. Your team can provide feedback to help you make your hiring decisions. A Healthy Culture Leads To Happy Customers The better you serve your team, the better they are going to serve your customers. It's a win-win situation and you are able to create good relationships along the way, which is the most important type of success. Life Is About The Depth & Quality Of Your Relationships In every interaction, focus on the person and the relationship instead of the outcome you hope to get from them. Connect with people on a relational level instead of just achieving a transaction. Out of those relationships you will get the results you hope for and many times even better than you hope for. Can Your Business Run Without You? I offer personalized coaching to help entrepreneurs create the business they dreamed of when they started. It's 1.5 days to tackle your current challenges and help you break through to the next level. Apply today and our team will follow up for a consulting call if it's a good fit.