Podcasts about entrepreneuship

“You do have to set your goals. And I found that over time, anybody who has set a goal usually will reach it. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. But most people do reach those goals.”Counterterrorism isn't just the stuff of spy novels—it's a masterclass in thinking fast, adapting faster, and staying cool when everything's on fire (sometimes literally). This episode unpacks the high-stakes world of counterterrorism operations and draws surprisingly practical lessons for navigating the chaos of entrepreneurship. If you've ever wondered what hostage negotiations and scaling a business have in common, this one's for you.Our guest delivers jaw-dropping stories from his time as a State Department counterterrorism agent, including moments of brilliance, catastrophic missteps, and everything in between. He breaks down how making decisions under pressure, owning your failures, and building strong, adaptable teams are critical—whether you're chasing terrorists or chasing quarterly goals. Spoiler alert: it's all about playing the long game and knowing when to pivot.Fred Burton is a former State Department special agent, bestselling author, and all-around expert in counterterrorism and crisis management. His books, Beirut Rules, Ghost, and Chasing Shadows, offer unmatched insights into the complexities of global security and leadership under fire. When he's not sharing his wisdom, he's probably plotting the next page-turner that'll keep you up all night.Expert action steps:1. Stay OptimisticRemember that no matter how challenging the situation, tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities.2. Set Clear GoalsEstablish meaningful objectives and stay committed to them. While the journey may be difficult, persistence often leads to success.3. Support OthersOffer encouragement and advice to those who may need it. Helping others can create a ripple effect of positivity and growth.Learn more and connect:You can find information about Fred's books, upcoming events, latest news, and contact details on his official website: https://www.officialfredburton.com/.1. Beirut Rules by Fred Burtonhttps://a.co/d/cFt9K272. Ghost by Fred Burtonhttps://a.co/d/9odzHGj3. Chasing Shadows by Fred Burtonhttps://a.co/d/a38m8e34. Area 51 by Annie Jacobsenhttps://www.amazon.com/Area-51-Uncensored-Americas-Mystery/dp/0316132942Visit eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

Liegt der Umsatzrückgang deines IT-, Tech- oder Software-Unternehmens am Markt oder am eigenen Angebot? In dieser #ITundTECH -RealTalk -Folge zeige ich, wie du das mit wenig Aufwand und innerhalb kürzester Zeit rausfindest.Highlights:Bauchgefühl versus Fakten: 5 Kennzahlen, die Dir Gewissheit zum Umsatzrückgang geben. ich nenne diese 5 im Podcast:Umsatz bzw. UmsatzwachstumDurchschnittlicher Umsatz pro KundeAnzahl abgeschlossene AufträgeAnzahl AngebotsanfragenCashflowLiegt es am Markt?Spreche mit 3 Kollegen, kurz und direktHole dir direktes Feedback von 3 bestehenden Kunden / InteressentenLiegt es eher an Deinem Angebot (deinem Produkt / Dienstleistung)?Dafür gebe ich Dir die folgenden 5 Fragen:Neue Wettbewerber kommen erfolgreich in den Markt Stammkunden wandern ab, zur Konkurrenz oder wechseln auf eine andere LösungNeue Technologien erbringen das gleiche Ergebnis einfacherHäufige Probleme von Kundenseite mit deinem Angebot, Mehr Supporttickets als früher, negatives KundenfeedbackEin "Ja" bei diesen Problemen spricht dafür, das Problem eher bei Dir liegt, als am Markt.Höre dir jetzt die gesamte Podcastfolge an. Viel Freude und gute Erkenntnisse dabei!Du möchtest mit mir über die Entwicklung eines neuen Angebots sprechen, das sich auch jetzt 2024 verkauft?Schreib mir einfach auf:➞ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holger-winkler/

In our very first episode, Matt had the pleasure of speaking with Ian Landsman, affectionately known as the 'Godfather of Laravel,' where they discussed his long history with Laravel and his business journey. Ian shared insights into his primary venture, UserScape, and its flagship product, HelpSpot, a help desk application he started 20 years ago. They also talked about taking a bet on Taylor and Laravel early on, bootstrapped startups, and more!Matt Stauffer Twitter - https://twitter.com/stauffermattIan Landsman Twitter - https://twitter.com/ianlandsmanTighten Website - https://tighten.com/HelpSpot - https://www.helpspot.com/UserScape - https://userscape.com/LaraJobs - https://larajobs.com/The SaaS Playbook - https://saasplaybook.com/The Startups For the Rest of Us Podcast (Rob Walling) - https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/Gail Goodman's Talk - https://businessofsoftware.org/talk/how-to-negotiate-the-long-slow-saas-ramp-of-death/-----Editing and transcription sponsored by Tighten.

2024.03.04 Estadísticas de Mujeres y Entrepreneuship Estamos viviendo la revolución empresarial femenina Esta semana estamos dedicándola al día de la mujer, conversando acerca de mujeres y entrepreneurship. Busca Cápsulas Gerenciales en tu plataforma de podcast favorita, y descubre varias estadísticas que demuestran que estamos viviendo la revolución empresarial femenina. #cápsulasgerenciales #capsulasgerenciales #desarrollopersonalholistico #mejorcadadia #inspiracionyexito

Andrea Fausett is the founder and CEO of Mamele, an app that helps women around the world improve their health, nutrition, and fitness.In this episode, Andrea speaks about building her business to 7 figures in just 6 months while being a present wife and mother to her 2 daughters; intentional parenting; entrepreneurship; business marketing, and the power of identity, purpose, and small pivots in determining your success in life.She also speaks about:-How to reverse-engineer success by breaking things down into small changes-Why extreme dieting and other major behavior change doesn't work-A different, more productive way to look at negative programming from your childhood-How her entrepreneurial journey started with a single moment of self-reflection while looking in the mirror-Exactly how she'd coach Brandon to achieve a fitness goal like losing 20 lbs-Earning 6 figures and beyond by cultivating just 1,000 true fans-Her wild experience during the Maui fires and how she stepped up to show up for her community-Her feelings on body image and how she embraced gratitude during and after pregnancy, following several miscarriagesAndrea's charitable cause:The Emily Effect, a foundation providing resources to families and support for women suffering from perinatal mood disorders.Reading List:$100 Million Dollar Offers by Alex HormoziMillionaire Success Habits by Dean GraziosiAtomic Habits by James ClearTake the Stairs by Rory VadenConnect with Andrea:Mamele Fit AppMamele Fit InstagramAndrea's InstagramMamele WebsiteAndrea's LinkedIn

La Chapelle Radio par Hugo Bentz, CEO du Startup Studio La Chapelle. Je reçois dans ce podcast des entrepreneurs pour connaître leur parcours et leur histoire. Mon objectif est de comprendre comment ils ont fait pour rencontrer le succès et rendre celui-ci systémique. Bonne écoute ! __________ Harold, c'est le fondateur de KÖM, l'agence de production vidéos que l'on voit partout sur LinkedIn. Mais avant KÖM, il est passé par :  - La création de ILOW, une boîte de distribution de boissons relaxantes (qu'il a revendu) - Une carrière de salarié dans la finance et le recrutement - La création de Tatami, une boîte de recrutement de commerciaux Aujourd'hui KÖM c'est : - 4 ans d'existence - 4 millions de CA - 40 employés dans la boîte Dans ce 7e épisode, tu vas apprendre :

It's a new month for Start Up Brew events!  Sadie with Emerging Prairie recently stopped by our studio with all of the details plus what's coming up for Ted X Fargo in just a few short weeks!  Check out our chat! 

In life, sometimes you have to be a little cocky to go against the grain. When that cockiness comes out of our belief in ourselves, and is coupled with hard work and dedication, we can accomplish great things.    Have a question for Aaron?   Be sure to submit it at www.anhourearlyllc.com.

2023.03.06 Estadisticas de Mujeres y Entrepreneuship Estamos viviendo una revolución empresarial femenina Esta semana estamos celebrando el día internacional de la mujer, y para eso estamos hablando acerca de mujeres y entrepreneurship. Busca Cápsulas Gerenciales en tu plataforma de podcast favorita, y descubre varias estadísticas que reflejan que estamos viviendo una revolución empresarial femenina. #cápsulasgerenciales #capsulasgerenciales #desarrollopersonalholistico #mejorcadadia #inspiracionyexito #2023exitoso

Hello everyone!Recently I passsed 10.000 downloads on my podcast and had a one-year anniversary from my first episode. To commemorate this, I decided to do an episode where I reflect back on my journey and MY LAST JOINT Project.Hopefully, this episode motivates you and gets you to analyze what aspects of your life fear is holding you back.Thank you for your continuous support, 10000 downloads would not be possible without you - the listeners!See you at the next one!AnzeP.s. Black Friday deal is up on my website, go and check it!Apply for my program

The #1 training and coaching system to launch, grow, and scale your investing business!

In a few weeks, Road2Billions will officially launch my very own Entrepreneuship mentorship academy. Its a goal of mine to grow, and in doing so I must help others do the same. The knowledge and resources will be given to you, so just pace youself and take a listen to learn more.

Inside REACH, das sind die neuesten Infos und Hintergründe aus dem Start-up Ökosystem der EUREGIO! In dieser Folge zu Gast bei Christina Fiege: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Philipp Schäpers vom Institut für Psychology of Entrepreneuship! In dieser spannenden Podcast-Folge geht es rund um das Thema Karriere und Bewerbung. Philipp erklärt uns, warum es so wichtig ist, sich überhaupt auf viele verschiedene Stellen zu bewerben und nicht nur eine, sondern mehrere Bewerbungen abzuschicken. Außerdem räumt er mit so einigen Mythen auf, die sich rund um das Thema ranken. Ihr erfahrt z.B., warum es oft überhaupt nicht schlimm ist, wenn man die Anforderungen in der Stellenanzeige nicht zu 100% erfüllt und warum sich eine Bewerbung trotzdem lohnen kann. Worauf Recruiter stattdessen achten und welche Fehler man (z.B. im Assessment Center) besser vermeidet, erfahrt ihr im Podcast. Außerdem erzählt uns Philipp noch etwas über die REACH Future Creators. Ein tolles Programm am REACH, bei dem ihr euch fit für den Arbeitsmarkt machen könnt! Also hört rein! REACH Future Creators: https://www.reach-euregio.de/page/future-creators www.reach-euregio.de Kontakt REACH-Team: info@reach-euregio.de

This episode is sponsored by Tonic.ai – where your data is modeled from your production data to help you tell an identical story in your testing environments.[00:01 - 07:22] Opening Segment Need to generate fake data that looks, acts, and behaves like production data for your test environments? Check out Tonic.ai!Head over to https://www.tonic.ai/ and sign up today for a free two weeks trial sandbox!From full-time employment to consultancyOn why he calls his business the banana stand“There's always money in the banana stand.”[07:23 - 21:54] Doing His Own Thing and Gaining IndependenceAvdi on the difference between consultancy versus the banana stand modelWriting his e-book and getting into screencastsHow he managed a startup business, consultancy, and being a new father at onceThe reason behind the rebrand: From RubyTapas to Graceful.DevWhy Avdi is done subscribing to the corporate cultureThe unconscious bias in recruitment[21:55 - 31:42] Building on WordPressWhy Avdi chose WordPress as the platform for his businessWhat are the advantages over the other platforms?WordPress plugins: What you need to knowKeeping track of the changes and updates on the platform[31:43 - 41:46] Closing SegmentWhat's next for AvdiHis advice on delegating and building your email listFinal wordsTweetable Quotes“There's always the risk. There are no guarantees in this industry. There are no  guaranteed retirement plans.” - Avdi Grimm“I think a lot of people in software are completely focused on either financial scaling or on like user scaling. The kind of scaling you need to plan for is devolving stuff from yourself, removing yourself as a bottleneck” - Avdi Grimm“Anything that I'm thinking of delegating or automating, always do it manually first, and do it manually for a while first and get a really good idea of what it is that I'm either delegating or automating.” - Avdi GrimmResources Mentionedhttps://www.tonic.ai/ - Sign up now for a two-week free trial!Exceptional Ruby by Avdi Grimm - Get a copy of Avdi's e-book at https://store.avdi.codes/l/NWtnkWordPressConvertKitLearnDashMemberPressWooCommerceConnect with Avdi on his site and on Graceful.Dev! Follow him on LinkedIn, too!Let's Connect! You can connect with me, Dr.  McKayla on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube to look into engineering software, and learn from experienced developers and thought leaders from around the world about how they develop software!LEAVE A REVIEW + help someone who wants to know more about the engineering software world. Your ratings and reviews help get the podcast in front of new listeners. _______Transcription[00:00:00] Dr. McKayla: Hello, and welcome to the Software Engineering Unlocked podcast. I'm your host, Dr. McKayla and today after pleasure to talk to Avdi Grimm. But before I start, let me introduce you to an amazing startup that's sponsoring today's episode, Tonic.ai, the fake data company. So what does Tonic.ai do? I'm sure you know how complex and cumbersome it is to create quality test data.[00:00:27] Dr. McKayla: It's a never-ending chore that eats into valuable engineering resources. Random data doesn't do it and production data is neither safe nor legal for developers to use. What if you could mimic your entire production database to create a realistic dataset with zero sensitive data? That sounds amazing, right? Tonic.ai does exactly that. [00:00:50] Dr. McKayla: With Tonic.ai, you can generate fake data that looks, acts, and behaves like production data because it's made from production. Yet, Tonic.ai guarantees privacy so your data sets are safe to share with developers, QA, data scientists, heck, even distributed teams around the world. Visit Tonic.ai to sign up today or click the link in the show notes to get a free two weeks trial sandbox.[00:01:14] Dr. McKayla: But now back to Avdi. Avdi has been a developer for over 20 years and runs, similar to me, a training and consulting business. The main difference is that he has been doing this already for over 10 years. So I'm super thrilled to pick his brain today around everything business-related. He's also a consulting pair-programmer and the author of several popular Ruby programming books and has several courses on this subject on his website, Graceful.Dev, formerly RubyTapas.com. So I'm super thrilled that he's here with me today. Avdi, welcome to my show. I'm very excited. [00:01:51] Avdi Grimm: Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. [00:01:53] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, I'm super excited. So I've been following your journey on Twitter and so on for quite some time. Very inspirational as well. And I have a lot of questions around how you run your business and why you're running the business and what we can learn from you, right, a seasoned entrepreneur and self-employed person to also maybe get a little bit more independence in our life, right? So this is probably the main goal for myself, for everything that I do is flexibility and independence. So why are you running your own business and how does this come about? Why are you not a software developer in a company somewhere?[00:02:32] Avdi Grimm: Right, yeah. I mean, to some degree, I feel like it's almost an inevitable career arc for somebody in software. You know, I know people who have avoided it, but a lot of the people that I kind of looked up to over the years went through, you know, they went through the full-time employment phase and then they gradually kind of moved out to becoming consultants and having various other side businesses.[00:02:55] Avdi Grimm: And, you know, come to think of it, I never really thought about this much before. I had the example of my dad who worked in software and hardware design, and he was an independent consultant I was growing up. So that was kind of normalized to me to, like, have your own thing [00:03:08] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, for me was quite different. Yeah. [00:03:11] Avdi Grimm: I think that I, I saw that on the horizon maybe from earlier than some people do, just because it was, it was normalized for me, you know? And it just seemed like that's what a lot of my heroes did in the industry was eventually they became consultants. [00:03:26] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. Yeah, it's good if you have like role models. For me, it was quite the difference. I always saw it that I will work at the company for a really long time and, you know, climb the career ladder somewhere. Actually, I started a family that I saw, oh, this is not working out as I expected. And as I would like it to work out, right? And so this was a little bit why I changed the thing. So you call it a banana stand. You don't call it like an enterprise or something. Why do you call it the banana stand? And what's your philosophy for your business? How do you run it? [00:04:00] Avdi Grimm: So, yeah., I've started using the term banana stand recently, especially as I've been kind of reflecting back on, you know, over a decade of doing this and, like, my style of, of running the business and writing a little bit more about that. So the, the term banana stand, it comes from, the show Arrested Development in which one of the characters says to another, this character is trying to save the family business and his dad who is in prison keeps telling him there's always money in the banana stand, which he completely misinterprets the message and winds up, burning down a banana stand that's full of literal money in the walls. I apologize if I've spoiled the show for you, but it's been out for a while. But you know, like, that phrase stuck with me. There's always money in the banana stand and that's kind of the way that I look at it.[00:04:48] Avdi Grimm: So there's kind of two sides to this, this independent business for me. There's the consulting side. And then there's the product side, product being kind of a broad term for selling books, selling courses, selling workshops. It's kind of a loose definition of product, but it's definitely distinct from the consulting side of my business, which is more like, you know, hourly consulting on people's projects.[00:05:12] Avdi Grimm: And I definitely look at the product side as a banana stand as like something that I kind of run casually, even if I'm putting most of my time into it now. I still run it kind of like lazily and you know, and it's my own banana stand to putter around in. I'm not, like, beholden to any, like, schedules and I'm not on any kind of like track of, I have to, you know, make this much money.[00:05:35] Avdi Grimm: I have to, like, make sure that my VCs get a payoff and stuff like that. It's just kind of like, you know, I get the putter around in the banana stand and work on whatever I feel like. And, you know, that phrase there's always money in the banana stand is kind of like that has informed the way I think about employment a lot, because, for me, if I'm in between jobs, I used to think of it as in between jobs, I don't think of it that way anymore, but if I'm in between jobs, quote, unquote, that's not like a time to panic and, you know, and, like, do all the interviews and freak out about how I'm unemployed. That's time to just focus on the banana stand.[00:06:12] Avdi Grimm: And until something comes along, that makes sense. And I think that's been helpful to have that. And, yeah, that side of my business, really like, so we talked about consulting, but that side really came from early on, getting into e-book sales, which we can talk about how that story went if you want. [00:06:28] Dr. McKayla: So if I understand that you would say there's the consulting, which is, you know, it's something that you have continuously to invest in and also make some contracts around that.[00:06:37] Dr. McKayla: I'm also doing some consulting, which means like now I'm dedicating, let's say 30 hours for this project for three months, right? And so you are more or less sold out for that time? [00:06:48] Avdi Grimm: It's kind of like a real job.[00:06:49] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. It's like a real job, only that you have all the risks as well, which is even worse.[00:06:58] Avdi Grimm: But there's a lot more, even there there's a lot more independence. And honestly, you know, one of the things that I value on the consulting side is that, I mean, yeah, you have the risk, but there's always the risk. There are no guarantees in this industry. There are no guaranteed retirement plans.[00:07:13] Avdi Grimm: And what I don't have to do is I don't have to buy into a lot of corporate mission and values BS that I don't believe in. [00:07:22] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. So you have your consultancy and then in between those consultancy gigs, right, when there are no consultancy gigs, you're not freaking out, you're working on your banana stand and you grow that, right? And the good thing it's about the products and, you know, this mindset, I think, is that even a little bit of work on them pays off, right? So it's a little bit like an investment. So you create another free course, maybe, and you have like a, you know, a good lead magnet, have people that are interested in your work.[00:07:53] Dr. McKayla: Then you create a paid course when you have time and so on. And it stays, right? It's something that's there for longer, whereby the consulting, it comes, it brings normally quite good money, from my experience, right? In a very short amount of time, but then it goes away as well. While the banana stand, maybe it's a little bit, it's not this boom, now we have like all this money. But it's also not going away, right? Yeah, exactly. It's a snowball. It's a flywheel somehow, right? Yeah. [00:08:20] Avdi Grimm: Yeah. I mean, you know, a consulting gig is one big blizzard that, you know, that melts the next week and a banana stand is a snowball that you just kind of gradually roll over the years.[00:08:32] Dr. McKayla: And so how long did it take for you to have this banana stand where you could say, well, I have some predictable income that, you know, makes me sleep at night? . [00:08:43] Avdi Grimm: So actually I think, you know, my trajectory there probably was a little different from a lot of people's. I kind of, you know, I put along having the book, the e-book business on the side for a few years, and that really just fell out of speaking.[00:08:58] Avdi Grimm: It happened because I was giving talks at software conferences. And I was pouring a ton of time and energy into researching these talks. And I was like, you know, I wonder if there's a way to kind of recoup. You know, I have all this material that I put together. I can't fit it all into a talk.[00:09:14] Avdi Grimm: And I wonder if there's a way to like recoup the energy that I've been putting into this. And that was really the origin of the first book, which was Exceptional Ruby, which is about error handling and failure management and I made a book out of like the, all the extra material that I put together for that.[00:09:29] Avdi Grimm: And that was that kind of launched things. And so that was kind of a side business. It was a nice little side business for a couple of years. And then what changed was I decided to get into screencasting. I've been doing the books, I've been doing some podcasting and this was around, you know, this was like 20, maybe 2010, 2011, 2012.[00:09:52] Avdi Grimm: A lot of programming screencasts started taking off. And I decided to get into that business. And I had a vision of like, what if we did that only much shorter and more focused? And, you know, just do like five minutes or less. You know, get one idea across at a time. And so, unlike most banana stand efforts, that was really like a do or die, not do or die.[00:10:13] Avdi Grimm: I don't like that terminology that was a go big or go home. That's the phrase I'm looking for, go big or go home because I knew how much energy went into video production and it is a lot. And so it was like, okay, this is a project that I'm going to test the waters. If it does well, I'm going to try, you know, the only way this works is if I can make it into my full-time job, otherwise I'll just stop. And yeah, I got really lucky. I was coming in at a good time. People really liked the format. And so within, I think around a year or two, I was able to say, I don't actually need other jobs right now with the RubyTapas screencasts. [00:10:49] Dr. McKayla: Oh, yeah. That's nice. [00:10:51] Avdi Grimm: Yeah. So that was, that was kind of like line goes up. That was less, you know, slowly rolling snowball.[00:10:56] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. And how much time did you spend in this line goes up phase? You know, because somehow when you're focusing on something, like doing the screencasts, you're not having an income, right? And then if you go to consulting, you don't have the time. So you have to switch between those boats of not having time or not having money. So how did you handle that at that time? [00:11:17] Avdi Grimm: I didn't sleep. I had at least one new baby at the time, too. And, like, I was working consulting gigs. I don't know. It's kind of a blur at this point. I don't think that I could do that kind of thing again, unless it was a great need. 'Cause I was also, at that point at the beginning, I was producing three episodes a week. [00:11:41] Dr. McKayla: Wow. Yeah, that's a lot. [00:11:43] Avdi Grimm: Yeah. I was doing a lot at once and it was kind of nuts. [00:11:46] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. And I actually really liked, with the whole style also, when I look through your blog posts and everything, right, you have your own style. You didn't call it like Professional Ruby screencast, you call it RubyTapas, right? And the tapas probably transport the message of it's small pieces of very digestible, tasty things, right? [00:12:09] Avdi Grimm: And I feel like some of that probably also fell out of just like the Ruby, like, the community has always been super whimsical and kind of silly. And so, you know, I can't take full credit for that approach. [00:12:22] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. But recently, I don't know exactly when, but you rebranded your whole RubyTapas into Graceful.Dev, why is that? For me, it seems like it's now broader and there can be more happening, but what's your strategic vision behind, you know, going from RubyTapas to...[00:12:40] Avdi Grimm: I do not do strategic visions. I used to, but, man, I avoid strategy as much as possible now. I mean, that's okay. That's not true. I do a little, I do a little. But I try not... [00:12:54] Dr. McKayla: You definitely have some reasoning behind it, right? [00:12:56] Avdi Grimm: I try not to have five-year goals. Let's put it that way. I don't do goals. There's definitely some reasoning there. There's a direction there. I mean, the direction was one that I've honestly had in the back of my mind for a really long time. A lot of people don't know that, like, the same day in, like, 2011 or whenever it was that I registered RubyTapas.com and associated addresses. I also registered CodeTapas.com.[00:13:20] Dr. McKayla: Okay.[00:13:21] Avdi Grimm: So like, you know, I never wanted to completely limit myself to Ruby, strictly Ruby content. You know, I've worked in, God, like a dozen languages over the course of my career. And Ruby was just an area that I wound up focusing on a lot and wound up making a lot of money in. And enjoying, I really, really enjoy the language still and the community as well.[00:13:42] Avdi Grimm: But I always had in the back of my mind, you know, that I would expand, but, you know, I didn't wound up not using as you'll notice. I wound up not using CodeTapas as the branding 'cause I was really, like, moving in a different direction, broadening not just in, like, in the technologies that I want to cover, but also I just spend a lot more of my time thinking about broader topics like, the sustainability of the development that we do and systems thinking, understanding the systems in which we work and the systems that cause the work that we have to exist. And yeah, so just, for a lot of reasons, it made more sense to me. And in some of my talks, I've been really focusing on the concept of grace.[00:14:21] Avdi Grimm: So it just made more sense to me to move in that, that branding direction. And then recently I had the opportunity to finally, like, do a lot of the heavy lifting of moving content over. And so I took that. [00:14:33] Dr. McKayla: Where did this opportunity come from? [00:14:35] Avdi Grimm: Well, so I had a point a few years back where I was like, okay, you know what? I've been sort of off on my own, doing my own thing for a long time. I would like to get back into, like, the hustle and bustle of being part of a big team that's making something real in the world. And I spent, I don't know, a year or so interviewing pretty seriously at a bunch of different places. And that did not go as expected.[00:15:00] Avdi Grimm: And I finally decided that I, wasn't going to focus on that anymore after all. And I was just going to get back to the banana stand 'cause there's always money in the banana stand. And that has been actually an immensely satisfying experience, kind of coming back to it with a fresh, fresh, like maybe this is my calling perspective.[00:15:18] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, I actually followed this journey a little bit on your Twitter, you were sharing it with us and also the hassle of the whole, you know, getting naked in front of strangers, you know, and really selling yourself. And I mean, you have been in the industry for so long, you have shared your learning.[00:15:38] Dr. McKayla: You know, you have some portfolio online. It's not like somebody comes and has no idea about you, but still, it felt like at least what I got out of the tweets, right. What I read into them was that every interview was a little bit, it wasn't really like keeping your dignity, right? So you had really to get naked in front of them to do all these silly things.[00:16:03] Avdi Grimm: You know, I wouldn't, I actually, I would argue that it's not, it wasn't really about being naked. It wasn't really being, about being transparent. It was about people wanting you to do a very special dance for them that strokes their ego and me being at a point in my career and life where I'm just like, I'm not going to do that. Why would I do that? Looking back I got some actually really nice offers from some, you know, well, large companies anyway, but in the end I was not comfortable taking any of them. And in part, because of what I saw during the interview process.[00:16:39] Dr. McKayla: Okay, what did you see? [00:16:41] Avdi Grimm: Well, you know, so actually, let me tell you about something I just heard recently from a friend of mine, because I hear the same story over and over again. Like my story, what I've realized is my story is not at all unique. So just the other day I heard the story again of like, basically, you know, an extremely senior well-respected brilliant engineer gets asked by a friend that works at a FAANG, you know, works at one of these giant unicorn Silicon valley darlings, gets asked to come interview there. It's like, we'd love, you know, I'd love to work with you here, which is basically what happened to me, a number of different places. And, you know, so they kind of go into the interview silo and then they go through this process where in, you know, in this particular case, like they got interviewed by someone who was totally unrelated to the group that wanted to hire them because this is the way the process works. You know, we don't want bias in the system. There's a lot in these processes that are supposedly about eliminating bias, it's actually creating it.[00:17:42] Avdi Grimm: We can talk about that more in a minute, but, you know, was interviewed by someone totally unrelated to that team. And basically, they were like, you know, show that, you know, by heart, my favorite algorithm,[00:17:55] Avdi Grimm: I happen to have a favorite algorithm. You're going to show me that you can, you can identify that I'm thinking of this algorithm and then you can write it by heart. And like that wasn't an algorithm that this engineer had used before. And so it wasn't one they thought of, you know, I've got a lot of stuff in my background where it's like, I know of algorithms that probably most engineers haven't heard of because they happen to be useful for networking middlewares and I hear this all the time.[00:18:18] Avdi Grimm: Anyway, they got flunked out because they couldn't, you know, reproduce somebody's favorite algorithm from, by heart. And this is somebody with, like, close to my level of experience. It's nuts. And I keep hearing this. It's actually, you know, I've heard this from a lot of people, with my, lot of friends of mine, with my level of experience in the industry, that these systems, they're really tuned to find people that are exactly like the people who designed the system in as many ways as possible. [00:18:47] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. [00:18:48] Avdi Grimm: Like, for me, I don't care. I am a white guy with plenty of opportunities and a banana stand. You know, I can fall out of a process like that and be fine. But what I'm seeing is that these processes are also, I mean, they're very gatekeep-y and they're very clicky. They're very in-crowd, they're very, very, like, we are expecting people that sort of show the secret insignia of a very select group of Silicon Valley insiders, basically. [00:19:18] Dr. McKayla: I think one of the problems is also that they often require a tremendous amount of preparation, right? And if you think you are an experienced engineer, maybe at that point, you have a family, for example, around, right.[00:19:33] Dr. McKayla: And some other commitments, it gets really hard to study some, you know, lead code examples, just to be as fast as, you know, somebody else, right? And I think this is also something that I criticize a lot when I'm thinking, and then you don't even need that, you know, you don't need that knowledge. You could really solve real-world problems.[00:19:51] Dr. McKayla: You have some experience and background, right, that you have worked on. And it's probably also super challenging. So looking really at what that person has already achieved in the last, let's say 15 years would be, you know, and then really let them explain that in-depth, which shows that they probably can learn, you know, whatever problem or solve whatever problem you throw at them. It would be a much better way than, you know, getting back to bubble sort and, you know, and linked list or something, right?[00:20:19] Avdi Grimm: And this, this is a big part of where the bias is in the system, and this is why I get sort of morally outraged by it, you know? I don't do well in these, you know, I might not do well in these because I'm at a point where I just can't be arsed to do that much homework of like learning somebody's arbitrary favorite algorithm.[00:20:36] Avdi Grimm: But what they're implicitly biasing towards is the sort of stereotypical young white dude that has all the time in the world and doesn't have a family to support and doesn't have any disabilities. And, you know, I could list off a lot of, you know, a whole lot of privileges there that go into that sort of their really looking for that person who has nothing else going on in their life.[00:20:59] Dr. McKayla: Exactly. [00:21:00] Avdi Grimm: You know, so that they can then like induct them into the cult of your passion is your software career. And that bugs the heck out of me, you know, and I see this really like, you know, who is really hurting is people that come from backgrounds that aren't like mine and have other stuff. They have people that they're taking care of. They have kids, they have elderly parents, they have families that they're sending money to, and they can't afford a, you know, a break in their income while they spend six months, you know, doing nothing but the interview game. You know, there are so many things, and the people that are, you know, so many minorities in this country already have, in the world or, you know, minoritized people, I shouldn't say have so many other calls on their time because of the way society is already stacked against them. That it makes it impossible to jump through these. [00:21:48] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, I totally agree. I totally agree. Yeah. [00:21:51] Avdi Grimm: Sorry, I get worked up.[00:21:53] Dr. McKayla: No, I want to come back a little bit to your banana stand again because this is the way out for, for you. And it's a little bit the way out for me as well, right? So with Graceful.Dev, I don't know if you had that before. You had RubyTapas and you had like the courses, but Graceful.Dev is now a full-fledged membership site, right? So you have different courses and you build it on top of WordPress. Why did you go this route? I mean, you could have like your courses on some third-party platform, right? From, I don't know, Teachable or whatnot, you know, many, many different PODR and so on. But you host it yourself and then you have the membership site as well. And you do that. Why does choice, like, I'm also thinking about right now, awesomecodereviews.Com for example, runs on, I switched from WordPress to Gatsby. So it's a static side and I'm thinking on how to give it a membership capabilities.[00:22:49] Dr. McKayla: And I looked at SurplusCI and so on, but why did you go for WordPress? And are you happy with it? And what's the philosophy behind it? What do people get from this membership? What do you want to build? Probably there's a community behind, right? And some, some visions that you have for that.[00:23:06] Avdi Grimm: This is an opinion I've kind of come to over years of using many different systems. And there's continuum here because you know, a lot of people running, particularly running education sites for developers have rolled their own system from scratch. They've built their own servers or their own applications.[00:23:26] Avdi Grimm: And so, you know, there's that continuum all the way from roll your own to, you know, use a completely hosted service, like Podia, Thinkific, whatever, you know, and I've, I've tried a lot of these different things. I started Ruby topis out on somebody else's platform.[00:23:39] Avdi Grimm: And it was super limiting. You know, there would be things that people were asking for for years and they just, that feature wasn't a priority for the platform because you're competing, you know, you're competing with all the other people who use the platform. And for, you know, whose feature is most important.[00:23:54] Avdi Grimm: So it was very limiting to use a hosted platform, and I've periodically I try them again and they're always, there's always like something pretty early on, it's like, wow, I really need this feature. And I don't have it. But I've also toyed with building my own. I did that for a few years and you know, what I realized was, if I did that, my show was going to become about building an app to support the show, because that's what I was going to be spending all my time on, because it's a lot of work to build.[00:24:23] Dr. McKayla: It's a lot of work, yeah. [00:24:25] Avdi Grimm: People don't realize, you know, how many features are expected in an application that sells content and serves content and keeps track of people's progress in the content, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.[00:24:38] Avdi Grimm: And yeah, I just, that was not the show that I wanted to be doing was, you know, I didn't want to be like here's videos about how to build a place that hosts these videos. So WordPress has turned out to be a really happy medium kind of between those two extremes. WordPress is just incredibly mature software.[00:24:56] Avdi Grimm: There's a lot of people in, particularly, the developer world that are kind of biased against WordPress and sadly against like the PHP ecosystem entirely, which I think is really undeserved. There's a lot of really, really good people working in this space. And the ecosystem is just amazing because you can kind of build anything you want and you can get as little or as much support as you want.[00:25:20] Avdi Grimm: You know, it's easy enough to build your own plugins for WordPress to just do a little tweak here, a little tweak there. You know, the architecture of it really supports the idea of exposing everything it does as hooks. And then you can hook your own stuff into those hooks, which is why it has this great plugin ecosystem.[00:25:36] Avdi Grimm: But one of the really cool things about the plugin ecosystem around WordPress is A, there is a plugin for everything, like, anything you might want to do. Somebody has got a plugin for it. And B, usually they have, like, a premium version, which comes with support. And I have had the best experience with premium plugins for WordPress.[00:25:55] Avdi Grimm: Like, you know, people just like being very responsive to the people that are giving them money and coming back and, you know, with bug fixes or like going into the, you know, going into your site and making, figuring out why it's not working. And so it's like, it's one of the rare places I've seen that people are putting out a ton of open-source software, but also getting paid for their work.[00:26:16] Avdi Grimm: Because all these plugins, like the base version at least, is always open source. And then basically you're paying them for maybe some premium features, but mainly for a support contract and, you know, and so people are making their living, creating open-source software. And I think that's pretty cool. And it's also, it also has done really well for my business. [00:26:32] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, and it's true. And so when I'm thinking about your course software, did you get a plugin for that? Or did you have to write it yourself or do you have like a plugin and then extend that on your own? How does that work? You're hosting your videos, but then they're also like, you know, questionnaires, for example, some quizzes, you know, as you said, you see that people, you know, it somehow tracks the progress of the people. It has to know that you're a member that can access that course, the other course. All of that functionality, does it come out of the box with some plugins for WordPress? Or did you have to implement that yourself or was it a mixture that you're actually getting a plugin and then you can, you know, enhance that with your own code?[00:27:15] Avdi Grimm: Great question. So, there are two to three categories of plugins that go into a site like this. I mean, my website has a lot more plugins than that, but there's sort of maybe three basic pieces. And one is  learning management system LMS, otherwise known as courseware. So that's a category of plugins I could probably reel off maybe six of them off the top of my head, I'm personally using LearnDash, which is one of the older ones and one of the more, probably the most popular one in WordPress right now. And it's very mature. It's a little clunky for me sometimes because it's really targeting in many ways, it's targeting like serious learning institutions where they have like accreditation concerns and certificates.[00:27:59] Avdi Grimm: And like, you can't take this course until you take this other course, lot of stuff that I don't care about. On the flip side, it's very mature. They handle all the things that I might want to put into it. They just also, also a lot of stuff that I don't care about. And then, so you've got, like, there's learning management, that's one. There's membership, which is like another whole category of plugins, which are generally focused around, given this account, what material does this person have access to? And that includes courses, like what courses does this person have access to. [00:28:28] Dr. McKayla: So they work nice together, LearnDash and the membership thing. [00:28:30] Avdi Grimm: Yeah, so generally what you see, so I'm using LearnDash on the LMS side, I'm currently using MemberPress, which is one of the more popular membership management plugins.[00:28:39] Avdi Grimm: Generally these plugins, they work hard to work with each other, you know, different teams usually, but they work hard to work with each other because that's where a lot of the value comes from. And so they have explicit support for each other. And then the third piece often is like your e-commerce, how you sell the thing.[00:28:56] Avdi Grimm: And that is often a separate plugin as well. Like in the WordPress ecosystem, it's usually WooCommerce. Sometimes it's EDD, Easy Digital Downloads. Now I've reeled these off like they are distinctly separate categories, but actually almost everyone in each of these spaces will happily give you like all of the above kind of in one.[00:29:18] Avdi Grimm: Because they all kind of, they'd grow, all gradually expand out to include each other's features. So like LearnDash, you can do a pretty basic membership management using the groups that are built into LearnDash. You can sell courses directly. Like they have Stripe integration and stuff directly from LearnDash if you want to, it's kind of basic, but it's totally there.[00:29:36] Avdi Grimm: MemberPress recently introduced their own courseware plugin for MemberPress. You can just like stick with that company if you want, as long as you're okay with like a more basic courseware offering. They also have the storefront part built in if you want to use it. So there's a lot of blur between these plugins as well.[00:29:54] Avdi Grimm: Yeah. [00:29:55] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. Okay, cool. And so are you then enhancing that, is that possible, especially if you have like the paid version, could you just write that? And then how do you keep track of your own changes and new updates that are coming from the team? How do you integrate those things? [00:30:09] Avdi Grimm: So one of the marks of a good industrial strength WordPress plugin is that they have well-defined hooks. You know, I was talking about like, WordPress is built on the concept of hooks. They have well-defined hooks that are documented. And so, like the ones that I work with do, they have good documentation sites and they have all these hooks that you can like, here's how you change this, you know, here's how you hook your own thing into this particular part of the interface or this particular process.[00:30:36] Avdi Grimm: And then, so what I have is what they call a site-specific plugin that I keep under version control, and I have a deployment system for that pushes it out to my way. And my site-specific plugin, basically just very selectively has a few, there's a few hooks where I want to customize something in one of those other plugins.[00:30:54] Avdi Grimm: And it just like hooks its own handler into just the, like the very specific hook that is one tiny piece that I care about changing. It's very small. The site-specific plugin is very small. I try to keep it very small and very focused. [00:31:07] Dr. McKayla: Okay. But so it has a valid defined API or hooks that you can really enhance. You're not going in and hacking in their, in their code base, right? So you're on the outside, whatever they allow you to change. [00:31:18] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. And if you're going to really get into this ecosystem, that's one of the things you want to keep your eye out for is like, does it seem like these people are really supporting that kind of external hooks?[00:31:28] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, it sounds very interesting. And I know quite a couple of people that are running WordPress websites and have a lot of, you know, like you said, WooCommerce, or like a membership sites and they're very, very happy with it. Maybe my last question for you is around, you said you are not going to plan for five years and so on, right? But I think everybody has some, some vision you know, some, some reasons why you'd be doing things like transitioning from RubyTapas to Graceful.Dev, right? What do you see yourself, do you want to do, is there a possibility that Graceful.Dev is really your full time thing and that you're not doing any consulting or do you want to keep doing consulting on the side? Or, you know, where are you heading towards, what's your ideal case?[00:32:16] Avdi Grimm: I wish I had a good answer for you. You know, I want to keep being able to do what feels right at the time, which is kind of what I'm doing right now. You know, Graceful.Dev is supporting me pretty decently along, you know, that alongside of my other, you know, other products and things. You know, I take consulting gigs as they look interesting.[00:32:35] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, and are you a solopreneur or do you have, like, a team that really helps you? [00:32:39] Avdi Grimm: Oh yeah. Good question. I don't have any full-time employees for years and years. I've employed people very part-time here and there, only ever like a handful only ever like maybe three to five at most, at any given time. Actually five is probably more than I have, but like I have somebody that's I've worked with for a long time, that handles kind of first line of support.[00:32:59] Avdi Grimm: So support emails first go to them and then they escalate them to me. I have somebody I'm working with now who's doing a lot of, like, helping me with content, like doing video editing or fixing up blog posts that have become, like their formatting has gone wonky or is out of date or something like that. Yeah. So I have a few people that just like very part-time helpers.[00:33:21] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. I'm currently right now in this position of getting people and I find it really difficult finding the right people because, you know, if you're already in this, okay, I need help now. I don't know how you overcame that stuff, but for me, it's like, I need help now, and I can't grow, you know, without this help. But I also can't really make the time to find the right people and to teach them and do onboarding. [00:33:44] Avdi Grimm: And that is, that is the classic catch-22. And there's no easy way out of it. You know, the point where you absolutely don't have, like, you don't have the overhead space to train somebody, but you need to train somebody in order to get the overhead space.[00:34:00] Avdi Grimm: Yeah, I wish I had an easy answer for that one, like that parts of slog. And eventually you kind of pull your head above it, but it's hard because, yeah, like the effort involved in like getting through that catch-22 is exhausting. I will say this about it. And, and this has informed my work for a long time.[00:34:20] Avdi Grimm: This is the most important kind of scaling to plan for. I think a lot of people in software are completely focused on either financial scaling or on like user scaling, you know, the, your user base scaling up like our, will our code base support unicorn scale. That is by far like the least common form of scaling that you have to support.[00:34:42] Avdi Grimm: The kind of scaling you need to plan for is devolving stuff from yourself. Taking, removing yourself as a bottleneck. That is the most urgent and immediate form of scaling that you're going to face. And so one of the reasons, I have a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons that I use WordPress is because it is the dominant player.[00:35:02] Avdi Grimm: Like, it powers like half the web now, and there is this huge ecosystem. And if I need somebody to do like copy editing, I don't need to teach them how to use GitHub and like commit things, you know, I don't need to find a copy editor, but then teach them how to use my special, precious bespoke system.[00:35:20] Avdi Grimm: They know how to use WordPress, whoever they are, they know how to use WordPress. And you know, if I need to get somebody, you know, if I want some help with my site because I don't have time to diagnose one particular bug, it's really easy to find WordPress consultants, and there's just so many things there where it's easy to find people that can do the thing that you need help with.[00:35:44] Avdi Grimm: And that's just as a general kind of policy. That's one of my biggest considerations when choosing anything is not, you know, not is this going to scale up, but can I scale it away from me? Can, you know, can I remove myself as the bottleneck for this in the future? [00:36:00] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. Yeah. That's such a good mindset. And I'm currently learning a lot with it and you know, it takes much more time and much more energy than I thought, but I also see that, you know, if you have already one person, right, so finding this one person, it means that you have to work with six different people. And then you realize, oh, it's, you know, it's, it's making more trouble that what I'm getting out of.[00:36:23] Avdi Grimm: Yeah. And I should say here, like, use my bad example for learning. I hit a crash at one point where I really wasn't like I was, my outgo was bigger than my income. And a big piece of that was that I had, I had tried to devolve too much of myself. You know, I tried to become too big and pay too many people to do too many different things.[00:36:45] Avdi Grimm: And the funny thing about what was happening there was that I was still swamped. I still had too little time. And it was because I had basically, you know, installed myself as a manager and I was spending all of my time helping people get unstuck and managing things. And so, yeah, it's really easy, like once you, once you kind of start going down that delegation road, it's really easy to go too far. [00:37:10] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think one step at a time and keeping the focus like I really would like to create more content, have more of this really quality time doing what I love to do like teaching, thinking about content, writing blog posts, right?[00:37:25] Dr. McKayla: This is really what gives me energy and less about the administrative stuff. But then, as you say, I have to be real careful not to get people adding to my administrative stuff. So, yeah. But yeah, very, very good.[00:37:38] Avdi Grimm: I think it's important to always know that like you can do the thing. One of my personal policies is like, anything that I'm thinking of delegating or automating, always do it manually first and do it manually for a while first and get a really good idea of what it is that I'm either delegating or automating.[00:37:55] Avdi Grimm: And usually what I discover is that I can automate less of it than I was planning. And it's enough. Or I can delegate less of it than I was planning and it's enough, but yeah, as it's always very tempting to be like, man, there's this one aspect of my business. I just don't want to think about at all. And so I want to delegate, delegate that part of it.[00:38:13] Avdi Grimm: And I think that's really dangerous though, that leads down that road of like now I'm just jammed up managing everyone and paying too much, you know, not balancing my books. [00:38:22] Dr. McKayla: Yeah. I think that's true. [00:38:25] Dr. McKayla: Do the thing the hard way for a while, figure out the smallest piece of it that you can automate or delegate.[00:38:31] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, cool. So Avdi, thank you so much for sharing all your insights. Is there something like, if there are developers out there that think, oh, I would like to have some side hustle, you know, get a little bit more independence or maybe even go full in, what do you think what is a, is a good strategy nowadays?[00:38:50] Dr. McKayla: You know, when there are already so many, screencasts, when they're already, you know, so many other things, so many blog posts, so many podcasts and so on. What do you think? How should people start doing it? Is a blog still a good first outlet? [00:39:04] Avdi Grimm: There's no going wrong with blogging. Honestly, like, it really doesn't matter like what your plan is. Get good at writing about things. Like, practice writing. It's just that I feel like that skill has informed, has improved so many other aspects of my business and of my career. I mean, writing about what you learn is such great practice for even if you just stay a regular developer, you're going to be a better developer because you are better at explaining and documenting your work to other developers. And so like, yeah, there's just no downside to getting in the habit of writing all the time about the work that you're doing. [00:39:46] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, I think so too. I think that's a such a good advice. There's I think there's so many positive things that can come, be that job opportunities or maybe you have to jump on, you know, you get better as, as you said, in your communication skills, better at communicating with your colleagues and so on. So yeah, I think this is a great, this is really a great insight. Thank you so much, Avdi. [00:40:09] Avdi Grimm: Oh, I have one other thing on that, on that note that I should include. Start building your, your mailing list now. [00:40:16] Dr. McKayla: Mailing list, yeah. Good idea. Independent mailing list, I would say.[00:40:20] Avdi Grimm: You know, do that blog thing and then slap, you know, go with ConvertKit or something and slap a mailing list, subscribe on that thing, and just start collecting that snowball now, because that, it takes a long time, but oh my gosh, the opportunities that come out of having a good mailing list. There's nothing else like it.[00:40:38] Dr. McKayla: Yeah, that's true. Yeah. I think that's a great add, great addition to what you said before. So Avdi, thank you so much for taking the time and talking with me and sharing everything with my listeners and yeah, have a good day.[00:40:53] Avdi Grimm: Thank you so much for this. I really enjoyed it. [00:40:55] Dr. McKayla: I enjoyed it too. Thank you so much. Bye bye. [00:40:58] Dr. McKayla: This was another episode of the Software Engineering Unlocked podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, please help me spread the word about the podcast, send the episode to a friend via email, Twitter, LinkedIn, well, whatever messaging system you use. Or give it a positive review on your favorite podcasting platforms such as Spotify or iTunes. This would mean really a lot to me. So thank you for listening. Don't forget to subscribe and I will talk to you in two weeks. Bye.

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Fight for your goals and start the hustle! Set schedules and make sure to follow them but don't forget to make time for yourself as well.

Networking is the lifeblood of business growth and self-development. This week we are going to deep dive into all things networking with my amazing guest, the Co-Founder of Meeow, Chris Rabbitt. Listen as he shares their successful online networking story in the midst of a pandemic and how to make real connections through networking.  In this episode, you will learn key things about networking such as: Why we should NOT dismiss people because they don't apparently seem useful to you. How to keep in touch and nurture the connections we gained at networking sessions. The importance of talking to people beyond the screen and the art of conversation in networking meetings. Links in episode: 15 Minute (free) Lead Accelerator Gameplan Call – www.vivguy.com/gameplan/ 21 Ways to Get 1-1 Clients Without Social Media – www.vivguy.com/21ways Connect with me via email – hello@vivguy.com Website: https://vivguy.com/  Join my free monthly coaching & mentoring calls here: https://bit.ly/vivFMC MEEOW - https://meeow.com/ Get a 1 month free trial to Meeow. Just add in the code VIVMADEMEDOIT at the billing page. MEEOW Online Marketing Facebook PageMEEOW Online Marketing LinkedIn PageMEEOW Online Marketing Twitter Page Get a 1 month free trial to Meeow. Just add in the code VIVMADEMEDOIT at the billing page.  

Hi! I'm Dr. Myrdalis Diaz-Ramirez. And, this is Episode #4!Today, we have a very special guest, Dr. Bonnie Koo. She's the creator of Wealthy Mom MD. And she actually has a new book that is an Amazon number one bestseller already. It's called Defining Wealth for Women: Peace, Purpose, and Plenty of Cash. We had a great conversation with Dr. Koo about precisely that wealth for women. This episode is packed with useful information. Make the best of it! Enjoy!To further engage with Dr. Koo, follow these links:-- Website: WealthyMomMD-- Podcast: Wealthy Mom MD Podcast-- Course: Money for Women Physicians-- Private Coaching: Work With Me-- Facebook: wealthymommd-- Instagram: wealthymommd-- Twitter: wealthymommdSome Products Mentioned-- Book: The White Coat Investor by James M Dahle, MD-- Tool: You Need a Budget (YNAB)Thank you for joining us this week!-----My Websitehttps://drmyrdalisdiaz.com/maxAllure Mastermindhttps://maxallure.com/

Hi! I'm Dr. Myrdalis Diaz-Ramirez. And, this is Episode #3!Today we have Dr. Letizia Alto from SemiRetiredMD. Dr. Alto joins us today to talk about entrepreneurship, how power couples work together, her business ventures, and advice for prospective physician entrepreneurs. Dr. Alto is the co-creator of the famous Zero-to-Freedom cash-flowing rentals course. She is also just releasing her newest course, Accelerating Wealth, a short-term rental blueprint for doctors and high-income professionals who want to learn an exact, proven, step-by-step process for profitably investing in short-term rentals (STRs).Remember to comment and share with friends and family.To further engage with Dr. Alto, follow these links:--NEW COURSE: Accelerating Wealth-- Website: SemiRetiredMD-- Podcast: Doctors Building Wealth-- Other Courses: Zero to Freedom | Fast Fire Bookkeeping-- Facebook Group: Semi-Retired Physicians-- Instagram: semiretiredmd-- Twitter: SemiRetiredMDThank you for joining us this week!-----My Websitehttps://drmyrdalisdiaz.com/maxAllure Mastermindhttps://maxallure.com/

In this episode of the heal for real podcast, I am talking about trauma and choice. I discuss what trauma is - and how my understanding of & experience with trauma allows me to have a very pragmatic and optimistic view of healing. I also discuss the role of choice in healing and why I believe that - for entrepreneurs and high performers - understanding trauma and healing makes life and business so much better. Embodied Healing Systems Waitlist: https://www.shylacash.com/EHS1  Work with me 1-1: https://www.shylacash.com/application Instagram: www.instagram.com/growhealchange

In this week's episode, I got to sit down with Tom Michels, CEO and one of five cofounders of the startup Salonkee. After finishing university, Tom jumped into coding the first version of the app, which later on was awarded the young entrepreneur prize in Luxembourg. The journey is short from amazing, raising 1M in 2019, managing through a pandemic in 2020 and raising another 6.2 M euro in 2021 to expand in Europe.Over the conversation, Tom shares his journey on becoming an entrepreneur and launching Salonkee, the mindset he has as a CEO, how naivety helped him and the cofounders start the project and how he establishes his company values. You get to understand Tom the human and how that drives him to be of service as a leader for his customers and employees. (And much more.)Links:Tom & Salonkeehttps://salonkee.luhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-michels-200aa982/Podcast previously known a MUZE with Kevin Fernandes

Let's keep the party going! Follow us on Instagram for exciting upcoming announcements @mikemichalowicz and on Mike's YouTube channel now! Websites and Handles:MikesYouTube.comInstagram @mikemichalowicz

Die erste Folge im neuen Jahr beginnt mit einem Rückblick von Präsidentin Bettina Rausch auf drei besonders erfolgreiche Projekte der „Politischen Akademie“ im abgelaufenen Jahr: Die Präsentation des Buchs „Bürgergesellschaft heute“, die wertvollen Diskussionen in Alpach zu bürgerlichen Zugängen im politischen Diskurs und den „Grete Rehor Lehrgang“ für Frauen in politischen Führungsaufgaben. „Auch im kommenden Jahr wird bei vielen interessanten Themen und Veranstaltungen der Begriff „bürgerlich“ und seine heutige Bedeutung im Mittelpunkt der Akademie-Arbeit stehen“, gibt Rausch einen Ausblick ins Jahr 2022.Zu Gast in dieser Episode, wie immer fachkundig moderiert von Christian Gerd Laudenbach, ist Professor Michael Meyer, wissenschaftlicher Leiter des Kompetenzzentrums für NPOs (Non-Profit-Organizations) und Social Entrepreneurship an der WU Wien. Zu Beginn stellt Meyer fest, dass nach großer Solidarität zu Beginn der Corona-Pandemie sich in den Umfragen sogar ein Rückfall unter die Werte von 2019 zeigt: „Ein hohes Ausmaß an Solidarität aufrecht zu erhalten ermüdet einfach“, erklärt Meyer. Außerdem würden die Menschen in Pandemie-Zeiten viele freudige und aktivierende Momente nicht erleben können, was zu einer Senkung des Aktivitäts-Niveaus führe. Präsidentin Bettina Rausch liefert noch eine weitere Begründung für dieses Phänomen: „Einige Plätze, an denen Gemeinwohl passiert, zum Beispiel am Arbeitsplatz, am Dorfplatz oder in Vereinen, kamen uns in der Pandemie nachvollziehbarerweise abhanden, das macht Gemeinwohl schwerer erlebbar“, knüpft Rausch durchaus an eigene Erfahrungen an. In den 125.000 Vereinen in Österreich finde eine „institutionalisierte Version des Zusammenseins und des für andere Einstehens“ statt, betont Experte Meyer, in einer Zahl ausgedrückt zirka 300.000 Vollzeit-Äquivalente Freiwilligenarbeit. Das sei sozialer Kitt und wirtschaftlich in hohem Ausmaß bedeutsam. Rausch ergänzt, dass der gelebten Partnerschaft zwischen Bürgergesellschaft und staatlichen Institutionen im Sinne des Subsidiaritätsgedankens eine große Bedeutung zukomme. Rausch und Meyer diskutieren in der Folge eine Unterscheidung der Begriffe „Zivilgesellschaft“ und „Bürgergesellschaft“. Experte Meyer liefert dann drei konkrete Tipps, wie man speziell junge Menschen für ehrenamtliche Tätigkeiten gewinnen kann. Zum Abschluss sprechen Akademie-Präsidentin Rausch und Experte Meyer über die Bedeutung des „Social Entrepreneurships“. „Die öko-soziale Marktwirtschaft beschreibt ja den Dreiklang zwischen Markt, Staat und dem Non-Profit-Bereich“, hält Rausch fest und Meyer betont: „Kein langfristig erfolgreiches Unternehmen kommt ohne sozialen Impetus, ohne soziale Ziele aus.“

Entrepreneuship is a journey, but like most things in life having the courage to start is what prevents many from starting. This episode helps to identify ways to start serving and impacting the world with what you have right now.This episode is brought to you by Me; Doiba Eshofonie, I am the host. We are available for streaming on all platforms.LinksOur podcast hashtag is #convoondemandInstagram: @Limmy_amour https://www.instagram.com/limmy_amour/ 

In Indien spielt die Musik und hier liegt der Purpose von Mela. Zum ersten Mal seit Pandemiebeginn ist Henning wieder zu unseren Produzent*innen gereist. Wie es nach so langer Zeit in Indien war, was ihn auf seiner Reise besonders bewegt hat und welche Entwicklungen er in der Textilindustrie wahrgenommen hat, erfahren wir in der heutigen Folge.

Sarah Seguin and Robert J. Marks discuss what might happen if someone tried to attack the United States using an EMP. What kinds of groups might use EMPs for terrorism? Are steps being taken to protect the country’s power grid? Show Notes 00:13 | 1989 Solar Storm 01:31 | HEMP Disruption 04:34 | Introducing Sarah Seguin 05:39 | The United… Source

With society’s ever-increasing dependence on technology, a growing concern is the threat of EMPs. Sarah Seguin and Robert J. Marks discuss EMPs, the physics behind such attacks, and potential ways you can protect your electronics and your data. Show Notes 00:12 | Introduction 02:12 | Electromagnetic Capability 04:18 | Defining EMPs 05:17 | The Physics behind EMPs 07:43 | EMPs… Source

On our lucky number thirteenth episode of "Office Hours," the HiredUp team of CEO Evan York, Brand Director, Joshua Maddox, and Social Media Director, Brieonna Wall, catch up to discuss what HiredUp has been up to for the past month, user interface changes to the app, TikTok entering the hiring space, why videos are the future of hiring, as well as personal topics like the housing market, marriage, and much more! Connect with Evan York Website Instagram Linkedin Twitter YouTube Check out "Sick of Suffering by Evan Michael York Connect with Joshua Maddox LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Connect with Brieonna Wall LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Connect with HiredUp Website Instagram Facebook Linkedin Twitter YouTube Subscribe to the HiredUp Podcast

Sean discusses the process of applying (and hopefully being accepted) to law school, and he also shares his personal experiences going through that process. Questions answered include, "What LSAT Prep Course did you use?" "How many times did you take the LSAT?" and "How did you decide which law school to choose?" Finally, Sean talks through financing law or grad school and the importance of choosing your path carefully. Follow Sean on Instagram: instagram.com/seansandiferLike Us on Facebook: facebook.com/theseansandifershowJoin Our Email List: theseansandifershow.com

We have entered an era of unprecedented entrepreneurial renaissance, but the success rate of today’s startups is very low due to the absence of effective management. How to improve a startup’s chances of success has become an inevitable question for every entrepreneur. This book proposes the idea of ‘lean startup’. By developing minimum viable products and failing fast, a business could validate whether its product meets the customers’ needs or not at the minimum cost and in the shortest time. During the process, a startup can acquire “validated learning” and improve its chance of success.

In the past few episodes, we've been talking about dialing in your brand's GPS to communicate a consistent experience throughout your branding and marketing. But what are you being consistent with? And, how can you know that the decisions you're making are truly consistent and congruent with your unique brand? In this episode, we're digging into these questions through a real life client example, as featured recently in our Mastermind hot seats. Listen in for practical tips and important guideposts! Also referenced in this episode: Episode 36: The MOST Important Thing You Can Do For Your Brand ALIAS tv series, directed by JJ Abrams and produced by Bad Robot Productions Connect with The Brand Boss Studio: https://brandbossstudio.com/ Peek Behind The Scenes: https://www.instagram.com/thebrandbossshow/ Book a Clarity Coaching Session: https://calendly.com/thebrandboss/clarity

Grow and scale your business during a crisis or pandemic.

Emailing Branding Strategies Making the most of your emails. “In the world of digital communication tools, email has become the king”.  According to Statistica, there were about 293 billion emails sent daily in 2019 and the number is expected to hit about 347 billion by 2023. (Statisica.com) Electronic mails referred to as emails, one of the earliest digital marketing tools, (and)have become so powerful over the years. Emails have become a primary communication tool on the internet. One cannot afford not to have an email address. Importance of Having Email Address Emails have become part of one’s daily virtual life. It’s therefore imperative to make the most of it. Here are a couple of reasons why you need to have an email address. Your email serves as a form of digital identification tool. It is one of the primary ways to register for almost any digital service. Social media sites require an email address for registration. It’s your address to receive Digital goods. For eCommerce purposes, emails are required for translations. Even if you’re purchasing products that would be delivered physically. The address is used to receive product details, receipts, and tracking information in some instances. In purchasing digital goods, most often the products are delivered via emails. Without an email address, you virtually become handicapped. You can do very little online without an address. Emails addresses reveal your identity to an extent and also speaks volumes about the personality behind it. Email addresses are used to confirm your virtual identity. Most often activating subscription services, are sent via emails. Businesses are transacted via emails; it eases transactions and makes it easier tracking with emails.  Families, friends, and loved ones keep in touch via email communications; one of the most used means of sending and receiving information among friends The Role of a Branded Email address Majority of internet users do create email addresses using mail services by yahoo or Gmail, the latter being more popular and widely used. These providers help with free email address creation, a good way to begin with.  However, to step up the game for your brand, requires that you get an email in your personal or company’s domain name, an example would be: cynthia@cynthiaclive.org,  john@javenturecapital.com  The branded Email address has numerous benefits including: Trust Building: emails would be more trusted than that from a generic email service provider Establishes authenticity: Many digital service providers would prefer emails activated from branded domains than that of the generic provider. Brand promotion: since mails are used more often, the more people see the address the more brand visibility gained and chances for them visiting your website would be very high. Mark of professionalism: not only is it nice to have a branded email address, but it also speaks to your profession. Your firm would be seen as more professional having its domain email address. Privacy control: having a self-hosted email addresses limits the fear of compromised emails, as it offers you full control over the privacy of your mails Using Email Signature for Branding & Marketing One of the underutilized features of emails has been the footer section. The Footer is the bottom part of an email that allows you to input content that will automatically accompany every mail sent. You may enter details such as; company brief, contact numbers, social media handles, official website, etc. The goal is to enter relevant information that stands the chance of promoting your brand. Don’t ever leave your email footer blank, especially for your brand/company.  You can use it to advertise an upcoming product, service, a newly released product, events, etc.  Quick tips: Stick to a particular font style Font and style should be legible Use company brand colors Don’t make it clumsy by overloading it with content If you need to use HTML codes, get it done professionally Have a standard one for all your company emails for every staff. Showcase your expertise Be brief, fewer lines the better Have a Call-to-action message/button How to create your email signature/footer Mostly the button can be found in the “settings” menu in the mail, either using self-hosted, webmail, or a third-party mail provider. For example, if you use Gmail or Yahoo mail.  Log in to your mail.  Locate the settings icon at the top right of your mail Click the settings, scroll down to the Signature Section, a text box displayed below it. Type your signature message or copy and paste your content. Clive Save. You are done! Go back to Compose mail then look at the bottom of your mail to see your signature You can save yourself some stress by using a third-party app to have the footer created for you with ease. The following are good ones to try:  Wisestamp Free signature generator https://wisestamp.com Free basic HTML signature https://htmlsig.com Hubspot email signatures https://www.hubspot.com/email-signature-generator mysignature.io Design Hall signatures https://www.designhill.com/email-signature-generator Free HTML Signatures https://si.gnatu.re/ Now, it’s your turn, let your emails do the speaking for you! Resources: DOWNLOAD the eBook Digital Disruption: Personal Brands that will Crush it after the Pandemic Branding Books by BKC Branding Courses

Building your Digital Presence on a Shoestring Budget Tools, Tips, and Strategies Seasons and times will compel many to chart unknown waters, others out of curiosity and necessity.  Regardless of the trigger, having an online presence and brand has become a must-have in this age. More so, the pandemic has propelled and created a sense of urgency to digitize.  Over the years I have noticed that several people struggle with getting started with their digital presence, where to begin and the basic tools and strategies to utilize. Today, I will be sharing with you tools and tips on how to kick start your digital footprints. 1. Get a domain.  A domain is your website address, where users can find your website on the internet.  I recommend you use your name or your brand/business name. An example bkc.name, bernardkelvinclive.com, cynthiaclive.org, eugeneayim.com, samueladjei.com, ebenezerasumang.com, dailyaccra.com, ghanaweb.com. There are many top-level domain extensions, the common ones being .com, .org, you can have. blog, .info, .me, .name The average costs of a .com domain extension are $12.99 You can purchase a domain from godaddy.com, namecheap.com, domains.google.com, bluehost.com, etc. Once you get a domain, quickly create an official email address with your domain name. That becomes your official email address.eg. info@yournamedomain.com, firstname@yournamedomain.com It positions you a serious professionally 2. Get a blog/website designed and hosted.  That would be your official internet home. Your website becomes your 24/7 online storefront. To market and promote your brand and business. It increases your brand visibility, authority, and breeds trust. I recommend you using WordPress.org, Medium.com, squarespace.com, wix.com because they make a blog and web design quite easy without much technical know-how.   You can hire a professional web developer to set up your website/blog for you. With a budget if $100 minimum, you can have a simple blog/website set up for you. Search in your locality and you are sure to find a web designer to help you with a website and blog. You can contact www.bkc.name/consulting  A basic blog site should have a home page, about page, blog page, and contact page.  Once your website is done you need to be populating it with content- quality, timely and relevant content! 3. Get a mailing list. A list of subscribers (emails of people) you can regularly communicate via emails. You can use your website to capture email addresses of people by creating a landing page/ squeeze page. A dedicated page where you offer something in exchange for users’ email addresses. You can offer whitepapers, eBooks, checklists, audiobooks, infographics, webinars, etc. Just ensure that you are giving out something they would love. You can use the following services/ mail providers to help you set up, capture, and manage your e-mail lists: mailchimp.com (highly recommend as the free version can help you achieve a whole lot), leadpages.com, constantcontact.com, sendinblue.com, convertkit.com, mailerlite.com, aweber.com, etc. If you are using WordPress there are lots of plugins that can aid in setting up a landing page and collect email addresses easily, Sumo comes highly recommended. Use the one which meets your budget and can still provide the basic needs such as a signup form, landing page, autoresponder. Your mailing list is your goldmine for your online brand and business. 4. Get your social media handles Your social media handles are the names you choose for your brand. Either you get a handle or edit the URL(link) of your social media channel. Example Facebook provide an automatic URL(link) when you sign up using your name unless you change that deliberately it may be showing a link like facebook.com/kwame-amoah235, I changed mine to facebook.com/bernardkelvin  You would certainly need social media, so right from the beginning check and secure your names/ handles on the major social media platforms i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube For branding purposes, ensure that the handles are unique and the same across the various channels. For example, I have @bernardkelvin for all the channels listed above. The idea is that even if you don’t have plans of using those channels immediately, it still saves you a lot from losing them. 5. Get your brand creatives(designs) done. Designs for your brand; from your brand identity to social media cover images.  You may decide to hire a graphic designer to design your stuff for you. And I highly recommended that especially for your logo.  Apart from that, you can create some graphics yourself, using any of the Do-It-Yourself design apps and services. I recommend the following canva.com, easel.ly, visme.co, infogram.com, stockphotosecrets.com/stencil You can use it to create your quotes, memes, infographics, etc. with ease. 6. Create a Content Strategy: Develop a calendar of how you would be sharing content on your website and across the various social media channels. Check Postcron’s free content calendar https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsKxtai-b7NqdGdqODJyd0xwc0xTQ3h4M2I3aUlPSWc&usp=sharing#gid=0 Another content calendar by Bobangus http://bobangus.com/free-editorial-calendar-template/ You can use services like Hootsuite to help you schedule posts and share them on social media. This saves you lots of time. Check the following for social media software for posting; buffer.com, coschedule.com, mavsocial.com, hubspot.com In conclusion, here are three critical principles to keep in mind: Be Consistent.  Constantly deliver value with your content and creatives. Consistency instills believability.  Be Credible.  Don’t try to cut corners to win favors. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Stick to your brand values. Be trustworthy, deliver on your room promises. If people can trust you, your brand and business will grow. Trust is the currency for growing your brand and building your business. Be creative. Branding is about differentiation, so be creative about your brand presence. Don’t become a ‘me-too’ brand.  Find your differentiation factor and nail it! Recommended Resources: Digital Disruption ebook visit www.bkc.name/ebook Brand Mastery visit www.bkc.name/courses

“The 21st Century Christian/Church must rethink ministry via the lens of technology. A powerful tool in the hands of the believer.” ― Bernard Kelvin Clive Here are Eight(8) Strategies to implement! 1. Give them something worth their attention. What would they see and read? Ensure that your intention for their attention is clear. you know exactly what you want to offer, Jesus was offering salvation ― life (John 10:10). ‘When they saw the miracles Jesus had performed…they followed!’ Your brand visuals must be appealing and attention-grabbing to drive home your message. 2. Wow them! ‘When they saw the many miracles he performed… Jesus always did something spectacular. eg. Turning water into wine. Wowing your audience leads to organic following and engagements and sales. Offer value! People would come to your portal/ page to experience it. 3. Meet their needs all-round! Jesus taught them spiritually he also met their physical needs – hunger. He had compassion for others, driven to meet the needs of others. He fed the 5000 after his live conference/ webinar. Be sensitive to the needs of your fans and followers. Focus on your market needs, and offer solutions. 4. He established his authority and clarity. Firstly, you need to know your assignment as a person and that of your business. That helps you weld your authority and grow your influence to impact and for profit. Know your worth and the value you are offering. Set the records straight, distill popular opinions from facts like Jesus did. The woman at the well got to know Jesus was the true Saviour ― living water. Jesus killed ambiguity surrounding the worshiping of God. His authority was at work. Jesus came to fulfill the prophecy of redemption.  Your authority gives you influence. Clarity breeds confidence! Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” ―  6:35 Authored many books, I declare “I am an author[ity]” 5. Raise brand ambassadors. The woman at the well, after engaging with Jesus, knowing the depth of his knowledge went out freely to evangelize. Your expertise will help create brand evangelists to spread your brand. 6. Use stories and anecdotes. Jesus was a great storyteller, He weaves stories and anecdotes to drive home his messages. Engage your audience with stories they can relate with while teaching them. Stories sell your brand well, creating lasting memories. Great brands use stories in marketing their products and services. What’s your brand story like? 7. Have private and public engagements. Jesus had some private meetings at some level and public ones. He engaged Mary & Martha privately and did so with His disciples (key ambassadors), regularly. Segment your audience to know what’s for the masses and what’s for a select group. Provide products and services for the different categories of your market. There are times you need to engage with some of your fans via inbox(private groups, membership, and premium access)  and other times publicly. Be sensitive and selective with private and public data sharing. So don’t you don’t ‘throw your pearls before swine’? ― Matthew 7:6 8. Understand your audience: Use their language! Jesus used terms based on the cultural background and settings of his market so he could communicate clearly and precisely. Where he had told his disciples he will make them ‘fishers of men’ ― He was speaking to a predominately fishing community. (Matthew 4:19) The ‘parable of the sower’, he used the analogy of farming, with that his audience can grasp the depth of his message. Use industrial jargon in communication sparingly; performing audience analysis would better inform you on the choice of your language, tone, and strategy. Download, Listen and Learn. Resources: DOWNLOAD the eBook Digital Disruption: Personal Brands that will Crush it after the Pandemic

In this episode you would learn about branding, cultural and businesses barriers and benefits in doing business in Africa. You will discover: Culture of Business Lessons from the Chinese How to survive in an unknown market My guest, Marek Zmysłowski is a Polish-born entrepreneur and executive, focused on online businesses in Frontier and Emerging Markets. He co-founded Jumia Travel – Africa’s Biggest Hotel Booking Portal listed on NYSE as part of Jumia Group and HotelOnline.co – a Travel Technology Company. In 2014, he was chosen as one of the Ten Most Important People in Tech by IT News Africa Magazine. He is a Lead Mentor at Google’s Launchpad and World Bank’s XL Africa Program. Download, Listen and Learn. Resources: BOOK: Chasing Black Unicorns DOWNLOAD the eBook Digital Disruption: Personal Brands that will Crush it after the Pandemic

Building your personal brand in a digital age… what to do and what not. In this episode, my guest Kami, through more light on how to build an authentic brand. Kami Guildner believes women’s voices matter. She is a connector. A storyteller. A success coach for women. Kami’s entrepreneurial journey was sparked by the breath of a horse over a decade ago. This magical epiphany moment led Kami to discover her purpose of leading change-maker women to give voice to their most important messages and create a ripple effect of worldly impact.  Kami weaves soulful-inspiration into mindful business strategies, helping her clients up-level their business. With decades of leadership, marketing, strategic planning and business growth expertise, Kami guides her clients to master their marketing, money and mindset. Kami’s soulful spirit leads her clients to unleash their magical manifestation powers and live out loud fueled with vitality and courage. RESOURCES: Join the Facebook Group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1386664118079263 DOWNLOAD the eBook Digital Disruption: Personal Brands that will Crush it after the Pandemic

“This is a good time to ask yourself, what skills are you lacking?” – John Armah The impact of this pandemic has been frightening. ‘…these are not ordinary times for Business Owners, Employees and Households, these are indeed not ordinary times.. the bigger question has been, what is the impact and risk of COVID-19 on Business and what factors can help mitigate this risk What do you do as an entrepreneur or business owner? In this episode my guest John Armah shares strategies to help you overcome the challenging times and bounce back better. John Armah is a Business Development Practitioner and Trainer in business start-ups development, with experience in the development of new markets, start-ups, MSMEs and business strategy, business financing and business development. He is the Board Chairman of Junior Achievement Ghana, and the Chairman of the JA Africa Board Chairs Council, a global non-profit organization committed to promoting entrepreneurship development around the world. He serves on other Boards advising Startups and SME’s on Restructuring, Capital Raising, Growth, and Business Development. John Armah consults for Governments, Major Corporate, Donor Partners, Institutions on Business Development, Business Financing, Startup Ecosystem, and Entrepreneurship Development, He has worked in key markets across the world and named as part of the Forbes 30 under 30 Most Promising Entrepreneurs in 2016 and 20 under 40 Most Influential Business Leaders in Ghana among others. ‘..these are not ordinary times for Business Owners, Employees and Households, these are indeed not ordinary times.. the bigger question has been, what is the impact and risk of COVID-19 on Business and what factors can help mitigate this risk A gift for you! DOWNLOAD the eBook Digital Disruption: Personal Brands that will Crush it after the Pandemic

Video is a huge lever to bring the human element back to business. My guest today is Matt Barnett the CEO of Bonjoro who walks us through how to effectively use personalized videos in your business communications. Listen learn and share. Resources: 30 ways to use video for leads, conversions and creating referrals Awaken the Giant in You CEO Branding Goals Are Dead! Branding Beyond Visuals Business Networking Made Easy Rebrand: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Branding

How to maximize your ‘Stay-at-Home’ Season “It is reminding us of how important our family and home life is and how much we have neglected this. It is forcing us back into our houses so we can rebuild them into our home and to strengthen our family unit.” – Bill Gates Here are a number of ideas and activities you can consider to maximize the moment. 1. Introspection: sit back and review your life, take stock of where you’ve been, what you’ve done and where you are going. It’s a good time to reassess your life. Ask yourself questions, be hard on yourself and gradually get answers to them. 2. Relax: take time to slow down, have a good rest as much as you can, your body and your mind needs it. Don’t get too busy, take it easy on yourself. 3. Read books (materials): use this period as an opportunity to read some books. Read it at your own pace and add to your knowledge. Subscribe to useful online newsletters, magazines and blogs.  4. Listen to audiobooks: one of the quickest ways to consume contents is by listening to the audios. Get as many audio books as you can, listen intentional, listen while doing chores, let it just play at the background. For your kids, Amazon has made available it’s audible platform for kids all over the world to listen to a huge collection of stories for free as along as schools are closed. Visit https://stories.audible.com/start-listen 5. Enjoy music: create your own playlist of your favorite tracks and enjoy. [I’m currently enjoying my classical playlist] 6. Write a book: your story is unique; someone need to read that. Your wisdom is great, share it with the world. Begin today, just write! [Send me a mail if you desire to write a book] 7. Kid’s Time: if you are blessed with children use this period as an opportunity to bond better, get to know them well. Play fun games with them. I bet, this would be one of the best investments and memories you’d never regret. 8. Learn a skill: pick any area you’d like to learn and delve deeper. Take an online course or coaching. Add to what you already know. Enrich yourself. 9. Practice your craft: if you had always wanted to paint, do it. Try some new recipes. Dare something and do it!  10. Drive-Through: not a time through a fast food joint but a time through the woods or hood. Drive slowly through town, observing nature and savoring the moments. Observe all those things you’ve been missing in your daily commute. [This will not be appropriate of your City is Lockdown] 11. Teach a course online: Share your expertise, either as a side gig or voluntary activity. Many online platforms offers such opportunities e.g. teachable.com, skillshare.com, udemy.com you may want to start a YouTube channel. All these could help with some extra income as well. 12. Spark up the love: if you are blessed to be married, make the most of the moment. Revive the love and romance in your marriage. If in a relationship, get creative with SMS to keep the love going. 13. Seek God: get to know your creator the more, spend time praying and listening to God’s voice. It’s good time to invest in prayers. Praying for the affected, pray for family & friends and pray for the world. 14. Plan Properly: a good time to look at your schedules in life. If you have not had any, then do so, set goals and targets to pursue. Plan your career. The aftermath of the crisis will have an impact on many careers, think ahead, plan and prepare. 15. Healthy lifestyle: check your diet to ensure you are having a well-balanced diet. Exercise daily to stay in shape and healthy. 16. Reconsider your Relationships: it’s a good time to prune, know those who really matter and those who matter to you as well. There are levels of relationships and not everyone should have a front roll seat in your life; cut of those you need to and nurture the ones that needs to. Nurture the good ones and disconnect from the ill ones. 17. Create your gratitude list: one of the most fruitful habits to develop in a season like this is gratitude. Be thankful for all the things you have and around you. Daily reach out and thank people who are being supportive. Thank God for life. Stay thankful and don’t nurse any ungrateful spirit to rub you of your joy and blessings. 18. Don’t fret: breaking news here and there may cause some level of anxiety, but don’t entertain fear; activate your faith in times like these. When you harbor fear it weakens even your immune system. You may have a cause to be afraid but focus on possibilities, the best that could ever happen. Stay hopeful, it’s helpful in time like these.  Believe and expect the best. 19. Live simply: don’t complicate things for yourself. This season reminds us of the little pleasures of life. Enjoy it! Bernard Kelvin Clive is an Author, Speaker and Corporate Trainer. Africa’s foremost author(ity) on Personal Branding. An Amazon bestselling author of over 40 published books. As a speaker & trainer he has been known to simplify complex ideas about branding and life and present them to audiences in clear, actionable steps. He has over a decade experience in digital publishing and has globally consulted for entrepreneurs, pastors, and people like you to write books and build brands. He hosts the number one ranked Career & Business Podcast in Ghana. Bernard is a brand strategist at BKC consulting and runs the monthly Branding & Publishing Masterclass.

“Branding is more of a perception than a product(service).” – Bernard Kelvin Clive Beyond colors, logos and all the visually appealing attributes of brands, there are other intangibles that trigger their success. Today, I will share with you what I call the invisible forces of brands. In countless instances, I have seen a number of individuals and businesses placing so much emphasis on their brand tangibles at the expense of the intangibles? Visuals play a very critical role in branding. However, beyond visuals come the values, services offered, products and customer satisfaction, customer care, consistency of delivery of brands promise, etc. The above mentioned attributes do more good to a brand than just overly focusing on the visually appealing stuff. A couple of months ago I recommended a friend’s business, let’s call it ‘Kim Catering Services’ (KCS) to a client(Vernon) who badly needed their services. I had informed the client and told him the company does a pretty good job. As my recommendations came highly valued, the client took my word for it and engaged the services of KCS. KCS had sent one of her staff to inquire about the specific needs of Vernon. After the first meet up, KCS never sent any message nor invoice, just nothing. Vernon kept asking what the issue was and all KCS did was to keep promising to deliver to no avail. Long and short of it is that, the business between the two parties never happened. Another request came in from the same client for another recommendation despite the first incidence. I recommended another friend’s business to the client. Much to our chagrin, the same back and forth and bad customer-client relationship was exhibited and transactions never happened. In mind-blowing fashion, it happened a third time! Then, I thought to myself, there must be something really bad happening here. Although these recommended companies are great, well-known brands in their niches, they failed the test of brand delivery. They have all the niceties of branding but their invisible forces are killing their brands silently and slowly. This is not only unique nor limited to these three brands but so many other local brands around. They invest in their brand tangibles – logos, colours, signage, social media and make loud noises yet they fail in delivering their intangible assets. Yes, these brands are damn good at what they do – no doubt, yet they haven’t come to the realization that the overlooked aspect of their branding would be undermining their brands. Key areas brands must reinforce in their branding process include but are not limited to: Brand Values: What the brand stands for and the willingness to sacrifice to ensure they stay top of their game. Right from the initial brand building process, every company should sate what their values are such as: integrity, respect, leadership, professionalism, excellence, etc. These become the underlining forces that drive the brand. When customers experience these attributes, they tend to leave a great impression on their minds about the brand. Some time back, I observed something awesome at one of the branches of GCB Bank where an elderly man had entered to withdraw money. Despite the long queue, one of the tellers immediately instructed the security man to offer him a seat and the staff quickly attended to him. An act like this will send string signals to many of their clients about the bank caring for them (elderly). Brands that live up to their values are highly recommended. What are your personal values and those of your brand? In choosing your brand values, ensure that they are meaningful, different, memorable, actionable, clear, and timelines. Take cues from the following global brand values: BMW has ·         Integrity: Asking customers for frequent feedback. ·         Respect: Treating each customer with dignity and courtesy. ·         Responsibility: Holding themselves accountable for their performance. ·         Growth: Focusing on constant innovations and creativity APPLE has been known for innovation, quality and creativity with their tagline “Think Different”. Here are their Core Values according to Tim Cook: ·         We believe that we’re on the face of the Earth to make great products. ·         We believe in the simple, not the complex. ·         We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make. ·         We participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. ·         We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. ·         We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. ·         We don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. Coca-Cola, a leading beverage brand in the world has the following values: ·         Leadership: The courage to shape a better future ·         Collaboration: Leverage collective genius ·         Integrity: Be real ·         Accountability: If it is to be, it’s up to me ·         Passion: Committed in heart and mind ·         Diversity: As inclusive as our brands ·         Quality: What we do, we do well With these examples, you can see how powerful brand values are and what they do for the brand and its customers. Brand culture is basically how a brand lives it values. How they drive home the message they stand for. It’s the governing principles of an organization. It’s the ‘this is how we do it here and why we do it’. It’s the invisible force of a brand’s success. A number of local brands have no culture or […]

How Brands Can Stay Woke in Epidemics  “To have your brand deep-rooted in the hearts of clients & customers requires empathy – humanize your brand” – Bernard Kelvin Clive Life happens! Life is filled with the unaccepted, regardless of how carefully and practically you plan, sometimes things may just go off unannounced and unexpected. What you do in times like that is as relevant as your plan. In the wake of the current alarming epidemic, a number of brands have suffered losses and others are making gains, however, it’s not about win or lose. Yes, whatever the case some may win others may lose but exceptional brands that care for its people will be looking at staying relevant but not just cashing in for profit. Today, let’s consider ways brands can stay relevant and make impact and continuously stay top of mind. I have identified 3 main ways brands can drive change regardless of ongoing cultural or global crisis.  The very first thing brands can do is to prepare for the unexpected; have precautionary plans, anticipate likely mishaps and develop strategies to handle that. If these steps are taken care of, it reduces the shock and likely negative impact of the unforeseen and unexpected  Here are the three main things you can do to salvage the situation: Evaluate: The good old book has these wise words to govern us, it reads “…Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…” – James 1:17. In times of pandemics, brands must put on their best listening ears, to gather all they can before they take any other steps.  The first most important step to take towards resolving crisis is to get all the needed information at hand. Ask all the necessary questions regarding the current happenings to understand the situation. Now, with enough data, you would be in the best position to handle it and address it right.  The caveat is that in a digital era, it’s easy to sample data on social media, which may not be accurate, so always verify source, get to root for authentic messages. Once you have the needed information, you are in a good position to align that with your strategic plan to help curb the situation. You prepare and plan on how to use the information gathered effectively.  Empathize: People love to identify with those they love and those who show them love. Great brands are people-centered, they show care and support. To move men to take action in areas you desire requires you to touch their hearts.  In times of crisis and pandemics, people get affected in many ways; which in one way or the other may impact your brand. Yes, you may not have anything directly to do with them. The truth is that we are in a connected world, what affects one, may eventual affect the other. If not directly, its consequences may be damaging. The best way to get your brand out there is to identify with those affected, show care, love and support. Let them know they matter. You don’t just stop at sympathizing with them you go out to help. You offer support in many ways that you can. At the heart of crisis, people need support not brands making loud noises about their products and services or trying to cash in by selling their brands. Great brands give, you may decide to offer massive discount, free gifts and offers etc. You should consider these acts as an investment of your brand in the lives of people. It may cost you a lot but its potential returns are huge. Your brand will be engrained in their hearts as a caring brand and if they want to do business or recommended a product or service, surely yours would come highly recommended.  I recall one act that Nestle (GH)Ltd, did for its distributors/retailors during the erratic power outages (Dumsor) in Ghana(Accra); they gave out high quality solar powered lamps out for free. These little acts meant a lot to their distributors and retailers; which is still been talked about by some of them. One little act of empathy and support can greatly affect a brand.  What is your brand doing for others now in the midst of global economic crisis and pandemics? You may be at the losing end but you can still offer some support, it could be in kind. A kind word, well spoken; a press release; social media posts of encouragement, care and concern. You have no idea how these little deeds can mean a lot to clients and customers. “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care” —Theodore Roosevelt  Educate: Never stop learning; information empowers! In times of crisis, to stay on top of your game and remain relevant demands some education. Education here is in two ways, firstly educate yourself, your brand and firm about the current situation. An uninformed staff can cause more damage to your brand. No staff should be left out, even if it’s totally unrelated to what they do. Secondly, educate the general public, clients and customers. It will interest you to know that a number of them are totally ignorant and at risk of deception by the masses. Make it a point to share useful resources to help clients and customers understand the current situation and what they can do about it. If you have an online presence, post relevant information about the situation; you could use infographics, videos, podcasts, images etc. You share these content in addition to your brands digital strategies. One shouldn’t override the other. A balanced approach is needed during the educational process. You are giving something to the public and you are subtly promoting your brand.  Key take home for brands is this: in times of crisis, evaluate the situation, empathize with clients and educate them. If you blend these things effectively your brand would stay top of mind. RECOMMENDED Resources: Awaken the Giant in You CEO Branding Goals […]

Here are key Mindsets to develop for your Brand The truth is that every brand will be tested at a point in time, if not most of the time. Ground Mindset: This is having the fundamentals of your brand right. Don’t jump the initial stages of defining and reasons for your brand. The ground rule is to know ‘your ‘why’ for your brand. Develop your brand and business purpose into one simple statement that you can share with others easily – let’s call it, your elevator pitch. Answer these questions… Why are you branding? Why are you in business? What unique value are you bringing to the market place? Who needs and wants are you meeting? Once you have clear answers to these questions the others follow. You can then look at your brand name, logo, tagline, attributes, identity, etc. Firstly, get grounded, get your brand basics right then you can build successfully on it. Don’t start of social media, branding is not just about social media. It’s a great tool for building your brand but it’s not all about branding. Growth Mindset: Brands are like living organisms; they grow and evolve. Successful established brands understand the growth mindset and hereby use it to their advantage. The growth mindset has to do with the understanding that to become a better brand requires a process. Going from one stage to the other and it doesn’t happen just by a sudden push of a bottom to propel one to the top. When you have that understanding you will prepare your grounds/foundation and build on it gradually. You are determined to find ways to better your best. Growth has to do with consistently improving, fine-tuning and tweaking to ensure your brand stays fresh and strong in the mind of your audiences. A growth mindset asks; what can I do to become a better brand? What can I do to give more value to my clients? A growth mindset listens to feedback and makes things better, they refuse to stay the same. They constantly add new things to make the brand better. In connection with your personal brand, you may need to take some extra courses, go back to school, get some coaching, learn a new skill, read wider and try new things. When you become better your brand becomes better. Just like living organisms, any brand that does not grow dies! Grow your brand consistently, become like the proverbial wine – age with grace. Glow Mindset:  It’s good to grow in every aspect of life and consequently to glow (polish, perfect) your brand and business. Growing is not just good enough you need to move the nudge up a little. You must glow! Glow mindset in brand building is the quest and strive for excellence. To reach the iconic stage of branding. To be known to represent nothing short of remarkable, excellence and value creation. Glowing is the icing on your cake, it is the light on the candle. When you glow you make your brand more visible and impactful. Glow mindset refuses to stay the same, they polish their pearls till it glows. They do all they can to stay top of mind – to be the only preferred choice. Glowing kills ambiguity and uncertainty in the minds of consumers. It shortens their decision making cycle. Once your brand comes to mind, you shine through. Be consistently remarkable – glow! Key take-home: Average brands settle at just growing and exceptional iconic brands glow. They don’t just shine, they outshine the competition, the become team-leaders, thought-leaders, pace-setters, trailblazers. They keep setting new standards and records. Can you name some glowing brands? List them and learn from them. RECOMMENDED Resources: Awaken the Giant in You CEO Branding Goals Are Dead! Branding Beyond Visuals Business Networking Made Easy Rebrand: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Branding Bernard Kelvin Clive is an Author, Speaker and Corporate Trainer. Ghana’s foremost authority on Personal Branding and Digital Book Publishing. An Amazon bestselling author of over 40 published books. As a speaker & trainer he has been known to simplify complex ideas about branding and life and present them to audiences in clear, actionable steps. He has over a decade experience in digital publishing and has globally consulted for entrepreneurs, pastors, and people like you to write books and build brands. He hosts the number one ranked Career & Business Podcast in Ghana. Bernard is a brand strategist at BKC consulting and runs the monthly Branding & Publishing Masterclass.

The best time to write and publish a book is now. Yes! No matter how busy you may be, there is a way you can have a book in your name to share your ideas, establish your expertise or grow your business. In this episode my gust Michelle Vandepas, The CEO of Grace Point Publishing walks us through the process of getting your books published. Listen, learn and share. Download, listen, learn and share Resources: GracePointPublishing.com CEO Branding Goals Are Dead! Branding Beyond Visuals Business Networking Made Easy Rebrand: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Branding

Benefits of Personal branding Are you known, unknown or too-known? Growing up in Sub-Sahara Africa, it was quite uncommon for successful people (experts) to toot their horns, it was seen as bragging, being boastful and proud. Rarely did I hear or see someone beat their chest and raise the head up high to declare their expert status. They would rather do their great deeds quietly and let others praise them for it. A culture which I think had hampered many great talents who would have shot up to the limelight if they were a little ‘loud’ about what they could do best and had packed themselves to that effect.  However, times and seasons have changed, if one is that good at what they do now and doesn’t make frantic effort to be known, he may die in oblivion. You know what, without the right understanding of a thing, it’s abuse is inevitable. It’s about time to delve deeper and uncover the greatness embedded in you and put your best foot forward, letting go off the old beliefs holding you back. To shine brighter and let the world know what you’ve got to offer – making the world a better place. As the good old book puts it “you can’t light a candle and put it under a table”. It’s meant to glow and offer light.  That’s you! Hello there, welcome to the personal branding age, the ‘me- era. In the “me’ era, the value people place on individuals as brands is premium. This is to say that people are giving more attention to personal brands now than ever before. From celebrity brands to business mogul brands. The power of ‘me. is on the rise. So, then how do you take advantage of the rising tides and times? Come along with me… To begin with, let’s define personal banding.  Personal branding is how you distinctively market your uniqueness. How you position yourself to offer value to the market. If you’ve been battling with yourself whether to start building your brand or not, may these benefits spark a new positive desire to begin. Here are some benefits of branding yourself – personal branding. 1. Credibility: Personal branding positions you as an expert in your field or niche. It establishes your expert status, and guess what? We largely trust experts. If you can be trusted in this age, you have a business, but if you cannot be trusted you’ve lost business. Personal branding helps you build trust. By constantly delivering on your brand promise establishes trust. It tells people, you are authentic and credible, you promised X and delivered X. A successful personal brand is consistent in all it does. 2. Connection: One of the greatest assets in life is to have a network of people who know your worth belief in you and willing to engage your services. That’s the value personal branding offers you. Building your brand sets you apart from the huge competition out there, getting you closer and closer to your audience and the right market for business. It helps you build meaningful relationships with other businesses and brands. Your connection grows not just wider and better, because you know exactly the kind of people you want to impact, influence and do business with. Your brand reveals who you know and who knows you! Are you known in your field? 3. Contracts: Imagine having built a large following on social media and having firms hiring you just to endorse or mention their brand in your post. Boom! That’s influencer marketing using your brand as a tool to market other brands. It’s easier dealing with a well-known brand than an obscure one, yes, that’s the power of your brand. It makes you more visible to a whole lot more people that you can leverage for business. Your brand contacts lead to contracts. 4. Cash: Regardless of what we do, we would need money in one way or the other, and this where your personal brand kicks in, to work on your behalf. It markets you to others who will be willing to exchange money for your products and services. A well-built personal brand will bring in revenue. You become a magnet of cash when your brand becomes attractive. Promoting your products and services becomes easier because you will attract them with your brand visibility. 5. Confidence: Building your personal brand increases your confidence level. You believe in yourself first to get started. Believing you have something of value to offer the world set you up to succeed in your endeavor. Without confidence in yourself and what you have to offer you become less attractive and subsequently ignored and forgotten. Confidence is a cherished asset in brand building. It takes a confident person to tell others what they have. Sell yourself big! 6. Collaboration: Personal branding leads to better association and partnership. When you become a thought-leader in your niche or industry you attract like-minded folks to your business. People like to associate with already successful people in their fields, and your personal brand will offer you that magical connection. Partnership for growth and impact! 7. Commendation: The go-to-guy! Building your personal-brand places you on the radar of great referrals and recommendations. You become top of mind. When people are talking of a specific product or service, your brand comes to mind first. You become the first point of call and contact. When you become a person of excellence. A preferred brand you will be a referred brand. This generating massive traffic.  8. Clarity:   Your brand makes you an authority. Your voice will begin to count and command attention. Clarity gives power to what you do. Once you are clear on your calling the world of unlimited opportunities opens up unto you from all sort of places. Your life’s purpose, mission, vision, and goals become clear when you build your brand. You set yourself apart from the masses, noise, and distractions of not knowing what to do with your life. I […]

Henning hat mit seinen 17 Jahren schon mehr erlebt als mancher mit 30: Ein Unternehmen gegründet, Preise von Berlin bis New York gewonnen und nebenbei drückt er auch noch die Schulbank. Eine unglaubliche Energie, die der "Junge" aus dem Landkreis Osnabrück da mitbringt. Sein neuestes Projekt beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema Azubi-Marketing; denn wer kann es wohl besser verstehen und erklären, als ein 17-Jähriger der das Denken von Unternehmern versteht und teilt.

Ah, friends and family; when it comes to property investing it often feels like you can't do it with'em and you can't do it without'em. This episode is all about that stuff. How do you start a property business if your nearest and dearest don't support you? Do they HAVE to be involved? And does their acceptance of your chosen property path affect your investment success? Or do you just not tell anyone and keep your property passion a secret? Big topic! And Jo, Matt and Niall dig deep into this one as they can speak so much to it from their own investing experiences. A must listen for newbies starting out and dealing with this for the first time and those who have been in the property game for a while and need a relatable listen.

Make a difference with your brand this year. Dare for more!

Something every business needs is testimonials, but most entrepreneurs do NOT think about testimonials and the expectation around them. As I navigate this Entrepreneur place, I am recognizing the importance in spending time seeing if they are aligning with your business impact and if you are receiving them with ease and expectation.

Patrick Donohoe interviews Ryan Daniel Moran in this intimate conversation about the nature of Capitalism and how defending its core principles serves humanity on a large scale and time frame.   Patrick and Ryan also touch on the hardships, failures and challenges of entrepreneurship as well as discuss politics.   Mentioned in this episode   Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Andrew Yang Toms Shoes Joseph Shumpeter Frederich Hayek Ray Dalio Turnkey Product Management   Quotes (edited)   “Profit is the reflection of you doing good, and with that you can do whatever you want, you've already paid your debt to society by doing that good thing in the first place.” — Ryan Daniel Moran   “The only person in politics smarter than AOC is Donal Trump.” — Ryan Daniel Moran   “Today is the first time a message can be delivered at scale, and because of that, we are now incentivized to do whatever gets attention on a mass scale, especially when you're doing something like running for president.” — Ryan Daniel Moran