Podcast appearances and mentions of mark sa smith

When Mark was introduced to marketing guru Jay Conrad Levinson, it sparked a connection that reshaped his career. Collaborating on bestselling books opened doors for Mark to later do $500 million in business with HP. Mark stresses that real relationships require authentic nurturing over time to unfold their full potential.   After a successful career in helping to bring to market billions of dollars of disruptive technology, Mark S A Smith now works with Visionmakers to turn market challengers into market leaders. He works with C-Suite leaders determined to transform their business from a market challenger into the market leader in three years or less. This is exemplified in his two new books, The Nimble C-Suite: How to Align the Diverse Strengths of Your Executive Team to Predictably Deliver Extraordinary Results in a Transformational Economy, and The Nimble Company: A Proactive, Socially Responsible Framework for Driving Sustained Profits and Growth in a Chronically Chaotic World.    Co-founder of NimbilityWorks, a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders embrace Nimbility, he brings his broad leadership perspective, extensive business models, professional speaking capacity, and tightly-honed coaching skills to leaders who desire to lead transformational businesses and teams that make a difference.     Key Highlights:   [00:00 - 12:18] Mark's Background and a Reflection of the Power of Relationships    Every relationship is valuable and sacred - you get them because of your character Trained as electrical engineer but worked in marketing disruptive technologies Has written 17 books and delivered paid speeches globally   [12:19 - 24:01] Meeting Marketing Legend Jay Conrad Levinson   Mark and Jay Conrad Levinson co-authored 3 bestselling books together Being a co-author with Jay gave Mark immense credibility Jay's key traits: laidback authenticity, no hustle   [24:02 - 33:32] Achieving Monumental Success and Worldwide Impact   Jay's mentorship was integral to this success Relationships unfold over time through nurturing There are no instant million dollar deals from new connections     Key Quotes:   “You can't do extraordinary things without getting input from extraordinary people.” - Mark SA Smith "You don't get them [million dollar relationships] just because of your capacity. You get them because of your character." - Mark SA Smith   Resources Mentioned Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson Guerrilla TeleSelling by Mark S. A. Smith and Orvel Ray WilsonGuerrilla Negotiating by Jay Conrad Levinson, Mark S A Smith, and Orvel Ray Wilson CSPGuerrilla Trade Show Selling by Jay Conrad Levinson, Mark S. A. Smith, and Orvel Ray Wilson   Connect with Mark: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marksasmith  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksasmith  Websites: https://www.bijaco.com  Mark's Cell: 719-440-0439     Honoring: Jay Conrad Levinson   Thanks for tuning in!  If you liked my show, please LEAVE A 5-STAR REVIEW, like, and subscribe!    Find me on the following streaming platforms: Apple Spotify Google Podcasts IHeart Radio Stitcher

Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives. Mark's authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills. Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home. Ask Yourself: Just how good is my “crystal ball?” Is that going to get better or worse? How much do I need to be thinking about the future? How important are each of the timeframes to making decisions that impact our business? Action Plan: Build and frequently update a document to collect insights that impact the four timeframes. Hold “crystal ball” conversations with customers, vendors, partners, and industry leaders. Talk with people of all generations to get their thoughts and insights, to understand what they identify with, and what they feel is important. Look for changes in the way people think and make decisions. Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE

In Memorial of On October 21st, 2023. Mark SA Smith passed on. He was a friend and an inspiration to me and this podcast. He was an educator and entrepreneur who gave his knowledge and time to help others. Fly on Friend ______________________ Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, a software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, sales people, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits" Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here

Join me on the Fast Track to Grant Writer: www.teresahuff.com/vip The collective values and priorities of a society change with each generation. We express our values with our time and money, so those values then drive the economy through the demand for relevant products and services. With each economic shift, the value proposition and marketing methods adapt to the current priorities to provide the most perceived value. As a nonprofit, you want to be on the peak of the value curve. During our discussion, Mark provided a journey of economic shifts through the history of America to help us understand where we are today and how nonprofits can take advantage of the current transformational economy to engage supporters. Join us for a journey through history to discover how you can help your nonprofit grow using assets you already have on hand. What is the Transformational Economy? Civilizations start as tribes in the subsistence economy, where we get enough to meet our needs and live. The goal is to say, “I'm alive.” As tribes settle, we move to the commodity economy where we harvest commodities such as crops, wood, and mining to buy and trade. The goal is to say, “I'm productive.” As the value of commodities increases, people move into the product economy where we buy labor savings. So instead of making your own products, we buy products someone else made. The goal is to say, “I'm efficient.” In the United States, we shifted to the product economy during the Industrial Revolution. As the need for products is met, we shift to the service economy where we free up time by paying for services we previously did on our own.  Then we moved to the experience economy, where people wanted more than a service—they wanted a memorable service. Now, we are living in a transformational economy, where people want more than interesting memories. They want authentic, meaningful experiences to make things better, whether it's improving themselves, their workplace, their family, their community, or the world.  This is what people are craving and paying for today, so rapidly growing companies are providing an opportunity for their customers to be better people through their products and services. How the Transformational Economy Can Help a Nonprofit The marketing efforts of nonprofits have operated on a service economy mindset, where we focus our recruitment messaging on the services we provide. But since we are in the business of transformation, it should feel natural to embrace the shift and showcase how a contributor makes the world a better place by supporting our cause. However, amid this shift, nonprofit organizations face a larger struggle to be heard through the noise with minimal marketing dollars. So how does a nonprofit get and sustain supporters' attention long enough to appeal to their sense of purpose? The Power of Story to Embrace the Transformational Economy The most powerful and entertaining way to showcase transformation is through storytelling.  Mark explained, “You can't sell transformation with features, advantages, and benefits. A person will not understand until they have been through the experience. How we do that is by telling a story of somebody who has been through the transformation. You have to tell it as a hero's journey.” To read today's full episode: What is a Transformational Economy, and How Can it Help a Nonprofit?   Challenge Question: What is a recent initiative you can search for stories of transformation? Connect with Teresa Huff:  Website: www.teresahuff.com Watch the TEDx: The Real ROI of Grant Writing Take the Quiz: Do you have what it takes to be a grant writer? Social: LinkedIn Community LinkedIn Instagram Pinterest YouTube Get on the Fast Track to Grant Writer: www.teresahuff.com/vip  

In this episode, Phillip Lanos and Jason Miller are joined by Mark SA Smith, Founder and CEO of NimbilityWorks. Mark SA Smith, After a successful career in helping to bring to market billions of dollars of disruptive technology, Mark S A Smith now works with Visionmakers to turn market challengers into market leaders. He works with C-Suite leaders determined to transform their business from a market challenger into the market leader in 3 years or less. You will also uncover how to overcome a business struggle that may help save your business. Tune in to learn more!For more go to: https://www.strategicadvisorboard.comConnect:Strategic Advisor Board: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-advisor-boardJason Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasontmiller-sabPhillip Lanos: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philliplanos/Lynn Hoerauf: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-hoerauf-ma-ccsp-a5a53015b/

After a successful career in helping to bring to market billions of dollars of disruptive technology, Mark S A Smith now works with Visionmakers to turn market challengers into market leaders. He works with C-Suite leaders determined to transform their business from a market challenger into the market leader in 3 years or less.This is exemplified in his two new books, The Nimble C-Suite: How to Align the Diverse Strengths of Your Executive Team to Predictably Deliver Extraordinary Results in a Transformational Economy, and The Nimble Company: A Proactive, Socially Responsible Framework for Driving Sustained Profits and Growth in a Chronically Chaotic World.Co-founder of NimbilityWorks, a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders embrace Nimbility, he brings his broad leadership perspective, extensive business models, professional speaking capacity, and tightly-honed coaching skills to leaders who desire to lead transformational businesses and teams that make a difference.Socials:Website: https://nimbilityworks.com/Web link to LinkedIn: marksonlinkedin.comLinkedIn: Mark S A Smith Books: ‘The Nimble C-Suite' and ‘The Nimble Company' Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits" Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here

The Future of Work is changing. Disruption is coming to the sales and marketing professions. Are you ready? In this video, we explore the future of work in sales and marketing and how to prepare for the coming changes. We discuss the impact of technology on jobs, new ways of working, and how to stay ahead of the curve in your career. I am joined by special guests Mark S A Smith and Tom Leonard. Mark S A Smith After a successful career in helping bring billions of dollars of disruptive technology to the market, Mark S A Smith now works with Visionmakers to turn market challengers into market leaders. He works with C-Suite leaders determined to transform their business from a market challenger to a market leader in 3 years or less. Tom Leonard Creator and Host of the Gamers Change Lives Podcast, a show highlighting how esports entrepreneurs worldwide can create jobs in their community. MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Marketing experience in entertainment – Netflix and Warner Bros. Shownotes can be found: here

From Bestselling author, currently writing the forthcoming book Authentic Achievements - The 7 Secrets to Building Brave Belief, Unstoppable Sales, and Turning Your Leaders Into Talent Magnets for Guaranteed Sustainable Growth, this show shares advice, stories and inspiration to help you achieve exponential growth personally and for your business. Featuring interviews with industry leaders and a separate series on #confidencehacker to help you build authentic confidence.   In this episode, I am delighted to be joined by Mark S A Smith. After a successful career in helping to bring to market billions of dollars of disruptive technology, Mark now works with Visionmakers to turn market challengers into market leaders. He's work with C-Suite leaders determined to transform their business from a market challenger into the market leader in 3 years or less. If you want to find out more about Mark please visit https://nimbilityworks.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksasmith/ If you want to find out more check us out at www.authenticachievements.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits" Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits" Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here

Managing Your Calendar and Your Life: Learning to Delegate with Mark S. A. Smith Are you stressed and asking yourself questions? Does your to-do list get longer every day? Are you swamped by the urgent but unimportant tasks that don't move you toward your strategic initiatives? Would you like to delegate tasks but have been burned by poor performance or untimely output of your subordinates? If you've answered “yes” to any of these questions, join me and Mark S A Smith to fix these delegation problems forever. After a successful career in helping to bring to market billions of dollars of disruptive technology, Mark S A Smith now works with heart-centered leaders faced with chaos and upheavals to bring them new perspective to make wise decisions. As we transition from the Experience Economy, where people bought what was memorable, to the Transformation Economy, where people buy meaningful, authentic, and socially responsible, business models from the past fall apart. The solution is Nimbility, which is the intersection of resilience and innovation. This is exemplified in his two new books, The Nimble C-Suite: How to Align the Diverse Strengths of Your Executive Team to Predictably Deliver Extraordinary Results in a Transformational Economy, and The Nimble Company: A Proactive, Socially Responsible Framework for Driving Sustained Profits and Growth in a Chronically Chaotic World. Co-founder of NimbilityWorks, a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders embrace Nimbility, he brings his broad leadership perspective, extensive business models, professional speaking capacity, and tightly-honed coaching skills to leaders who desire to lead transformational businesses and teams that make a difference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It's not about being right. It's about learning at every step. It's about growing at every step.” - Mark S A Smith In this episode of Tactical Friday, Mark S A Smith comes back to get into detail on what it takes to be a nimble leader. He discusses the significance of willingness and shifting the mindset of fear. To be a nimble leader, one must be willing to fail forward and not cower from the chaos, rather run towards it. After a successful career in helping to bring to market billions of dollars of disruptive technology, Mark S A Smith works with heart-centered leaders faced with chaos and upheavals to bring them a new perspective to make wise decisions. As we transition from the Experience Economy, where people bought what was memorable, to the Transformation Economy, where people buy meaningful, authentic, and socially responsible, business models from the past fall apart. The solution is Nimbility, which is the intersection of resilience and innovation. This is exemplified in his two new books, The Nimble C-Suite: How to Align the Diverse Strengths of Your Executive Team to Predictably Deliver Extraordinary Results in a Transformational Economy, and The Nimble Company: A Proactive, Socially Responsible Framework for Driving Sustained Profits and Growth in a Chronically Chaotic World. Co-founder of NimbilityWorks, a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders embrace Nimbility, he brings his broad leadership perspective, extensive business models, and tightly-honed coaching skills to leaders who desire to lead transformational businesses and teams that make a difference. Learn more at NimbilityWorks.com   [00:01 - 00:45] Opening Segment If you have a platform and you want to create content that DELIVERS, go over tohttp://knightly.productions/ ( knightly.productions)! For the first part of my interview with Mark, tune in to last Monday's episode    [00:46 - 06:22] Running to the Chaos to Find the Source Embodying the characteristic of willingness Working on your identity to achieve a better mindset and leading with your heart The dangers of the word “try” - why remove it from your vocabulary   [06:23 - 12:50] Entering the Arena with the Mindset to Win What it takes to stand up for your conviction  How fear is an illusion; excitement of the unknown How successful entrepreneurs love the adrenaline   [12:51 - 15:54] Closing Segment Connect with Mark (links below)  Closing words Head over to https://www.myvoicechallenge.com/discover-my-voice (myvoicechallenge.com) to discover your voice, claim your independence and build that thriving business that you've always wanted! Key Quotes:  “You must be willing to step into the unknown if you're going to be nimble.” - Mark S A Smith “You cannot, as a leader, flee the scene. You must run toward the chaos if you're going to be success[ful].” - Mark S A Smith “All fear is a prediction of an undesired outcome. It's all an illusion.” - Mark S A Smith   Connect with Mark Check outhttps://nimbilityworks.com/ ( NimbilityWorks) to learn how to master the art of seizing upheavals so your company successfully grows through the chaos and be upheaval-literate for the rest of your career. Connect with him on Twitter: #MarkSASmith and on LinkedIn: MarksOnLinkedIn.com.   Did you love the value that we are putting out in the show? LEAVE A REVIEW and tell us what you think about the episode so we can continue on putting out great content just for you! Share this episode and help someone who wants to expand their leadership capacity or clickhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-leadership/id1498567657 ( here) to listen to our previous episodes.   Tactical Leadership is brought to you by Knight Protection Services. A veteran-owned and operated company, with extensive experience in risk assessment and crime prevention. Find out more by visiting https://knightprotectionllc.com/...

“As a small business owner and entrepreneur, having a group of people that help cover your blind spots is so key.” - Zack Knight In today's solo episode, I reflect on the conversation the past Monday with Mark S A Smith on practicing nimbility and moving away from the typical hierarchical systems. It goes to show that having people within the organization, not only those in high positions, must be empowered to pinpoint blind spots.   [00:01 - 01:01] Opening Segment If you have a platform and you want to create content that DELIVERS, go over tohttp://knightly.productions/ ( knightly.productions)! If you haven't listened to last Monday's episode, check it out!    [01:02 - 05:12] My Takeaways       The new terminology attached to being a leader Creating a blind spotting culture with nimbility Steering clear from the hierarchical structure   [05:13 - 06:57] Closing Segment Closing words and reminders  Tune in this Friday for part 2 of my discussion with Mark where he'll discuss amazing tactics for you to apply  Head over to https://www.myvoicechallenge.com/discovermyvoice (myvoicechallenge.com)!   Key Quote:  “You have to really focus on not becoming a hierarchical click within an organization.” - Zack Knight   Did you love the value that we are putting out in the show? LEAVE A REVIEW and tell us what you think about the episode so we can continue on putting out great content just for you! Share this episode and help someone who wants to expand their leadership capacity or clickhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-leadership/id1498567657 ( here) to listen to our previous episodes.   Tactical Leadership is brought to you by Knight Protection Services. A veteran-owned and operated company, with extensive experience in risk assessment and crime prevention. Find out more by visiting https://knightprotectionllc.com/ ( https://knightprotectionllc.com/)   If you want to learn how to build a better business check out my website athttps://beatacticalleader.com/ ( Beatacticalleader.com). You can connect with us onhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zaknight ( LinkedIn),https://www.instagram.com/beatacticalleader/ ( Instagram), or joinhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/BATLgroup/ ( Our BATL Space) and become part of the community.

“Leaders go where nobody has been before. A true nimble leader invents a future that does not exist using methods that have not yet been invented, where best practices have not yet been established.” - Mark S A Smith In today's episode, Mark S A Smith discusses what it is to be a nimble leader - applying resilience and innovation in a chaotic world. The shifting economy calls for a renewed perspective in leadership and Mark points out the need for resilience and targeting blind spots without power play. After a successful career in helping to bring to market billions of dollars of disruptive technology, Mark S A Smith works with heart-centered leaders faced with chaos and upheavals to bring them new perspective to make wise decisions. As we transition from the Experience Economy, where people bought what was memorable, to the Transformation Economy, where people buy meaningful, authentic, and socially responsible, business models from the past fall apart. The solution is Nimbility, which is the intersection of resilience and innovation. This is exemplified in his two new books, The Nimble C-Suite: How to Align the Diverse Strengths of Your Executive Team to Predictably Deliver Extraordinary Results in a Transformational Economy, and The Nimble Company: A Proactive, Socially Responsible Framework for Driving Sustained Profits and Growth in a Chronically Chaotic World. Co-founder of NimbilityWorks, a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders embrace Nimbility, he brings his broad leadership perspective, extensive business models, and tightly-honed coaching skills to leaders who desire to lead transformational businesses and teams that make a difference. Learn more at NimbilityWorks.com   [00:01 - 07:54] Opening Segment If you have a platform and you want to create content that DELIVERS, go over tohttp://knightly.productions/ ( knightly.productions)! Mark S A Smith on being a nomad and living in a tiny house in a truck Turning the nomad desire into a business then being paid to work in 54 countries Eliminating fear to let inspiration take on and mitigate risks   [07:55 - 15:36] How Leaders Break Through and Defy the Odds Deep psychic wounds in the aftermath of COVID-19 Defining a nimble leader defying the odds with courage and valor Moving into the transformational economy and being focused on the creation [15:37 - 26:08] What it Takes to be a Nimble Leader The seven critical skills to being a successful sustainable leader The blindspots in culture and the three elements that encourage disruption How infallible C-suites are a myth and how the lessons of history repeat themselves   [26:09 - 35:30] The Value of Blindspotting and Resilience Allowing blind spotting in the company without the power play Learning how to operate in a state of uncertainty The virtue of resilience in a brittle system   [35:31 - 38:54] Closing Segment The legacy Mark wants to create - offering a systematic approach required for people to change the world Connect with Mark (links below)  Join us for Tactical Friday! Head over to https://www.myvoicechallenge.com/discovermyvoice (myvoicechallenge.com) to register for a free podcasting workshop!   Key Quotes:  “Leading out of fear is merely defensive. And you cannot make advances when you're afraid. You have to be without fear so that you can create. Creation only comes, inspiration only comes in the absence of fear.” - Mark S A Smith “When you sell by making the customer the hero, life changes radically. And you can become extremely nimble, because you're no longer fixed on the product. Instead, you're fixed on the customer.” - Mark S A Smith “The most dangerous thing that a leader can do is foresee the future through the lens of the past.” - Mark S A Smith  Connect with Mark Check out https://nimbilityworks.com/ (NimbilityWorks) to learn how to master the art of seizing upheavals so your company successfully grows...

The life of an entrepreneur can be chaotic with unforeseen changes arising each day. One of the best ways to remain clear in the chaos is to cultivate a mindset of peace. Mark S A Smith, is known to many Fortune 500 companies as an agent of change who helps visionary leaders maximize their impact. Tune in to learn more about the power of cultivating higher consciousness and how it may be the missing key to your success.

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits" Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here

Without a guest this week, I pawed through my library and came up with a half dozen very useful books in the world of business. Maybe you've read a few of these? Maybe not? Getting Things Done: David Allen https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0143126563 2001 Guerrilla Tradeshow Selling: Jay Conrad Levinson, Mark S A Smith, Orvel Ray Wilson https://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Trade-Show-Selling-Unconventional/dp/0471165689 1997 The New Rules of PR and Marketing: David Meerman Scott https://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Marketing-PR-6th/dp/8126572590 2007 Can We Do That?: Peter Shankman https://www.amazon.com/Outrageous-Stunts-Work-Company-Needs/dp/047004392X 2007 Thinkertoys: Michael Michalko http://www.thinkertoys.biz/en/tt/into_tt.php 1991, 2006 TradeshowGuy's main online hub: https://tradeshowguy.net Check out TradeshowGuy Blog at https://tradeshowguyblog.com https://tradeshowguyexhibits.com http://tradeshowexhibitbuyerskit.com https://tradeshowsuccessbook.com - get your free copy of my book! New book: https://tradeshowsuperheroes.com Tim's Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CHQ99XO

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here

The paradox of today’s world is how nothing is ever fully new while the world continues to change. That is why when it comes to creating products, what you need to do is not necessarily come up with grand ideas. Sometimes, a few tweaks could go a long way. You need to start designing disruptive products. Tracy Hazzard visits Mark S A Smith’s Selling Disruption Show to talk about how you can disrupt product design and, at the same time, share some examples of what she has done before. Tracy also taps into the importance of listening to the market, introducing the concept of intentional invention. Tune into this great episode to find out more about disrupting product designs and growing your company further into the future.

Controlling the future sounds almost supernatural, but in reality, it's something you can do not only for yourself but for those around you. By having the right leadership skill set and values, it's possible to control the future with your actions today. This episode, Mark S A Smith, a Business Growth Strategist at Bija Company, talks about the common denominator between successful companies, which is their focus on marketing. He details the leadership that transpires within these companies and explains why tracking KPIs are very critical if you want to make sure everybody's in line within your company. Furthermore, learn what it means to lead with valor and understand how wise leaders think and decide when it comes to planning for what lies ahead. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join Your First Thousand Clients Community today: mitchrusso.com Mitch Russo LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Controlling the future sounds almost supernatural, but in reality, it's something you can do not only for yourself but for those around you. By having the right leadership skill set and values, it's possible to control the future with your actions today. This episode, Mark S A Smith, a Business Growth Strategist at Bija Company, talks about the common denominator between successful companies, which is their focus on marketing. He details the leadership that transpires within these companies and explains why tracking KPIs are very critical if you want to make sure everybody's in line within your company. Furthermore, learn what it means to lead with valor and understand how wise leaders think and decide when it comes to planning for what lies ahead.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join Your First Thousand Clients Community today:mitchrusso.comMitch Russo LinkedIn

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, a software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, sales people, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Mark dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, sales people, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Mark dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]

Mark S A Smith  Websites: BijaCo.com, ExecutiveStrategySummit.com Email: mark.smith@bijaco.com Podcast: http://sellingdisruptionshow.com/ LinkedIn: MarksOnLinkedIn.com Mark S. A. Smith works with executives to predictably grow their organization through upgraded strategy skills and faster deal making methods. Heading his own boutique consulting company since 1990, he’s researched & developed executive leadership, business models, and go-to-market methods to predictably conduct successful executive-level meetings when multiple people must come to a conclusion to make important decisions. The result: his clients sell complex, expensive products and services as fast as humanly possible. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster (The Selling Disruption™ Show), blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home. He’s worked in 54 countries and six continents. Mark’s authored many books, business case assessment tools, sales playbooks, go-to-market strategy guides, sales channel launch plans, business plan tools, video-based training systems, corporate webinars, and hundreds of articles and blogs. Books include Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Scale Your Business Now! and Executive Temperament: Playing to Win in the C-Suite. Mark’s forthcoming book, Scale Your Business, Now! summarizes what he delivers. He works with business owners and executives on how to take back control of the business and guarantee more profits in the next 120 days. He helps his clients regain freedom, exert influence, and manage predictable growth. In this episode, we discuss: How to lead people to be their best even in the middle of a crisis How context affects business growth Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and business The result of not having plans in business How to look at data objectively as leaders and why How to thrive in business The job of a leader Aligning your business story with team motivation How leaders can move through being stuck What role love plays in business success Disruptions created by COVID-19 Understanding the universal principles of business

Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh continue to discuss ways to reduce risk mitigation in Part 2 of their discussion with business growth strategist Mark S A Smith. In this episode, Mark breaks down the eight ways businesses can reduce perceived risk to ensure they are the safest choice. He shows how customers experience purchase risk and helps salespeople understand how they can make the essential pivot in the way they sell. Being safe is the new science of selling. Follow Mark’s eight ways as well as the five Rs of ROI to create wealth for your customers and, consequently, for yourself.

It is natural for business owners to aim at producing the best products in their respective industries. After all, who would want to buy products that are sub-par? Contrary to this, business growth strategist Mark S A Smith believes it is not about being the best choice out there that gets the sale but about being the safest choice, especially in our recent environment. He joins hosts Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh on the show for a two-part series to talk about risk mitigation. In this first episode, Mark defines what risk is, how it impacts sales, and the four fundamental risk mitigation factors. He taps into the mindset of the leaders who are succeeding in crisis, why purchase decision risk matters, and what the two riskiest decisions leaders are making in the massive transition happening in the business environment. Don’t miss out on Mark’s great insights in this jam-packed show so you can make your product the safest choice and close the sale.

Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives. Mark's authored many books including his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills. Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home. Here is what is happening today in business: You can now work from anywhere (most people in the service business)? Your customers may have a new job (now or soon)? You need to stay in contact with them! Use the 10-10-10 strategy. Is your competition ready to serve that customer? Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE

The term “guerilla marketing” has been around since 1982, and most people in the sales and marketing world are familiar with the concept. However, just as there have been substantial changes to the marketing world and how to prospect to clients in the 21st century, guerilla marketing has undergone many changes as well in order to keep up with these changes. Mark Smith, interviewed by John Golden, explores guerilla marketing in the 21st century.

With five decades of combined success bringing innovation to market for some of the world's largest companies, Mark S A Smith comes on the show to share 30 years of knowledge as it pertains to attracting investor capital, marketing to Limited Partners and using stories to connect with people.   visit bijaco.com

With five decades of combined success bringing innovation to market for some of the world's largest companies, Mark S A Smith comes on the show to share 30 years of knowledge as it pertains to attracting investor capital, marketing to Limited Partners and using stories to connect with people.   visit bijaco.com

With five decades of combined success bringing innovation to market for some of the world's largest companies, Mark S A Smith comes on the show to share 30 years of knowledge as it pertains to attracting investor capital, marketing to Limited Partners and using stories to connect with people.   visit bijaco.com

Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives. Mark's authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills. Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home. Here are the 5 Lies CEOs tell themselves: I don't need a business plan? I don't need a marketing plan? I just need to motivate my sales guys? I don't have time to work on a strategy? I don't have the time to work on my leadership skills? Bonus - The Seven Critical Executive Skills Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE

Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, sales people, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. Mark dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]

In this episode, David interviews Mark SA Smith from the BIji Company. Mark is an expert on business growth and consults as a business growth strategist all while investing in large multifamily properties. Mark specializes in how to find and how to sell to passive investors so he can raise the funds he needs to do his deals. Mark shares a list of 8 common things that he likes to focus on when he is selling his deals to investors. He also shares some gold nuggets on how to sell to the spouses of these investors Mark sells a course on selling to passive investors and it can be found on OnDemandU.com. Go check it out if you are wanting to learn how to syndicate your own deals!

In this episode, David interviews Mark SA Smith from the BIji Company. Mark is an expert on business growth and consults as a business growth strategist all while investing in large multifamily properties. Mark specializes in how to find and how to sell to passive investors so he can raise the funds he needs to […]

Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives. Mark's authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills. Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home. Ask Yourself: Just how good is my “crystal ball?” Is that going to get better or worse? How much do I need to be thinking about the future? How important are each of the timeframes to making decisions that impact our business? Action Plan: Build and frequently update a document to collect insights that impact the four timeframes. Hold “crystal ball” conversations with customers, vendors, partners, and industry leaders. Talk with people of all generations to get their thoughts and insights, to understand what they identify with, and what they feel is important. Look for changes in the way people think and make decisions. Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE

The Reckless & Guerrilla Negotiating Strategies on The Tony DUrso Show with David Putnam & Mark SA Smith. This show is dedicated to helping You, turn Your Vision into Reality. Best-selling author David Putnam comes from a family of law enforcement. During his career, he did it all: worked in narcotics, served on FBI-sponsored violent crimes teams & was cross-sworn as a US Marshall, pursuing murder suspects & bank robbers. In Hawaii, Putnam was a member of the real-life Hawaii Five O. Mark SA Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build & run a sustainable, scalable, profitable & salable business. He does this by educating & coaching on the executive strategy skill stack: the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. He also hosts the Executive Strategy Skills Summit & authored 14 books. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts (iTunes).

The Reckless & Guerrilla Negotiating Strategies on The Tony DUrso Show with David Putnam & Mark SA Smith. This show is dedicated to helping You, turn Your Vision into Reality. Best-selling author David Putnam comes from a family of law enforcement. During his career, he did it all: worked in narcotics, served on FBI-sponsored violent crimes teams & was cross-sworn as a US Marshall, pursuing murder suspects & bank robbers. In Hawaii, Putnam was a member of the real-life Hawaii Five O. Mark SA Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build & run a sustainable, scalable, profitable & salable business. He does this by educating & coaching on the executive strategy skill stack: the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. He also hosts the Executive Strategy Skills Summit & authored 14 books. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts (iTunes).

The Reckless & Guerrilla Negotiating Strategies on The Tony DUrso Show with David Putnam & Mark SA Smith. This show is dedicated to helping You, turn Your Vision into Reality. Best-selling author David Putnam comes from a family of law enforcement. During his career, he did it all: worked in narcotics, served on FBI-sponsored violent crimes teams & was cross-sworn as a US Marshall, pursuing murder suspects & bank robbers. In Hawaii, Putnam was a member of the real-life Hawaii Five O. Mark SA Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build & run a sustainable, scalable, profitable & salable business. He does this by educating & coaching on the executive strategy skill stack: the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. He also hosts the Executive Strategy Skills Summit & authored 14 books. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts (iTunes).

The Reckless & Guerrilla Negotiating Strategies on The Tony DUrso Show with David Putnam & Mark SA Smith. This show is dedicated to helping You, turn Your Vision into Reality. Best-selling author David Putnam comes from a family of law enforcement. During his career, he did it all: worked in narcotics, served on FBI-sponsored violent crimes teams & was cross-sworn as a US Marshall, pursuing murder suspects & bank robbers. In Hawaii, Putnam was a member of the real-life Hawaii Five O. Mark SA Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build & run a sustainable, scalable, profitable & salable business. He does this by educating & coaching on the executive strategy skill stack: the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. He also hosts the Executive Strategy Skills Summit & authored 14 books. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts (iTunes).

The Reckless & Guerrilla Negotiating Strategies on The Tony DUrso Show with David Putnam & Mark SA Smith. This show is dedicated to helping You, turn Your Vision into Reality. Best-selling author David Putnam comes from a family of law enforcement. During his career, he did it all: worked in narcotics, served on FBI-sponsored violent crimes teams & was cross-sworn as a US Marshall, pursuing murder suspects & bank robbers. In Hawaii, Putnam was a member of the real-life Hawaii Five O. Mark SA Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build & run a sustainable, scalable, profitable & salable business. He does this by educating & coaching on the executive strategy skill stack: the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. He also hosts the Executive Strategy Skills Summit & authored 14 books. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts (iTunes).

The Reckless & Guerrilla Negotiating Strategies on The Tony DUrso Show with David Putnam & Mark SA Smith. This show is dedicated to helping You, turn Your Vision into Reality. Best-selling author David Putnam comes from a family of law enforcement. During his career, he did it all: worked in narcotics, served on FBI-sponsored violent crimes teams & was cross-sworn as a US Marshall, pursuing murder suspects & bank robbers. In Hawaii, Putnam was a member of the real-life Hawaii Five O. Mark SA Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build & run a sustainable, scalable, profitable & salable business. He does this by educating & coaching on the executive strategy skill stack: the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. He also hosts the Executive Strategy Skills Summit & authored 14 books. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts (iTunes).

Interview with Business Growth Strategist Mark S A Smith at Bija Company and host of the Executive Strategy and Leadership Skills Summit

Join Tony DUrso as he interviews Yuri Kruman & Mark SA Smith: Employee Experience & Business Growth Strategists! Yuri Kruman is a corporate Employee Experience (EX) Consultant, startup advisor, Forbes Coaches Council member and contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business.com, Influencive and a number of other top platforms . . . Mark S A Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build and run a sustainable, scalable, profitable and salable business. He does this by educating & coaching them on the executive strategy skill stack, the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or get the app at tonydurso.com/mobile.

Join Tony DUrso as he interviews Yuri Kruman & Mark SA Smith: Employee Experience & Business Growth Strategists! Yuri Kruman is a corporate Employee Experience (EX) Consultant, startup advisor, Forbes Coaches Council member and contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business.com, Influencive and a number of other top platforms . . . Mark S A Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build and run a sustainable, scalable, profitable and salable business. He does this by educating & coaching them on the executive strategy skill stack, the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or get the app at tonydurso.com/mobile.

Join Tony DUrso as he interviews Yuri Kruman & Mark SA Smith: Employee Experience & Business Growth Strategists! Yuri Kruman is a corporate Employee Experience (EX) Consultant, startup advisor, Forbes Coaches Council member and contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business.com, Influencive and a number of other top platforms . . . Mark S A Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build and run a sustainable, scalable, profitable and salable business. He does this by educating & coaching them on the executive strategy skill stack, the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or get the app at tonydurso.com/mobile.

Join Tony DUrso as he interviews Yuri Kruman & Mark SA Smith: Employee Experience & Business Growth Strategists! Yuri Kruman is a corporate Employee Experience (EX) Consultant, startup advisor, Forbes Coaches Council member and contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business.com, Influencive and a number of other top platforms . . . Mark S A Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build and run a sustainable, scalable, profitable and salable business. He does this by educating & coaching them on the executive strategy skill stack, the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or get the app at tonydurso.com/mobile.

Join Tony DUrso as he interviews Yuri Kruman & Mark SA Smith: Employee Experience & Business Growth Strategists! Yuri Kruman is a corporate Employee Experience (EX) Consultant, startup advisor, Forbes Coaches Council member and contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business.com, Influencive and a number of other top platforms . . . Mark S A Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build and run a sustainable, scalable, profitable and salable business. He does this by educating & coaching them on the executive strategy skill stack, the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or get the app at tonydurso.com/mobile.

Join Tony DUrso as he interviews Yuri Kruman & Mark SA Smith: Employee Experience & Business Growth Strategists! Yuri Kruman is a corporate Employee Experience (EX) Consultant, startup advisor, Forbes Coaches Council member and contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business.com, Influencive and a number of other top platforms . . . Mark S A Smith is a business growth strategist who works with executives who must build and run a sustainable, scalable, profitable and salable business. He does this by educating & coaching them on the executive strategy skill stack, the seven elements that must be in place to be an effective business leader. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or get the app at tonydurso.com/mobile.

* On this 'Powerhouse Experts', formerly BIZruptions episode * Mark S. A. Smith shares how to identify yourself as that dreaded accidental Entrepreneur, then how you can become an Intentional Expert.  Stay tuned to hear how Mark lives up to his promise, at the start of the show, to "Teach you how to grow your business without burning out.' It's a BIG promise, let's see if he fulfills it! You won't want to miss the simple mind shift to start thinking like an executive so you can stop being "In-business", in order to start running your business.  

Dov Baron was twice cited as one of Inc Magazine's top 100 leadership speakers to hire. He's also cited in the meetings and event professional's guide to the top 100 motivational speakers and named one of the top 30 global leadership gurus. Now Dov is a man with a finger on the pulse of the evolving world of next gen leadership. He's the best selling author of several books, and his latest book is Fiercely Loyal - How High Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent. Screw The Commute Podcast Show Notes Episode 108 Internet Marketing Training Center - https://imtcva.org/ Higher Education Webinar – https://screwthecommute.com/webinars 02:53 Tom's introduction to Dov Baron 14:33 How to deal with and understand Generation Z 28:06 Had jobs as a young teen "entrepreneur" 40:48 Getting screwed over and being "done" with it 51:33 Sponsor message 53:22 A typical day for Dov and how he stays motivated 01:02:54 Parting thoughts for us Screwballs Entrepreneurial Resources Mentioned in This Podcast Higher Education Webinar – It's the second webinar on the page: https://screwthecommute.com/webinars Screw The Commute - https://screwthecommute.com/ Screw The Commute Podcast App - https://screwthecommute.com/app/ Know a young person for our Youth Episode Series? Send an email to Tom! - orders@antion.com Have a Roku box? Find Tom's Public Speaking Channel there! - https://channelstore.roku.com/details/267358/the-public-speaking-channel Dov's website - https://fullmontyleadership.com/ Dov's books on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Dov-Baron/e/B001KEE4HK Dov Baron on Roku - https://channelstore.roku.com/details/248515/dovbaron Dov Baron podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-and-loyalty-for-fortune-500-executives/id272512829 Via email: dov@dovbaron.com Internet Marketing Training Center - https://imtcva.org/ Related Episodes Rick Raddatz - https://screwthecommute.com/101/ Mark S A Smith - https://screwthecommute.com/107/ More Entrepreneurial Resources for Home Based Business, Lifestyle Business, Passive Income, Professional Speaking and Online Business I discovered a great new headline / subject line / subheading generator that will actually analyze which headlines and subject lines are best for your market. I negotiated a deal with the developer of this revolutionary and inexpensive software. Oh, and it's good on Mac and PC. Go here: http://jvz1.com/c/41743/183906 The Wordpress Ecourse. Learn how to Make World Class Websites for $20 or less. https://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/wordpressecourse Join our Private Facebook Group! One week trial for only a buck and then $37 a month, or save a ton with one payment of $297 for a year. Click the image to see all the details and sign up or go to https://www.greatinternetmarketing.com/screwthecommute/After you sign up, check your email for instructions on getting in the group.  

Mark S. A. Smith is the guy I met decades ago when he was writing business books with Jay Conrad Levinson. And for those of you that don't know, that was Mr. Guerrilla Marketing. And now 14 books later, Mark works with executives to hone their mindset, skill set and tool set to run a sustainable, scalable, profitable and saleable company. Screw The Commute Podcast Show Notes Episode 107 Internet Marketing Training Center - https://imtcva.org/ Higher Education Webinar – https://screwthecommute.com/webinars 03:30 Tom's introduction to Mark S A Smith 07:23 Thinking of yourself as an "Executive" 09:59 Be very careful with delegation 20:12 Out of the job world into entrepreneurship 27:00 Crazy: Letting the customer mess with your formula 29:22 Getting screwed over as a learning example 31:12 The best and worst parts of working for yourself 38:38 Sponsor message 39:40 A typical day for Mark and how he stays motivated 46:06 Parting thoughts for us Screwballs Entrepreneurial Resources Mentioned in This Podcast Higher Education Webinar - It's the second webinar on the page: https://screwthecommute.com/webinars Screw The Commute - https://screwthecommute.com/ Screw The Commute Podcast App - https://screwthecommute.com/app/ Know a young person for our Youth Episode Series? Send an email to Tom! - orders@antion.com Have a Roku box? Find Tom's Public Speaking Channel there! - https://channelstore.roku.com/details/267358/the-public-speaking-channel Executive Strategy Summit - http://executivestrategysummit.com/ Executive Strategy Summit One Sheet Business Strategy - https://screwthecommute.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Executive-Strategy-Summit-One-Sheet-Business-Strategy-V1-61.doc Internet Marketing Training Center - https://imtcva.org/ Related Episodes Side Hustles - https://screwthecommute.com/106/ More Entrepreneurial Resources for Home Based Business, Lifestyle Business, Passive Income, Professional Speaking and Online Business I discovered a great new headline / subject line / subheading generator that will actually analyze which headlines and subject lines are best for your market. I negotiated a deal with the developer of this revolutionary and inexpensive software. Oh, and it's good on Mac and PC. Go here: http://jvz1.com/c/41743/183906 The Wordpress Ecourse. Learn how to Make World Class Websites for $20 or less. https://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/wordpressecourse Join our Private Facebook Group! One week trial for only a buck and then $37 a month, or save a ton with one payment of $297 for a year. Click the image to see all the details and sign up or go to https://www.greatinternetmarketing.com/screwthecommute/After you sign up, check your email for instructions on getting in the group.  

Why you have to check out today’s podcast:  Advantages of subscription pricing: why brands like Amazon and Uber chase the subscription model  Get an expert’s analysis on the subscription model of several companies  How the subscription business model impacts the growth of a company's revenue growth    Mark S A Smith is an author, podcaster and a business growth strategist. He helps companies grow their business as fast as possible by teaching them how to sell their services at a higher margin through disruption marketing. He designs and implements leadership, sales, marketing, customer acquisition and client conversion systems that find and recruit willing buyers for products and services ranging from common every-day to high-end unique and disruptive.    In this episode, Mark deeps dive into the ins and outs of subscription pricing.  He’ll share his insights on why for him subscription pricing is both wonderful and awful. Also, he gives a thorough explanation of how the subscription model is a driving force in generating revenues.          Topics Covered: 02:34 – Reasons why subscription  is wonderful according to Mark: it is easier to sell and customers prefer the stability they get from a subscription model  07:11 – Hitting its prime: Amazon’s subscription model, how this type of subscription model generates revenues  11:34 –  Discussion around the 'bad aspects' of subscriptions  15:14 – The difference between a leasing agreement and ‘true’ subscription  17:46 – Uber’s subscription model: Is it a subscription or a by-demand model  21:04 – Mark’s valuable pricing advice: “Never ask your customers what you should charge them.”    Key Takeaways:   “If you're the CEO of the company, your job is to maximize shareholder value. So, every executive on the planet is looking for a way to pivot to subscription models if they expect to keep their job over the next 36 months.” - Mark S A Smith   “Our job as a sales professional is to match the needs of the customer. And a lot of times we have to help them figure out what those needs are and make us their safest choice, not the best choice. And a subscription model substantially improves the probability that they'll see us as safer versus a transaction-only purchase.” - Mark S A Smith  “In the world of negotiation, keep in mind lowering the price to get a deal is not negotiation. It's stupidity.” - Mark S A Smith    Resources: Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits Guerrilla Negotiating: Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Get What You Want     Connect with Mark S A Smith: LinkedIn Twitter sellingdisruptionshow.com bijaco.com Email: mark.smith@bijaco.com   Connect with Mark Stiving Email:mark@impactpricing.com LinkedIn Twitter     Hey Pricing Practitioners, have the chance to get Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits Just Answer the Question: Why do customers always push back on price? (Post your answer at Mark’s LinkedIn designated Post)  

This episode is not going to simply give you a list of a bunch of side hustles. There are tons of those lists online. I’m going to tell you how to approach a side hustle from a multimillionaire’s point of view and how you can get rich “from” side hustles not from “doing” side hustles. At least not doing them forever just to scrape by. In the Internet age, side hustles can include online businesses, but I’m going to take a little different attitude about this. Screw The Commute Podcast Show Notes Episode 106 Internet Marketing Training Center - https://imtcva.org/ Higher Education Webinar – https://screwthecommute.com/webinars 04:11 Tom's introduction to Side Hustles 07:47 Making yourself rich with side hustles 14:02 Smartest people cash in on skills in multiple ways Entrepreneurial Resources Mentioned in This Podcast Higher Education Webinar – It's the second webinar on the page: https://screwthecommute.com/webinars Screw The Commute - https://screwthecommute.com/ Screw The Commute Podcast App - https://screwthecommute.com/app/ Know a young person for our Youth Episode Series? Send an email to Tom! - orders@antion.com Have a Roku box? Find Tom's Public Speaking Channel there! - https://channelstore.roku.com/details/267358/the-public-speaking-channel How To Automate Your Business - https://screwthecommute.com/automatefree Internet Marketing Training Center - https://imtcva.org/ Related Episodes Upselling and Advertorials - https://screwthecommute.com/22/ Dean Hankey - https://screwthecommute.com/105/ Mark S A Smith - https://screwthecommute.com/107/ More Entrepreneurial Resources for Home Based Business, Lifestyle Business, Passive Income, Professional Speaking and Online Business I discovered a great new headline / subject line / subheading generator that will actually analyze which headlines and subject lines are best for your market. I negotiated a deal with the developer of this revolutionary and inexpensive software. Oh, and it's good on Mac and PC. Go here: http://jvz1.com/c/41743/183906 The Wordpress Ecourse. Learn how to Make World Class Websites for $20 or less. https://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/wordpressecourse Join our Private Facebook Group! One week trial for only a buck and then $37 a month, or save a ton with one payment of $297 for a year. Click the image to see all the details and sign up or go to https://www.greatinternetmarketing.com/screwthecommute/After you sign up, check your email for instructions on getting in the group.  

There can't be anything more disruptive than what's going on in blockchain. To keep us up with that in this fast-changing times, Mark S A Smith of Bija Company and host of The Selling Disruption Show talks about blockchain technology while giving us a peek on his Executive Strategy Summit. Mark shares his own origin story about first getting started in technology and how it evolved to helping other people explore blockchain. Mark shares his thoughts on pitching and creating the strategic story that gets the investors to agree on what you're saying. Learn about the five Vs to establish whether a project is relevant to blockchain or not as Mark opens up about what is going on in the blockchain world. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join the New Trust Economy Community today:newtrusteconomy.comNew Trust Economy FacebookNew Trust Economy YouTubeTracy Hazzard LinkedInMonika Proffitt LinkedIn

Mark S. A. Smith, Author The post Mark S. A. Smith, Author appeared first on Book Author Podcast.

Episode Overview I met Mark S.A. Smith on LinkedIn. He's an avid writer with 14 books under his belt, and has years of experience working with executives. He's a master at selling complex things as fast as they possibly can be sold. In this episode, Mark talks to us about an unusual topic - how to connect with your customers' career goals. Why do we want to do this? Well as Mark breaks this down for us, the bottom line is it's the fastest path to selling success and having customers make what Mark likes to call high consideration decisions to purchase your solution.   A Misleading Question - How Can You Beat the Competition Mark mentioned he often has people ask him, “How can I beat my competition?” And that's the wrong question. The real question is, “how can I help my customer beat their competition?” When you help them do this there isn't competition. The focus is how can you make my customer look so good that it's impossible for them to buy from anybody else who's focused on their product versus on the success of their customer.   It's About Your Buyers' Careers In getting a customer to say “yes,” they will also being saying “yes” to how the decision to work with you and go with your solution will affect their career. In the world of corporations, there's only one way you can make serious money. And that is through getting a promotion. And the only way you get promotion is by illustrating consistently that you have good judgment. That means that if you make a few bad decisions that have an impact on the business, you become toxic. You cannot be promoted. So, to net this out, your customer must consistently show good judgement to ascend up the path towards the executive ranks of their firm. So as you are selling to them, just know they are asking themselves “is this going to be good for my career? Or is this going to damage my career?” This is the subtext of every decision-making criterion that everybody makes in the world of corporations. And if you've ever lost a deal, even when you had the best overall solution, the buyer probably didn't see you and your solution as in the best interests of their career. This is most often what you don't hear. Instead, you might hear your price is too high, or the executive committee went a different way. And they'll use a word that when you hear it you'll go, “oh, that's what that means.” They'll say it was a political decision. That's the indication that you didn't support their career. They chose a lesser product because it was better for their career, it was less risky for them. And in the world of technology, the number one vendor in the industry is rarely the best technology but the best at supporting the career of their customers.   Does the Best Product Win? No, but if it Impacts Your Buyers' Careers… You probably remember the old campaign and commercials for IBM with the theme, “no one ever got fired for buying IBM.” In the case of Microsoft, it wasn't the best operating system, but it was often the most politically correct operating system. With EMC in the world of storage, it wasn't the best storage technology. But politically, it was the best storage company. And with IBM, rarely did IBM have leading edge technology but they did lots and lots of research. They were not always the fastest, but politically they were the correct solution. And so if you just kind of open your eyes to this concept of people are making decisions based on what's best for their career, you'll realize that you're surrounded by examples of why that's the case. It's not the product, but the product's capacity to improve their career position.   Focus on the Outcome, and Connection to Career Progression So, to shift things up, you need to stop talking about the product, and start talking about the outcome that this person has been tasked by their scorekeeper to deliver. Think about their objective, and their objective is set by their scorekeeper. The scorekeeper can be a boss. It could be a spouse. It could be a parent. But there's somebody keeping score. And that's who we also have to satisfy … that scorekeeper. Next, what's going to allow them to win in their job? What will allow them to feel comfortable, confident and certain. Also ask what creates value for them and what might be different in their criteria that's different from their scorekeeper's. Then align your value, once you understand their objectives, priorities and criteria, and then have a conversation about what you are offering that maps to their motivational set, as illustrated by these elements.   Resources and Links for this Episode Connect with Mark S A Smith on LinkedIn Mark's Book “From MSP to BSP” on Amazon Or Download MSP to BSP as a Free PDF at this site Mark's Weekly Executive Communication at Marksezine.com For More Great Content I would appreciate it if you would subscribe, rate, and review this show at Apple Podcasts. Here's a cool very short video that shows you how to do this. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help me promote the show to others who will benefit. Credits Sound editing and show notes produced by – ChirpSound

Mark S. A. Smith, Author

Mark S. A. Smith, Author The post Chris Voss Podcast 233 Mark S. A. Smith, Author appeared first on Chris Voss Official Website.

Few things are more important than persistence.   How strong is yours? In this episode, Mark SA Smith - Business Growth Strategist for Bija, Author, and consigliere of J. Conrad Levinson, talks with me about how cadence and consistency create persuasion and influence. With more than thirty years in his field, and no intention to ever quit, you’ll want to hear what Mark says about persistence as a by product and how it is created! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disruption is happening all around us all the time. When we look at the things that are going on in the social world and the way that the world is marketing today, the way that we’re selling is disrupting and everything is upending itself. Business growth strategist Mark S. A. Smith has been at the […]

Disruption is happening all around us all the time. When we look at the things that are going on in the social world and the way that the world is marketing today, the way that we’re selling is disrupting and everything is upending itself. Business growth strategist Mark S. A. Smith has been at the forefront of all that for decades now. He has a great understanding and insight into how customers think, how they make decisions, how we react and how we buy things, and what consumers and/or business to business or multilevel purchasing works. He says that hasn’t changed at all. It’s just the strategy, tactics, and the process that we use along the way. Mark shares some tactical and strategic podcast selling tips and explains why he started a podcast and how it’s been going for him. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join Feed Your Brand community today: FeedYourBrand.co Feed Your Brand Facebook Feed Your Brand Instagram Feed Your Brand LinkedIn Feed Your Brand Pinterest Feed Your Brand Youtube

Disruption is happening all around us all the time. When we look at the things that are going on in the social world and the way that the world is marketing today, the way that we're selling is disrupting and everything is upending itself. Business growth strategist Mark S. A. Smith has been at the forefront of all that for decades now. He has a great understanding and insight into how customers think, how they make decisions, how we react and how we buy things, and what consumers and/or business to business or multilevel purchasing works. He says that hasn’t changed at all. It’s just the strategy, tactics, and the process that we use along the way. Mark shares some tactical and strategic podcast selling tips and explains why he started a podcast and how it’s been going for him. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join Feed Your Brand community today: FeedYourBrand.co Feed Your Brand Facebook Feed Your Brand Instagram Feed Your Brand LinkedIn Feed Your Brand Pinterest Feed Your Brand Youtube

Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark has used systems thinking to help executives successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market. He hosts the Executive Strategy Summit where executives develop enhanced strategy skills and upgraded business acumen.  Mark’s authored many books including include Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Security in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills.   Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home.   Website: BijaCo.com   LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MarkSASmith   Event: ExecutiveStrategySummit.com  Twitter: @MarkSASmith  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Mark S A Smith is the author of 13 popular books and sales guides and has authored more than 400 magazine articles. He is a genuine Guerrilla Marketing guru, co-authoring three books with Jay Conrad Levinson, and is a certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach.   A renaissance man with many talents, Mark is passionate about leadership, team building, teamwork, sales, and marketing. For over twenty years Mark has served as a strategic advisor to corporate leaders and executives all over the world who must develop the best way to bring in the right strategies for successful growth and sustainability.   What makes him different is he brings a holistic view of the business instead of solely focusing on one aspect and ignoring the impact of decisions on the rest of the organization   How to Get the Most Out of 2018 Tapping into the top five trends to grow your nonprofit: Omnichannel – allow members to consume you anywhere and every way How the growing economy creates monetary opportunities The impact of higher unemployment on your volunteer force and how to pivot to get all you need New leadership demands: what's changing and how to stay out front Turning unrest into peace: how to divorce your organization from the media's promotion of outrage Interview Transcript   Hugh Ballou: Greetings, it's Hugh Ballou and Russell Dennis on this version of The Nonprofit Exchange. A dear friend who I see too rarely, we have been talking virtually but now we are together. I said, Why don't we talk about some things that are on your radar?” Mark S. A. Smith, welcome to The Nonprofit Exchange. Mark S. A. Smith: Such a delight to be here. Thank you, Hugh. Hello, Russell. Hello, friends on Facebook. Welcome. We have a lot of interesting things to talk about because 2018 is going to be an astounding year. You might be listening to this in 2020 or 2024. But you know something? What we are talking about today will probably still be issues even in the next five to ten years. Or opportunities, as the case may be. Hugh: We record messages that are timeless. But you're right. We are turning the page into 2018 as we are recording this. If you are a regular listener, you know you can go to thenonprofitexchange.org and see the video versions of these. But you can go to iTunes and download the audio there. Mark, you are in a series of really powerful interviews we have done over three years. We are starting our fourth year of these great interviews. What we endeavor to do more often than not is find people that have business expertise. Let's install that particular business expertise into the charity. It might be a church, a synagogue, a membership organization, or a community foundation, but it's some sort of philanthropic work that we're doing. Before we get into the subject matter, which I'm going to hold off in giving people a title, tell people a little bit about Mark Smith and why you are able to talk about this topic today. Mark: I help people sell complex, expensive, high-consideration things as fast as humanly possible. I am an electrical engineer; therefore, I am a systems thinker. I have recovered. I don't sell or do engineering very much, but I do help people sell complex things. That is where you have multiple people involved in making the decision. Each person has a different view of what creates value and what we need to do. Sounds an awful lot like this nation, doesn't it? Hugh: Yeah. Mark: How do you round up consensus? How do you have people go the same way? Just like when you're working with nonprofits, herding cats is what we have to do. It's the same thing when you have to sell expensive technology. What I'm doing here is applying all the things I have learned about selling very expensive things to the world of nonprofits. It's absolutely identical. I, too, do work with a nonprofit. I am on a board here in Las Vegas where I live. I've been involved in nonprofits throughout my life. I understand, and I am delighted to share with you my business acumen. What I like to tell people is a nonprofit is not a business plan; it's a tax status. Hugh: That's not a philosophy, no. You're very active on social media, especially Twitter. You put out little short memes with a few words on it. I gotta tell you, they are very thought-provoking. They help me focus on what's important. Mark: I am honored that that happens. Thank you. Hugh: There has been this coincidence of you tweeting on the things we are actually talking about. Sometimes simultaneously. I find that to be fascinating. Mark: The issues are the same. Whether it's nonprofits or the for-profit world, the issues we face are frankly identical. Hugh: I laugh when business leaders say, “That might work in the church.” Mark: Or the other side is that the religious leaders say, “That might work in business, but it won't work in the church.” Hugh: If it's true anywhere, it's true everywhere. Mark: We're humans working with humans. Hugh: I think we've stalled long enough in telling people what the topic is. What is the topic? Russell wants to know. Mark: All right, Russell. You're ready? Today's topic is how to get the most out of this year, which happens to be 2018. We are going to talk about five trends that are going on that you need to know about as the leader of your nonprofit to stay ahead of the game, to grow, and to prosper heading forward. Some of the things we are going to talk about are technology, and some of the things we are going to talk about are psychology. Hugh: Say that last sentence again. That caught me off guard. Mark: Don't you know I do that to you? And you do the same to me when you're speaking. Some of the things we are going to talk about are technology, understanding the technology that nonprofits have to be embracing and keeping track of and staying up with. Some of it happens to be psychology, what is happening in the general zeitgeist of the world and how they impact nonprofits. Whether you think they do or not, they do. Your constituents, your members, your flock all are impacted by what they see in the news and what they experience with retail and what happens in the business world. They carry those attitudes and insights into your organization, whether you want them to or not. We have to manage that. We have to deal with it. We have to capitalize whenever possible or perhaps even neutralize it in some cases. That is what I mean by psychology. Hugh: Absolutely. I think we're guilty in any discipline. I know in the church, I have had people say to somebody, “You're so heavily minded you're no earthly good.” We all live in the reality of today. I can say that I served the church for 40 years and probably got to that space myself. I put in very carefully numbered bullet points. I noticed that I numbered them wrong. Our first one is, Omnichannel. Speak about that. Tell us what that means. Mark: Listener, have you ever had the situation where you were multi-tasking, perhaps watching television and checking your telephone for messages or tweets, or maybe even reading the news story you are watching on TV simultaneously to see what if you were seeing on TV made sense to other news channels? That's omnichannels, my friend. The reality is we are multi-screening. You are getting information from multiple locations at all times in all ways. What this means to nonprofits is you have to be able to bring your message, bring your service to your constituents in every way that they consume information. Just by a show of hands, who here has for your organization—I see ten fingers there, well, eight fingers and two thumbs. Sometimes I am just all thumbs. Do you have an app? Do you have the opportunity of having your constituents consume your services, your podcasts, your sermons via a dedicated app that would alert them when something new becomes available? Are you using the technology to your benefit? Now if you're doing that, fantastic. Just stay with it. You have to understand we live in an omnichannel world. We are consuming many things in many different ways. Mobile apps, partner locations, maybe figuring out other locations for people to access your services. Where do your constituents go that you can have a kiosk or a corner or something like that where people can plug in, enjoy, take advantage of, be reminded of, contribute to, consume whatever it is you are bringing to the marketplace? Since I don't know what your nonprofit is, we are spraying and hoping you will catch a couple of ideas here. The concept here is you need to be everywhere that your people are every time you possibly can be. The reality is if you are a church, people are carrying around a sermon in a box in their mobile device. Chunk things up into five-minute pieces to give them a chance to remind, refresh, and renew. If you are supplying educational elements, keep pushing out opportunities for people to learn and to refresh. If you're supplying the opportunity for people to volunteer, if they are standing in line or waiting at a traffic light and they can pull out their mobile device and contribute something in some sort of thought-provoking way, let them do so. That is what we mean by omnichannel. Take advantage of that any way you possibly can. Hugh: You said something about five-minute segments. Remind, refresh, and renew. Talk more about that. Mark: What I am finding is short segments of content that provoke people. Just like when you read something from me on Twitter, you're telling me that I am inspiring you, I am provoking some thoughts, I am causing you to think about new things, maybe connect some new dots. The bulk of those tweets are 140 characters. There are some that run a little bit longer thanks to Twitter's new length limits, but it's a very short little boom. It's a little thought bomb that goes off in your brain. As a nonprofit, most of us are in business to inspire, to have people live a better life, to improve their condition, to stay on target, to stay on task, to stay on the straight and narrow. That requires constant reminders. Another thing to keep in mind is if you are a church or an organization where people come to see you once a week or once a month, it's not enough. They are bombarded by all these other messages and all these other counter-messages that they may not wish to consume. Our job is to remind them there is another way of thinking. There is another opportunity. There is better potential for them that they have already volunteered to be a part of. If we can chunk our messages from a text standpoint, an audio standpoint, or a short video standpoint to refresh, renew, and remind themselves there is a reason why those of us who have a spiritual practice, it's a daily practice if not hourly. Hugh: Yes. Oh yes. That is so important. I think the biggest flaw I see in organizations is when people say, “They should know better because we told them that,” but they told them that in 1903, and you have repeated it since then. Mark: Here's the problem, friends. You may have told them that, but the other side has told them their viewpoint a thousand times since the last time you said it. Hugh: Omnichannel. When I first saw that, I thought it was a piece of software. Mark: It's a concept. Hugh: Russell is taking good notes. Do you want to weigh in on this omnichannel touchpoint? Mark, what you're doing is top of mind marketing, isn't it? Mark: Yes. Let's just keep reminding them what they have asked us to remind them of. Hugh: Russell? He's been very polite. Mark: He's been quiet. He's been smiling. He is giving me thumbs up. He is also muted. Russell Dennis: Not anymore. We can quickly fix that. Greetings and salutations, Mark. Good to see you again. It's been a while. I was just typing that when you're out there in multiple places, where your people are, and that's the important thing to figure out is where your people are and getting out there and getting in front of them. We are in a short attention span society. If you're not out there online, you're left behind. It's not a fad. It's not a trend. It's here to stay. Hugh: I think it's also in person. Where do your people hang out? I am hearing omnichannel as virtual as well as live. Mark: Absolutely. Physical, too. It has to do with digital signage for example. Digital signage is omnichannel. Most of us have digital signage in our houses of worship. As I pointed out, as we talked about, where are they? Let's see if we can put a digital sign in the places our people hang out to remind them of the messages they have agreed to consume. Hugh: Great. We are sitting at the top of 2018. Our market has been growing. There are over 100 companies that announced employee dividends and financial expansion of programs since the tax bill passed at the end of 2017. There are all kinds of energy and economy. Talk about how that benefits the nonprofit sector. Mark: We are sitting at the highest consumer satisfaction index of all time. I think it's for a number of reasons. One is that a lot of people are feeling good about themselves again. A lot of them have hope for the future. A lot of them feel that in spite of the noise we hear on the mainstream news on a regular basis, locally, the communities are doing well. More people have jobs. More people are feeling good about what's possible. Certainly my business has been substantially increased. As you pointed out, yours has, too. A big part of it is that my customers are looking forward to growth and therefore investing in opportunities to grow. As a nonprofit, you can plug into this feeling of goodness and growth, asking for more than you could ask for in the past. Requesting more. Asking people to donate more for perhaps more time, for perhaps a higher level of investment of themselves into the organization. When people are feeling good, they say yes to opportunities because it doesn't feel like it's so heavy. Doesn't feel like it's such a burden. When we feel depressed, it's very hard for people to feel good about themselves. Hugh: What makes people say yes? I still have lots of- Mark: What a great question! I'm so glad you asked it. What makes people say yes is because your request is in alignment with their personal identity. Hugh: Whoa. Whoa. Hey, Russ. What does that trigger with you? Russell: It's everything. Everything revolves around relationships now. People are starting to figure that out. It doesn't matter what business you're in. Now you have to build relationships. In the old days, you could just blurt out at people. There were very few places for them to get a message. They were fed by three big networks messages. Think about Henry Ford when he talked about the Model T. They can have any car they want as long as it's black. Now people have choices. They have different avenues for expression, and they have short attention spans, so you have to resonate with people because they will look for another cause if they feel like they're not being romanced, so to say. You have to keep that connection some type of way, keep thanking them, showing the impact they are making, and staying with it. People change. There are so many different causes that they can get involved with now. It's like anything else to maintain that brand loyalty as it were. You have to connect with your tribe. People want a sense of connection and a sense of accomplishment. Younger people coming into the work force want to do work that matters. Hugh: Mark, I pinged Russell because many times in the interviews, he helps us remember that whether you are creating board members or talking to donors, we have to think about what it is they want, what they are interested in, what they want to achieve. There is a messaging piece that I was honing in on here. How do we form our message so that we do connect with that like-minded person? Mark: Let's get back to the concept of personal identity. People buy things to support their identity or they buy things or engage in things to help them transform their identity into a new place that they desire to be. It's a really important concept because all sales, all marketing, all recruiting, all conversion happens when a person sees their identity as that which you are offering as a nonprofit. That transformation for a lot of people is where we're heading. As people grow, they transform. As young people go from high school to college, they are transforming. As they go from college into the workforce, they are transforming. That personal identity, how you view yourself and how you want to be viewed by—Russell, you said it right on—tribe, we choose our tribe, and the choices that we make determine our tribe. In a model I generated, those tribe decisions are mission-critical. The reason why is because if you make the wrong choices, the people who you might like may just stop calling you back. They may quit inviting you out. They might leave you on your own. That is where that personal identity comes into play. Identity happens way more than people realize. A great example of that is sports. Russell, do you consider yourself a sports fan? Russell: I love it. Mark: Do you have a team? Russell: Believe it or not, I root for the Cleveland Browns. Mark: Why the hell would an intelligent man like you root for such a losing team when a logical person would pick a winning team to root for? Russell: I grew up there. Mark: That's it. Yes! Russell: I haven't lived there in almost 40 years, but home is home. Mark: It's part of your core identity. It is so deeply ingrained in your core identity that I couldn't get you to wear a piece of the opposing team's clothing even if I paid you. That's the power of identity. When you as a nonprofit can tap into that identity, that is where you really get that brand experience where people refuse to go anywhere else. But you have to keep reinforcing that identity. You have to make sure that the identity you're offering continues to shift in the proper direction over time. In a growing economy, people have the opportunity of transforming that identity. That is really where we're going with this #2 point. It gives you a chance to perhaps recruit people, to bring people in that you haven't been able to before because they couldn't afford it, they didn't have the bandwidth or the money. Now they do. Get very clear. A definitive passionate, audience that wants to be recognized or grow their identity can help you as an organization grow. Get really clear. Get really sharp about this. It will have a massive impact for you in 2018. Cool? Hugh: Absolutely. You talked about unemployment. The numbers show the unemployment figures at the end of 2017 were the lowest they've been in forever. But there are still people who are underemployed. They are not unemployed. Mark: In fact, those underemployed people are the ones who are perfect for volunteers. The reason why is as humans, we like to feel we are making a difference. Russell, you pointed that out in your last comments. We really want to feel we are doing good, like we are making a difference. When we are underemployed, we don't have that feeling that we are living up to our potential. People in that environment can be invited to fulfill that in a nonprofit volunteer situation. Whether it's an executive who has moved to a lower position, who needs to give back and still provide that strategic input, that is the perfect person to capture for example. Or perhaps the stay at home mom who went back to work because her kids are out of the house, and as she enters back in, she doesn't go back in at the top level where she started. She comes in at a lower level, and she needs to fill that gap of feeling good about herself until she can be promoted up to that new level. That is the opportunity that you as a nonprofit can fill. Hugh: You spoke earlier about working with a local nonprofit in Las Vegas where you live. Why did you say yes to that? Mark: For two reasons. One is that I have an expertise that the association can use. I can benefit the association in quite a few different ways because of my deep history in business and as a professional. And that association also allows me, it feeds me in that I get to be with other people whose future is my history. And so I get a chance to give back because if I rewind my life back 30 years, I was the person who is being served by the mentor who I get to be today. Hugh: So your input is important to shaping the future of their work. Mark: And they have a desire to have a similar experience that I had. When we are looking for a mentor—this is probably one of the best pieces of advice I've had in my life—look for somebody whose history is your future. They can help you plot the path. While your paths will be slightly different, the fundamentals won't be that far off. Hugh: Russell, did you capture that last comment? Russell: I did not. I was in the process of typing that. I don't type very quickly. This is interesting because what we are talking about, there are three things that a nonprofit needs: time, talent, and treasure. We get obsessed with the money and forget about time and talent. Especially with people who are underemployed, people have different motivations for joining you. When you are clear about what it is you are trying to do and you have inventoried all of your assets, which include time, talent, skills, knowledge, abilities, those are all assets to the nonprofit. When you can leverage that and get other people, it's like money in the bank because you go out, build relationships, get sponsors for media, cash sponsors, you go out and get people to contribute pro bono services, you bring students in, you bring professional firms. There is a number of different ways to approach getting pro bono talent. When you are clear on who you are and what you need, you can offer these folks some time. Maybe they need to build their portfolio. Maybe they are tried and just want to give back. Maybe they are entering the workforce. Maybe they are underemployed and want to have some projects and creations of their own. You can set that table. When you are clear on what it is that people want, then they will come support you and always keep evaluating, putting challenges out there for them to stretch and grow and invest in their learning. They have reasons to stick with you in that case. Mark: Right on. I think if you get the time and talent right, the treasure follows automatically. The reason why is what is money? It is a reward for doing what others want. It's canned labor. That's another way of looking at it. Russell: Canned labor, but meaningful labor. It's not standing at a copy machine all day or making coffee. It's actually creating things. Building your social media strategy, writing policies, it's endless the number of things you can find volunteers to do that they can help support the organization with. Yes, even fundraising. The sky's the limit. It's up to your own creativity and finding out what moves people. If you don't have any money, you probably have time and talent. Mark: They probably know people. There is also ways of converting some of that talent and some of that time into treasure. If you think about it, that's what a business does. It converts time and talent into treasure. As a nonprofit, you can do exactly the same thing. Your tax status permits that to happen. Hugh: Money is also reward for providing value. Russell: Another way to keep score. Mark: That's universally agreed upon. Hugh: Back to where we were talking at the beginning of this interview about installing sound business principles into the charity. I am using charity purposefully here. Sometimes we use the word “nonprofit,” which spins us into this scarcity thinking that we can't generate a profit. But the profit is what pays for the philanthropic work of the organization. Like you said, it's not a business plan. It's not a philosophy. It's a tax classification. It's really tax exempt work. We are getting a lot of useful content today about leveraging what is around us instead of getting stuck in our hole, our silo. You ready to move to the next one? Mark: Let's do it. I think we have beaten that topic up a little bit. I like it. Hugh: #3 is New Leadership Demands. What is changing, and how do we stay out front? I remember years ago people were hiring the motivational speaker. Give me rah, rah. Then people left the room, and it was over. People aren't hiring motivational speakers. They are hiring people with solid, executable content. What has changed in the leadership segment? What are you thinking about? Mark: What I see is the informational speaker and the inspirational speaker versus motivational speaker. Let's talk about that, and then we will go on to the topic of what's changing with leadership. The difference between a motivational speaker and an inspirational speaker is very simple. If we go back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which I see as a fundamental to everything we do, both within the charitable sector as well as the business sector, those two lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy is physical needs and then security. Within those two levels, you can motivate people. It's basically a pain-based motivation. Once we get to that next level, where you have love and self-esteem and move up to self-actualization, that is where inspiration comes into play. If people are in pain, you have to motivate them. If people are out of pain, then you can inspire them. Don't try to be inspirational when people are hungry and tired and scared. That doesn't work. It's just frustrating. They will nod their heads and do what they need to do to get the hell out of your view so they can go get some food or drink or get warm or whatever. We have to help people to the third level of Maslow because we can start to inspire them. With that in mind, from a leadership standpoint, understanding your leadership is 100% contextual on the state of the person and ultimately the team you are working with. That is not a blinding flash of the obvious to most of you, but we have to be reminded of that because a lot of the traditional leadership mantras that we hear are being offered from the top of Maslow's hierarchy. But a lot of the people we are leading are way down the hierarchy, and we have to remember that sometimes it's just giving them a shoulder to cry on and taking them out to lunch or buying them a cup of coffee. Sometimes that's all the leadership they need in that moment. Hugh: Wow. That's a paradigm shift. What are you thinking there, Russ? You're smiling. Russell: The thought came to mind that great leaders always have a pulse on where their people are because no two people are in the same place. Cookie cutter leadership doesn't work. It may have worked back at the turn of the 20th century. Mark: It didn't work then either, Russell. I hate to tell you, pal. It was just misreported. Russell: They pushed it as, “Get in line or go work somewhere else.” That doesn't work. Good leaders build other leaders around them because that is what makes a great leader look good. We have people who can execute or delegate, and she is doing high level functions. Sometimes you have high performance individuals, and it is really hard- When they have been driving the train for a long time, it's really difficult for them to take a step back because they have their vision and it's their baby. They have a hard time taking a step back. This is a way that leaders have to grow in. If people in the work force today aren't getting work that means something. They move on. Do yourself a favor and let other people help you. Mark: I think some of the things we have to take a look at from a change standpoint is that our millennial culture, I raised five millennial children. None of them live at home. I consider myself to be a success. They don't put up with ultimatums. They'll just raise their middle finger and wave you goodbye. The reality is that leadership is now voluntary. It was always voluntary, but it is now absolutely voluntary. People accept leadership voluntarily, and a charitable organization has always been voluntary. We have to become a whole lot more about what it is you are looking for. How can I help you grow? Where do you want to go? What do you need to help you get there? Can we help you get there? It's a lot more of the let's figure out where our tribe needs to go and bring that to them. I think that's a big component of that. We raised our children to question authority. The boomer generation just shakes their head at, “I am a boomer.” Friends, I raise that generation. I raised them to be what I wanted to be when I was their age, which was to have the freedom to ask questions and to push back and to say, “That's really stupid. Why do you make that?” When I was a kid, that earned a slap across the face, so I learned to shut up very quickly. I let my kids ask those questions. They were hard questions. They made me a better man. That also means that military-style, authoritarian leadership will no longer work. It has to be collaborative leadership. But how do we do collaborative leadership? It's simple. You just ask people. You ultimately, as the leader of your organization, get to make the decision. But you also have to have that collaboration of how we arrive at the destination. You are responsible for the destination. Then we collaborate on how we get there. That is what I see as being a major shift. Hugh: That is especially true in nonprofits because we do attract some capable people. We think we have to do it as a leader because we don't want to bother them because they are volunteers and are busy in their real life. Mark: But wait a minute. That's why they showed up. Hugh: You got it. I set that one up good. You are really interfering with what somebody has come to do. That seems like a logical step. That is a huge problem. Bowen leadership systems, Murray Bowen as a psychiatrist created this whole leadership methodology. He talks about that as overfunctioning, and the reciprocity to overfunctioning is underfunctioning. Especially when you have a boomer, me, and you are talking to millennials, like the editor of our magazine, Todd, he says, “Tell me where you want to be, and let me get there.” Nobody likes being told the steps or micromanaged. Millennials like it the least of any particular segment. You raised five millennials, and I don't see any wounds on your body. Mark: I'm a much better man. Before I raised my five millennial kids, I was a jerk. Hugh: Really? Mark: Yeah. I knew everything. I knew exactly how to do it, and I could prove it. If you didn't believe me, I'd write a book about it. Hugh: Wow. Russell: I just sense that pleasure. Here's the thing, Mark. They'll be back. They will bring more with them. Mark: It gets better and better and more disruptive and more delicious. Hugh: There is a story of this conductor, who are known to have healthy egos. This conductor walks into a restaurant with a whole bunch of musicians. One person stood up on one side and said, “All conductors are jerks.” Whoa, it got back like this. On the other side, somebody stood up and said, “I resent that comment.” The conductor looked at him and said, “Hey, are you a conductor, too?” He says, “No, I'm a jerk.” I love it. That is a reframed lawyer joke. Mark: The way I like to talk about conductors is conductors are highly skilled. They can play every instrument in the orchestra. They can. But not well enough to make a living. At the end of the show- Russell: [hard to hear] tickets on the train, either. Hugh: The model you are talking about is the conductor doesn't tell them step by step what they do. The conductor says to the oboe player, the violinist, whatever, “This is the effect I want. This is the result I want.” They guide the process. I wanted to segue into that as a model for what you're talking about. That has been a consistent model over the decades. If we look at that in today's world, leadership as a profound influence and not the micro that you are talking about, do this, do this, do this. It's a nuance of engaging people and empowering people to raise the bar. That is the essence of transformational leadership really: building a culture of high performers that respond to you. So we are looking at what has changed, but also we are looking at- Earlier, you talked about transformation. There is a transformation in ourselves before we can be effective. How does that link with what you're talking about? Mark: Everybody that I know is going through some form of transformation. They are trying to add a new skill. They are trying to let go of an old habit they see as not serving their life any further. They may be going through a spiritual revolution where they are going from less spiritual to more spiritual. It may be that they are looking for a physical transformation, losing weight, adding muscle, adding health. Those transformations always trigger help because if we could do it on our own, we already would have. We need either skills or encouragement or motivation or a tribe to travel with. Let's talk about transformation for just a minute. Let's have some fun with this. I know that we bumped into this idea with me before, Hugh, and let's talk about it. I think we have enough time. It's fairly simple. There is fundamentally a seven-step process in transformation, plus a step zero and a step minus one. Hugh: Ooh, do tell. Mark: The first half is about belief. The second half is about knowledge. The difference between belief and knowledge is a manifestation in the physical world. Step minus one is where they want to go. The transformation they want to enjoy is invisible. They can't even see it. It's not even within their awareness. It's not even possible. They hadn't even thought of it. If you as a charitable organization want to find new people, part of your job is to message the outcome that you deliver so that we can take people who don't even see that as an opportunity into something that is within their awareness. Then step zero, going from invisible to impossible. That is the step zero. “Oh, that's impossible. I could never do that. I don't see how that's possible.” That's step zero. The transformation starts when they go from the impossible to, “Hmm, that could be possible. You have 1,000 people in this community that has made this transformation? Wow. You've helped that many people? It is possible.” Then the next step is to probable. “I could probably do this. I don't have all the answers. I may not know my path yet, but this is probable. I could do this.” Then the third step moves to inevitable. “This is going to happen. Oh yeah. Let's make this happen. Yeah.” Hugh: Minus one is where- Mark: Minus one is invisible. Don't even know it is possible. Hugh: Invisible, okay. Mark: Step zero is impossible. Hugh: Okay. One is possible. Mark: Possible. Hugh: Two is probable. Mark: Two is probable. Hugh: And three is? Mark: Inevitable. Hugh: Inevitable. Mark: This is going to happen! I know how to do this. Whoo-hoo. Help me! Hugh: Russell is scribing these. He is capturing the brilliance. Mark: That is all based on increasing belief because the transformation has not yet become physical. It is still nonphysical. It is thought and that is about it. Now we cross over from the nonphysical to the physical, from the belief to the real. Step four is real. We go from inevitable to real. From real to sustainable. I did it! Okay, let's do it again. I can do this any time I want. That is sustainable. Then we go from sustainable, step five, to step six, which is normal. “I do this all the time. Sure, of course. This is just part of my life.” To step seven, which is historical. “I have always done it this way.” If we are working people through a transformational process—invisible, impossible, possible, probable, inevitable, real, sustainable, normal, historical—if we can run people through that process, we can help them through their transformation. But here is the most important aspect. You can't take somebody from impossible to inevitable in one step. That is the psychology of leadership. We have to help them move from impossible to probable. We have to help them move from probable to inevitable. We have to help them move from inevitable to real. Each one of those is a step, as we are crossing this chasm, let's call it a river, from impossible to historical, going from one side to the other. Every step is a slippery rock that as they reach out with their foot, it may feel like, “I don't know if I can do this.” Our job as leaders is to hold their finger, hold their hand. When I was raising my kids, we would do- Kids were going across the rocks, and I would give them a finger. All they had to do was hang onto my finger. That was enough to give them the confidence to take the step. My kids would grab that finger, and we could move them. You did this, right? Russell, you've done this with your kids? Just give them a little bit. We don't need to hold them in an airman's grip. We just have to give them a finger to hang onto. Russell: If you don't want to carry them, you just give them that finger. It's just enough. Less is more. Mark: That's right. Russell: More, and they step into that power. That's what it's about. Whatever the mind can conceive and make itself believe, it can achieve. That is a process. Mark: You just summarized those seven plus two steps in three words. Hugh: Thank you, Mr. Hill. Mark: Yes indeed. Hugh: That is a profound statement. I was really small, walking with my father, and I would hold a finger. One day, he put a stick there. I kept going because I thought I had his hand. All I had was a stick. When I grew up, I repeated that dirty trick with my kids. Russell: Interesting. That brings a story to mind. I don't know how old I was. I may have been two or three. My mother used to carry me upstairs at night. One night, my mother and sister brought me upstairs, stood me in front of the crib, and said, “Okay. Climb in.” I was baffled. I didn't do anything. So they said, “Okay, well, you will climb in or you will stand there all night.” I don't know how long I stood there. It turns out they were there watching. It wasn't very long. I climbed up in that crib. Oh, okay, I got to do this or it's not going to happen. I never forgot that. I don't remember much that happened before five. As five gets further away, it's harder to remember. But that was something I never forgot. A lot of life is like that. Hugh: That's a great story. That's a big leadership example. The last one of your five topics for the year is Turning Unrest into Peace: How to Divorce Your Organization from the Media's Promotion of Outrage. What ever are you talking about? Mark: I'll be delighted to share with you. With the broad spread availability of Internet and mobile devices, the media got out of the news business. The reason why is the news was available any time I chose to pick up my mobile device and read the news from dozens of news sources. The fundamental TV news made a wholesale pivot from news to opinion and entertainment. You watch any of the mainstream news, and they are not delivering news. They are delivering opinion, not even fact. Opinion. It's the mot hilarious thing. I watch the news now and laugh. I just see it like reality TV. It is completely scripted. Whatever side they are trying to spin, that is what it is. What is truth? I have no idea anymore. The challenge is to get people to watch opinion, you have to generate outreach. You have to go to them and say, “Isn't this awful? Isn't this unfair? This is just horrible. I can't see how we can even stand doing this anymore.” That outrage allows you to sit through the commercials for pharmaceutical products that help you fix the outrage. You laugh because it's true. Russell: Okay. I'm going to give up on MSNBC and Fox Noise because- Mark: It is noise. I can watch Hannity once a week. It's the same story every night. Here's the thing. First of all, you have to realize that the news business is really to do one thing. It's not to inform you. It's to sell advertising. Pure and simple. Their job is to create a community that wants to be outraged a specific way and to promote that outrage so people feel like something is going on. They feel like something is important, but the reality my friends, in the world of charitable organizations, we are offering another way of thinking, another way of feeling. We are offering perhaps a better feeling. I feel way better after going to church than I do after watching the evening news. That circles back to our #1 point today, which is omnichannel. We have to keep providing our message on a regular basis daily, hourly, morning, evening to counter all of the outrage that people are being fed from a commercial stream. Go ahead. Carry on. What do you have in mind there, Hugh? Hugh: Wow. Wow. Where people are getting into an emotional state, not a factual thinking leadership functioning state. We are going into this- Mark: Facts don't matter anymore when it comes to mainstream news. Hugh: We are in a post-truth culture. Mark: We are. It's really interesting. Hugh: When we hear comments like “The media lies,” I watched purposefully for several weeks reports on CNN, CBN, PBS, and FOX. They were all different. Mark: Yes. Hugh: Which one is lying? Or are they all lying? Mark: None of them are lying. They are presenting their vision of what they want you to believe. Facts have nothing to do with anything. They believe It's true. They look you square in the eye through the camera and make you believe they believe it. And they do. Otherwise they couldn't deliver that. Let's circle back to the facts that matter to us and to constituents of our organization. That is what we need to focus on. Hugh: We have eight minutes. We are wrapping up here. That is a perfect segue, thank you. Go ahead. Mark: The whole point is we need to make sure our message and our leadership and our direction and our transformation is absolutely clear. We have to supply at last some rational thinking. When people say, “Did you hear what the news was?” and the answer is, “Do you believe it?” Let's focus on something you can believe. So help pivot people away from buying into something that we keep illustrating over and over again is patently not in alignment with the belief and the worldview that we wish. We have to substitute the worldview that our tribe wishes to see. Personally, I see humanity as growing, expanding, being bigger-hearted than ever before. The people in my environment, the people I bump into, including the folks on the street that ask me for help, are doing better than ever before. My job is to elevate, not to outrage. I think that there are way more people that have that desire than ever before, and perhaps that is why Cartoon Network has a higher rating than CNN. It's because we want to feel good. We don't want to feel bad. As a charitable organization, bringing that good news to people and giving them things they can do to feel better about themselves and to improve humanity and their tribe is probably the ultimate thing we can bring to our constituents. Russell: To piggyback on what you are saying, out of my own experience, I was an advertising salesman for WGAM TV while I was in college. Our most expensive segment was the news slots. That supports that, and that has been the case for quite some time now. That was a few years ago. The other thing is people are looking to raise their level of consciousness. The media likes to exacerbate this idea of taking sides. One thing that happened to me as a result of my experience working with the Native American tribe is I became nonpartisan here. The people who were going to help you may be on other sides of the aisle. I was literally more interested in what was going to benefit my tribe than what fit their politics. What we are talking about really is raising our level of consciousness. Me, for the most part, I am tuned out on those things. I can't watch that stuff. If I do happen to catch glimpses of it, nobody lives out in the middle of nowhere. There are a few people off the grid, but you will be exposed to some of the noise. Does that noise matter? We are trying to raise our level of consciousness, and there are people who need our help. When that is the driving thing, you learn how to play nice with others, but you don't always have to agree on everything, except who is it you want to help and how can you get there. You leave all of the ego and crap on the doorstep and come together to perform missions. I'm glad you haven't said anything that made me so angry I have to go put a nasty tweet out. I have a Twitter account, and I don't want to use it. Mark: Personally, I have a positive posting policy. If I can't say something nice, I write them a letter and burn it. Russell: As long as you don't mail it. That could get you in a lot of trouble. Mark: If you are writing a letter to somebody or emailing, don't ever put their address in there as you write it. Otherwise you might by accident send it. Guilty as charged. Russell: It's good to write letters every once in a while. Us old guys write letters. You can write letters. Younger folks out there, it's a dying art. It's fun. Mark: It's great fun. I wrote myself a letter on New Year's Eve. It's part of our ritual: to write ourselves letters. Just to wrap up this segment, an important component is what is your core principle as a leader? Focus on activities that will provide you and your tribe with those core principles. My core principle is freedom. Everything I do needs to lead me to freedom. Freedom of thought, freedom of action, freedom of life. From that freedom, I can serve people. I can't serve people when I am not free, from a thought standpoint, a physical standpoint, a monetary standpoint. I use that personally as my filter. If I am going to do something, say something, act in some way, the question is: Does this bring me closer to more freedom, or does this take freedom away from me? It could be anything else. It could be oneness. It could be joy. It could be love. It doesn't really matter. All of them boil down to the same situation anyway. Just that word resonates with me. I think ultimately that is what we need to do to bring peace to our tribe. Hugh: Our strategy is Russell and I encourage people to be very clear on their vision while they are doing something. As charities, we have to be very good at defining the impact of our work. What difference will it make? We achieve all of that through setting powerful goals. You have given us a whole lot of ideas for goals. Russell mentioned him before, and he is looking behind you there. Behind you is Henry Ford. Mark: Actually that is Edison. Carry on. Hugh: They lived next door to each other down in Fort Myers. Mark: They did. Hugh: Edison said he never failed; he just found 9,999 things that didn't work before he invented the light bulb. Ford said obstacles are what you see when you take your mind off your goals. They are both dedicated to excellence. They were both in tune with the culture and trends of their day. Mark Smith, I don't know a lot of people with two middle initials. Mark S. A. Smith. You stand out from all those other Mark Smiths. Mark: That is the reason why. That way you can find me on Google. Hugh: They are impostors. Mark: No, they are not impostors. They are just hiding. Hugh: This is really rich in content. Russell, do you have a closing comment you want to leave here? Russell: There we are. I'd like to thank Mark for the thoughts he dropped. You are preaching to the choir. It's about who you are. That's a message that has to ring true. Who are you? Who are you, and that way you can connect with the people that you are aligned with. I love the alignment. Great comments. Notes in the SynerVision Leadership webinar notebook. I have the notes, Hugh. It will also be out there for folks to look at. It's a great day here. Hugh: Super. Mark, thank you for being here and sharing your wisdom with us. Mark: Delightful to be here. Thank you for the invitation to do so. We have plenty more in 2018. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The challenge that we face when we put ourselves in the role of sales is we tend to think that we're taking on that role of the manipulator, the persuader, the person who's going to be ripping off the people that we are talking to. It paints an ugly picture and we’re finding it hard […]

The challenge that we face when we put ourselves in the role of sales is we tend to think that we’re taking on that role of the manipulator, the persuader, the person who’s going to be ripping off the people that we are talking to. It paints an ugly picture and we’re finding it hard to sell with ease and integrity. Speaker, writer, marketer and business owner Mark SA Smith says you’ve got to get clear away that ugly vision of sales and detach it from yourself completely. Sales is the first step to loving up your customers because sales allows us to deliver what we do most. Mark says sales is about helping people change so that they can get what they want and need hopefully from you. When you have somebody come to you and talk about their pains and dreams, they are seeking you to help eliminate their pain and facilitate their dream. If they walk out without that happening, that’s when you’re ripping them off. Mark shares some tips on how you can change your vision and sell with ease and integrity. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join Heartrepreneur® Radio community today: heartrepreneur.com Heartrepreneur® Radio Facebook Terri Levine Twitter Terri Levine Instagram Heartrepreneur® Radio Pinterest Terri Levine YouTube Terri Levin LinkedIn

Process and metrics are so important, but there is a whole other side to selling. In this episode, I have a conversation with sales expert Mark SA Smith. We talk about selling professionally and being authentic. We talk about polishing the saw not only with systems and frameworks, but when it comes to the conversational side and speaking from the heart. Mark shares stories of exceptional sales professionals. Ones who have skills like caring about their customers success, having foresight, choosing who you do business with, and being pragmatic. He talks about the importance of trust, and how the number one salesperson is usually the most trusted salesperson. We also talk about the importance of customer motivation and more. Episode Highlights: How life can be easier when you are in build mode because you have a path planned out. Moving from knowing what’s next to being OK with uncertainty. Having a growth mindset and progressing in a way that is comfortable for you. How life is a series of challenges and triumphs. How the person who signs the checks is the person who actually closes the sale. Being a trusted partner as opposed to a sales person. Creating customer success through foresight. Making a mutually profitable transaction. Characteristics of a closer are caring about customer success, having foresight, picking your customers, and being pragmatic. Working consistently instead of working hard. The importance of trust and relationships with customers. The product line is only 10% of the sales equation. Most sales people focus on the product. Focus on helping the customer relationship instead. FAB charts or features and advantages. Attempting to map product to customer motivation. It should be mapping motivation to product. Stop pitching and start asking questions and listening. Offering permission to defer helps with building relationship. Where the empathy comes into play and being open. Resources: Bo Burlingham Mark SA Smith LinkedIn Selling Disruption Show Dress for Success

  Takeaways Sales is Change Management: This is especially true when we’re selling disruptive products, but it’s our job as salespeople to change how our prospects view the world and show them how we can help them achieve their desires. Anything else, Mark says, is narcissistic or even psychopathic. Saving Money and Saving Time are the Two Worst Value Props: Both concepts are limited value propositions. The limiting factor of saving money is taking what a prospect is currently spending and lowering it down to zero — whatever the number, you can’t go any farther. With time, there’s no such thing as 100% efficiency, so this proposition is also limited to a finite ending. Maslow Drives all Deals: When you’re selling at the top of an organization, executives are more vision driven than they are pain driven. While I don’t disagree with that, I did challenge the notion that pain based selling is counterproductive in those situations.Mark says once a person has moved past the first few rungs of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs they are focused on inventing a future that does not yet exist using methodologies that have not yet been invented and they will partner with companies that will help them get that vision. Book Recommendation Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Full Notes https://www.salestuners.com/mark-s-a-smith/ Sponsors What if every sales rep inherited the habits of your best rep? With Costello, they do. The pipeline-centric system is strategically built on a proven selling methodology that keeps teams focused on the only thing they can control in sales – actions that push deals to close.

Mark S A Smith leads the Executive Strategy Skills Summit. A 36-year veteran of the business world, running his own company for 26 years, he works with companies large and small to achieve their sales and marketing goals. For over twenty years Mark has served as a strategic advisor to corporate leaders and executives all over the world who must develop the best way to bring in the right strategies for successful growth and sustainability. What makes him different is he brings a holistic view of the business instead of solely focusing on one aspect and ignoring the impact of decisions on the rest of the organization. Mark designs and implements leadership, sales, marketing, customer acquisition and client conversion systems that find and recruit willing buyers for products and services ranging from common every-day to high-end unique and disruptive. He is often invited to speak at entrepreneurial and corporate events because Mark delivers unique, valuable, and pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. With a deep understanding of international business, he worked in Europe for three years and has delivered events in 54 countries. Mark is the author of 13 popular books and sales guides and has authored more than 400 magazine articles. He is a genuine Guerrilla Marketing guru, co-authoring three books with Jay Conrad Levinson, and is a certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach. A renaissance man with many talents, Mark is passionate about leadership, team building, teamwork, sales, and marketing.   Develop your executive skill stack: 1) Presence 2) Discipline 3) Foresight 4) Business Acumen 5) Communication skills 6) Persuasion skills 7) Decision making skills Go check out ExecutiveStrategySummit.com/synervision for the next event and then send me an email at mark.smith@Bijaco.com and let's schedule 30 minutes to talk about your operation. If you choose to be part of the Executive Summit, 10% of your fee is donated to the Synervision foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark SA Smith is an electrical engineer, author, speaker, and customer acquisition guru. He's co-authored three books in the legendary Guerrilla Marketing series and 10 other business books. His clients are Fortune 500 high-tech firms and entrepreneurial companies that need to scale rapidly. His area of expertise is product launches and sales force development. And he loves to figure out how to get customers buying. In this episode, Mark SA Smith and I discuss: Background and filling in the gaps The big change after graduating college On becoming a successful salesperson What education-based selling is all about Importance of providing value first Dream-based selling versus pain-based selling Dealing with challenges and hardships Going from being an employee to a boss How your small business can compete with a big business On choosing the right tribe Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Zig Ziglar Tommy Hopkins Anthony Robbins Dale Carnegie Courses Mark’s Book – 49 Ways to be Your Best at Trade Show Selling Mark’s articles at LinkedIn Podcast Sponsor: Oscar Hamilton - Podcast Editing & Production services Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Your First Thousand Clients Community today: mitchrusso.com Mitch Russo LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark SA Smith is an electrical engineer, author, speaker, and customer acquisition guru. He's co-authored three books in the legendary Guerrilla Marketing series and 10 other business books. His clients are Fortune 500 high-tech firms and entrepreneurial companies that need to scale rapidly. His area of expertise is product launches and sales force development. And he loves to figure out how to get customers buying.In this episode, Mark SA Smith and I discuss:Background and filling in the gapsThe big change after graduating collegeOn becoming a successful salespersonWhat education-based selling is all aboutImportance of providing value firstDream-based selling versus pain-based sellingDealing with challenges and hardshipsGoing from being an employee to a bossHow your small business can compete with a big businessOn choosing the right tribeResources Mentioned in This Episode:Zig ZiglarTommy HopkinsAnthony RobbinsDale Carnegie Courses Mark’s Book – 49 Ways to be Your Best at Trade Show SellingMark’s articles at LinkedInPodcast Sponsor:Oscar Hamilton - Podcast Editing & Production servicesLove the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join Your First Thousand Clients Community today:mitchrusso.comMitch Russo LinkedIn

The disruptive future is coming faster than you can imagine and many businesses won’t survive the changes. Face it, in the world of technology, your knowledge has a lifespan of about 18 months. And that’s shrinking fast. Even if you don’t run your own business, to stay ahead of the game, you’ve got to learn and unlearn faster and you’ve got to chose a path that takes you where you want to go. How do you keep your edge? What does business look like in the near future? Selling Disruption Show host, Mark S A Smith delivered this keynote speech at the Executive Strategy Skills Summit on January 18, 2017. Listen and you’ll learn: The three big technologies that are now beginning to disrupt the business world Why you shouldn’t buy a new car five years from now The secret that all rapidly growing companies are using to disrupt their competition forever What you must consider this year to keep your business growing and prospering Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Selling Disruption Show Community today: sellingdisruptionshow.com Selling Disruption Show Facebook Selling Disruption Show LinkedIn

Mark SA Smith is a bestselling Author and co writer of Guerrilla Negotiating as well as 11 other books about business. There is a skill of helping businesses find the right customers through research that Mark hasto share that you can benefit from.   2:15 The major reason why CEOs do not fall for persuasion or common sales tactics and how they really hurt you when selling as well as some of the best questions to ask a CEO to gather information before you even try to give a presentation.   7:35 Why you need to use influencer selling in order to get to the real decision maker and why Las Vegas is the only place where an elevator pitch really does work   12:41 The 4 priority questions that must be answered before even trying to sell to executives and how to know how much of a priority the sale is. There is also a built in secret to know if the sale can even be made   15:35 Why an executive needs to know to manage a project you are selling and how to make sure they understand how the project will work with outcomes, deliverables and payback. This story should be framed as a competitive advantage.   21:01 The problem with traditional strategies to get in touch with executives and how a book can help you validate your position,project or product and how to use Linkedin to connect the right way with Executives.   24:30 The important reason why familiarity reduces risk and how trust is an important catalyst of gaining the sale and the one way you can get your foot in the door with Executives   26:35 How to use a sharpie marker unique way with large writing to your advantage to help close your deal using the power of consistency and trust.       A few of the books Mar has written are:   Guerrilla Negotiating:Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Get What You Want   Guerrilla Trade Show Selling: New Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Meet More People, Get More Leads, and Close More Sales   Guerrilla TeleSelling: New Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Sell When You Can't be There in Person   Bijaco.com You can find more content from Scott Sylvan Bell and Dale Bell at Howtosell.live   Twitter:   @scottsbell Learn about body language and non verbal communication:   http://www.readingbodylanguagenow.com   Watch the body language videos on the YouTube channel:   http://www.youtube.com/user/scottsylvanbell  

Guerrilla Marketing and famed sales trainer Mark S A Smith knows something about connecting with top executives, but he says the real key is to show up with a disruptive value proposition.  Hear what he has to say in this revealing interview.