Podcasts about Plaxo

https://youtu.be/UcnTlk-Zv3A Anthony Blatner, Founder and CMO of Speedwork Social and host of LinkedIn Ads Radio, is on a mission to help B2B companies turn LinkedIn into a predictable growth engine. With a background in technology and marketing, Anthony helps businesses cut through noise, leverage authentic content, and use LinkedIn ads to consistently attract and convert high-quality prospects. We explore Anthony's LinkedIn Lead Funnel: Top of Funnel (Tips & Tricks + Case Studies), Middle Funnel (Lead Capture), and Bottom Funnel (Boost Post & Retarget)—a simple yet powerful framework for generating demand, capturing leads, and converting them into customers using a combination of organic content and paid amplification. Anthony shares why traditional tactics like cold connection requests are losing effectiveness, how AI is reshaping content creation, and why human-driven, personality-rich content still wins. He also breaks down how to structure content, budget effectively, and build a sustainable LinkedIn strategy—even with limited time. — 3 Steps to Leads on LinkedIn with Anthony Blatner Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast, and my guest today is Anthony Blatner, the Founder and CMO of the Speedwork, LinkedIn Ad Agency, helping great companies get great customers with LinkedIn ads. Anthony, welcome to the show.  Hey, Steve, excited to be here and to talk to you today. It’s great to have you here. So before we dive into all things LinkedIn, I’d like to ask my favorite question on this podcast, which is, what is your personal ‘Why’, and how are you manifesting it in your business?  Yeah, I’ve always been just really into business. I grew up being around a lot of business owners. My dad ran his own business, and he was in the finance world, so he worked with a lot of other business owners. So since I was a kid, I've always been around a lot of business owners, and I've always just really enjoyed business, and then I just naturally gravitated to the marketing world there because I just really enjoyed the side of the business world.Share on X So my ‘Why’ has always been around helping and growing businesses. I come from the technology space doing software development, and now I’m in the marketing space and it’s just something I’ve always loved doing and it’s a very exciting space and it’s always changing very fast. So that’s been my personal ‘Why’, and just manifesting it every day in what we do in our work on LinkedIn. So it’s just always fun to be working with growing businesses.  Yeah, this LinkedIn is a fascinating platform. I’ve been on it, I don’t know, probably over 20 years now. Is this possible?  Yeah.  Something like that. And there were other platforms at the time like Plaxo—I think that was one competitor platform—and I was on multiple platforms. Then I quit Plaxo, and I'm glad that I actually built on the right platform. I’ve also witnessed how people are getting more and more active on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is becoming kind of non-negotiable for B2B businesses. So tell me how you see this evolution and how LinkedIn has changed over the past 10 years.  Yeah, it definitely has changed a lot. Back in the day, when we were first getting started, a lot of people would ask me, “Does anybody even use LinkedIn?” Ten years ago, it wasn't as widely used, especially on the social side. It’s always been like the digital resume. The big change happened with Covid, when everyone was had to get online more. That’s when the big shift happened. Everyone got used to using it a lot more. And then since then, people are used to using it, and it has definitely evolved into being kind of the number one social platform for professionals. So anything business-wise, business content, people are going to go on LinkedIn to share that and talk about that. So it was kind of cemented in this place there. Then they just continued rolling out additional features and things that are useful for both users on reading, connecting with your colleagues, but then also on the marketing side of things. So the advertising platform has kind of come a long way. There’s a lot of new features, a lot of new capabilities there. So it’s been very interesting to watch how it’s evolved. And I think also at the same time we kind of see how other platforms have evolved differently. I feel like these days, if I ever go on Facebook, it’s just a lot of like AI-generated garbage content. So during the workday or during the work week, I want to be reading business stuff. I want to be learning things and I’m going to apply to my job. That’s why I go on LinkedIn to read that type of content. And I know that’s why a lot of other professionals do it. So it’s kind of just grown into its place there in the ecosystem. So people are used to using it a lot more. And there’s been a lot of new features that have come out to help marketers use it as a marketing channel.  I’m glad you brought up this AI evolution, because I see that more and more people are writing their posts with AI. There can be benefits to that, because some people don't write as well as an AI copywriter does—most of us, perhaps. On the other hand, the posts start to look a little bit more alike. So I wonder, what is your perception of this? Do you think people are posting more, and if they post more, do people read less? How is this evolving?  Yes, it’s a continually evolving space. I don’t think we know a hundred percent what the outcome is right now, but I think what I see across all the people that we work with—and just using the platform—there's a lot more content these days with AI. People can use AI to generate content, so there's a lot more content out there. But volume does not always mean quality. There's more content, but not necessarily the best content. The best stuff that we see performing well in our ad campaigns—and also organically on LinkedIn—usually has a human angle to it, where maybe you wrote it yourself.  You can use AI to generate content—AI is great for that, and it's great for writing—but you probably want to take what it gives you and then add your own edits and personality. That's a big piece. The more personality you have in your content, the more people are going to engage with it. So across the board, we see that human content still wins. AI is great for generating the bulk of the content, but then you want to put in your own voice, add some personality to it, and then that's going to help it perform kind of even better…Share on X  Well, that takes me to the next question, which is about connection requests and people reaching out. So how is this evolving, and how do you see people reacting to connection requests? I remember 20 years ago, it was a big deal if you got a connection request, and we basically reached out to all the people we knew and connected with everyone we could. Now, there are different schools of thought. Some say that you should not connect with anyone you don't want to do business with because it dilutes the exposure of your content, and you're not going to go viral. You're also not going to be able to follow the few people you can actually do business with. Other people say the more, the merrier. So what's your view on this topic?  I think the marketers went very heavily into connection requests—especially during the Covid period—and maybe burned it out. As users, we've all been burned out by the connection requests and the messages we've been receiving. So as a platform, and in terms of how people use it, that tactic has definitely simmered down a lot. It's still a usable, viable tactic—prospecting is never going to go away. Whether it's email, cold calling, or LinkedIn, delivering the right message to the right person at the right time will always matter. But it is changing and evolving. Users are burned out by the messages, so they're much more skeptical now. People accept far fewer connection requests because they can usually see the intent coming from a mile away. I still recommend connecting with people you do know—your colleagues and your clients—and also connecting with your prospects. But be aware that everyone else is cautious when they receive a connection request. They often assume you're going to try to sell to them. So start with the people that you do know that you are working with. Prospecting will probably never go away, but definitely the platform as a whole—and what works on LinkedIn—has definitely shifted. Connection requests don't work as well as they used to. People have shifted more to the content side of things on LinkedIn, and I think it does provide a better user experience to the end user and also for the marketer too. At the end of the day, it's about the end user and the experience you're…Share on X I'm a LinkedIn user, you're a LinkedIn user, so we want to have a good experience. We don't want to just receive spam from everybody, or else we're not going to use it. But the platform evolves, so it's a lot more about the content you're posting on LinkedIn. Other people are going to discover that content, and then maybe they choose to follow you at that point. Maybe they choose to send you a connection request. But it doesn't have to be just that. When LinkedIn sees people starting to engage with your content, they're going to show more of your content. So it's kind of becoming a discovery platform, and there is a network effect to it. So there's definitely a shift toward the content you're posting. It's much more about thought leadership. I know the LinkedIn product team is trying to be very intentional about the content they surface to users. They want it to be high-quality, thought leadership content. As a platform, they know they've had a spam problem—from connection requests to the comments people leave. A lot of those comments are AI-generated. LinkedIn has taken a stand that they don't want AI-generated comments, and they're actively scanning to remove them. LinkedIn’s trying to reduce the AI spam, and they are trying to focus on and surface the high-quality thought leadership type of content. So that’s all on the content side of things. And then the advertising platform has also evolved a lot too. As users and marketers shift more toward the feed and the content being created, the marketing side of LinkedIn follows that shift. Now, marketing on LinkedIn is largely about running ads in the newsfeed. On LinkedIn, you can run ad campaigns just like Facebook ad campaigns. For anybody who’s used Facebook, you’ve seen all the different ads that are on Facebook. LinkedIn has their own same ad offerings, and it’s very similar to those. So you can build your campaigns to put ads in the newsfeed. But the big change in the last year or two is that, in the past, you could only run company page ads. So all of your ads had to be from a company page. Within the last couple years, you can now do what’s called “thought leader ads,” which is just simply boosting posts from a person. So it sounds fancy when you say thought leader ads, but it’s just boosting posts from a person. It’s a better experience all the way around because you want to be getting your content out there, so you want to be boosting your posts and getting your message out there. You want people to be getting to know you, and they also just perform a lot better because people on LinkedIn will always engage with other people more than with companies, because that’s why people are on LinkedIn to learn from other people and hear what they have to say. So those thought leader ads just perform a lot better, the better user experience all the way around. That’s where the platform has really evolved and shifted to. No more connection requests or very few of those. And now it’s all about the content people are creating, posting, and then boosting, creating a full-funnel approach that way.  Okay, that’s fascinating. So your business is LinkedIn ads and helping companies grow on LinkedIn, and this podcast is about frameworks. Yeah. I'm wondering if there's a framework for how people should think about LinkedIn and how to use it—especially for a small business, maybe they have 10 to 50 employees, and they want to grow their business. They’re in the B2B space, they want to use LinkedIn. They're aware that LinkedIn advertising can be pretty expensive, so they'll likely use a combination of approaches. What's a good frame of mind for that? There's the company page, there's the personal profile—so is there a simple framework for thinking about how to use LinkedIn as an advertising tool and how to promote their small to medium-sized business there? Yes, there is. I’m going to give you the very simple yet effective thought leader ad funnel—something anyone can go and use. It’s the simplest and also the most effective thing you can do on LinkedIn. It starts with you, and I'll explain the different stages, as well as how to get started. So the first step is getting your own posts out there. Not everybody’s posting on LinkedIn. Not everybody feels comfortable posting on LinkedIn, and sometimes it’s a hard process to go through to getting people to post. And whether that’s you or your CEO, or somebody else at your company, another leader, the first step is to get into the routine of posting regularly. Again, it could be a big hurdle for some people, but you just have to get it started. Once you start to find your voice on LinkedIn, then we’re going to start thinking about three different buckets of content that you’re going to be creating. The first bucket of content is what we call awareness content. It gets people interested in what you have to talk about. There's a lot that can work well here, but across the board, we see that case studies perform very well. By case studies, I mean content like: “Here's how we achieved X, Y, Z result, here's what you can learn from it, and here's how you can do it.” Not the kind of case studies that say, “We're so awesome, we did this, and we're great,” but more educational, tips-and-tricks-style case studies. So posting those types of posts on LinkedIn. That’s why everyone else is on LinkedIn—to read those things and learn those things that they can take back to their job and to their company to improve what they’re doing. So if you’re the one creating that type of content that other people want to be reading, that’s the perfect start. And then when you’re talking about a result that you helped this certain industry or a person get somebody else in that industry who wants that result is going to read your post and your content. So that’s why we start with that type of content. That's what we call the top of the funnel—it's meant to get people interested in who you are and what you’re talking about. Then the next step of the funnel, what we call the middle of the funnel. We want people to opt in for something. Posting on LinkedIn is great, but it's really just one step in the process.Share on X Most businesses want to get people to your website, want to get somebody on a list so that they can then communicate with them more afterwards. Many businesses have different resources, downloadables, or things you might offer to those people. It can be a simple newsletter, but even better than that is if it’s a webinar type of thing that somebody might register for, maybe you have a series of webinars. It might be a guide or report, or it could be something even more than that. It could be a free trial or something like that. So the second step in the funnel is: what can you give to your audience, to your market, that provides more value, but also gets them involved and get them on your list as an indication of interest. So that’s the middle of the funnel. You can post about what you're offering, explain what you're sharing, and then you can link back to your website or where they can go to get that. And it’s okay to put the link in the post at this point because we’re going to be boosting it. We know that ad that post is going to be getting delivered to your audience. So that’s middle of the funnel. Then finally, you have the bottom of the funnel. And this is where your main offer is. At this point, it might be something like “get a free consultation” or “book a demo”—whatever it is that you're offering. At this point, you can set up your retargeting. So if somebody read your first post and then they clicked on your second post, then you’re going to retarget them with your third post. By the time they see that third post, they've already seen you a couple of times on LinkedIn. They're more familiar with you, and they're more likely to take you up on whatever offer you're presenting. This is where offers like a free demo or free consultation tend to perform well. You can link directly to something like Calendly, or a page on your website where they can request it, and then you're driving people to take that next step. I’m sure everyone here is familiar with marketing funnels. This is the simplest thought leader ad funnel that you can build, taking advantage of the thought leader ad format—which is boosting your posts, not running just a company page ad, but boosting your posts. Those will perform much better than company page ads. They’re also much cheaper to run because they perform so much better. So if you’re just getting started, this is the most cost-efficient place to start. That’s the framework right there is the thought leader ad funnel. Top of funnel: case study content. Middle of funnel: guide or opt-in. Bottom of funnel: your offer. And then once somebody engages with your first one, you want to set it up so they get retargeted with your second post. And then once they click on the second post, or once they got opt in and get on your list, then retarget them with a third post. And then you build yourself a little funnel and then boom, you could be reaching new people and then driving them through to eventually schedule a call with you. Yeah. That’s fascinating. So this is basically three levels that you can create posts around and to drive traffic. Maybe I'm starting with the third one—the bottom of the funnel. So after you get the opt-in from your prospect, or from people who are interested, you can retarget them with boosted posts. Yep.  And I assume you can also send them emails and retarget them outside of LinkedIn as well?  Right. Once you get their email, then feel free to use email as another channel. People do only check LinkedIn maybe a couple times a week on average. So if they do opt in to your list, definitely use email. But getting people from that second to third stage can take a little while. It often takes a few more impressions—people need to see more of what you have to offer or what you’re talking about before they’re ready to take that next step. So use both channels.  Love it. So what about company page? Is it not worth building anymore or there’s also a place for company channels? Yeah, don't ignore your company page. You don't want it to ever seem inactive. People are going to visit your company page. For anyone in business, you probably already have people visiting your website, and there are people actively doing research to learn more about you. Company pages rank very high on Google and elsewhere. So if someone searches for your business, the first result will likely be your main website, and the second result will often be your company page. That means a lot of people will end up visiting it. You don't want it to look inactive. Even posting once a month is enough—you just want to show that there's some level of activity there. And then, the bigger you are as a company, the more important your company page becomes. For very small companies or solopreneurs, that’s where the thought leader ads are kind of the main thing you’re going to be doing. The bigger and bigger you go. We work with a lot of mid-market and enterprise companies as well, and for them it is more company page, overall it’s like a mix. We still use thought leader ads for big companies, but it’s a lot more company page ads will do for the big companies. So the best way to structure that funnel is still leading with your people—those boosted posts—because they perform so much better. It's also a great way for your audience to get to know you.Share on X And then once they know your people, then you can start to retarget them with the company page ads. At that point, they've already seen your people and are getting to know your brand. That’s when retargeting them with the actual brand ads, the company page ads, are going to perform much better. The bigger the company, the more the company page ads are going to use, and that’s how you’ll typically combine them. I love it. It's fascinating. So what's the right kind of cadence? Because I see some people are on LinkedIn all the time—and I've tried it as well—it can take up a lot of time. You still need to do other types of prospecting too. So what do you recommend as a good cadence for someone who's maybe a small business CEO? They don't have a lot of time—they have to make calls, write emails—but they also want to be present on LinkedIn. What's a sustainable pace?  Yeah, from what I see perform best—and also what's realistic to maintain—is about posting twice a week on LinkedIn. That at least gets a decent amount of content out there without being too much. And then from there, taking those posts and boosting them into the funnel. Once you set up the funnel, it’s very quick to go boost your posts and add them into it. So really it’s about creating those twice-a-week posts and then setting up your funnel so that those posts get added to it. I do recommend using AI to take a lot of the heavy lifting off and make things easier. But of course, look at what it’s outputting, edit it so it’s in your voice, add some personality to it. It just makes it perform a lot better. It makes it more enjoyable for other people to read it. And then if you really don’t have the time, go hire somebody or go find a freelancer, or that’s when people come talk to us, is when you just need help from somebody to go do it. So start with twice a week and go from there. There's not really a strict upper limit—you don't start to max out until you're posting multiple times a day. I don’t know if anyone listening to this is going to get there, but you can post twice, three times a day, and you’re really not hurting yourself. So at least twice a week. Start with that.  Yeah. So when you say inject personality, what does that mean? Is it about sharing personal information? Is it about having your own voice? What does that even mean?  Yeah, it means a lot of things. AI can be very flat and boring, and you can read something and very often tell this is probably generated with AI. Personality is—it's hard to say exactly what it is—but it's like spicing it up. It's like breaking perfect grammar. It's using your own unique style, like the way you might start your post or the way you might sign off at the end. Because if someone’s just scrolling through the newsfeed and they’re just seeing a bunch of posts that look the same, that's noise. It all blends in, and it's not going to work well. But the posts that really stand out are the ones that have a little bit of personality. It depends on your business and your vertical—maybe you add some emojis, maybe you add some questions—but it's about finding a way to break out in the newsfeed. So there’s lots of stuff you can do. Maybe add one or two emojis, maybe add a simple question, but it's also about adding more energy to your post. It's not just writing flat business content—it's finding ways to add more emotion and energy. It's hard to define exactly what personality is, but when you scroll your feed and you see it, you'll know it. Yeah. I did notice that people resonate with stuff that people create. Earlier, about two years ago, we created a video that we thought was very cool, but we used AI, and almost nobody looked at it. But if I put in some emotional energy when creating the post, adding in my own ideas—and even if I write it myself—it works much better. I find the AI stuff, even if it's structured—maybe I don't have one-sentence paragraphs and things like that—so it can work better.  And it's good to have a mixture of different types of content, because yes, text-only is a good format, but maybe you use certain images. Maybe you went to a conference recently, or maybe you're with your colleagues—you can use images like that. That adds a bit of personality. Videos can also be effective, especially selfie-style videos where you're talking about your subject or your expertise. Those are good, because AI can't yet generate the perfect video of you talking—it's getting much better and getting close—but people can still tell when a video is AI-generated. So leverage those formats as a way to stand out in the feed. Video is a very good format because people get to see you and hear from you. They feel like they get to know you a lot faster when they watch a video. Most of the time in business and sales, you don't get to meet someone until you're at an event or on a sales call. So use the LinkedIn feed as a way to accelerate that. Let people get to know you by letting them see you and hear you, and they'll…Share on X  Yeah, I love it. Okay, so I think it's a great picture, and thanks for sharing it. So creating awareness is kind of top of funnel—case studies, what works, tips and tricks. Then you share a lead magnet-type thing, build your list, invite them to download something, come to a webinar, do a free trial, and then you have that list. And then you can retarget them with your bottom of the funnel, which could be more of the same, I guess. It could be multiple channels. So that's really cool. Now, if someone wants to do this, what kind of budget should they be thinking about? Because boosting posts can be expensive, but if it's a good post and you get people to download stuff, maybe it's a good ROI. So what kind of budget would make a difference if I were to post twice? Let's say I'm a CEO of a small-to-medium business. I post twice a week, I develop a couple of lead magnets, I do some retargeting, boosting posts—what kind of budget makes a meaningful difference for me?  Yeah, so the minimum LinkedIn lets you spend on a single campaign per day is 10 bucks a day. so the very minimum is $10 a day to get started, and then you can kind of play around with it from there. To build the system that I mentioned, that would be three different campaigns. So that'd be about $900 to $1,000 a month. So that's kind of the minimum to get started there. We see companies start to have more predictable and repeatable results once you get to at least $3K a month in total spend. You're probably going to start with more of that in the top and middle of the funnel, and then those audiences get smaller as you move down toward the bottom. About $3K a month is where you start to see more predictable, reliable results. But you can get started with as little as $10 a day. And then if you're a bigger mid-market or enterprise company, you might be spending tens or hundreds of thousands a month on ads. You can scale it as far as you want, but to get started, at least $10 a day.  Yeah, that makes sense. If you do $1,000 a month, then get to $3,000, you can actually use it as a proper, predictable channel. So when you say predictable, what kind of results can people expect? Is it a certain number of downloads? I mean, obviously it depends on the content and the quality of the thought leadership—I get it—but what is the typical range that you see?  Yeah. For some averages—if you build that funnel like I mentioned—what we typically see is you might be driving downloads or opt-ins for your newsletter or webinar at anywhere between $50 to $150 per opt-in. It kind of depends on what it is. Newsletters are easier to drive opt-ins for, while webinars are a bit harder because someone knows they need to set aside time in their schedule. That said, there are some businesses we're working with that are getting about $7 to $8 per opt-in.  And again, you want to use LinkedIn when you're targeting a professional audience that carries more value for your business. So $7 to $8 is a really good cost per opt-in. For example, in that case, we're targeting marketing directors, VPs of marketing, CMOs at mid-market companies. Then for call bookings, those can range anywhere between $100 to $500 per booking. In many cases, we're driving people directly to a Calendly link so they can schedule a call right there. So yeah, you might see somewhere between $100 to $500 per call booking. That all very much depends on your audience and your offer, but those are some typical ranges we see.  So you're a business owner as well, and you teach people how to do this, and you help people do this. Are you using LinkedIn for growing your business? Is this effective for your type of business—LinkedIn consulting?  Yeah, LinkedIn is our number one channel. That's where most people find out about us. It makes sense for what we do—we're doing LinkedIn marketing, so people are going to discover us on LinkedIn. I'd say probably the number two channel is doing podcasts, speaking at events, and webinars. That's probably the next biggest driver. But LinkedIn is definitely number one.  I guess that's advertising. So other than advertising and promoting yourself, what drives growth in your business?  What drives growth in our business is using LinkedIn marketing. What makes us different from other people is we've built tooling on top of the LinkedIn Ads API, so we can get more data from the API than you can inside of LinkedIn Campaign Manager. That allows us to do advanced optimizations and see more than you can just inside Campaign Manager. We're able to pull more data from the API and do deeper analysis on things you can't normally see. So we can get really deep into the demographics—like what sizes of companies are performing best, what industries are performing best, what job titles are performing best.  And that's where you start to make more advanced optimizations, like, “Oh, I see this job title is working well, or this one's not,” or “This industry is performing very well, and this other one is not.” Then you make those adjustments to your campaigns based on that data. So those are some things that make us different. And then after that, it’s just our experience. We’ve been doing it for 10 years. I created a course on LinkedIn Learning about LinkedIn advertising, so if you go to learn about LinkedIn ads, you might end up taking my course there. And it's really just the depth of experience—we've seen every type of funnel, worked with every type of company. That's fascinating. Well, Anthony, if someone would like to learn more—okay, they can go to LinkedIn Learning, as you just shared—but how can they connect with you, and how can they get the most up-to-date stuff from you?  Yes. Well, I'm on LinkedIn. I share a lot of content there, so you can look me up on LinkedIn. Otherwise, our website is SpeedworkSocial.com. If you'd like to get our help, you can go there. We also have our own podcast—it's called LinkedIn Ads Radio—where we have lots of episodes going through different topics. We do interviews with LinkedIn and other leading marketers, so there's some really good content there. And then also on YouTube—all of those episodes exist there as well.  Fantastic. Well, if you own a small business, or you run one—a small to medium-sized business or even an enterprise—and you want to grow your B2B audience, then just follow Anthony's recipe: the three levels. The top of the funnel—creating awareness with case studies—then developing your lead magnets, and then retargeting, email marketing to them, boosting your posts. Anthony, thanks for clarifying this for me. I've been on LinkedIn for 20 years, but I didn’t have this picture in my mind. And for those of you listening, if you enjoy this content, stay tuned, because we have similar episodes every week from thought leaders and business owners who share their tips and tricks. I guess this is top of funnel, right?  Yes.  So, Anthony, thanks for coming, and thanks for listening. Important Links: Anthony's LinkedIn Anthony's website

In a rapidly changing technological landscape, leaders who embrace innovation and remain adaptable are the driving forces behind groundbreaking advancements. In this insightful conversation, we delve into the mind of a seasoned tech leader and entrepreneur. From the challenges of leading startups to the transformative impact of artificial intelligence, we uncover lessons in leadership, innovation, and problem-solving that resonate across industries.Here's more about Joseph Smarr:“I want to transform the world for the better by building intelligent technology that empowers people to solve everday problems. Before the industrial revolution, humans had to do many menial/dangerous physical tasks because machines couldn't do them. The same is now true with information-processing tasks, and it's time for another revolution! Most of my professional experience is working for startups designing and building web applications and AI systems (SGI, WebEx, MedExpert, Plaxo). I also spent 12 years inside Google, helping start Google+, Google Photos, and building core components of the conversational engine for Google Assistant. I'm now happily back in startup land as CTO of Triller.”Triller Inc. an AI-powered music video app that allows users to create professional-looking video in a matter of seconds: VERZUZ, the live-stream music platform launched by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland; Amplify.ai, a leading customer engagement and messaging platform; FITE, a premier global PPV, AVOD, and SVOD streaming site; and Thuzio, a leader in B2B premium influencer events and experiences.

As humanity advances into the future, the dynamic interplay between technology and leadership assumes ever greater significance. At the helm of this synergy is Joseph Smarr, Triller's Chief Technology Officer, whose forward-thinking strategies and technological acumen epitomize the fusion of leadership and innovation shaping tomorrow's horizons. In an age where digital progress reshapes the landscape of possibility, Smarr's leadership not only navigates the complexities of modern technology but also orchestrates its harmonious integration into our societal framework. His efforts underscore the transformative potential of technology under the guidance of visionary leadership, heralding a future where human creativity and technological advancement converge to chart new realms of progress and prosperity.Here's more about Joseph Smarr I want to transform the world for the better by building intelligent technology that empowers people to solve everday problems. Before the industrial revolution, humans had to do many menial/dangerous physical tasks because machines couldn't do them. The same is now true with information-processing tasks, and it's time for another revolution! Most of my professional experience is working for startups designing and building web applications and AI systems (SGI, WebEx, MedExpert, Plaxo). I also spent 12 years inside Google, helping start Google+, Google Photos, and building core components of the conversational engine for Google Assistant. I'm now happily back in startup land as CTO of Triller.Specialties: Building intelligent applications, automated text processing, advanced interactive web apps, user interface designCompany description: Triller Inc. owns Triller, an AI-powered music video app that allows users to create professional-looking video in a matter of seconds: VERZUZ, the live-stream music platform launched by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland; Amplify.ai, a leading customer engagement and messaging platform; FITE, a premier global PPV, AVOD, and SVOD streaming site; and Thuzio, a leader in B2B premium influencer events and experiences.

Joseph Smarr is at the forefront of innovation as the Chief Technology Officer at Triller, a pioneering company dedicated to crafting AI-powered solutions tailored for creators. With the digital landscape inundated with followers and comments, Triller aims to revolutionize the creator economy by providing a platform where creators and brands can seamlessly engage and monetize their fan base. As the demand for effective engagement and monetization strategies continues to soar, Smarr's expertise in leveraging AI technology presents an exciting prospect for advancing the capabilities of Triller. In an era where creators are inundated with data and opportunities, Smarr's leadership promises to navigate this complex terrain, offering invaluable insights and solutions to propel Triller and its users toward greater success.Here's more about Joseph Smarr I want to transform the world for the better by building intelligent technology that empowers people to solve everday problems. Before the industrial revolution, humans had to do many menial/dangerous physical tasks because machines couldn't do them. The same is now true with information-processing tasks, and it's time for another revolution! Most of my professional experience is working for startups designing and building web applications and AI systems (SGI, WebEx, MedExpert, Plaxo). I also spent 12 years inside Google, helping start Google+, Google Photos, and building core components of the conversational engine for Google Assistant. I'm now happily back in startup land as CTO of Triller.

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.As we continue to grow Venture Unlocked, we are now going to release short conversations highlighting a specific point of view of our guest. These points of views may come through a tweet, an article, or conversation, and our goal is to unpack these interesting views in short form. Our first guest in this format is Ed Suh Founder and Managing Partner of Alpine VC.Ed recently penned a tweet that I thought was interesting around the evolution of venture and the parallels to the industry to other asset classes such as private equity and hedge. I wanted to go deeper into his tweet, which we did during our short conversation. Hope you enjoy!About Ed Suh:Ed Suh is the Founder and Managing Partner of Alpine Ventures, a San Francisco based technology venture capital firm. Ed previously led seed, early stage, and growth stage investments in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade across two prominent multi-stage venture firms: Goodwater Capital, a spin-out of Kleiner Perkins and Maverick Capital with over $5B of AUM, and Redpoint Ventures, a leading Silicon Valley venture firm with a 20+ year track record of leading consumer and enterprise software investments. Ed has backed multiple unicorn startups including Monzo, Everlywell, Jasper, Greenlight, and Stash. Previously, Ed was Head of Business Operations at Stitcher, the leading independent podcasting app, acquired by SiriusXM for $325 million and backed by Benchmark, NEA, and New Atlantic Ventures, as well as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch focused on technology M&A. Ed was also a member of the original growth team at Facebook, and a software engineer at Plaxo and Citadel Investment Group.Ed earned MS and BS degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University, with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence.In this episode, we discuss:(01:26) Discussion on venture capital becoming mainstream and its comparison to other asset categories.(03:01) Evolution of venture capital, industry scaling, and differentiation challenges.(04:42) Venture capital's evolution in comparison to private equity and future implications.(06:44) Fragmentation in venture capital and its impact on alpha and risk profiles.(09:37) Dynamics between large venture capital funds and emerging managers.(11:51) Further insights into venture capital evolution, manager selection, and fund roles.(13:57) Venture capital's current stage in its evolutionary cycle and future themes.I'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Ed. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

To grow your engineering team from 200 to 1,200+ you can expect many phase changes in your org. How might your role change and what can you anticipate? Ryan King (CTO @ Chime) and Clarence Chio (Co-founder & CTO @ Unit21) explore how Ryan's role has evolved across Chime's different phases of growth over the last 10 years! You'll hear how team topologies changed, how they hire senior leaders/VPEs for different phases of the company, how goal setting changes, and other great insights to help you scale your org to the next level!ABOUT RYAN KINGRyan King (@ryanking) is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Chime. Ryan was previously VP of engineering at Plaxo, an early professional social networking pioneer that was acquired by Comcast Interactive Media. Ryan also held senior engineering roles at Liberate Technologies and Microsoft. Ryan earned a BS in computer science & engineering from UCLA, and an MS in computer science from Stanford University."There are a few things that I have come to have strong opinions about... One is, teams should own their own domains, services and data. You got to own full-stack your domain. You want to minimize coordination between teams and dependencies on teams. And then something that gets often overlooked as you scale is... aligning the organization with the architecture. The organization's growing, the architecture is evolving, but you have to consciously align those two things if you want to maintain a highly functioning engineering team as you grow...”- Ryan KingABOUT CLARENCE CHIOClarence Chio (@cchio) is the co-founder and CTO at Unit21, a Google-funded startup in San Francisco building tools to fight fraud, money laundering, and online abuse. He authored the O'Reilly Book “Machine Learning & Security” and is also an adjunct lecturer at U.C. Berkeley, teaching a graduate course on the same topic.This episode is brought to you by OrgspaceOrgspace is a management ops platform for software teams that helps your leaders scale. Easily create team configurations, propose org charts, visualize cost projects & create headcount plans - so you can spend less time on spreadsheets & more time on humans.Sign up for a free trial today, at orgspace.io/registerCheck out our friends & sponsor Coderpad!CoderPad is a technical interview platform built for all scales of business, whether you're a startup or large global company!Do you want to improve your candidate experience & hire the right people faster? Learn more at coderpad.io/elcSHOW NOTES:Ryan's story of how Chime first started (2:00)How Ryan's role as CTO changed over time (4:17)How Chime's engineering org structure & team topologies evolved (6:37)When should you deviate from your existing team structure? (9:06)When do you know you need to bring in a VP of Engineering? (10:23)How did new VPEs build trust and credibility when first starting? (14:32)How does Chime set goals today? (16:14)How do you measure engineering team and org performance? (19:22)What Chime does different to hire great engineers (23:03)Final advice for engineering leaders running teams who have yet to find product-market fit (27:20)

We hebben beiden gemengde gevoelens over dit boek, Never Eat Alone, van Keith Ferrazzi, nadat we het opnieuw gelezen hebben. Er zit een dubbel iets in van zonder verwachtingen doen en tegelijk systemen bijhouden en hogerop komen in netwerken, dus alles heel doelgericht doen. Opnieuw ontdekken we de positieve dingen uit dit boek, Never Eat Alone, van Ferrazzi, die we in onze eigen omgeving kunnen verbeteren. Lees verder en ontdek wat jij kunt verbeteren in je netwerk. Het boek bestaat uit de volgende vier onderdelen: The mind-setThe skill setTurning connections into compatriotsTrading up and giving back Het boek is al een iets ouder boek (2005) en dat zie je soms terug in de websites en online-netwerkoplossingen die Ferrazzi noemt, waarvan een aantal al niet meer bestaan, zoals Plaxo, dat niet meer bestaat sinds 2017. Daarnaast is het onderwerp weer actueel in de coronatijd, waarin we merken hoe belangrijk contact met andere mensen en elkaar ontmoeten is en dat we het missen nu het niet meer mag. 1 De mindset Hou geen score bij. Wanneer je gaat bijhouden wie je wat hebt gegeven, of rekening houdt met dat je iets moet terugkrijgen van de persoon die je iets gegeven hebt, heb je al verloren. Dit is geen doen en geeft een zeer beperkte houding en een netwerk dat niet werkt. Geef vrij zonder een score bij te houden, het uitgangspunt is: het komt ooit ergens weer bij je terug. Wanneer je iemand helpt, doe dit dan oprecht en bedenk nooit wat dit voor jou kan betekenen. Geven voor je iets vraagt is een goede grondhouding. Zorg voor duidelijkheid over je missie. Wat wil je bereiken? Bouw daaromheen een netwerk dat kan bijdragen aan deze missie.  Vind je passie (vind de juiste informatie van binnen en buiten je).Zet je doelen op papier (Relationship Action Plan) – bepaal hoe je het best met mensen in contact kunt komen die je kunnen helpen in je missie.Start een persoonlijke raad van advies (buddy, mastermind). Bouw het netwerk voordat je het nodig hebt. Dit gaat regelmatig mis, mensen beginnen pas een netwerk te bouwen wanneer ze mensen nodig hebben. Dit komt doordat de missie niet duidelijk is. Begin bij het netwerk dat je al hebt en vind de juiste mensen in je bestaande contacten. Durf te vragen, durf op mensen af te stappen. Wees niet de netwerkeikel – ga niet roddelen, wees transparant, wees niet te efficiënt. 2 Vaardigheden Zorg voor een goede voorbereiding – zorg ervoor dat je dingen over iemand weet die je online en in andere media kunt vinden. Vraag niet naar de bekende weg, want dat laat je gebrek aan voorbereiding zien. Ga op zoek naar dingen in het verleden die je gemeenschappelijk hebt met je gesprekspartner, zoals dezelfde school, werkgever, klant of stad. Noteer namen, schrijf ze op zodat je ze beter onthoudt. Gebruik een systeem om de mensen te onthouden. Voeg mensen toe die je graag wilt ontmoeten. Voeg influencers toe, zoals journalisten en podcasthosts. Houd de poortwachter (secretaresse, assistent) te vriend. Zij bepaalt uiteindelijk of je in de agenda komt van de persoon die je wilt spreken. Ook in de agenda van je mentor. Eet nooit alleen, organiseer diners voor je netwerk. Breng mensen met elkaar in verbinding in je netwerk door samen te eten. Dit hoeft niet ingewikkeld en ook niet groots.  Deel je passie. Voer geen saaie gesprekken. Praat over de dingen waarover je gepassioneerd bent, jouw sport, hobby, omgeving. Neem de ander mee naar andere sociale evenementen. Deel privédingen. Volg het gesprek op of faal – je moet altijd gesprekken en vragen opvolgen. Wanneer iemand een connectie zoekt, ga er dan gelijk op in. Een nieuw contact dat je vaker wilt ontmoeten volg je binnen 12/24 uur op. Zo snel mogelijk na een gesprek. Gebruik een combinatie van post en e-mail. Maak het persoonlijk. Verander opvolgen in een gewoonte. Niet eenvoudig, want het lijkt ondergeschikt aan de ontmoeting, maar voor een goed contact is het cruciaal. Voor mij is een systeem,

We hebben beiden gemengde gevoelens over dit boek, Never Eat Alone, van Keith Ferrazzi, nadat we het opnieuw gelezen hebben. Er zit een dubbel iets in van zonder verwachtingen doen en tegelijk systemen bijhouden en hogerop komen in netwerken, dus alles heel doelgericht doen. Opnieuw ontdekken we de positieve dingen uit dit boek, Never Eat Alone, van Ferrazzi, die we in onze eigen omgeving kunnen verbeteren. Lees verder en ontdek wat jij kunt verbeteren in je netwerk. Het boek bestaat uit de volgende vier onderdelen: The mind-setThe skill setTurning connections into compatriotsTrading up and giving back Het boek is al een iets ouder boek (2005) en dat zie je soms terug in de websites en online-netwerkoplossingen die Ferrazzi noemt, waarvan een aantal al niet meer bestaan, zoals Plaxo, dat niet meer bestaat sinds 2017. Daarnaast is het onderwerp weer actueel in de coronatijd, waarin we merken hoe belangrijk contact met andere mensen en elkaar ontmoeten is en dat we het missen nu het niet meer mag. 1 De mindset Hou geen score bij. Wanneer je gaat bijhouden wie je wat hebt gegeven, of rekening houdt met dat je iets moet terugkrijgen van de persoon die je iets gegeven hebt, heb je al verloren. Dit is geen doen en geeft een zeer beperkte houding en een netwerk dat niet werkt. Geef vrij zonder een score bij te houden, het uitgangspunt is: het komt ooit ergens weer bij je terug. Wanneer je iemand helpt, doe dit dan oprecht en bedenk nooit wat dit voor jou kan betekenen. Geven voor je iets vraagt is een goede grondhouding. Zorg voor duidelijkheid over je missie. Wat wil je bereiken? Bouw daaromheen een netwerk dat kan bijdragen aan deze missie.  Vind je passie (vind de juiste informatie van binnen en buiten je).Zet je doelen op papier (Relationship Action Plan) – bepaal hoe je het best met mensen in contact kunt komen die je kunnen helpen in je missie.Start een persoonlijke raad van advies (buddy, mastermind). Bouw het netwerk voordat je het nodig hebt. Dit gaat regelmatig mis, mensen beginnen pas een netwerk te bouwen wanneer ze mensen nodig hebben. Dit komt doordat de missie niet duidelijk is. Begin bij het netwerk dat je al hebt en vind de juiste mensen in je bestaande contacten. Durf te vragen, durf op mensen af te stappen. Wees niet de netwerkeikel – ga niet roddelen, wees transparant, wees niet te efficiënt. 2 Vaardigheden Zorg voor een goede voorbereiding – zorg ervoor dat je dingen over iemand weet die je online en in andere media kunt vinden. Vraag niet naar de bekende weg, want dat laat je gebrek aan voorbereiding zien. Ga op zoek naar dingen in het verleden die je gemeenschappelijk hebt met je gesprekspartner, zoals dezelfde school, werkgever, klant of stad. Noteer namen, schrijf ze op zodat je ze beter onthoudt. Gebruik een systeem om de mensen te onthouden. Voeg mensen toe die je graag wilt ontmoeten. Voeg influencers toe, zoals journalisten en podcasthosts. Houd de poortwachter (secretaresse, assistent) te vriend. Zij bepaalt uiteindelijk of je in de agenda komt van de persoon die je wilt spreken. Ook in de agenda van je mentor. Eet nooit alleen, organiseer diners voor je netwerk. Breng mensen met elkaar in verbinding in je netwerk door samen te eten. Dit hoeft niet ingewikkeld en ook niet groots.  Deel je passie. Voer geen saaie gesprekken. Praat over de dingen waarover je gepassioneerd bent, jouw sport, hobby, omgeving. Neem de ander mee naar andere sociale evenementen. Deel privédingen. Volg het gesprek op of faal – je moet altijd gesprekken en vragen opvolgen. Wanneer iemand een connectie zoekt, ga er dan gelijk op in. Een nieuw contact dat je vaker wilt ontmoeten volg je binnen 12/24 uur op. Zo snel mogelijk na een gesprek. Gebruik een combinatie van post en e-mail. Maak het persoonlijk. Verander opvolgen in een gewoonte. Niet eenvoudig, want het lijkt ondergeschikt aan de ontmoeting, maar voor een goed contact is het cruciaal. Voor mij is een systeem,

[[:encoded, "Does your business plan have holes? Do you even have a business plan? When was the last time you looked at it (last January when you created it)? Many aspects of a business plan are overlooked and that can lead to professional disaster. Before you can build a successful business, you must first learn how to create a solid business plan. Not surprisingly, writing a business plan can be a tedious process. You may be tempted to jump in head first, but it's important to pinpoint these basic questions before you move forward. Given the adequate preparation and attention a successful business plan needs, your worthwhile investment will build your business on a solid foundation. Now, let's explore the four essentials of successful business planning. nn1. Defined Purpose: Before you can go anywhere, you must first know where you are headed. Ever attempt a cross-country road-trip without a map or GPS? Well, building a business plan without having a vision for the business is much like driving a car without a map or directions.nnDefining the purpose of your business will give you a starting and ending point - both of which are essential to building a solid business plan. First, define the benefits you are delivering to clients. From there, define how those benefits will change your clients' lives for the better. What will they specifically be able to do that they weren't able to do before they purchased your product or service? nnIf you're not quite sure of the answers, start with these bullet points:n•tWho will you be selling these items to? Define your ideal client.n•tWhat product or service are you providing? What purpose does it provide?n•tWhere you will be selling it from? Catalog? Website? In-Person? Third party?n•tWhy would consumers purchase your product or service? What needs/hole/void does it fill?nnIf you're specializing in a specific item or service, try to locate accessories or add-on services to market along with the main product. Does it make sense for you to open up a brick and mortar shop or is it more practical to open up shop online? Yes, properly answering these questions can be time consuming, but preparing a successful business plan is essential to setting your business up for success. nn2. Detailed Marketing Strategy: No business can survive without an effective marketing strategy. When starting a business, it's imperative to be aware of exactly how you're going to locate clients for your business. Unfortunately, this is where most business owners fall short. If you don't know where to find your customers/clients - you will not know where to find the sales.nnWhether you're creating a business plan to attract potential investors or for your own personal records, you need to take the time to craft a carefully detailed marketing strategy. Creating a detailed marketing strategy consists of defining your target market, understanding why they would want to purchase the product or service you are selling, and pinpointing the price they are willing to pay. The good news is that you've already done some of the work by pinpointing the product or service you will be providing. In addition, you've also pinpointed the benefits of the product/service and how those benefits will improve the lives of your prospects/clients.nnNow you're clear on the benefits of your product/service, but where do you find your clients? Start by asking yourself these questions:n•tWhere do your clients shop? Online? In-store?n•tAre they users of social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, and Twitter)?n•tWhat do they read? Particular magazines? Newspaper? Online news?n•tDo they have pre-existing businesses? If so, how can you get your product/service in front of them?nn3. Differentiation: A cookie-cutter business will only go so far - and unfortunately, it won'Support the show

[[:encoded, "Does your business plan have holes? Do you even have a business plan? When was the last time you looked at it (last January when you created it)? Many aspects of a business plan are overlooked and that can lead to professional disaster. Before you can build a successful business, you must first learn how to create a solid business plan. Not surprisingly, writing a business plan can be a tedious process. You may be tempted to jump in head first, but it's important to pinpoint these basic questions before you move forward. Given the adequate preparation and attention a successful business plan needs, your worthwhile investment will build your business on a solid foundation. Now, let's explore the four essentials of successful business planning. nn1. Defined Purpose: Before you can go anywhere, you must first know where you are headed. Ever attempt a cross-country road-trip without a map or GPS? Well, building a business plan without having a vision for the business is much like driving a car without a map or directions.nnDefining the purpose of your business will give you a starting and ending point - both of which are essential to building a solid business plan. First, define the benefits you are delivering to clients. From there, define how those benefits will change your clients' lives for the better. What will they specifically be able to do that they weren't able to do before they purchased your product or service? nnIf you're not quite sure of the answers, start with these bullet points:n•tWho will you be selling these items to? Define your ideal client.n•tWhat product or service are you providing? What purpose does it provide?n•tWhere you will be selling it from? Catalog? Website? In-Person? Third party?n•tWhy would consumers purchase your product or service? What needs/hole/void does it fill?nnIf you're specializing in a specific item or service, try to locate accessories or add-on services to market along with the main product. Does it make sense for you to open up a brick and mortar shop or is it more practical to open up shop online? Yes, properly answering these questions can be time consuming, but preparing a successful business plan is essential to setting your business up for success. nn2. Detailed Marketing Strategy: No business can survive without an effective marketing strategy. When starting a business, it's imperative to be aware of exactly how you're going to locate clients for your business. Unfortunately, this is where most business owners fall short. If you don't know where to find your customers/clients - you will not know where to find the sales.nnWhether you're creating a business plan to attract potential investors or for your own personal records, you need to take the time to craft a carefully detailed marketing strategy. Creating a detailed marketing strategy consists of defining your target market, understanding why they would want to purchase the product or service you are selling, and pinpointing the price they are willing to pay. The good news is that you've already done some of the work by pinpointing the product or service you will be providing. In addition, you've also pinpointed the benefits of the product/service and how those benefits will improve the lives of your prospects/clients.nnNow you're clear on the benefits of your product/service, but where do you find your clients? Start by asking yourself these questions:n•tWhere do your clients shop? Online? In-store?n•tAre they users of social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, and Twitter)?n•tWhat do they read? Particular magazines? Newspaper? Online news?n•tDo they have pre-existing businesses? If so, how can you get your product/service in front of them?nn3. Differentiation: A cookie-cutter business will only go so far - and unfortunately, it won'Support the show

[[:encoded, "Does your business plan have holes? Do you even have a business plan? When was the last time you looked at it (last January when you created it)? Many aspects of a business plan are overlooked and that can lead to professional disaster. Before you can build a successful business, you must first learn how to create a solid business plan. Not surprisingly, writing a business plan can be a tedious process. You may be tempted to jump in head first, but it's important to pinpoint these basic questions before you move forward. Given the adequate preparation and attention a successful business plan needs, your worthwhile investment will build your business on a solid foundation. Now, let's explore the four essentials of successful business planning. nn1. Defined Purpose: Before you can go anywhere, you must first know where you are headed. Ever attempt a cross-country road-trip without a map or GPS? Well, building a business plan without having a vision for the business is much like driving a car without a map or directions.nnDefining the purpose of your business will give you a starting and ending point - both of which are essential to building a solid business plan. First, define the benefits you are delivering to clients. From there, define how those benefits will change your clients' lives for the better. What will they specifically be able to do that they weren't able to do before they purchased your product or service? nnIf you're not quite sure of the answers, start with these bullet points:n•tWho will you be selling these items to? Define your ideal client.n•tWhat product or service are you providing? What purpose does it provide?n•tWhere you will be selling it from? Catalog? Website? In-Person? Third party?n•tWhy would consumers purchase your product or service? What needs/hole/void does it fill?nnIf you're specializing in a specific item or service, try to locate accessories or add-on services to market along with the main product. Does it make sense for you to open up a brick and mortar shop or is it more practical to open up shop online? Yes, properly answering these questions can be time consuming, but preparing a successful business plan is essential to setting your business up for success. nn2. Detailed Marketing Strategy: No business can survive without an effective marketing strategy. When starting a business, it's imperative to be aware of exactly how you're going to locate clients for your business. Unfortunately, this is where most business owners fall short. If you don't know where to find your customers/clients - you will not know where to find the sales.nnWhether you're creating a business plan to attract potential investors or for your own personal records, you need to take the time to craft a carefully detailed marketing strategy. Creating a detailed marketing strategy consists of defining your target market, understanding why they would want to purchase the product or service you are selling, and pinpointing the price they are willing to pay. The good news is that you've already done some of the work by pinpointing the product or service you will be providing. In addition, you've also pinpointed the benefits of the product/service and how those benefits will improve the lives of your prospects/clients.nnNow you're clear on the benefits of your product/service, but where do you find your clients? Start by asking yourself these questions:n•tWhere do your clients shop? Online? In-store?n•tAre they users of social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, and Twitter)?n•tWhat do they read? Particular magazines? Newspaper? Online news?n•tDo they have pre-existing businesses? If so, how can you get your product/service in front of them?nn3. Differentiation: A cookie-cutter business will only go so far - and unfortunately, it won'Support the show

Does your business plan have holes? Do you even have a business plan? When was the last time you looked at it (last January when you created it)? Many aspects of a business plan are overlooked and that can lead to professional disaster. Before you can build a successful business, you must first learn how to create a solid business plan. Not surprisingly, writing a business plan can be a tedious process. You may be tempted to jump in head first, but it's important to pinpoint these basic questions before you move forward. Given the adequate preparation and attention a successful business plan needs, your worthwhile investment will build your business on a solid foundation. Now, let's explore the four essentials of successful business planning. 1. Defined Purpose: Before you can go anywhere, you must first know where you are headed. Ever attempt a cross-country road-trip without a map or GPS? Well, building a business plan without having a vision for the business is much like driving a car without a map or directions. Defining the purpose of your business will give you a starting and ending point - both of which are essential to building a solid business plan. First, define the benefits you are delivering to clients. From there, define how those benefits will change your clients' lives for the better. What will they specifically be able to do that they weren't able to do before they purchased your product or service? If you're not quite sure of the answers, start with these bullet points: • Who will you be selling these items to? Define your ideal client. • What product or service are you providing? What purpose does it provide? • Where you will be selling it from? Catalog? Website? In-Person? Third party? • Why would consumers purchase your product or service? What needs/hole/void does it fill? If you're specializing in a specific item or service, try to locate accessories or add-on services to market along with the main product. Does it make sense for you to open up a brick and mortar shop or is it more practical to open up shop online? Yes, properly answering these questions can be time consuming, but preparing a successful business plan is essential to setting your business up for success. 2. Detailed Marketing Strategy: No business can survive without an effective marketing strategy. When starting a business, it's imperative to be aware of exactly how you're going to locate clients for your business. Unfortunately, this is where most business owners fall short. If you don't know where to find your customers/clients - you will not know where to find the sales. Whether you're creating a business plan to attract potential investors or for your own personal records, you need to take the time to craft a carefully detailed marketing strategy. Creating a detailed marketing strategy consists of defining your target market, understanding why they would want to purchase the product or service you are selling, and pinpointing the price they are willing to pay. The good news is that you've already done some of the work by pinpointing the product or service you will be providing. In addition, you've also pinpointed the benefits of the product/service and how those benefits will improve the lives of your prospects/clients. Now you're clear on the benefits of your product/service, but where do you find your clients? Start by asking yourself these questions: • Where do your clients shop? Online? In-store? • Are they users of social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, and Twitter)? • What do they read? Particular magazines? Newspaper? Online news? • Do they have pre-existing businesses? If so, how can you get your product/service in front of them? 3. Differentiation: A cookie-cutter business will only go so far - and unfortunately, it won't be very far. Breaking the mold holds the potential of launching your business into success, because when you can fill a hole in the market, you create a nice little niche. Differentiation isn't just one of the essentials of a business plan; it's an essential role in operating a successful business. You need to give your clients a reason to choose your business over the competition. Maybe you offer exceptional client service, a fairly discounted price, a unique service, or visually appealing products or storefront. Creating a unique selling point (USP) is essential when crafting a business plan. Carve out your USP early in the game and you'll be ten steps ahead of your competition when the time comes to woo the clientele. 4. Be Prepared for Change: Anyone in business will tell you that you need to expect the unexpected; when you own a business, things can change in the blink of an eye. Regardless of how hard you've worked on your financial projections, market analysis or marketing strategies, you need to have a plan B. Be prepared for change by anticipating possible changes (either in the market or in your lifestyle). Create an effective way of dealing with unexpected change by writing out hypothetical situations and possible solutions. Here are some examples: • The stock market drops severely, how does that affect your business and how can you slow or eliminate the drawbacks. • A family member becomes ill and requires 24-hour care. Do you take care of them yourself or hire an aid? How does that impact your business? • A new business in the area becomes a direct competitor - how do you step up your marketing plan or product/service design to avoid losing sales? There are many affordable business planning software packages available; invest in one to help you (ex. sba.gov, Office Depot, and Staples). Don't waste time trying to create a plan if you have never created one before. Visit the Small Business Administration website for information about online business plan workshops, as well as additional small business information. The bottom line is that you need to learn how to create a solid business plan in order to build a successful business. Understanding the essentials of a business plan will ensure that you've covered all of the bases when creating your business plan. If you are getting value from any of Podcasts, please take a minute to leave me a short rating and review. I would really appreciate it, and love to hear from you and requests for topics you would find of value. Take advantage of all the complimentary business tips and tools by joining the Free Silver Membership on https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circle-store/. Aim for what you want each and every day! Anne Bachrach The Accountability Coach™ The Results Accelerator™ To help you stay focused and on track to achieving your goals, check out these other high-value resources. - Subscribe to my YouTube channel with business success principles (https://www.youtube.com/annebachrach) - Subscribe to my high-value short business tips Blog (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/blog/) - Connect with me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheAccountabilityCoach) - Connect with me on Linked-in (https://www.linkedin.com/in/annebachrach) - Connect with me on Pinterest (https://pinterest.com/resultsrule/) - Connect with me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/annebachrach/) Check out all the great free high-content training web classes, by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/free-articles/free-webinars/. Go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com to check out for yourself how I, as your Accountability Coach™, can help you get and stay focused on you highest payoff activities that put you in the highest probability position to achieve your professional and personal goals, so you can enjoy the kind of business and life you truly want and deserve. As an experienced accountability coach and author of 5 books, I help business professionals make more money, work less, and enjoy even better work life balance. Check out my proven business accelerator resources by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/. Get your daily Accountability Minute shot of a single, simple, doable idea, so you can start your day off on the "right foot", subscribe to it based on your country. The Accountability Minute on Amazon's Alexa in the USA: https://www.amazon.com/Accountability-Minute-Anne-Bachrach/dp/B07F5H2KGB The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Canada: https://amzn.to/2MpvUmx The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Australia: https://amzn.to/2vQqI4i The Accountability Minute on Alexa in UK: https://amzn.to/2MayU9v Author of Excuses Don't Count; Results Rule, Live Life with No Regrets, No Excuses, and the Work Life Balance Emergency Kit, The Roadmap To Success with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard, and more.

Does your business plan have holes? Do you even have a business plan? When was the last time you looked at it (last January when you created it)? Many aspects of a business plan are overlooked and that can lead to professional disaster. Before you can build a successful business, you must first learn how to create a solid business plan. Not surprisingly, writing a business plan can be a tedious process. You may be tempted to jump in head first, but it's important to pinpoint these basic questions before you move forward. Given the adequate preparation and attention a successful business plan needs, your worthwhile investment will build your business on a solid foundation. Now, let's explore the four essentials of successful business planning. 1. Defined Purpose: Before you can go anywhere, you must first know where you are headed. Ever attempt a cross-country road-trip without a map or GPS? Well, building a business plan without having a vision for the business is much like driving a car without a map or directions. Defining the purpose of your business will give you a starting and ending point - both of which are essential to building a solid business plan. First, define the benefits you are delivering to clients. From there, define how those benefits will change your clients' lives for the better. What will they specifically be able to do that they weren't able to do before they purchased your product or service? If you're not quite sure of the answers, start with these bullet points: • Who will you be selling these items to? Define your ideal client. • What product or service are you providing? What purpose does it provide? • Where you will be selling it from? Catalog? Website? In-Person? Third party? • Why would consumers purchase your product or service? What needs/hole/void does it fill? If you're specializing in a specific item or service, try to locate accessories or add-on services to market along with the main product. Does it make sense for you to open up a brick and mortar shop or is it more practical to open up shop online? Yes, properly answering these questions can be time consuming, but preparing a successful business plan is essential to setting your business up for success. 2. Detailed Marketing Strategy: No business can survive without an effective marketing strategy. When starting a business, it's imperative to be aware of exactly how you're going to locate clients for your business. Unfortunately, this is where most business owners fall short. If you don't know where to find your customers/clients - you will not know where to find the sales. Whether you're creating a business plan to attract potential investors or for your own personal records, you need to take the time to craft a carefully detailed marketing strategy. Creating a detailed marketing strategy consists of defining your target market, understanding why they would want to purchase the product or service you are selling, and pinpointing the price they are willing to pay. The good news is that you've already done some of the work by pinpointing the product or service you will be providing. In addition, you've also pinpointed the benefits of the product/service and how those benefits will improve the lives of your prospects/clients. Now you're clear on the benefits of your product/service, but where do you find your clients? Start by asking yourself these questions: • Where do your clients shop? Online? In-store? • Are they users of social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, and Twitter)? • What do they read? Particular magazines? Newspaper? Online news? • Do they have pre-existing businesses? If so, how can you get your product/service in front of them? 3. Differentiation: A cookie-cutter business will only go so far - and unfortunately, it won't be very far. Breaking the mold holds the potential of launching your business into success, because when you can fill a hole in the market, you create a nice little niche. Differentiation isn't just one of the essentials of a business plan; it's an essential role in operating a successful business. You need to give your clients a reason to choose your business over the competition. Maybe you offer exceptional client service, a fairly discounted price, a unique service, or visually appealing products or storefront. Creating a unique selling point (USP) is essential when crafting a business plan. Carve out your USP early in the game and you'll be ten steps ahead of your competition when the time comes to woo the clientele. 4. Be Prepared for Change: Anyone in business will tell you that you need to expect the unexpected; when you own a business, things can change in the blink of an eye. Regardless of how hard you've worked on your financial projections, market analysis or marketing strategies, you need to have a plan B. Be prepared for change by anticipating possible changes (either in the market or in your lifestyle). Create an effective way of dealing with unexpected change by writing out hypothetical situations and possible solutions. Here are some examples: • The stock market drops severely, how does that affect your business and how can you slow or eliminate the drawbacks. • A family member becomes ill and requires 24-hour care. Do you take care of them yourself or hire an aid? How does that impact your business? • A new business in the area becomes a direct competitor - how do you step up your marketing plan or product/service design to avoid losing sales? There are many affordable business planning software packages available; invest in one to help you (ex. sba.gov, Office Depot, and Staples). Don't waste time trying to create a plan if you have never created one before. Visit the Small Business Administration website for information about online business plan workshops, as well as additional small business information. The bottom line is that you need to learn how to create a solid business plan in order to build a successful business. Understanding the essentials of a business plan will ensure that you've covered all of the bases when creating your business plan. If you are getting value from any of Podcasts, please take a minute to leave me a short rating and review. I would really appreciate it, and love to hear from you and requests for topics you would find of value. Take advantage of all the complimentary business tips and tools by joining the Free Silver Membership on https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circle-store/. Aim for what you want each and every day! Anne Bachrach The Accountability Coach™ The Results Accelerator™ To help you stay focused and on track to achieving your goals, check out these other high-value resources. - Subscribe to my YouTube channel with business success principles (https://www.youtube.com/annebachrach) - Subscribe to my high-value short business tips Blog (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/blog/) - Connect with me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheAccountabilityCoach) - Connect with me on Linked-in (https://www.linkedin.com/in/annebachrach) - Connect with me on Pinterest (https://pinterest.com/resultsrule/) - Connect with me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/annebachrach/) Check out all the great free high-content training web classes, by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/free-articles/free-webinars/. Go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com to check out for yourself how I, as your Accountability Coach™, can help you get and stay focused on you highest payoff activities that put you in the highest probability position to achieve your professional and personal goals, so you can enjoy the kind of business and life you truly want and deserve. As an experienced accountability coach and author of 5 books, I help business professionals make more money, work less, and enjoy even better work life balance. Check out my proven business accelerator resources by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/. Get your daily Accountability Minute shot of a single, simple, doable idea, so you can start your day off on the "right foot", subscribe to it based on your country. The Accountability Minute on Amazon's Alexa in the USA: https://www.amazon.com/Accountability-Minute-Anne-Bachrach/dp/B07F5H2KGB The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Canada: https://amzn.to/2MpvUmx The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Australia: https://amzn.to/2vQqI4i The Accountability Minute on Alexa in UK: https://amzn.to/2MayU9v Author of Excuses Don't Count; Results Rule, Live Life with No Regrets, No Excuses, and the Work Life Balance Emergency Kit, The Roadmap To Success with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard, and more.

Does your business plan have holes? Do you even have a business plan? When was the last time you looked at it (last January when you created it)? Many aspects of a business plan are overlooked and that can lead to professional disaster. Before you can build a successful business, you must first learn how to create a solid business plan. Not surprisingly, writing a business plan can be a tedious process. You may be tempted to jump in head first, but it’s important to pinpoint these basic questions before you move forward. Given the adequate preparation and attention a successful business plan needs, your worthwhile investment will build your business on a solid foundation. Now, let’s explore the four essentials of successful business planning. 1. Defined Purpose: Before you can go anywhere, you must first know where you are headed. Ever attempt a cross-country road-trip without a map or GPS? Well, building a business plan without having a vision for the business is much like driving a car without a map or directions. Defining the purpose of your business will give you a starting and ending point - both of which are essential to building a solid business plan. First, define the benefits you are delivering to clients. From there, define how those benefits will change your clients’ lives for the better. What will they specifically be able to do that they weren’t able to do before they purchased your product or service? If you’re not quite sure of the answers, start with these bullet points: • Who will you be selling these items to? Define your ideal client. • What product or service are you providing? What purpose does it provide? • Where you will be selling it from? Catalog? Website? In-Person? Third party? • Why would consumers purchase your product or service? What needs/hole/void does it fill? If you’re specializing in a specific item or service, try to locate accessories or add-on services to market along with the main product. Does it make sense for you to open up a brick and mortar shop or is it more practical to open up shop online? Yes, properly answering these questions can be time consuming, but preparing a successful business plan is essential to setting your business up for success. 2. Detailed Marketing Strategy: No business can survive without an effective marketing strategy. When starting a business, it’s imperative to be aware of exactly how you’re going to locate clients for your business. Unfortunately, this is where most business owners fall short. If you don’t know where to find your customers/clients - you will not know where to find the sales. Whether you’re creating a business plan to attract potential investors or for your own personal records, you need to take the time to craft a carefully detailed marketing strategy. Creating a detailed marketing strategy consists of defining your target market, understanding why they would want to purchase the product or service you are selling, and pinpointing the price they are willing to pay. The good news is that you’ve already done some of the work by pinpointing the product or service you will be providing. In addition, you’ve also pinpointed the benefits of the product/service and how those benefits will improve the lives of your prospects/clients. Now you’re clear on the benefits of your product/service, but where do you find your clients? Start by asking yourself these questions: • Where do your clients shop? Online? In-store? • Are they users of social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, and Twitter)? • What do they read? Particular magazines? Newspaper? Online news? • Do they have pre-existing businesses? If so, how can you get your product/service in front of them? 3. Differentiation: A cookie-cutter business will only go so far - and unfortunately, it won’t be very far. Breaking the mold holds the potential of launching your business into success, because when you can fill a hole in the market, you create a nice little niche. Differentiation isn’t just one of the essentials of a business plan; it’s an essential role in operating a successful business. You need to give your clients a reason to choose your business over the competition. Maybe you offer exceptional client service, a fairly discounted price, a unique service, or visually appealing products or storefront. Creating a unique selling point (USP) is essential when crafting a business plan. Carve out your USP early in the game and you’ll be ten steps ahead of your competition when the time comes to woo the clientele. 4. Be Prepared for Change: Anyone in business will tell you that you need to expect the unexpected; when you own a business, things can change in the blink of an eye. Regardless of how hard you’ve worked on your financial projections, market analysis or marketing strategies, you need to have a plan B. Be prepared for change by anticipating possible changes (either in the market or in your lifestyle). Create an effective way of dealing with unexpected change by writing out hypothetical situations and possible solutions. Here are some examples: • The stock market drops severely, how does that affect your business and how can you slow or eliminate the drawbacks. • A family member becomes ill and requires 24-hour care. Do you take care of them yourself or hire an aid? How does that impact your business? • A new business in the area becomes a direct competitor - how do you step up your marketing plan or product/service design to avoid losing sales? There are many affordable business planning software packages available; invest in one to help you (ex. sba.gov, Office Depot, and Staples). Don’t waste time trying to create a plan if you have never created one before. Visit the Small Business Administration website for information about online business plan workshops, as well as additional small business information. The bottom line is that you need to learn how to create a solid business plan in order to build a successful business. Understanding the essentials of a business plan will ensure that you’ve covered all of the bases when creating your business plan. If you are getting value from any of Podcasts, please take a minute to leave me a short rating and review. I would really appreciate it, and love to hear from you and requests for topics you would find of value. Take advantage of all the complimentary business tips and tools by joining the Free Silver Membership on https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circle-store/. Aim for what you want each and every day! Anne Bachrach The Accountability Coach™ The Results Accelerator™ To help you stay focused and on track to achieving your goals, check out these other high-value resources. - Subscribe to my YouTube channel with business success principles (https://www.youtube.com/annebachrach) - Subscribe to my high-value short business tips Blog (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/blog/) - Connect with me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheAccountabilityCoach) - Connect with me on Linked-in (https://www.linkedin.com/in/annebachrach) - Connect with me on Pinterest (https://pinterest.com/resultsrule/) - Connect with me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/annebachrach/) Check out all the great free high-content training web classes, by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/free-articles/free-webinars/. Go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com to check out for yourself how I, as your Accountability Coach™, can help you get and stay focused on you highest payoff activities that put you in the highest probability position to achieve your professional and personal goals, so you can enjoy the kind of business and life you truly want and deserve. As an experienced accountability coach and author of 5 books, I help business professionals make more money, work less, and enjoy even better work life balance. Check out my proven business accelerator resources by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/. Get your daily Accountability Minute shot of a single, simple, doable idea, so you can start your day off on the "right foot", subscribe to it based on your country. The Accountability Minute on Amazon's Alexa in the USA: https://www.amazon.com/Accountability-Minute-Anne-Bachrach/dp/B07F5H2KGB The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Canada: https://amzn.to/2MpvUmx The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Australia: https://amzn.to/2vQqI4i The Accountability Minute on Alexa in UK: https://amzn.to/2MayU9v Author of Excuses Don’t Count; Results Rule, Live Life with No Regrets, No Excuses, and the Work Life Balance Emergency Kit, The Roadmap To Success with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard, and more.

Does your business plan have holes? Do you even have a business plan? When was the last time you looked at it (last January when you created it)? Many aspects of a business plan are overlooked and that can lead to professional disaster. Before you can build a successful business, you must first learn how to create a solid business plan. Not surprisingly, writing a business plan can be a tedious process. You may be tempted to jump in head first, but it’s important to pinpoint these basic questions before you move forward. Given the adequate preparation and attention a successful business plan needs, your worthwhile investment will build your business on a solid foundation. Now, let’s explore the four essentials of successful business planning. 1. Defined Purpose: Before you can go anywhere, you must first know where you are headed. Ever attempt a cross-country road-trip without a map or GPS? Well, building a business plan without having a vision for the business is much like driving a car without a map or directions. Defining the purpose of your business will give you a starting and ending point - both of which are essential to building a solid business plan. First, define the benefits you are delivering to clients. From there, define how those benefits will change your clients’ lives for the better. What will they specifically be able to do that they weren’t able to do before they purchased your product or service? If you’re not quite sure of the answers, start with these bullet points: • Who will you be selling these items to? Define your ideal client. • What product or service are you providing? What purpose does it provide? • Where you will be selling it from? Catalog? Website? In-Person? Third party? • Why would consumers purchase your product or service? What needs/hole/void does it fill? If you’re specializing in a specific item or service, try to locate accessories or add-on services to market along with the main product. Does it make sense for you to open up a brick and mortar shop or is it more practical to open up shop online? Yes, properly answering these questions can be time consuming, but preparing a successful business plan is essential to setting your business up for success. 2. Detailed Marketing Strategy: No business can survive without an effective marketing strategy. When starting a business, it’s imperative to be aware of exactly how you’re going to locate clients for your business. Unfortunately, this is where most business owners fall short. If you don’t know where to find your customers/clients - you will not know where to find the sales. Whether you’re creating a business plan to attract potential investors or for your own personal records, you need to take the time to craft a carefully detailed marketing strategy. Creating a detailed marketing strategy consists of defining your target market, understanding why they would want to purchase the product or service you are selling, and pinpointing the price they are willing to pay. The good news is that you’ve already done some of the work by pinpointing the product or service you will be providing. In addition, you’ve also pinpointed the benefits of the product/service and how those benefits will improve the lives of your prospects/clients. Now you’re clear on the benefits of your product/service, but where do you find your clients? Start by asking yourself these questions: • Where do your clients shop? Online? In-store? • Are they users of social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, and Twitter)? • What do they read? Particular magazines? Newspaper? Online news? • Do they have pre-existing businesses? If so, how can you get your product/service in front of them? 3. Differentiation: A cookie-cutter business will only go so far - and unfortunately, it won’t be very far. Breaking the mold holds the potential of launching your business into success, because when you can fill a hole in the market, you create a nice little niche. Differentiation isn’t just one of the essentials of a business plan; it’s an essential role in operating a successful business. You need to give your clients a reason to choose your business over the competition. Maybe you offer exceptional client service, a fairly discounted price, a unique service, or visually appealing products or storefront. Creating a unique selling point (USP) is essential when crafting a business plan. Carve out your USP early in the game and you’ll be ten steps ahead of your competition when the time comes to woo the clientele. 4. Be Prepared for Change: Anyone in business will tell you that you need to expect the unexpected; when you own a business, things can change in the blink of an eye. Regardless of how hard you’ve worked on your financial projections, market analysis or marketing strategies, you need to have a plan B. Be prepared for change by anticipating possible changes (either in the market or in your lifestyle). Create an effective way of dealing with unexpected change by writing out hypothetical situations and possible solutions. Here are some examples: • The stock market drops severely, how does that affect your business and how can you slow or eliminate the drawbacks. • A family member becomes ill and requires 24-hour care. Do you take care of them yourself or hire an aid? How does that impact your business? • A new business in the area becomes a direct competitor - how do you step up your marketing plan or product/service design to avoid losing sales? There are many affordable business planning software packages available; invest in one to help you (ex. sba.gov, Office Depot, and Staples). Don’t waste time trying to create a plan if you have never created one before. Visit the Small Business Administration website for information about online business plan workshops, as well as additional small business information. The bottom line is that you need to learn how to create a solid business plan in order to build a successful business. Understanding the essentials of a business plan will ensure that you’ve covered all of the bases when creating your business plan. If you are getting value from any of Podcasts, please take a minute to leave me a short rating and review. I would really appreciate it, and love to hear from you and requests for topics you would find of value. Take advantage of all the complimentary business tips and tools by joining the Free Silver Membership on https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circle-store/. Aim for what you want each and every day! Anne Bachrach The Accountability Coach™ The Results Accelerator™ To help you stay focused and on track to achieving your goals, check out these other high-value resources. - Subscribe to my YouTube channel with business success principles (https://www.youtube.com/annebachrach) - Subscribe to my high-value short business tips Blog (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/blog/) - Connect with me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheAccountabilityCoach) - Connect with me on Linked-in (https://www.linkedin.com/in/annebachrach) - Connect with me on Pinterest (https://pinterest.com/resultsrule/) - Connect with me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/annebachrach/) Check out all the great free high-content training web classes, by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/free-articles/free-webinars/. Go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com to check out for yourself how I, as your Accountability Coach™, can help you get and stay focused on you highest payoff activities that put you in the highest probability position to achieve your professional and personal goals, so you can enjoy the kind of business and life you truly want and deserve. As an experienced accountability coach and author of 5 books, I help business professionals make more money, work less, and enjoy even better work life balance. Check out my proven business accelerator resources by going to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/. Get your daily Accountability Minute shot of a single, simple, doable idea, so you can start your day off on the "right foot", subscribe to it based on your country. The Accountability Minute on Amazon's Alexa in the USA: https://www.amazon.com/Accountability-Minute-Anne-Bachrach/dp/B07F5H2KGB The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Canada: https://amzn.to/2MpvUmx The Accountability Minute on Alexa in Australia: https://amzn.to/2vQqI4i The Accountability Minute on Alexa in UK: https://amzn.to/2MayU9v Author of Excuses Don’t Count; Results Rule, Live Life with No Regrets, No Excuses, and the Work Life Balance Emergency Kit, The Roadmap To Success with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard, and more.

Ben Golub is a serial entrepreneur and CEO, who has played a key role in building six start-ups. Three of these were as CEO, including Docker, Gluster, and Plaxo. Today he serves as Executive Chairman and Interim CEO of Storj Labs. In this conversation, we discuss decentralized cloud storage, economic incentives, scaling software companies, acceleration of computing trends, and real world use cases. ============================== Crypto.com is the only all-in-one platform that allows you to BUY / SELL / STORE / EARN / LOAN / INVEST crypto all from one place. Join over 1 million users currently using the Crypto.com app. Download and earn $50 USD using my code ‘pomp2020’, or use the link https://platinum.crypto.com/r/pomp2020 when you sign up for one of their metal cards today. ============================== Coinbase Wallets are adding support for .crypto and .zil domains through their partnership with Unstoppable Domains. Unstoppable Domains provides an all-in-one solution for blockchain domains. You can send money using these new domains instead of long Bitcoin wallet addresses, while also storing your domain in Coinbase's collectibles section. Go to unstoppabledomains.com in the dapp browser to register and manage your domains.  ============================== Pomp writes a daily letter to over 50,000 investors about business, technology, and finance. He breaks down complex topics into easy to understand language, while sharing opinions on various aspects of each industry. You can subscribe at https://www.pompletter.com

We start off NFB with the German media reception of Solange Knowles Concert in Hamburg. The articles we talk about: https://tinyurl.com/y439cvxa https://tinyurl.com/vnm2ofp Language: Mostly german After that we discuss the good, the bad and the ugly when it come to the effects of social media. First Audio: Sean Parker (born December 3, 1979) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, most notable for co-founding the file-sharing computer service Napster, and serving as the first president of the social networking website Facebook. He also co-founded Plaxo, Causes, Airtime.com, and Brigade, an online platform for civic engagement. He is the founder and chairman of the Parker Foundation, which focuses on life sciences, global public health, and civic engagement. On the Forbes 2016 list of the world's billionaires, he was ranked 722 with a net worth of US$2.4 billion. -Information taken from Wikipedia.com Second audio: Chamath Palihapitiya (born September 3, 1976) is a venture capitalist and the founder and CEO of Social Capital. Palihapitiya was an early senior executive at Facebook, joining the company in 2007 and leaving in 2011. He is a minority stakeholder and board member of the Golden State Warriors. -Information taken from Wikipedia.com Third audio: Sam Vaknin: I am a visiting professor of psychology, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia and Professor of Finance and Psychology in CIAPS (Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies). I'm an author of short stories, a winner of literary awards, and a former columnist in Central Europe Review, eBookWeb.org, PopMatters, and United Press International (UPI). I am also the Editor of mental health categories in the Open Directory and Suite101. -Information taken from www.healthyplace.com If you want to watch the whole talk with Sam Vaknin go to https://tinyurl.com/uowbkl4 Language: mostly English ————— Main topic starts at - 20:04 ————— Instagram: www.instagram.com/bvpodcast/ Email: blqvelvet1@gmail.com iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/blq-…1176937413?l=en SoundCloud: @user-89602470 Intro: Eve - Satisfaction ft. Gwen Stefani Outro: Cherish - Damage

Stablecoins, Crypto Market cap, Buidl, Hodl, Gemini, Plaxo, Markets, STOs, Regulations, Predictions

Kate Sullivan interviews author Deborah Johnson for a discussion about her book, The Secret of Magic. Launched this month by Amy Einhorn Books (Putnam/Penguin USA), Johnson's recent novel explores the era when Thurgood Marshall was "the lawyer" who created a platform of reason, courtesy, and the law to disrupt intolerance. Recent guests on the WordSmitten About the Books broadcast include Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Paul Harding (Tinkers), Jane Smiley (A Thousand Acres), Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge), and Edward P. Jones (The Known World). Celebrated authors appearing include Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and B is for Beer), Orange Prize-winner Madeline Miller, and the late actor Tony Curtis (American Prince). WordSmitten's host, Kate Sullivan, interviews notable authors, editors, literary agents, and publishing executives.Visit our company's distinctive sites:www.About-the-Books.comwww.WordSmittenMedia.comwww.WordSmitten.comOffices in St. Petersburg, Florida :: 800-727-6214Also, visit us on LinkedIn, Plaxo, RedRoom.com, Facebook, Twitter, and all our other social media sites, including Google Plus One. For a list of our monthly writing workshops, visit www.Meetup.com/WordSmitten.(c) Copyright WordSmitten Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Kate Sullivan interviews author Deborah Johnson for a discussion about her book, The Secret of Magic. Launched this month by Amy Einhorn Books (Putnam/Penguin USA), Johnson's recent novel explores the era when Thurgood Marshall was "the lawyer" who created a platform of reason, courtesy, and the law to disrupt intolerance. Recent guests on the WordSmitten About the Books broadcast include Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Paul Harding (Tinkers), Jane Smiley (A Thousand Acres), Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge), and Edward P. Jones (The Known World). Celebrated authors appearing include Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and B is for Beer), Orange Prize-winner Madeline Miller, and the late actor Tony Curtis (American Prince). WordSmitten's host, Kate Sullivan, interviews notable authors, editors, literary agents, and publishing executives.Visit our company's distinctive sites:www.About-the-Books.comwww.WordSmittenMedia.comwww.WordSmitten.comOffices in St. Petersburg, Florida :: 800-727-6214Also, visit us on LinkedIn, Plaxo, RedRoom.com, Facebook, Twitter, and all our other social media sites, including Google Plus One. For a list of our monthly writing workshops, visit www.Meetup.com/WordSmitten.(c) Copyright WordSmitten Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Do you use social networking sites? Have you added Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Twitter to your daily communications? Have you considered using social networking for more than updating your family and friends? Widely traveled British private investigators Phil and Yin Johnson do. The Johnsons have crafted the use of social networking sites to a fine art. Tune in to hear the fascinating cases they investigated as a result of being technological private investigator pioneers. The Johnsons will be coming to PI's Declassified! from their home base in Portugal to share their progressive tips.

Do you use social networking sites? Have you added Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Twitter to your daily communications? Have you considered using social networking for more than updating your family and friends? Widely traveled British private investigators Phil and Yin Johnson do. The Johnsons have crafted the use of social networking sites to a fine art. Tune in to hear the fascinating cases they investigated as a result of being technological private investigator pioneers. The Johnsons will be coming to PI's Declassified! from their home base in Portugal to share their progressive tips.

Join us as we discuss the power of social media to affect positive change in the world as well as the changes in and to social media. We will be discussing the new comments feature on Facebook, the power of social media concerning the recent devastation in Japan and social media tools, tips and tricks.

Social networking websites have grown up and are becoming important tools for lawyers, firms and companies. From keeping track of colleagues, to finding referrals and introductions, to vetting an expert witness, these “profiles on steroids” can provide critical competitive intelligence to help your practice blossom. Monica Bay, LawTechnologyNow host and Editor-in-Chief of Law Technology News welcomes Massachusetts lawyer Robert J. Ambrogi, who writes Law Technology News’ Web Watch column, and is a veteran legal industry observer, to share his insights about LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, Legal OnRamp, Martindale Hubbell Connected, and other sites.

Show 37 is my interview with Ed Yourdon.  We discussed Web 2.0 and it’s impact on the software development worlds. I  have titled the interview, “Collaborate or Die!”  A bit over the top you say, well Denis Waitley once said, “on line or in the bread line."  The people I was with thought that was a bit over the top.  He was right and I would suggest the use of Web 2.0 tools is another watershed. Ed is a one of those rare polymaths in the IT world. His bio from Wikipedia begins Edward Nash Yourdon (born 1944) is a computer consultant, an author and lecturer, and a recognized pioneer in the software engineering methodology of structured programming world. He is a graduate of MIT, earning a BS in Mathematics in 1965. The December 1999 issue of Crosstalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering named Yourdon one of the ten most influential people in the software field. In June 1997, he was inducted into the Computer Hall of Fame Yourdon is widely known as the lead developer of the Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM), as well as co-developer of the Yourdon/Whitehead method of object-oriented analysis/design and the popular Coad/Yourdon OO methodology of the late 1980s and 1990s. He has authored over 550 technical articles and authored or coauthored 26 computer books since 1967. He founded and published American Programmer magazine (now titled Cutter IT Journal). He is the author of the best-selling Decline and Fall of the American Programmer. Mr. Yourdon currently serves as an internationally-recognized expert witness and computer consultant who specializes in project management, software engineering methodologies, and Web 2.0 development. I asked Ed how people could contact him and the part of the response that struck me was, “I am online”.    Blog: www.yourdonreport.comWebsite:  www.yourdon.comEmail:  ed@yourdon.com  You can also find Ed on Twitter (Yourdon), Plaxo and other Web 2.0 social networks. The essay for this cast is titled “Just How Badly Do You Want A Number?”  The essay challenges managers and project managers to think about that initial estimate and the impact it might actually have. The text of the essay can be found at www.tcagley.wordpress.com.  Comments and suggestions are welcome. Check out the SPaMCAST Facebook page.  I wil be posting information on which shows relates to which theme.  For example Kenji’s recent interview, Scott Amblers and Kent Becks all have an agile flavor.  This will be a quick way to hit all of the shows in a general thematic area. There are a number of ways to share your thoughts . . Email SPaMCAST at spamcastinfo@gmail.com Voice messages can be left at 1-206-888-6111 Twitter – www.twitter.com/tcagley BLOG – www.tcagley.wordpress.com FACEBOOK!!!! Software Process and Measurement Future Events and the next . . . Conference season is beginning! I will be speaking at IFPUG’s 3rd Annual ISMA Conference and Fall Workshops Sunday, September 14 – Friday, September 19, 2008 at the Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel information at www.ifpug.org.  The presentation is call “Counting Facebook” and will be on Friday September 19, 2008 at 10:25 AM - 11:25 AM, I am speaking at Quest Toronto 2008 Conference, September 22- 26, 2008, at the Hilton Hotel in Toronto, Canada.  I will be presenting “Good Numbers Go Bad” on Wed Sept 24th from 1:30 - 2:30 pm and also joining in as a subject matter expert in the end of day solutions workshop.  Information can be found at http://www.qaiquest.org/toronto/ Finally I will be speaking at the Northeast Quality Council 57th Conference.  The conference is scheduled for October 14 – 15 , 2008 in Marlborough, Massachusetts at Best Western Royal Plaza.   The presentation is titled “One Size Fits . . .Someone Other Than Me”.  Information can be found at http://www.neqc.org/conference. Next Software Process and Measurement Cast: On the next SPaMCAST we will feature an interview with Roo Reynolds of IBM.  Roo is one of the leading forces in using metaverses such as Second Life to rewrite how software development and collaboration happen.  In SPaMCAST 39 you are going to see the future so do not miss it!

Are Your A Google Me Talk Radio "Blog Nut "? Come and Join Google Me Talk Radio & Millionaire Marketers when we welcome Kathy Paquette & Linda Hoy Founders of http://BlogNut.CommunityToolbars.com and Get it all in one place! BlogTalkRadio, MySpace, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, MedaCafe and much more. Don't see your favorite link? We can add it! Download this powerful tool today! Includes: games, TV, e-mail notifier, rss, radio, weather, chat, free advertising for business, adverti

Are Your A Google Me Talk Radio "Blog Nut "? Come and Join Google Me Talk Radio & Millionaire Marketers when we welcome Kathy Paquette & Linda Hoy Founders of http://BlogNut.CommunityToolbars.com and Get it all in one place! BlogTalkRadio, MySpace, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, MedaCafe and much more. Don't see your favorite link? We can add it! Download this powerful tool today! Includes: games, TV, e-mail notifier, rss, radio, weather, chat, free advertising for business, adverti

This week Ovie talks about Samaritans Feet in South East DC, calendar syncing problems, Plaxo suggested by two listeners. A programming mistake leads to a G-Archiver reveationâand 1700 other peopleâs passwords. Ovie and Bret discuss WiebeTechâs fantastic new forensic combo dock. Web site of the week is Programmers Notepad

Anthony guest stars on ArcherRadio.com as Archer and Anthony investigate web services Plaxo, Callwave and gossip about website design. Check out this very special show with the Audio on Archer's […] The post Special: Podcast Simulicast appeared first on A Shanty No Lemon / Gay Comedy Podcast / This Week In Gay.

The Cell Phone Junkie Show #78 1:10:50 Show Notes Mickey finally got his iPhone!  Plaxo made it possible.  Joey gives us a Centro update and how to port a prepaid number to postpaid.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Finaly I was able to get my webcam to record correctly. It's just a test but it works.The links to the free stuff are at the end.Click Play to StreamMicrosoft Movie Maker 2 : Do you need to edit your videos? here is a good free solution: www.microsoft.com/moviemakerBe in Sync: Have your home computer, your laptop and your office computer with their files in sync. This is a free sync application that works like peer to peer to keep all your information updated on all your computers: http://www.beinsync.com/Thunderbird: Most of you have already heard or use Firefox, well the good news is that they have a very good mail client also, called Thunderbird. If you have been using outlook because you use Plaxo, Thunderbird now has a Plaxo plug-in.http://www.mozila.org/Do you love to be organized and keep records of what you are doing? Yahoo! My Web Beta saves your search results and annotates web pages