RISE25 - May 2022

RISE25 - May 2022

rise25.com

PROFITABLE CONNECTIONS

May 2022

LEARN BY PODCASTING A Tribute to the Amazing Guests That Teach Us

Even if nobody was listening, we’d still host and produce our podcasts. We tell people this all the time, and they usually give us a funny look — and we don’t blame them! And it’s not just because hosting a podcast can be exceptionally enjoyable and fulfilling. It’s also because podcasts are a perfect pursuit for any curious spirit or lifelong student. Podcasts are excellent tools for learning, and not just for listeners. While hosting our podcasts over the years, we’ve discovered an incredible (and often overlooked) benefit: They give us access to some of the top teachers in the world. Whether you’re looking to develop a new skill, build on your industry knowledge, or gain insight into a totally different field, a podcast gives you the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with industry experts and thought leaders. For example, John recently found an interest in cryptocurrency and digital money. Wanting to educate himself on the topic, he decided to look for a reliable source in the industry to host on his podcast. He eventually found someone that had worked for Goldman Sachs in 2008 during the financial crisis. Sitting down for a podcast interview with him, John thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to ask for his opinion on cryptocurrency — and they launched into an insightful conversation that answered many of John’s burning questions. While it may not be the first benefit that comes to mind when you think of podcasting, this insider access to successful

and brilliant people is a serious bonus. Adi Klevit, host of the “Systems Simplified” podcast, told us recently, “I am using my podcast to learn from successful entrepreneurs how they use systems and processes in their business in order to succeed and be able to grow and scale.” After all, what better way to grow a successful business than to talk to the people that have done it themselves? We have many clients who have used their podcast to educate themselves on new markets or industry best practices while starting or building up a business. Even those who are already running successful companies have gained invaluable tips and tricks from their podcast guests. As Austin Clark, the host of the “Multiply You” podcast, told us, “The podcast is helping me to network better and connect with others that know things that I need to know and learn.” As a podcast host, your mentors don’t have to be enigmas — simply ask them to come on a podcast interview! It’s a great way to genuinely connect and befriend new (and knowledgeable) people in your network. In our experience, everyone has at least a few new, interesting things they’ve learned from their podcast. You never know what knowledge you’re missing out on until you ask. Podcasts are the perfect platform for asking — plus, you get all the details in a podcast’s friendly, long-form conversation format! There are plenty of excellent teachers, coaches, and mentors in every field and industry. In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Day on May 3, here’s to the ones that we get to interview every week.

“You never know what knowledge you’re missing out on until you ask. Podcasts are the perfect platform for asking.”

–Dr. Jeremy Weisz & John Corcoran

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DON’T FALL FOR THIS ROI LIE! Obsessive Tracking Can Hurt Your Revenue

A few years ago, Firehouse Subs started circulating an ad that was a bit ... suggestive. The copy played off the then-popular “50 Shades of Grey'' movie. On the surface, it was about sandwiches, but the reference was clear enough to catch the eye of Reddit — and Newsletter Pro CEO Shaun Buck. He posted the ad on Facebook with this question: “Do you think this is good marketing?” Buck’s post got a lot of laughing emojis, but one commenter answered, “I can’t say if it’s good marketing or not without seeing sales numbers before and after the ad ran and calculating the return on investment (ROI).” If you had the same thought, we have bad news for you. You’ve swallowed a big lie about ROI: Everything you do in business and marketing MUST have a direct ROI you can track. You see, the real payoff of the Firehouse Subs ad campaign wasn’t trackable in the traditional sense. People weren’t lining up at Firehouse to buy subs and telling the kid behind the counter, “I’m here because of ‘50 Shades of Grey’!” But they were talking about the ad both in person and online. It generated a ton of buzz that gave Firehouse Subs a spectacular boost in brand awareness. That’s incredibly valuable, but it’s just not trackable.

In the age of the internet, it’s pretty much impossible to track the full impact of every marketing dollar you spend or trace every lead back to its source. In fact, research has shown it now takes at least 16 touches before a prospect even knows your business exists. How on earth are you supposed to know which 16 touches worked magic, or which was No. 16? Of course, you can and should track direct ROI in some places, like spending on lead generation or printed coupons. You should see measurable results there. But some marketing tools, like that Firehouse ad, make direct tracking either impossible or won’t give you the full picture of the campaign’s impact — like SEO, influencer posts, customer reviews, blog posts, and social media posts, just to name a few. As Buck once said, “If you need direct ROI on everything you do in marketing in order for you to risk time and treasure on a given campaign, you’ll never have any real success in business because you’ll never be able to get enough traction or enough customers.” Don’t fall for the direct ROI lie. Instead, divide up your marketing efforts into easy-to-track and hard-to-track categories, and don’t stress if a few things fall into the second bucket. Those just might be your most valuable marketing tools because they help you stay top of mind with customers and prospects — ultimately doing wonders for your lead generation and retention.

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Rise25: Helping B2B Businesses Build Profitable Connections

This Month’s Featured ‘Smart Business Revolution’ Podcasts

Calvin Johnson | Developing a Costco Home Delivery Service Company, Adventure Travel, and Building Great Company Culture

David Nilssen | Magic Johnson, Outsourcing Versus Offshoring, and Advocating for Education Worldwide

Calvin Johnson is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, and coach. He founded a Costco home delivery service company in 1989, which he later turned into an e-commerce office supply and coffee company. He generated about $300 million over the years before selling

David Nilssen is the co- founder and CEO of Doxa7, which helps businesses build high-performing global teams in the Philippines. He’s also the co-founder and CEO of Guidant Financial, a company that has aided over 25,000 entrepreneurs in securing $6 billion to start or buy a business.

the business in 2021. Calvin now runs ClubNeed, an adventure travel company, and The Culture Kitchen, where he helps businesses develop their company culture through research, speaking, coaching, workshops, and retreats. Calvin Johnson joins John Corcoran in this episode of the “Smart Business Revolution” podcast to talk about how he started a Costco home delivery service company, how he pivoted, and how he later sold the business to a Fortune 500 company. Calvin also talks about organizing adventure travel for EO members, helping founders build their company culture, and how to build a happier workplace. Scan the QR code or visit the link to listen to the full episode.

David is also an active investor, a member of YPO and EO’s Seattle chapter, and the author of “Making the Jump Into Small Business Ownership.” In this episode of the “Smart Business Revolution” podcast, John Corcoran sits down with David Nilssen to talk about building an outsourcing professional services firm. David also explains how he has benefited from EO and YPO and shares his experience being a Learning Chair at EO. Stay tuned. Special Shoutouts: A few notable people on David’s journey include Magic Johnson, Lex Sisney, and Jeremy Ames. Scan the QR code or visit the link to listen to the full episode.

SmartBusinessRevolution.com/calvin- johnson

SmartBusinessRevolution.com/david- nilssen

The Real Impact of Writing a Book With Authors Lisa Tener, Vanessa Levin, and Christopher Littlefield This Month’s Featured ‘Inspired Insider’ Podcasts

How to Make Your Website Awesome and Avoid the Report of Broken Dreams With Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder of Orbit Media Studios

Lisa Tener is an award-winning book coach who specializes in helping experts, visionaries, and entrepreneurs write and publish compelling books. She’s also the author of “The Joy of Writing Journal.” Vanessa Levin is an early childhood professional development consultant and the creator of Pre-K Pages, a resource for teachers of young children. Vanessa is also the author of “Teach Smarter.” Christopher Littlefield is the founder of Beyond Thank You, an international consulting, training, and coaching company. He’s also the author of “75+ Team Building Activities for Remote Teams.”

Andy Crestodina is the co- founder and chief marketing officer at Orbit Media Studios, an award-winning, 40-person digital agency in Chicago. Over the past 20 years, Andy has provided digital marketing advice to thousands of businesses and has written countless articles on content

strategy, SEO, visitor psychology, and analytics. He is also the author of “Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.” Listen to this episode of the “Inspired Insider” podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the co-founder and chief marketing officer of Orbit Media Studios, Andy Crestodina. They discuss how to tweak your website to boost conversions, the best tools for website analysis, the service page checklist every website should satisfy, and much more. Special Shoutouts: A few notable people on Andy’s journey include Joe Pulizzi and Mark Schaefer.

Listen to this episode of the “Inspired Insider” podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Lisa Tener, Vanessa Levin, and Christopher Littlefield. They discuss the process, lessons, and impact of publishing a book as well as their advice for turning your idea into a published work.

Scan the QR code or visit the link to listen to the full episode. InspiredInsider.com/andy-crestodina- interview

Scan the QR code or visit the link to listen to thefull episode. InspiredInsider.com/lisa-tener- christopher-littlefield-and-vanessa- levin-interview

AND WATCH YOUR SALES SOAR Free Your Team From 'Meeting Brain Drain'

Here’s a shocking statistic for you: According to a Productivity Trends Report from ReclaimAI, the average professional is spending almost 309% more time in one-on- one meetings right now than they did before the pandemic. That’s crazy! Worse, it’s a waste of valuable time and a drain on your team’s productivity. Meetings can be productive, but there’s a reason why the phrase “This should have been an email” exists. If you pull your best people into Zoom call after Zoom call, they won’t have the focus they need to work quickly and perform at their best. That has implications across every department from marketing and sales to billing. Entrepreneur has a few suggestions for how to free your team from this brain drain. 1. Say goodbye to company- and department-wide meetings. Think of building a meeting the same way you’d think of building a team: Add as many people as you need, and only that many. The more you can whittle down the required attendance for meetings, the less you will impact your employees’ productivity. Entrepreneur suggests keeping meetings at 4–6 people when possible. If you have a daily company huddle, consider making it weekly or even monthly to save brain space. 2. When you meet, always set an agenda. We’ve all attended “30-minute” meetings that stretched to two hours as the speakers rambled. Don’t let this become the

norm! Instead, set an agenda for every meeting — even a routine check-in — and stick to it. If you’re a talker, consider including timestamps with each item to really keep you on task and get your team back to work ASAP. (Not sure how to write a fantastic agenda? Visit HBR.org and search “How to Design an Agenda” for an in-depth article on the topic.) 3. Encourage time blocking. Fewer interruptions to your team’s flow means it’s easier to get back in the zone, so try to cluster meetings during one part or “block” of the day/week. This will help your team build routines around those blocks, and they’ll be able to dive deep during non-meeting blocks without the fear of interruption. Try these strategies today and watch your key performance indicators (KPIs) for lead generation, conversion, and retention closely. You might be surprised at the results!

Rise25 Podcast Spotlight "Next Wave Leadership Podcast" Dov Pollack Featuring: Inspiring leaders across industries

When Theaters Provided Their Own Movie Soundtracks THANKS TO THE PIANISTS

Early feature films were in black and white, only available in theaters, and perhaps most significantly, silent. So, movie theaters enlisted piano players to accompany the films. But silent films usually didn't arrive with sheet music. It was up to the pianist to create their own soundtrack. In small towns, only the church organist might be available — and they might choose to play assorted hymns over the entire movie, making for a less than enjoyable experience. More accomplished pianists worked differently. They would improvise, trying to predict where the film’s action was headed and adjusting their playing accordingly. When a film was popular, most players developed a standard score. Eventually, some production companies shipped "mood cues" with their movies. Some theaters show the occasional silent movie, and they turn to one of the 50 or fewer silent film accompanists for help. Since the films are often rare, the pianist does not always have the time or opportunity to plan their music. So, like their predecessors, they play it by ear.

"Ready to Talk. Ready to Listen" CHE Behavioral Health Services Featuring: Leading trailblazers in the mental health field "Talent Wins" Chris Mursau Featuring: Today’s top CEOs and business leaders "The Lawyer’s Edge" Elise Holtzman Featuring: Successful lawyers, legal marketing specialists, business leaders, and authors

"Revenue Engine Podcast" Alex Gluz

Featuring: Top experts in business, marketing, technology, and more

"ListenUp!" Dr. Mark Syms Featuring: Leaders

and experts in hearing loss, communication, connections, and health

Go subscribe on iTunes!

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Inside This Edition

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Why Curious Spirits Love Podcasts

The ROI Lie You’ve Probably Swallowed

How Pianists Brought Silent Movies to Life

3 Tips for Boosting Productivity

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5 Business Podcasts to Boost Growth

WE’RE LISTENING — ARE YOU? 5 PODCASTS TO BOOSTYOUR BUSINESS GROWTH

All of these podcasts are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and a variety of other platforms.

for you! On this podcast, Miller hosts and offers strategies for building and optimizing your business. He covers topics ranging from “How to Escape a Villain Mindset” to “Is Word- of-Mouth Marketing Dead?”

‘How I Built This’ — Have you ever wondered what it was like behind the scenes in the early days of Coinbase? What about Expedia, Mailchimp, or Ben & Jerry's? The “How I Built This” podcast from NPR dives into all of those stories and more during fascinating interviews with founders

‘BizChix’ — "BizChix" is catered specifically to women entrepreneurs and hosted by business coach and

strategist Natalie Eckdahl. The episodes mix business and advice and training with on- air coaching calls and interviews. If you’re looking for specific tips like how to pivot your client base or get in the hiring mindset, this podcast will be a perfect fit for you. ‘Wisdom From the Top’ — Hosted by Guy Raz of “How I Built This,” this podcast expands beyond business leaders to glean leadership tips from all fields, including army generals, scientists, and reporters as

and CEOs. Find out what hurdles they faced, how they overcame them, and what lessons you can steal to level up your own business. ‘Entrepreneurs on Fire’ — This award- winning podcast is hosted by author and thought leader John Lee Dumas. On it, he interviews entrepreneurs like Tony Robbins, Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Barbara

Corcoran, and Tim Ferriss and extracts business tips for you. Tune in for episodes like “How to Raise $400 million on the Internet and Build a FinTech Business with Jilliene Helman” and “Earn More with LinkedIn Sales Navigator with Julbert Abraham.”

well as CEOs. As the podcast’s description puts it, “You'll hear accounts of crisis, failure, turnaround, and triumph, as the leaders reveal their secrets on their way to the top. These are stories that didn't make it into their company bios, with valuable lessons for anyone trying to make it in business.”

‘Business Made Simple’ — If you’re a fan of “Building a Story Brand” by Donald Miller, then “Business Made Simple” is

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Rise25: Helping B2B Businesses Build Profitable Connections