Category: Marketing

In this episode of The All-In Podcast, Daniel speaks with Mark Struczewski, a productivity expert who works with entrepreneurs to overcome distractions in order to avoid being overwhelmed.

When Mark was fired, he was angry and unsure of what to do next. It was 2005. Social media was on the upswing and entrepreneurship was still coming into its own. With little experience, Mark decided to start a wedding photography business. The venture failed, but Mark learned something valuable about himself – he loved public speaking. Not only that, but speaking could be used to promote a business.

This was a pivotal moment in Mark’s life. He thought that entrepreneurship was just about hiring coaches and taking courses. Now, he had something to call his own. Mark created an email list. In time, an empire was born.

One of the ways that entrepreneurs go wrong is they spread themselves too thin, losing focus and moving on to the newest platform. Instead of sticking to a blue ocean where the market is open, they flock to a red one and become one of many voices. Clients should never be directed to a social media page. Instead, they should be sent to YOU where the messaging is something you control.

It took Mark a while to learn this lesson. Had he not lost focus, he believes that his email list would be even larger. Mark also had to learn to let go. When he ‘came to his senses’ and allowed his wife to help behind the scenes, it freed him up to be a better content creator.

Success doesn’t mean that you plan every moment of your life. Becoming ‘Mister Productivity’ meant that Mark made the decision to remove distractions and take care of himself physically and mentally.

He encourages others to quit wasting time. Read instead, and learn as much as you can about the world. A better read person asks better questions, and better questions lead to better results.

In this episode of The All-In Podcast, Daniel speaks with Jason Van Orden, a serial entrepreneur, podcast pioneer and consultant who seeks to help thought leaders monetize their ‘intellectual equity’ by expanding their audience and creating new revenue streams.

Jason’s entry into entrepreneurship was surprisingly organic. He never had a lemonade stand, or grew up planning to work for himself. It just happened. While his first job out of college seemed like a dream come true, he found that a corporate job is just that. He quit with nothing in mind. 

Due to his interest in investing, real estate seemed like a natural step. Jason quickly got involved with his local association and began to use his marketing skills to help colleagues find more buyers. As interest increased in his services, Jason decided to offer a class. He recorded it for future use.

Jason researched other forms of promotion and stumbled upon podcasting. With a background in engineering, as well as a desire to teach, it seemed like the perfect fit. Jason dove in headfirst and created a business podcast which quickly grew into a full-fledged coaching practice, then a digital course. Looking back, Jason can see these events as breadcrumbs to where he is now. To succeed, he had to embrace each challenge and have confidence in himself.

One of the things Jason learned is that an entrepreneur must figure out what audience they want to serve. Once they know that, they can figure out what’s top of mind for their audience, and find a way to solve their problem. This can only be done through honest conversation.

Productivity comes in many forms. Activities like meditation and journaling can help you ‘step back’ from your work and see it in a new light. As he looks to the future, Jason plans to keep these practices in mind and create the ‘Spotify of ideas’ to help people find others who can solve their problems.

There are many ways to measure business success that have little to do with chasing that tantalizing $1 million revenue dream. In this episode of All-In, Daniel focuses the  conversation on creating abundance of the kind that drives Wally Carmichael both personally and professionally. As host of both the Men of Abundance and Business Owner Growth podcasts, Wally focuses on the intersection between building success and living successfully. He has developed best practices and tools to help entrepreneurs evolve their businesses while also weaving in all kinds of life lessons gleaned in a long career as a U.S. Army Medic, father, husband and active community member. Together Daniel and Wally share their perspective as dads who value being actively involved in their children’s lives and their belief that there are things in life far more important than the single-minded goal of becoming one of the 4% of entrepreneurial ventures that break the million dollar mark for profitability. As the saying goes, “Some of the best things in life are free.” Wally suggests that income is great but of equal value are things like an abundance of time with family and freedom from debt. This episode also features useful advice for business owners about using mentors to spur growth and the importance of delegating tasks (such as marketing, sales and accounting) to ensure you’re focused appropriately on the core business you’re cultivating. Lots of great perspective from two men who have made living abundantly their mission and their quality of family life the key to meaningful success.

In this episode of The All-In Podcast, serial entrepreneur Marc Kramer delivers a sampler platter of diverse startup experiences and insights. Daniel prompts details of the many hits and misses that make up Marc’s impressive portfolio, including more than 25 businesses, multiple books and a successful podcast The Best Business Minds. The one common mandate among all his ventures?

Get up, get going and don’t give up!

Marc takes Daniel on a tour of a host of businesses he has imagined, innovated, launched, grown, sold and in some instances wound down. There are no straight lines and no one gets out without some failure. The question is, says Marc, can you get up and keep on driving towards whatever goal? It’s helpful to remember that there were predecessors to Facebook (remember MySpace?) and Google (what ever happened to Excite and Alta Vista?). You never know when the timing for your particular vision will hit just right. Pets.com was one of the emblematic huge fails of the early dot.com era because it was just a bit ahead of its time. People didn’t understand the concept of ordering supplies online. Today? It would be a natural. So, Marc advises, keep the faith and keep on trying. Equip yourself with good research and a carefully considered plan.

Today Marc is not only growing a number of interesting startups (details of which he provides in the podcast), he is also a sought-after podcaster with a consulting company that takes entrepreneurs at all stages of maturation to the next level by providing guidance on everything from marketing and sales to innovation planning, loan acquisition and financial modeling. At heart also a philanthropist, what most inspires Marc’s boundless entrepreneurial drive is the desire to foster education and improved quality of life across society.

You can hear lots more about Marc’s experience and ideas via his podcast The Best Business Minds.

Would you prefer to rent or own the building? For today’s guest, Frank Agin, it’s no contest. Once he realized the potential in networking, he was “all in” with his vision to develop and franchise AmSpirit as an invaluable point of connection for entrepreneurs, sales reps and professionals nationwide. In this episode, Daniel does a deep dive to understand the power of AmSpirit, an innovative organization supporting the exchange of qualified referrals through 17 franchises in eight states – and counting!

Frank shares a bit about his early years and how he morphed from a freshly minted law school grad to employee at a Big Six accounting firm to starting up his own private practice in Ohio. An active community member and busy father of three nearly grown children, AmSpirit’s founder had his “all in” moment after realizing the power of networking and the potential to use his talents as a connector to build relationships among people from all walks of life: not just fellow attorneys, but also accountants, real estate agents, corporate coaches, financial advisers, web designers, travel agents and more. “These small business people are going to make it happen,” says Frank. “They are constantly finding ways to be relevant.” Frank’s unique and fully supported franchise model fosters community and business development – which has been more of a challenge than ever amidst pandemic uncertainty.

Frank and Daniel talk about the anxiety-provoking realities – as well as the unexpected silver linings – AmSpirit franchisees have found in the wake of Covid19. They focus on the importance of sharing resources and ideas and the role of ingenuity (who knew Zoom had so much to offer as a forum for networking and featured speakers?). They share their take on character traits to fall back on in times of stress and generous, positive “karma” as the greatest community service and business value-add around.
Frank has made bold choices and stayed the course with his entrepreneurial vision, through good times and … not as good. Refusing to be taken off-track by the latest investment fad or occasional self-doubt, AmSpirit thrives because the visionary behind it understands that building an actual long-term business asset requires steady faith and persistence.