Recent Updates
1658: Seed Stage B2B Startup Marketing with Lara McKeithan
Lara McKeithan covers Startup Marketing in this Marketer of the Day episode. Lara McKeithan explains how seed-stage B2B founders can build a focused marketing engine that produces traction before they reach Series A. She typically works with startups that have launched a product, gained initial customers, and now need to scale beyond founder-led sales and marketing.
Early-stage founders don’t usually struggle because their product isn’t good enough; they stall out because marketing is scattered, reactive, or an afterthought. In this episode, seed-stage B2B marketing partner Lara McKeithan of PierForStartups.com shares how she embeds herself inside startups as their de facto marketing team owning the strategy, building the systems, and helping founders show the traction investors want to see. Lara works with pre-seed and seed-stage B2B SaaS and tech companies that have launched, landed early customers, and now need to scale beyond founder-led sales and referrals. She explains why trying to “be everywhere” with limited time, money, and data is a recipe for burnout and disappointment. Instead, Lara focuses on a handful of high-ROI channels, competitor and landscape analysis, and quick wins in the first 90 days to generate revenue that can be reinvested into longer-term growth like organic content and SEO.
A big theme of this conversation is how much startup success depends on founder behavior, not just the idea. Lara shares what she’s learned from working with over 50 startups: the best outcomes happen when founders treat marketing as a collaborative partnership staying involved in the narrative and customer insights without micromanaging every blog post or pixel. She also explains where things tend to “crash and burn,” from hiring marketing help too early (pre-launch) to delegating without communication or clarity. We also dive into how AI is reshaping startup marketing. Lara talks about the shift from hands-on execution to a more strategic, project-management-driven role, where AI can handle much of the production work landing pages, websites, copy drafts while a human still needs to set priorities, interpret data, and ensure the brand feels real, differentiated, and not like generic AI-generated “slop.” As content channels get flooded with AI output, founders who lean into authentic positioning, real customer understanding, and intentional messaging will stand out.
If you’re a B2B founder with a working product, early traction, and pressure to prove month-over-month growth, this episode will help you understand when to bring in marketing help, what to expect from a true embedded partner, and how to avoid common early-stage mistakes. Lara also shares her own evolution, rebranding Pier, niching into B2B, and learning to build her own brand instead of hiding behind client work plus a simple but powerful lesson for entrepreneurs: you don’t know until you try, so ship, learn, and iterate.
Quotes:
"At the seed stage, you really need someone who's not going to just toss you into a company and hand you off and pull some levers; you need someone who's embedded in your product, your customers, and your team."
"You have to trust the people you're working with and delegate and build a team around you to help you succeed, even at the early stages."
"There's still a lot of creativity, thought, and intentionality that needs to go into marketing, even more so now with AI."
Contact Details:
- Turn Startup Potential Into Growth: Discover PIER for Startups Today
- Build a Stronger Career: Connect With Lara McKeithan on LinkedIn Today
- Follow Lara McKeithan on X for Fresh Insights, Ideas & Inspiration
- Get Inspired and Learn Something New: Follow Lara McKeithan on Instagram Today
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:35 — 33.8MB) | Embed
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1657: AI GEO Search Visibility Strategy with Callum Kennard
Callum Kennard covers AI Search Optimization in this Marketer of the Day episode. Callum Kennard explains how businesses can use generative engine optimization to become the brands AI systems cite, recommend, and surface in search results. He describes SEO as the training wheels for GEO, recommending roughly three to four months of SEO traction before pursuing a dedicated AI visibility strategy.
SEO isn’t dead; but it is evolving faster than ever, and AI is quietly rewriting the rules of visibility. In this episode, AI and search expert Callum Kennard, Head of Sales at ClickSlice, breaks down Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and how it’s transforming the way brands show up in AI-driven answers from tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. If you’ve ever wondered how to become the recommended brand when someone asks an AI for “the best agency,” “top tools,” or “where to buy,” this conversation is your roadmap. Callum explains why GEO and SEO are deeply interconnected, but not interchangeable. He shares a practical approach: use traditional SEO as the “training wheels” for the first 3–4 months to get indexed, build authority, and earn basic visibility. Then, once the foundation is in place, shift into a focused GEO strategy that targets prompts, not just keywords. Instead of optimizing for short search terms, GEO is about understanding and influencing the full sentences and complex questions real users type into large language models.
You’ll hear how ClickSlice uses advanced tools like Semrush and, more importantly, Profound, a GEO-focused platform with over 2 billion data points to map out what LLMs are already saying about a brand, its competitors, and its niche. Callum walks through how his team runs a full AEO/GEO audit to identify top citations, key prompts, content gaps, and winning strategies. For some industries, that means doubling down on PR, digital magazines, and Reddit; for others, it’s all about owned content and site structure that LLMs trust and repeatedly reference. This episode also dives into the metrics that actually matter in the age of AI search. Callum shares how ClickSlice tracks visibility score (how often you’re cited for your target topics), average position within AI-generated lists (are you #1 or buried at #7?), citation share, and sentiment around your brand. He also explains how Google’s evolving focus on information gain rewarding original, authoritative, and uniquely helpful content directly connects to both SEO rankings and AI Overviews.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by AI search, GEO, and the shifting landscape of digital visibility, this episode will give you clarity and a concrete path forward. Callum outlines why early movers in GEO are already seeing a significant percentage of their revenue come from AI-generated answers, and why waiting another 6–8 months could mean paying double just to catch up. Whether you run an e-commerce brand, a service-based company, or an established 7–9-figure operation, you’ll discover how to position your brand so that when users ask AI for recommendations, you are the answer.
Quotes:
“SEO is kind of like the training wheels of GEO; you can’t get ranked in AI answers without a certain level of SEO, because you first need to be discovered.”
“There’s no point optimizing everything for GEO if you don’t really know what prompts you’re targeting that people are actually going to be searching.”
“Most agencies jumping on the AI hype are just selling you SEO and calling it GEO; without proper tools and data, they’re basically shooting in the dark.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Grow Online? Work with ClickSlice and Turn Search Traffic Into Real Results
- Unlock Smarter Strategies: Visit Callum Kennard Official Website Today
- Turn your Vision Into Impact: Start with Guava Studio
- Connect with Callum Kennard on LinkedIn and Discover Insights to Grow Smarter
- Follow Callum Kennard on X for Practical Insights to Grow Smarter
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:14 — 40.2MB) | Embed
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1656: Relational Leadership for Business Growth with Joshua Evarts
Business success isn’t just about products, pricing, or marketing tactics it’s driven by the quality of your relationships. Today’s guest, Joshua Evarts, author of “If Jesus Smokes Cigars: 8 Lessons in Relational Leadership” and owner of The Vault Cigar Lounge in Meridian, Idaho, reveals why likeability and authentic connection are your most powerful competitive advantages in a noisy, tech-saturated world. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Josh and Robert unpack how three major shifts the internet and social media, COVID-era isolation, and the rise of AI have reshaped human connection. While technology has made communication faster and easier, Josh explains how it’s also blurred the lines between superficial “likes” and true influence. He makes a compelling case that leaders and business owners must become far more deliberate and intentional about building real relationships if they want loyal customers, strong teams, and long-term success.
Drawing on 30 years of experience in software for law enforcement and the military, real estate development, and running a cigar lounge, Josh shows how a relationship-first culture consistently attracts healthier employees, better customers, and stronger vendor partnerships. He shares stories from transforming a historic Bank of Meridian building into a thriving community hub where the primary currency is relationship, not just cigar sales. In a world where Amazon can always beat you on price, Josh explains why experience, community, and culture are the new differentiators. Josh also breaks down the idea of relational leadership in a practical way applying it not just to CEOs, but to teachers, coaches, parents, frontline managers, and anyone who influences others. He talks about not underestimating conversations, the power of active listening, and why authentic one-on-one interactions will always outperform empty metrics. You’ll hear how he uses historical figures like legendary coach John Wooden and his “pyramid of success” to illustrate how focusing on culture over outcomes can still produce extraordinary results, including Wooden’s 11 national championships. The conversation dives into how retail, third spaces, and community-building are evolving in the post-ecommerce era. From Apple Stores to new-style bookstores and cigar lounges, Josh and Robert explore why businesses that win today are those that design rich, in-person experiences instead of relying solely on transactional convenience. Josh also shares a powerful personal regret turning down a trip that turned out to be a private dinner with the UK royal family as a lesson in saying “yes” to rooms and relationships you can’t fully predict in advance.
If you’re a business owner, leader, or creator who feels pulled toward deeper impact, not just more clicks and followers, this episode will challenge you to rethink how you show up in rooms, create culture, and invest in people. You’ll walk away with a clearer sense of why relational leadership isn’t a soft, optional skill but a strategic advantage you can’t afford to ignore. To go deeper and explore Josh’s full framework, stories, and lessons, head over to ifjesus.com and check out If Jesus Smokes Cigars: 8 Lessons in Relational Leadership.
Quotes:
“Make sure you’re a ‘yes’ person who’s willing to be available, because there are things in life you can’t plan for that you might miss out on if you’re not in the room.”
“I’m not an anti-technology guy; technology is an enabler but if it’s not pointing toward an authentic relationship that results in a business transaction, then we’ve missed the mark.”
“A lot of times when we’re in places where we’re leading, we don’t listen. We underestimate the conversations happening around us that could inform how we lead and how we make decisions.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Elevate Your Career and Leadership? Book Joshua for Your Next Engagement
- Visit The Vault & Discover Your Next Favorite Cigar
- Connect with Joshua on LinkedIn and Take your Career to the Next Level
- Follow Joshua on Facebook for Insights, Inspiration, and What’s Next
- Follow Joshua on Instagram for Inspiration, Insights, and Behind-the-Scenes Moments
- Follow IfJesus on Instagram, for Faith, Inspiration, and Daily Encouragement
- Follow IfJesus on X and Discover Faith that Inspires Action
- Follow IfJesus on TikTok and Let Faith Transform The Way You See Life
- If Jesus Smoked Cigars: 8 Lessons in Relational Leadership on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:21 — 38.9MB) | Embed
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1655: Healing After Abuse and Betrayal with Margaret Mearns-Bass
Margaret Mearns Bass covers Christian Healing in this Marketer of the Day episode. Margaret Mearns-Bass shares how forgiveness and reconciliation can help survivors of abuse and betrayal move from hidden pain toward healing and freedom. Drawing on her own childhood abuse and marital betrayal, she distinguishes forgiveness from reconciliation: one person can forgive, but two people are required to reconcile.
Many survivors of childhood abuse and betrayal are told to “forgive and move on,” yet they’re given no real guidance on how to heal, reconcile, or deal with the deep and lasting pain. Today’s guest, Pastor Margaret Mearns-Bass, author of “Broken: The Healing Power of Forgiveness After Abuse and Betrayal,” shares her remarkable story of surviving 14 years of sexual abuse by her father, navigating infidelity in her marriage, and finding genuine healing and freedom through God’s grace. In this episode, Margaret explains the critical difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, and why that distinction matters for anyone recovering from deep wounds. She describes how you can choose to forgive on your own, but true reconciliation requires repentance, accountability, and a willing heart on both sides. Through her own journey with her father and her husband, she shows why “cheap apologies” and vague statements like “I’m sorry for everything” often prevent real healing instead of promoting it.
Margaret also dives into the physical impact of emotional trauma, sharing her experience with atrial fibrillation and what her doctor recognized as broken heart syndrome. She connects emotional wounds, silence, and shame to real health consequences, and encourages listeners to see a broken heart as something serious and valid, not “being dramatic.” From a biblical perspective, she challenges how many churches only teach half the message: urging people to forgive, but rarely teaching believers how to seek forgiveness, repent, and restore relationships. You’ll hear how Margaret found freedom by telling the truth, writing an honest letter to her deceased father, describing what her broken heart really looked like, and refusing to carry someone else’s shame any longer. She offers practical steps listeners can take, such as writing a letter of forgiveness (even if the person has passed away or is unreachable) and putting into words the shape of their broken heart as a path toward clarity and release.
This conversation is filled with comfort, conviction, and hope for anyone who has asked: Where was God when this happened? Why am I still hurting? Is reconciliation even possible after such deep betrayal? Margaret’s story shows that while you can’t outrun your past, God can redeem it and use it to help others whether through your story, your calling, or simply your willingness to speak the truth. If you or someone you love is dealing with the aftermath of abuse, infidelity, or lifelong emotional pain, this episode will help you better understand biblical forgiveness, recognize the power of truth, and take your next step toward healing. To learn more about Margaret, access her resources, and find her book, visit MaggiesHiddenManna.com.
Quotes:
"God wants to heal the people who are broken, but He can't heal them if they shy away from His presence."
"You can't run away from your past because it's part of you; but God can take that and make something good from it."
"We're no longer teaching biblical forgiveness, which also includes seeking forgiveness. The church is only teaching half the gospel."
Contact Details:
- Discover Hope, Healing, and Purpose at Maggie’s Hidden Manna: Visit the Website Today
- Visit Margaret Mearns Bass’s Website Today and Start Deepening your Walk with God
- Follow Pastor Maggie Bass for Faith-Filled Encouragement
- Broken: Forgiveness and the Journey to Reconciliation on Amazon
- Broken: The Healing Power of Forgiveness After Abuse and Betrayal on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:50 — 38.2MB) | Embed
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1654: AI Personal Branding and Expert Authority with Christine Blosdale
For many experts, the real challenge isn’t learning more or doing more, it's being clearly seen, understood, and trusted by the right people. Today’s guest, Christine Blosdale, the Expert Authority Coach behind ExpertAuthorityCoach.com, helps entrepreneurs transform their unique energy and authenticity into a powerful “bat signal” that attracts ideal clients and converts attention into revenue. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Christine shows how to use AI as an amplifier of your true voice, not as a shortcut to sounding generic. She explains how she’s trained her customized ChatGPT (lovingly named “Charlie”) to mirror her natural communication style so well that it can generate on-brand offers, messaging, and marketing assets for both her and her clients. You’ll hear how giving AI clear direction, thoughtful prompts, and consistent feedback leads to far better results than treating it like a disposable vending machine for content. From there, Christine dives into the foundations of effective personal branding, starting with the business platform most people ignore: their website or landing page. Before ramping up podcasts, books, and social media content, she makes the case for building a clear, conversion-focused home base that immediately explains who you are, who you serve, and what transformation you provide. She walks through how a short welcome video above the fold, a focused call to action to book a complimentary consultation, concise “About” copy, and a small, well-structured set of offers can dramatically improve how visitors perceive and engage with your brand.
Christine also unpacks the role of social proof and visibility in the age of AI. Instead of relying solely on traditional SEO, she introduces the concept of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and explains why FAQs, testimonials, and review pages matter more than ever. By turning real client questions into clear Q&A content, and by publishing authentic written and video testimonials, you make it easier for AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity to identify you as a credible solution and surface your brand in response to user queries. An important theme throughout the conversation is trustability. Christine emphasizes that sales become easier when trust is built first and that skipping this step is where many service providers go wrong. She describes how her complimentary consultations allow potential clients to experience her style and expertise without risk, while also giving her the chance to screen out persistently negative or uncoachable prospects. This approach helps her protect her own energy, serve the right people, and create long-term client relationships that feel mutually beneficial rather than forced.
If you’re ready to stop blending in, harness AI in a more personal and powerful way, and build an online presence that clearly signals who you are and why you’re worth hiring, this episode offers a roadmap. From sharpening your website and offers to increasing your visibility in both search engines and AI platforms, Christine’s strategies will help you become the trusted, in-demand authority you’re meant to be.
Quotes:
"Your personal branding, your business, your offers, your communication style, that's all energy. You have to think about what kind of bat signal you're putting out there."
"With technology, the more you work with your AI, the more it gets to know your style, and it gets to replicate your messaging and your communication."
"You need to develop trust before you can develop sales. So many people are so concerned about making the money that they skip over the trustability factor."
Contact Details:
- Ready to Get Seen, Trusted, and Paid for What you Already Know? Visit ExpertAuthorityCoach.com
- Connect with Christine Blosdale on LinkedIn for Expert Tips, Insights, and Inspiration!
- Watch, Learn, and Get Inspired. Subscribe to Christine Blosdale’s Channel on YouTube!
- Want to Grow your Influence? Follow Christine Blosdale on Instagram
- Ready to Turn Your Expertise Into Impact? Follow Christine Blosdale on Facebook
- Follow Christine Blosdale on TikTok for Quick Tips to Get Seen, Trusted, and Remembered!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:25 — 62.4MB) | Embed
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1653: AI Content Visibility for Authority Building with Lisa Apolinski
Lisa Apolinski covers AI Visibility in this Marketer of the Day episode. Lisa Apolinski explains how professionals can make their expertise visible to AI while becoming the clear authority clients choose. Her first step is asking an AI what you are known for, then comparing that answer with the reputation you actually want.
Business owners aren’t just competing for human attention anymore, they're competing to be seen and understood by AI. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, digital insider and authority strategist Lisa Apolinski explains how your content, messaging, and online presence must now be optimized not only for search engines, but also for AI systems that increasingly “research” you on behalf of your audience. If AI can’t clearly detect what you do, who you serve, and why you’re different, you’re effectively invisible in the new digital landscape. Lisa introduces her concept of Authority Power, the ability to turn your hard-won expertise into undeniable authority that attracts right-fit clients ready to invest at higher levels. She walks through a practical “homework assignment”: ask an AI tool, in the third person, what you are known for and compare that answer to what you want to be known for. Any gap between those two reveals missing or unclear messaging in your LinkedIn profile, website, YouTube, and other social channels. From there, you can update your content, lean into more precise language, and create a clear, consistent, and congruent experience everywhere your brand appears.
Rather than letting AI produce generic, “vanilla” content, Lisa shows how to use AI as a strategic language calculator that refines the words you already use, surfaces phrases worth repeating, and reflects back themes you didn’t realize you were communicating. She challenges experts to stop underselling themselves with “better, cheaper, faster” language and instead speak boldly about the unique, transformative “3 a.m. problem” they solve for a specific, narrow niche. This is where true authority is built by deciding exactly who you want to serve, what problem you solve better than 95% of others, and then aligning all your messaging around that promise. Lisa also opens up about “blowing up” her full-service agency in 2023 to focus solely on her area of genius: language, content, and writing that drives revenue. She shares lessons from her own false starts with personal branding and generic content positioning, and why the shift to Authority Power finally clicked with both her and her market. Along the way, she breaks down a smarter approach to digital marketing experiments: cut underperforming ads quickly, ignore vanity metrics like empty traffic, change one variable at a time, and trust your gut when something isn’t working. When you dial in your message and audience correctly, conversion rates can jump dramatically, and business suddenly feels exciting again instead of overwhelming.
If you want to become the go-to authority in your space, be accurately represented by AI, and attract ideal clients instead of chasing them, this conversation will show you how to realign your language, sharpen your positioning, and take decisive action. Lisa shares how to connect with her on LinkedIn, subscribe to her content-packed newsletter, and book a free 30-minute consultation to start unleashing your own Authority Power.
Quotes:
"Sometimes AI can go way off the mark and blend you down to something so vanilla it could work for everybody, and we don’t want to go there."
"The riches are in the niches. We want to know specifically who we want to target and why that right-fit client is ideal for us."
"Let your buyer's journey be their journey, not yours. It's their experience, not yours."
Contact Details:
- Write your Book. Build your Authority: Start your Journey with Indie Books International Today
- Become the Go-To Authority in your Industry: Explore PhatKat Consulting Today
- Turn your Ideas Into Influence: Connect with Lisa Apolinski on LinkedIn
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:21 — 37.6MB) | Embed
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1652: Founder Exit Strategy & Life After Liquidity with Jerome Myers
Jerome Myers covers Founder Exit Strategy in this Marketer of the Day episode. Jerome Myers explains why founders must prepare themselves for an exit just as carefully as they prepare their businesses. He calls the belief that a liquidity event is the finish line the transaction illusion, because the harder stage often begins afterward.
Many founders spend decades building a company they hope to one day exit only to discover that the deal they dreamed about leaves them feeling lost, lonely, and full of regret. Today’s guest, Jerome Myers of Exit to Excellence, has studied more than 3,500 founder conversations, 400+ podcast interviews, and over $2.5 billion in exit value to answer a question the exit industry rarely asks: what happens to the founder when the business they built no longer needs them? In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Jerome introduces the “Founders Exit Paradox” and shares why an estimated 75% of founders regret their exit, even when they get the money they were aiming for. He explains how a business quietly organizes every part of an owner’s life calendar, income, relationships, and even identity and why selling that business without a personal plan can feel like falling off a cliff. Using his powerful mountain expedition analogy (ascent, summit, and descent), Jerome highlights that the most dangerous part isn’t building or selling the business; it’s what happens after the liquidity event when the structure disappears but the money, time, and opportunity suddenly expand.
Jerome also breaks down the concept of business maturity asking whether your company is “acting its age” or if it’s still a “baby” that can’t function without you. He shows why founders who remain the catch‑all problem solvers get trapped, and how building a self‑sustaining, independent business is essential not just for a successful exit, but for a healthy life after the deal. Instead of treating exit planning as a dry financial exercise focused on EBITDA and GAAP, he uses story and parable, drawn from his audiobook “The Exit Expedition,” to make the emotional and psychological side of exiting both practical and deeply relatable. You’ll learn the real reasons founders regret selling from loss of identity and sudden loneliness to getting 40–60 hours a week back with no meaningful way to use it, and how a structured process can help you define who you are, who you spend time with, and what truly matters beyond your company. Jerome shares why being intentional before the exit is the key to avoiding lottery-winner-style meltdowns, and how to design a new “filter” for opportunities so you don’t say yes to everything just because you finally can.
If you’re thinking about selling your business someday or simply want to build a company that doesn’t depend on you for every decision, this conversation will change how you think about exit strategy. Jerome recommends starting with his Exit Risk Assessment at exittoexcellence.com/era, a complimentary diagnostic that reveals your highest‑risk areas, hidden dependencies, post‑exit vulnerabilities, and 90‑day action items to reduce risk. Whether an exit is five months or fifteen years away, you’ll see why a good exit strategy is really just good business strategy and how to prepare not only your company, but yourself, for the next chapter.
Quotes:
"Most owners are the catch-all whatever the problem is, if it doesn’t fit in one of the employees’ job descriptions, it is my problem, and I must go solve it."
"Exit strategy is just good business strategy. You’ll enjoy your business more the better you are prepared for an exit."
"The reason so many founders regret their exit is not the money. It’s that they don’t know how to introduce themselves anymore and they struggle with who they are without the business."
Contact Details:
- Ready For What Comes After the Exit? Explore Exit to Excellence Today
- You Built It. Now What? Discover What Comes After The Exit: Take the Red Pill
- Assess your Exit Readiness: Start your Successful Transition
- Connect with Jerome Myers on LinkedIn → Discover what’s possible beyond the exit.
- Discover What’s Next: Listen to Your Next Today on Apple Podcast
- Exit to Excellence: A Journey to Your N.E.X.T. on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:20 — 37.5MB) | Embed
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1651: Innovation Leadership and Breakthrough Growth with Ted Santos
Ted Santos of Turnaround Investment Partners teaches disruptive leadership: CEOs who create the right problems, with no existing blueprint, so teams unlock innovation, new markets, and breakthrough growth. In this Marketer of the Day conversation he explains why companies stay stuck on comfortable problems, how intentional challenges like the iPod-to-iPhone leap stretch an organization, and why blind spots quietly kill initiatives. The through-line is disruptive leadership that builds people's capacity to solve unfamiliar problems instead of recycling last year's playbook.
Most companies have smart people and solid products, yet still miss out on their biggest growth opportunities. The problem isn’t just strategy, it's that leaders keep solving familiar, comfortable problems instead of creating bold new ones that force innovation. Today’s guest, Ted Santos of Turnaround Investment Partners, works as an outsourced Chief Innovation Officer, helping CEOs deliberately create “the right problems” that unlock new markets, galvanize teams, and drive breakthrough growth. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Ted explains why effective leadership means becoming a “professional troublemaker,” the kind of CEO who sets seemingly impossible challenges and lets the organization grow into the solution. He shares powerful examples like Steve Jobs demanding 1,000 songs in your pocket and turning the iPod into the iPhone, and Howard Schultz positioning Starbucks as the “third place” between home and work. These weren’t random ideas; they were intentional problems with no blueprint, designed to reveal gaps in the market and stretch people beyond what they thought they could do.
Ted also uncovers the hidden, psychological side of innovation: why most breakthrough initiatives fail not because of bad ideas, but because of limiting beliefs and blind spots inside the people tasked with executing them. He tells the story of a mortgage professional in his 60s whose lifelong habit of joking to feel accepted was quietly killing his deals, until coaching helped him unlearn that blind spot, redirect his strengths, and double his productivity twice in six months. Ted’s work shows that when leaders and teams confront these internal roadblocks, they gain the capacity to handle uncertainty, collaborate more deeply, and consistently produce high‑impact results. The conversation goes further, connecting business performance with personal life. Drawing from his book, “Here’s Why You Can’t Find Love,” Ted explains how unresolved relationship issues and high divorce rates quietly drain corporate productivity costing an estimated $300 billion a year. He argues that companies must evolve beyond the old two-gear model of “hire in good times, lay off in bad times,” and instead develop employees so deeply in communication, conflict resolution, and resilience that it becomes more expensive to let them go than to keep them.
If you’re a CEO, founder, or business leader who wants to build a culture that thrives on uncertainty, finds hidden opportunities, and creates sustainable breakthroughs in both work and life, this episode will challenge how you think about leadership, innovation, and human performance.
Quotes:
“Most breakthrough initiatives fail not because of bad ideas, but because of what people already know about their limiting beliefs, mental roadblocks, and blind spots.”
We’ve accepted a world where companies only operate in two gears: hire in good times, fire in bad times without ever looking for a third, fourth, or fifth possibility.”
“Imagine making your employees so valuable that it costs more to lay them off than it does to keep them.”
Contact Details:
- Protect Your Ideas; Secure Your Future: Book Your Free IP Consultation Today
- Create Your Next Breakthrough: Connect with Ted Santos on LinkedIn
- Master Change. Drive Results: Subscribe to Ted Santos YouTube Channel
- Transform How You Lead: Follow Ted Santos on Facebook
- Here's Why You Can't Find Love on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:18 — 38.9MB) | Embed
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1650: AI Leadership and Decision Speed for Business with Jason M. Riggs
Jason Riggs covers AI Leadership in this Marketer of the Day episode. Jason M. Riggs explains how leaders can use AI to move faster without sacrificing the human judgment needed to make good decisions. As execution becomes cheaper and quicker, organizations must reduce decision latency, approval loops, and the coordination tax that slows useful work.
In a world where anyone can spin up a website, ship an app, or publish a book with AI in a fraction of the time it used to take, the real competitive advantage isn’t execution, it's judgment. As tools accelerate the “doing,” the real constraint shifts to how quickly and clearly leaders can make the right decisions. Today’s guest, Jason M. Riggs, AI business leader, award-winning author, and creator of the Mach 10 Leadership series joins us to show how executives, founders, and product managers can operate at true “decision speed” without letting AI drive their teams and businesses into chaos. Jason shares how AI has collapsed execution time across software, hardware, cloud, and applied AI, and why that makes most traditional corporate processes obsolete. He breaks down the core idea behind his books, “The Mach 10 PM” and “The Mach 10 Leader: AI Native Leadership at Decision Speed”: when execution accelerates, your decision system has to evolve, or your approvals, alignment meetings, and “coordination tax” will quietly kill your best ideas. Jason explains why ownership and accountability must replace vague group consensus, and how to design decision loops that keep up with AI-level velocity.
Jason also takes us behind the scenes of AI-native order taking in quick service restaurants (QSRs), where seemingly simple problems (“just take a burger order”) hide massive complexity: brand-specific language, modifiers, combos, coupons, point-of-sale integration, and more. He warns about the rise of “AI English” or “Clodlish” content and instructions that technically make sense to machines but are confusing and exhausting for humans. Throughout the conversation, he makes a strong case that raw LLMs don’t care about your time, money, or brand, which is why human judgment cannot be outsourced, especially when you’re building core customer experiences.Beyond his day job, Jason talks about using AI as a true enabler in his own indie publishing journey launching books, rebuilding his website, learning Amazon and Google ads, writing press releases, and building a full ecosystem around his ideas. He shows how AI can compress the learning curve of “10 different jobs” into one person’s tool-assisted workflow, as long as you’re willing to ask sharp questions, compare multiple models, and constantly pressure-test outputs with humans.
If you’ve ever worried that AI might atrophy your decision-making muscles, or felt overwhelmed by “AI-flavored” content that all looks and sounds the same, this episode will help you reframe AI as one resource among many powerful, but never a substitute for thinking. Jason leaves us with a powerful principle that runs through the entire conversation: speed without clarity creates chaos. If you want to lead at Mach 10 in an AI-native world without crashing into a wall this is an episode you don’t want to miss.
Quotes:
“AI can give you the picture-perfect scholastic answer, but in the real world where humans have to consume it, it’s not always the best answer.”
“What successful AI companies do best is use less AI, because AI is a cost component you can’t really control.”
“AI should never be the only thinking you do; it’s just another resource in your toolbox alongside people and your network.”
Contact Details:
- Master AI-Powered Product Leadership: Get the MACH-10 Playbook
- Turn Insight Into Impact: Visit the Official Website of Jason M. Riggs
- Get the Toolkit: Lead at MACH-10 Speed
- Ready to Lead at MACH-10: Connect with Jason M. Riggs on LinkedIn
- Master AI-Native Leadership: Follow Jason M. Riggs on X
- Turn Judgment Into Advantage: Follow Jason M. Riggs on Instagram
- Accelerate Without the Chaos: Follow Jason M. Riggs on Facebook
- Lead Faster. Think Smarter. Listen Now on Spotify
- The MACH-10 PM on Amazon
- The Mach 10 Leader: AI Native Leadership at Decision Speed on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:37 — 43.4MB) | Embed
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1649: Unresolved Grief and Anxiety Relief with Michele Mariscal
Michele Mariscal covers Grief Recovery Strategy in this Marketer of the Day episode. Michele Mariscal explains how recognizing unresolved grief can reduce emotional overwhelm and help people regain clarity, stability, and healthier daily functioning. She defines grief as the normal and natural reaction to loss of any kind, including changes in routines, patterns, or habits that create a sense of loss. The Grief Recovery Method recognizes more than 40 losses, including intangible losses such as safety and security after disasters.
Many high achievers think their stress, burnout, or anxiety are just “part of the grind.” But what if those symptoms are actually signs of something deeper unresolved grief that’s never been named or processed? Today’s guest, Dr. Michele Mariscal, has spent 30 years in health and wellness helping people move from emotional chaos to clarity using HeartMath and the Grief Recovery Method, two evidence-based modalities that connect the heart and brain so you can finally process what’s been weighing you down. Michele reframes grief far beyond death or divorce. She explains how over 40 types of loss including career changes, natural disasters, broken trust, kids leaving for college, or growing up in a constantly moving military family, can quietly erode your sense of safety and show up as anxiety, overwhelm, or feeling “not yourself.” She shares her own story of living in a Florida community devastated by hurricanes and how unprocessed trauma left her feeling unsafe even doing ordinary tasks like driving, until she learned how to calm her “trauma body” and regulate her nervous system.
Michele breaks down common myths about grief like “time heals all wounds,” “stay busy,” or “just move on” and shows how these patterns can actually deepen emotional pain, drive addictive coping behaviors, and even get stored in the body. Through the Grief Recovery Method, she outlines a step-by-step, 7–8 week psychoeducational process that normalizes grief, teaches you to recognize hidden losses, and gives you a repeatable template to complete your relationship with the pain of the loss without “letting go” of the person or memory you cherish. You’ll hear how Michele’s clients, especially busy professionals and healthcare workers have used HeartMath and grief recovery tools to return to work more grounded, rebuild strained relationships, and respond to emotional triggers without numbing out or exploding. If you’ve ever wondered why certain situations trigger outsized reactions, or why old memories still hijack your present-day decisions, this episode will help you connect the dots between past losses and current behavior.
If you suspect you might be carrying unresolved grief from earlier in life even if things look “fine” on the surface this conversation offers a compassionate, practical roadmap to becoming more self-aware, emotionally resilient, and truly at peace. You’ll learn how to recognize the clues of unresolved grief, debunk the myths holding you back, and take the first steps toward healing so you can move forward with clarity instead of quietly staying stuck in survival mode.
Quotes:
“We store these emotions in our body in different ways; you can be working on a knee and suddenly burst into tears because grief never really disappears; it settles in.”
“We talk about the physical loss of belongings, but what really settles into us are the intangible losses, like the loss of safety and loss of security.”
“Any time that we have a change in a routine or pattern or habit that creates a feeling of loss, there’s grief.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Feel Like Yourself Again? Book a Consultation with Michele Mariscal, PhD
- Connect with Michele Mariscal on LinkedIn for Practical Tools to Heal, Grow, and Move Forward
- Follow EnergyM Alchemy on Facebook for More Insights from Michele Mariscal
- Follow Michele Mariscal on Instagram for Inspiration, Healing, and Resilience
- The Road Less Traveled on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:39 — 36.6MB) | Embed
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1648: Neuroscience Leadership and the Five Brains with Carlos Davidovich
Carlos Davidovich teaches Neuroscience Leadership Strategy so leaders can work with five interacting brain systems instead of fighting them. Even highly capable leaders with clear strategies and strong skills can find themselves stuck, frustrated, or in recurring conflict because their own brains are quietly working against them. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, the executive coach and neuroleadership expert Carlos Davidovich, author of Five Brain Leadership, explains how understanding your “five brains” can radically improve the way you lead, communicate, and build teams that actually think for themselves. Carlos draws on his unique background as both an MD and a business coach to bridge hard neuroscience with real-world leadership challenges. Instead of drowning in theory, he shows how instinct, emotion, intuition, rational thinking, the heart, and the gut all act like different “voices” in our internal leadership team, and how knowing which one is running the show in any moment can be the difference between conflict and collaboration, burnout and growth, bottlenecks and scalable success. His model treats the reptilian survival brain, emotional brain, rational brain, heart, and gut as distinct voices, so you can notice which one is leading before you respond to conflict, pressure, or a hard decision. He uses reframing so executives stop personalizing problems and see how their own behavior, including micromanagement that creates upward delegation, can produce the team dysfunction they want to fix.
You’ll hear how many leaders unintentionally create the very problems they complain about like micromanaging teams that constantly come to them for decisions, or “bully” managers who get short-term results while shutting down their team’s creativity and rational thinking. Carlos explains how the reptilian (survival) brain can hijack meetings, trigger fear, and cause teams to do the bare minimum, while the rational and intuitive brains sit on the sidelines. Through practical reframing techniques, he helps leaders stop taking everything personally, recognize their own role in unhealthy patterns, and reset expectations so their teams can finally step up. Carlos also shares why change in leadership behavior almost always triggers resistance, and why that’s actually a sign you’re on the right track, not proof you should revert to old habits. He walks through how to introduce new rules around autonomy (“bring me your proposal, not just your problem”), what to expect when some people choose to leave rather than grow, and how that natural filtering process leads to stronger, more proactive teams over time.
If you’ve ever wondered why your team seems dependent on you, why tension escalates so quickly, or why your best ideas never quite translate into consistent behavior, this conversation will give you a new mental model for leadership. By learning to speak the other person’s “brain language,” recognizing which of your five brains is in charge, and leaving a little room for “magic” instead of over-controlling every outcome, you can create a culture where people think, decide, and lead alongside you, not just follow orders.
Quotes:
"If I leave everything to my reptilian brain, you will be fighting all day, and hardly you will get to a positive outcome."
"Remember that communication is your ability or capacity to speak the other person's language, not yours."
"Many times we are generating situations that, in the end, we don't like, and we don't see that we were the ones generating the situation at the beginning."
Contact Details:
- Ready to Take Your Leadership to the Next Level? Book a Session with Carlos Davidovich
- Unlock Your Leadership Potential: Connect with Carlos Davidovich on LinkedIn
- Unlock Your Potential: Follow Carlos Davidovich on Facebook
- Five Brain Leadership on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:28 — 37.7MB) | Embed
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1647: Get Speaking Gigs and Clients through Public Speaking with Leisa Reid
Leisa Reid covers Speaking Client Acquisition in this Marketer of the Day episode. Leisa Reid explains how business owners can use speaking as a strategic client acquisition system that builds authority and brings in ideal clients. Her approach starts with creating a client attraction talk that combines useful teaching, stories, personality, and a clear connection to the speaker's business.
Too many business owners secretly wish they could be “that person on stage” but aren’t sure how speaking actually translates into clients and revenue. Referrals, social media, and ads only go so far, and they’re still left feeling like a best-kept secret. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, speaking strategy mentor Leisa Reid, founder of Get Speaking Gigs Now and CEO of the International Speaker Network, explains how to turn public speaking into a reliable client acquisition system, without needing a massive following or celebrity status. Many entrepreneurs struggle to stand out, even when they’re great at what they do. They rely on referrals, social media, or ads, but still feel like a “best-kept secret” in their industry. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, speaking strategy mentor Leisa Reid, founder of Get Speaking Gigs Now and CEO of the International Speaker Network, explains how to turn public speaking into a reliable client acquisition system without needing a massive following or celebrity status.
Leisa shares how business owners can use client-attraction talks and strategic presentations designed to educate, build trust, and naturally lead to new clients. She breaks down how to choose the right speaking topics, where to find aligned stages (including associations, conferences, and niche groups), and how to ensure your talk fits your business model. Instead of chasing random “exposure,” Leisa shows how to speak in front of audiences filled with your ideal clients, and turn that visibility into revenue. You’ll also hear why relationship-based networking beats cold outreach, what Leisa’s “no pouncing” rule means for ethical prospecting, and how to leverage the connections you already have to book speaking gigs even if you don’t use social media much. She shares real-world examples, including a client who transformed a deeply personal story about grief into a $10,000 paid keynote, and another who landed two speaking opportunities from just two phone calls. Leisa talks candidly about overcoming fear and imposter syndrome, reframing yourself as a teacher disguised as a speaker, and using speaking as a “drug-free drug” that energizes you while growing your business. She also shares her own evolution from communication degrees and university teaching to becoming a professional speaker giving over 600 talks, and why coaching and better slide design radically upgraded her results.
If you’ve ever dreamed of being on stage, want more qualified leads, or are simply tired of blending in online, this episode will show you how to use speaking strategically to get clients, build authority, and expand your impact. Tune in to discover practical steps to get booked, deliver value-driven talks, and turn your message into a movement.
Quotes:
"I believe that everybody has a gift to share, and when we are able to share those gifts with other people, that raises the consciousness of our planet."
"For the last 10 years I have not cold-called for a single talk, and it's through the relationship building."
"You could have the best talk in the whole wide world, but if no one hears it, that's not going to do any good."
Contact Details:
- Visit the Official Get Speaking Gigs Now Website to Get your Free Speaking Tips
- Get Your Free 5-Step Roadmap to More Speaking Gigs
- Connect with Leisa Reid on LinkedIn for Paid Speaking Opportunities
- Get Your Free Speaking Strategy: Join Leisa Reid on Facebook
- Ready to Take the Stage? Let’s Make It Happen: Follow Leisa Reid on Instagram
- Grow Your Business Through the Power of Speaking: Subscribe to Leisa Reid on YouTube
- Your Message Deserves a Bigger Stage: Join the Speaker Network Today
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:54 — 37.0MB) | Embed
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1646: AI Business Alignment for Founders with Ric Thompson
Ric Thompson covers AI Business Strategy in this Marketer of the Day episode. Ric Thompson explains how founders can compete in an AI-driven market by aligning who they are, how their business operates, and what reality now demands. His three-part framework examines alignment with yourself, alignment between you and the business, and alignment with present-day market conditions.
In a world where AI can generate almost any information on demand, traditional info-product businesses are quietly collapsing and many founders don’t yet realize why they feel so stuck. In this episode, returning guest Ric Thompson of TemporalRead explains why “information is free, but wisdom, judgment, and human connection are more valuable than ever” and how founders can adapt before they get left behind. Ric dives into how AI has blown up the old model of selling static courses, PDFs, and information products. Instead of competing with AI on raw knowledge (a losing game), Ric shows why the real leverage is in who you are: your unique perspective, decision-making, and ability to connect with people. They explore how books, podcasts, and content are shifting from being revenue engines to credibility and authority assets that drive done-for-you services, implementation, and deeper client relationships. A key theme of the conversation is Ric’s concept of the three critical alignments every founder needs: alignment with yourself, alignment between you and your business model, and alignment with present-day reality. If your business no longer fits who you are, or ignores today’s economic and technological landscape you experience friction, plateaus, and that “I’m doing everything right, but nothing’s working” feeling.
Ric explains why so many entrepreneurs struggle when they try to follow a mentor’s blueprint that was built for a completely different personality, skill set, or era. Ric also digs into the broader forces reshaping business: relentless AI acceleration, years of inflation affecting your buyers, and a massive changing of the guard as many established experts simply opt out rather than adapt. Inside that disruption is opportunity for founders willing to rethink their role, lean into AI as a leverage tool, and intentionally design businesses that showcase their humanity instead of hiding it. They even flip the classic advice about building owner-independent companies, discussing how you can now “clone” your voice, judgment, and presence with AI so that your personal brand actually becomes a sellable asset rather than a liability. To help founders get unstuck, Ric shares his diagnostic approach clearing the “fog” around what’s really capping your growth. He introduces a simple assessment at temporalread.com/gift/plank, designed to reveal the five core structural reasons an established business stops growing and which one is holding you back right now. Rather than guessing, binging more content, or endlessly chatting with AI, you can answer a focused set of questions about the business you’re actually running and get clarity on your true constraint.
The episode wraps with a powerful insight inspired by Marcus Aurelius: “What stands in the way becomes the way.” Ric explains how understanding your constraints, who you’re not, what doesn’t work for you, where the market has shifted doesn’t limit you; it points you to your real path forward. If you’re a founder feeling misaligned, overwhelmed by AI, or uncertain about your next move, this conversation will help you see how to compete in an AI-driven world by becoming more yourself, not less.
Quotes:
“You can’t beat AI at knowledge. You can only compete by doing what AI cannot do: wisdom, judgment, and human connection.”
“The world is not what it was two years ago, and if your business hasn’t kept up with that, you’re in trouble.”
"For decades we were told that to sell a business, the owner had to step out. Now, if I can throw everything about me into AI, I can go along with the business when it gets sold."
Contact Details:
- Find the Constraint Your Strategy Keeps Missing → Apply for The Temporal Read
- Connect with Ric Thompson on LinkedIn for Smarter Business Strategies and Insights
- Follow Ric Thompson on Facebook and Stay in the Conversation
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:10 — 37.3MB) | Embed
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1645: Business Networking Referrals to Grow Your Business with Ivan Misner
Ivan Misner covers Business Networking Strategy in this Marketer of the Day episode. Ivan Misner explains how structured referral networking can turn consistent relationship building into a reliable source of long-term business growth. Drawing on a 12,000-person survey, he says average networkers spend 6.3 hours weekly, while about eight hours is the sweet spot for stronger results. BNI formalizes this with weekly meetings, short introductions, member presentations, and a referral round focused on teaching others how to refer you.
Networking can quietly outperform almost any ad campaign but only if you approach it with structure, intention, and consistency. Dr. Ivan Misner, founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization, reveals how a proven referral system helped members generate over $27 billion in reported business over the last year, and how you can apply the same principles to turn casual connections into a reliable pipeline of high-quality leads. Dr. Misner explains why networking is not about showing up and pitching everyone in the room, but about teaching others exactly how to refer to you. You’ll hear how BNI’s weekly, highly structured meetings help small business owners turn casual connections into predictable referrals, why the “sweet spot” of around eight hours per week of networking can produce 60–70% (or more) of your business, and how to use every touchpoint from thank-you notes to one-on-ones, as part of a deliberate referral system instead of random busyness.
We also dig into the mindset and habits that make networking work for real people, not just extroverts. Ivan shares why introverts can actually excel at networking by listening more than they talk, the simple questions that start meaningful business relationships, and how BNI’s visitor hosts help newcomers avoid feeling like “a wallflower in the corner.” You’ll learn why networking is a marathon, not a sprint, and how to stay consistent long enough for others to truly know, like, and trust you. Beyond tactics, Ivan talks about scaling a business from “garage to global” while avoiding the “curse of complexity,” the tendency to keep adding systems, rules, and features until growth slows down. He introduces the idea of working in your “flame” instead of your “wax” so you stay energized and effective as your business grows. You’ll also hear his perspective on building an intentional legacy, living your values, and making sure your life’s “summing up” reflects the impact you actually want to have.
If you’re tired of cold outreach, inconsistent leads, or feeling like you’re networking “by accident,” this episode will show you how to turn relationship-building into a repeatable, referral-driven growth engine. You’ll walk away with a clearer picture of how to structure your time, choose the right groups (BNI, chambers of commerce, service clubs, and more), and build a network that feeds your business for years to come.
Quotes:
“Networking is a contact sport. You’ve got to get belly to belly with people. You’ve got to go out there and connect with people.”
“We want to change the way the world does business and have them focus on helping each other to build lifelong referrals.”
“The more complicated you make things, the worse it’s going to get. Feature creep and the curse of complexity will kill your growth.”
Contact Details:
- Turn Connections Into Opportunities: Join BNI Today
- Discover Dr. Misner’s Insights on His Official Website
- Connect with Dr. Ivan Misner: The Father of Modern Networking on LinkedIn
- Discover Business Growth Strategies: Follow Dr. Ivan Misner on Facebook
- Follow Dr. Ivan Misner on Instagram for More Networking Tips
- Transform the Way you Network by Following Dr. Ivan Misner on X
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:02 — 35.8MB) | Embed
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1644: Leading Through Uncertainty and Uncharted Moments with Jeff Ton
Jeff Ton covers Leadership Through Uncertainty in this Marketer of the Day episode. Jeff Ton explores how leaders can keep moving when the map runs out and the future no longer follows a familiar plan. After 45 years in technology leadership, he drew new lessons from 14 trips over six years following the Lewis and Clark Trail with his wife Carmen. The expedition's original map labeled western territory "conjectural," offering a powerful model for acting despite incomplete information.
At some point, every leader reaches a place where their familiar “map” stops working where the career path, business plan, or life script they’ve relied on no longer fits what’s actually happening. The strategies that once felt solid suddenly feel outdated, and they find themselves navigating illness, reinvention, and major life transitions without clear directions forward. Today’s guest, Jeff Ton, a technology leader with 45 years of experience and author of Uncharted Moments: Love, Legacy, and the Lewis and Clark Trail, knows that terrain firsthand. What began as a series of RV trips retracing the Lewis and Clark expedition became a deeply personal story of partnership, caregiving, and leadership when his wife fell ill and he stepped into the role of full-time caregiver. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Jeff shares how following the Lewis and Clark Trail, and later reflecting on it revealed powerful leadership lessons for entrepreneurs, executives, and creators facing uncertainty. He unpacks the metaphor of leading when the map is labeled “conjectural” like the original Lewis and Clark map west of the Mississippi, and what it means today when your business plan, financial projections, or life roadmap no longer fits the world you’re actually in. Jeff explains why the most important question leaders can ask is: What do you do when the map runs out?
Drawing on both history and his own journey, Jeff shows how proceeding on in uncertainty requires a blend of courage, humility, and responsiveness. From navigating tense, real-world travel mishaps to exploring Thomas Jefferson’s broader vision for the expedition documenting new lands, learning from indigenous peoples, and building relationships Jeff highlights the often-overlooked leadership skill at the center of it all: listening. Listening to diverse perspectives, listening to the people you serve, and listening to your own gut are all essential when conditions change and your old playbook stops working.
Jeff also introduces his “Proceeding On” event series, where he brings people together to talk honestly about life moments with no clear roadmap illness, grief, retirement, and reinvention. What started as a book and a “tour” has evolved into a shared space for reflection, healing, and clarity. For business leaders, marketers, and founders, Jeff’s story is a reminder that real leadership isn’t about controlling every variable, it's about continuing forward, one step at a time, while staying present, curious, and willing to adjust. If you’re in a season where your old strategies don’t fit and the future feels uncertain, this episode will give you both language and courage to keep proceeding on with more intention, empathy, and resilience.
Quotes:
“We are in uncharted territory. Others have gone through this disease; we’re learning it. We learn every day.”
“To proceed on when the way is not clear; take those steps, keep putting one foot in front of the other to make that progress.”
"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything. If you're trying to be perfect, you're not going to take a step. You have to proceed on into the unknown."
Contact Details:
- Create Your Next Breakthrough: Visit the Official Website of Jeff Ton
- Connect with Jeff Ton on LinkedIn To Explore Leadership Insights
- Follow Jeff on Facebook for Daily Inspiration
- Follow Jeff on Instagram to Unlock Leadership Growth
- Uncharted Moments: Love, Legacy, and the Lewis & Clark Trail on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:41 — 33.9MB) | Embed
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1643: Audacious Living and the BOLD Framework with Audley Stephenson
Audley Stephenson covers Personal Growth Strategy in this Marketer of the Day episode. Audley Stephenson explains how intentional audacity helps people move through doubt, adversity, and reinvention so they can build a more purposeful life. His BOLD framework begins with Better Than Yesterday, a commitment to continuous learning instead of resting on past wins.
Many people never reach their potential not because they lack talent, but because fear, doubt, and adversity stop them before they even begin. Today’s guest, Audley Stephenson, has spent nearly two decades proving that an “audacious” approach to life can change everything. From being rejected as a sports TV intern to interviewing NBA legends like Kobe and LeBron, becoming a professional basketball commissioner, and rebuilding his purpose after the pandemic, Audley has turned setbacks into fuel for growth. On Marketer of the Day, Audley shares the heart behind his brand and body of work: the BOLD framework: Better than yesterday, Outlast adversity, Live your truth, Disrupt the norm. He explains why audacity isn’t reckless; it’s intentional. It’s the engine under the hood that pushes you past hesitation when that inner voice says, “Who do you think you are?” Drawing from nearly 700 episodes of The Audacious Living Podcast and his upcoming book, “Living Your Best Audacious Life Ever: How Unleashing Your Inner Greatness Can Change the World,” he breaks down how ordinary people can make courageous choices, one small bold step at a time.
Audley goes deep on the real-life challenges behind his message navigating divorce, false accusations, incarceration, fatherhood, and the emotional roller coaster of reconnecting with a parent he never knew, only to lose him a few years later. Through those experiences, he refined the “Outlast Adversity” pillar of BOLD: you can’t control the storm, but you can control how you bunker down, endure it, and rebuild stronger afterward. He also unpacks the crucial difference between confidence and courage, arguing that courage comes first; you act before you feel ready, and confidence shows up later as a byproduct of action.Along the way, Audley talks about how he almost walked away from podcasting despite being known as a podcaster because of nagging self-doubt when he tried to restart during the pandemic. His story becomes a case study in how repetition, “getting your reps in,” and refusing to quit turns awkward first attempts into mastery. He challenges the myth of being “self-made,” showing how mentors, encouragers, and even one-off kind words have shaped his journey and how each of us can become that positive force for others.
This conversation is packed with mindset shifts and practical philosophy for creators, entrepreneurs, and leaders who feel called to more but are held back by fear or circumstances. If you’re ready to tap into your inner greatness, lead through your actions, and create a ripple effect that touches lives you’ll never meet, Audley’s audacious approach might be the spark you need.
Quotes:
“The audacity is the engine inside of our cars that determines how fast and how far we go, and we all have it; it’s just a matter of unlocking it, tapping into it, and hitting the gas pedal.”
“There’s a belief that I have to have confidence before I have the courage to do something, and it’s actually the other way around; courage comes first, confidence follows.”
“If my actions are inspiring others to dream more, do more, and become more, then I’m a leader, but I don’t take that action unless I have the audacity to do so.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Live Audaciously? Subscribe and Take Bold Action
- Unlock Your Audacious Potential: Connect with Audley Stephenson on LinkedIn
- Join the Audacious Journey on Facebook
- Be Inspired. Live Audaciously: Follow Audley Stephenson on X
- Unlock Bold Ideas. Take Action: Follow Audley Stephenson on Instagram
- Listen to The Audacious Living Podcast on Spotify to Unlock Your Audacious Life
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1642: AI Knowledge Management and Tribal Wisdom with Bruce Dorey
Bruce Dorey covers AI Knowledge Transfer in this Marketer of the Day episode. Bruce Dorey explains how businesses can use AI to capture expert judgment before it walks out the door and turn it into practical guidance. His approach gathers meeting transcripts, proposals, invoices, coaching conversations, and other records so an LLM can identify patterns in what actually works.
When a senior expert walks out the door, years of judgment, pattern-recognition, and relationship capital often vanish with them. Dr. Bruce Dorey, founder of Jes-AI and author of Lift: Passing the Craft, and Digital Bell specializes in stopping that silent knowledge leak. Drawing on his decades in HVAC, sales engineering, and leadership, Bruce shows how AI can systematically capture “tribal knowledge” from conversations, documents, and deals so that future teams can still benefit from the hard-won lessons of today’s top performers. Bruce also shares the idea of the Digital Bell, a modern, AI-powered way to snap out of autopilot and daily “drift.” Influenced by his years living in the Middle East and observing how the call to prayer regularly reset people’s focus, he explains how leaders and professionals can build intentional, AI-assisted check-ins throughout the day. Instead of being yanked around by social media and email, you can design digital prompts that re-anchor you and your team to core values, long-term goals, and the key insights that matter most day after day, meeting after meeting.
Bruce also pulls back the curtain on Jes-AI, a system built for sales organizations (especially in HVAC and technical fields) that turns messy, scattered data quotes, proposals, invoices, CRM notes into a strategic advantage. Jes-AI analyzes historical deals to reveal which clients actually buy, which ones never convert, who the true decision-makers are, and which internal experts you should involve on complex projects. This is AI as a coach and strategist, helping teams prioritize the right opportunities, build smarter playbooks, and stop wasting time on low-probability deals all while keeping sensitive data locked inside the company’s own Microsoft environment. We go deep into succession planning, mentorship, and preserving institutional wisdom. Bruce explains why traditional corporate mentoring often fails and how the master–journeyman–apprentice model from old guilds (anchored in the Dunbar number of ~150 meaningful relationships) is still the most effective structure. Using AI to transcribe real mentoring conversations, extract the “nuggets” of hard-won expertise, and turn them into reusable playbooks, companies can ensure that when senior engineers, salespeople, or leaders retire, their knowledge doesn’t retire with them. Bruce also shares a powerful personal story about recovering from a spinal injury and medication dependency, and how structured routines, human connection, and AI-assisted reflection helped him avoid drift and reconnect with what truly matters.
If you’re worried about losing key people, watching your team operate on autopilot, or sitting on years of underused data in your CRM and documents, this conversation is your roadmap. You’ll learn how to use AI not as a gimmick, but as a multiplier of human judgment, craftsmanship, and long-term thinking, so your organization can keep growing even as your experts move on.
Quotes:
“AI is kind of like the smartest guy in your office sitting with you and telling you what to do or what has worked in the past.”
"Part of what we call tribal knowledge is just relationships; who do we know, and when we work with this person or this company, things get done."
"What I recommend is that you start capturing these insights, and then you remind yourself, and you remind your team, and the team reminds itself of what’s important on a daily basis."
Contact Details:
- Scale Smarter: Engineer Faster: Build With JES-AI
- Turn Insight Into Action: Start With BR Dorey
- Connect With Bruce Dorey On LinkedIn And Build What’s Next
- Follow Bruce Dorey On Facebook For Insights That Move Ideas Forward
- Follow Bruce Dorey On Instagram For Ideas, Insights, And Inspiration
- Lift: Passing the Craft on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:37 — 44.8MB) | Embed
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1641: Company Culture & Employee Experience with Heather Page
Heather Page covers Workplace Culture Leadership in this Marketer of the Day episode. Heather Page explains how intentional culture and human connection can make employees feel seen, valued, and motivated to contribute. Her career evolved from hand coding websites to designing employee experiences, but the core question stayed the same: does this create connection and reflect who we are? At AdvancedMD, she applies that mindset to nearly 700 team members through people-first culture initiatives and cross-functional collaboration. She emphasizes that culture is not perks or free soda; it is how people feel about showing up, contributing, and belonging.
In fast-growing companies and competitive tech hubs, culture can quietly become the deciding factor between loyal, engaged teams and constant turnover. Today’s guest, Heather Page, Culture and Experience Manager at AdvancedMD, shares how her journey from hand-coding websites in the early days of the internet to building brand and people-first initiatives prepared her to design an environment where nearly 700 team members feel connected, valued, and excited to show up on Monday. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Heather reveals how her background in UX and digital experience naturally evolved into human experience and internal culture. She explains why the same questions you ask when designing a great product “Does this feel intuitive? Does it create connections? Does it reflect who we are?” should guide how you design your company culture. Instead of treating culture as perks and free sodas, Heather focuses on what people are really thinking and feeling on Sunday night: are they dreading Monday, or excited to plug back in?
Heather walks us through her journey from web designer to culture leader, including how she volunteered for culture committees, paid attention to cross-functional teams, and ultimately had a role created specifically for her at AdvancedMD. She shares practical examples of how she and her team listen to employees through twice-yearly anonymous surveys and, crucially, act on the data instead of letting it collect dust. For Heather, people-first isn’t a slogan, it’s a pillar that drives decisions, programs, and daily behavior. We also dive into AdvancedMD’s medical office software and how it’s helping doctors reclaim their time, reduce burnout, and reconnect with the human side of healthcare. Heather explains how AI-enabled digital charting, automation, and integrated EHR/practice management tools free physicians from after-hours note-taking and clunky legacy systems. With strong onboarding and hands-on professional services, AdvancedMD doesn’t just sell software; they guide practices through the change so the whole team feels supported, not overwhelmed.
Throughout the conversation, Heather emphasizes that rapport, curiosity, and genuine human connection are timeless superpowers. She encourages employees at every level to stop waiting for permission: sit with support, learn how sales thinks, understand your colleagues’ worlds, and build real relationships. Promotions, opportunities, and innovation often follow the people who are genuinely interested in others, not just in climbing the ladder. If you want to: Build a culture where people feel seen, valued, and eager to stay. Reduce job-hopping by creating a true culture fit instead of surface-level perks. Use AI and better systems to give professionals (especially doctors) their time and focus back. Lead with empathy, listening, and follow-through in a way that never goes out of style; then this episode with Heather Page will give you a fresh, people-first lens on both culture and customer experience.
Quotes:
“Culture, to me, is a lot like a well-designed product: it’s intentional, it evolves, and it’s built for the people using it every day.”
“If you take care of your people inside your company, they will take care of people outside your company, and that’s a win-win.”
“Each of us brings our own culture to the table every day, and sometimes those cultures mesh, and sometimes it’s oil and vinegar.”
Contact Details:
- Stop Letting Admin Work Slow Your Practice Down: See AdvancedMD In Action Today
- Connect With Heather Page On LinkedIn
- Follow Heather Page On Facebook
- Listen To The AdvancedMD Podcast On Apple Podcasts
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:39 — 39.3MB) | Embed
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1640: CEO Blind Spots and Confident Leadership with Bill Miller
Bill Miller covers CEO Leadership in this Marketer of the Day episode. Bill Miller explains how CEOs can uncover hidden leadership blind spots before poor decisions damage trust, execution, and growth. His simplest question before a complex decision is "What am I missing?" because intelligence alone cannot eliminate unseen gaps.
Hidden blind spots, ego, and unexamined assumptions quietly sabotage trust, culture, and growth for even the smartest leaders. Today’s guest, Bill Miller, veteran executive, advisor, and author of “What Every CEO Must Know: 37 Secrets to Lead with Confidence and Power” and “The Rookie CEO: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up,” helps founders and CEOs uncover the costly leadership mistakes everyone else can see but no one feels safe enough to say out loud. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Bill breaks down the concept of CEO blind spots, those invisible gaps in thinking and decision-making that show up in hiring, restructuring, communication, and strategy. Drawing on nearly 40 years as a senior executive across startups, venture-backed companies, and multibillion-dollar enterprises, he explains why even brilliant founders and technical leaders get stuck when they step into the CEO role for the first time. From the Peter Principle to imposter syndrome, Bill shows how smart leaders can still make disastrous choices if they don’t build the right habits of reflection and feedback.
You’ll learn Bill’s simple but powerful practice called the “mirror meeting,” a 15–20 minute weekly check-in with yourself to review what you accomplished, what you missed, who’s still waiting on you, and what’s truly keeping the business from moving forward. Bill reveals how pairing this ritual with tools like ChatGPT or Claude can turn journaling into a practical system for better decisions, accountability, and follow-through. Instead of letting tasks, worries, and strategic priorities live only in your head, the mirror meeting creates a written record that keeps you aligned, honest, and focused on what only you as CEO can do. Bill also shares a real-world story of a CEO who announced a major restructuring moving marketing offshore without first speaking to the leader most affected. That single blind spot triggered fear, confusion, and lost momentum across the company. From this and other hard-earned lessons, Bill explains why ego “feels like strength, but is a trap,” and why difficult conversations and one-on-ones are non-negotiable if you want real psychological safety and committed teams.
To help founders, first-time CEOs, and “stuck” long-time leaders know where to begin, Bill introduces his CEO Navigator System, a free online assessment at BeelineBill.com that pinpoints the top two or three areas where a CEO needs support. Based on decades in the trenches, not just theory, this assessment and Bill’s Blind Spot Intensive are designed to give leaders a clear starting point, practical routines, and language to recognize and resolve their blind spots before they become company-breaking problems. If you’re a founder-CEO, technical leader, or long-time business owner who feels overwhelmed, stuck, or quietly unsure what you’re missing, this conversation will give you frameworks, questions, and habits to see what you can’t see, make better decisions, and lead with more confidence and clarity under pressure.
Quotes:
“Blind spots are gaps at decision points. People around you see them, but you can’t necessarily see them yourself.”
“Some of the biggest challenges CEOs have come from preconceived notions about how they make decisions.”
“Every CEO’s plate is overflowing. Your job is to get to the things that only you can do, and let others handle the rest.”
Contact Details:
- Find The Blind Spots Holding Your Business Back: Take The Free CEO Assessment Today
- Connect With Bill On LinkedIn For Practical Business Growth Strategies
- Subscribe To Bill’s YouTube Channel For Actionable Strategies And Real-World Business Wisdom
- What Every CEO Must Know: 37 Secrets to Lead with Confidence and Power on Amazon
- The Rookie CEO: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:12 — 52.5MB) | Embed
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1639: Multifamily Apartment Investing for Passive Income with John Casmon
John Casmon covers Multifamily Real Estate in this Marketer of the Day episode. John Casmon explains how busy professionals can use multifamily real estate to build passive income without becoming hands-on landlords. He stresses that real estate is a business, not simply an asset that rises in value, so investors must understand cash flow, reserves, management, and operating risk.
Many hardworking professionals are doing “all the right things” financially, earning a solid income, contributing to their 401(k), and saving consistently yet still feel like true financial freedom is out of reach. Today’s guest, John Casmon of Casmon Capital, shows busy corporate professionals how to change that trajectory by investing in multifamily apartments in a way that builds wealth and cash flow without turning them into stressed-out, hands-on landlords. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, John pulls back the curtain on how apartment investing really works and why treating real estate like a business, not a lottery ticket, is the key to long-term wealth. Drawing from his experience watching his parents struggle with job insecurity, seeing General Motors go bankrupt from the inside, and navigating his own painful flip gone wrong, John explains why relying on a “good job” or a 401(k) is no longer enough, and what to do instead.
We dig into passive investing and syndications, where everyday professionals can own shares of large apartment communities without dealing with tenants, toilets, contractors, or 2 a.m. emergencies. John explains the role of the general partners, how syndications are structured, and why passive investors can truly “write the check and step back” while still receiving updates, distributions, and the benefits of real estate ownership. John also shares his powerful 3C Framework for raising capital and building trust; Confidence, Credibility, and Connections, and how these principles apply whether you’re investing, leading, or building a brand. You’ll hear how he leverages his background in advertising and marketing, his experience managing $100M campaigns, and his ability to build relationships to attract investors and operate properties like real businesses. We don’t just talk about the upside, either. John walks through the exact risks every investor should understand, including cash flow challenges, fraud, and uncontrollable events like rising costs or natural disasters. He explains why you must ask, “How can I lose money in this deal?” and breaks down critical safeguards such as reserves, underwriting discipline, and the difference between replacement cost vs. replacement value insurance, details that can make or break your returns. Throughout the conversation, John reinforces a key mindset shift: investing is a long-term game, not a single “win or lose” deal. He shares how viewing investing like a game, where bad turns happen, but you stay focused on the end goal (retirement, freedom, college funds, a beach house) can keep you from quitting after one bad experience and instead help you build durable wealth over time.
If you’re a high-earning professional who wants passive income, diversification, and a path to financial freedom, but you don’t want a second job swinging hammers or chasing tenants, this episode is a must-listen. John’s frameworks, stories, and practical questions will help you evaluate apartment deals, vet operators, and take your next step with clarity and confidence.
Quotes:
“If you’re going to raise capital for deals, you’ve got to follow the 3 Cs: confidence, credibility, and connections.”
“With real estate, you’re buying a business that happens to provide housing, but you have to run it like a business.”
“Real estate is a great tool. That doesn’t mean one strategy is right for you… You have to find the strategy that works for you.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Build Wealth Through Multifamily Real Estate? Discover Casmon Capital
- Invest Smarter. Avoid Costly Mistakes. Get the 7 Questions Guide → Get the Free Guide
- Follow J. Casmon on Instagram for Multifamily Investing Tips & Wealth-Building Strategies
- Connect with John Casmon on LinkedIn for Multifamily Investing Insights & Strategies
- Join John Casmon’s Investor Community & Grow Your Real Estate Knowledge
- Follow John Casmon on X for Multifamily Investing & Wealth-Building Insights
- Get Smarter About Multifamily Investing: Listen to Multifamily Insights on Apple Podcasts.
- Subscribe to John Casmon on YouTube to Learn Multifamily Investing and Build Wealth
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:13 — 36.0MB) | Embed
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1638: Stress Management for High Performers with Rita Ainsworth
Rita Ainsworth covers Nervous System Performance in this Marketer of the Day episode. Rita Ainsworth explains how high achievers can regulate stress and nervous system states to make clearer decisions, sustain performance, and avoid burnout. After two burnouts in performance marketing, she learned that staying constantly "on" drains energy and eventually weakens focus, judgment, and resilience. She recommends alternating focused work with recovery through short breaks, nature, hydration, food, music, and deliberate rest.
High performers often look successful on the outside while quietly running on fumes inside. Today’s guest, Rita Ainsworth, is a former performance marketer who hit burnout twice in a fast-paced Meta ads career before walking away at the peak of her success. Now, she coaches founders, operators, and marketers on how their nervous system state directly shapes performance, decision-making, and leadership, and how to rebuild sustainable success from the inside out. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Rita shares what really drives stress, anxiety, and overworking, and why it’s not your external circumstances. She explains how high achievers often tie their self-worth to results, creating an addictive cycle of “just one more goal” that never feels like enough. Instead of surface-level mindset hacks, Rita focuses on body-based regulation tools that help you shift out of constant fight-or-flight and into a grounded, creative state where you can actually think clearly and lead effectively.
Rita breaks down the idea of humans as “energy batteries,” showing how stress drains your system and why oscillating between focused effort and intentional recovery is the real secret to long-term performance. She walks through practical practices like simple breathing patterns (such as 4–6 breathing), environmental safety checks, and somatic cues that signal to your nervous system, “You’re safe,” so you can reset in minutes instead of needing months off after a crash. You’ll also hear how Rita helps entrepreneurs and performance marketers move past fear of being seen, rejection, and visibility of common hidden stressors that keep people from posting, pitching, or putting themselves out there. By understanding how the nervous system interprets risk (like being judged online) as potential “tribal rejection,” Rita shows listeners how to reframe these experiences and expand their capacity for visibility, leadership, and impact without constantly feeling on edge.
If your focus has dropped, your patience is thin, and everything feels harder than it should, this conversation will help you see that stress is not just mental, it’s biological, and it’s trainable. Rita’s Reset Circle, one-to-one coaching, and team training give high achievers practical tools to feel safe in their bodies, reclaim their energy, and build businesses that are ambitious and sustainable at the same time. If you’re exhausted by the cost of your own success and want a way to grow without burning out, Rita’s approach may be exactly the reset you’ve been needing.
Quotes:
“Stress is something we have control over, and it’s body-based. Simple practices can reset you in moments instead of months.”
“How you live your days is how you live your life; every single day counts toward what your life adds up to be.”
“Our body has so much information, but we are so used to being stuck in our heads that we ignore everything below the neck.”
Contact Details:
- Work, Live, and Feel Better: Book your free 30-minute Call with Rita Today
- Driven But Drained? Join the Free RESET Circle Today
- Follow Rita for Simple Tools to Reset, Recharge, and Thrive
- Connect with Rita on LinkedIn for Insights on Resilience, Wellbeing, and Growth
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:56 — 35.6MB) | Embed
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1637: Energy Healing to Release Limiting Beliefs with Beth McGill
Beth McGill covers Mindset and Healing in this Marketer of the Day episode. Beth McGill explains how hypnotherapy, energy work, and conscious language can help people uncover hidden patterns, release emotional blocks, and move toward greater clarity and confidence. She begins by listening closely to a person's words, beliefs, and desired outcome to determine whether deeper patterns may be interfering.
When life feels like an endless loop of the same problems, bad relationships, sabotaged sales calls, recurring self-doubt, it’s usually not a lack of willpower. It’s deeper patterns, hidden beliefs, and subconscious blocks quietly steering your choices. Today’s guest, Beth McGill of ThriveFlourishGrow.com, is a certified hypnotherapist, energy healer, spiritual mentor, and best‑selling author who helps people finally break those patterns by working at the root level of mind, body, and spirit. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Beth explains how our thoughts, language, and energetic patterns shape our reality often more than we realize. She shares how clients usually come to her after trying “everything else” (therapy, acupuncture, mindset work, etc.) and still feeling blocked, anxious, or stuck in repeating cycles like toxic relationships, failed sales calls, or chronic self‑sabotage. Using a combination of hypnotherapy, energy work, and connection to the higher self, Beth helps uncover and release the original emotional imprints sometimes from decades earlier that are still influencing current behavior.
Beth demystifies what actually happens in a hypnotherapy/energy session and why it’s not like the movie clichés. She walks us through her process: a free consultation to clarify the real issue beneath the surface, then a guided, deeply relaxing session (in person or via Zoom) that blends prayer, grounding, visualization, sound healing, and intuitive guidance. Each session is unique, but the goal is the same: identify the emotional root cause, release it, and “activate” a new, empowered way of being so clients can move forward with clarity and confidence. We also dive into practical tools listeners can use right away. Beth shares how to shift your self‑talk by dropping disempowering words like “always,” “never,” and even “I’m sorry” (and replacing them with stronger language like “I apologize”). She explains why breathwork, especially extending your exhale, can instantly calm your nervous system before a Zoom call, sales conversation, or big decision. Throughout the conversation, Beth emphasizes that choice, awareness, and surrender to a higher power (God/Spirit/Universe) are not weaknesses, but gateways to recognizing your true inner power. Beth’s book, “Allow Life to Happen and Receive Everything You Desire,” distills her personal journey and research into a practical roadmap. She read 16 books, tested 30+ manifesting and mindset exercises, and then packaged the most effective ideas so readers can experiment, discover what resonates, and build their own toolkit for manifestation and spiritual growth without the overwhelm or guesswork.
If you’re feeling blocked by recurring patterns in business or life, struggling with negative self‑talk, or just sensing “something” is in the way but you can’t name it, this episode offers a grounded, spiritual, and highly practical perspective. Beth’s approach to transforming fear into freedom, connecting with your soul’s purpose, and manifesting with intention may be exactly the reset you’ve been looking for. Tune in to learn how to stop carrying old emotional baggage, tap into your higher self, and start allowing life to unfold in your favor.
Quotes:
“Surrender is powerful. When we truly surrender to God, Spirit, or the Universe, we recognize our own power within us.”
“Everybody else is a mirror. If we think something’s wrong with somebody else, they’re just being a mirror for us, and we need to go within.”
“One of the things I like to do is remind people how powerful they are in every situation. We don’t need to be in a place of victimhood.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Thrive, Flourish & Grow? Start Your Journey Today
- Follow Beth McGill on Facebook for Daily Inspiration and Encouragement
- Connect with Beth McGill on LinkedIn for Inspiration, Insights, and Growth
- Subscribe to Beth McGill on YouTube for Inspiration and Practical Growth Tips
- Follow Beth McGill on Instagram for Daily Inspiration and Growth
- Discover Beth McGill on Pinterest for Fresh Inspiration to Thrive and Grow
- Allow Life to Happen: And Receive Everything You Desire on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:54 — 38.3MB) | Embed
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1636: Podcast Guesting Strategy for Organic Growth with Josh Elledge
Josh Elledge covers Podcast Guesting Strategy in this Marketer of the Day episode. Josh Elledge explains how experts can turn podcast guesting into an ethical growth channel by becoming distinctive, media-ready, and genuinely useful to audiences. He starts with media brand clarity: choose a specific lane, avoid generic positioning, and get experienced human feedback instead of relying on AI alone.
Most experts don’t struggle to grow their business because they lack talent or results, they struggle because their message isn’t landing, their online presence is weak, and their podcast guesting feels random instead of strategic. Today’s guest, Josh Elledge, fractional Chief Revenue Officer and founder of Pod Verified, has launched over 300 podcasts, hosted more than 3,000 episodes, made 3,000+ traditional media appearances, and helped clients generate over $40 million using relationship‑driven podcast guesting strategies. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Josh breaks down how to become the kind of podcast guest hosts want back again and again, and how to turn those appearances into real business results instead of “nice exposure” that goes nowhere. He explains why being “the marketing guy” or “leadership consultant” is killing your chances of getting booked, and how to define a clear, unique media brand that instantly stands out to podcast hosts and producers. Josh dives into the real rules of engagement for ethical podcast guests from positioning and messaging to websites, press kits, and LinkedIn profiles that actually impress decision makers. Josh shares why most common calls to action (“buy my book,” “join my newsletter,” “book a call”) fail for 95% of listeners, and what to offer instead so that cold listeners are willing to take the next micro‑commitment with you. He also explains why your website must be built to “concierge” podcast listeners, deepen the relationship, and keep them with you for another 15–20 minutes where conversion really happens.
You’ll learn how to appeal to both audiences and gatekeepers: what podcasters look for when they’re getting 200–300 pitches a month, why many good experts never break into the top 10% who get booked, and how to signal that you’re media‑savvy, prepared, and ready for prime time. Josh talks about authority signals, influence, and guest activity, and why your speaker kit, social presence, and on‑air performance either open doors or quietly disqualify you. This conversation also goes deep into mindset and skill development. Josh shares how he went from a shy, insecure “husky‑pants” kid to a Navy journalist and high‑volume media personality, and why “do the thing, have the power” applies perfectly to podcasting: you get good by doing reps, but only if you stop making the same mistakes and get the right feedback. He compares podcast guesting to stand‑up comedy and swimming: you can learn it, but only if you respect it as a skill, stop “spray and pray” pitching, and commit to intentional improvement.
If you’re an expert, coach, consultant, founder, or thought leader who’s tired of cold outreach, ads, and pushy sales, and you’d rather grow organically by serving audiences, this episode will give you a practical roadmap. You’ll discover how to assess where you really are today, what caliber of shows you should be targeting, and how to start showing up as a high‑value, ethical, and memorable podcast guest who builds trust, authority, and revenue, without feeling salesy. Tune in and learn how Josh’s Pod Verified approach can help you stop guessing, stop spamming, and start getting real results from podcast guesting.
Quotes:
“If you’re a speaker and you have no speaker kit on your website, there’s a reason you’re not getting paid very well. You just don’t look ready for prime time.”
“Podcast guesting works. If you’re smart but still broke from your PR efforts, it’s not the medium; it’s the strategy. You’ve been doing it wrong, and no one’s been honest enough to tell you.”
“You can build an enormous business by serving audiences in the media. I’ve built multiple seven-figure companies without spending a dime on ads, simply by showing up and being generous.”
Contact Details:
- Join PodVerified And Turn Your Expertise Into Podcast Opportunities
- Start Growing Your Influence Today: Check UpMyInfluence Now
- Connect with Josh Elledge on LinkedIn for Influence and Business Growth Insights
- Follow UpMyInfluence on Facebook for Tips to Grow Your Influence
- Follow The Thoughtful Entrepreneur on Instagram for Business Insights
- Watch The Thoughtful Entrepreneur on YouTube for Smart Business Insights
- Follow Josh Elledge on X for Business and Influence Insights
- Tune in to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur on Spotify for Fresh Business Insights
- Join Josh Elledge on Threads for Growth, Strategy, and Inspiration
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:45 — 57.3MB) | Embed
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1635: Manufacturing Growth for Small Manufacturers with Brian Becker
Brian Becker covers Manufacturing Growth in this Marketer of the Day episode. Brian Becker explains how small manufacturers can scale with focus, delegation, and clearer strategic decisions instead of getting trapped in daily fires. Drawing on work with more than 120 businesses, he emphasizes peer learning, Socratic questioning, and execution over one-size-fits-all answers.
When small manufacturers hit a growth ceiling, the problem usually isn’t the product, it’s the constant firefighting, isolation, and lack of structured strategy. Strategic thinking, leadership development, and smart capacity planning often get pushed aside in favor of “just getting through the week.” Today’s guest, Brian Becker of Becker Growth Strategy and program director of the Manufacturing Accelerator Program (MAP), helps small manufacturers escape that reactive mode and build organizations that are designed to scale on purpose, not by accident. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Brian shares how MAP, a tuition-free, national, virtual executive education program gives small U.S.-based manufacturers the tools, peer community, and strategic frameworks they need to grow. He explains why founders often feel alone on an “island,” and how curated cohorts, breakout rooms, and cross-industry conversations (including everything from biotech to feral pig trapping to chocolatiers) create mastermind-style support that changes how owners think and lead.
Brian dives into focus and execution as the real differentiators between businesses that plateau and those that expand. He walks through his “future casting” exercise, where owners imagine their ideal business five years from now with smooth operations, predictable revenue, strong team, and then reverse engineer the concrete steps to get there. From figuring out whether you truly have a sales problem or a capacity problem, to deciding whether to chase that dream big-box retail contract, Brian shows how clarity leads to better decisions.He also breaks down a practical task triage system what only you can do, what you can delegate, and what you should only touch on your worst day along with a powerful sports analogy of running a business like a soccer team: you can’t play offense (big growth goals) if your defense (operations, fulfillment, and retention) isn’t solid. For manufacturers eyeing larger enterprise customers, Brian shares the risks of overreaching too soon and how to ramp capacity intelligently so big opportunities don’t become “career killers.”
Beyond operations, Brian tackles workforce development and the talent gap in U.S. manufacturing, especially among younger workers. He explains how reframing roles around STEM, robotics, complex problem solving, and hands-on challenges can make manufacturing careers more attractive to the next generation, and how MAP is bringing in workforce experts to help owners rethink how they present and structure these jobs.Throughout the conversation, Brian emphasizes that no one is coming to save your business, but the right questions, the right community, and a willingness to invest time in your own growth can completely shift your trajectory. He shares hard-won lessons from his background in education, nonprofit fundraising, and as COO of Well Found Foods during COVID, plus life advice from his football days: “You said you wanted to be one. This is what being one means.”
If you’re a small manufacturer (or any small business owner) who feels stuck in the weeds, struggling to scale, or unsure whether to double down on sales or build capacity first, this episode will give you concrete mental models, frameworks, and next steps. Tune in to learn how to think more strategically, delegate more effectively, build your peer network, and grow a manufacturing business that doesn’t depend on you doing everything yourself.
Quotes:
“Business owners oftentimes can fall into the trap of worrying about everything else except for the strategic growth of the business.”
“Every single business is different, and most importantly, it’s because of you and the other people in the business; there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.”
“For most business owners, they need to invest in themselves, and the sooner they can understand that no one is coming to save them, the better off they’re going to be.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to unlock your next level of growth? Visit Becker Growth Strategy Today
- Explore Programs and Unlock Your Business Potential at ICIC
- Connect with Brian Becker on LinkedIn for Insights on Leadership, Growth, and Strategy
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:49 — 42.3MB) | Embed
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1634: AI for Authors Ethical Writing & Marketing with Carma Spence
Carma Spence covers AI for Authors in this Marketer of the Day episode. Carma Spence explains how authors can use AI as a fast, ethical creative assistant to finish stronger books, market them better, and build authority without surrendering their voice. Her core rule is simple: AI should start with you and end with you, with a human pass that preserves judgment, originality, and accountability.
Many smart, capable experts sit on powerful book ideas for years, not because they can’t write, but because they feel overwhelmed about finishing the manuscript and getting it in front of the right readers. Today’s guest, Carma Spence, multi-time best-selling, award-winning author and book marketing strategist, helps coaches, consultants, and nonfiction experts turn their books into engines for authority and client attraction by using AI ethically and intelligently across the entire author journey. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Carma shares insights from her upcoming book “Author Ignition,” which gives authors the confidence, clarity, and strategy to treat AI as a creative ally rather than a threat. She and Robert break down what ethical AI use really looks like for authors, why AI detectors are unreliable and often wrong, and how to avoid publishing bland, generic “AI slop” while still taking full advantage of the technology.
Carma explains how she weaves AI into her “Road Trip to Authority” signature program, using it at every stage of the book journey to help writers move past the friction points that usually derail projects. From brainstorming and outlining to overcoming writer’s block and speeding up marketing tasks, she positions AI as a fast-learning intern: helpful, efficient, but always needing your direction and final human review. They zoom out to the bigger landscape too, looking at the backlash against AI, the mob mentality around calling everything “AI slop,” and the parallels to the early days of self-publishing when quality was questioned but the market eventually matured. Carma shares how she uses AI for images and even music (like transforming old poetry into songs), and why, in many cases, AI is enabling creativity rather than taking money out of artists’ pockets. Beyond tools and tactics, Carma challenges authors to wrestle with a deeper strategic question: “What do you want to be known for?” In an age of answer engines and algorithmic recommendations, you can’t be known for everything. She talks about narrowing your focus, choosing a niche where you can stand out, and defining your unique “pink gorilla” angle so that your book and brand become memorable and referable instead of blending into the noise. Carma dug into how AI is reshaping education and online courses. Static, teacherless courses are losing their appeal; hybrid models that mix evergreen training with live interaction, Q&A, and community are becoming the new standard. Carma shows how AI can handle the repetitive, time-consuming pieces of content and marketing while you double down on the human side of teaching, coaching, and leading your audience.
If you’re intrigued by AI but worried about losing your voice, or simply overwhelmed by where to start, this episode will help you see how to use AI to amplify your message, finish your book, and market it more effectively without compromising your ethics or authenticity. You’ll walk away with a clearer sense of how AI fits into your writing process, your business strategy, and the author brand you want to be known for. To dive deeper into Carma’s world, her books, podcasts, and services, or to schedule a short call to talk about your book and marketing systems, visit carmaspence.com.
Quotes:
“You can use AI if it starts with you and it ends with you, and it's not mass produced. It's unique for each piece.”
“Courses without a teacher are no longer very useful. The hybrid model, lessons plus live interaction; is where real transformation happens.”
“If everything is slop, then the word means nothing. Being lazy with language says more about you than it does about AI.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Turn Your Expertise Into a Book That Builds Authority? Visit the Official Website of Carma Spence
- Want to Turn Your Book Into Profit? Book a Book Profit Strategy Call with Carma Spence
- Follow Carma Spence on Facebook for Practical Tips on Book Strategy
- Want to Turn Your Expertise Into Authority and Profit? Connect with Carma Spence on LinkedIn
- Turn Your Expertise Into a Book That Builds Your Business: Subscribe to Carma Spence on YouTube
- Turn Your Expertise Into Profit: Follow Carma Spence on TikTok
- Turn Your Expertise Into Influence: Follow Carma Spence on Instagram
- Get Smarter About Books, Marketing & Business. Follow Carma Spence on X
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:43 — 42.2MB) | Embed
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