Vikram Rajan is the co-founder of Videosocials, a video blogging system for lawyers, accountants, consultants & coaches.

In today’s episode of Smashing the Plateau, you will learn how you can use an easy system to create video content to increase your word-of-mouth referrals.

Vikram and I discuss:

• What he learned about marketing to a niche [06:47]
• Understanding the pain points of your niche [07:59]
• Why is content creation an important marketing activity when you are selling your expertise [10:03]
• Why a system is important for creating content [15:59]
• How to identify a good system for your business [17:23]

Vikram is also the founder of Videosocials’ VIP service: Video Interview Podcast management for those who want to “just show up at show time!” And have all the time-consuming, annoying stuff done for them.

Learn more about Vikram at www.Videosocials.net.

Dame Natalie Ledwell is a bestselling author, host of the podcast, Not Over, Just Different, co-host of the cable TV show WAKE UP, and founder of Mind Movies, the hugely successful and revolutionary online Personal Development company that has reached over 10 million people worldwide.

In today’s episode of Smashing the Plateau, you will learn how to identify your niche and create a BIG vision to turn it into reality.

Natalie and I discuss:

• How she found her audience [02:26]
• Why personal development and mindset are her primary focus [03:15]
• How to wind down activities as you are launching something new [05:46]
• Why surrounding yourself with the right people is critical to your success [10:31]
• The importance of a BIG vision [15:03]
• How 50+ year old women can achieve success that fills their soul [16:45]

Learn more about Natalie at: 

https://mindmovies.com/

https://mindmovies.com/podcast/

https://personalgrowthstudies.com/

Tom Ruwitch is founder and Chief Story Officer at Story Power Marketing. Coaches, consultants, and other experts hire Tom to power up their stories because most dish out the same “blah, blah, blah” content, put prospects to sleep, and then feel fed up and stuck.

In today’s episode of Smashing the Plateau, you will learn how to transform content from boring to brilliant, turn marketing from frustrating to fun, and convert results from pitiful to profitable.

Tom and I discuss:

• Why he started Story Power Marketing [03:04]
• Why he decided to focus on expert-based businesses [05:13]
• Why relationships are so important [08:39]
• How storytelling distinguishes you as an expert [16:12]

Learn more about Tom at:

https://storypowermarketing.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomruwitch/

tom@storypowermarketing.com

Eric Elam is the founder and president of Elam Associates, a solo marketing agency focused on delivering customized marketing solutions for small and midsized companies.

In today’s episode of Smashing the Plateau, you will learn how to start and build a solo business in your field of expertise.

Eric and I discuss:

• His career journey
• How Eric went out on his own
• How long it took Eric to land his first client
• We’re all product of our past environments
• Why you need to invest in marketing during economic challenges
• How to listen for your ideal client opportunity

Eric’s 3 decades plus career traversed from corporate side marketer to consultant to ad agency executive, then on to his current solopreneur role. Eric resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife of 41 years, Cindy.

You can learn more about Eric at:

www.elamassociates.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elamassociates/

https://twitter.com/ericelam

513-703-5334

LinkedIn trainer Marc Halpert helps consultants and professional service professionals build their thought leadership with LinkedIn.

In todays’ episode of Smashing the Plateau, you will learn how to be viewed on LinkedIn as a resource providing high-quality, consistent ideas to your audience.

Marc and I discuss:

• How to increase your revenue [03:02]
• How often you should update your profile [07:28]
• How to get people to see your posts [09:40]
• Quantity vs. structure in your activity [13:19]
• Using non-text content [22:58]
• Marc’s vision for LinkedIn [26:11]

Marc W. Halpert is a self-described “multi-preneur.” Since leaving the corporate finance world in 2001, Marc has started 3 companies, all of which he still operates.

In 2010, Marc started his third concurrent company, connect2collaborate, to spread his LinkedIn and networking evangelism to train and coach others. In all his LinkedIn training and coaching, he offers professionals the opportunity to better explain their brand and positioning on their LinkedIn profile pages: who they really are and why them vs. the competition.

For several months, Marc ranked among the top 5 list for fastest growth in number of followers among global LinkedIn coaches and trainers (#1 in August 2020!). He attributes that standing to consistently high-quality curated material and original thought leadership he shares daily on LinkedIn.

As a personal LinkedIn coach, he advises and mentors professionals to tell “why they do what they do” (not “what”) as he works with them to renovate their LinkedIn personal and company profiles.

As a LinkedIn trainer, Marc has been recognized as a high-energy speaker at national and regional Conferences, instructor to sales/marketing and HR/training departments at large and small professional service firms and businesses, and trainer in specialized groups of professionals such as associations.

Marc is a frequent podcast guest, has authored numerous articles on the latest LinkedIn techniques for self-branding in national publications, both in paper and online. He blogs every business day with a LinkedIn Nugget.

His book, LinkedIn Marketing Strategies for Law and Professional Practices (2021 second edition, American Bar Association), helps all types of professionals learn to better market themselves using the tools in LinkedIn.

Learn more about Marc at https://connect2collaborate.com, https://www.linkedin.com/in/marchalpert/, https://twitter.com/marchalpert, and https://www.facebook.com/connecttwocollaborate

Craig is a Former IT Consultant, Co-Founder of CreativeLive, and Seattle EO Accelerator Chair

We discuss:

• How Craig learned to sell consulting services
• How to have a sales mindset
• Where to create the boundary between what you give away and what you charge for
• How employee vs. consulting behavior impacts your sales ability
• How to turn a surface-level question into a sales conversation
• Finding out how much a prospect really wants to solve a problem
• How you can leave a job and start selling yourself as a consultant

Craig Co-Founded CreativeLive, and he is now the Seattle EO Accelerator Chair.

Learn more about Craig at https://craigswanson.org, and on LinkedIn.

Julie DeLucca-Collins is the Founder and CEO of Go Confidently Services and the host of the popular Casa DeConfidence Podcast®.

We discuss:

• A journey of a teacher to the corporate world [02:28]
• The planner without a real solid plan [06:18]
• Mr. Google as a good ally in the career journey [10:51]
• The fear of talking to your first potential client [12:29]
• When price is rarely the issue [15:50]
• Why you should make your pricing packages sexy [17:24]
• A referral from a superfan [19:18]
• How to overcome the drama that might come with being an entrepreneur [20:25]

As a Business and Life Strategist Coach, Julie helps women business owners launch or grow their businesses, get clients, be productive, and achieve their dreams. Julie helps her clients create simple habits to achieve goals and change lives. Julie is also the best-selling author of the newly released book Confident You (simple habits to live the life you’ve imagined).

Learn more about Julie at https://www.goconfidentlycoaching.com.

Maria Rosati is the founder and CEO of Eminence Communications – a boutique advisory working with change makers to build brands and corporate reputations.

We discuss:

• How to [re]embrace your individualism [02:40]
• The people that [don’t] want to be a cog in the wheel [05:30]
• A mental equation to help you know if entrepreneurship is for you [08:38]
• Women in corporate communication who are past the age of 60 [10:20]
• What it feels like to take control of your destiny [13:11]
• When entrepreneurs should turn the lights out and shut the door [15:47]
• The power of community to test your idea [17:58]
• The difference between having the business come to you through referrals versus selling [20:19]
• Right and wrong ways to build a personal brand [21:54]

Learn more about Maria at www.eminencenyc.com and LinkedIn.

As author of The 6 Myths of Small Business Branding, and author of and co-pioneer of Brand DNA; Uncover Your Organization’s Genetic Code for Competitive Advantage, and her 3rd book, Personal Brand Clarity; Identify, Define, & Align to What You Want to Be Known For, she is helping to pave the evolutionary highway for businesses to grow by conscious, strategic design, not by default! She facilitates the Brand DNA methodology (an internal brand identification, definition and alignment process) for her clients across the U.S.

We discuss:

• Unique differentiators to use when describing yourself [02:54]
• How to start sharing personal information in brand development [07:10]
• Conscious versus unconscious branding [11:25]
• How to course-correct when you feel out of alignment [12:40]
• How clarity can help when going out of your comfort zone [16:10]
• How to create a brand clarity process [19:11]

Learn more about Suzanne at https://brandascension.com, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Tina Larsson is the co-founder and owner of The Folson Group, the premier coop and condo cost consultant who helps NYC coop and condo owners and apartment building owners increase their property values. The company is a business consultant and a disruptor in the residential real estate world. Tina holds a LEED Green Associate designation and is on a mission to make NYC greener, more sustainable and more affordable one building at a time.

We discuss:

• How not to introduce yourself as a financial advisor [02:20]
• It takes ten years to make an overnight success [06:10]
• How to prove there’s a high demand when no one sees it [08:26]
• The sweet spot for a new business idea [13:25]
• Unexpected ways that you can get fired [15:02]
• Not a social media platform but a networking event [22:00]

Learn more about Tina at https://www.thefolsongroup.com/

Nina Froriep has seen it all from the early 90ies on independent features, to big national TV commercials, corporate mega-shows, and Emmy award-winning documentary films, including one she produced and directed, called Abraham’s Children.

We discuss:

• A better, faster, cheaper way to put yourself out with videos [02:25]
• The connection between finding your audience and niching down [06:34]
• What people really need to start shooting videos [08:21]
• Three kinds of groups that find it hard to show up on video [12:32]
• How to gain confidence to post your videos online [14:38]
• The biggest fears about creating videos [18:53]
• Future trends in video production [21:52]

Today she’s super excited to enable business coaches and service-based entrepreneurs to grow their businesses with fun + easy video marketing so they can attract their ideal clients.

Learn more about Nina at https://clockwiseproductions.com and LinkedIn.

David Henzel is the CEO of upcoach and a veteran entrepreneur who has been building in the saas and e-com space for over 20 years. He had multiple exits, including MaxCDN.

We discuss:

• Applying business principles to your personal life [03:14]
• A one-stop-shop for your coaching business [06:57]
• 80% of the problems in the coaching industry [08:03]
• How to avoid scaling too fast in the initial phase [11:24]
• What makes upcoach different from other similar platforms [14:11]
• The liberation of hiring people who are better than you [16:27]

His passion is to help individuals and their organizations reach their full potential.

Aside from upcoach (Coaching Delivery System), he has a small portfolio of companies including LTVplus, (Outsourcing for e-commerce & saas), TaskDrive (Sales Development), Shortlist.io (Digital Marketing Agency), and his passion project Managing Happiness (Peak Performance Group Coaching for entrepreneurs).

Learn more about David at www.davidhenzel.com/, www.upcoach.com, www.managinghappiness.com, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Daniel A. Varroney is the author of the groundbreaking new book, Reimagining Industry Growth. He is also founder of Potomac Core, a strategic consulting firm that specializes in association transformation and industry-focused strategic partnerships. He has built a successful career as an association executive, leading organizations with diverse focus, from manufacturing to high tech to finance and advocacy.

We discuss:

• An unquenchable thirst for writing [02:10]
• The bottom of what gets you out of bed in the morning [05:19]
• A third place between work and home [12:24]
• Why you don’t want to be a one-year wonder [17:28]
• Bitten by the bug [21:00]

Learn more about Daniel at https://potomaccore.com

Tim Ash is an acknowledged authority on evolutionary psychology and digital marketing. He is a sought-after international keynote speaker, and the bestselling author of Unleash Your Primal Brain and Landing Page Optimization.

We discuss:

• Great traffic to awful websites [02:52]
• How to make your transition from corporate to solopreneuership easier [05:15]
• Why it’s important to not put all your eggs in one basket [07:57]
• Don’t underestimate what you can do in a day [09:27]
• How to make billions of stars accessible to people [11:18]
• Understanding the human brain without any scientific jargon [13:57]
• How to take advantage of the negativity bias [16:27]
• Universal applicability versus technical trends [20:05]

Tim has been mentioned by Forbes as a Top-10 Online Marketing Expert, and by Entrepreneur Magazine as an Online Marketing Influencer To Watch. For nineteen years he was the co-founder and CEO of SiteTuners – a digital optimization agency. Tim helped to create over 1.2 billion dollars in value for companies like Google, Expedia, eHarmony, Facebook, American Express, Canon, Nestle, Symantec, Intuit, Humana, Siemens, and Cisco. Please help me welcome Tim Ash!

Learn more about Tim at https://timash.com.

Jane Wesman is an entrepreneur, marketing expert, and mentor. President of Jane Wesman Public Relations, based in New York City, Jane is one of the country’s top book publicists with an impressive record of creating national bestsellers, particularly in the areas of leadership, management, and personal growth. She has worked with such business thought-leaders as Charles Schwab, Stephen Covey, Peter Drucker, Marcus Buckingham, and Keith Ferazzi.

We discuss:

• Major challenges for consultants who want to publish a book [03:19]
• When is a good time for publishing a book [06:30]
• Why a book can be beneficial for you and your business [08:53]
• A process that will help ensure success of a book [10:19]
• Types of investment options for getting your book effectively marketed [13:58]
• How to find a good team when writing your first book [20:40]
• What makes book publishing a long journey [22:35]

Jane’s own book, Dive Right In – The Sharks Won’t Bite: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Guide to Success, was one of the first to offer concrete advice to help women launch and grow their businesses. She has lectured and written on the topics of leadership and business for many organizations and media outlets.

Jane served as president of the New York City chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners for four years. She currently sits on the boards of two non-profit organizations: ArtSail and the Women’s Media Group, plus she provides funding for an internship program at Simmons University to help students kick-start their careers.

Learn more about Jane at www.wesmanpr.com and YouTube.

Since 2006, JD Gershbein has been at the forefront of the social media conversation. One of the world’s first independent LinkedIn consultants, JD pioneered a model of authentic business communication that serves ambitious professionals striving to make their mark in the Digital Age.

We discuss:

• What to do with your LinkedIn profile once you’re unemployed [04:33]
• Why it’s important to disambiguate yourself early on [06:47]
• How to find your dominant aspect of value [10:50]
• You can’t do too much too soon [13:22]
• How to use LinkedIn to build your social network [15:24]
• Why automated sales pitches don’t work for consultants [18:27]

As a speaker, facilitator, writer, and media producer, he draws upon his diverse academic background—a fusion of psychology, neuroscience, and the humanities—and the improvisation skills he honed at Chicago’s famed Second City to bridge the knowledge gap that exists between professionals and the virtual world.

Learn more about JD at LinkedIn.

Elaine Pofeldt, journalist and author of Tiny Business, Big Money.

We discuss:

• Common strategies for one-person businesses [02:22]
• Automation is always a low-hanging fruit [07:06]
• How enthusiasm makes us hard on ourselves [10:53]
• What prompts employees to start their own business [14:03]
• How to dominate a very tiny niche and think as big as Jeff Bezos [17:07]
• A semi-scientific testing of a product [26:30]

Learn more about Elaine at https://www.elainepofeldt.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Desmond has over 5 million dollars in sales experience with personal enrollments in the thousands. He has worked in numerous industries and has brought his marketing and sales philosophy into a number of organizations.

We discuss:

• Getting through a chemical engineering degree when you want to be in sales [02:23]
• If you’re not failing, you’re not trying [06:13]
• The honesty recipe for sales success [08:59]
• When the role models don’t speak to you [12:12]
• How to keep the doors open without spending a dollar on marketing [14:48]
• The intersection of business psychology and clients’ interests [19:24]
• Giving a ton of value by the dancefloor [21:19]

He first began his sales career in a corporate company where he went from intern to one of the top sales professionals in the region. After realizing the power of empathy, he left the corporate space to train professional development in the workspace. Desmond is currently building a fast-growing sales team at an international start-up and a venture digital marketing agency. Now, he is also starting up his new pod, Campfire Capitalism with two great co-hosts.

Learn more about Desmond at https://campfirecapitalism.com/, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

Lori Highby is a podcast host, speaker, educator, and founder of Keystone Click, a strategic digital marketing agency. Using her vast multi-industry knowledge – gained from experience and education, she has the ability to see the potential of greatness within the already established good of a business.

We discuss:

• The courage to ask “Who do you know” [02:40]
• Three golden rules of networking [05:31]
• The real problem with the follow-through [07:50]
• The least smartest person in the room [10:44]
• Why you aren’t getting found [14:33]
• How to make your website work for your referrals [19:10]
• The best way to prove your expertise [22:10]

Through strategic actionable moves, she has worked with Fortune 500 companies such as ABB and Syngenta to micro-business owners, to achieve their marketing goals. Lori carries her energy and drive into her professional engagements in order to empower and educate other fellow life-long learners.

Learn more about Lori at www.keystoneclick.com, www.lorihighby.com and LinkedIn.

Kevin Perlmutter is Chief Strategist & Founder of Limbic Brand Evolution – a brand strategy & neuromarketing consultancy. Kevin helps brand leaders get even better at attracting and retaining customers, by turning emotional insight into a competitive advantage.

We discuss:

• It’s about focusing on what matters most [02:45]
• The evolution DNA as a key to achieving freedom [07:00]
• Disadvantages of nickel and dime conversations [08:34]
• What makes a great working relationship [12:40]
• Three steps to creating lead generation [16:00]
• Focus, connect and evolve [19:37]

Learn more about Kevin at https://www.limbicbrandevolution.com/ and LinkedIn.

Juliet Hahn is a storyteller, consultant, public speaker, and content creator. Her mission in life is to give Women and Men a stage to share their stories. She believes deeply that everyone has a story and we all can learn from each other. We just need to listen.

We discuss:

• Women can do it all [02:02]
• How to lower the financial pressure when starting your own business [06:58]
• Happy but not really happy [09:08]
• What the first clients will give that you haven’t thought of [13:38]
• That extra thing that will light you on fire [17:33]
• Quarantine stories that get you out of your world [19:05]
• Why it’s so important to find the time and space to daydream [21:45]

Learn more about Juliet at https://www.iamjuliethahn.com/, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Since 2006, JD Gershbein has been at the forefront of the social media conversation. One of the world’s first independent LinkedIn consultants, JD pioneered a model of authentic business communication that serves ambitious professionals striving to make their mark in the Digital Age.

We discuss:

• The virtual equivalent of your best self [04:52]
• Why selling too soon is a horrible problem [05:53]
• How to be known as somebody who can be trusted [07:42]
• The relationships that truly serve you [11:12]
• The cream has risen to the top [13:48]
• It’s just people talking to people [17:36]
• How to feel good about yourself in the online world [20:31]

As a speaker, facilitator, writer, and media producer, he draws upon his diverse academic background—a fusion of psychology, neuroscience, and the humanities—and the improvisation skills he honed at Chicago’s famed Second City to bridge the knowledge gap that exists between professionals and the virtual world.

Learn more about JD at https://www.owlishcommunications.com and LinkedIn.