Conquer the Chaos

Nancy Seeger, the CEO of Seeger Consulting joins us in our final episode of our Partner series, which is packed with market research tips, as well as why the often overlooked tactic of sponsoring events might be a great move for your business. To learn how to make sure your get a strong ROI on sponsoring an event, check out their Top 10 Things That You Can Do To Make Money When Sponsoring Events.

Continuing our Partner series, this episode Micheline Christophe joins us from babel-team, a Brazillian agency that has helped countless businesses grow, as well as Jennifer Leslie, a Content Creator at Infusionsoft. Micheline walks us through the three things most small business forget to do that make a huge difference in their bottom line. Babel-team attended Elite Forum and it made a big impact in their business, as did Michael Gerber's books like The E Myth.

Dobbin Buck of GetUWired joins the podcast again as does Jennifer Leslie, and we tackle scaling your business without destroying your culture—which Dobbin knows all about as Entrepreneur Magazine says GetUWired is in the top 25 Company Cultures among small businesses. Learn how to build your company from 7 to 8 figures at Infusionsoft's Elite Forum.

Continuing our series where we met with small business experts who solve problems for entrepreneurs and small business owners every day. We are joined by Mauricio Rodriguez, Director General of mit-mut.com (listen to find out what that name means) and Erin Case, Partner Marketing Manager at Infusionsoft. Find out what Mauricio means when he says small business owners are terrible, and the how to overcome small businesses most common problems.

Announcement - 2 Week Schedule

We're fresh back from Infusionsoft's PartnerCon where we met with a ton of small business experts who solve problems for entrepreneurs and small business owners every day. This episode we hear from Daan Schmidt of Schmidt Communicatie and host of SchmidtCast - Europe's #1 EntrepreneurCast for business. We talk about working with family, the importance of starting with a revenue goal, and more. Check out the free trial of Infusionsoft to tackle the day to day tasks of running your business.

Join guest host Ben Snedeker and small business advocate Ramon Ray, the Editor & Founder of Smart Hustle Magazine. Topics include why it's important for a small business to automate follow up, and how to make sure it doesn't feel "robotronic."

Join guest host Ben Snedeker and Sean Greeley, the CEO of Net Profit Explosion, as we chat about how to market your business problems that come along with a marketing and growth focused mind set. Follow Sean and NPE on Twitter. Check out the free trial of Infusionsoft to tackle the day to day tasks of running your business.

Today we help you find your target audience—and talk about why it's so important. Learn more about How to Analyze Your Target Market

Clate & Scott talk to Mike Koenigs, CEO of You Everywhere Now! which teaches how you can build, engage and monetize an audience quickly and easily. Mike is a 12 time #1 best selling author and advisor to Tony Robbins, John Assaraf, JJ Virgin, Peter Diamandis, Paula Abdul and over 52,000 customers in 121 countries. They talk about how to grow your list, and methods of capturing leads, and making sure they are leads that will actually buy your product or service. Check out How to Create Lead Magnets: A Step-by-Step Guide to get started attracting customers. To try Mike's demo of how to capture leads visit www.yen.tv/infusion or text "infusion" to 619-457-6248 to see how it works on mobile. Start collecting leads today with Infusionsoft's Free Trial.

Don Miller from Stroybrand joins Infusionsoft Product Marketing Manager Brina Kaiser, and teaches how to make your marketing as interesting as a blockbuster movie. Pre-order his new book Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, and send the receipt [email protected] to get two previously unavailable lectures for free. To automate Storybrand across your marketing, sales and customer relations, try Infusionsoft for free at infusionsoft.com/storybrand.

We talk design methodology and user testing with James Archer & Stephanie Haworth. Listen to learn how to ensure your product and marketing are working you want them to. Mentioned in the Episode: Check out our Campaign Performance Tool to start testing your your marketing. 7 Reasons Why your A/B Split Tests Aren't Working Split Testing Guide for Ecommerce Sites 30 Email Split Test Ideas to Boost Conversions How to Build a Culture of Experimentation James Archer on Design Thinking How to Do Graphic Design For Your Brand When You Have No Design Knowledge

Join Clate and Dusey as the talk to Brad Owens, who says traditional behavioral interviewing is out, and Attributional Interviewing is in. Brad brings 10 years of experience hiring for some of the most profitable companies out there, and shares his expertise so small businesses can have the same advantages as Fortune 500 companies. Brad is the host of the Small Business Hiring podcast, where he was recently joined by our very own hiring partner Lauren Borgeson. Lauren also wrote the Hiring Kit we mentioned in the episode. More resources to help you hire and interview: How to Save Yourself from Bad Hiring Decisions Strategies for Improving Your Hiring Success Setting KPIs for Your Employees Hire for Potential Not Just Experience How to Pick the RIght Pre-Hire Assessment The Three Most Revealing Interview Questions Previous Episodes on Hiring: How to Interview Candidates with Specialized Skillsets Where to Find Job Candidates

Please take our Listener Survey to let us know what you want to hear. Carla Miner is joined by Greg Jenkins from Monkeypod Marketing helps us answer a listener questions—how to segment your list, and how to keep promotions fresh? You'll need to listen to hear to hear the full answers, but you can also find a bunch of ideas on our blog post 26 Best Examples of Sales Promotions to Inspire Your Next Offer. You can also check out our Cash In a Flash ebook, which walks you through the nitty gritty of managing a flash sale promotion. Want to put the ideas in this episode into practice? Try Infusionsoft for free.

How do you know when to hire employees and leaders? And how do you ensure they are invested in your business when you do? Clate and Scott give the answer on today's episode. How do you know when it's time to hire another employee? Read "7 Ways You Know It's Time to Hire Someone" to find out. Join Infusionsoft executives at Elite Forum, which helps growing businesses lead their teams to success.

A listener asks if competence or character is more important when running (or hiring new employees for) your business. Clate answers, and Scott refuses to. Listen to find out why. Join Infusionsoft executives at Elite Forum, which helps growing businesses lead their teams to success.

Clate and Scott answer a listener question—when should you consider adding outbound sales, especially when you already have a healthy inbound flow of leads and sales? Get the most out of prospects by refining sales pipeline with "The 7 Sales Pipeline Stages Every Small Business Should Use"

Today we answer a listener question and bring in our content and email marketing experts to talk about getting and closing leads using educational and promotional webinars. Check out our interactive email copy tool to help you quickly write effective emails, for your webinars or anything else, at infusionsoft.com/drip-now.

Holly DeVito is the CEO and founder of Sum of All Numbers, a bookkeeping company that specializes in helping entrepreneurs increase their profits. Her burning question is how to change from a word-of-mouth business to a faster growing, marketing savvy company, all while no longer being the person doing face-to-face sales. Clate and Scott walk her through lead magnet ideas—and some equations befitting the name of her business—while discussing how much money is the right amount to spend to acquire new customers. Mentioned in this Episode: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz To learn how to capture leads in your business, check out The Small Business Guide to Capturing Leads.

Chris Prefontaine of Smart Real Estate Coach has a great problem - he's getting a lot of revenue out of his small list, but he wants to grow his list even more. How can he do that? Clate and Scott to the rescue! They advise Chris to step back and take a look at the fundamentals: Is he crystal clear on his target audience? Do you have goals and reliable ways to track them? Psychographics play a big role. Check out our video on psychographic segmentation to learn more and this post about why psychographic segmentation is more important that customer demographics. Once you know what you want to do with your psychographics, check out our guide to taking your CRM list to the next level with segmentation.

Gosia Baran started Helping Hands Cleaning Services when she was laid off from her law firm post-9/11. Since she'd been perpetually dissatisfied with the cleaning services she'd employed, and she had a six month old son to support, she decided to start her own cleaning service. She started out as the cleaner, then was forced to hire someone when she became pregnant again. Now 15 years later, she has a staff of 32 and is expanding from residential into commercial cleaning as well. Gosia chats with Clate and Scott about the tough early years of starting a business, finding a balance with work and family, and how she's worked through discouragement in tough times. Gosia is a member of Elite Forum and a Stage 5 business owner. Want to know what stage of small business success you're in? Listen to episode 38 where Clate and Scott take you through the stages and what they mean. Gosia grew her business heavily on referrals. Check out our ebook, "Referential Treatment" for how to ask for referrals to grow your business.

Lee Egstrom of Passinglane has this question for Clate and Scott: How do I know when to introduce a particular product or technology? It's about making small bets, making them often, and looking for a 10x return. Listen to this hot seat as Clate and Scott help Lee figure out how to do it and use automation without seeming like Big Brother. Learn more about automating the right way with our ebook "25 Things Every Small Business Should Automate." Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Lee Egstrom of Passinglane has been helping small businesses grow for 20 years. He chats with Clate and Scott about why he only takes clients who have been in business for five years; how he uses modeling to achieve his goals; and the entrepreneurs he looks to for inspiration. Grow your business with purpose with our 2017 Strategic Planning Kit. Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Get your business in the Hot Seat by going to smallbusinesssucess.com/quesitons. Shuan Buck from Newsletter Pro steps into the Hot Seat with Clate and Scott, and asks what to do when it's taking too long to make an necessary change with a loyal employee as they struggle to keep up with the growth of the company. Clate and Scott answer with the three key concepts: preventing surprise with frequent courageous conversations; establishing objective, measurable goals; and highlighting previously success to add context to role changes. Grow your business with purpose with our 2017 Strategic Planning Kit. Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Firefighter Peter Thorpe had seen a lot of devastating fires started by stoves, so he developed FireAvert, which automatically shuts off stoves. Wes Clark, Peter's business partner and our guest in this episode, shares with Clate and Scott what it was like to prepare for—and recover from—being on ABC's Shark Tank, overcoming rejection, and figuring out the simplest way to solve business problems. Oh—and that time he exploded a can of beans all over the fire chief. Mentioned in this episode: "How the Mighty Fall" by Jim Collins. Want to get a leg up on your small business strategy? Check out our e-book "Your Game Plan"! Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Pam Dierks of Dierks Farms has moved past putting their grassfed beef in the grocery store - instead it's shipped direct to customers. This idea was a major innovation for Dierks Farms, and this year they won our Small Business ICON award. Pam chats with Clate and Scott about moving to a subscription model, marketing directly to a consumer instead of through the commodities market, and how automation has enabled her to help pass down the farm to her sons. We visited Dierks Farms - watch their video here! Learn how Pam's Infusionsoft indoctrination sequence works here. Want to learn more about automation? Check out our ebook "25 Things Every Small Business Should Automate"

Ronan Galvin is the co-founder of Kickstagram, one of this year's Small Business ICON finalists. Ronan chats with Clate and Scott automation and how it simplifies things, and how he was able to use it to grow his client base without over-scaling his sales team. Want to learn more about automation? Check out our ebook "25 Things Every Small Business Should Automate" We visited Kickstagram to get their story - check it out here Learn more about ICON

Nate Shaw and Peira Moinester are business partners at Brooklyn Music Factory and they want to know, what do they do if they're not confident that their people are the right people to get them to $3 million in annual revenue? Clate and Scott tackle this question in our very first hot seat. Clate and Scott point out that, if you want your people to be the people to get you to a goal, you need to first be the owner that gets your company to its goal. Listen as they coach Nate and Peira on getting clear on how to move to the next stage of their business. Want to learn more about Brooklyn Music Factory? Check out the story we wrote when we visited them, The Kids Are Coming Up From Behind. Mentioned in this episode: "Multipliers" by Liz Wiseman Grow your business with purpose with our 2017 Strategic Planning Kit. Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com

Author, business coach, and Entreleadership speaker Christy Wright returns to follow up on smartly managing your time. And a big part of using your time successfully in your business? Delegation. This means letting go and letting someone else do some of the work for you. Christy also suggests scheduling your time, and specifying what each block of time is for. Check out Christy's new book, Business Boutique. Grow your business with purpose with our 2017 Strategic Planning Kit. Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com

Christy Wright is the author of the new book "Business Boutique" and teaches entrepreneurs around the world how to start, run, and grow their business. A Dave Ramsey and Entreleadership speaker, Christy shares her advice about how to create more time in your life by prioritizing the things that really matter, and how to be nice, honest, and say "no" all the same time. Grow your business with purpose with our 2017 Strategic Planning Kit. Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com

Being married takes work - but what if you work with your spouse, too? Ronnie and Lamar Tyler have been doing that for 10 years now. They started BlackAndMarriedWithKids.com a decade ago and they joined us at ICON to talk about how they do that. If you're thinking, "But how do they do that?" Well, you're not alone. So what does it take to run a business with your spouse? According to Ronnie and Lamar, it comes down to support, having appreciation for your spouse, mutual respect, and trust. Basically, the things you need for a great marriage are things you need to succeed in business together, too. Tune in to hear how Ronnie and Lamar actually make it work. Dream big and grow your business with our ebook "Harness Your Inner Genius" Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

It's the bane of nearly every small business - sales. When you're not selling enough, do you need a new product, or is there a way to better refine what you already have? We bring in JImmy Talbert, Infusionsoft's conversion marketing manager, to discuss this listener-submitted question about how to get more sales. More often than not, the problem isn't a tool, skill, or product. The problem is that the the process isn't focused enough. Jimmy talks about what you sell specifically and who to sell it to, finding the perfect customer, creating a logical progression, and making sure you have the offering that your perfect customer needs. Past episodes on re-engaging your leads: Re-engage Your Leads Part I Re-engage Your Leads Part II Re-engage Your Leads Part III Take your sales and marketing to the next level with "7 Steps to a Complete Small Business Sales and Marketing Plan" Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Don't want to run your business in debt? You don't have to. Our special guest Chris Hogan, author and Dave Ramsey personality for Entreleadership, explains how and why you should run your business debt free. Hogan talks about why debt is a thief, how to deal with emergencies and big expenses, and creating a cushion for peace of mind. We also bring in Infusionsoft VP of comptroller Scott Stagg to give his perspective on debt and small business finance. For Entreleadership's Guide to running your small business debt free, text debtfreeguide to 44222, or click here! Grow your business with purpose with our 2017 Strategic Planning Guide For more resources, check out entreleadership.com

What do you do when you just can't get past something - and that something is all in your head? Self-worth and confidence issues are real problems that entrepreneurs face all the time. Clate and Scott take on this listener-submitted question Dan Ralphs, Infusionsoft's dream manager (aka fairy godmother). Dan talks about getting out of mental ruts by getting out of physical ruts first; getting the brutal facts out there so you can deal with them, and getting paralyzed by the fear of perfection. Want to learn more about dreaming big for your business? Download our ebook "Harness Your Inner Genius." Mentioned in this episode: "Conquer the Chaos" by Clate Mask and Scott Martineau "Loving What Is" by Byron Katie "Startup Communities" by Brad Feld "Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale

Lamar Tyler is one half of Tyler New Media, which started ten years ago as a blog, blackandmarriedwithkids.com. He ran it with his wife, Ronnie, to promote positive images of marriage and parenting in the African American community. Though it started as a passion, today Tyler New Media has blossomed into a brand that encompasses live events, products, and even films. Lamar talks with Clate and Scott about being life and business partners with your spouse; how automation helped him grow Tyler New Media; and building a team and a culture. Want to learn more about automation? Check out "25 Things Every Small Business Should Automate."

Laura Roeder is the owner of Meet Edgar, a social media content scheduler that saves time and makes sure you're getting the most out of your posts. Laura walks us through why content matters, the how to get outside of yourself and hire your first employees, and why recurring revenue should be every small business owner's dream. Learn how to market your business with "A Small Business Guide to Content Marketing"

Enjoy this rebroadcast of Episode 5 - Disciplined Optimism. We'll back next with new content! What do Clate and Scott think is the silent killer for small businesses? The inability to cultivate disciplined optimism. Disciplined optimism is a balance between having a positive attitude while being willing to face the brutal facts of your current reality. Clate and Scott talk about why that optimism is so critical to the survival of your small business and how to harness it to help your business and your team succeed. Want to get a leg up on your small business strategy? Check out our e-book "Your Game Plan"! Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Marcus Lemonis, star of The Profit, joins us to talk about how small businesses can use data to attract new customers, and maintain the ones you have. He expands on the importance of focusing on the data that creates the highest return on investment, and finding the balance between betting the farm on data, and doing nothing.

Our resident SEO expert Andrew Taylor answers your questions, including why regular content improves SEO, why it's important to avoid "unnatural" activities, how to rank well for local search results, the cost of free content, and finding a good cadence. Check out our interview with Moz's Cyrus Shepard about how to improve your website with SEO Also, download our own SEO Guide for Small Businesses. Mentioned in this episode: Google Analytics Google's SEO Starter Guide Moz SearchEngineLand.com

Marcus Lemonis, star of The Profit, joins us to talk about how he helps struggling small businesses. In this episode we cover how to move past your broken thought processes, become the conductor of your business, and how focusing on the fundamentals of people, process and product keeps you on track to be successful.

Μost small business owners have two problems when it comes with writing copy: They don't know what to say, or the do know what to say but don't know how to say it. Infusionsoft's head of copy Clare Kirlin chats with Clate and Scott about how to break it down to get people to do what you want to do, how to write to the right people, and how to overcome the blinking cursor of death. Want more tips to more effective writing? Check out The Small Business Guide to Writing Copy That Converts Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Marcus Lemonis, star of The Profit, joins Clate and Scott to talk about his background, how he helps struggling small businesses, and how to define success. He also discusses what ICON attendees can expect from his keynote at Infusionsoft's annual conference.

It took an FBI agent appearing at John Jantsch's office for him to rethink his target market (the agent wasn't interested in him, but in a client). But Duct Tape Marketing has thrived, and its founder John Jantsch talks to Clate and Scott about managing a business where all employees are remote, tools to help foster communication between people who aren't together, why duct tape is like Chuck Norris, and how to be intentional about growth. Grow your business with purpose with our 2017 Strategic Planning Kit. Mentioned in this episode: "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith "Built to Last" by Jim Collins "Good to Great" by Jim Collins Asana Basecamp Slack

How do you interview, say, a software developer for your business when you don't know the first thing about, well, anything that has to do with that job? The stakes are high, especially for your first few hires. Back by popular demand, Infusionsoft hiring partner Lauren Borgeson talks with Clate and Scott about exactly how to evaluate candidates who have skillsets completely different from your own. Here are her suggestions: Online assessments like a Myers Briggs assessment or https://tests4geeks.com Leaning on your network and asking them to be part of the interview process Giving candidates projects or tests that align with what they'd be doing for you Learn more about Infusionsoft's culture: https://www.infusionsoft.com/about/culture Plus, check out these articles that Lauren wrote for the Infusionsoft Knowledge Center: 3 Hiring Tips for Your Small Business Three Tips to Make a Sales Hire That Aligns to Your Culture Want more hiring tips? Check out our Sales Team Hiring Guide and our Hiring Kit!

David Finkel started Maui Mastermind not because he had to - he had already grown and sold a coaching business - but because he wanted to help small business founders grow their business to operate independently of them. He talks to Clate and Scott about losing staff and clients, narrowing your focus and handing off ownership of key functions and responsibilities. Grow your business with purpose with our 2017 Strategic Planning Kit. Mentioned in this episode: "Build a Business Not a Job!" by David Finkel and Stephanie Harkness Elite Mastermind Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

One of the biggest, most persistent challenges small business owners face is finding - and hiring - good talent. So Clate and Scott talked to Lauren Borgeson, a hiring partner at Infusionsoft, to talk about the tools and resources that you can use to help you find and hire the best people. Here are the resources that Lauren shared: Online resources: Facebook groups, Craigslist, Twitter, Monster, StartUp Hire, Indeed, LinkedIn groups Networking groups, meetup.com, and referrals Plus, check out these articles that Lauren wrote for the Infusionsoft Knowledge Center: 3 Hiring Tips for Your Small Business Three Tips to Make a Sales Hire That Aligns to Your Culture Want more hiring tips? Check out our Sales Team Hiring Guide and our Hiring Kit!

Good lead magnets are all about building a relationship, but how do you get people to see them? Director of content Carey Ballard and demand gen specialist Jared Kimball talk with DigitalMarketer's VP of marketing Molly Pittman to talk about driving leads and eyeballs. The biggest piece of the puzzle? Retargeting. It helps you pick up a conversation where it left off. Also, don't be afraid to create content that covers a topic more than once. Remember: your audience is a revolving door, and they haven't read everything you've written. Want to read more about building your funnel around a lead magnet? Check out our ebook, "The Small Business Guide to Capturing Leads." Mentioned in this episode: DigitalMarketer's Facebook Ad Template lead magnet Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Today we are announcing 3 new episode formats for the Small Business Success Podcast. The number one change is that we are now looking to answer your questions or even have you on the show! Go to smallbusinesssuccess.com/questions to read about the new formats and submit your questions, or listen to the show!

A lead magnet is a crucial centerpiece in your lead capture strategy, but determining what people want to read in exchange for their information can be harder than it sounds. For insight into all things lead magnet, our director of content Carey Ballard and demand gen specialist Jared Kimball speak with Molly Pittman, VP of marketing at DigitalMarketer. Carey, Molly, and Jared talk about creating content that is relevant to the day-to-day pains your target audience experiences; how to determine what format your content should be in; and how to use that content and build your funnel around it. Tune in next week to learn about driving people to your lead magnet and getting it to convert into customers. Want to read more about building your funnel around a lead magnet? Check out our ebook, "The Small Business Guide to Capturing Leads." Mentioned in this episode: Rev.com Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.

Clate and Scott are frequently asked about their experiences with venture capital. Last week's guest, Drew Doolan, asked Clate and Scott after the recording about their experiience with venture capital. Would they do it again? Short answer? Yes, but Clate and Scott delve into the why, the how, and the outcome of making the decision to seek venture capital. Looking to purposefully grow your business? Check out our 2017 Strategic Planning Kit Drew is a member of Elite Forum. Check out this and other episodes at smallbusinesssuccess.com.