Social Capital

Meet Lisa ApolinskiLisa Apolinski, CMC is the CEO of 3 Dog Write. She is a content coach, teaching business owners how to use their content to attract more right-fit clients so that they experience the positive ROI on marketing and business development investments.She has written several books, including Persuade With A Digital Content Story, named one of the top content marketing books in the world and most recently as a co-author on The Most Amazing Marketing Book Ever, an Amazon #1 new release.She has been featured in Forbes and The New York Times for her expertise on digital storytelling and has been dubbed “America’s Digital Content Futurist”.What do you think are the biggest mistakes you see businesses make with their content when they're trying to focus on that trust factor? I actually had a conversation with a client today about this some feedback she was getting from her mentor who is heavily into sales. And I'm not saying that sales is bad. They're simply different ways of being.He was pushing

Meet Frank KingI am a Suicide Prevention Speaker and Comedian, was a writer for The Tonight Show for 20 years, a full-time speaker and comedian for 37. I’ve worked with Jeff Foxworthy, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Steve Harvey, Rosie, Ellen, The Beach Boys, Neil Sedaka, Randy Travis, and Lou Rawls. I’ve fought a lifetime battle with Depression and Chronic Suicidality, turning that long dark journey of the soul into 11 TEDx Talks, one SPEAK Event, and sharing my lifesaving insights on Mental Health with colleges, corporations and associations. I’ve survived 2 aortic valve replacements, a double bypass, a heart attack, 3 stents, losing to a puppet on the Original Star Search and lived to joke about all of it.A comedian who speaks on depression and suicide. How does that work? Well, depression and suicide run in my family. It's called generational depression and suicide. My grandmother died by suicide. My mom found her. Nine years later, my great aunt died by suicide. My mom and I found her. I was four year

Meet Alane BoydAlane Boyd is the Co-Founder of BGBO Co., an operations and growth strategy agency utilizing AI and automation to improve efficiency for their clients. In 2022, her company launched Arvo, an AI-powered visual documentation software for creating standard operating procedures, training documents, and company knowledge. Alane has been written and featured in Entrepreneur, HuffPost, South by Southwest (SXSW), PBS, FemFounder, and many more.How do you start positioning yourself as an expert or a credible resource in your industry? I really struggled with this for a long time because I was looking at the work we were doing. We are doing such amazing things and our customers love us. I finally realized we weren't telling anybody about it. Even when we would do these big case studies, we weren't sending them out in a bite sized piece.No one's gonna know that you're an expert unless you're telling them, and you're not gonna be credible just because you say you know how to do something. You have to

Meet Ross KeatingRoss Keating believes all businesses, regardless of their size, can be more successful, including yours. When you are successful it not only helps you and your customers, but it also helps your employees, your suppliers, the community around you, AND your family.Over the last 15 years or so his clients have been in industries such as industrial equipment sales, pet grooming, civil construction, fitness, lighting and motor systems, house construction, mining, animal welfare, tourism, and pest control.Many of Ross’ clients have 2x and 3x their revenue and profits yet become more relaxed and able to have more focus to “work on the business”. The result is their business continues to grow. These clients say they have also been able to achieve personal and lifestyle goals as a result of working with Ross.He has managed the development, implementation and sales of customer relationship management strategies and software internationally. He has held management responsibility for 40,000+ customers, a

Meet Matt NettletonSince 2003, Matt Nettleton has coached more than 175 companies in a wide variety of industries. He has helped multiple companies grow from $1 million to more than $10 million in annual revenue and has helped clients close more than $3.2 billion in new sales.Why do you believe sales is an honorable profession? People have this idea about sales and sales people and what sales people do and how, but they forget that there is not a company that has ever existed without revenue. And that revenue never shows up magically. And those people that create the relationships and manage the relationships that generate revenue, they're salespeople who are probably the most honest traders out there. Because the salesperson tells people up front, “Hey, listen. I'm here to see if I can get you to buy something from me. You give me money and I give you a product or service.” And the more honest they are, and the more they do the right thing, the more likely they are to succeed.So why do you believe busin

Meet Scott FloodScott Flood established Scott Flood Writing in 1995 after 13 years with advertising agencies in Chicago and Indianapolis. The Chicago native is a frequent author on copywriting and marketing topics for business websites and publications, has authored two books of local interest, and is also the author of 100 Years: The Story of the Western States Machine Company.An active community volunteer, Scott has served on the School Board for the Plainfield Community School Corporation since 2000, was honored as Indiana’s outstanding local school board member in 2021, and named Hendricks County Leader of the Year in 2007 by Leadership Hendricks County. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Communications & Theatre Arts from St. Joseph’s College.Isn't business writing supposed to be grammatical?  That's one of the great misconceptions. Let me step back and say that I absolutely love and adore English teachers. They're amazing people and anybody who can get bored sophomores to get interested in

Meet Carol CleggCarol Clegg is a small business coach specializing in mindset and accountability, partnering with midlife women. Carol's passion lies in cultivating business balance and establishing realistic goals with an effective accountability structure. A maverick entrepreneur at heart, she founded Classic Exec Marketing a decade ago, embarking on a journey to empower small business owners to share their gifts and expertise.At present Carol integrates the transformative tools of Positive Intelligence, elevating overall well-being and contentment across all spheres of life. Her ultimate mission is to empower clients to create lifestyle businesses that include flexibility and balance, enabling them to operate from any corner of the globe. With her origins in South Africa and her current base in the USA, Carol extends her guidance globally, transforming aspirations into achievements, one step at a time.Sometimes it seems like [a four day workweek with themes for each day of the week] works for me at least f

Meet Danielle HughesDanielle Hughes is the creator of the Personality Brand. She teaches clients how to bring more of themselves into their message so they feel comfortable expressing it and can convey what makes them different from their competition, attracting the right audience and repelling the wrong one. Often referred to as a magician with words, while she can’t pull a rabbit out of her hat, she can hone your brand message and deadlift you or your employees, but not at the same time. That’s just irresponsible. (note: Danielle isavailable for office party tricks and accepts payment in bottles of Bordeaux.)What is a personality brand and why does someone need one? Yes, so personal brand is everywhere. And the word personal means private. So why are we sharing our private thoughts, habits, behaviors with people that we don't know? But our personality is who we are. It's always on display and we dial it up and we dial it down, depending on who we're interacting with. So people that we have just met mig

Meet Erik DeckersErik Deckers is a professional writer and humorist from Central Florida. He is the co-author of four books on social media marketing, and has been a newspaper humor columnist since 1994. He has owned his own content marketing agency for 14 years, and ghostwrites books for business owners who want to leave a legacy for their families. Erik is the president of the Jack Kerouac Project in Orlando and is the lead organizer of 1 Million Cups Orlando, a networking group for entrepreneurs.Where do you think most people should spend their time and energy? Analytics, creation of content?I actually think that people should spend more time talking about and focusing on creation. One of the nice things about analytics is that we can do this with marketing now, where 30, 40 years ago we could not.You didn't know how many people drove past your billboard or how many people actually saw your commercial on TV or actually heard it on the radio. And if somebody came into your business, which commercial brought

Meet Wayne MullinsWayne is a husband, father of 4, entrepreneur, and the Founder of Ugly Mug Marketing, creator of the Freelance Accelerator, and author of Full Circle Marketing. He's an out-of-the-box, against the grain, thinker and it has more than paid off for his company and clients. He leads from the heart and is passionate and unapologetic about doing so. As Founder & CEO of Ugly Mug Marketing of one of the most unique and successful marketing agencies in the world, Wayne has personally trained more than 20,000 marketers, launched NY Times Bestsellers, and helped a client grow from $20M to more than $600M in less than 5 years.How do you know if your business's culture is sabotaging your marketing efforts?Yeah. That's a, that's a great question. And it's a challenging question because to begin, Lori, I think we have to come to the realization that often for us as entrepreneurs or for us as marketers, this thing called our business or the business that we're marketing for, it's our baby. We love this

Meet Henry DeVriesHenry DeVries, MBA, is the CEO of Indie Books International, a company he cofounded in 2014 to work with agency owners and strategic consultants who want to attract right-fit clients by marketing with a book and speech (www.indiebooksintl.com). He is the author of 17 books including Marketing With A Book For Agency Owners. Since 2010, he has ghostwritten, coauthored, and published more than 300 business books, including his McGraw Hill bestseller How to Close a Deal like Warren Buffett. Henry’s articles have appeared in forbes.com, the Associated Press, and various magazines. He can be reached at henry@indiebooksintl.com. Learn more about Henry by visiting the website for Indie Books International: http://www.indiebooksintl.com.Henry, how does a book help with your authority marketing efforts? Well, as our friends at Predictive ROI and Agency Management Institute say, a book can be the cornerstone for your authority marketing. And then the real leverage is talking about doing what I'm d

Meet Kurt KleidonKurt Kleidon is the president of Kleidon & Associates, a marketing communication agency in Akron, Ohio. Kurt has more than 15 years of experience in marketing, branding and media relations. He also has experience as the founding editor of an arts and entertainment magazine editor and as a college professor.In his professional capacity, Kurt focuses on marketing strategy and helping his clients find the right balance between digital opportunities and traditional marketing effort. With a background in storytelling, he truly enjoys developing new ways to convey a message within all the possibilities that are possible in social media and digital marketing.As the host of his own podcast, Three for Three, Kurt interviews business owners on tips and tricks that have helped them build a successful business.Kurt is avid in his volunteer work in the Akron area and has a passion for helping organizations that aim to improve the lives of children. Currently he serves on the board of a local arts orga

Meet Kris WardKris Ward is creating a movement where your business supports your life instead of consuming it. Kris is the founder of the Win The Hour, Win the Day philosophy.After the loss of her husband, Kris returned full-time to her work as a marketing strategist. She was relieved that her business had not only survived her absence but was growing. Now, Kris has completely changed the landscape for entrepreneurs by sharing the successful practices that allowed her absence.Kris has shared the stage with Jack Canfield - Chicken Soup For The Soul, Kevin Harrington original Shark from Shark Tank, James Malinchak -ABC’s Secret Millionaire, Sharon Lechter - Rich Dad Poor Dad Co Author and Joe Theismann - NFL All star and commentator to name a few. Kris has also been featured on award-winning podcasts, radio and TV shows.Kris is an acclaimed podcaster. You can hear Kris on her own podcast - Win The Hour Win The Day, where she has engaging conversations with dynamic guests covering a variety of business topics so

Meet Andy CrestodinaAndy Crestodina is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media, an award-winning 50-person digital agency in Chicago. Over the past 20 years, Andy has provided digital marketing advice to1000+ businesses.Andy has written 500+ articles on content strategy, search engine optimization, influencer marketing, visitor psychology and Analytics. These articles reach more than three million readers each year. He’s also the author of Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.Andy gives up to 100 webinars and presentations per year and is a frequent repeat speaker at many of the top national marketing conferences.What kind of content can't be created by an AI? I love this because I strongly believe that AI will reduce the cost of creating lots of content and especially specific types of content. But there are still types of content that it's not going to be very good at. AI, in my experience, doesn't really have a strong perspective. The technology is really

Meet Clarene MitchellShe is the founder and CEO of TCM Communications, a social media branding firm based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. TCM focuses on empowering success-driven entrepreneurs and corporate leaders to effectively leverage LinkedIn to generate organic results. She holds a BA in interpersonal communications from Cardinal Stritch University.How is LinkedIn different from other social media platforms?Totally different. I couldn't we could just talk about that question in itself and go on and on, for one LinkedIn was created for the members to generate results, as opposed to other platforms where they're really social entertainment. That was really that's the core foundation, the foundation of LinkedIn is all about members generating results. When you look at the mission of the platform, it says that explicitly, it's about the economic advancement of all the members. So that's number one. The other part of LinkedIn is different than other platforms, I say, is a more comprehensive platform. From my perspective

Meet JamieJamie Shibley is the CEO of The Expressory, a strategic gifting agency that believes the key to accelerating your business growth and profitability in the post-COVID era will rely on your ability to maintain personal connections to build stronger emotional loyalty in your business relationships. After 20 years in the corporate world full of it and E-commerce roles, Jamie launched an online brand of her own. Jamie understands the influence of strategic gifts and wants to positively impact the mental well-being in our world by helping businesses acknowledge care for their community members, respected as a market leader. Jamie's work has been featured on Entertainment Tonight and forbes.com. What are some of the best practices that you see for this relationship nurturing?In this post-COVID era, we kind of have a challenge as business owners, how do we continue to grow and succeed when, when we are working with nurturing our leads and converting more, I think that we've depended so long on this ide

Meet MartinMartin has had a unique career that has spanned both analyst and marketing practitioner roles focused on high technology and related industries. The unifying factor has always been a keen analysis of go-to-market trends while also having achieved success as a marketing leader. Schneider started his career as a journalist covering b2b technologies and quickly transitioned into leading analysts covering application software for the 451 group in New York City, where he specialized in CRM, marketing, automation, and business intelligence analytics technologies. After analyzing the go-to-market strategies of dozens of technology vendors, Schneider made the move to the vendor side, where he led successful go-to-market teams for several startups and established tech providers including Sugar CRM, Basho, technologies, Caspio, and support logic. Schneider brings a wealth of marketing and sales alignment content strategy and other go-to-market expertise to his role at Annuity this research is excited to be m

Meet DanDan is the founder and CEO of biz hack Academy, whose mission is to give 10,000 underserved small businesses a simpler way to grow. Dan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former NPR and PBS journalist, turned entrepreneur and educator. He is the grandson of a Philadelphia public school science teacher. That's a notice here of a professional soccer coach in La Liga in Spain. And he carries forward a family legacy of teaching coaching and entrepreneurship. Dan trains business owners in the lead building system, a process proven a proven process for online lead generation, and the thought leadership pyramid systematic approach to content marketing. past career highlights include as the head of growth at two software startups and as Senior Director of Digital Marketing, at the nation's largest Hispanic-owned energy company. He's helped to take offer craft a gamification SAS company in the hospitality industry, from pre-revenue to a 2.5 million run rate in just two years.How does your journalistic background impa

Meet AndyAndy is the founder of On Milwaukee, he's a Milwaukee native, he lived in Providence, Washington, DC, and Baltimore before returning home in 1996. Andy launched onmilwaukee.com LLC in April 1998 as a way to channel his passion for Milwaukee, journalism, and tech into a cutting-edge media company. He's a graduate of the George Washington University and worked at the White House Office of Communications, the Dallas Morning News, Washington Barrel, and to Milwaukee PR firms before branching out on his own at age 23. And he is more passionate than ever about Milwaukee's mission statement to grow communities and businesses through engaging digital media. What would you recommend for how a business does PR?That's a good question. Because I've worked on both sides of the business. I've been in PR and media relations, and I've been in journalism, and I've gone back and forth. And sometimes my role continues to be on both sides of things. So I know what it's like to pitch and I know what it's like to be

Meet JaimeJaime is a coach's coach.  She sees individuals’ God-given talents, helps them connect to their true calling and courageously step into the vision of their future self. After 20+ years of developing employees in multiple family business leadership roles, Jaime has created an innovative, holistic approach that evokes rapid, transformative growth. When Jaime isn’t hosting her podcast "The Business is You!" or leading her coaching firm Believe Crew, she loves to kayak and hang out with her husband and 6 sons.So what's your vision? What's your why?So when I first started coaching, I was actually in a family business in a leadership position, but it was more like a position of leadership. And yet, I didn't know anything about it. I didn't know a lot about myself, I just, you know, again, I was in the family business. And so, you know, you just help wherever you can. And eventually, you know, you start to get into positions where you know, more than someone else about that. And so, you know, maybe it