Virginia Purnell:
Welcome to Entrepreneur Conundrum with Virginia Purnell, where growing entrepreneurs share how they get visible online.
Hi everyone and welcome. Today I'm talking with Mark Stern about how he builds stronger relationships to stand out in the marketplace. Mark Stern is a serial entrepreneur and founder of rust streak, digital and custom box agency and live online. Prior to entrepreneurship, Mark was a top ranked strategy consultant from the world's largest consulting firm. Deloitte fastest way to his heart is through barbecue and tacos and he lives in Austin, Texas. Welcome, Mark.
Mark Stern :
Welcome. Well, thank you. I'm thrilled to be on here.
Virginia Purnell:
I'm thrilled to have you too. So Mark, you've done some big things in the online marketing space and you've graciously consented to sharing with us some of the cool tips and tricks that you've used to become an entrepreneur and get visible in your space. So tell us a little bit about yourself.
Mark Stern:
Yeah. I'm from Alabama originally, but I was the guy who in a nutshell was told that there's this pathway to happiness. You graduate college, you get the dream job, you go back to grad school, you get the dream job, picket fence, and you know everyone is happily ever after after that. And I found myself, like I used to joke and say I was the poster child for that pathway to happiness, but it was 2012 that I had graduated gamete MBA from Duke and found myself $165,000 in student loan debt. And that's what made me pause and say, let me reevaluate the path I'm on to make sure that this is that path that leads me to fulfillment and happiness. And that kind of jump started my journey into entrepreneurship.
Virginia Purnell:
Wow. That is crazy. So what is the number one thing or the biggest thing that you do to get visible online?
Mark Stern:
The biggest thing that I do is collaborating with other people. I think the number one trap that entrepreneurs fall into is they feel like when they get started that they have to do it all themselves. So they lock themselves into a room and film products or create these programs that they think other people want. But they're not collaborating. So to me, the easiest thing to do to get visibility in the marketplace, start engaging others. When you engage others, it's so much easier to build content and, and it just helps really amplify your message because it's, your sphere of influence isn't limited by your own network. It starts to seep into the network of those that you start to collaborate with as well.
Virginia Purnell :
Awesome. Have you found certain ways that help with engaging others?
Mark Stern:
Yeah, there's a couple different strategies you can do. What I like to do, there's a couple of things I like to do. Virtual summits or virtual events where you create a virtual experience that you'll activate come lots of sessions, workshops, interviews around a common topic. And for me, those are so much better when you collaborate with other people to do it. So when you promote it and get loud about it and they promote it to, again, your sphere influence increases. Other things like for me, I like to evaluate where are the gaps in what I'm creating and who is really good at fulfilling those gaps. So I'll go and interview them, whether it's within my page, my Facebook group. It's just such an easy way to get quality information and quality inputs because you're not limited by the data points in your head. You can tap into people that that is their zone of genius. So those are just some of the things that I like to do.
Virginia Purnell:
Awesome. Thank you so much, Mark. Where can people find you?
Mark Stern:
Yeah, if you want to find me, you can always look me up on Facebook. Just search for Mark Stern. I mean, if you're interested in learning more about custom boxes, you can head to custom box agency.com or if you want to learn how to do virtual events, Rover method.com.
Virginia Purnell:
Great. Thank you again, Mark for this great interview.
Thank you so much for joining us today. Be sure to subscribe and leave some love through a review and I'll catch you on the next episode.
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