The Thoughtful Entrepreneur

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Steven Perchikov, founder & CEO of Art of Sales Academy. Steven shares his passion for helping businesses create their own unique message that helps leads go from zero to interest. He explains the sales approach, processes and strategies they have in place – from performing vertical work to sales training. He works around the principle that it is better to heavily rely on strategy and empathy than on technological automation. Steven shares practical advice on how businesses can scale faster without cutting ties. He recommends experimenting, using cool features, improving your profile, and doing a thorough analysis of your target audience to curate the perfect post that converts. Steven and his team also do email marketing, but most of their conversions come from LinkedIn messaging.   Key Points from the Episode: Common Mistakes and Strategies Marketers Make Understanding the Idea of Scalable Personalization How Does Content Figure Into B2B Sales Today   About Steven Perchikov: Shortly after graduating from college, Steven learned the importance of being scrappy. The recession had just hit and there were few opportunities for new graduates to find traditional employment. Meanwhile, he was confused and lost. Now he sees it as the boost he needed to get into entrepreneurship and find a deeper calling. Steven learned all he could about technology, online marketing, sales strategy and started applying it to his own businesses. He started a successful brick-and-mortar digital marketing agency and experimented with dozens of other online ventures. It was through this experience that he began working with high-growth tech startups over 10 years ago. Since then, he has worked and learned from amazing founders, salespeople, consultants and agencies. Steven has helped over 100 clients generate tens of millions of dollars cumulatively through his approach to Linkedin, cold emails, sales and communication. He emphasizes a consultative approach that brings value to every customer interaction and conversation. This means focusing less on cookie-cutter tactics and more on critical thinking and value creation. He believes a data-driven, goal-driven approach is a must for founders and sales leaders.   About Art of Sales Academy: Art of Sales Academy is a consultancy and a catalyst designed to help startups and agencies scale. They create systems to fill businesses’ pipeline with qualified conversations and train teams to move deals from first call to close. Their services include outbound campaigns, brand stacking, technology implementation and sales training.   Tweetable Moments: 03:56 - "Personalization is the other side of the coin where people think you have to write every message by hand, do that kind of business development, and that's going to work too. That's going to get you calls and opportunities and sales, but it takes forever, and it's a very slow process." 07:30 - "Generally, busy people don't want a million articles sent to them dancing around the bush."   Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Art of Sales Academy’s website at https://www.artofsalesacademy.com/ Check out Art of Sales Academy on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/art-of-sales-academy/about/ Check out Chriss Gwinn on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-gwinn-cfa-96383b26/ Check out Steven Perchikov on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-perchikov-9217529/ Check out Steven Perchikov on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StevePerch Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!   More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here. Want to learn more about all the podcasts managed by UpMyInfluence? Opt in here.

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Chris Gwinn, founder and CEO of Great Lakes Advisory. Chris shares his passion for helping small and medium sized businesses standardize all of their processes and ensure everyone follows them.. He added that they also document core processes and measure them, develop and customize training, and teach all leaders how to hold each other accountable. Chris shares some of the benefits of establishing standardized processes - reducing reliance on some of the key employees, creating an environment where there is more responsibility, autonomy and accountability among all leaders, and allowing leaders to focus on the real growth and management of their teams. He also shares the impact of technology on operations. He explains that technology, along with the integration of apps and automation, could help lower operational costs. Chris also provides practical advice on how to assess business processes and performance. He encourages all business leaders to proactively address all issues related to their SOPs if they were to move towards growth and scalability.   Key Points from the Episode: How Important is Technology to Operations? Best Practices for Onboarding a New Hire Recommendation for Evaluating Your Company’s SOPs About Chris Gwinn: Chris is the founder and CEO of Great Lakes Advisory. He began his career at Northern Trust working on an investment team within Northern Trust Wealth Management. During Chris’ tenure at Northern Trust, he managed over $85 million of client assets and provided holistic wealth management solutions for high net worth individuals and families. Prior to launching Great Lakes Advisory, Chris was the Director of Finance and Operations at Harmony Center for Surgery of the Ears, Nose, and Throat. As the Director of Finance and Operations, Chris’ responsibilities included consulting on daily business operations, building process playbooks, streamlining workflows, strategic planning, improving patient satisfaction, growing practice visibility within the metro Detroit area, and assisting in human resources. Chris shares a passion for operations, processes, finance, investments, and working with people. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Marquette University. He has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation. Outside of work, Chris loves spending time with his wonderful wife, Courtney, Australian Shepherd, Igor, and their families and friends. He is an avid golfer and enjoys running, cycling, and CrossFit.   About Great Lakes Advisory: Great Lakes Advisory is an operations and financial advisory firm located in Chicago, IL. The company was founded on the principle that great companies testify about their people and their processes. They help entrepreneurs realize their vision by improving their processes, standardizing their operations, and developing engaging training to get everyone aligned, so their business runs faster. Their goal is to help companies train new hires faster, serve more customers, and scale their business.   Tweetable Moments: 06:30 - "What you do want to make sure is that all of your employees know that you need to be able to apply your processes using the applications that you're currently using." 15:41 - "Sometimes it's kind of difficult to stomach those conversations. But ultimately, it is that feedback from your customers or the willingness to kind of accept that, there might be some things that aren't consistently working properly."   Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Great Lakes Advisory’s website at https://greatlakesadvisory.com/ Check out Great Lakes Advisory on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/greatlakesadvisory/ Check out Chriss Gwinn on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-gwinn-cfa-96383b26/ Check out Great Lakes Advisory on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/greatlakesadvisory/ Check out Great Lakes Advisory on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GreatLakesAdvisoryChicago Check out Great Lakes Advisory on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GLA_ChicagoIL Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!   More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here. Want to learn more about all the podcasts managed by UpMyInfluence? Opt in here.

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Melissa Kwan, co-Founder and CEO of eWebinar, host of the ProfitLed Podcast. Melissa shares her passion for helping people manage their webinars through automation. She understands how tedious it can be. However, while they are effective, the need to have someone run them makes them commercially non-scalable. With her team at eWebinar, their goal is to reinvent how webinars work – turning them into automated, interactive webinars that people can set on a recurring schedule. Melissa explains the features and benefits of webinar automation. She talks about their chat system, which brings the whole webinar experience to a greater level of engagement as opposed to a regular zoom meeting or webinar. She says their system will truly automate webinar content without feeling like you're missing out on something.   Key Points from the Episode: What Makes eWebinar Different From Others? How eWebinar Works Best Practices for Webinars   About Melissa Kwan: Melissa Kwan is the Cofounder and CEO of eWebinar, an automated webinar solution that combines pre-recorded video with real-time interactions and live chat to deliver an engaging experience for attendees. Melissa and her team believe that by automating the repetitive and tedious task of giving the same onboarding, training, and sales presentations over and over, they free people up to focus their time on something else they value more. Melissa is also the host of ProfitLed Podcast, a podcast that focuses on growth strategies for seeded entrepreneurs from proven founders and strategists. If only 1% of startups get venture capital, then 99% of startups are ProfitLed. Melissa is passionate about telling the stories of those who forged their own paths and on their own terms to show founders around the world that it can be done and that they are not alone.   About eWebinar: eWebinar turns any video into an interactive, automated webinar you can set on a recurring schedule. Designed for customer success and marketing teams, eWebinar delivers the perfect webinar again and again, without you being there. By combining pre-recorded video with live chat and real-time interactions, eWebinar delivers an engaging experience for attendees. They save you from doing the same presentation over and over again. With eWebinar, you can repurpose your time towards other revenue generating activities that cannot be automated.   Tweetable Moments: 01:47 - "The best thing about webinars is that they're effective, and that's why people love them. But the worst thing about a webinar is that they're just not scalable because it requires someone to actually be there to run it." 02:00 - "The thing is, people sign up for a replay, but then nobody watches the replay, because every inbox is a replay graveyard."   Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out eWebinar’s website at https://ewebinar.com/ Check out eWebinar on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ewebinar/ Check out Melissa Kwan on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissakwan/ Check out eWebinar on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ewebinar Check out Melissa Kwan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/msskwan Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!   More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here. Want to learn more about all the podcasts managed by UpMyInfluence? Opt in here.

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Carl Weische, co-founder of Accelerated Agency. Carl shares his passion for helping business and brands grow and scale more profitably through conversion and optimization. They have worked with many brands across all niches and seen positive results in the first 90 days. His advice is to build trust with your audience and focus on your offer. Carl adds that the more your offer resonates with your prospects, the more likely they are to buy your product or take advantage of your service. Carl also explains the importance of understanding your audience - pain points, beliefs and desires - in order to deliver great benefits. As for doubling your sales, he believes it's not just about an attractive website or a user-friendly interface. Their job is to pull together all the important aspects of the business, identify the gaps, and do their own magic to make that happen!   Key Points from the Episode: What Does AI-based Conversion and Optimization Mean? Type of Companies that They Work With Tracking Tools They Used for Data Analytics   About Carl Weische: Carl holds a bachelor's degree in BA and eCom. He is a KeyNote speaker at leading marketing events: GeekOut, ESS, VidTao, Kinza360, AdWorld 2023. He is also a Certified Practitioner in NLP + Sales Psychology. Along with his business partner, they have an obsession when it comes to understanding buyer psychology and why things work the way they do. Everything they do is based on the pioneers of psychology, direct response and entrepreneurship. Carl and his business partner have a background in psychology before they started applying it to e-commerce, which gave them an edge over their competitors. They are proud to be German, which means they make sure everything is systemized and optimized efficiently. By understanding the logical and emotional reasons behind what works, they are able to design their funnels in a way that allows their customers and clients to reap the benefits of the way they work. Carl and his team take an active interest in how people think, which is why they invest over $250,000 a year in their own education while testing everything on their own offerings. This means that their customers are not the guinea pigs of their business thinking, but rather the beneficiaries of their data-driven process. As a creative agency, they take what they think works and put it to the test. So they're not just speaking from fantasies or ideas, but rather proving their hypothesis about what works.   About Accelerated Agency:  ACCELERATED is an e-commerce agency with core competencies in conversion rate optimization, A/B testing, and brand building. They are strongly performance-oriented and optimize the profitability of businesses. As competent e-commerce experts, they develop, optimize and design online shops with great passion. In doing so, they focus on the conversion rate. This means that they turn many site visitors into paying customers by fundamentally optimizing online stores. Accelerated Agency is for businesses that want to establish their online presence profitably and pursue a long-term strategy to build their own market share.   Tweetable Moments: 08:20 - "It's more like the psychology background than just the background of developing something or designing something." 09:43 - "A lot of people miss out on building trust. So maybe they put some reviews on the page, but then they miss out on social proof and authority and press and all of that stuff."   Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Accelerated Agency’s website at https://www.acceleratedagency.com/ Check out Carl Weische on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-weische-2488a5198/?originalSubdomain=de Check out Accelerated Agency on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/acceleratedagency/ Check out Accelerated Agency on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/acceleratedagency/ Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!   More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here. Want to learn more about all the podcasts managed by UpMyInfluence? Opt in here.

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Lisa Robbin Young, business coach, performing artist & author of Creative Freedom: How To Own Your Dreams Without Selling Your Soul. Lisa is passionate about helping business leaders and entrepreneurs become celebrities in their space – to be known, seen and loved – by building an audience of enthusiastic fans. She says it all comes down to 3 things: clarity, confidence and courage. She believes that these 3 components could clear out the different aspects of the business that will allow entrepreneurs to decide and take the necessary steps to be considered experts in their market. Lisa explains the method they use to achieve success. Her goal is to develop a holistic approach that works for the way her clients are wired, so they can present themselves confidentially and be the best version of themselves. By supporting her clients in self-realization, they can gain time and freedom to enjoy the work they do in the world.   Key Points from the Episode: The Journey to Clarity, Confidence & Courage The Value & Significance of Authority The Impact of Fame for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders   About Lisa Robbin Young: Lisa didn't wait to be discovered. She is an award-winning speaker, bestselling author and accomplished musician with several albums to her credit. Lisa has been featured on Disney+ and is the host of Creative Freedom, a show that has turned into a book, podcast and live event series. She helps creative entrepreneurs define and succeed on their own terms. Lisa believes the best way to truly succeed in life and in business is to be yourself - warts, sparkles and all - so you can Own Your Dreams Without Selling Your SoulTM. Lisa founded Ark Entertainment Media - a business growth consultancy for ambitious creatives who want to become the celebrity of their industry and leave a lasting legacy to future generations.   Tweetable Moments: 00:49 - "Before you can take a courageous action, you have to be able to make a decision with confidence to take that action." 06:03 - "I will say that becoming a celebrity is not for everyone. And that's okay. But anyone can be in that role in their industry. They can be famous in their niche."   Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Lisa Robbin Young’s website at https://lisarobbinyoung.com/ Check out Lisa Robbin Young on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisarobbinyoung/ Check out Lisa Robbin Young on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Lisarobbinyoung.fan Check out Lisa Robbin Young on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lisarobbinyoung/ Check out Lisa Robbin Young on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/user/younglisam Check out Lisa Robbin Young on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lisarobbinyoung Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!   More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here. Want to learn more about all the podcasts managed by UpMyInfluence? Opt in here.

1425 - Managing Your Employees Remotely with 20Four7 VA's Catherine VanVonno

1424 - Being a Good Podcast Guest with Life with Passion's Christine McAlister

1423 - Finding Your Main Image with Marketplace Ops' Fernando Campos

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Dan Hoover, executive life coach and founder of Quantum Results. Dan shares his passion for helping people change their mindset about everything around them. He says there are things that keep people from getting where they want to go, but that doesn't mean it can't be undone. He takes as an example the principles of love attraction, and practices 4 levels of consciousness: For Me (victim mode), By Me (take responsibility, make it happen), Through Me (work with the laws of universe to attract what you want, and As Me (realize that everyone is connected and we are one).Dan believes that it's all about energy, and the type of energy you focus on will trigger a series of events in your professional and personal life. He says negative thoughts will attract other negative energy and build on themselves. His advice? Focus on the energy that will help you get what you really want. He also explains how the Sanctuary of Mind can help reverse negative thoughts and energy, such as anxiety and depression. Dan talks to clients to match where they are and their goals, to what he offers, and organizes everything to help them accelerate mindset shifts around them. He believes that everything we experience today is the result of our thoughts from the past. Key Points from the Episode:The Concept of the 4 Levels of Awareness Understanding the Law of Love Attraction Hitting the Reset Button through Daily Choice About Dan Hoover: Dan is an accomplished professional, with extensive experience in all aspects of successfully managing a team of consulting professionals. Dan also has excellent experience and solid credentials in running a successful business. He is the executive life coach at Quantum Results, helping people develop the mindset shift they need for any investment strategy. His specialties include Belief Shift, Paradigm Discovery, Self-Image Enhancement, Personal Development, Limiting Beliefs, Self-Awareness, Goal Achievement, Breakthroughs, Leadership, State of mind, conscience and passive income. He lives in Eden, Utah, USA with his family. About Quantum Results: Quantum Results helps ambitious people discover what they want and how to attract it into their life through a proven process of success and satisfaction. Their mission is to provide actionable practices that people can implement every day to achieve their ideal financial results. Using the Quantum Breakthrough approach, they provide a practical roadmap to reach new levels of financial success: Clarify Your Vision, Raise Your Vibration & Set Intention, Replace Limiting Beliefs, Create Your Sanctuary, Create a Life You Love and Live Fully On Your Terms. The various programs and coaching sessions offered are proven to discover, break through and experience new levels of success. Links Mentioned in this EpisodeWant to learn more? Check out Quantum Results’ website at https://quantumresults.com/Check out Dan Hoover on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-hoover-206166/Check out Quantum Results on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/quantum-results-llc/Check out Quantum Results on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/teamquantumresults/Check out Dan Hoover on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/quantumresults/?hl=enDon’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More from UpMyInfluence:We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.Want to learn more about all the podcasts managed by UpMyInfluence? Opt in here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Marty Greenbaum, senior franchise consultant, founder and CEO of Smart Franchise Investing. Marty shares his passion for helping people make informed decisions about franchise investing as a way to achieve their financial goals. As a seasoned professional in the franchise industry, he educates and guides people in finding a franchise that is recession proof, simple, strong, more profitable and less risky. Marty and his team at Smart Franchise Investing have developed a process that allows them to think through the different categories of franchises best suited to their client, help them understand the attributes, and decide which segment is the most profitable. He says there are plenty of opportunities in the franchise industry, but not all franchises are created equal. To avoid common pitfalls, he says don't take matters into your own hands; work with an experienced consultant instead. Key Points from the Episode: Commonly Seen and Observed Franchise Mistakes Possibilities of Investing in a Franchise How to Find the Right Franchise to Invest In About Marty Greenbaum: Marty Greenbaum, CFE, has been a franchise industry professional for over 30 years and founder of Smart Franchise Investing. He began his career in the family franchising business where he helped hundreds of people go into business. He started and operated a prestigious franchise marketing agency that has served over 120 franchise brands, helping them build brand image, better connect with customers, and improve unit revenue and system growth. Marty has earned the Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) distinction from the International Franchise Association (IFA), has been a speaker at franchise industry events, a vendor member of the IFA, and a franchise advocate at Capitol Hill. He has helped hundreds of people, as a franchise consultant and matchmaker, and is committed to helping people make informed franchise decisions. About Smart Franchise Investing: Smart Franchise Investing is a resource for those investigating franchising. Their goal is to help people navigate the franchise buying process through franchise education, matchmaking and consulting services to minimize the risk of people making a bad decision when buying a franchise. Tweetable Moments: 04:12 - "What's great about franchising is if you see that they have 2,000 franchises and they're claiming certain financial performance, if you're a decent operator, you're going to be able to hit the market. You're going to be able to outperform the traditional stock market and other investments." 06:13 - "What I see is a lot of people trying to find something that's a simple, strong model that they could scale." Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Smart Franchise Investing’s website at https://www.smartfranchiseinvesting.com/ Check out Smart Franchise Investing on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/smart-franchise-investing/ Check out Marty Greenbaum on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/greenbaum/ Check out Smart Franchise Investing on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/smartfranchiseinvesting Check out Smart Franchise Investing on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzv6GQ5hvR1IpREeYT_Ye9g Check out Marty Greenbaum on Facebook at https://es-es.facebook.com/martingreenbaum/ Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here. Want to learn more about all the podcasts managed by UpMyInfluence? Opt in here.