

Smart Business Revolution | Turn Relationships into Revenues | Networking | More Clients | Relationship Advice
John Corcoran
"Top 100 Small Business Podcasts 2014" -- Small Biz Trends. Former Clinton White House Writer John Corcoran shows you how to build relationships intelligently to get more clients, grow your income and advance your career. Discover how you can use win-win networking and intentional relationship-building with Influencers and VIPs, even if you "hate networking" or feel like you have "nothing to offer" people who are successful. Interviews with today's top entrepreneurs and authors such as Dan Pink, Michael Port, Gary Vaynerchuk, Marie Forleo and Guy Kawasaki, who reveal how they use relationships to grow their businesses and their incomes. Find out more at SmartBusinessRevolution.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 19, 2021 • 34min
Frank Cowell | [Top Agency Series] Pivoting an Agency Business from Project-Based to Recurring Services
Frank Cowell is a speaker, best-selling author, and the CEO of Digitopia, a revenue operations firm based in the San Diego, California area. With 20 years of digital marketing experience, Frank works regularly with CEOs, Chief Marketing Officers, and Vice Presidents of Sales and Marketing who are looking to create amazing brand experiences while accelerating growth. Frank is also the Host of The Digital Utopia Podcast and Author of Building Your Digital Utopia, which details a concept he pioneered to help brands create digital experiences that systematically accelerate growth. Prior to founding his first agency, he worked in sales and marketing with Tandy, AT&T, and other technology companies. He is a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps and regularly volunteers his talents to the San Diego AMA, while mentoring young people in the areas of strategy, sales, and marketing. Frank Cowell, the CEO of Digitopia, is John Corcoran's guest in this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast where he explains how he pivoted his agency from a project-based business model to a recurring services model. Frank also talks about the mistakes he made during that transition, the challenges he faced, and the lessons he learned. He also shares his tips for maintaining a low client churn rate. Stay tuned.

Nov 15, 2021 • 32min
Wendy Lieber | How to Shift From a Boutique Agency Model to a Subscription Model
Wendy Lieber is the Co-founder of ContentBacon, an inbound marketing company that helps build brands that people know, like, trust, and buy from. She has a passion for helping customers figure out and communicate their “why” that resonates with target audiences. Wendy also talks to entrepreneurial communities frequently about the power of storytelling. She is a Board Member of the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and previously served as President of Athena Marketing. She holds an MBA from Nova Southeastern University and a BA in Marketing from Florida State University - College of Business. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran interviews Wendy Lieber, the Co-founder of ContentBacon, about shifting a business’ operations from a boutique agency model to a subscription model. Wendy talks about building her inbound marketing company, the challenges she often faces with changing technology, and the strategies she uses to find and retain good employees. Stay tuned.

Nov 12, 2021 • 31min
Brent Beshore | Investing in Small Family-Owned Businesses for the Long Term
Brent Beshore is the Founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, a firm that invests with no intention of selling in family-held companies. With a current capital base in excess of $300 million, the firm's current portfolio includes companies in aerospace, niche construction, manufacturing and distribution, consumer products, recruitment, and niche professional services. Brent is also the author of The Messy Marketplace: Selling Your Business in a World of Imperfect Buyers. He lives in Columbia, Missouri with his wife and three daughters. Brent Beshore, the Founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, is John Corcoran's guest in this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast where they talk about investing in small family-owned businesses. Brent explains what he looks for when investing in such companies, his strategies for overcoming post-acquisition challenges, and how his company's three-decade lock period works. Stay tuned.

Nov 8, 2021 • 31min
Chris Westfall | From Stunt Man to National Elevator Pitch Champion, Shark Tank, and Beyond
Chris Westfall is a business coach, keynote speaker, consultant, and author who helped launch over 60 businesses, raising over $100 million in capital investment. Entrepreneurs, executives, and future leaders turn to Chris for guidance on peak performance, team building, business development, branding, and more. Chris is the Champion of the US National Elevator Pitch, a competition challenging students to make a convincing and engaging “Elevator Pitch” to an Angel Investor. He is recognized as a Top 10 Business Coach and regularly works with Fortune 500 Companies and high-impact leaders, as well as top-tier universities, to deliver insights into powerful leadership communication strategies. His clients have appeared on Shark Tank, Dragons’ Den in Canada, and Shark Tank Australia. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran is joined by business coach, author, speaker, and consultant Chris Westfall to talk about his journey from being a professional stunt man to becoming a renowned business coach. Chris also shares his experience in the Elevator Pitch competition, how his coaching helped many clients, and his tips for making an impact authentically.

Nov 5, 2021 • 40min
Jason Rosenbaum | [Top Agency Series] Acting, Bartending, M&A, and Digital Transformation
Jason Rosenbaum is a Partner and COO at Crowd Favorite, a digital transformation company that provides software development solutions to established and startup brands. Founded in 2007, Crowd Favorite was an original WordPress agency focused primarily on enterprise clients. Over a decade later, they have evolved into a multi-discipline, digital consulting firm specializing in enterprise-grade digital strategy and elite open source development. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran interviews Jason Rosenbaum, a Partner and COO at Crowd Favorite, about building a digital agency and the lessons learned from doing M&A rollups. Jason also talks about his acting background, building a cannabis business, and how Crowd Favorite has changed over the years. Stay tuned.

Nov 1, 2021 • 40min
Kelly Campbell | [Top Agency Series] From Agency Leader to Coaching Conscious Leaders
Kelly Campbell is an Agency Growth Consultant and Conscious Leadership Coach helping creative and technology leaders transform their lives and grow their agencies. She is the Co-founder of Consciousness Leaders, a global collective of experts helping organizations create positive, lasting change. Kelly is also the host of the podcast, THRIVE: Your Agency Resource, and is currently authoring her first book on redefining leadership as a healing journey. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran interviews Kelly Campbell, the Co-founder of Consciousness Leaders, about how she started her businesses and her journey to becoming a consciousness coach. Kelly shares her reasons for selling her business, the lessons she learned about entrepreneurship and building an agency, and explains how she uses her experience to help fellow entrepreneurs build better businesses. Stay tuned.

Oct 29, 2021 • 38min
Brett Harned | [Top Agency Series] Starting the First Community for Digital Project Managers
Brett Harned formed the Bureau of Digital and founded the Digital PM Summit, which was the first annual digital project managers conference. He is also a Digital Project Management Consultant at Digital PM Consulting, LLC, where he works with teams to build processes and communication tactics that work for their projects, people, and clients. Brett has worked with major clients such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Zappos, MTV, Alaska Air, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to name a few. Brett’s previous roles include Director of Education at TeamGantt, Vice President of Project Management at Happy Cog, and Senior PM at Razorfish. Today, he speaks at events all over the world, writes for popular websites and publications, and can be heard on his podcast, Sprints & Milestones. He is the author of Project Management for Humans, which was published in July 2017. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran is joined by Brett Harned, the Founder of the Digital PM Summit, to talk about project management. Brett discusses the origin of the Bureau of Digital, building the community, the best practices of putting together events, and tools in the digital project management space today. He also shares how he got a community of leaders together, some of the people who helped make his projects possible, and how you can be a good community citizen.

Oct 25, 2021 • 45min
Karl Sakas | [Top Agency Series] Strategies for Building a Powerful Agency
Karl Sakas is an Agency Consultant and Executive Coach at his firm, Sakas & Company, where he helps digital agency owners take control of their business so they can conquer growing pains and increase profits. Referred to as the “agency therapist” by his clients, Karl has helped hundreds of agency owners worldwide find a passion for their work again. Karl started doing business more than 20 years ago as a high school student, where he helped nonprofits and small businesses in the DC area build websites. Karl is a fourth-generation business owner, which motivated him to turn his skills into an agency. He’s also the author of several books, with his most notable work being Made to Lead. Outside of his work at Sakas & Company, Karl volunteers as a Past President of AMA Triangle and as a bartender on a 1930s railroad car. In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran is joined by Karl Sakas, an Agency Consultant and Executive Coach at Sakas & Company, to discuss how to successfully run an agency. Karl explains project management and account management and how to approach each in an agency setting. He also talks about the pod agency model, client concentration problem, and the two possible ways to manage business risks when diversifying.

Oct 22, 2021 • 31min
Diana Chapman | [Conscious Leader Series] Eliminating Drama in the Workplace
Diana Chapman is a Founding Partner of the Conscious Leadership Group and the co-author of the best-selling book The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership. She has worked with over 1,000 different organization leaders and many of their teams to grow in self-awareness and eliminate drama in the workplace. She facilitates leadership forums around the bay area for founders, VCs, and CEOs, including YPO forums and YPO chapters worldwide. Diana also co-leads a training school for coaches who want to learn how to facilitate her coaching models. She has been a speaker in a number of different places including Mindful Leadership Summit, Wisdom 2.0, Stanford Graduate School, Haas School of Business, and YPO. Diana Chapman, a Founding Partner of the Conscious Leadership Group, joins John Corcoran in this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast to talk about helping organizations and their teams eliminate drama in the workplace. Diana also explains why she formed the Conscious Leadership Group and how she has been working with clients during the pandemic. Stay tuned.

Oct 18, 2021 • 30min
Jon Bast | [Top Agency Series] From Murphy Bed Sales to Finding a Niche
Jon Bast is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of OptiAuto and T3 Marketing. OptiAuto is a website provider for car dealerships while T3 Marketing is a performance marketing agency that focuses on helping dealers optimize car demand. They follow Google Design guidelines to develop the most optimal websites in order to ensure great user experiences. Prior to that, Jon was a Senior Manager of Marketing and Traffic Acquisition at Autotrader US and Director of National Partnerships at Force Marketing. He also worked as an Internet Marketing Manager at Mercedes-Benz of Naples and was a Search Engine Marketing Strategist and Account Manager at Haystak Digital Marketing. He is an active member of the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO). In this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, John Corcoran interviews Jon Bast, the Co-founder and Managing Partner of OptiAuto and T3 Marketing, about Jon’s experience building a car dealership marketing agency. They discuss the value of being part of business communities, how marketing for car dealerships has evolved over the years, and why Jon didn't want to work in the corporate world. Stay tuned.