The Front Row Podcast for Entrepreneurs

In this episode we talk about how Alexa Flash Briefings can grow your audience and your sales fast! We discuss how this amazing new platform allows you to reach a whole new audience that you would have never been able to reach before. We outline all sorts of use case scenarios and ways to market and repurpose your Alexa Flash Briefing.

Today’s guest, Whitney Johnson, is recognized as one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world. She is an expert on disruptive innovation and personal disruption; specifically, a framework which she codifies in the critically acclaimed book Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work and in her new book Build an “A” Team: Play To Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve. She developed her proprietary framework and diagnostics after having cofounded the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen. This framework is complemented by a deep understanding of how executives create and destroy value, having spent nearly a decade as an Institutional Investor ranked equity analyst on Wall Street. In addition to her work as a speaker and advisor, she is one of Marshall Goldsmith's original cohort of 25 for the #100 Coaches Project, is a coach for Harvard Business School's Executive Education program, frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, is a Linkedin influencer, and hosts the weekly Disrupt Yourself Podcast. I was fortunate to be coached by her during the earliest days of my business and she has been a true mentor to me over the years. I’m delighted to bring you this interview with Whitney Johnson. She has the front row spirit and shares her story and incredible insights in our conversation. Highlights: 4:30 Find out why Whitney had to “throw down her pom poms” and how it changed entire career path. 5:20 The beginning of disruptive innovation. What it is and how she figured out how to apply it. 7:45 Whitney’s first book Dare Dream Do was truly inspiring. Find out why Jen found it so helpful to her. 8:58 What’s your dream? The surprising answers that motivated Whitney to build a case for dreaming. Why is it important and how do you do it? How do you figure it out? 11:00 Ships and harbors (and why they matter) 13:50 Disrupt yourself. A how-to book for disrupting your life and how to figure out when it’s time to do something new. Don’t miss this part! 17:20 Year 4, and 4-year cycles and how to know if you are ready to move on or if it’s time to dig in and persevere. 18:50 4 Questions to determine if you are on the right path. 20:10 The vitamin vs. the pain pill. Why people will or won’t buy what you’re offering. 24:30 Why listening to compliments is important to gain perspective. 26:00 Find out how a constraint (lack of money and/or experience or time) can be an advantage. 28:50 Find out how Build an “A” Team: Play To Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve applies to entrepreneurs who are working virtually and learning how to scale. 33:20 How to make safe changes to continue to pursue happiness. 34:30 Four books that Whitney recommends. 37:30 Personal avatars – coming soon? 39:00 LinkedIn tips from Whitney and how using LinkedIn has helped her.

We are talking about live events. We talk about the benefits of being part of them, and why it’s helpful to host your own. Rich has great tips for anyone who is thinking about doing live events (of any size) as a part of their marketing.

Pinterest expert Alisa Meredith shares exactly why Pinterest is the ultimate marketing tool for online businesses. She also shares some really specific how-to strategies including: What are rich pins, why you want to use them, and how they benefit you (she shares a couple of great examples too)  What kind of paid promotion is best and how to set it up How to target and reach people who pin/repin your posts – it’s powerful Should I use promoted posts on Pinterest for event or time limited things like Summer Camp?  Myth-busting the delete your pins strategy What’s a Tailwind tribe and why you should join one  Find out how much un-tapped potential there is for Pinterest marketing – this strategy is overlooked by many which means tons of potential for you

Tyler McCall is an Instagram wizard and he shares his knowledge so generously in this episode, including: His go-to resources for staying up to date with Instagram Why he’s on Instagram stories every day  How he spent 3 minutes and got 2 new members in his program Insider tip about finding a profile vs a story when you are checking out someone you don’t know What it means to take ownership of your messaging and your marketing  How you can get closer to your desired audience, so they are eager to connect Why he started using captions and how they’ve helped his stories gain traction How to avoid being asked “why is that nun on a bicycle?”  His two cents on third party IG apps Why now is the perfect time to get on IG Stories  Why using hashtags to find followers is more effective than using them for being found by others

Facebook Ads Expert, Laura Ball shares her best Facebook ads secrets including:  Why Facebook ads are so powerful  The best way to get started The definitive answer about boosting posts  Why retargeting (and the pixel) will help you be successful  Look alike audiences and how they can help you expand your reach How to be a targeting Ninja Why a great email list helps with ads/targeting and successful campaigns The best way to test your ads Long ad copy or short ad copy explained Business manager yes or no

LinkedIn is hotter than ever and LinkedIn expert Viveka Von Rosen tells us why including insider tips: The truth about LinkedIn groups How to use ads and sponsored posts effectively The best way to target a sponsored post Powerful backlinking strategy that gets thousands of views on your content (video or post) The real deal about long form posts 3 great examples of video done well Privacy options and features that are available to you LinkedIn hashtags

You've gone to a lot of trouble to attend that conference. You've paid a lot of money, too. Might as well get all you can out of it! PR expert, Niyaz Pirani shares his best tips and strategies for what to do before, during and after a conference. You will definitely want to hear about his "brain room" and his note taking strategies!

Marketing is taking a big turn, small is the new big and authentic is the new black. Going the extra mile to surprise and delight your audience is plant seeds of goodness that you will be harvesting for years to come. In this episode, I share some of the ways I surprise and delight my clients, and I also call up my old college roommates.

Social Media Marketing World is the ultimate conference for digital marketers. In this episode I share with you my takeaways.