The Builders

In this solo episode I talk about the launch of Unified Toolkit.  A WordPress framework to build custom themes and websites.  This is something I've been dreaming about for over 2 and a half years.  Step by step while building my agency I developed the plan and products.  Today it consists of a WordPress Full-site Editing block theme and 3 plugins.  But there's much more to come. In 2023 and beyond we'll be adding more features, plugins and more related to the theme.  I'll personally be creating more training to help build sites, but also to help freelancers and agencies use our toolkit to go out and sell. This is part of the grand vision.  Our agency will use the toolkit and we'll be using the toolkit to go after new markets.  I land towards the end of this episode and talk about 'what's next'.  Touching on where we are with the agency too.. adding our 6th full-time person to the team!

In this solo episode I talk about something that incredibly important in my agency and with my team - quality assurance.  As always, I speak to it from the trenches.  This is how I think about it and how our team applies it daily to ensure everyone involved in a project has less stress. Our first stop is 'Why it Exists' in the first place.  Why is it so important to make sure you have good processes in place and 'buy in' from everyone involved in a project?  What influences how it's applied?  And what is the impact if it's not applied?  I also break down from a web design and development perspective how our team as a whole approaches it.  Who get's involved and what does it look like?   I discuss specific examples which include projects we've applied it to in the realm of web development and on the design side.  Also, I explain how user testing in general is also part of the process and the importance of the all important retrospective.  Enjoy the episode!

In this solo episode I talk to a topic that is near and dear to my businesses heart.  Retention.  I follow along with an article I found, using it as a framework and injecting my own experiences from the trenches.  I share how I deeply think about this topic and deploy it in my business.  I have clients and partnerships that have lasted years.. even to the very beginning of my agency.  How has this happened and what has worked? We work really, really hard to get the business, but we are failing ourselves and our company if we can’t maintain and retain what we’ve acquired.  From building relationships with your clients or customers, understanding their business goals, communication to the art of reporting, there’s a lot of great takeaways and real world experience to share. I then land on something that is something I’ve been grappling with myself this past year.  How do you grow your company and still retain those precious clients/customers?  Here I too share my experience and the things I’ve been putting in place to ensure we don’t slip in this area.  Enjoy the episode!

Today I’m joined by Kristi Spencer.  She is an etiquette consultant helping a range of people and organizations get better in this department.  As our focus is business in this context, we talked about it from a businesses perspective (mostly.. personal can influence the other).  Of course, in true The Builders' fashion we also dug into her story a bit and her ‘why’.  Why is she passionate about Etiquette? I used my own experience in business to guide the conversation.. I have teams so we talked about etiquette in that context.  How can it be implemented, what can it improve..?  Meetings.. many listening to this have meetings!  How should we think about this topic when running or participating in meetings? Then we talk about it from a customer service perspective.  I share my own experience and she provides her thoughts.  The portion on the ‘dynamic pause’ is dynamic!  Don’t miss that. :-) Kristi’s whole life lead up to her focusing on this and she LOVES helping others get better.  Definitely tune in if you or your business could use some help in this department - or you’re just curious.

In this episode I am joined by Bob Hunter.  Bob is the founder of Oxford Pierpont and MyBusinessCredit .com. Oxford Pierpont is designed for larger corporations and My Business Credit for smaller businesses needing funding under a million dollars. The conversation starts things off by talking about his background and journey.  Bob was diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease which took his right eye vision and his left ear hearing.  This forced him out of a job he loved and lead him to starting his own companies.  This story quickly transforms into a story of recovery and inspiration.  His strength of character and perseverance are unquestionable. From there we talk about his passion.  Selling money!  He helps businesses, big and small, get funding and financing.  We talk about how to get funding, how to improve ‘business credit’ (the differences with business credit and personal) and how to approach it all.  His expertise is helping businesses do the right things to improve their credit and get the funding they need.  GREAT conversion.. one of those I personally didn’t want to end.  Enjoy!

In this episode I’m joined by Ozan Bilgen.  He is the founder & CEO of Base64.ai Inc, the fastest-growing artificial intelligence startup in New York.  Like always, we first dive into his story and what his journey looked like as an entrepreneur.  From Turkey to the US.. from working for Microsoft, Paypal and Uber.  He’s got a fascinating story! We talk about his business.  Where did he come up with this innovative idea that leverages AI and Machine learning?  How does he approach business in general?  Like many of us he’s tried a lot of different things to market his business.. what has worked best for his company? Then we land on technology.  I picked his brain about where he sees AI and Machine Learning today and where we’re headed with it.  Don’t miss this one.. he’s a high caliber guest with amazing insights.

In this episode I am joined by Michelle Nedelec and her cat Dolores.  As I like to do, I asked her about her journey and we explored her path from her first businesses, building websites to what she does today.  Today she’s an international speaker and helps entrepreneurs be as successful as possible by taking the tech stuff off their plate. How can you partner with others to help you do more?  One of the things you can do is get help with your tech.  It’s also valuable to have another pair of experienced eyes to take a look at your business and find ways to extract more from what you’re doing currently.  She provides some examples as to how she has helped others that includes having helped a large business with a large list they never followed up with over the years. How do you grow a business without losing control?  Or ‘control the faucet’.  It’s easy to get help that brings in too much and overwhelms you.  How do you avoid that?  Get insights and more great lessons in general in this one from someone that’s been building and helping businesses for decades.  Enjoy!

In today’s episode I am joined by Matt Bailey.  Matt Bailey teaches Digital Marketing to the world's biggest brands and prestigious universities.  Microsoft, Google, Hilton, Orange, Nationwide, P&G, Disney, and HP are just a few of his training clients. We start with his personal journey and story and what lead him to ‘education’ as a focus.  Why molded him  and what were those early years like?  He was building and marketing websites in the late 90s.. what was that like, what traffic did he get and what lessons could he extract that is still applicable today? From there we dive into lessons small businesses can learn from big businesses.  The importance of business owners educating themselves so they can ask good questions; especially when talking with agencies helping them.  We also talk about analytics and data and understanding not just how to get a lot of traffic, but how to focus on what’s contributing to revenue AND most importantly profit.  A lot of great lessons in this one.. don’t miss it!

In this episode I’m joined by Nicky Billou.  He’s a best-selling author, an in-demand and highly inspirational speaker, an advisor and confidante to some of the most successful and dynamic entrepreneurs in Canada and co-founder of eCircle Academy.  He’s really passionate about helping entrepreneurs which shines through in this episode! First he shares his story and message about how precious freedom is.. sharing his families story leaving Iran and moving to Canada.  He spent a stint in corporate America before going into business for himself.  He shares a number of stories starting with a life changing one where he found the money to invest in himself which resulted in huge success. Nicky also talks to us about the importance of developing a great ‘message’ for your business, the importance of embracing your ‘value’ when pricing your services AND the importance of investing in yourself to get to the next level.  A lot of gold in this one.. enjoy!!

In this episode we are joined again by AJ Saunders.  AJ and I dive deeper into the topic of building great niche content that is constructed in a way that gets results.  Learn what type of blogs he has.. we talk about how to manage content - DIY vs hiring others. We then talk about what makes good content.. how to choose topics.  I share my experience with the conversational writing style in copywriting and content creation.  Should we hold anything back with our content?  How does AJ think about that? That leads us into CTA’s.. Calls to Action.  We’ve written content so now how do we reel them in and construct something that encourages them to take a beneficial action on our site?  Because.. we aren’t writing content for our health, right!?  If you write content or are wondering how to approach it, this episode is for you!