INspired INsider Podcast

Jim Schleckser helps leaders grow their companies by assisting them in opening their point of constraint (also known as the kink in the hose). He is the CEO of Inc. CEO Project, a business advisory group for high-performing, experienced CEOs. Jim has been at the company's helm for 17 years and counting.  Jim has done business in 40 countries and recently ran a technology business valued at $1.6 billion. He's a Columnist for Inc. Magazine and the author of two best-selling books, Professional Drinking and Great CEOs are Lazy. In this episode… Dear CEO, if there’s a kink in the hose of your company’s revenue flow, what will you do about it? Are you going to put on your player hat, march straight to the frontlines to drive sales, and hopefully figure out the constraints? Or are you going to wear your analyst hat, dig into the data and figure it out? Whichever approach you take, you’ll be wearing either of the first two hats effective CEOs must wear to remove kinks in their business. The other three hats are necessary to fix the business areas where the kink exists. Kinks can live in your business model, talent, or processes and systems. Ready to learn more about these business hats?  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the CEO of the Inc. CEO Project, Jim Schleckser. They discuss the five hats great CEOs wear, how to delegate without losing sleep, reworking your business model, hiring tips, and more!

Danny Gavin is the Founder and Chief Strategist of Optidge, a Houston-based digital marketing agency. Danny is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston’s C.T. Bauer College of Business, teaching master-level classes and executive education on social media and search engine marketing. He is also the Founder of ODEO Academy, where he provides digital marketing education and practical application to help people land a job and get a better grasp of this changing world of digital marketing.  In this episode… Agency owners are specialists in the services they render but also wear many different hats to serve their clients better. One of the toughest challenges they face is taking off some of those hats and letting others come in to help scale the business. It’s a nightmare that keeps them twisting and turning in bed.  Are you facing these same challenges in your business? Today’s guest, Danny Gavin, had a similar experience but moved past it to grow his business. What was his secret recipe? Delegation. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but if Danny could do it, you can too.  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Founder and Chief Strategist of Optidge, Danny Gavin. They discuss Danny’s journey to becoming an agency owner, how he’s been able to scale and grow, creating and marketing a course, and many things in-between.

John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and was a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and has run his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs. John has been the Host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast since 2012. He has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, from Peter Diamandis and Adam Grant to Gary Vaynerchuk and Marie Forleo. John is also the Co-founder of Rise25 Media, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners and generates ROI through their done-for-you podcast service. Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25. He has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a Senior Producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders. Dr. Weisz has also been running his podcast, Inspired Insider, since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs of P90X, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, the Orlando Magic, and many more. In addition to running Rise25, Dr. Weisz owns a nutritional supplement business and runs his chiropractic and massage facility, Chiropractical Solutions & Massage. In this episode… There are a lot of companies struggling with this idea of creating an outsourced business development process. Some have business development reps in-house but struggle to get good quality leads in the door.  How do you set up your prospecting reps for success? What are the channels, tools, and processes to build stronger relationships and get more leads?  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Co-founder of Rise25, John Corcoran. They discuss the process, tools, and channels for B2B business development that work. From content marketing to relationship-building, they go over the best strategies to generate more leads. Stay tuned.

John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and was a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and has run his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs. John has been the Host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast since 2012. He has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, from Peter Diamandis and Adam Grant to Gary Vaynerchuk and Marie Forleo. John is also the Co-founder of Rise25 Media, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners and generates ROI through their done-for-you podcast service. Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25. He has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a Senior Producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders. Dr. Weisz has also been running his podcast, Inspired Insider, since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs of P90X, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, the Orlando Magic, and many more. In addition to running Rise25, Dr. Weisz owns a nutritional supplement business and runs his chiropractic and massage facility, Chiropractical Solutions & Massage. In this episode… Do you run a B2B company? Are relationships a big part of running your business smoothly? If your answer is yes to those two questions, then deepening your relationships and expanding your network is critical for your business. One surefire way to do this is by hosting a B2B podcast.  If you already have a podcast, are you hitting gold with it? Or are you like an athlete that expends so much time and energy to produce your show — but never gets on the medals stand? Your B2B podcast can be super profitable if you have the right strategy and avoid the minutia. Want to know more?  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Co-founder of Rise25, John Corcoran. They discuss the qualities of a gold medal-winning podcast, expanding networks and deepening relationships through a B2B podcast, and the other mistakes that make B2B podcasting unrewarding.

John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and was a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and has run his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs. John has been the host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast since 2012. He has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, from Peter Diamandis and Adam Grant to Gary Vaynerchuk and Marie Forleo. John is also the Co-founder of Rise25 Media, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners and generates ROI through their done-for-you podcast service. Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25. He has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a Senior Producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders. Dr. Weisz has also been running his podcast, Inspired Insider, since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs of P90X, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, the Orlando Magic, and many more. In addition to running Rise25, Dr. Weisz owns a nutritional supplement business and runs his chiropractic and massage facility, Chiropractical Solutions & Massage. In this episode… Mic check. Record. Launch podcast— easy, right? Not quite. There are many moving parts to launching a B2B podcast. Other than speaking into the microphone and publishing your recording, you want to nail down a strategy, identify your dream 100, execute outreach, and get people involved. Those are just some of the steps before launching a podcast. You also need to know the types of content, how to create them, and what to do after successfully launching your podcast. Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Rise25 Co-founder John Corcoran. They discuss some things you should do leading up to a podcast launch, tips to succeed during the launch process, and steps to complete afterward.

Dan Grunfeld is a former professional basketball player, an accomplished writer, and a proud graduate of Stanford University. An Academic All-American and All-Conference basketball selection at Stanford, Dan played professionally for eight seasons in top leagues worldwide, including in Germany, Spain, and Israel. He is the Author of By The Grace of the Game: The Holocaust, A Basketball Legacy, and an Unprecedented American Dream. Dan is also the Vice President of Lightspeed Venture Partners.  In this episode… What do surviving the holocaust, escaping communism (in part thanks to Buddy Hackett), building a small business, and raising two generations of professional basketball players have in common? The answer lies in the story of Anyu — the incredible grandmother of Dan Grunfeld.  Dan does a fantastic job of recanting his family’s story. It’s a story of persevering in the face of pain, death, and oppression — and how basketball was the game-changer. This episode will shock you, entertain you, and leave you with priceless lessons.  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Author Dan Grunfeld. They talk about the incredible true-life characters in the book, By the Grace of the Game, the trying moments before success, lessons from sports for business, and inspiration to keep going no matter what.

Lisa Tener is an award-winning book coach who specializes in helping experts, visionaries, and entrepreneurs write and publish compelling how-to, self-help, and business books. For over 12 years, Lisa served as Faculty of Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School.  Her clients have signed five and six-figure publishing deals with dozens of publishers, including Random House, Harper Collins, and more. She's the Author of The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day. Lisa also runs a Bring Your Book to Life program.  Vanessa Levin is an Early Childhood Professional Development Consultant and the Creator of Pre-K Pages, one of the Internet's most popular resource websites for teachers of young children.  She has more than 20 years of classroom teaching experience, and people across the globe follow her teachings. Vanessa is also the Author of Teach Smarter: Literacy Strategies for Early Childhood Teachers. Christopher Littlefield is an international speaker and Founder of Beyond Thank You, an international consulting, training, and coaching company specializing in employee appreciation, recognition, and workplace culture. He's trained thousands of leaders to understand what their people want and need to be at their best. His clients include Accenture, Boston Medical Center, Salesforce, the US Army and Air Force, the United Nations, and more. He's the Author of the best-seller 75+Team Building Activities for Remote Teams: Simple Ways to Build Trust, Strengthen Communications, and Laugh Together from Afar. In this episode… What are the odds you’ll write and publish a book? If it’s on your bucket list, you may be wondering how to go about it or what impact it can have on your business.  Here’s the truth: publishing a book has had a tremendous impact on today’s guests and their businesses. They share their experience, process, and lessons of publishing their books. Want to check book writing off your wish list? Three expert panelists will show you how.  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring book coach Lisa Tener, international speaker Christopher Littlefield, and Early Childhood Consultant Vanessa Levin. They discuss the process, lessons, and impact of publishing a book, and each author shares their journey and advice for turning your idea into a published work.   

Melih Oztalay is the Founder and CEO of Smartfinds Internet Marketing, an agency that focuses on marketing processes and strategic activities based on using multiple web marketing channels.  Melih has been in the marketing industry since 1987. He helps companies with various internet marketing needs, including conversion rate optimization. He has worked with different clients, from manufacturers to automotive suppliers, franchisors, and more. In this episode… Back in the day when internet marketing was in its infancy, how would you sell health insurance to the hard-to-reach people who think they don’t need it? Now that the landscape has evolved and there are countless websites, how do you win over more of your existing website visitors?  Timeless fundamentals. That could be a deep dive into your target customers, marketing directly to them, deploying the compounding effect of social media, or some other tactic. No matter how fast things change in the industry, these timeless tactics will hold up. The problem is, are you utilizing the fundamentals?  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Melih Oztalay, Founder and CEO of Smartfinds Internet Marketing. They discuss the marketing fundamentals that have kept Melih in the industry for 35 years, how he used the compounding effect of social media to drive results, influencer marketing dynamics, conversion rate optimization, and more.

Darcy Garbin and Debbie Pontera are the Co-founders and Managing Partners of D2 Media, a full-service advertising agency. They've worked in media and marketing for over 30 years. The duo hand selects the best media partners to help clients build their advertising dream team. Darcy and Debbie have digital and traditional advertising expertise, including radio, TV, direct mail, billboard, and print. In this episode… You’ve heard people say that advertising on traditional media is a dying trade with little to no impact. They could be right and wrong at the same time. If you use traditional media like billboards without a clear strategy behind it, you’ll prove the naysayers right.  But if you combine traditional and digital media with a defined goal and strategy, you can expect to reap the best of both worlds. How do you harness the strengths of both traditional and digital media? Who should be using broadcast media and why? Two broadcast advertising experts answer these questions — and more — on today’s show. Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Managing Partners at D2 Media, Darcy Garbin and Debbie Pontera. They talk about the mistakes brands make when doing broadcast advertising, how to make the most of radio, TV, and billboard ads, and how to use different mediums to craft a powerful strategy. 

Andy Crestodina is the Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Orbit Media Studios, an award-winning 40-person digital agency in Chicago. Over the past 20 years, Andy had provided digital marketing advice to thousands of businesses and has written countless articles on content strategy, SEO, visitor psychology, and analytics before it was even popular. He is the Author of the book Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.  In this episode… If you take a deep dive analysis of your website, you'll probably discover countless ways your website is unsatisfying visitors. If that's happening on your site, your business is leaking leads — and that's a possible report of broken dreams.  Many businesses have content gaps on their website, and they drop off several leads even through their thank-you page. How do you uncover all of these problem areas on your website? Which message should your website convey to meet the information needs of your visitors?  Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media Studios, Andy Crestodina. They discuss practical ways to tweak your website for conversions, the report of broken dreams you should avoid, the service page checklist every website should satisfy, and much more.