Wed, 26 November 2014
Summary: On this episode of Rhodes to Success, I interview Josh Elledge who is a syndicated columnist and ‘go-to expert’ in building relationships with the media. Josh is a dynamic and entertaining consumer expert who focuses on the day-to-day spending habits of Americans, with a focus on showing people how to get more lifestyle on a fixed income. If you’ve ever wanted to be the go-to TV expert in your field, then this is the episode for you.
Main Questions Asked: - Why should entrepreneurs and bloggers bother with traditional media when they have the power of social media and podcasting? - Do you think traditional media will go into new media? - How do we connect with the journalists and make ourselves known as the go-to entrepreneur in our niche? - What do you mean by ‘checking out’ online? - How do you get good at interviews? - What are some actionable tips and steps people can take to start building relationships with media?
Key Lessons Learned: - In order to be ‘discovered’, you need to be able to speak the language and have the systems down so that you can be presentable and get in front of large audiences with your message and tell your story in an effective way. - Eventually you will get your one shot, but the goal is to be invited back and be the ‘go-to’ expert and part of their team in their database. - Ensure that you are presentable and have the means to reach out and build relationships.
Traditional Media: - Traditional media adds to your credibility. - Over the past 5 years, newsrooms have been shrinking and adjusting to a new media world. - Traditional media, on its own in print form, will not survive which is why they are investing heavily in online presence. - If you are a podcaster, blogger or internet entrepreneur, you are extremely attractive to traditional media organizations as you represent their future.
‘Checking Out’: - Journalists and producers do not like taking risks, so if you are an unknown they will try and build a picture about you before they even respond back. - If you don’t ‘check out’ online, then you aren’t going to get calls back. - You will be ‘checked out’ based on online credibility, including your website and social media profiles. - Producers will be looking to see if you have you been on TV before. - Producers will research if you have been quoted before. - The press kit on your website should have video of you, list of places you’ve appeared, bio, example questions, story and segment ideas. - Establish yourself as someone who is easy to work with.
Interview Skills: - The average sound bite for television is 7 seconds. - Learn how to communicate in sound bites or ‘pull out points’ and rehearse your talking points prior to the interview. - Summarize your point of view and be able to state it in two sentences. - Be able to have a series of points that are interesting.
Podcast: - People love valuable and actionable content. - As a podcaster, you need to engage the listener immediately or they are unlikely to return and give you a second chance. - Podcast guests who aren’t great talent will reflect poorly on the host’s and show’s reputation. - Invite as much feedback as you can get.
Building Media Relationships: - Get to know who’s who in your industry. - Find reporters who are interested in your subject and get to know them via Twitter. - Create a separate Twitter list to follow local media. - Make sure you know what availability media outlets need to fill each day. - Make your contacts aware of the content you are creating. - Take your relationship offline and ask to direct email rather than Twitter exchanges. - Be ready and available for your chance to be interviewed. - Keep an eye on the daily news for opportunities where your expertise could be used in the media.
Links to Resources Mentioned
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Tue, 25 November 2014
Summary: On this episode of Rhodes to Success, I interview the National Coordinator for Fair Trade Campaigns at Fair Trade USA, Billy Linstead Goldsmith. During this podcast, you will learn about canvasing and communication skills that go into door-to-door sales and fundraising, as well as Fair Trade USA and entrepreneurship in developing countries. If you’ve ever wondered what Fair Trade is all about, how it works and how you can get involved as a small business owner or entrepreneur, then you absolutely must listen to this podcast.
Main Questions Asked: - What kind of fear did you have to get over to work door-to-door? - How do you think having a high level autonomy helps us professionally and personally? - Talk about what is happening in developing countries that we should know about. - Are there products, other than coffee, that can be Fair Trade? - What is the entrepreneurial spirit like in these Fair Trade areas? - Do you sense there is more of an entrepreneurial spirit in these countries and less of a sense of entitlement [like in the USA]? - Are larger corporations starting to understand The Fair Trade movement and becoming more accepting of those products? - How do people know if a product is Fair Trade?
Key Lessons Learned:
Going Door-to-Door - Everyone has an innate fear of rejection. - When it comes to door-to-door interaction, the worst thing someone can do is say no. - If you are starting out, you have to be able to look someone in the face for what you want and not be afraid of someone saying no. - When it comes to sales, you have to take the tools you are presented with and find your own voice. - There is a difference between following a script and a structure - Sample structure: Introduction, icebreaker, what you are asking for, close with an ask. - Entrepreneurship is all about an ability to make a quick rapport with whomever they are talking to. - As an entrepreneur, it’s important to invest in our businesses, ourselves and our world.
Fair Trade - Small business and social entrepreneurs can do things to impact the larger market (and have done with regards to Fair Trade). - Fair Trade provides an opportunity for consumers to examine value and be able to buy products they know are making a difference in communities developing countries. - Farmers, workers, and artisans are empowered to build their own businesses and work together to take more control over their business and future. - Fair Trade is about putting the needed tools in business owners’ hands so they can grow their businesses and stop labor exploitation in their community. - Fair Trade certification started with coffee. This is the most widely available and most well-known Fair Trade product. - Other Fair Trade products include tea, chocolate, beans, grains, body care products, packaged foods and clothing. - Every ingredient that can be Fair Trade certified in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is. - Fair Trade products are certified and you can check the label on the Fair Trade website. - The majority of companies in the USA that sell Fair Trade products are small local businesses started by social entrepreneurs. -
Fair Trade Entrepreneurs - The universal element is that the entrepreneurs work incredibly hard and are driven. - There is a real understanding of the strength of community and collaboration and the tireless drive to succeed. - By participating in Fair Trade, this has allowed many families to send their children to high school (often the first generation to be able to do so). - The harder you work, the less entitled your kids feel. - When kids see adults working really hard to improve their station (whatever that is), there is less of a feeling of entitlement and more of an understanding of what it takes to build a business and be successful. - When you see your parents laboring hard, it instills an understanding of what it takes to be successful and a sense of wanting to give back. - Many of the next generation (who are now in their twenties) are working in cooperatives and areas to improve the capacity of the business, sales, supply chain management, new understanding of agriculture techniques and training farmers.
Links to Resources Mentioned Social Entrepreneurs Challenge
Direct download: BONUS_EPISODE_Door_to_Door_Canvassing_the_Fair_Trade_Movement_26_Social_Entrepreneurs.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:25am EDT |
Wed, 19 November 2014
Summary On this episode of Rhodes to Success I interview Joleene Moody who is an expert in breaking into the world of paid speaking and entrepreneurship. Joleene is a former TV reporter and anchor turned transformational speaker, author, and business consultant. If you’ve ever been interested in booking paid speaking gigs and landing high paid clients then this podcast is the perfect place to start!
Main Questions Asked - What is your opinion on women in business being afraid of hurting people’s feelings? - How do you describe profitable relationships?
Key Lessons Learned - Building relationships is all about providing value to other people and thus attracting the right relationships to you - When you are growing your business ask yourself ‘who can I help and who can I bring value to?’ Doing this will attract people to you - The more authentic you are and less you care about people’s feelings the more people will want to be connected to you
Business Relationships vs Friendships - Often people want to build business relationships but care more about being liked and not hurting anyone’s feelings - As women in business, there is a problem with defining business relationships and friendships - Sometimes women are afraid to engage in conversation as a professional - Business isn’t personal. Remember to be professional not focus on becoming BFFs - Women have a fear of ‘rubbing someone the wrong way’ and not becoming BFFs this brings up fear that others could speak negatively of you - Building profitable relationships isn’t about building friendships
Business Communication - You can’t read someone’s tone through an e-mail message - Maturity is a piece of business evolution everyone needs to move through - If it doesn’t matter and its not going to keep you up at night hitting delete on an email is fine - Being cognizant of someone’s feelings is different to absorbing them
Profitable Relationships - Focus on what will be best for you not on who you want to connect with - Be part of a network where people want each other to genuinely succeed - If you are in a place where the success is just about you then you won’t make it (this is the space of manipulation) - The relationships you build are at the core of a passion that ignited what you are moving through to bring you to a higher place - If you want to be successful and profitable in your business then working for free is not going to get you there
Links to Resources Mentioned
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Wed, 12 November 2014
Summary On this episode of Rhodes to Success I interview Michelle Fetsch who is the creator of Women Enough and the Bare Campaign. Women Enough is an organization that supports women in having a healthy body image and self esteem through nude photo shoots. In this podcast Michelle will bring you amazing tips on how to connect with your audience and build relationships that move your business forward and have an impact (even if you don’t need your audience to take their clothes off!) Main Questions Asked - Share your background and history that led you to starting Women Enough - How did you decide to do nude photo shoots? - Tell us about the first time you asked another woman to take her clothes off and be photographed as part of your campaign - What did you do that helped these women be comfortable in your campaign? - Give us a blueprint of the campaign and how you are using the photographs - Is there a way for women to be part of the campaign but not do a nude photo shoot? - Talk about your relationships with the media - What is your pitch and what do your tweets to celebrities say? - What is the behind the scenes process? Do you have a spreadsheet of who you want to reach out to and when you’re following up if they haven’t responded? - Have you used Contact Any Celebrity.com, IMDB Pro or anything similar? - What are the steps you’ve taken to build media relationships? - What are some of the areas you wish you were further along in but aren’t? Key Lessons Learned - Many girls grow up with their role models being the women in beauty magazines - The goal of Women Enough is to create realistic media campaigns that support women in having a healthy body image and self esteem - Many women are having children and haven’t addressed their own issues with themselves and are giving their problems to the next generation - So many women have a perception that another person’s life is better than theirs - We often ‘go things alone’ because we think no one else is going through what we are - The story element in the Women Enough campaign is what helps to bridge the gap between perception and reality - Getting women to represent diversity in the photo shoot was difficult due to women’s insecurity around their bodies - Regardless of whether you are overweight or underweight everyone has issues with how they look - Everyone deals with the same issues but it’s their own version of it - The educational aspect of the campaign is for people to take care of themselves regardless of what they look like - The campaign is about women being able to look at themselves - Michelle found that sharing her story disarmed others and gave them permission to do the same - The most successful entrepreneurs and business owners are those who are comfortable being vulnerable and sharing openly about their struggle and journey The Bare Campaign - The campaign is a way for women to have a place and space in the world - The website was created on Square Space - There was more than 200K organic visits to the website in the first week - The Bare Campaign photos are on the website and social media, however, the goal is to have a billboard campaign that features women and their stories - Women can chose their level of involvement in the campaign - Some women do a Bare Photo Shoot to go through the experience but don’t publish their images - The photo shoots are a way for women to address what’s inside of them that is holding them back Media Relationships and Reaching Out - Scout Willis (Demi Moore’s daughter) responded to tweets and is going to join the campaign - Michelle admits she is relentless when it comes to reaching out to the media and celebrities - The ‘ask’ is to be part of the #BareCampaign - Often people won’t respond the first time so you’ll need to continue reaching out in order to get a response - Michelle has a spreadsheet of magazines and blogs that have the target demographic as well as women who she would like to be part of the campaign - There is a lot of groundwork in getting an outreach spreadsheet started - If someone engages on Twitter it is great to follow up within 24 hours - Many celebrities have agents that you need to contact in order to have a conversation - We all want to be further along than we are, however, we still need to give ourselves the acknowledgement of how much has been accomplished - If you have narrowed down your audience it is possible for your pitch to multiple outlets to be the same
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio!
The music in today's episode was written by The Danger Os and produced by Nick Palmer. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/thedangerosmakemusic
Links to Resources Mentioned
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Wed, 5 November 2014
Summary On this episode of Rhodes to Success I interview Diane Gardner who is the founder of Adept Business Solutions and Tax Pro Solutions. She is known widely as ‘The Tax Coach’ and is the bestselling co-author of Why Didn’t My CPA Tell Me That? Obamacare Survival Guide, and the Ten Most Expensive Tax Mistakes That Cost You Thousands amongst numerous other publications. Diane helps entrepreneurs nationwide pay the least amount of taxes they can legally pay.
Main Questions Asked - What is a tax coach and why should we find one for ourselves? - What do you mean by a co-author book and what is the process? - What is ‘lumpy mail’? - What is the process for writing your book and tips on getting content written? - Share about the relationship behind the scenes with your co-author - What is your advice as a tax coach? - What is the biggest tax mistakes people make?
Key Lessons Learned
Tax Coaches & Tax Mistakes - Tax coaches are your strategists and planners who come up with a proactive 3-5 year plan that factors in personal goals and expected business growth - A mistake is not deducting your home office expenses and mileage - 2014 tax deduction for mileage is $0.56c a mile - Being in the wrong tax entity can cost you thousands of dollars
Co-Authored books - Being an author is a great way to become an authority in your industry - Figure out what your ‘prime writing time’ is and stick to that schedule - Since your name is on the product you have to be careful who you partner with (make sure you’ve known them a while and trust them) - Do your research on your co-author to find out what their work ethic is and the quality of work they are producing - Always make clear on who is doing what work when in a partnership - Split the content with your co-author and commit to having chapters done by agreed upon dates
Lumpy Mail - Lumpy mail is odd shaped mail that won’t stay in the pile and is moved to the top of the pile. - It has a better chance it will be opened due to its size and shape - Lumpy mail is a marketing strategy
Deadlines - When you are launching a podcast or a book you need to give yourself a launch date or it will never happen - When choosing a launch date make sure to look at the time of year; day, month, and week. What is going on in your industry at that time? - Find something that draws people to urgency when they are buying
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio! The music in today's episode was written by The Danger Os and produced by Nick Palmer. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/thedangerosmakemusic
Links to Resources Mentioned
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