The Friday Habit

How to Unmanage Your Team with Jack Skeels

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 17 May 2024 04:00:00 -0600

Join us as Jack Skeels dives into the fascinating world of 'unmanagement' and redefines the role of managers in today's organizations. In this engaging conversation, Jack challenges traditional notions of control and instead, champions authority and empowerment. He introduces us to the four pivotal moments every manager should master: why, what, go, and grow. By clearly communicating the 'why' behind tasks, Jack argues that managers can ignite purpose and improve decision-making across their teams. He also underscores the power of giving teams control over their work, which can lead to a more collaborative and fruitful work environment.

Throughout our discussion, Jack shares valuable insights on leveraging individual strengths and fostering autonomy among employees. He stresses the importance of self-assessment for managers and the benefits of soliciting team feedback through surveys to enhance productivity. Wrapping up, Jack advises against micromanagement, advocating instead for a workplace culture that's both positive and empowering. Tune in to discover how you can transform your management style and create a thriving work environment.

Takeaways

Managers should focus on authority and empowerment rather than control.
Communicating the why behind tasks and projects provides purpose and enables better decision-making.
Empowering teams and giving them control over their work leads to a more collaborative and productive work environment.
The four key managerial moments are why, what, go, and grow. Understand individual strengths and provide autonomy to employees
Continuously assess yourself as a manager and seek feedback from your team
Use surveys to gauge how well you are helping your employees be productive
Avoid micromanaging and focus on creating a positive work culture

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Setting the Stage
07:56 The Manager Tax and the Need for Effective Management
24:06 Creating a Productive Work Environment
30:48 Dedicated Time for Improvement and Problem-Solving
39:55 Assessing Yourself as a Manager
49:37 Final Thoughts: Don't Be That Guy

Episode Links

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

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The Power of Systems and Processes in Business with Sarah Noel Block

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 10 May 2024 04:00:00 -0600

Alright, buckle up for this episode! Mark and Ben are joined by the one and only Sarah Noel Block, the brain behind Tiny Marketing. They dive into the nitty-gritty of why having solid systems and processes in your business is like adding rocket fuel to your success rocket. Sarah spills the beans on her Tiny Marketing Framework, breaking it down into streamlining, systematizing, automating, and outsourcing - the holy grail for growth.

But wait, there's more! They dish out on the perks of outsourcing tasks that either drain your energy or aren't your forte. Ever thought about how telling a strategic story could up your lawn care game? They go there too!

Sarah lays it all out, focusing on the Tiny Marketing Framework: streamline, systematize, automate, and outsource. She hammers home the importance of singling out one customer avatar, one core channel, one core content, one lead generator, and one lead offer to craft a killer marketing strategy. Oh, and she's all about leveraging other people's audiences to get your name out there.

The bottom line? Audit your offers, figure out which ones are bringing home the bacon, and give 'em the spotlight they deserve. Trust us, you won't want to miss this marketing masterclass!

Takeaways

Creating systems and processes in business can lead to growth and success.
The Tiny Marketing Framework includes streamlining, systematizing, automating, and outsourcing.
Outsourcing tasks that are not a business owner's strengths or that take up too much time can save time and money.
The strategic story is an all-in-one messaging and content marketing strategy that can be applied to different businesses. Implement the tiny marketing framework: streamline, systematize, automate, and outsource your marketing efforts.
Choose one customer avatar, one core channel, one core content, one lead generator, and one lead offer to create a focused and strategic marketing plan.
Borrow other people's audiences to build reputation and reach new customers.
Audit your offers to determine the most profitable ones to market and pay attention to.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Friday Habit
09:21 COVID as a Catalyst for Change
15:18 The Benefits of Outsourcing
32:58 Borrowing Audiences

Episode Links

https://www.sarahnoelblock.com/

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

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Ego Battles and Conformity Struggles: The Leadership Journey with Kyle McDowell

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 03 May 2024 04:00:00 -0600

Kyle McDowell takes us on his journey from a cramped cubicle to leading a massive team, focusing on a shift towards 'we'-oriented leadership. He really hammers home the idea that making a difference and nurturing genuine connections matter more than just climbing the success ladder. McDowell dives into the struggles leaders often face, like battling with ego and feeling the pressure to fit a certain mold. He's big on owning up to mistakes and having each other's backs. McDowell draws inspiration from leaders like Harry Kramer, who walk the talk and own their actions.

In his chat with Mark, they get into the nitty-gritty of responsibility, problem-solving, and leading by example. They break down the 10 principles from Kyle's book, 'Begin with We,' stressing the importance of doing right, walking the talk, and sticking to your word. Their talk drives home the point that leaders need to be accountable, push each other, and tackle challenges head-on to foster a top-notch culture.

Takeaways

Focus on making an impact and prioritize relationships over superficial success.
Leaders often struggle with ego and the pressure to conform to certain behaviors.
Accepting responsibility for mistakes and supporting each other are crucial for effective leadership.
Leaders like Harry Kramer, who demonstrate integrity and take ownership of their actions, serve as role models. Leaders should focus on finding solutions rather than making excuses.
Taking responsibility for mistakes and picking each other up is crucial for a positive work environment.
The 10 principles for building a culture of excellence include doing the right thing, leading by example, saying what you'll do and doing it, taking action, owning mistakes, picking each other up, measuring outcomes, challenging each other, embracing challenges, and obsessing over details.
Self-reflection is key to becoming an effective leader.
Leaders should surround themselves with people who complement their skills and be humble about their own strengths.
Engaging with followers and helping others on their leadership journey is important for creating a movement.

Main Topics

00:00 Introduction and Background
05:56 The Importance of Making an Impact and Prioritizing Relationships
10:01 Challenges Faced by Leaders: Ego and Conformity
15:07 Accepting Responsibility and Supporting Each Other: Key Leadership Traits
25:05 Creating Solutions and Moving Forward
29:42 Saying What You'll Do and Doing It
33:16 Measuring Outcomes and Focusing on Results
36:41 Obsessing Over Details and Setting a High Standard
44:12 Self-Reflection and Becoming an Effective Leader

Episode Links

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Client Retention Revolution: Elevating Customer Experience with Richard Weylman

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 04:00:00 -0600

Welcome to another episode of The Friday Habit! Today, Mark and Ben chat with Richard Weylman, the mastermind behind '100 Proven Ways to Acquire and Keep Clients for Life.'

Richard's journey from selling cookware door-to-door to becoming a guru in speaking and customer experience is truly inspiring. He emphasizes the power of connecting with people and nurturing relationships in business.

We delve into the 'great reevaluation' phenomenon, where folks are seeking businesses that exude thoughtfulness and empathy. Richard shares practical tips on communicating from the consumer's perspective and creating emotionally engaging experiences.

We also touch on the importance of crafting a vision for customer experience and personalization. Plus, we learn from industry giants like Chick-fil-A and Apple about the magic of exceptional customer service.

In a nutshell: Treat customers as individuals, stay connected, and be top of mind when opportunities arise.

Takeaways

Building relationships and connecting with people is crucial in any business.
The 'great reevaluation' is happening in the business world, where people are reevaluating their choices and looking for providers who demonstrate thoughtfulness, kindness, caring, and empathy.
Communicating from the consumer's perspective and creating an elevated experience fosters emotional engagement with clients.
Demonstrating empathy and asking questions in a thoughtful and kind manner can lead to better communication and stronger relationships with clients. Create a vision for the customer experience and focus on the customer
Know the preferred name of customers and use it
Focus on the outcomes customers want
Ask why customers left previous providers
Send thank-you notes to customers who say no
Treat customers as people and stay in touch with them

Main Topics

00:00 Introduction and Background of Richard Wildman
15:46 The 'Great Reevaluation' in the Business World
31:33 The Power of Thoughtfulness and Kindness
37:35 Elevated Experience and Emotional Engagement
45:28 Focusing on Outcomes and Asking Why
54:59 Building Relationships and Treating Customers as People

Episode Links

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Megan Gluth Bohan's Journey from Law to Leadership

Mark Labriola II — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 04:00:00 -0600

The Friday Habit: Megan Gluth Bohan's Journey from Law to Leadership

This episode of The Friday Habit features Megan Gluth Bohan, an award-winning entrepreneur, CEO & Owner of Catalynt Solutions, Inc. (formerly TRInternational, Inc.) and owner of ChemBlend of America. Megan shares her inspiring journey from growing up in a small town with a single mother to becoming a successful multinational corporation CEO. She discusses the challenges and pivotal moments in her life, including battling alcohol addiction, being kicked out of college, and eventually finding her path through law school. Megan also talks about her transition from practicing law to acquiring and leading a chemical and raw materials business. The episode emphasizes the importance of empathetic leadership, the power of saying 'yes' to opportunities, and the belief that it's never too late to change your life’s direction. Megan's story is a testament to resilience, the pursuit of success against all odds, and the impact of mentorship and opportunity.

00:00 Welcome to The Friday Habit: Elevating Small Businesses
01:13 Introducing Megan Gluth Bohan: From Small Town to CEO
01:42 The Journey of a Multinational CEO: Megan's Story
04:39 Overcoming Obstacles: Megan's Path to Success
06:53 The Power of Saying Yes: Navigating Life's Opportunities
09:02 From Law School to Leadership: Megan's Transformation
16:44 Embracing the Outdoors: A New Chapter on the West Coast
17:30 A Bold Move West and the Start of a New Chapter
18:17 The Leap from Law to Entrepreneurship
21:01 Becoming Part of a Succession Plan
22:44 The Transition to Ownership and Leadership
29:11 Navigating Business Ownership During a Pandemic
30:22 Empathetic Leadership and Building a Community
33:03 Reflecting on the Journey and Key Takeaways

AI vs. Human Creativity: Finding the Right Balance with Jeremy Ryan Slate part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 04:23:00 -0600

Welcome back to The Friday Habit! In part two of our interview with Jeremy Ryan Slate, we continue our exploration of how embracing the concept of "good enough" can lead to greater success for businesses and teams.

Jeremy expands on the idea that the pursuit of perfection in every detail can actually hinder growth and effective delegation. Instead, he suggests focusing on measurable outcomes based on customer satisfaction. By shifting the focus from perfection to achieving results that satisfy the customer, businesses can develop a more sustainable growth strategy.

We also dive into the importance of fostering trust within teams. Jeremy emphasizes the significance of respecting diverse styles and approaches among team members. By creating an environment where individuals feel empowered to contribute their unique skills and ideas, leaders can streamline operations and free up time to focus on strategic expansion.

In summary, our conversation with Jeremy highlights the value of finding a balance between excellence and efficiency, as well as building trust within teams to drive success.

Main Topics

00:01:04: Importance of delegation and trust in growth
00:03:37: The role of AI tools in podcasting
00:05:25: Evolution with technology, importance of starting with video
00:10:00: Being authentic and honest in content
00:13:19: The potential consequences of AI development
00:16:27: Potential new career paths due to AI development
00:17:09: Role of technology in problem-solving
00:22:16: Copyright infringement and AI

Episode Links

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Navigating Entrepreneurship: Balancing Business and Lifestyle with Jeremy Ryan Slate part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 04:00:00 -0600

Welcome to another episode of The Friday Habit! Today, we've got the one and only Jeremy Ryan Slate, CEO of Command Your Brand, joining us for an enlightening chat.

Jeremy is here to unravel the joys and challenges of the entrepreneurial journey, shedding light on how the Friday Habit philosophy can drive both business growth and personal satisfaction. He's dishing out some invaluable insights on strategic planning and smart investments – essential ingredients for any successful venture.

But Jeremy's wisdom extends beyond just business. He's also delving into the profound connection between the human soul and nature, and why integrating natural elements into our personal spaces can work wonders for creativity and well-being.

And if that wasn't enough, Jeremy's sharing some fantastic tips on sprucing up our living and working environments, because let's face it, a well-crafted workspace can make all the difference. So, sit back, relax, and let's dive into this enriching conversation with Jeremy Ryan Slate!

Main Topics

00:06:29: Systemizing and reducing waste within a business
00:13:04: Company size and employment structure
00:13:57: Switch to remote work
00:15:03: Monitoring of employee productivity
00:17:10: The Value of Big Company Mindset
00:18:20: Transitioning from Phase One to Phase Two in Business
00:19:34: The Importance of Standardization for Growth
00:21:13: Shifting Viewpoint: From Fixer to Problem Solver

Episode Links

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Engaging the Gig Economy with FreeUp and Brittany Brewer

Mark Labriola II — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:17:38 -0700

Episode Summary:
Join Mark Labriola II in this insightful episode of The Friday Habit as he dives into the freelance revolution with Brittany Brewer, a senior account executive at FreeUp. Discover Brittany's journey from renovating a school bus for a digital nomad lifestyle to her pivotal role in the freelancing world. This episode covers the impact of COVID-19 on freelancing, the unique approach of FreeUp, and the benefits of leveraging freelancers for business growth.

Key Takeaways:

Brittany's transition to the freelancing industry and her significant contributions to FreeUp.
How FreeUp distinguishes itself from other freelancing platforms by focusing on quality and a rigorous vetting process.
Practical advice for small business owners on utilizing freelancers to scale their operations efficiently.

Special Offer:
Brittany offers The Friday Habit listeners an exclusive $50 credit to get started with FreeUp. Visit freeuppod.com to claim your credit and find the perfect freelancer for your needs.

Episode Highlights:

The evolution of freelancing and how it has become a viable career path post-COVID-19.
The advantages of using FreeUp to connect with top-tier freelancers for your business needs.
Brittany's personal journey from a traditional job to embracing a digital nomad lifestyle.
Strategies for effectively integrating freelancers into your business model.

Connect with Us:
For more episodes and resources to help grow your business, visit thefridayhabit.com. Have questions or feedback? Email us at hello@thefridayhabit.com.

Call to Action:
Don't let fear hold you back from exploring the potential of freelancing for your business. Reach out to FreeUp to find out how they can support your growth with their curated network of freelancers.

Maximize Your Margins: ROI-Focused Sales Tactics with Ian Campbell

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 06:55:00 -0700

Episode Summary:

In this episode of The Friday Habit, hosts Mark Labriola and Benjamin Manley sit down with Ian Campbell, CEO of Nucleus Research. Ian shares his extensive experience and insights into the world of investigative research and how businesses can leverage the concept of Return on Investment (ROI) to enhance sales, improve services, and ultimately win more deals. Whether you're a small business owner, a freelancer, or a creative, this conversation is packed with valuable advice on how to prove ROI and focus your efforts to grow your business.

Key Takeaways:

The Importance of ROI: Ian emphasizes the significance of demonstrating the value of investments to potential clients. He discusses how understanding and presenting ROI can be a game-changer in sales and business development.
Three Ways to Deliver Value: Ian breaks down the three core ways businesses can deliver value to their clients: increasing productivity, decreasing costs, or boosting profitability. He explains how aligning your services with these value propositions can significantly impact your sales approach.
The Power of Focusing on Niches: The conversation highlights the importance of specialization and focusing on what you do best. Ian shares insights into how narrowing down services to meet specific market needs can lead to business growth and success.
Actionable Strategies for Value Selling: Ian provides listeners with practical strategies to implement value selling in their business practices. From identifying customer needs to developing a value proposition and quantifying benefits, the discussion is a roadmap for anyone looking to enhance their sales approach.
Leveraging Customer Success Stories: The importance of using customer success stories and references is discussed. Ian advises on how to effectively use testimonials to demonstrate value and credibility to potential clients.

Action Item:

Identify the top two or three ways your business delivers value to its clients. Focus on these aspects in your marketing and sales efforts to communicate the tangible benefits of working with your company.

Resources Mentioned:

The Value Sale (Book by Ian Campbell)
Nucleus Research

Connect with Ian Campbell:

Website: Nucleus Research
Email: ian@nucleusresearch.com

About The Friday Habit:

The Friday Habit is the go-to podcast for business owners, freelancers, and creatives who want to transform their passion into a successful enterprise. Join Mark and Ben every week as they dive into the strategies and insights that can help you make every day feel like Friday.

Subscribe & Review:

Don’t miss out on future episodes! Subscribe to The Friday Habit on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. Your feedback helps us improve and reach more listeners like you.

Strategic Real Estate Investments for Beginners with Dan Templin part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 04:00:00 -0700

Wondering how businesses can make the most of their resources to boost earnings? Curious about the role of financial and tax management in the real estate sector? Well, you're in luck because we've got the answers for you in the latest episode of The Friday Habit. This is part two of our conversation with Dan Templin, where we're going to delve into the fascinating world of property utilization and explore how savvy entrepreneurs can use cutting-edge software solutions to offer flexibility and variety in their rental setups.

But that's not all – we're also going to dive deep into financial strategies. We'll take a closer look at LLC structuring, cost segregation studies, and 1031 exchanges and how they can lead to some serious savings. And hey, who doesn't love credit card rewards, right? We're going to show you how entrepreneurs can really cash in on those rewards if they master the art.

And as we wrap things up, we'll share some final thoughts on the importance of having a well-rounded perspective when it comes to managing your business and property. So don't miss out – tune in for all this and more in part two of our conversation with Dan Templin!

Main Topics

Marriage and Entrepreneurship
Strategies on Starting Business with Limited Resources
Networking and Communication in Business
Business Structure and Tax Strategies
The importance of leveraging others' knowledge and expertise

Episode Links

https://www.instagram.com/thebusinessman_dan/
https://www.thebusinessmandan.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvvlEOWw5M-erkL2-7wOlPA

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Strategic Real Estate Investments for Beginners with Dan Templin part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 16:00:00 -0700

Join us on an exciting journey into the world of real estate investment with your hosts, Mark Labriola II and Benjamin Manley. In this episode, we're here to not only help you grow your wealth but also lay the foundation for a lasting legacy.

We're joined by a special guest, Dan Templin, a renowned business expert, to provide even more valuable insights.

We'll uncover the secrets of the property market and draw on the wisdom of seasoned investors, including Dan Templin, to prepare you for the ups and downs of real estate investment. Discover how tangible assets can open up new opportunities and why this sector is a key to financial success for entrepreneurs and creatives alike.

Our mantra for this episode is to "start small but think big." We'll guide you through the practical steps of entering the world of real estate, beginning with the importance of securing a steady income and building a strong financial foundation. We'll also highlight the potential pitfalls of hasty investments without proper planning.

Get ready to dive into the nitty-gritty of buying undervalued properties and turning them into profitable investments. With mentorship from experienced realtors, Mark, Benjamin, and our special guest, Dan Templin, will provide insights tailored to your financial situation and the current market conditions.

So, whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting out, join us for this enlightening journey into the world of real estate investment. It's time to make your money work for you and create a legacy that will endure for generations to come.

Main Topics

00:14:55: Owning multiple businesses
00:18:03: Expansion into real estate and property ownership
00:20:31: Introduction of new property investment system, Plex Hacking.
00:22:47: Importance of a well balanced portfolio
00:23:24: Lessons from franchising a laundromat

Episode Links

https://www.instagram.com/thebusinessman_dan/
https://www.thebusinessmandan.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvvlEOWw5M-erkL2-7wOlPA

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Project Management: The Key to Sustaining Business Growth - Clint Padgett Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 04:00:00 -0700

Welcome back to part two of our 2-part episode of The Friday Habit! In this installment, we continue our exploration of project management with our special guest, Clint Padgett.

We're picking up right where we left off, delving into the world of informed scheduling decisions, strategic resource utilization, and the critical role of engagement and transparency in building a sense of ownership among team members.

Plus, we'll dive deeper into the exciting intersection of technology and project planning, discussing how automation and AI are transforming the field while emphasizing the enduring importance of human collaboration, commitment, accountability, and pride in the work.

If you missed part one, be sure to catch up, and if you're ready for more insights into project success, you're in the right place!

Main Topics

02:05: The importance of people management in project success
05:24: The silo effect in companies
18:03: The necessity of in-person meetings for connection
20:33: Managing by Commitment
28:22: The future of project management

Episode Links

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Project Management: The Key to Sustaining Business Growth - Clint Padgett Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 04:00:00 -0700

Welcome to another exciting episode of The Friday Habit! Today, we've got a fantastic guest lined up for you. We're catching up with Clint Padgett, a seasoned pro in the world of project management. Clint's not just any project management guru; he's also the president of Project Success, Inc. We'll be diving into some intriguing topics today, focusing on sustainable business growth and how project management plays a crucial role in achieving those long-term success goals.

Now, let's start by hearing Clint's insights on what he's learned from his father about the core essence of project management. Plus, we'll chat about the significance of operational management and how it all ties into the ambitious pursuit of growing your business.

But that's not all! Clint has an inspiring journey that we'll be exploring today. He's gone from the Navy to higher education and even worked at The Coca-Cola Company. It's a story that highlights how a strong work ethic and unwavering dedication can take you places. From his time in the military to overcoming some seriously tough working conditions and pursuing higher education, Clint embodies the idea that the harder you work, the luckier you become. So, stay tuned for some incredible insights and stories from Clint Padgett!

Main Topics

00:04:15: Entrepreneurship in a small town
00:08:57: Clint's experience in the Navy and the shipyard
00:11:03: Working at Coca Cola
00:14:00: The balance of hard work and perseverance in success
00:17:26: The beginning of the journey towards the Olympics
00:20:44: Working cross-functional projects
00:22:54: Journey from being an employee to the company's CEO

Episode Links

https://clintonmpadgett.com/
https://projectsuccess.com/

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

From Career Beginnings to Entrepreneurial Success: Interview with Ron Simmons Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 04:00:00 -0700

In this episode, we have the privilege of interviewing Ron Simmons, a seasoned entrepreneur and former politician. Ron's journey is filled with valuable insights and wisdom that every small business owner and aspiring entrepreneur should hear. Join us as we dive into a conversation about lifelong learning, the secrets to maintaining a successful long-term partnership, taking bold and uncomfortable steps, recognizing opportunities, and finding the perfect balance between faith and entrepreneurship. Ron introduces a unique metaphor—the "red wagon"—to help us understand the different roles and responsibilities in business.

Key Highlights:

1. Ron emphasizes the significance of focusing on execution and not letting worries about things beyond your control hold you back. It's all about taking action and making things happen.

2. Ron shares the importance of finding mentors in various aspects of life and business. These mentors can provide valuable guidance and insights that can make a world of difference in your journey.

3. Personal growth and reflection are key components of success. Ron encourages us to invest in our personal development and take the time to think and reflect on our goals and progress.

4. Ron highlights the value of authenticity and transparency in both personal and professional life. Being genuine and honest in your interactions can build trust and credibility.

5. Challenges are a part of every entrepreneurial journey. Ron's advice? Stay laser-focused on your goals, adapt to changing circumstances, and maintain a positive attitude even in the face of adversity.

From Career Beginnings to Entrepreneurial Success: Interview with Ron Simmons Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0700

Welcome to The Friday Habit with your hosts Mark and Ben! In this episode, we have a special guest joining us, Ron Simmons, a seasoned politician who served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives. During his time in the House, Ron was a member of several crucial committees, including Appropriations, Transportation, Elections, Homeland Security, and Business & Industry.

Join us as Mark, Ben, and Ron engage in an enlightening discourse about harnessing opportunities and maintaining a targeted focus in entrepreneurship. They'll illustrate how seemingly minor engagements can open new windows of opportunity and advise on the importance of concentrated efforts within one's chosen niche.

Practical steps on optimizing focus and harnessing opportunities will be discussed comprehensively for the benefit of aspiring entrepreneurs. Additionally, our hosts and guest will bring forward the necessity of adapting businesses to client needs and market shifts, emphasizing the balance between innovation and core values.

Mark, Ben, and Ron will also encourage entrepreneurs to cultivate a culture of continuous innovation, embracing technological advances and building a scalable business infrastructure. Tune into this episode for fresh perspectives on entrepreneurship and strategies for success in the face of evolving markets.

Building a Business with Excellence and Love: The Andre Dantzler Journey

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 04:00:00 -0700

In this episode, Mark Labriola II and Benjamin Manley interview Andre Dantzler from SociallyU. Andre shares his journey from working in the corporate world to starting his own business and the importance of systems and mindset in building a successful business. He emphasizes the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship and the importance of finding alignment in your work. Andre also discusses the balance between work and family life and the process of discovering your identity and purpose. He shares his experience of hiring and growing his team, emphasizing the value of caring for employees and creating a positive customer experience. Andre also highlights the significance of excellence and love in his approach to business. He explains how sharing knowledge and secrets has been revolutionary for his company. Overall, Andre's journey showcases the power of building a team, fostering ownership, and prioritizing the well-being of both employees and customers.

Takeaways

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart and requires resilience and optimism.
Finding alignment in your work and saying no to opportunities that don't align with your values and strengths is crucial.
Balancing work and family life is essential, and it's important to prioritize and be present in each area.
Discovering your identity and purpose takes time and self-reflection.
Growth in business often requires hiring and surrounding yourself with the right people. Building a successful business requires a systems mindset and the ability to ask the right questions.
Hiring employees instead of relying solely on contractors can lead to a more cohesive and committed team.
Excellence and love are key guiding principles for creating a positive customer experience.
Sharing knowledge and secrets can lead to growth and attract clients who appreciate transparency and value.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to The Friday Habit

01:01 Guest Introduction: Andre Dantzler from SociallyU

02:27 Andre's Origin Story and Business Journey

08:54 Leaving the Corporate World and Starting His Own Business

13:15 The Challenges and Rewards of Entrepreneurship

19:19 Balancing Work and Family Life

25:32 Finding Alignment and Saying No to Opportunities

29:34 Discovering Identity and Purpose

35:33 Growth and Hiring in the Business

35:46 The Importance of Systems and Mindset

36:46 Challenges and Growth in the Studio

37:33 The Impact of Growth on Systems

39:14 Hiring and Financial Considerations

40:28 The Difference Between Contractors and Employees

41:48 Creating a Team and Fostering Ownership

44:31 Building a Sustainable Business

45:53 The Importance of Excellence and Love

47:48 Creating a Positive Customer Experience

50:42 The Role of Hospitality in Shaping Culture

53:12 The Power of Caring for People

56:05 The Value of Sharing Secrets and Knowledge

01:01:42 Connecting with Socially Inclined

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Spicy Conversations at Work with Patrick Thean - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 10:03:59 -0600

Welcome to another episode of The Friday Habit, where your hosts Mark Labriola II and Benjamin Manley, along with guest Patrick Thean, guide you to strike the right balance between strategy and execution. Tune in as they elaborate on "# CEOs and the Crucial Role of Execution in Business Success." Uncover the deeper layers of effective execution, its pivotal role in transforming grand strategies into tangible results, and the importance of embedding it into your business operations. Learn to foster a rhythm that meshes brilliantly with your execution-focused mindset and how to cultivate it in your organization's day-to-day operations.

Further, delve into a discussion about stepping up from an enterprising entrepreneur to a strategic CEO. Take away invaluable insights from this enlightening conversation around the common struggles, epiphanies, and identity realization that ensues during this evolution. Whether you are on the path of selling your first enterprise, poised to usher into a new venture, or finding your niche, this episode is sure to provide a trove of wisdom to aid your journey.

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Spicy Conversations at Work with Patrick Thean - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Though Patrick Thean’s list of accomplishments as a CEO, international speaker and best selling author is impressive, his humble attitude is what really draws clients to him. Growing up in Singapore, Patrick experimented early on with small business ideas, selling tape recordings of the World Cup to his friends in grade school. He later came to the United States and graduated from Cornell with an engineering degree, met his wife and founded his first company. Patrick’s business philosophy is both strategic and personal. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and is more interested in executing what he’s promised to his clients. Now he passionately and purposefully coaches business owners to identify a problem that needs solving as the foundation for a successful business plan. His three keys to success are focus, alignment within the team, and accountability to commitments. By consistently reflecting on what can be learned in each interaction with someone, Patrick continues to build a legacy focused on “people to people” relationships.

Main Topics

Patrick’s early entrepreneurial spark (01:30)
Solve a problem with your business plan (05:25)
3 keys to success (08:47)
Patrick’s first company (11:00)
Repeat the sales pitch (15:15)
Learning from every interaction (18:00)
Main concepts of his book Rhythm (20:40)

Episode Links

https://www.patrickthean.com/new-home

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Storytelling for Purpose-Driven Marketing with Mark Carpenter pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 04:00:00 -0600

In part two of the discussion with storyteller, author, and keynote speaker Mark Carpenter, he shares some of the strategies he employs in telling great stories people will remember. Before utilizing storytelling to teach, lead, sell or inspire, it is important to know the purpose behind telling that story. When the storyteller is clear on why they are sharing a story, they can choose important details to share or discard, and the pacing falls into place. They can also begin to look for experiences to turn into stories that would serve their purpose.

Mark encourages authenticity in delivering a story. Citing recent groundbreaking research, the neuroscience behind the power of storytelling is compelling. Brain wave activity increases during a story versus simply receiving information. When listeners engage with a story, they access their personal memories in order to find relatability, which solidifies the likelihood they will remember the message. Stories also trigger the brain to release oxytocin, which is the chemical that leads to trust and connectivity. When a storyteller shares authentically with honorable intention, people respond with deeper levels of engagement and buy-in. Not to be used in a manipulative way, the power of storytelling as a leadership skill is growing at the corporate level thanks to pioneers like Mark. Humans have communicated through storytelling for millenia; it only makes sense that forward-thinking leaders would apply the approach to professional development.

Main Topics

Using storytelling in sales (01:20)
Common roadblocks in developing stories (04:25)
Pacing in storytelling (06:50)
Impact of stories on the brain (10:00)
Increasing relatability chemicals in the brain (15:25)
Mark’s current consulting projects (18:30)
Workshops for use storytelling as a leadership skill (21:30)

Episode Links

https://master-storytelling.com

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Storytelling for Purpose-Driven Marketing with Mark Carpenter pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Teaching and storytelling is in Mark Carpenter’s DNA. With decades of experience in corporate communications, marketing, writing, and consulting, Mark now helps people master the art of storytelling to communicate information with purpose. In his work with clients, he often hears objections to storytelling because people don’t believe they have any stories worth telling. As outlined in his book and through his insightful training techniques, Mark guides leaders in crafting extraordinarily powerful stories from seemingly ordinary experiences.

One of the most important factors in achieving masterful storytelling is clearly defining the purpose of the story. Any experience that evokes an emotional reaction holds within it a lesson. Inspired by Joseph Campbell’s archetypal Hero’s Journey, Mark breaks down story development into three sections: the current state, the conflict, and the change. When leaders use storytelling to relay information, they are transferring the wisdom of experience so that the listener doesn’t need to go through it themselves. As with any professional development skill, storytelling is like a muscle that builds strength through practice and repetition. Most people learn best through stories as they are more engaged and likely to retain the information.

Main Topics

Teaching is in Mark’s DNA (04:10)
Emotional reactions lead to great stories (07:00)
Storytelling as a leadership skill (10:00)
Developing storytelling through practice (10:46)
How Mark strengthened his storytelling skills (14:05)
Storytelling vs. relaying information (15:15)
Using stories to teach, lead, sell and inspire (17:45)

Episode Links

https://master-storytelling.com

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Building a Business For a Better Life with Justin Jackson, Co-Founder of Transistor

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0600

When podcaster, author, and lifelong entrepreneur Justin Jackson co-founded Transistor, a podcast publishing platform, he already had years of experience building a business. As a child and young adult, Justin experimented with writing code and starting businesses in industries that interested him. When he and his wife started their family, the pressure to achieve financial security increased. Though some of his ventures failed, all these experiences were setting him up for his next big achievement. Because of his time being saturated in the market, he was able to catch the right wave at the right time; he’s riding that wave all the way to success.

Justin’s advice to those looking to start a business is to build something for which people are already searching. Around 2016 when podcasting was just beginning to gain popularity, he noticed that it was still very much a DIY industry. Thus the idea to streamline podcast publication was born. Now Transistor makes creating podcasts accessible for the average person, regardless of their experience with coding and technology. In this way, clients find him instead of having to seek out those who are interested in his product. He’s also invested a lot of intentional time building relationships with his partner and team members. The purpose of owning his own company is to build a beautiful life for himself and those he works with. Every decision is made from this personal stance, and his company continues to grow at the pace that best serves that value.

Main Topics

Growing a podcast audience (06:00)
Justin’s early love for entrepreneurship (10:45)
Understanding the dynamics of your industry (16:00)
Inner drive to forge your own path (17:30)
Balancing work and family life (22:10)
Justin’s introduction to coding (25:30)
Inspiration for Transistor (30:15)
Slow growth of the business (36:00)
Protecting your partnership (43:30)
Researching the market (51:12)
Expanding the reach for your business (56:00)
Ben’s top 5 takeaways (103:00)

Episode Links

https://transistor.fm/

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Transform Your Business by Prioritizing Profit with Susanne Mariga pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0600

CFO, author, and entrepreneurial expert Susanne Mariga builds her work around the Profit First system. Profit First allows businesses to scale in ways that increase revenue and keep the cash flowing. This system uses a series of individual bank accounts that are created for specific purposes, such as profit, salary, taxes, and operating expenses. The first bank account to receive funds is the profit account while the last is the operating expenses. Many business owners make the mistake of doing the opposite by prioritizing the expenses for running the company. When there is less money to work with, owners adjust and make decisions using the resources available to them. In Susanne’s book Profit First for Minority Business Enterprises, she helps business owners implement systems that free them from money-related stressors and earn them the salary they deserve. One of the most impactful sections of her book discusses ways to approach taxes strategically so that companies use legal entities to their benefit and subsequently build their wealth. Having financial experts like Susanne and the Mariga Group in your corner can make all the difference in the success and sustainability of your business.

Main Topics

Key aspects of the Profit First system (02:30)
Financially preparing for tax season (04:30)
Using systems that work for you (09:10)
How to get started using Profit First (12:05)
Seeking professional help with accounting (17:20)
Susanne’s book serves minority demographics (19:00)

Episode Links

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Transform Your Business by Prioritizing Profit with Susanne Mariga pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0600

When Susanne Mariga began helping out at her father’s accounting firm at age 14, she never could have imagined she would end up here. Now, Susanne is a CFO specializing in high net worth strategies for entrepreneurs and is the first millionaire in her family. Her passion is providing business owners with strategies for restructuring their companies with strategies, automations and systems so that profit flows easily. In collaboration with author Mike Michalowicz, Susanne specialized her financial mastery in her book Profit First for Minority Business Enterprises. Having built her own accounting firm, which grew to a highly successful and profitable asset, selling it has allowed her to pursue what she is most passionate about. Working one on one with clients allows her to offer insight and practical expertise so that other businesses can flourish, particularly those that are minority owned and operated. Susanne’s success only adds to her credibility as an entrepreneurial giant in her field.

Main Topics

Susanne’s journey into finance (04:45)
Daughter’s birth changed her professional trajectory (8:00)
The early days of Susanne’s new business (11:35)
Building an asset that can create revenue (13:55)
Transitioning to a profit first strategy system (15:15)

Episode Links

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The Rising Generation of World-Changing Entrepreneurs with Milan Kordestani

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Brandishing his youth as one of his greatest assets, social entrepreneur, inventor, and author Milan Kordestani can’t be contained to a single industry. A business visionary from a young age, Milan began his first financial endeavor in middle school by breeding and selling rare species of turtles. From there he continued following his natural interests which extended into writing and creating space for people to talk about challenging topics. He founded a series of startups including a freelancing site, a publishing company, and a record label. Through these experiences, he gained business knowledge and clarity about his role pertaining to startups— Milan is a small business incubator.

One of Milan’s favorite parts of building a company is getting it off the ground. He enjoys being the boots on the ground, identifying problems he might be able to solve for a specific demographic, and finding the right people to build a dream. As soon as it’s time to talk about scaling the business, he’s usually onto another project. Instead of succumbing to imposter syndrome, Milan chooses to see his youth as a strength. Through his publications, he is passionate about using his voice and unique perspective to make big changes in the world. By combining his love for entrepreneurship and his heart for bringing people together, he stands out as a leader in his generation seeking to make the world a better place.

Main Topics

Milan’s early entrepreneurial experience as a reptile breeder (02:55)
The roots of an entrepreneurial spirit (05:30)
Youth perspective in the agriculture industry (08:45)
Milan’s love of sharing his perspective through writing (11:45)
Overcoming imposter syndrome (13:15)
Milan’s first real company (14:55)
I’m Just Saying shares tools for active listening and sharing (20:50)
The process of starting multiple companies (25:10)
Vetting new ideas (30:00)

Episode Links

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The CEO of Marital Bliss: Creating a Culture Through Core Values with Meredith Monday Schwartz pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 04:00:00 -0600

CEO and culture creator Meredith Monday Schwartz is passionate about investing in her employees and building a work environment that feels like family. At her wedding venue company, Here Comes the Guide, she works tirelessly to not only hire the best people for her teams but to create a sense of equality amongst them. According to Meredith, the value of an employee is not measured by how much time they spend working. Through clearly communicated key performance indicators, the leadership team at Here Comes the Guide can easily track an individual’s growth and productivity. With a combination of trust and verification, leadership empowers employees to function at their highest capacity.

Other core values Meredith has built at her female-owned and operated company include investing in the sisterhood, putting relationships before sales, prioritizing work/life balance, and practicing fearless authenticity, especially during conflict. In order to keep drama at bay, she encourages open and honest communication directly with those involved. Through culture-building activities such as company retreats, book clubs, and small group goal setting, she is able to foster a sense of connectivity even though everyone works remotely. By implementing a more human-centered approach, Meredith is building a company that she hopes will be around long after she is gone.

Main Topics

The shift to running a fully remote company (03:12)
Operating from core values (04:45)

Hiring the right people (08:45)

Creating powerful key performance indicators (12:30)
Profit splitting between employees (16:30)
Sisterhood first at Here Comes the Guide (18:00)
Creating culture through core values (22:40)
Building relationships through conflict resolution (26:35)
Onboarding processes (31:05)

Episode Links

https://www.herecomestheguide.com

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The CEO of Marital Bliss: Building a Business Slowly with Meredith Monday Schwartz

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Meredith Monday Schwartz began her career at the women-powered wedding venue company Here Comes the Guide in 1997 as their first employee; now she’s the CEO. Before onboarding with the company, she was working in a highly stressful environment at a Top 10 legal firm as a paralegal. Seeking more life/work balance, she joined the fledgling team where she put her problem solving skills to work. In the early days, she played every role and learned how to do all the jobs she would eventually hire people to do. Those years of experience helped her develop the empathy and business savvy required to be the strong leader she is today.

Here Comes the Guide helps couples all across the country find the perfect wedding venue for them. Its business structure is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, which provides employees with a certain percentage of shareholdings after they’ve worked with the company for one year. This structure creates a sense of buy-in for employees to help the company grow and increase in value. During the global shut down in 2020, possibly one of the greatest challenges for the wedding industry to date, Here Comes the Guide actually flourished. They focused on helping clients navigate the crisis, moved to a four-day work week, and adapted to meet the ever-changing needs of their clientele. Meredith attributes much of the company’s success to their slow growth, grassroots approach that values the culture of the company over any quick profit plan.

Main Topics

How Meredith came to be a CEO (01:48)
From paralegal work to a wedding venue start-up (04:15)
The evolution of her role at Here Comes the Guide (08:35)
Benefits of knowing how to do every job at the company (12:40)
Systems and processing as a superpower (14:35)
Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) (17:00)
How the company grew through the pandemic (19:50)
Transitioning from print to virtual (24:20)
The value of slow growth (28:40)
Adopting a four-day work week (30:00)

Episode Links

https://www.herecomestheguide.com

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Trial By Fire: Life as an Indie Film Director with Stimson Snead pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 04:00:00 -0600

In part two of the discussion with independent filmmaker Stimson Snead, he shares what it takes to succeed in the film industry. His advice to younger generations seeking to pursue creative endeavors is to leverage your unique gifts and resources. Don’t trust anyone who tries to sell you a one-size-fits-all formula for success because everyone walks a different path using their own tools and networks. Stimson’s wisdom, gleaned from years of failed attempts that eventually led to profitable achievements, applies to business as well as artistic pursuits. Even though people often discuss business and art as separate entities, Stimson believes they can work together. Now directing his first feature film, Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox, he’s leaning into both his mastery of logistics and his trademark sarcastic humor to bring this dream to fruition. It takes great skill to marry both the right and left hemispheres of the brain in one project. For those seeking creative expression through their business, take the lead from Snead and learn the necessary people skills required to lead your team well.

Main Topics

Stimson’s advice to aspiring filmmakers (01:40)
Necessary skills for making art your business (05:00)
First feature film (07:50)
Developing the script for Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox (12:12)
Building the film with score, color and effects (16:15)
Process of distributing the film (21:20)

Episode Links

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

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Trial By Fire: Life as an Indie Film Director with Stimson Snead pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Stimson Snead is an award-winning film director and writer who brings his unique artistic perspective to various creative endeavors. In an industry notorious for its cutthroat culture, Snead has experienced many failures on his path to success as an independent filmmaker. But none of the creative or financial obstacles prevented him from stubbornly refusing to give up on his dream. As a visionary in his field, Snead’s snarky persona and sardonic humor delight coworkers and audiences alike.

Surrounded by talented creatives from childhood on, Snead’s radio DJ father and singer/songwriter mother instilled in him a passion for production. Even though he knew storytelling was his dream, he spent several years after film school struggling with failed projects and a lack of financial stability. Finally he began interfacing with wealthy individuals who were interested in investing in his projects, which has made all the difference. Now with a blossoming career and his sights set on big screen Hollywood films, Snead’s tenacity and determination continue to open doors into promising opportunities.

Main Topics

Stimson’s lifelong journey into creative expression and film (02:10)
Dead ends at film school (07:05)
Pulling the whole story together with directing (09:40)
Support for the current writer’s strike (13:15)
Independent film vs. corporate Hollywood (15:20)
Using failure as an impetus for growth (18:20)
Financial successes and challenges (20:10)
Choosing persistence in the face of obstacles (22:20)

Episode Links

https://stimsonsnead.com

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Building an Employee-Centric Culture with Chris Meroff pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 04:00:00 -0600

In part two, leadership coach and vulnerability advocate Chris Meroff shares his four pillars for creating powerful teams through service-minded leadership. Many leaders want to begin by making swift decisions for the company as a whole. Chris believes that should be the last step and instead begins with casting visions of the future. The goal is to help others take ownership of their vision and to invest in people so that they invite your influence. This works both in business and in personal relationships. Paired with vision casting, the second pillar is consistently demonstrating empathy. Different from sympathy, empathy requires a slower, more intentionally present pace. Investing in people with compassion and understanding builds the necessary foundation for creating values-based teams.

The third pillar of empowerment only works if leadership provides a clear road map developed through collaboration. Successful leaders encourage team members’ soft skills that lead to stronger interpersonal connections in the workplace. The final pillar is judgment, meaning those in leadership take responsibility for making critical decisions for the team because they’ve earned their respect. Rather than taking an authoritarian approach, leaders with the most influence commit to consistent principles at both home and work, and wait for the invitation to offer their expertise. Each individual creates their own glass ceiling; the best way to break through is with openness, transparency, and the full integration of personal and professional values.

Main Topics

Choosing vulnerability in leadership (01:22)
Vulnerability changes personal relationships (04:30)
Vision casting to create ownership (07:40)
Creating vision with a team (13:35)
Slowing down with empathy vs. sympathy (16:30)
Empowerment through soft skills (21:15)
Executing judgment after earning authority (24:25)
Balancing faith and hustle culture (26:45)
Chris’ current projects (29:30)

Episode Links

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Building an Employee-Centric Culture with Chris Meroff pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 04:00:00 -0600

CEO and serial entrepreneur Chris Meroff helps companies build an employee-centric culture where team members are valued for who they are, not just for what they contribute. A leadership coach, inspirational speaker, and best-selling author, Chris draws on his personal experiences from over 25 years in business. He began working in the family business where he built a strong foundation for account management and problem-solving systems. When he stepped out on his own in 2011 to start his own company, he learned valuable lessons through his successes and failures.

When his friend and business partner resigned unexpectedly, Chris used the challenging time for self-reflection and personal growth. He shifted his management style from client-centered to focus more on the happiness and wellbeing of his employees. Throughout this process, he discovered the power of leading with vulnerability. He realized that many leaders struggle to share their challenging emotions, especially in a professional setting. From his own healing journey, Chris now utilizes powerful tools such as the Enneagram to help teams communicate and interact with empathy. This approach leads to happier employees and sustainable success.

Main Topics

Chris’ love for rural Maine and Texas BBQ (01:55)
Chris’ early start in the family business (07:45)
Building a sense of intrinsic value (10:55)
Launching his own business (12:40)
Organizational unity (14:45)
Chris’ business partner resigned unexpectedly (16:00)
Using the Enneagram in business (17:45)
Leading with empathy and vulnerability in relationships (23:27)
Lack of vulnerability creates feelings of loneliness (27:00)

Episode Links

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The Science of Team Building with David Burkus Pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 04:00:00 -0600

In part two of the conversation with leadership coach and team building expert David Burkus, he offers more practical tools for creating efficient and autonomous teams. Supported by forward-thinking research, David zeroes in on the importance of psychological safety as a pillar for any organization. Psychological safety is a combination of respect and trust, especially when team members are taking interpersonal risks by sharing ideas or issues with leadership. In conversations with team members, a strong leader listens thoughtfully, summarizes what they heard, and asks clarifying follow-up questions. Research also shows that people are more invested in their output if they know who is impacted by their work. Telling human stories about a company’s effects on the larger community and offering consistent and specific gratitude increases motivation. Intentionally investing in the relationships that keep a business running smoothly ensures a culture of connection and overall job satisfaction.

Main Topics

Building an organization to run on its own (01:25)
Definition of psychological safety (04:56)
Julian Treasure’s RASA approach (08:07)
Building relationships with clear communication (10:45)
Prosocial motivation as a basic human desire (11:35)
Celebrating positive impact as a team (14:10)
It’s a Wonderful Life test (15:27)
David’s book Best Team Ever (18:55)

Episode Links

https://davidburkus.com

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The Science of Team Building with David Burkus Pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 04:00:00 -0600

As a leader in innovative business thinking and the author of several best-selling books, David Burkus specializes in helping organizations build powerful teams. His most recent book, Best Team Ever, explores the science behind what allows certain teams to thrive while others struggle. In a post-pandemic world, David believes success comes from addressing microcultures within an organization versus analyzing the business as a whole. Three components that support cohesive team building are a foundation of common understandings, psychological safety, and a unified prosocial purpose. One of the best ways to create buy-in is to include team members in the decision-making process. Today’s entrepreneurs find themselves working on several different teams, each one with a unique project and group of people. Therefore it’s essential that leaders acquire skills for navigating dynamic cultures at play within the organization.

Main Topics

Shifting from single company culture to microcultures (01:25)
The discussion around autonomy in business culture (04:25)
The science behind productive team building (06:45)
David’s 3 components for successful team building (08:50)
Creating a team charter (11:35)
Using questions to support team building (13:25)
Collaboration in creating a team’s culture (15:57)

Episode Links

https://davidburkus.com

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

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Developing Processes for Profitable Execution with Chuck Knabusch pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 04:00:00 -0600

In his book Hope is Not a Business Strategy, thought leader Chuck Knabusch offers practical advice for turning business dreams into reality. Traditional business plans are evolving to a point where entrepreneurs and creatives are designing their own processes for scaling the business and measuring growth. Planning and documentation are important, but even more impactful are the steps a leader takes towards the end goal. Some of the best lessons are learned through taking action, making mistakes, and revising the process for future success.

As businesses grow, founders begin hiring other people to take on increasing responsibilities. This can be a challenging time of transition as they learn to let go and trust their team to preserve the established culture. One pitfall to avoid is micromanaging. Rather than telling a team member how to do their tasks, it is more effective to clearly communicate desired outcomes. Chuck specializes in creating processes that best serve a company’s needs. He reiterates the importance of building these processes so that the business continues to thrive even after key players are no longer there. The most successful enterprises are those that adapt to change and use cyclical trends to their advantage. Consistent execution is the only guarantee for growth and sustainability.

Main Topics

Mistakes to avoid when building a team (01:10)
The importance of creating processes (04:44)
Breaking through growth edges (07:15)
Moving beyond the traditional business plan (10:00)
Executing great ideas (14:30)
Good business ideas for current culture (17:15)
Planning in light of AI evolution (18:45)

Episode Links

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Working On the Business, Not Just In the Business with Chuck Knabusch pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 26 May 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Chuck Knabusch is the founder 13Ten Business Solutions, LLC where he helps organizations design specific solutions for their individual needs. After his years in the military, Chuck worked for La-Z-Boy in systems management and various other applications within the company until his retirement. Now he runs his own LLC where he applies a variety of lessons learned from decades of leadership to help others maximize their potential. Chuck also wrote and published a book where he explores strategies for results-driven management based on his own experiences working with contractors. Building the foundation for any business begins by establishing core values that guide decision-making. Values lead to purpose, which then brings clarity in regards to the target audience. Clearly defining the ideal customer creates helpful parameters for marketing and outreach. It’s important to spend time working on the business, not just in the business, especially for entrepreneurs.

Main Topics

Chuck’s journey to becoming a thought leader (02:40)
His various roles working at La-Z-Boy (06:30)
Writing his book Hope is Not a Business Strategy (08:14)
Building a business based on values (09:45)
Start by defining the target audience (14:30)
Specifying the audience based on evolution of the business (17:30)

Episode Links

https://www.13ten.com

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Affordable Brand Awareness with Aditya Varanasi pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 19 May 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Entrepreneur and marketing expert Aditya Varanasi continues the conversation about advertising strategies for extending a company’s reach. Successful businesses are constantly looking for new ways to improve and grow. Powerful marketing is one tool for evaluating data and using creative problem solving skills to expand the business. What makes Aditya’s services so unique is that he uses his experience from working with a large, global corporation and converts it into strategic guidance for small businesses. Part of his mission is to provide up and coming organizations with visibility at a cost they can afford. By utilizing his micro campaign approach, he is able to individualize a business’s marketing needs in ways larger agencies cannot. Aditya’s biggest tip for current marketing trends is to look at the big picture in terms of awareness and reach. Cost per conversion is a helpful data point, but it is not the only type of marketing worth the investment.

Main Topics

Addressing the financial risks of starting a business (02:15)
How Awarity uses banner ads (05:30)
Marketing through streaming services (07:16)
Attracting large businesses to Awarity (08:43)
Common mistakes in marketing (09:53)

Episode Links

https://www.awarity.com

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Endings Are Also Beginnings: Storytelling in the Age of AI with Hugh Howey

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 12 May 2023 04:00:00 -0600

As a wildly successful author of science fiction novels and short stories, Hugh Howey pushes himself to explore new creative horizons on each project. A lover of classic dystopian novels such as Animal Farm and Fahrenheit 451, Hugh loves multi-layered storytelling that pushes our understanding of what it means to be human. In a world that’s looking more and more like the apocalyptic settings in his novels, Hugh takes a more positive perspective on the impact of technology. Instead of subscribing to sweeping fears around the rise of artificial intelligence and the impending annihilation of the human race, he sees these developments as progress. Because of AI programs such as ChatGPT, human creations and contributions to the world have the potential to live forever, long after humans are gone. For this reason, Hugh sees AI as a path to immortality, not through the physical body but through a legacy of art and information. His stories frequently explore the boundaries of the human experience, especially as humanity itself is transitioning into something new. His timely and best-selling trilogy Silo is now a television series on AppleTV.

Main Topics

Suspend expectations when it comes to creating art (02:45)
Hugh’s favorite authors (05:03)
AI and the future of humanity (07:20)
Immortality becomes possible through AI (11:55)
Human legacy lives on through our creations (13:49)
Hugh’s top 3 science fiction movies (18:10)
Turning Silo trilogy into a television show (20:35)
Executive producing on the show (23:57)

Episode Links

https://hughhowey.com

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Links:
https://tv.apple.com/us/show/silo/umc.cmc.3yksgc857px0k0rqe5zd4jice

From Day Dreamer to Bestseller: How Hugh Howey Became a NY Times Best Selling Author

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 05 May 2023 04:00:00 -0600

In this two-part episode of the podcast, Mark Labriola II and Benjamin Manley have an exclusive conversation with Hugh Howey, the New York Times bestselling author of over 20 books, including the hit "Silo Series" (FKA Wool") and Apple TV+'s upcoming series "Silo" based on Hugh Howey's New York Times bestseller trilogy. Howey shares his insights into what it takes to be a successful author and how reading novels every day played a pivotal role in his writing journey. Listeners will be inspired by Howey's advice on following their passions instead of chasing trends or money. Tune in to this podcast to gain valuable insights from one of the most successful authors of our time!

Fans of dystopian dramas won't want to miss Apple TV+'s series "Silo". The show features a star-studded cast led by Rebecca Ferguson (“Dune," “Mission: Impossible"). Get ready for an engrossing new world full of mystery and intrigue!

https://hughhowey.com/

https://a.co/d/5Q9uvw6

Affordable Brand Awareness with Aditya Varanasi pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 04:00:00 -0600

When Aditya Varanasi chose to leave the corporate world to start his own brand awareness company, he knew it was a risky move. But he recognized an unaddressed need in the small business world for affordable and effective marketing. This led him to found Awarity, a digital advertising company that drives visibility for independently owned businesses at sustainable rates.

Though he displayed entrepreneurial tendencies as a child, Aditya didn’t plan on getting into marketing. While studying pre-med at Purdue University, he followed his interest in chemical engineering which landed him a job at Frito-Lay. As he learned more about the marketing side of running a company, he realized he could provide a much needed service for other entrepreneurs. So he took the marketing strategies he learned from a large corporation and adapted them for smaller businesses. Now he works with clients to expand their reach by creating consistent brand awareness primarily through banner advertisements. He attributes his success in marketing to building persistent presence and telling a brand’s story through an emotional connection to the consumer.

Main Topics

Aditya’s early entrepreneurial spirit (03:45)
Early career at Frito-Lay (05:58)
Lessons in marketing at a large corporation (08:24)
Noticing an opportunity in marketing for small businesses (12:11)
Using banner ads (15:17)
Aditya’s strategy for scaling his business (17:30)
Applying big business strategies to small business (19:00)
Pivoting during the pandemic (22:56)

Episode Links

https://www.awarity.com

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https://schoolofman.live

School of Man with Cole Rodgers pt.2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 04:00:00 -0600

For Cole Rodgers, the truest measure of a person is the level of impact they have on the people around them. After years of struggling with his own inner demons and witnessing the death of a close friend, Cole recognized his opportunity to convert his pain into forward progress. By consistently showing up to do the healing work on himself, he made positive changes to his personal and professional life.

Now Cole uses his experiences to coach men who are seeking to step into their fullest potential. Many people are quick to focus on what they are lacking in their lives, but Cole trains men to embrace abundance. Comparison to others will only breed discontentment. Through his programs that support brotherhood and mentorship, Cole creates powerful experiences where men can build community and push themselves beyond what they believe is possible. By attending to both soul and body, community members strengthen their resolve and move toward their dreams with clear direction.

Main Topics

Cole’s turning point through the Navy SEAL’s civilian course (01:35)
The freedom of speaking our truth (04:40)
Converting pain into progress (06:40)
The trap of seeking validation from others (09:15)
Choose your network wisely (12:40)
Abundance over scarcity (14:00)
Cole’s legacy through School of Man (14:45)
Tips for tapping into your highest potential (17:00)

Episode Links

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School of Man with Cole Rodgers pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Coach and mentor Cole Rodgers is passionate about helping men step into their fullest potential as leaders and role models. Through his own dark night of the soul, he finally gave up warring with himself and realigned his values to what was most important to him. This meant leaving his corporate job, investing in his mental health through therapy, and pushing himself physically to maximum capacity. Now he uses his story as a tool to help men overcome challenges that are holding them back from living their best lives.

Cole considers himself an alpha man and uses the skills he’s honed to teach men how to lead through example. There are two sides of the alpha man—one that is unhealthy and another that has been reborn through the fire of experience. Many people, not just men, struggle with addressing conflict in a helpful way. Cole works with clients to practice leading with human connection rather than aggression or emotionality. Instead of valuing themselves around sex, money, and status, Cole’s mission is to guide men through their inner healing work so they can impact those around them in positive ways.

Main Topics

Cole’s life experiences that prepared him for coaching (04:52)
Connect before you correct in conflict (07:11)
Cole’s humble beginnings (09:14)
Rebirthing the alpha man (10:40)
Lessons from Cole’s family of origin (11:17)
Advice to young men (15:43)
Cole shifted out of the corporate world (18:00)
Self work is hard and necessary (21:54)

Episode Links

https://schoolofman.live

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Letting Go in Business with Rani Puranik pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 04:00:00 -0600

In part 2 of the discussion, business executive and philanthropist Rani Puranik shares her greatest lesson in life and business—having the courage to let go. Early in her career working for her family business, Rani spent countless hours building leadership teams and focusing on specific projects that mattered to her and the company. When her dad admired her work and then encouraged her to let go of her accounts, she wept. Fears crept in about how others might lose respect for her or allow the projects she’d started to fall to the wayside. Once she recognized the wisdom in such an approach, she was able to transition seamlessly with honor and empathy.

Throughout her time as a team leader and global CFO, Rani has learned countless valuable lessons about working with people who simply want to feel seen and heard. She is deeply invested in giving back to the community, as evidenced by her involvement with the Puranik Foundation and founding a charter school for at-risk children. From her perspective, success is only worth it if it is shared with others. In her book 7 Letters to My Daughters, Rani imparts her observations and insights on the human experience. She tells her life story broken down into seven-year segments and hopes that her struggles and triumphs speak directly to her readers. By living a life centered around helping others succeed, Rani continues to build an empire that offers support in numerous ways around the globe.

Main Topics

The freedom of letting go (02:17)
Rani empowers herself by letting go of her accounts (05:07)
The fears around letting go of what we’ve created (06:54)
Using an empathetic approach to stimulate progression (08:47)
In’s and out’s of working closely with family (10:18)
Rani’s book 7 Letters to My Daughters (14:49)
The point of success is to give back to the community (18:00)

Episode Links

https://ranipuranik.com

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Not Your Average Family Business with Rani Puranik pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Rani Puranik is a multidimensional executive leader, founder, CFO, and author making a global impact in a myriad of industries and societal spheres. She is currently overseeing several passion projects such as the Puranik Foundation, a multigenerational organization focused on providing transformational experiences through education, sustainability, and mindfulness. Throughout her journey of living in both the US and India, raising a family, and participating in the family business, Rani has built success by asking one simple question in a variety of environments: “What do you need?”

As a young mother raising daughters in India, Rani recognized the need for more opportunities where girls could freely express themselves and use their voice. This led her to develop an expressive movement program for girls which eventually expanded to her own dance school. She was able to use the systems and facilitation techniques involved for team building in other applications as well, which continued to expand her reach into additional industries. She continues to use those systems to help her run Worldwide Oilfield Machine, a global powerhouse that employs a diverse workforce in 10 different countries.

Main Topics

Rani’s gifts and interests in business even as a child (03:08)
Arranged marriages in Indian culture (06:58)
Building leadership through dance and artistic expression (08:36)
Rani develops a dance school for girls in India (09:22)

Episode Links

https://ranipuranik.com

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Serial Entrepreneurship with Yong-Soo Chung part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 04:00:00 -0600

In part 2 of the discussion with founder and CEO Yong-Soo Chung, he shares the wisdom he’s gained from years of taking risks, making mistakes and learning from every experience. For Yong-Soo, he thrives under pressure as many successful entrepreneurs do. So instead of building his businesses as side projects, he went all in. His return on such high-risk investments continues to pay off as he pushes himself and his team each day to be better than the day before. Part of succeeding in business is being willing to make mistakes. Yong-Soo admits he’s made many along the way and has also been able to turn those lessons into opportunities for growth. With all this experience, his latest passion project is a podcast in which he teaches and encourages other entrepreneurs how to avoid pitfalls and scale their businesses for maximum growth.

Main Topics

Discomfort allows us to realize our full potential (02:35)
Using data as feedback for improvement (06:03)
How to know when it’s time to expand (07:08)
Utilizing the “I, You, We” system for scaling a business (09:35)
Hiring the right people for the job (10:55)
How Yong-Soo builds his life around change (16:13)
First Class Founders podcast (20:00)

Episode Links

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Serial Entrepreneurship with Yong-Soo Chung part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 04:00:00 -0600

Serial entrepreneur and startup coach Yong-Soo Chung isn’t afraid to take risks. Through a series of different startup experiences, failed job interviews, and the decision to move across the country despite his family’s misgivings, Yong-Soo is proud of the ecommerce and logistics companies he’s founded. He is a man with a mission, and now he enjoys helping other entrepreneurs scale their businesses for optimum growth.

Yong-Soo is constantly looking for new ways to challenge himself and grow as a person of influence in his social and professional spheres. He operates from a place of no regrets, choosing to seize each opportunity that comes his way. After gaining experience at a well-known cryptocurrency company, Yong-Soo set out on his own and founded a company selling products that appeal to his personal niche interests. He encourages founders to evaluate their interests based on where they spend their time and money. By discovering the intersection of a specific skill set and a market need or interest, business owners can easily make a profit. One of the best ways to test a great idea is by building an audience through a test market. That way entrepreneurs avoid common pitfalls that lead small businesses to fail within the first few years.

Main Topics

Yong-Soo’s formative years that planted the seeds for his dreams (03:55)
Pivoting in the face of challenges (07:16)
Yong-Soo’s experiences with startups (09:17)
Regret minimization exercise (12:20)
Yong-Soo takes a leap of faith and moves to Bay Area (15:10)
Starting his own business (18:40)
How Yong-Soo came up with his idea of Urban EDC (20:35)
Building an audience before launching (24:15)

Episode Links

https://urbanedcsupply.com

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Sales is All About Telling the Truth with Anthony Butler pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 04:00:00 -0700

In part 2 of the conversation, branding expert Anthony Butler defines primal storytelling and explains how he uses basic human psychology to create marketing content. Humans tend to make decisions based on emotions and justify their actions after the fact with logic. Anthony’s approach to marketing goes beyond Search Engine Optimization. He dives deep into why people make the choices they do and identifies what basic needs must be met. When companies are able to use their unique skill set to provide a service or product people need, that’s where the magic happens.

Primal storytelling in marketing uses a message that is easy to understand for the specific tribe an organization is trying to reach. These messages are typically tied to human emotions and commonly held experiences within the group. Instead of appealing to the masses, Anthony encourages startups to target a niche group that could benefit from what is being offered. Taking a more human approach to sales significantly increases the likelihood that people will want to do business with you. Being your authentic self in business may seem risky, and it can be depending on the situation. But usually clients prefer more personal interactions and online content. The power of storytelling pervades many aspects of the human experience. By harnessing poignant stories as a tool for sales, business owners tap into an ancient art that speaks directly to the heart.

Main Topics

Anthony’s content marketing agency (01:05)
Evolutionary psychology in relation to sales (04:00)
How Anthony made the leap into his own marketing content company (06:30)
What is primal storytelling? (10:19)
Monetizing niche interests (15:30)
Appealing to the consumer’s humanity (18:06)
Polarity as a tool to expand business (20:45)
The snowflake test (23:05)

Episode Links

https://www.primalstorytelling.com

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Sales is All About Telling the Truth with Anthony Butler pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 04:00:00 -0700

Anthony Butler is the founder of digital marketing agency Can Do Ideas and the creator of the Primal Storytelling Content System. As an expert in brand storytelling, he uses his education from West Point Military Academy and Ranger School as well as his experiences in army combat and multiple startup businesses to help companies create powerful marketing content.

When Anthony first began his career in sales, he was largely self-taught. He also sought the mentorship of an experienced leader who imparted valuable wisdom about being honest. This may seem counterintuitive in an industry many believe is built on manipulation and stretching the truth. High volume sellers figure out what a person needs and strategizes how to get it for them. Some of the best advice he received was about the necessity of building strong relationships within his personal network. A strong, supportive network of like-minded individuals can be the difference between failure and success for a startup, especially within the first few years.

Main Topics

Anthony honors his family legacy by attending West Point and serving in the military (02:15)
The experimental phase of starting his own businesses (06:00)
Anthony learns business principles from self-study and mentorship (10:10)
Big sellers approach sales with seemingly counterintuitive principles (12:20)
The power of networking to build and scale a business (16:00)
Anthony joins an international CEO networking club (18:20)

Episode Links

https://www.primalstorytelling.com

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Values-Based Leadership with Tom Epperson pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 04:00:00 -0700

In part two of the discussion with Dr. Tom Epperson, president of InnerWill Leadership Institute, he reminds listeners that leadership is not contained to the workplace but extends into every facet of life. Effective leadership is centered around people and clear communication within relationships, whether that applies to coworkers, family members, or communities. The good news is that there isn’t one personality type that makes the best leaders. Tom coaches individuals within an organization to have difficult conversations, receive honest feedback, and work diligently to strengthen areas of vulnerability regardless of their personality strengths and weaknesses.

One of the greatest challenges for leaders in this current climate is navigating change in a way that encourages engagement from team members. When a business is in the process of adapting to change, it’s imperative to demonstrate transparency and community mindset throughout the entire process. That way employees feel a sense of ownership in the process and are more willing to actively participate.

Main Topics

The benefits of giving and receiving constructive feedback (02:45)
Abundance mindset vs. lack mentality (05:05)

All businesses are a people business (5:38)

Personality styles and their relation to leadership (08:50)
How leaders can successfully navigate change (14:45)
Tom’s book InnerWill: Developing Better People, Braver Leaders, and a Wiser World through the Practice of Values Based Leadership (18:40)

Episode Links

https://innerwill.org/

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Values-Based Leadership with Tom Epperson pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 04:00:00 -0700

Research shows that when people act on their core values, they are more engaged with their work, more fulfilled in their lives, and more likely to attract people and experiences that build their success. Dr. Tom Epperson, president of InnerWill Leadership Institute, coaches leaders to ignite human potential by transforming an organization’s culture with clear core values. Having experienced firsthand the impact of transitioning from a profit-centered business to one that seeks to serve the community, he now helps others make choices that line up with what’s truly important to them.

Before an organization can align with its core values, leaders must be able to clearly define their values. This takes work! One way to discover your core values is by reflecting on where you spend your time, money, and energy. Some best practices for implementing values-based leadership in business and at home are building awareness, realizing potential, developing relationships, taking action, and reflecting on choices. Tom utilizes these interconnected approaches to help leaders develop into impactful pillars in their communities. After all, strong leaders lead by example. With intentional action, leaders can create thriving businesses and relationships built on a solid foundation of integrity.

Main Topics

Why Dr. Tom Epperson is all in on leadership (03:35)
The events that led to Tom earning his doctorate in leadership (08:00)
What is values-based leadership? (09:43)
The importance of aligning an organization’s values (13:30)
How to bring values in alignment in business or at home (16:25)
Introspective questions to help uncover core values (19:50)
5 practices for strengthening values-based leadership (21:50)

Episode Links

https://innerwill.org/

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https://thrilledtherapist.com.

Pivoting My Agency to a Niche Productized Service with Hunter Davis pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 04:00:00 -0700

In the second half of this interview with marketing entrepreneur and creative problem solver Hunter Davis, he shares how his struggle with burn out ended up leading his business in a niche direction. As many leaders know firsthand, it’s easy to be overworked when carrying the responsibility of a company’s success. Beyond a stressful work schedule, doing repetitive work without a personal connection to the “why” behind it can also lead to disillusionment with the industry at large. When Hunter realized he no longer felt a passionate connection with the marketing he was creating, he knew he needed to make a shift.

Successful organizations tend to focus either on who their target client is or what specialty products or services will produce the highest rates of profitability. Hunter chose to zero in on both. By redirecting his marketing business to benefit a service he deeply believes in, he is able to bring more balance to his work and personal life. Instead of trying to do something new within an old system, he created a whole new approach when working with clients. Now his company works closely with the client using a step by step process that provides clarity and focus for marketing outreach. By observing a specific need, Hunter ventured outside the box to create a service that goes above and beyond typical marketing agencies. Now his company is thriving by providing clients with a whole experience for developing their business strategy rather than simply offering advertising services

Episode Links

Main Topics

Feeling disconnected from the “why” can lead to burnout (02:11)
Using gut checks to reevaluate the direction of your business (06:30)
The beauty of autonomy when you become your own boss (08:20)
Systematizing leads to growth (13:06)
Focusing by deciding on the “who” and/or the “what” (18:16)
Effects of making a large shift in an organization (20:11)
Hunter’s process to create focus for clients (22:00)
Hunter’s next steps for scaling his business (25:17)

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

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Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Listen, rate, and subscribe!

Pivoting My Agency to a Niche Productized Service with Hunter Davis (part 1)

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 04:00:00 -0700

Hunter Davis began his entrepreneurial career in eighth grade making films for little league baseball teams. Now with over a decade of experience running his own marketing agency, Hunter continues to scale as his business expands. Early in his career, he felt dissatisfied with the response he received from clients. His video marketing products were meeting clients’ needs, but his goal was to play a more important role in helping them increase visibility and production for their businesses. He expanded his offering by helping companies gain clarity on their marketing message. By writing meaningful scripts that highlighted his clients’ targeted vision, he carved a niche approach for his brand that led to explosive growth.

Main Topics

A fun exercise for entrepreneurs- fantasizing about a simple dream job (02:43)
Hunter starts his agency fresh out of college and faced challenges early on (06:40)
His first entrepreneur experience in middle school filming little league games (09:37)
Added value by helping companies gain clarity in their marketing messages (11:50)
The risks and rewards of partnership in business (13:40)
Hunter scales his business (18:07)
Find your niche offering and let it do your marketing for you (21:13)

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

https://www.amyhardisonwhite.com

Interview With Joseph Fung pt 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 04:00:00 -0700

Joseph is the CEO of Uvaro, the Career Success platform. An award-winning, five-time technology founder & CEO with multiple successful exits, Joseph is also an expert on HR technology and is a compelling presenter who speaks frequently on the topics of career success, future of work, high-performing cultures, and corporate social responsibility. As a purpose-driven leader, who is recognized for challenging the status-quo, Joseph is driven to help the world’s professionals lead more fulfilling careers.

Recap / Takeaways

How to validate business ideas
What are the long-term trends?
Talk to people with the problems you're trying to solve
Do I understand the problem right?
Here's how I would solve it. Do I understand the solution right?
If I could give it to you right now, what would you pay be more it?
The starting point for your culture is your personality
DEFINE - Definition of the values you want your culture to have
Make the names short and memorable
Potentially create icons or visuals that represent each
SHARE - How to you share culture
Share stories of people exhibiting your values
Build weekly habits around the values (like giving kudos related to your values)
SCALE - How do you scale culture?
Think about how you could hire for a good culture fit without even being in the interview
Develop interview questions around your company values

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Interview With Joseph Fung pt 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 04:00:00 -0700

Recap / Takeaways

How to validate business ideas
What are the long-term trends?
Talk to people with the problems you're trying to solve
Do I understand the problem right?
Here's how I would solve it. Do I understand the solution right?
If I could give it to you right now, what would you pay be more it?
The starting point for your culture is your personality
DEFINE - Definition of the values you want your culture to have
Make the names short and memorable
Potentially create icons or visuals that represent each
SHARE - How to you share culture
Share stories of people exhibiting your values
Build weekly habits around the values (like giving kudos related to your values)
SCALE - How do you scale culture?
Think about how you could hire for a good culture fit without even being in the interview
Develop interview questions around your company values

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Interview with Erin Sparks pt 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 04:00:00 -0700

Erin Sparks is the owner and president of Site Strategics, a company specializing in high-end Web services for small and mid-sized businesses.

Erin is also the creative force behind the EDGE of the Web Radio podcast, which interviews recognized thought leaders in marketing and technology, is broadcast weekly to a worldwide audience

Recap / Takeaways

SEO is all about clearly representing your business to Google and other search engines
Google is trying to understand a thing or an entity, so you just want to help it understand
If a promise from an SEO firm sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Your goal should be to create helpful content for your potential customers
You actually do know about SEO, because you know your own expert subject matter

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Interview with Erin Sparks pt 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 09:00:00 -0700

Erin Sparks is the owner and president of Site Strategics, a company specializing in high-end Web services for small and mid-sized businesses.

Erin is also the creative force behind the EDGE of the Web Radio podcast, which interviews recognized thought leaders in marketing and technology, is broadcast weekly to a worldwide audience

Recap / Takeaways

SEO is all about clearly representing your business to Google and other search engines
Google is trying to understand a thing or an entity, so you just want to help it understand
If a promise from an SEO firm sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Your goal should be to create helpful content for your potential customers
You actually do know about SEO, because you know your own expert subject matter

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Practical Leadership Strategies with Tim Redmond (Part 2)

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Tim is CEO of Redmond Growth Consulting and has been growing highly successful businesses for over 35 tears including his work at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, growing a software company from 2 to 400 employees then selling it to Intuit, Inc., and helping thousands of business owners gain time and financial freedom. Tim is also an author (the book is POWER TO CREATE) and speaker whose leadership maxims have been featured in John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

Recap / Takeaways

One of the keys to success is successfully managing the pain
More important than strategy, marketing, or anything is the tenacity and grit
A high performance team is highly motivated and inspired by their leader
You don't attract what you want, you attract who you are
The missing ingredient is respect (it's not something you demand, it's a gift that you give someone
Respect is valuing the differences without having to agree
Progress is the clashing of ideas
When someone brings a problem, ask them "how would you like to solve that problem?"
"The absent one safe is among us"
Don't demand things from your team, but show them the way
If you had a friend that talked about you the way you think about yourself, would they still be your friend?
Don't demand perfection, celebrate progress
As a team member, you can make the team more effective by contributing positive energy

Subscribe & Review

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

Voice Memo

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Practical Leadership Strategies with Tim Redmond (Part 1)

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Recap / Takeaways

One of the keys to success is successfully managing the pain
More important than strategy, marketing, or anything is the tenacity and grit
A high performance team is highly motivated and inspired by their leader
You don't attract what you want, you attract who you are
The missing ingredient is respect (it's not something you demand, it's a gift that you give someone
Respect is valuing the differences without having to agree
Progress is the clashing of ideas
When someone brings a problem, ask them "how would you like to solve that problem?"
"The absent one safe is among us"
Don't demand things from your team, but show them the way
If you had a friend that talked about you the way you think about yourself, would they still be your friend?
Don't demand perfection, celebrate progress
As a team member, you can make the team more effective by contributing positive energy

Subscribe & Review

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

Voice Memo

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Resolving Conflict at Work & Home with Michelle Brody (Part 2)

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Michelle Brody, PhD, is an executive coach and clinical psychologist who brings 25 years of experience in both corporate and family settings to the challenging problem of interactional conflict. Her specialty as a coach is in guiding teams that have complicated dynamics, and helping them reach greater collaboration, improve communication, and resolve tension.

Recap / Takeaways

When having a fight with your partner, identify what the conflicting values are that you're fighting about
Focus on getting good at repair conversations first, then get better at stopping in the middle of a fight
If you want to have a repair conversation, say what your intentions are before you start talking
All of us have a suit of armor we put on when we're under threat
Everyone on the team, including the leader, must own their armor
Identify the threats for yourself and the time
Own your armor (the way you react)

Resolving Conflict at Work & Home with Michelle Brody (Part 1)

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Recap / Takeaways

When having a fight with your partner, identify what the conflicting values are that you're fighting about
Focus on getting good at repair conversations first, then get better at stopping in the middle of a fight
If you want to have a repair conversation, say what your intentions are before you start talking
All of us have a suit of armor we put on when we're under threat
Everyone on the team, including the leader, must own their armor
Identify the threats for yourself and the time
Own your armor (the way you react)

The Importance of Culture Pt. 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Today we have two amazing guests from The Perk, a leadership and culture development company! Steph Richter and Emily Edeman are Leadership Coach & Company Culture Consultants. Ben has personally hired them to help him with developing the culture at Knapsack.

Main Topic Notes

What is company culture?
How can a business owner solidify their culture and have it work even when they're gone?
How can a business owner develop better leaders to take things off of their shoulders?
What is DEI, and what can small business owners do to be proactive with DEI?

Recap / Takeaways

Culture is the daily behaviors of you and the people on your team
Your company has a culture whether you know it or not
Culture is continuously evolving and changing
Instead of having core values, define core behaviors to make your culture extremely clear
Review your core behaviors on a weekly basis
Ask potential hires questions that relate to your core behaviors
DEI isn't only about recruitment, there's more you can do
Get your info from more diverse sources (different authors or podcast hosts)
Use a scorecard to be more objective in your hiring process (this helps overcome biases)
Great cultures are built on trust, communication and alignment
To keep remote workers, have a weekly team meeting (everyone has their own screen)
Have 1-on-1's on a weekly basis

Subscribe & Review
If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

Voice Memo
If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

The Importance of Culture Pt. 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Main Topic Notes

What is company culture?
How can a business owner solidify their culture and have it work even when they're gone?
How can a business owner develop better leaders to take things off of their shoulders?
What is DEI, and what can small business owners do to be proactive with DEI?

Recap / Takeaways

Culture is the daily behaviors of you and the people on your team
Your company has a culture whether you know it or not
Culture is continuously evolving and changing
Instead of having core values, define core behaviors to make your culture extremely clear
Review your core behaviors on a weekly basis
Ask potential hires questions that relate to your core behaviors
DEI isn't only about recruitment, there's more you can do
Get your info from more diverse sources (different authors or podcast hosts)
Use a scorecard to be more objective in your hiring process (this helps overcome biases)
Great cultures are built on trust, communication and alignment
To keep remote workers, have a weekly team meeting (everyone has their own screen)
Have 1-on-1's on a weekly basis

Subscribe & Review
If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

Voice Memo
If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Interview With Amy Hardison White part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Amy Hardison White has been in the startup world since before the bubble, with a background in copywriting and content marketing. Her focus today is helping accounting startups and payment providers acquire new users with targeted content strategy.

Recap / Takeaways

Take notes on what is happening in customer conversations.
Where are your target customers hanging out online?
Consider the strengths and weaknesses of your team (writing, video, etc)
Repurposing your content (make your podcast into an article or video)
If you don't have time to write it, have someone on your team interview you.
It's okay to lower your own expectations on production value—just get it out there!
Check out "Obviously Awesome" book (about product positioning)

Links:

Amy's Podcast: Scrappy Fintech Marketing https://www.amyhardisonwhite.com/podcast

Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It

Go to TheFridayHabit.com where you can also find links to our websites and ways to get in touch. At the bottom of the page you can download our guide to the Friday Habit system that will show you how to set aside one full day each week dedicated to working on your business instead of in your business.

Subscribe & Review
If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts

Interview With Amy Hardison White Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 04:00:00 -0600

Recap / Takeaways

Take notes on what is happening in customer conversations.
Where are your target customers hanging out online?
Consider the strengths and weaknesses of your team (writing, video, etc)
Repurposing your content (make your podcast into an article or video)
If you don't have time to write it, have someone on your team interview you.
It's okay to lower your own expectations on production value—just get it out there!
Check out "Obviously Awesome" book (about product positioning)

Links:

https://www.amyhardisonwhite.com

Amy's Podcast: Scrappy Fintech Marketing https://www.amyhardisonwhite.com/podcast

Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It

Subscribe & Review
If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts

Practical Happiness with Pamela Gail Johnson Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 04:00:00 -0600

Pamela Gail Johnson founded the Society of Happy People in 1998, created the first three globally celebrated happiness holidays, and is the author of Practical Happiness: Four Principles to Improve Your Life. She was an award-winning salesperson for American Express and Staples, and now helps leaders and teams create happier workplace cultures.

Main Topic Notes

What does happiness mean to you? (When we're feeling good)
Can people that complain and are negative be happy? Is that what makes them happy?
Is happiness elusive?
Happiness zappers
Chaos
Fear
Annoyances
Controllable vs. uncontrollable
How can we learn more about these 31 types of happiness?

Four Principles to Improve Your Life

Happiness is personal
Happiness zappers are manageable
Happiness changes as you change
Happiness is not always the same

Recap / Takeaways

Happiness is personal (people have different set points of happiness, and that's ok)
Entrepreneurs are happier on average than traditional employees
If you're very unhappy, happiness might be too high of an aspiration to start with. Just get to a neutral point first
A fake smile can actually trigger endorphins and trigger real happiness
Smiling during sales calls can help increase sales, even if you're not on a video call
Make sure your goals are your own, not society's goals for you
Sometimes Happiness can just be feeling a little bit better than the moment before
We tend to minimize happy moments (we're really happier than we might think)

Connect with Pamela

pamelagailjohnson.com

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Practical Happiness with Pamela Gail Johnson Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 04:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

What does happiness mean to you? (When we're feeling good)
Can people that complain and are negative be happy? Is that what makes them happy?
Is happiness elusive?
Happiness zappers
Chaos
Fear
Annoyances
Controllable vs. uncontrollable
How can we learn more about these 31 types of happiness?

Four Principles to Improve Your Life

Happiness is personal
Happiness zappers are manageable
Happiness changes as you change
Happiness is not always the same

Recap / Takeaways

Happiness is personal (people have different set points of happiness, and that's ok)
Entrepreneurs are happier on average than traditional employees
If you're very unhappy, happiness might be too high of an aspiration to start with. Just get to a neutral point first
A fake smile can actually trigger endorphins and trigger real happiness
Smiling during sales calls can help increase sales, even if you're not on a video call
Make sure your goals are your own, not society's goals for you
Sometimes Happiness can just be feeling a little bit better than the moment before
We tend to minimize happy moments (we're really happier than we might think)

Connect with Pamela

pamelagailjohnson.com

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Interview with Mark Achler & Mert Iseri Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 04:00:00 -0600

An early employee of Apple and Head of Innovation at Redbox, Mark Achler has been creating and investing in tech startups since 1986. Today, he is a founding partner of MATH Venture Partners, a technology venture capital fund, and an adjunct professor at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management.

Mert Iseri co-founded SwipeSense, a healthcare technology company acquired by SC Johnson in 2020. Prior to that, he co-founded Design for America, a national network of students using design thinking to create social impact, now part of the IBM Watson Foundation. He is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at MATH Venture Partners.

Main Topic Notes

How to sell your startup
The importance of FAIR - Fit, alignment, integration and rationale
Having an annual Exit Talk

Recap / Takeaways

Don't see interactions as a single transactional moment in time, but as the start of a long-term relationship
Stay humble and give back
When you're a good manager, it's not about you, it's about your employees. You have to help them grow in their career and that will build trust
Don't view selling your startup as an ending, but the beginning of something new to come
When you sell you must make sure the buyers, employees, and customers are all considered and valued
Find a buyer that makes what you do more valuable together
Don't wait to start talking to potential buyers when you want to sell. Start years before.
FAIR
Fit
Is there is a cultural fit between the companies?
Alignment
Are you aligned internally and with the acquiring company?
Integration
Is there a plan in place where these companies can deliver value together?
Rationale
Can you explain why joining forces strategically multiplies value?
Annual exit talk
Have a scheduled yearly time for the CEO to talk about how they're feeling about an exit
Depending on why and when you're being bought, you can focus on adding value in that area

Connect with Mert

Twitter

Connect with Mark

Exit Right Book

Connect With Us

Interview with Mark Achler & Mert Iseri Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 04:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

How to sell your startup
The importance of FAIR - Fit, alignment, integration and rationale
Having an annual Exit Talk

Recap / Takeaways

Don't see interactions as a single transactional moment in time, but as the start of a long-term relationship
Stay humble and give back
When you're a good manager, it's not about you, it's about your employees. You have to help them grow in their career and that will build trust
Don't view selling your startup as an ending, but the beginning of something new to come
When you sell you must make sure the buyers, employees, and customers are all considered and valued
Find a buyer that makes what you do more valuable together
Don't wait to start talking to potential buyers when you want to sell. Start years before.
FAIR
Fit
Is there is a cultural fit between the companies?
Alignment
Are you aligned internally and with the acquiring company?
Integration
Is there a plan in place where these companies can deliver value together?
Rationale
Can you explain why joining forces strategically multiplies value?
Annual exit talk
Have a scheduled yearly time for the CEO to talk about how they're feeling about an exit
Depending on why and when you're being bought, you can focus on adding value in that area

Connect with Mert

Twitter

Connect with Mark

Exit Right Book

Connect With Us

Episode 100 - Our Favorite Episodes So Far

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 04:00:00 -0600

We're celebrating 100 episodes of The Friday Habit with a look back at Mark and Ben's top favorite episodes so far. Thank you to everyone who has listened and learned alongside of us! We're looking forward to the next 100!

Ben's Favorite Episodes:

1. Episode #21: Morning Rituals for a Better Life

2. Episodes #62-63: How to Live Every Day Like It's Friday with Mark Labriola II

3. #23-24: Productize Your Business with Greg Hickman

Mark's Favorite Episodes:

Episode #42: Thinking Time: Your New Secret Weapon

2. Episodes #12-13: Stop Trading Your Time for Money with Jonathan Stark

3. Episode #2: Strategies to Beat Procrastination

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

How to Build a High Performance Team with Natalie Dawson - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Natalie Dawson is the EVP and Partner of Cardone Ventures, a management consulting firm designed to help businesses grow, and the author of the new book, TeamWork: How to Build a High-Performance Team. This book covers all the nuts and bolts of what goes into building an incredible team including what it takes to attract strong talent, how to write a compelling job description, and even the best practices for onboarding someone new.

Natalie Dawson is an expert in developing people and building scalable teams. She has interviewed, hired, trained, and led thousands of employees over the course of her career, most recently as Co-Founder and Partner of Cardone Ventures, a management consulting, joint ventures, and private equity firm that helps business owners achieve their personal, professional, and financial goals through the growth of their business. With no cost of capital, no outside investment, in 30 months Cardone Ventures has generated 60 million in revenue and over 30 million in EBITDA. Natalie is responsible for the operations and finding, hiring, aligning, developing and retaining the team that allows the business to scale profitably.

Main Topic Notes

How can you predict whether new hires will be a good fit for the rest of the team?
What are your 5-year professional goals?
Personality assessment (R3 assessment) - measure stability
DISC Assessment or Myers Briggs
Tell us about some mistakes you've made and what you learned from them?
How do you pitch an idea or a vision to a team? How do you get them all on board?
Vision: Imagine a world (share with them the vision)
Commitment: Ask them to deliver something specific, you make a commitment too
Execution: Define everything that needs to happen
What are some practical ways to keep all of your team on the same page as it gets bigger?
Daily all team meeting where you share wins from yesterday
What are some practical tips for onboarding new hires? (what's the right and wrong way?)
Onboarding is like bootcamp (immerse them quickly to see if they have what it takes)
How do you do training?
Have a SOP
Tell me, show me, let me, coach me
How can you make letting someone go less painful?
You have to correct people in the moment when something goes wrong
Move quickly into giving warnings and performance improvement plan

Teamwork Book

Phase 1: Alignment (mission, vision, core values, interview process)
Phase 2: Development (read books either your team will help you grow, or you'll have to outsource)
Phase 3: Transition (upward in the organization, or transition out)

Recap / Takeaways

Ask: What are your 5-year professional goals?
Have potential hires take a DISC Assessment or Myers Briggs
When you're pitching a team, first you say "Imagine a world" to set the future vision
When your team grows, do a daily all team meeting sharing wins to keep people on the same page
Onboarding is like bootcamp (immerse them quickly to see if they have what it takes)
When training, use the Tell me, show me, let me, coach me method
You have to correct people in the moment when something goes wrong so that it doesn't become too emotional
Consider making it so that everyone on the team can bring in a lead and get a commission
10-20% incentive target

Connect With Natalie

https://www.cardoneventures.com

https://www.instagram.com/natalieworkman/

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

How to Build a High Performance Team with Natalie Dawson - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Main Topic Notes

How can you predict whether new hires will be a good fit for the rest of the team?
What are your 5-year professional goals?
Personality assessment (R3 assessment) - measure stability
DISC Assessment or Myers Briggs
Tell us about some mistakes you've made and what you learned from them?
How do you pitch an idea or a vision to a team? How do you get them all on board?
Vision: Imagine a world (share with them the vision)
Commitment: Ask them to deliver something specific, you make a commitment too
Execution: Define everything that needs to happen
What are some practical ways to keep all of your team on the same page as it gets bigger?
Daily all team meeting where you share wins from yesterday
What are some practical tips for onboarding new hires? (what's the right and wrong way?)
Onboarding is like bootcamp (immerse them quickly to see if they have what it takes)
How do you do training?
Have a SOP
Tell me, show me, let me, coach me
How can you make letting someone go less painful?
You have to correct people in the moment when something goes wrong
Move quickly into giving warnings and performance improvement plan

Teamwork Book

Phase 1: Alignment (mission, vision, core values, interview process)
Phase 2: Development (read books either your team will help you grow, or you'll have to outsource)
Phase 3: Transition (upward in the organization, or transition out)

Recap / Takeaways

Ask: What are your 5-year professional goals?
Have potential hires take a DISC Assessment or Myers Briggs
When you're pitching a team, first you say "Imagine a world" to set the future vision
When your team grows, do a daily all team meeting sharing wins to keep people on the same page
Onboarding is like bootcamp (immerse them quickly to see if they have what it takes)
When training, use the Tell me, show me, let me, coach me method
You have to correct people in the moment when something goes wrong so that it doesn't become too emotional
Consider making it so that everyone on the team can bring in a lead and get a commission
10-20% incentive target

Connect With Natalie

https://www.cardoneventures.com

https://www.instagram.com/natalieworkman/

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Documenting And Delegating Your Business With Chris Ronzio - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Have you ever wanted to know How to Document and Delegate What You Do So Your Company Can Grow Beyond You? Well you're in luck, today we have Chris Ronzio the founder and CEO of Trainual.

Chris Ronzio is the founder and CEO of Trainual, a leading SaaS platform that transforms the way small businesses onboard, train and scale their teams. Chris is the host of “The Fastest Growing Companies” and “Organize Chaos” podcasts as well as the author of the best-selling book “The Business Playbook - How to Document and Delegate What You Do So Your Company Can Grow Beyond You."

Connect With Chris

trainual.com

@chrisronzio on Instagram

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Documenting And Delegating Your Business With Chris Ronzio - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Have you ever wanted to know How to Document and Delegate What You Do So Your Company Can Grow Beyond You? Well you're in luck, today we have Chris Ronzio the founder and CEO of Trainual.

Connect With Chris

trainual.com

@chrisronzio on Instagram

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Consistency is a Superpower with Bryan Clayton - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Bryan Clayton is CEO and cofounder of GreenPal an online marketplace that connects homeowners with Local lawn care professionals. GreenPal has been called the “Uber for lawn care” by Entrepreneur magazine and has over 100,000 active users completing thousands of transactions per day.

Icebreaker Question

Would you rather be chronically under-dressed or overdressed?

Recap / Takeaways

If you want to keep people, make sure your business a place where YOU would want to work
Make sure you create a well-running machine so you can pay your people better
If you want to systemize your business, you have to say no to business that doesn't fit your process
If you want to build a great business, you must work in your business, on your business, and on yourself
If things are slow, you can manufacture momentum by proactively creating opportunities
If you build your business debt-free, then it's easier to sell
Always be helpful to your customers, even if it's not directly profitable
No matter what, Bryan was committed to working on his best idea
Being consistent on a daily basis is a superpower
Focusing on the input metrics and not just the output

Books Bryan mentioned:

Connect With Bryan

www.greenpal.com
@bryanmclayton on Instagram

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Consistency is a Superpower with Bryan Clayton - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Icebreaker Question

Would you rather be chronically under-dressed or overdressed?

Recap / Takeaways

If you want to keep people, make sure your business a place where YOU would want to work
Make sure you create a well-running machine so you can pay your people better
If you want to systemize your business, you have to say no to business that doesn't fit your process
If you want to build a great business, you must work in your business, on your business, and on yourself
If things are slow, you can manufacture momentum by proactively creating opportunities
If you build your business debt-free, then it's easier to sell
Always be helpful to your customers, even if it's not directly profitable
No matter what, Bryan was committed to working on his best idea
Being consistent on a daily basis is a superpower
Focusing on the input metrics and not just the output

Books Bryan mentioned:

Connect With Bryan

www.greenpal.com
@bryanmclayton on Instagram

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

How Would Socrates Run Your Business? with Kayvan Kian - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 04:00:00 -0700

Life is full of important decisions, and they all have consequences. Large or small, positive or negative, intended or unintended. Would you consider yourself wise when it comes to the choices you make? Well, lets talk more about that with Kayvan Kian on todays episode of the Friday Habit

Kayvan Kian is an entrepreneur, teacher, and senior advisor to McKinsey & Company in Amsterdam, whose work has helped thousands of leaders and teams thrive during difficult times.

As the founder of the Young Leaders Forum, Kayvan has given guest lectures at Harvard Business School, HEC, Sciences Po, and more. His first book, "What Is Water?: How Young Leaders Can Thrive in an Uncertain World", became an instant bestseller. He holds an MBA from INSEAD in France and a degree in both economics and law from the Erasmus University in the Netherlands.

Listen to Kayvan’s previous episodes here:

Episode 83 & 84: Scale Your Company & Protect Your Culture with Kayvan Kian

Recap / Takeaways

Even when bad things are happening, you can choose to focus on and appreciate the good
When you're making a decision, ask yourself "What would a wise person do in this situation?"
If you don't make a decision, that's actually a decision too
Philosophers
Cleobulus - We shouldn't become arrogant in good times or humble ourselves in bad times.
Socrates - Is that really so? Is it really an opportunity, or does it just look like one? (skeptic)
Nietzsche - Whatever you're doing today is going to recur and come back an infinite amount of times. Would you still choose to do this if it keeps happening an infinite amount of times?
Talus - Maybe this isn't the first time this has happened. Maybe something like this has happened before. Are you aware of the patterns of life. (if you are aware, you are better able to predict)
Hippocrates - First, do no harm. False premise is: How can the result not be great if your intentions are good?

Connect with Kayvan

https://kayvankian.com

Connect with us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

How Would Socrates Run Your Business? with Kayvan Kian - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 04:00:00 -0700

Kayvan Kian is an entrepreneur, teacher, and senior advisor to McKinsey & Company in Amsterdam, whose work has helped thousands of leaders and teams thrive during difficult times.

Listen to Kayvan’s previous episodes here:

Episode 83 & 84: Scale Your Company & Protect Your Culture with Kayvan Kian

Recap / Takeaways

Even when bad things are happening, you can choose to focus on and appreciate the good
When you're making a decision, ask yourself "What would a wise person do in this situation?"
If you don't make a decision, that's actually a decision too
Philosophers
Cleobulus - We shouldn't become arrogant in good times or humble ourselves in bad times.
Socrates - Is that really so? Is it really an opportunity, or does it just look like one? (skeptic)
Nietzsche - Whatever you're doing today is going to recur and come back an infinite amount of times. Would you still choose to do this if it keeps happening an infinite amount of times?
Talus - Maybe this isn't the first time this has happened. Maybe something like this has happened before. Are you aware of the patterns of life. (if you are aware, you are better able to predict)
Hippocrates - First, do no harm. False premise is: How can the result not be great if your intentions are good?

Connect with Kayvan

https://kayvankian.com

Connect with us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

The Self Employed Life with Jeffrey Shaw - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 24 Dec 2021 04:00:00 -0700

Today we're speaking with someone who started out as a portrait photographer but is now know as a business coach, TEDx speaker, podcaster, and the author of the books Lingo and The Self Employed Life. Jeffrey Shaw, welcome to The Friday Habit.

Recap / Takeaways

Becoming self-employed is about becoming a bolder version of yourself
Being self-employed is like personal growth on steroids
In business you can either change who you are, or you can find the people who are waiting for you to show up
Your own unique perspective is even more unique than your DNA
You will only go as far as you believe you deserve
Self-Employed Ecosystem
Personal Development
Business Strategies
Daily Habits
Don't fear building something, instead you should fear not supporting what you build
You can't control the results, but you can control the environment you create

Connect with Jeffrey

jeffreyshaw.com/self-employed-business-institute

Connect with us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

The Self Employed Life with Jeffrey Shaw - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 04:00:00 -0700

Recap / Takeaways

Becoming self-employed is about becoming a bolder version of yourself
Being self-employed is like personal growth on steroids
In business you can either change who you are, or you can find the people who are waiting for you to show up
Your own unique perspective is even more unique than your DNA
You will only go as far as you believe you deserve
Self-Employed Ecosystem
Personal Development
Business Strategies
Daily Habits
Don't fear building something, instead you should fear not supporting what you build
You can't control the results, but you can control the environment you create

Connect with Jeffrey

jeffreyshaw.com/self-employed-business-institute

Connect with us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Scaling an Outsourced CMO Business to 270 Employees with Erik Huberman of Hawke Media - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 04:00:00 -0700

Ben and Mark talk to Erik Huberman, the founder and CEO of Hawke Media, the fastest growing marketing consultancy in the United States.

Recap / Takeaways

There's a perception and reality with every job and you have to determine whether the hard parts are worth it
If you're early in your career, go try a bunch of jobs and find out what's worth it
Stress isn't necessarily a bad thing, that's what helps you grow
If you don't have difficult challenges, the wins don't feel as good
Managing a large business can be like walking an elephant down a narrow path
You have to be a numbers person to run a successful business
Build a model, then project out what it looks like if you get bigger
If you want to win the Superbowl, build a team of people who have won the Superbowl before

Pre-Order Erik's book The Hawk Method

Visit: hawkemethod.com

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Scaling an Outsourced CMO Business to 270 Employees with Erik Huberman of Hawke Media - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 04:00:00 -0700

Ben and Mark talk to Erik Huberman, the founder and CEO of Hawke Media, the fastest growing marketing consultancy in the United States.

Recap / Takeaways

There's a perception and reality with every job and you have to determine whether the hard parts are worth it
If you're early in your career, go try a bunch of jobs and find out what's worth it
Stress isn't necessarily a bad thing, that's what helps you grow
If you don't have difficult challenges, the wins don't feel as good
Managing a large business can be like walking an elephant down a narrow path
You have to be a numbers person to run a successful business
Build a model, then project out what it looks like if you get bigger
If you want to win the Superbowl, build a team of people who have won the Superbowl before

Pre-Order Erik's book The Hawk Method

Visit: hawkemethod.com

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Personal Finance - Interview with Chad Willardson - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Chad Willardson is the President of Pacific Capital, a fiduciary wealth advisory firm he founded in 2011 that serves entrepreneurs and families. His bestselling first book, Stress-Free Money, has been featured in Forbes’s “21 Books To Read In 2021” and on NBC News and Yahoo Finance. Chad has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Inc., U.S. News & World Report, Investment News, Entrepreneur, and Financial Advisor Magazine. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Amber, and their five children.

Main Topic Notes

Give us a brief overview of how things have been for you since writing Stress-Free Money. What inspired you to focus your attention on financial education for children for your new book?
At what age should parents be talking to their children about the skills you mention in your book?
What are the seven skills kids should know before adulthood, in your professional opinion? Why are these skills important?
What should parents teach their children about “money now vs. money later”?
Speaking of being “smart, not spoiled,” (how) should parents distribute allowances to their children?
What are some learning activities parents can do with their children to make learning about money fun?

Recap / Takeaways

Fiduciaries are different from financial advisors because they are legally required to look out for the clients best interest instead of selling a product like insurance
Ways you can help your kids be smart with money:
Give your kids 3 jars - spending saving giving
Start having conversations with your kids about money younger
7 things kids should know about money
Invest early and often
Hire your kids to do work around the office
Open a Roth IRA in their name
Borrow wisely
Know your cash flow (income and expenses)
Teach about how much stuff really costs
Talking taxes
Taxes are your #1 expense, so you better know your stuff
Learn to earn
Create a menu of opportunity so your kids can earn money
Let the kids go around and find a job to do and offer a price
Protect who and what you care about
Give generously
When you travel internationally, you could set aside a day for service

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does give your more choices and freedoms. It gives more opportunity to make a greater impact for others.

Action Item:

Start having more conversations about personal finance in your family.

Connect with Chad

PacificCapital.com

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Personal Finance - Interview with Chad Willardson - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

Give us a brief overview of how things have been for you since writing Stress-Free Money. What inspired you to focus your attention on financial education for children for your new book?
At what age should parents be talking to their children about the skills you mention in your book?
What are the seven skills kids should know before adulthood, in your professional opinion? Why are these skills important?
What should parents teach their children about “money now vs. money later”?
Speaking of being “smart, not spoiled,” (how) should parents distribute allowances to their children?
What are some learning activities parents can do with their children to make learning about money fun?

Recap / Takeaways

Fiduciaries are different from financial advisors because they are legally required to look out for the clients best interest instead of selling a product like insurance
Ways you can help your kids be smart with money:
Give your kids 3 jars - spending saving giving
Start having conversations with your kids about money younger
7 things kids should know about money
Invest early and often
Hire your kids to do work around the office
Open a Roth IRA in their name
Borrow wisely
Know your cash flow (income and expenses)
Teach about how much stuff really costs
Talking taxes
Taxes are your #1 expense, so you better know your stuff
Learn to earn
Create a menu of opportunity so your kids can earn money
Let the kids go around and find a job to do and offer a price
Protect who and what you care about
Give generously
When you travel internationally, you could set aside a day for service

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does give your more choices and freedoms. It gives more opportunity to make a greater impact for others.

Action Item:

Start having more conversations about personal finance in your family.

Connect with Chad

PacificCapital.com

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

6 Business Apps We're Geeking Out About in 2021

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Top business apps we've been geeking out about in 2021

Ben's #3: Noted https://www.notedapp.io
Mark's #3: Convert Calculator https://www.convertcalculator.co
Ben's #2: Notion https://www.notion.so
Mark's #2: Pixieset https://pixieset.com
Ben's #1: Miro https://miro.com
Mark's #1: Bonsai https://www.hellobonsai.com

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Scale Your Company & Protect Your Culture with Kayvan Kian - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Kayvan Kian wrote the bestselling book What is Water: How Young Leaders Can Thrive in an Uncertain World. Kayvan’s book and his work as a consultant with Mckinsey seeks to show young leaders how to grow, how to thrive, and how to contribute in any situation.

Recap / Takeaways

Creation is a magical thing that's always happening all around us
Young leaders often have more overwhelm, doubts, and insecurities
What is Water book:
- Fish don't know what water is
- You need to become better aware of your context (what's around you)
- He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. (Nietzsche)
- You can transform many difficult situations to a positive if you find the why behind it
- You must know yourself (what are you good at, not good at)
Making better choices
- Ask yourself questions to narrow down your criteria:
  - Which one makes more money?
  - What aligns with my values?
  - What do I personally want?
  - What things do you want prevent?
Scaling + Growing companies
- How do you make sure founder isn't a bottleneck?
  - Come up with criteria for decision making
- How to best utilize the talent you currently have?
  - People might have been hired for a unique skill, but people have more than that one skill
- How to protect the culture that you have?
  - You don't notice what your culture is
  - Get an outside perspective - get input from new team members, customers, outside consultants
How to take things to the next level
- Don't just look back and measure things that have already happened. Instead find indicators that are forward-looking that you have control over and can measure
- Ask yourself: What does success look like? Given that picture of success, if we keep doing what we're doing, how confident are we that we have a good shot at this?

Action Item

Think about what you're contributing to in the bigger sense (for yourself, friends, family, team, and society)

Connect with Kayvan

https://nl.linkedin.com/in/kayvan

"What is Water"

Connect with us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Scale Your Company & Protect Your Culture with Kayvan Kian - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Recap / Takeaways

Creation is a magical thing that's always happening all around us
Young leaders often have more overwhelm, doubts, and insecurities
What is Water book:
- Fish don't know what water is
- You need to become better aware of your context (what's around you)
- He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. (Nietzsche)
- You can transform many difficult situations to a positive if you find the why behind it
- You must know yourself (what are you good at, not good at)
Making better choices
- Ask yourself questions to narrow down your criteria:
  - Which one makes more money?
  - What aligns with my values?
  - What do I personally want?
  - What things do you want prevent?
Scaling + Growing companies
- How do you make sure founder isn't a bottleneck?
  - Come up with criteria for decision making
- How to best utilize the talent you currently have?
  - People might have been hired for a unique skill, but people have more than that one skill
- How to protect the culture that you have?
  - You don't notice what your culture is
  - Get an outside perspective - get input from new team members, customers, outside consultants
How to take things to the next level
- Don't just look back and measure things that have already happened. Instead find indicators that are forward-looking that you have control over and can measure
- Ask yourself: What does success look like? Given that picture of success, if we keep doing what we're doing, how confident are we that we have a good shot at this?

Action Item

Think about what you're contributing to in the bigger sense (for yourself, friends, family, team, and society)

Connect with Kayvan

https://nl.linkedin.com/in/kayvan

"What is Water"

Connect with us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Why Helping Your Competitors is a Great Business Strategy with Shawn Khorrami - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Shawn is a serial entrepreneur, having started and managed more than a dozen businesses, up to $100 million in revenue, involving products and services across a wide range of verticals. In the process, he has managed thousands of employees servicing tens of thousands of customers, large and small, from consumers to small to medium-sized businesses and even governmental entities.

Main Topic Notes

It sounds like you've had a lot of jobs in your life, what was your first one and what was one lesson you carried on with you.
Being an entrepreneur is different from being a business owner what do you think the pros and cons are of each one?
I read somewhere where you said Have a Fearless Approach to Stand Up for Yourself & Your Business. what do you mean by that?
We recently had Michelle Seller on the show talking about building your business to sell, you've said The Product is NOT the Business, But the Business IS the Product what do you mean by that?

Recap / Takeaways

When people are against you because of where you're from, you have to bust through those things and work hard to succeed anyway
Identify problems in your industry, do it better than your competitors, and then box it up and sell your solution to others
If your new tool helps your competitors become better than you, then your product must be much more valuable than your original business
What you're really worried about is that you won't be able to market that tool that you create
Create a chart of who would benefit from the tool or product you're creating
You will need to make tweaks as you market it to each vertical, so count the up front investment and consider the risk
Your product is not your business, every aspect of your business is your real product

Connect with Shawn

www.connectwithshawn.com
www.eplaybooks.com

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday

Why Helping Your Competitors is a Great Business Strategy with Shawn Khorrami - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

It sounds like you've had a lot of jobs in your life, what was your first one and what was one lesson you carried on with you.
Being an entrepreneur is different from being a business owner what do you think the pros and cons are of each one?
I read somewhere where you said Have a Fearless Approach to Stand Up for Yourself & Your Business. what do you mean by that?
We recently had Michelle Seller on the show talking about building your business to sell, you've said The Product is NOT the Business, But the Business IS the Product what do you mean by that?

Recap / Takeaways

When people are against you because of where you're from, you have to bust through those things and work hard to succeed anyway
Identify problems in your industry, do it better than your competitors, and then box it up and sell your solution to others
If your new tool helps your competitors become better than you, then your product must be much more valuable than your original business
What you're really worried about is that you won't be able to market that tool that you create
Create a chart of who would benefit from the tool or product you're creating
You will need to make tweaks as you market it to each vertical, so count the up front investment and consider the risk
Your product is not your business, every aspect of your business is your real product

Connect with Shawn

www.connectwithshawn.com
www.eplaybooks.com

Connect With Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday

How to Build a Business You Can Sell with Michelle Seiler Tucker - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Hey everyone, Ben here. Mark is out today, but I have an excellent guest to talk with.

Michelle Seiler Tucker is the Founder and CEO of Seiler Tucker Incorporated. She holds the M&AMI (Mergers & Acquisitions Master Intermediary) title, as well as Certified Mergers and Acquisitions Professional (CM&AP) and Certified Senior Business Analyst (CSBA). Michelle also owns many other businesses in several different industries. As a 20-year veteran in the M&A industry, she is regarded as the leading authority on buying, selling, fixing, and growing businesses. Her and her firm have sold over a thousand businesses in almost every vertical and have a remarkable track record of success.

Main Topic Notes

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
If someone is starting a business right now, today, how should they structure it to be sellable?
What are the 6 Ps?
How can you build a business that is sellable?
What are some tips to get the best valuation for your business?

Recap / Takeaways

Take the time to figure out your destination
Figure out where you are now
Get an annual valuation checkup from an M&A expert
Identify who your buyers are (need to have more than one)
6 P's (foundation of business you can sell)
1. People (the right people in the right places)
2. Product (always innovate and market your product)
3. Processes (what do you want your clients to experience? (3 things)
4. Proprietary (brandingTM, databases, celebrity endorsements, patents, digital positioning, content)
5. Patrons (80% of revenue comes from 20% of clients)
6. Profits (a symptom of a problem)

Connect with Michelle

https://seilertucker.com

https://exitrichbook.com

Email: info@seilertucker.com

Connect with Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

How to Build a Business You Can Sell with Michelle Seiler Tucker - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Hey everyone, Ben here. Mark is out today, but I have an excellent guest to talk with.

Main Topic Notes

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
If someone is starting a business right now, today, how should they structure it to be sellable?
What are the 6 Ps?
How can you build a business that is sellable?
What are some tips to get the best valuation for your business?

Recap / Takeaways

Take the time to figure out your destination
Figure out where you are now
Get an annual valuation checkup from an M&A expert
Identify who your buyers are (need to have more than one)
6 P's (foundation of business you can sell)
1. People (the right people in the right places)
2. Product (always innovate and market your product)
3. Processes (what do you want your clients to experience? (3 things)
4. Proprietary (brandingTM, databases, celebrity endorsements, patents, digital positioning, content)
5. Patrons (80% of revenue comes from 20% of clients)
6. Profits (a symptom of a problem)

Connect with Michelle

https://seilertucker.com

https://exitrichbook.com

Email: info@seilertucker.com

Connect with Us

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

What Pages Should I Include on My Website?

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Four Steps to Decide What Pages to Include on Your Website:

Define the purpose of your site (legitimizer, converter, attractor, salesperson, educator)
Create a list of pages
Structure your site for SEO
Make it easy to navigate

Action Item

Think about what purpose your website should be serving. Take out your phone, pull up your website and take a look to see if it's achieving that purpose.

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Five Benefits of Hosting a Virtual Event

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual and online experiences have transitioned into the new norm over the past year. Converting events online may have initially seemed temporary. However, 93% of event marketers will continue to invest in virtual events in the future—but why is that? Despite losing the value of in-person attendance, virtual events offer benefits that can generate long-term ROI and provide improved experiences for your attendees.

1. Expand Audience Reach

In-person events often involve more planning, time, and effort from attendees. When you transition your event into an online experience, your team and organization create more opportunities for welcoming new attendees. Virtual events eliminate limitations such as geographical location, enabling new people to attend and discover the value your organization has to offer.

Bonus Tip: If your event is pre-recorded and released on-demand, you can include subtitles in other languages to increase your reach.

2. Create More Flexibility

Virtual events allow your team to be more intentional in the planning process and how you want the experience to unfold. Virtual events empower you to plan with more innovative approaches—this can range from interactive segments, brain breaks, guest speakers, and subject matter experts. Virtual events can be live, on-demand, or a mix of both. For optimal results and engagement, choose the user experience that will best suit your audience.

Bonus Tip: If your organization is interested in measuring the differing performance between in-person and online, host a hybrid event. Implement a plan to measure how your audience responds and engages in both settings.

3. Enhance Attendee Engagement & Networking

Depending on the type of sessions you provide, participants are more likely to interact with others since they lack in-person engagement. Since online events are more likely to host new attendees, your typical audience will have opportunities to connect with new faces and network with a broader audience. Your organization can optimize engagement by incorporating polls, videos, short presentations, and opportunities to interact with other attendees.

Bonus Tip: Gather feedback from your attendees about the engagement aspect of the virtual experience. Utilize their inputs and insights for your next online event!

4. Save Time & Money

When you convert your event online, you will eliminate standard fees, such as travel, hotel, venue, and meals. Removing these aspects from your planning will not only save your organization money but will save time and allow you and your team to put more effort into the overall event structure and planning process. Your attendees will also reap the benefits of eliminating travel from their agendas, allowing more focus and energy towards the event itself.

5. Measure Data & Feedback

One of the challenging aspects of hosting an event is gathering adequate metrics such as feedback and activity from your attendees. Hosting 100% online enables your team to track your attendees more thoroughly—when they sign on, how much they engage, and which sessions appeal most to your attendees.

Whether you host an event in-person or online, the feedback method is often the same for both—gathering data online. Providing online surveys to gather feedback from attendees comes with more ease in virtual settings since participants will already be accustomed to an online environment. Attendees will not view this as an extra step but will perceive this as part of participating in the event.

Bonus Tip: Once your team has gathered your attendees’ overall event feedback, release the full recap/playback of the conference for a limited time so your attendees can review the content.

Recap / Takeaways

Having a virtual event helps you reach an all-new demographic that you might not be able to reach with an in person event
Virtual events are more scalable (you can reach more people at once)
Virtual events can make it easier for people who are less social or more introverted to connect and network with other or ask questions
Don't let your kids eat ice cream and big macs at midnight

Action Item

Check out a few online platforms outside of zoom. Hopin, Brandlive are two that I am very interested in and think will work well.

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

How to Become a Professional Copywriter with Jacob McMillen Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

Do you find that most business owners understand the value of copywriting?
What do you say to business owners who don't value copywriting?
What would you recommend to someone interested in getting started with copywriting?
How can they learn the skill?
How can they get their first clients?
What should they do to increase prices and profits?

Recap / Takeaways

If you buy a website with high traffic you can turn that into revenue with an affiliate model or selling products to a small percentage of those people.

Embrace who you are. Don't feel the pressure to hire a team if it's not right for your personality. It's more important to enjoy your life and have the lifestyle you want.
Don't overcomplicate creating a business. It's literally just sales and fulfillment.
Being confident in sales requires repetition. There is no shortcut.
If you're selling your services as a copywriter, don't spend time convincing people that copywriting has value. There is so much demand out there already from people who DO understand the value of copy.

Connect with Jason Online

https://jacobmcmillen.com

We invite you to go to TheFridayHabit.com to find show notes for this episode. There you can also find links to our websites and ways to get in touch. At the bottom of the page you can download our guide to the Friday Habit system that will show you how to set aside one full day each week dedicated to working on your business instead of in your business.

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

How to Become a Professional Copywriter with Jacob McMillen Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

Do you find that most business owners understand the value of copywriting?
What do you say to business owners who don't value copywriting?
What would you recommend to someone interested in getting started with copywriting?
How can they learn the skill?
How can they get their first clients?
What should they do to increase prices and profits?

Recap / Takeaways

If you buy a website with high traffic you can turn that into revenue with an affiliate model or selling products to a small percentage of those people.

Embrace who you are. Don't feel the pressure to hire a team if it's not right for your personality. It's more important to enjoy your life and have the lifestyle you want.
Don't overcomplicate creating a business. It's literally just sales and fulfillment.
Being confident in sales requires repetition. There is no shortcut.
If you're selling your services as a copywriter, don't spend time convincing people that copywriting has value. There is so much demand out there already from people who DO understand the value of copy.

Connect with Jason Online

https://jacobmcmillen.com

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Seven Keys to Building a Thriving Company Culture

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 04:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

1. Have a mission that matters

2. Put your team first

3. Give feedback often

4. Be emotionally in touch

5. Trust your people

6. Welcome feedback

7. Correct problems quickly

Action Item

Look over these principles and see which one you need to work on most. Spend 15 minutes with a notebook and think about 1 practical way you could do better. Then do it!

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Building Systems Around Your Faults with Benjamin Manley - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Happy Friday everyone! This is the second part of a two-part episode recorded on Ben’s birthday, where we dive deep into his backstory to learn more about why he ticks the way he does. If you're looking for a fun, relaxing listen—this is it!

Main Topics

How Ben won over his wife by joining a Jewish dance team.
Lessons learned from previous jobs
The transition to becoming an entrepreneur
How to build systems around your faults

Takeaways from episodes 72 & 73:

Make space for creativity
Set appropriate expectations
Build systems around your faults

Action Item(s):

Be intentional — think about where you want to be
Read The Road Less Stupid

Connect with Ben:

Connect with us:

Creating Space For Creativity With Benjamin Manley - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Happy Friday everyone! This episode was recorded on Ben’s birthday, so naturally, we dive deep into his backstory to learn more about why he ticks the way he does. If you're looking for a fun, relaxing listen. This is it!

Main Topics

Ice breaker question, where you get weird insights into our guest & host’s minds. This week’s question, “Is a hotdog a sandwich?”
We learn a little about Ben’s childhood
Growing up with space for creativity
Learning sales strategies from the Boy Scouts
Importance of talking about emotions

Connect with Ben:

Connect with us:

Building an App to Revolutionize an Industry with Andy Mathisen

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Happy Friday everyone! Unfortunately, we don't have Ben with us today, he is off gallivanting the beaches of Maui, but we do have my friend And Mathisen who is the co-founder and CMO of GloveBox App. Andy welcome to the show!

Andy has done everything from working at a startup to joining the family business, to starting a business of his own designed to revolutionize the insurance industry, one glovebox at a time.

Main Topics

Andy, did you always want to go into the insurance industry?
Tell us about your first job out of college?
How did you come to work for the family business?
Where did the idea for GloveBox come from?
What’s it like working with family?
How do you balance a family with starting your own company?

Recap/Takeaways:

Andy shares a little about what it was like growing up in the insurance industry and how much that has shaped his career.
Failure is easy to learn from.
Andy and his brother, Ryan, noticed there was a lot of time wasted on calls that didn't bring revenue and they sought a solution.
Their app, GloveBox, allows customers to have access to the information they need the most.
Their solution has reduced wasted call time for the company and increased customer retention because customers have quick, easy access to the information they need through their phones.

Action Item: If you have a cool idea to change the way things are done, pursue it!

Connect with Andy:

Follow Andy on Linkedin

Connect with us:

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Enhancing Company Culture with Laura Treonze - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 28 May 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Laura Treonze is an executive coach who specializes in behavioral understanding to enhance company culture, maximize executive talent and boost employee engagement. She combines psychology with experiential coaching methods to help individuals and teams break through limiting beliefs to increase productivity and profit.

Main Topic Notes

How did you get into executive coaching?
So how do you enhance company culture and boost employee engagement with behavioral understanding.?
Speaking about employee engagement, what are your thoughts about hiring and how do we do it right?
Whats the secret to attracting abundance into your life.

Recap / Takeaways

Top 3 rules for navigating life:
- Define and create your experience
- Stay resourceful (don't get stuck on one path)
- Be grateful for where you are
Hire based on culture fit first (most skills can be trained)
Ask your employees:
- How can I show you how much I appreciate you?
- How can I support you?
Often when hiring we're not asking enough questions
When hiring or looking for feedback in your organization ask: If you could change one thing about the organization, what would it be?
Don't create goals in a vacuum. Close the gap between goals of the individuals on your team and the goals of the company
In a review, ask first where they think they are before you telling them what you think
If you can match your people with the correct work then they will be more engaged
When things go wrong don't stay with just how and why I got here, spend more time on what needs to happen next, who do I need to talk to move forward?

Action Item

Define the experience you want

Connect With Laura

Purposeful-Life.co

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Enhancing Company Culture with Laura Treonze - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 21 May 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

How did you get into executive coaching?
So how do you enhance company culture and boost employee engagement with behavioral understanding.?
Speaking about employee engagement, what are your thoughts about hiring and how do we do it right?
Whats the secret to attracting abundance into your life.

Recap / Takeaways

Top 3 rules for navigating life:
- Define and create your experience
- Stay resourceful (don't get stuck on one path)
- Be grateful for where you are
Hire based on culture fit first (most skills can be trained)
Ask your employees:
- How can I show you how much I appreciate you?
- How can I support you?
Often when hiring we're not asking enough questions
When hiring or looking for feedback in your organization ask: If you could change one thing about the organization, what would it be?
Don't create goals in a vacuum. Close the gap between goals of the individuals on your team and the goals of the company
In a review, ask first where they think they are before you telling them what you think
If you can match your people with the correct work then they will be more engaged
When things go wrong don't stay with just how and why I got here, spend more time on what needs to happen next, who do I need to talk to move forward?

Action Item

Define the experience you want

Connect With Laura

Purposeful-Life.co

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Social Media & Influencer Marketing with Mae Karwowski - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 14 May 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Mae Karwowski is the founder and CEO of Obviously, a leading global influencer marketing agency and technology platform.

Recap / Takeaways

If you’re pivoting your business, you don’t have to pivot hard. You can taper off one service and grow the other simultaneously
It’s important to know what you’re good at, and what you’re not good at. Identify which things that you need to get better at, and which things you need to outsource.
If you’re looking to promote your brand on social media, a great way is to create helpful tip or DIY videos on TikTok and a longer form version on YouTube.
If you want to be an influencer, make sure you own your audience. Get a website and a way to sign people up to your newsletter so you can own that audience.
If you need to spend time thinking about big picture vision, then block it off on your calendar like it’s a meeting.

Action Item

Write out your priorities for the following quarter and even the next 3 upcoming quarters

Connect with Mae

www.obvious.ly

linkedin.com/in/maekarwowski/

twitter.com/maewow

instagram.com/maewow

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Social Media & Influencer Marketing with Mae Karwowski - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 07 May 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Mae Karwowski is the founder and CEO of Obviously, a leading global influencer marketing agency and technology platform.

Recap / Takeaways

If you’re pivoting your business, you don’t have to pivot hard. You can taper off one service and grow the other simultaneously
It’s important to know what you’re good at, and what you’re not good at. Identify which things that you need to get better at, and which things you need to outsource.
If you’re looking to promote your brand on social media, a great way is to create helpful tip or DIY videos on TikTok and a longer form version on YouTube.
If you want to be an influencer, make sure you own your audience. Get a website and a way to sign people up to your newsletter so you can own that audience.
If you need to spend time thinking about big picture vision, then block it off on your calendar like it’s a meeting.

Action Item

Write out your priorities for the following quarter and even the next 3 upcoming quarters

Connect with Mae

www.obvious.ly

linkedin.com/in/maekarwowski/

twitter.com/maewow

instagram.com/maewow

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Should I grow my agency? with Tyler Pigott - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

What kind of culture do you want to have in your company?
What do you do to intentionally affect culture?
What does your leadership/team structure look like?
What differences do you notice between having a 5 person team and a 18 person team?
Were there any unexpected effects?
How do you keep communication efficient between team members?
Do you still have all-hands meetings?
How do you handle remote work?
What mistakes have you made that we could learn from?

Recap / Takeaways

Be transparent with your team and give them authority instead of just responsibility (let them see the impact)
Hiring a new employee can 10x your productivity in ways you don’t expect once they start using their superpowers
Think of your employees as an investment, not a cost
At first you hire when you’re swamped, but eventually you need to identify opportunities and invest in employees to solve those problems
Spend time in your sweet spot and hire people that balance out your weaknesses
Your ability to grow is dependent on how much trust you are willing to put into the people you hire
How to decide whether to grow or not: What are you good at, and what do you WANT to do?

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Should I grow my agency? with Tyler Pigott - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

What kind of culture do you want to have in your company?
What do you do to intentionally affect culture?
What does your leadership/team structure look like?
What differences do you notice between having a 5 person team and a 18 person team?
Were there any unexpected effects?
How do you keep communication efficient between team members?
Do you still have all-hands meetings?
How do you handle remote work?
What mistakes have you made that we could learn from?

Recap / Takeaways

Be transparent with your team and give them authority instead of just responsibility (let them see the impact)
Hiring a new employee can 10x your productivity in ways you don’t expect once they start using their superpowers
Think of your employees as an investment, not a cost
At first you hire when you’re swamped, but eventually you need to identify opportunities and invest in employees to solve those problems
Spend time in your sweet spot and hire people that balance out your weaknesses
Your ability to grow is dependent on how much trust you are willing to put into the people you hire
How to decide whether to grow or not: What are you good at, and what do you WANT to do?

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Episode 64: Five Jobs Your Website Can Do for Your Business

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 01:00:00 -0600

1. Build legitimacy

How to build legitimacy with your website:

Create a great impression with a professional design
Show examples or case studies of your work
Share your knowledge through blog posts
Display quotes from happy customers
Feature logos of respected companies you’ve worked with
Show photos of your team with relevant bios
Include a press section with places you’ve been featured

2. Help people discover you

How to help new people find your website:

Strategically use keywords in your page titles and URLs
Write long-form blog posts than answer customer questions
Use alt text for your images so people can find them
Set up a Google My Business profile
List your company website in online directories
Get respected websites to link to you
Follow other SEO best practices

3. Build your email list

How to build your email list through your website:

Include a sign-up box in the footer of every page
Allow people to subscribe and get blog posts delivered
Offer a valuable lead magnet in exchange for an email

4. Make sales for you

How to make sales through your website:

Set up a store on your site (it’s easy with Squarespace)
Add digital products like guides, videos, or courses
Sell workshops as a service product
Use Calendly or Acuity to charge for time on your schedule
Sell physical products and ship them to your customers
Or open a merch shop and let Printful do the fulfillment
Include FAQs to help customers take the leap

5. Increase quality of leads

Here’s how to increase the quality of leads from your site:

Be clear about your niche (only those that fit will reach out)
Publish your pricing (this will disqualify some leads)
List the types of problems you don’t solve on your site
Change your contact form to a detailed application (only the most interested leads will make it through)

Action Item

Identify your top priority for your website, then make one small improvement to help it meet your goal better.

Subscribe & Review

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

Voice Memo

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Episode 63: How to Live Every Day Like It's Friday with Mark Labriola II - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

What are some of your first memories?
Where did you grow up?
What were you like as a kid
What was your education like?
What was your first job?
What has your career looked like?
How has your background informed who you are now?
Where do you hope to go from here?

Subscribe & Review

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

Voice Memo

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Episode 62: How to Live Every Day Like It's Friday with Mark Labriola II - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Icebreaker Question

Would You Rather Live One Life That Lasts 1,000 Years Or Live 10 Lives That Last 100 Years Each?
Would You Rather Be Without Elbows Or Be Without Knees?

Main Topic Notes

What are some of your first memories?
Where did you grow up?
What were you like as a kid
What was your education like?
What was your first job?
What has your career looked like?
How has your background informed who you are now?
Where do you hope to go from here?

Subscribe & Review

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a review in the Apple podcasts app.

Voice Memo

If you have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover don’t forget to record us a quick voice memo and send it to hello@thefridayhabit.com

Thanks for listening to The Friday Habit.

Until next time. Live every day like it’s Friday.

Make it Hard for Your Team to Fail with Sam & Josh Ovett - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

Professional Whitewater Kayaking Athlete?
You work with a family member, how is that going?
What is business process mapping and how do you incorporate marketing?
Please tell us more about your tagline “Be Human otherwise Automate!” Why is this your tagline?
What made you realize that “the Human” aspect was so important in automation? How do you apply this to your business?
What do you think is coming up in the field of automation for sales and marketing?

Recap / Takeaways

Whatever you're doing in life, pay attention and you'll find parallels to running a business
Saying "we've always done it that way" kills businesses
It may be worth it to bring in a consultant (a fresh pair of eyes) to identify waste
Implement something in your business for continuous improvement (Kai zen)
Goal with creating processes is to make it hard for people to fail at their job (not just to save time or money)
Keep asking how you can eliminate yourself
Lead generation
Conversion
Delivery of promise
Delighting afterward
Ask for referrals
If you have a company that requires your time do this:
Ask people what you're doing for people
Charge more for your time
Create some type of digital knowledge product that will scale without you
When you're trying to accomplish something, don't ask how to do it, ask who can do it for me

Action Item

Record what you do every 15 minutes for 3 days

Connect with Sam:

https://mobilepocketoffice.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samovett/

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://mobilepocketoffice.com

Make it Hard for Your Team to Fail with Sam & Josh Ovett - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 01:00:00 -0600

Main Topic Notes

Professional Whitewater Kayaking Athlete?
You work with a family member, how is that going?
What is business process mapping and how do you incorporate marketing?
Please tell us more about your tagline “Be Human otherwise Automate!” Why is this your tagline?
What made you realize that “the Human” aspect was so important in automation? How do you apply this to your business?
What do you think is coming up in the field of automation for sales and marketing?

Recap / Takeaways

Whatever you're doing in life, pay attention and you'll find parallels to running a business
Saying "we've always done it that way" kills businesses
It may be worth it to bring in a consultant (a fresh pair of eyes) to identify waste
Implement something in your business for continuous improvement (Kai zen)
Goal with creating processes is to make it hard for people to fail at their job (not just to save time or money)
Keep asking how you can eliminate yourself
Lead generation
Conversion
Delivery of promise
Delighting afterward
Ask for referrals
If you have a company that requires your time do this:
Ask people what you're doing for people
Charge more for your time
Create some type of digital knowledge product that will scale without you
When you're trying to accomplish something, don't ask how to do it, ask who can do it for me

Action Item

Record what you do every 15 minutes for 3 days

Connect with Sam:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samovett/

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/betterjason

Leading as an Entrepreneur with Jason Reichl - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 01:00:00 -0700

This is the second part of Mark and Ben’s interview with Go Nimbly cofounder, Jason Reichl, so if you haven’t listened to the first part, go back to Episode 58 and get caught up! Jason says that there are two key questions you should ask yourself when it comes to setting goals:

How do I enact change that sticks?
How do I communicate about that change implementation? And why?

He says that if you do not communicate goals and the changes that will be a part of reaching those goals in a way that is recognizable to your team, your aims will not be effective. People need to understand specifically what you are proposing in order to jump on board. Part of this process is making your organization’s mission very visible and apparent and then having your team cast visions for themselves in a way that aligns with your mission framework.

Once you are all on the same page regarding organizational mission and goals, Jason recommends encouraging your team to pursue innovation and have the freedom to collaborate and brainstorm in unconventional ways like Patrick Condon taught him. This incubator model is a great one for avoiding the silo syndrome of departments being afraid of change and becoming territorial. Jason talks about tracking momentum KPIs instead of some of the more traditional KPIs that put too much emphasis on the wrong targets and metrics which could contribute to silos circling their wagons.

Another practice that Jason has implemented at Go Nimbly is culture squads, groups that come together and meet on certain issues in order to create best practices. Systems and processes like this are one of Jason’s passions in the organization because they set up the guardrails for projects and allow the team space to be proactive and innovative. The action item after this episode is to think about and write out a vision for yourself one year out. Be very specific – what you want to see, hear, taste, smell, do, etc.

Connect with Jason:

https://gonimbly.com/

https://twitter.com/betterjason?lang=en

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/betterjason

Leading as an Entrepreneur with Jason Reichl - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 01:00:00 -0700

Come on in and take a seat for part one of Mark and Ben’s conversation with Jason Reichl, cofounder of Go Nimbly, lover of design thinking, master of optimizing revenue operations, and a guy who has a love/hate relationship with the Eisenhower Matrix. If you have marketing, sales, or customer service staff in your business, Jason’s insights could be gamechangers. Jason came from a creative background but he always had a firm grasp of the business aspects of every endeavor, so even his mediocre projects became successful. Through his early work experiences, Jason realized that he had a knack for creating the framework and disciplines needed to fill in the gaps that the customer might experience through the marketing, sales, and customer services processes and with Go Nimbly he wants to provide a product that makes all of those aspects of the customer experience more effective and efficient.

During this episode, Jason also talks about how he prioritizes the important over the urgent, perhaps reclassifying important things as urgent as well to ensure that they take precedence. He goes a level deeper than the Eisenhower Matrix does by asking himself if the urgent thing in front of him is a reverberation of a previous decision that could have been mitigated by taking a different course of action earlier. Every strategy decision, Jason says, has a dark underside and it is important to recognize and comprehend the effects early on and to remain committed to the strategy so that your people will follow suit and continue to trust in your strategic capabilities. “Even over” statements also help Jason provide clarity as a leader because they establish the core principles and values at Go Nimbly that will never be relinquished.

Tune in next week for the conclusion of the interview with Jason Reichl!

Connect with Jason:

https://gonimbly.com/

https://twitter.com/betterjason?lang=en

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://www.normanthefilm.com/

How to Bootstrap a Sci-Fi Film with Joel Guelzo Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 01:00:00 -0700

When Joel started the creation process for Norman in 2012, he didn’t have many resources besides an idea and a dream. He thought at the time that he was working on a short film, but after the first few weeks of shooting it became apparent to him and the actor who played Norman that the film had the potential to be feature-length, so they shifted their mindset to fleshing out the story more. Most Saturday mornings for about 3 years, they could be found at another friend’s house, which was the main filming location, working on various scenes until Joel’s vision had been brought to fruition.

Along the way, Joel was met with a lot of push back from people who wanted to know why he wasn’t doing things a certain way, but he was committed to his process and he is very pleased with the end result. He attributes the film’s success to the collaboration and buy-in from everyone involved in the film, from the actors to the musician who wrote the score to the other members of the crew (like Ben, who did some design work) that each contributed their own parts. Joel ran the film with an open-door policy, constantly showing the actors and crew the footage from various cuts for feedback. Joel worked very closely with his brother Jonah who is an audio engineer during post-production to make sure that every sound heard during the film was exactly right. Joel’s wife Joy, who works for Ben at Knapsack Creative, has always been extremely supportive of Joel’s ideas, which Joel says is such a blessing.

Looking back, Joel affirms his decisions to make everything as high-quality as possible along the way – not cutting any corners – because the cumulative effect of all of those decisions increased the overall quality of Norman by 15% at least. Now that the film has been released, Joel anticipates several more months (if not longer) of promoting the film and he hopes to use any proceeds to help fund a future film. For listeners who are working towards their own goals, Joel encourages you to announce what you are doing and surround yourself with accountability, to learn what you are bad at and ask for help with those things, and to carefully consider the details because they really do matter.

Connect with Joel:

https://www.projectvolare.com/

jmguelzo@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/Normanthefilm/

https://www.instagram.com/normanthefilm/

https://vimeo.com/channels/647286

https://www.youtube.com/user/NormanTheFilm

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://www.normanthefilm.com/

How to Bootstrap a Sci-Fi Film with Joel Guelzo Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 01:00:00 -0700

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark talk with Joel Guelzo about how he bootstrapped a sci-fi film of such high quality that people are shocked to hear that it only cost $40,000 plus countless volunteer hours from Joel’s family and friends. Joel came up with the idea for a story about a time-traveling scientist who used his invention for his own selfish purposes, to escape his life circumstances, and goes through a journey of self-realization before he is faced with the need to return back to the present time before the world as he knows it ceases to exist.

Joel had such a specific vision for the movie that he wanted to be responsible for every single aspect, from the videography to the music to the visual effects to the audio engineering to the set design and costumes. But since he has a full-time job, Joel had to prioritize the film on nights and weekends. All told, Norman took 9 years of those night and weekends to complete, but as of February 2021, the film has been released to the world through streaming services and on DVD/Blu-ray and Joel feels such a sense of relief that there is no more tinkering to be done.

Joel’s journey to becoming a filmmaker was quite organic, starting as a child borrowing the family camcorder to shoot scenes that he wrote for his action figures and then being asked as a young adult to film family events and occasions before he embraced his role as a videographer and began shooting weddings. As a kid, his motivations for shooting those short films was to gain the attention of his family members and gain credibility. That desire to be believable still motivates him today, and since Norman was his first feature-film, he felt like he was continually having to prove himself for people to take him seriously.

Be sure to come back next week for the conclusion of our conversation with Joel!

Connect with Joel:

jmguelzo@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/Normanthefilm/

https://www.instagram.com/normanthefilm/

https://vimeo.com/channels/647286

https://www.youtube.com/user/NormanTheFilm

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

Fearlessly Build Your Business with Jeremy Parker Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 01:00:00 -0700

Now that listeners have a pretty good understanding of where Jeremy has come from and what motivates him to keep innovating, the rest of the interview drills down more into business operations. Considering their rapid growth, Swag.com has had to be very adaptable and creative while ensuring that new employees are trained to catch the vision of the business and stay in touch with what consumers want. Over the years, this quest to the most beneficial user experience has taken many iterations and requires an understanding that it is always being tweaked and improved.

Swag.com had to adapt during 2020 as every business did, branching out into sourcing and selling face masks to clients in lieu of their traditional promotional items orders. Another quick pivot they implemented was offering to hold inventory for clients to be shipped at a future date to one address or multiple addresses. This added yet another layer of complexity to the business, but one that they feel is worth it to keep providing solutions to clients’ problems. Jeremy spends most of his time working with the user experience and technology aspects of the business, but he is very involved with operations as whole since clients’ needs and wants are always changing.

Jeremy has been intentional about seeking out mentors to support and push him throughout his entrepreneurial journey, from his dad to the CEO of Envy Sport to Jesse Itzler. He says that each of these men helped him learn various aspects of business and entrepreneurship that have benefitted him in various ways, always being receptive to his questions and suggestions and giving credence to his ideas. In order to keep sharp, Jeremy typically spends an hour and a half per day working out and walking, which he feels like gives him the mental space he needs to sort his day out and set priorities. The action item after listening to this interview is to put a deadline on the things you keep saying you’re going to do. You will never be “ready” to jump in with both feet, but if you set a deadline, you won’t have any option but to give it a shot.

Connect with Jeremy:

jeremy@swag.com

https://swag.com

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

Fearlessly Build Your Business with Jeremy Parker Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 01:00:00 -0700

Jeremy Parker is the son of an entrepreneur, so that creative and daring spirit was engrained in him from an early age. So when he found himself winning a film festival with his documentary in college and still feeling unfulfilled, his logical next step was to finish his degree and then start his own business. He jumped into the high-end t-shirt industry with very few concrete plans, but through a very innovative marketing strategy, he caught the eye of Mark Cuban and got an immediate sales bump that allowed him to remain in the business long enough to get a good handle on the various aspects of the business: production, distribution, marketing, and customer service.

Also early in his career, Jeremy was given the opportunity to spearhead a new division of Envy Sport that ended up facilitating design contests for over 100 colleges and universities that created new licensed designs that were sold in the schools’ bookstores. After this, he went into business with his brother essentially serving as agents for the first YouTube influencers. They would secure sponsorships from big name companies and sign YouTube stars to product placement deals. This eventually expanded to the same type of advertising deals with celebrities on Twitter before anyone else had thought of leveraging their platforms in this way.

Jeremy’s current business endeavor, along with his partner Josh, is Swag.com. Jeremy and Josh noticed a gap in the market for promotional apparel and items and decided to do something about it. They acquired the domain name and set out to be traveling salesmen in order to determine what types of products customers wanted and how they should structure the business to accommodate customer needs. They went after Facebook to be their first customer because they figured that if they had Facebook on board, they could get basically anyone else: big or small. Their pitch was successful, and the rest is history. In 5 years, their revenue went from $350,000 in 2016 to $15.5 million in 2020. For the rest of the conversation, come back next week!

Connect with Jeremy:

jeremy@swag.com

https://swag.com

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://twitter.com/davidburkus?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

How to Build Culture on a Remote Team With David Burkus: Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 01:00:00 -0700

Welcome back to The Friday Habit podcast for the conclusion of the interview with David Burkus, author of Leading from Anywhere. He explains that the source of a lot of confusion and contention regarding managing a remote workforce is misaligned expectations. Specifically, expecting that presence and responsiveness equal productivity, as is the common belief for managers of in-person teams. However, productivity both inside and outside of the office should be defined by outcomes and the progress being made to reach those outcomes. It is important that leaders set up systems to support this outcomes-focus as well as hold team members accountable for their assigned objectives rather than monitoring their daily work.

Whether your team has been working remotely for several months or several days, it is a good idea to establish a team working agreement which spells out norms, platforms for different types of requests or questions, and how your team feedback loop is going to work. Instituting a daily standup meeting for the team to share their answers to scrum-type questions is a great way to keep folks on track and engaged with their work and other team members who are collaborating on the same projects. This makes one of David’s other recommendations more attainable: work sprints. Work sprints are dedicated segments of time that are intended to take one task or project from start to finish in a very efficient manner. Once your team starts working in sprints, you have set up a natural evaluation timeframe that could be an avenue to provide a real-time feedback loop to all team members should you choose to integrate this into your framework. It has long been known that annual performance evaluations are not ideal for spurring on continuous improvement and addressing any concerns or issues.

While video conferencing has become the new normal for internal and client meetings alike, there are some times when it is better to revert back to audio-only meetings. “Zoom fatigue” is very real and it can be tiring and distracting to be on yet another video call where you feel like you have to be “on”, able to read and react to the nonverbals of your team members. Even if your team decides to stay remote or move to a hybrid schedule, do not neglect in-person meetings when it is appropriate to be together. One idea that David provided on this episode was to spend the money that you’ve saved by not having to rent office space on sending everyone to a conference or a team retreat to build rapport and interconnectedness.

David’s action item after this episode is for you to brainstorm and work up a team working agreement with and for your team.

Connect with David:

https://davidburkus.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidburkus

https://www.ted.com/speakers/david_burkus

https://www.amazon.com/David-Burkus/e/B0091L00NG%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://twitter.com/davidburkus?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

How to Build Culture on a Remote Team With David Burkus: Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 01:00:00 -0700

David Burkus started out his career as a business school professor who was inspired and intrigued by the narrative nonfiction books being written by people like Malcolm Gladwell. On this episode of The Friday Habit, David tells Mark and Ben about how that inspiration became action when he realized that he wanted to help people work and lead more effectively by using storytelling techniques combined with science. He decided to advance his education by earning a Master’s in Organizational Psychology and a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership, providing him with the foundation to embark on his writing journey.

Now, David has written 4 or 5 books (depending on how you classify his Audible project) on the intersection of psychology and business to help teams do their best work. He has written on the misconceptions of the creative process, setting up an effective work climate and culture, networking and its integration with science, declaring your company’s purpose and motivating people to join your cause, and leading from anywhere. David also provides some insight into the nonfiction writing industry, which he says starts with having a platform of your own. David started his podcast in 2010, back before there was adequate technology to support podcasting, and he was later approached by an agent based on the content and following he had built up there. Once he had an agent, they worked together to create a proposal which was sent to various publishers and the bidding/offer process began. If you do not get any publisher offers the first time around, you can tweak your proposal and try, try again. Once he had signed with a publisher, the bulk of the writing began, with lots of input and feedback from his editor.

We will pick back up in the conversation next week!

Connect with David:

https://davidburkus.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidburkus

https://www.ted.com/speakers/david_burkus

https://www.amazon.com/David-Burkus/e/B0091L00NG%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://www.motivatedmornings.work/

5 Mistakes That Undermine Your Business Goals

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 01:00:00 -0700

Whether you have created 2021 business goals yet or not, Ben and Mark have some great pointers on this episode of The Friday Habit for you to keep in mind as you try to crush your goals. Here are 5 common mistakes that may undermine your business goals and how you can shift the equation to point you in the right direction.

Setting the wrong goals – If your goals are unclear or vague, you will lack direction. Instead, make sure that your goals are specific, measurable, and achievable.
Forgetting your goals – If your goals are not top of mind, you will forget why they are important to you and what your desired end results are. Document your goals and make them impossible to ignore.
Under-planning for your goals – If you don’t have a plan in place, you will likely never start on your goals or you will never get where you want to go. Consider using time blocking (as discussed on Episode 47 of the podcast) and setting recurring events on your calendar to allow the adequate time for you to work towards your goal. Choose your tools and location ahead of time and have a back-up plan for if something makes you deviate from your plan.
Doing it alone – If you do not have anyone in your corner to keep you accountable, you will likely stop working towards your goals. In fact, studies have shown that having accountability increases the likelihood of success by 95%. Schedule check-ins with a like-minded peer, coach, or mentor ahead of time and stick to the plan. One great resource is Motivated Mornings (link below).
Giving up with it’s not working – If you give up at the first obstacle or challenge along your path to reach your goal, you will never get there. Instead, expect to face challenges and experience failures along the way. Use those speedbumps to reevaluate your methods and then get back on the path.

Your action item after this episode is to create new 2021 goals and set up back up plans and accountability check-ins to keep you on track.

Links mentioned:

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments, including voice memos: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://www.curtmercadante.com/

Building an Authority Brand with Curt Mercadante (Part 2)

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 01:00:00 -0700

We dive a bit deeper into the four pillars of building an authority brand with Curt Mercadante during this episode of The Friday Habit. When it comes to the right ways to gain attention for your business or brand, Curt says that it is important to have a LinkedIn presence and consistently publish content there. But this will not be effective unless you have a concrete understanding of who your ideal client is. The accuracy pillar addresses this, nudging you towards creating those personas that you will keep in mind as you go about every brainstorming and strategy conversation. Be confident enough to cast a small net into that small pond, making the message relevant to your niche and talking directly to them. Curt calls every person who engages with his LinkedIn posts to make that connection.

This flows right into the next pillar, which is alignment. The right message conveyed to the right audience should draw people to you rather than you feeling like you have to lure them in with pitches or sales techniques. Your impact story will resonate with them and you will be able to speak to their wants without forcing or manipulating them because you are genuinely trying to provide them with something of value that will improve their lives. Finally, authenticity means providing a quality product or service consistently. When people see and hear you through avenues like video content, they will feel like they know you long before they reach out to you about your services and these types of clients are more likely to be loyal and tell others about you. Don’t try to be someone you are not and play to your strengths in every scenario.

Your action item after this episode is to call at least one potential client tomorrow. Curt says that talking with people is the best way to hone your message.

Connect with Curt:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freedom-mindset-radio/id1352804152

https://www.amazon.com/Five-Pillars-Freedom-Lifestyle-Comfort-ebook/dp/B07WLLBGRD

https://twitter.com/curtmercadante

https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtmercadante

https://www.facebook.com/curtmercadante/

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://www.curtmercadante.com/

Building an Authority Brand with Curt Mercadante (Part 1)

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 01:00:00 -0700

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit podcast is Curt Mercadante, Founder of Merc Enterprises, author, certified Gallup Strengths trainer, certified human behavior specialist, and host of The Freedom Mindset Podcast Radio show. Curt shares his insights about creating an authority brand rather than just a commodity brand, providing value, attracting customers, and cultivating loyalty. Every business, he points out, started as a thought which led to an idea which manifested in a business which comes with inherent authority, but many people are not tapping into this authority to improve the lives of other people.

The four pillars of building an authority brand are:

Attention – Gaining followers, likes, views, and shares is just the beginning.
Accuracy – Creating a client persona based on demographics, behaviors, and attitudes is essential to understanding and relating to your audience.
Alignment – Your audience wants to know what is in it for them, so don’t bombard them with your accomplishments and accolades. Create your impact story in the form of one simple sentence.
Authenticity – Consistently communicating to your audience will establish the know, like, and trust factor.

Many businesses focus their strategies on social media because this his how they think they can reach the most people, but social media is just a tool and it is not reliable for gaining leads or loyal customers. It is crucial to consistently communicate your message, being aware of your niche and the best ways to reach the personas you have established. Rather than focusing on results, dial into the process and reverse engineer your long-term goals to determine your outcomes. Come back next week for the conclusion of Mark and Ben’s conversation with Curt!

Connect with Curt:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freedom-mindset-radio/id1352804152

https://www.amazon.com/Five-Pillars-Freedom-Lifestyle-Comfort-ebook/dp/B07WLLBGRD

https://twitter.com/curtmercadante

https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtmercadante

https://www.facebook.com/curtmercadante/

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments: hello@thefridayhabit.com

Merry Christmas!

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 01:00:00 -0700

Merry Christmas, everyone! Ben and Mark take a break from their previously scheduled programming to bring you reminiscences from Christmases past and some great ideas for bonding as a family or as a work team. Mark paints a picturesque scene from Christmas mornings spent at his grandmother’s house as a big, happy, Italian family and the laser tag set that brought him such joy. Ben remembers the surprising happiness that came from receiving his first pocket-sized “video game” as well as the electric train set and race cars that every young boy looks for under the tree.

As a native Ohioan, Ben talks of strange delicacies called buckeyes and scotcheroos – if you know, you know. While Mark’s favorite treats of molasses cookies and no bake cookies are more universally known. In the days leading up to Christmas, the Labriola family can be seen walking around Target in their Christmas jammies so the kids can shop for each other, while the Manley family opts for quiet nights by the fire sipping egg nog. Ben’s family has donned the moniker of “The Christmas Ninjas” this year, hoping to deliver surprise gifts to families in need.

Both Mark and Ben have been known to pull a prank or two in their day, and if you’re looking for some unique ideas, you’ll have to listen in for all the details. Since there is no action item this week, you might just have the time to prank someone in your life.

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments: hello@thefridayhabit.com

Build A Low-Stress Business With Time Blocking

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 01:00:00 -0700

Time blocking is the topic on this episode of The Friday Habit, and Ben’s insights could be beneficial to you whether you currently use time blocking in your business or not. Time blocking is helpful in a business because it keeps you away from overcommitting, it makes you better at estimating how long things will take you, and you can have foresight in working with your clients to ensure that you are providing them with adequate time for their project.

At Knapsack, Ben and his team rely on time blocking because of their structure of creating websites for clients in one day. They have a very well-established framework for each project, so they know the 4 different client sessions involved in each website build, how long they will each take, and when/if they can fit them in within the client’s timeframe. They aim to walk away from each project without any homework because they have accounted for every possible contingency within their time blocking system. During any given week, Ben has meetings scheduled on Mondays and Wednesdays (including 3 hours on Wednesday mornings that are set aside for support requests), he commits Tuesdays and Thursdays to client work, and Fridays are reserved for working on the business rather than in the business (The Friday Habit).

While not every business has the ability to structure and schedule things out to the same extent as Knapsack, most service-based companies could employ time blocking to some degree. When you get a new order, instead of just putting it on a to-do list, go ahead and place a time block for it on your calendar and then stick to it when that time comes around. The more you do this, the better you will be at estimating how much time certain tasks take you, and you may find that this will help you adjust your pricing models to be more realistic and/or be more detailed about what is included in your different services. Even when it comes to your life outside of work, you could block off thinking time, gym time, time for various errands, or anything else that you may have trouble prioritizing.

Your action item this week is to put every step of your next project into your schedule and then stick to those tasks when the times come. Ben also recommends that you time block at least 2 hours of your Friday to work on your business, and you can find more information about what this looks like at TheFridayHabit.com.

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments: hello@thefridayhabit.com

What Kind Of Business Do You Want To Build

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 01:00:00 -0700

With the end of the year quickly approaching, it is a good idea to recalibrate your business, looking inward to determine where you are, how you got here, and where you want to be. This episode of The Friday Habit is all about this topic and integrating this introspection into your process occasionally. Here are the four questions and where Mark and Ben currently find themselves on their answers:

Why do you have your own business? Mark was unexpectedly laid off a few years ago and immediately decided to ramp up his side hustle into a full-time gig. Now that he has been working for himself for so long, he couldn’t see himself going back to working for someone else. Ben knew that he wanted to leave his full-time job to build his own thing, so he tested the waters in order to know whether his business would be viable. He loves the security, control, and freedom of having his own business and he is greatly fulfilled by helping his clients be successful.
What kind of business do you want to build? Mark’s long-term vision for Brand Viva Media fluctuates in size and scope, but his overall mission of leaving things better than he found them remains constant. He wants to be intentional with the culture his business has, the services they provide, and work-life balance for himself and his employees. Ben aims to have the optimal sized team to accomplish Knapsack’s mission, working smarter and making lives better along the way. He has enough previous work experience to know what he doesn’t want to do, so he tries to swing the door the other way and serve as an incubator for innovative concepts and business ideas in his community.
What kind of boss do you want to be? Mark wants to be the kind of boss that he would like to have, motivated by empathy and able to relate to his team. He wants to be self-aware and generous, lifting people up and providing value in every interaction. Ben wants to leave space for fun and productivity to coexist. He emphasizes the importance of hiring the right people who are motivated and coachable and then trusting them to do their jobs.
What kind of life do you want to have? How does your business support that? Mark wants to have autonomy and freedom, providing an environment that allows him and his employees to pay their bills while still having plenty of time with their loved ones. Ben finds freedom in systematizing his business, being innovative within a set of boundaries and enriching the lives of his team members and clients every day.

Your action item after this episode is to think about these questions and plot a course forward.

Connect with us:

To submit questions/comments: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/press-release-template-ht

Staying Fit as an Entrepreneur with Jeremy Slate

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 01:00:00 -0700

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit podcast is Jeremy Slate, host of the Create Your Own Life podcast and co-founder along with his wife of the Command Your Brand agency. As we discussed in our last episode, Jeremy built his success on a series of hard-earned lessons. He found his passion in helping others grow and evolve their businesses, but none of it would work without a few core principles that drive his days – the first one being, without fail, getting to his exercise routine first thing. Jeremy follows his morning cup of bulletproof coffee with a trip to the gym for a very specific weightlifting workout (links below), something he tracks consistently in a notebook. Other key ingredients in his routine include a 10-minute cold shower and deferring calls and outside communication until after 10a, which gives him time to clear his decks mentally and practically before diving into the day. In terms of nutrition, Jeremy believes everyone needs to determine the balance of foods that best optimizes their individual metabolism. Ultimately the thing that creates balance and harmony elsewhere in his life is a commitment to family first. His wife (and business partner) helps Jeremy keep perspective and together they organize their business around life -- not the other way around. It’s all about small linear progressions. Anyone can get started today by trying one or all of the health and fitness practices Jeremy recommends.

Links:

Connect with Jeremy:

https://www.commandyourbrand.com/7reasons

www.jeremyryanslate.com

Jeremy’s preferred workout:

https://ast-ss.com/max-ot/toc/

About bullet proof coffee:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/style/the-cult-of-the-bulletproof-coffee-diet.html

About Frank Zane - Mr. Olympia

https://www.frankzane.com

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Gift Ideas for Entrepreneurs

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 01:00:00 -0700

On this special holiday edition of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark bring listeners their very timely gift guide for entrepreneurs and clients. These are things that Ben and Mark have either received, given, or purchased for themselves and they are now self-proclaimed unofficial brand ambassadors. Here are the gifts they recommend and why:

Miir water bottles – These water bottles are vacuum-insulated and feature a very minimal design as well as helping to fund clean water projects worldwide.
- Link: miir.com
Shure MV7 podcast microphone – This would be more of splurge purchase for friends or clients who are looking to launch a podcast or improve the quality of their existing show. It is easily the best mid-level microphone out there, featuring XLR and USB inputs, a headphone output, and compatible software.
- Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G7JN6J7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
CRKT Techliner pen – A good pen is something that will have a daily impact on your life, but most people would never buy a good pen for themselves. This pen is minimal in design and has a handy magnetic lid.
- Link: crkt.com/williams-tactical-pen.html
Bluetooth speaker sleep mask – Mark uses this sleep mask every night to block out light and to fall asleep listening to music, a podcast, an audiobook, or the Portal app.
- Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T6FNLQV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ember mug – This is the ultimate mug for hot beverages and most likely a mug that people would not buy for themselves, so you can knock their socks off with this gift. The Ember mug is connected by Bluetooth to an app on your phone which will allow you to control and maintain a specific temperature for your drink.
- Link: ember.com
Personalized leather field notes sleeve – No matter how advanced technology becomes, you can’t replace good ol’ pen and paper, and this personalized leather field notes sleeve is the perfect addition to that small moleskin your entrepreneur friend carries around in their pocket.
- Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085YF2Y2N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Apple gift card for the Soulver 3 app – If your gift recipient is constantly looking for a way to solve the word problems that come up in business without having to try to make everything fit into an Excel formula, Soulver is just what they need but they don’t know it yet. Give them a gift card to Apple and let them find out what they have been missing.
- Link: https://soulver.app/

Connect with us:

To submit reviews: hello@thefridayhabit.com

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/press-release-template-ht

The Basics of PR That Anyone Can Use with Jeremy Slate

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 01:00:00 -0700

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit podcast is Jeremy Slate, host of the Create Your Own Life podcast and co-founder of the Command Your Brand agency with his wife. Jeremy went to college with the hopes of becoming a college professor one day, but after he finished his Masters’ degree and entered the job market, he realized that he was either overqualified or underqualified for every job he was interested in. Jeremy had bad break after bad break before he taught himself how to build websites and he launched his first (unsuccessful) podcast before landing on the Create Your Own Life podcast that has served him well and turned his career around.

Things started to click for Jeremy when he realized that he could be a successful lifelong learner, and he launched Command Your Brand with his wife as a way of combining his love for learning with passing along his acquired knowledge to businesses looking to get more involved in their public relations. Public relations is the avenue for making good works known, literally spotlighting the organization’s relationship with the public. Jeremy’s 3 main tips for people wanting integrate more PR into their operations are: (1) Know what is news worthy or interesting, (2) Employ the small pond strategy, and (3) Have a plan for what you will do with the PR. He also recommends learning how to write a great press release, making a list of the “small ponds” you are a part of, and learn the terminology so you can get the word out.

Links:

Connect with Jeremy:

https://www.commandyourbrand.com/7reasons

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Thinking Time: Your New Secret Weapon

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 01:00:00 -0700

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark discuss the idea of making time and space for thinking, planning, and reflection, as inspired by the book “The Road Less Stupid” by Keith Cunningham. What if you were to spend the same amount of time thinking as you do mindlessly scrolling through social media? You may be surprised by how much clarity you can gain from setting aside this intentional thinking time, even if it is only 15 minutes a day.

In his book, Cunningham outlines the 5 core disciplines of thinking time:

Find the unasked question – Ask better and better questions of yourself until you nail down the core problem.
Separate the problem from the symptom – Don’t stop at just diagnosing the symptom; there is always a root issue that needs to be uncovered and addressed.
Check your assumptions – Don’t rely on your feelings or perceptions about how things are going; rely on facts and try to be objective.
Consider second-order consequences – Think about the long-term implications and the potential domino effects of your actions.
Create the machine – Design the process, execute, and surround yourself with the adequate resources.

Also within the book, Cunningham offers self-reflection questions for further discovery. You may also find it helpful to set a timer during your thinking time, have specific materials and a dedicated space for thinking, and to bake thinking time into your schedule and then commit to doing it even if you have other things come up. Your action item after this episode is to block off 2 hours of dedicated thinking time for next week.

Links:

“The Road Less Stupid” by Keith Cunningham: https://www.amazon.com/Road-Less-Stupid-Keith-Cunningham/dp/0984659269

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https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/personality/emotional-intelligence-test

Are You Emotionally Intelligent?

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 01:00:00 -0700

Our topic on this episode of The Friday Habit is emotional intelligence. Mark and Ben start out the episode by posing a couple of hypothetical scenarios and talking through the emotional intelligence implications of the typical responses to the situations. Emotional intelligence is your ability to understand and manage your own emotions and recognize the emotions of others, which are key components of being a good manager and leader.

The four competencies of emotional intelligence are:

Self-awareness – This is knowing the effect of your emotions on yourself and others. Studies have shown that while 95% of people think they are self-aware, only 10-15% truly are. The quarterly team check-ins discussed in Episode 26 and participating in a 360-degree feedback loop are great ways to gauge your self-awareness.
Self-management – How do you handle stressful situations? Do you overcome setbacks easily? What are your coping mechanisms? The answers to these questions are a good indication of your self-management.
Social awareness – Social awareness is your ability to “read a room” and be perceptive of others, recognizing the dynamics and emotions that are at play on your team at any given time. Another way to describe your social awareness is as your level of empathy and understanding of those around you and how those things affect the way you communicate and collaborate.
Relationship management – Are you coaching or mentoring others? Do you properly address issues, or do you tend to avoid conflict? These are key indicators of your relationship management, but if you are self-aware and socially aware, you likely already know the state of your relationship management.

Your action items after listening to this episode are to go back and listen to Episode 26 about quarterly team check-ins and to take the Psychology Today Emotional Intelligence test (link below).

Links:

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The Business Hierarchy of Needs

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 01:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben summarizes the main points of one of his favorite books: “Fix This Next” by Mike Michalowicz. As we all learned in that one college psychology class, humans have needs in life that fall into 5 basic categories as defined by Maslow, from most basic to most complex: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow explained that certain needs must take priority over others as we go through life and it is important to prioritize the most basic before moving up the hierarchy.

Michalowicz believes that a similar concept can be applied to businesses, and while two hierarchies might seem like a lot to place into the already-full hands of entrepreneurs, hopefully you will find that understanding the different levels will simplify things for you. He defines the business hierarchy of needs, from most basic to most complex as: sales – creation of cash, profit – creation of stability, order – creation of efficiency, impact – creation of transformation, and legacy – creation of permanence. In “Fix This Next”, Michalowicz outlines 5 questions for entrepreneurs to ask themselves about their businesses pertaining to each level of the hierarchy, providing a framework for areas to focus on before moving on to the next level. By asking yourself these 25 questions, you should be able to easily identify gaps and problems that need to be addressed and establish principles that will guide your actions moving forward. This is a great read for anyone who has built their own business or brand and anyone who wants to in the future, but this book does not fully serve its purpose if you don’t take action after reading it.

Links:

“Fix This Next” book: https://www.amazon.com/Fix-This-Next-Change-Business/dp/0593084411

“Fix This Next” Book Website: https://fixthisnext.com/

Free Resources mentioned: https://s3.amazonaws.com/MikeMichalowicz/FTN/FTN-Graphics-Charts.pdf

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https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-Effect-Claire-R-Chandler/dp/B07DP4T39J

The Secret to Great Company Culture with Claire Chandler Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 01:00:00 -0600

This episode of The Friday Habit podcast is this second part of our interview with Claire Chandler, author of “The Whirlpool Effect” and thought leader on great company culture. She begins by offering an exercise that founders can do in order to gain clarity and make decisions more easily. Claire suggests writing down and drawing a circle around the core principles your company started with. Then, draw another circle that includes what’s currently working well. The third and last circle should describe goals for the future. Once you have all three circles, move them together to create a venn diagram and see which ideas overlap. This exercise not only helps get things out of your head and onto paper, but finding that sweet spot of the overlap also helps create clarity for decisions that need to be made.

Claire explains that this focus and clarity can be hard for founders who tend to have “shiny object syndrome.” She talks about how to confront this tendency and also goes over the FOMO (fear of missing out) that many founders feel when making an important decision. Being a founder involves uncertainty, risk, and unknown, but Claire reminds listeners that most barriers to success are mental. Her advice in this episode will help founders fight what’s holding them back from making their business everything they dreamed of.

Connect with Claire:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairechandlersphr/

https://www.clairechandler.net/

https://www.talentboost.net/

https://twitter.com/claire_talent

https://twitter.com/TalentBoost

Connect with us:

https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-Effect-Claire-R-Chandler/dp/B07DP4T39J

The Secret to Great Company Culture with Claire Chandler Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 01:00:00 -0600

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit is Claire Chandler, author of “The Whirlpool Effect” and thought leader on great company culture. During Claire’s career, she has noticed that startups and small companies tend to have really good collaboration and culture, but as the companies begin to scale, they fall apart. There is a disconnect, she explains, between the people and the culture once a second generation of employees are brought on board because they do not have the context of the culture that has been laid out by the founder from the beginning.

Her biggest recommendation for leaders before and after they notice this culture disconnect is to be crystal clear about the mission of the business, employing self-awareness and authenticity as you are communicating with your employees and stakeholders. Until this clarity is achieved and communicated, it will be impossible to replicate the culture and mission for new employees and receive their buy-in to the organization. After building this foundation, it is time for the founder to approach the “Founder’s Dilemma” of being hands-on in the business while training your people and trusting them enough to delegate tasks to them with your full confidence. Claire wraps up this first part of the interview with the concept of “telling them why” when it comes to giving directives and making decisions, which will help your employees understand your reasoning and learn for next time.

Connect with Claire:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairechandlersphr/

https://www.clairechandler.net/

https://www.talentboost.net/

https://twitter.com/claire_talent

https://twitter.com/TalentBoost

Connect with us:

https://www.bonjoro.com/videofunnelplaybook

Validate Your Business Idea Quickly with Matthew Barnett

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 01:00:00 -0600

We are picking right back with Mark and Ben’s interview with Matthew Barnett on this episode of The Friday Habit. Matthew continues to expand on his vision for customer service, being accessible and hospitable to every customer (or potential customer) who contacts your team. His approach is data-driven, recognizing that satisfied customers come back and buy more or new products and they also recommend your products or services to others.

A great next step in improving your customer experience is visually mapping out their journey with you, taking note of the touchpoints, typical conversion points, and any gaps that you could look into filling. You can also reach out to advocates of yours or loyal customers for their feedback on the customer experience.

Matthew recognizes that many people are hesitant or unsure about starting a business because of the unknowns, but he says that the best way to get into the market is just to do it. Start a website, post a few products, and see what happens. If you have a good idea, you will know pretty quickly based on the demand, but if you don’t attract customers after a little while, you might need to have an honest conversation with yourself about the feasibility of the type of company you want to have. You might need to take a step back and offer people what they really want or need as a milestone along the path to where you eventually want to end up.

Finally, Matthew emphasizes the importance of setting up a culture and having scheduled team meeting, especially for global teams. Outside of work, he tries to read a book per week and he is a part of a founders group that serves as a mastermind of sorts, which is a great resource and source of accountability for him and the other members.

Links:

“The Lost and Founder”: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Founder-Painfully-Honest-Startup/dp/0735213321

“The Hard Thing About Hard Things”: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205

“Traction”: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837

“Viral Loop”: https://www.amazon.com/Viral-Loop-Facebook-Businesses-Themselves/dp/1401323499

Connect with Matthew:

https://www.verbate.com/

https://www.bonjoro.com/

https://au.linkedin.com/in/mbjbarnett

Connect with us:

https://au.linkedin.com/in/mbjbarnett

How To Delight Your Customers with Matthew Barnett

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 01:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit podcast, our guest is Matthew Barnett, founder of Verbate, a company using video data for qualitative research, and Bonjouro, an app that makes it simple to integrate video into your business operations and connections with your audience. After growing up in the U.K., Matthew decided to take the leap across the huge pond and start his adult life in Australia. He found this entrepreneurial spirit was beneficial in getting out in his new community and meeting new people who were on similar journeys. Before long, he had launched Verbate, a consulting firm that helps clients curate and analyze video feedback. Matthew started recording videos to send to clients and prospects as a conversion tactic and realized that this software was something that a lot of his current clients wanted to be able to use as well.

Within 12 months, Bonjouro had outpaced Verbate and Matthew has never looked back. He and his team have found that businesses use Bonjouro for 4 main purposes: (1) leads – in response to inquiries, (2) activation – welcoming new customers, (3) reactivation – following up with lapsed clients, and (4) to ask for reviews and referrals – customer service follow up after delivery. The feedback they have received from the users of the app underlines the importance of that personal touch that can be achieved through video. Matthew is a huge advocate of automating processes but never relationships as evidenced by his passion for effective customer support teams. He believes that support is a growth channel and you should always go above and beyond for your clients because they will become your biggest fans and advocates if you surprise them.

Connect with Matthew:

https://www.verbate.com/

https://www.bonjoro.com/

Connect with us:

https://chestertravels.com/

Growing & Scaling Businesses with Kevin Urrutia - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 01:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, successful entrepreneur Kevin Urrutia continues his conversation with Mark and Ben from the previous episode, so go back and listen to that episode if you missed it! Kevin describes the thought process that led him to get into e-commerce after the cleaning company he was running got to a certain sustainable point and he wanted to gain some new experience in a different field. He started out selling outdoor gear but realized that the barriers to entry were so low that he was facing a lot of competition, so he recruited the help of his architect brother to design a luggage line called Chester Travels. This business had a much higher barrier to entry and requires more capital to be tied up in inventory, but he has found that the profit margin is higher than his cleaning company which only requires payment when there is a job but relies entirely on people, who are unpredictable.

Kevin and his friend Wilson have worked on business ideas together for their whole adult life, but Voy Media was their first partnership. They launched it to connect with other founders and open up conversations about all of their combined knowledge and experience to package up content that people would want. They are still working out the details of how to make this an educational company that will provide value to current and aspiring founders.

Kevin says that one of the biggest pitfalls that leaders fall into is wanting everyone around them to be like them, when there is incredible value in surrounding yourself with team members that bring different perspectives and strengths to the table. So rather than looking for people who think and act like he does, Kevin focuses on hiring people with raw intelligence and good problem-solving skills because if they have both of these skills, they will be able to handle anything thrown their way. He emphasizes the importance of curiosity in all of life, having that drive to figure out what you don’t know or don’t know how to do yet. Finally, he encourages entrepreneurs to remember that your passion for the end result should drive you and that you don’t have to love everything you do as long as you have that passion.

Links:

“Measure What Matters” by John Doerr: https://www.amazon.com/Measure-What-Matters-Google-Foundation/dp/0525536221

“The Great CEO Within” by Matt Mochary: https://www.amazon.com/Great-CEO-Within-Tactical-Building-ebook/dp/B07ZLGQZYC

Connect with Kevin:

https://voymedia.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/urrutia

https://twitter.com/danest?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Connect with us:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/urrutia

Growing & Scaling Businesses with Kevin Urrutia - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 01:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark talk with Kevin Urrutia, co-founder of Voy Media in NYC and many startups along the way. Kevin went to school for computer science and started a web development consulting business by generating leads through Craigslist. When he graduated, he got a job in Silicon Valley working for Mint.com, but he knew within a month that this 9-5 structured work culture was not what he wanted, so he jumped ship to work for a startup called Zaarly. This was the perfect situation for him and he was even able to continue working remotely when he moved back to New York until he realized that his heart wasn’t in it anymore.

All this time, he had been building startups with varying levels of success and now that he was back in New York City, he and his buddy decided to put all of their experience to work building a cleaning company organized by online scheduling. They hired their own maids from Craigslist and paid them only when they had work for them, and this model has worked great for them over the past 5 years. They have expanded to several different areas of NYC as well as Chicago and Boston. Kevin explains that their keys to success were having a phone number, having local web pages, and optimizing their SEO. They have also acquired smaller companies to give them more market share.

Be sure to come back next week for the conclusion of our conversation with Kevin!

Connect with Kevin:

https://voymedia.com/

https://twitter.com/danest

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5 Practices That Will Make You a Better Leader

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 01:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben shares his 5 practices that will make you a better leader in the hopes that they will be an encouragement to you and will be spurred on in your influence of those around you.

1. Learn your weaknesses – This is how you will grow and come to trust those around you to fill in the gaps. Be vulnerable about what you need and what you expect from others that will allow you to play to your strengths.

2. Define your “why” – You will work the hardest for what you care about. Once you have this passion defined, you will be able to identify what fits and what doesn’t.

3. Make concrete goals – They should be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound. This is a way of making the invisible visible.

4. Listen to your team – Learn to trust your team or they will stop buying in to your mission. Create space to listen to them, perhaps during a weekly meeting, and know that frontline workers are going to be the closest to the problems.

5. Stay curious – Commit to lifelong learning through podcasts, masterminds, audiobooks, networking, and video content. It is easy to be distracted or overwhelmed, but if you are not growing, you’re dying.

Your action item after this episode is to learn your weaknesses and take the assessment at https://www.16personalities.com.

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Positivity. The Secret To Success

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 01:00:00 -0600

In this episode of The Friday Habit, Mark provides 5 of the top ways to be a more positive person. It has been proven time and again that your emotions have the power to change your body at a cellular level, so here are a few techniques to ensure that those are positive changes rather than negative.

Have a lens of positivity – Let your first reaction to any situation be to ask yourself “What is this trying to teach me?” Even when you can’t control the circumstances, you can control how you respond to them. You can choose to make the best of it, and you will likely find that things weren’t as bad as they seemed when you look back.
Be grateful – Many people spend some time every morning thinking about or writing down a list of things they are grateful for. It is hard to be negative when you are aware of how many things in your life are going well, even the simplest things.
Get enough sleep and exercise – Set routines for yourself to ensure that you go to bed at a reasonable time and you have time set aside in your day to exercise, even if it is just taking a break to walk outside during the workday. There are physical and mental benefits to getting 6 or more hours of sleep per night as well as through the release of endorphins during exercise.
Look to gain experiences more than possessions – You never look back on material things with joy, but memorable experiences are always worth it. Your kids won’t remember what you gave them for their 8th birthdays, but they will remember the road trip you took as a family.
Help others – Acts of kindness have a way of positively impacting the people you are serving as well as boosting your own satisfaction and happiness. You can’t be negative while helping people and gaining a better perspective on how fortunate you are in life.

Your action item after this episode is to integrate gratitude into your routine, writing down a list of things you are grateful for every day.

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Turn Website Browsers into Buyers with a Lead Magnet

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 22:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark discuss lead magnets, the tools that allow you to trade something of value to the consumer for their email address. Even with social media dominating the digital landscape, email is still the most cost-effective method of communication for lead generation, so what should you be doing to tap into this power?

1. E-book

2. Self-evaluation checklist

3. Access to a free online course

4. A series of helpful emails sent weekly

5. Access to a private Facebook or Slack group

6. Mythbuster PDF

7. Access to a single how-to video

8. 5-day video series

9. Spreadsheet-based tool

10. Free quiz with results sent via email

11. Specialized interactive calculator – Calculoid is a great resource for this.

12. Fill out worksheets

13. Access to a free webinar – Just make sure the content is interesting and not only a sales pitch.

14. Cheat sheet

15. Free demo or sample

When thinking through which lead magnet would be a good starting place for you, consider this question: “What is the first step someone needs to take before they are ready to hire you?” Here are 4 key criteria for finding the right one for you:

· Something your audience actually wants – You could ask your current clients for their input on this.

· Something closely related to your product or business

· Something that you have the skill to create

· Something that will build trust, be a good experience for the consumer, and be useful

Now that you have decided which lead magnet to use, make sure you have your basic sales funnel systematized. Your next steps could look something like this:

1. Trigger an automatic email to welcome/thank them for joining

2. Add them to your mailing list

3. Follow up with a personal video response

4. Invite them to take the next action

5. Set them up in a drip campaign of a series of emails

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Why and How to Start a Mastermind Group

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 22:00:00 -0600

You’ve heard people talk about their mastermind groups before, but maybe you’ve just assumed that you aren’t “big” enough to be a part of one. Or, maybe you’ve never been invited, or perhaps you don’t know what’s in it for you. In this episode of The Friday Habit podcast, Ben and Mark break down for you the benefits and how-tos of creating your mastermind.

A mastermind group typically consists of 4-8 participants who are in a similar industry or stage of personal or professional life who meet regularly. So, what could you gain from being a part of a mastermind?

Gain an outside perspective – Sometimes, all you need is to get out of your own head and get someone else’s take on your challenge or dilemma. It is even better if that person has knowledge of your business and your previous endeavors.
Make learning automatic – By having people in your group who are above and below you in terms of experience in certain situations, you have a built-in community that can help you learn as you go.
Achieve more goals – Accountability is key in accomplishing any goals, and this group provides that opportunity.
Build strong friendships – Spending time with each other and discussing your goals and accomplishments will lead to an enhanced community that could extend beyond business.

If you are considering starting your own mastermind group, here are a few suggestions for getting started:

Make a list of people to add
Set up a group meeting to discuss the potential of starting a group
Establish ground rules such as meeting timing, adding new members, attendance expectations, etc.
Add a recurring event on your calendar
Set up a shared Google Doc for resources and/or a Slack channel
Stay organized and consistent

Your action items after this episode are to make a list of people to add to your mastermind and set up a group call.

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5 Tips to Help you Delegate Like a Boss

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 22:00:00 -0600

Delegating is a buzzword that is overused and underutilized in business. In this episode of The Friday Habit, we will outline five tips to using delegation effectively to help you accomplish more, serve more customers, and make more profits.

1. Identify what can be delegated – Ask yourself these questions:

Is this something that only I can do?
Is this the best use of my time and energy?
Can someone else do this?
What should I be doing?

2. Delegate to the right person – Try to match up the task with someone based on their skills, interests, experience, capacity, and career goals. Chances are, you have someone on your team who is looking for a challenge in the exact area you need to release some responsibilities.

3. Provide clear direction – Define the goal or the “why” behind the task. Set expectations for the output, in terms of the effort and time commitment expected. Be available for questions.

4. Stay organized – To be able to delegate tasks, you should have all of the relevant information in one place, such as a project management system, so you can easily pass it off to someone else.

5. Make delegation a team effort – Communicate with your team. Discuss why and how you are planning to implement more delegation and encourage others to do the same. Ask for feedback regarding the tasks you are planning to delegate. Give them the freedom to call you out if you try to pick those tasks back up again. A great avenue for this is a brief weekly meeting.

Your action item after this episode is to schedule a 30-minute meeting with your team to discuss the goals of delegating certain tasks and solicit feedback about how everyone could implement delegation where appropriate.

Connect with us:

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Selling-More-Less-Reinventing/dp/1794315497

Secrets of Pricing and Selling with Allan Langer - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 22:00:00 -0600

This episode is the second part of Mark and Ben’s conversation with Allan Langer, an expert in the field of pricing and how to sell more by selling less. Ben asks Allan about the best ways to delegate some of the selling to other team members so you can focus on other things. Allan explains the importance of having a sales philosophy that can be easily enumerated, absorbed, and replicated by your team members. He also says that even after this pandemic is over and things go “back to normal,” Zoom will continue to be a vital resource and should replace any phone calls you were previously scheduling with your clients. Allan explains most of the time when a client says, “we’ll get back to you,” that either means that they are not the right person to make the decision or they are nervous about spending the money.

To make people feel more comfortable about making a purchase, Allan recommends some form of social proofing, showing them that other people “like them” have recently made this purchase or that you have helped business just like theirs before. It also helps if you involve the client in the process, being upfront about your pricing from the beginning and allowing them to “build their own” product and choose which options are best for them. In your conversations with them, make sure you emphasize the added value and how your product or service will specifically help them, focusing on the return on their investment.

Some people might say that these strategies are manipulative because you are forming your strategy around the psychology of the human brain and how it has been proven to react to certain things. But all you are really doing is giving them what makes them feel better and improve their lives by getting the right thing in their hands. To learn more about Allan’s strategies, be sure to check out his book!

Connect with Allan:

https://allanger.com/

Connect with us:

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Selling-More-Less-Reinventing/dp/1794315497

Secrets of Pricing and Selling with Allan Langer - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 22:00:00 -0600

Allan Langer, the bestselling author of “The 7 Secrets to Selling More by Selling Less," joins Ben and Mark on this episode of The Friday Habit. Allan has committed his career to understand and teach about pricing psychology and consumer behavior, and his insights could be game-changers for entrepreneurs and business owners.

Allan has found that most decision-makers come up with their pricing based on a computer-generated algorithm or a formula they have created to get them their desired profit margin. However, what if this method is severely undercutting the margins you could be making if you had a pricing strategy? You have probably noticed that most prices end in the number nine, but did you know that this practice is grounded on research that shows that consumers feel good about paying for products or services ending in nine? They haven’t been able to determine why, but repeated studies have shown this result.

A second pricing strategy that Allan recommends is to always provide your clients with three-tiered options. You could use the movie theater popcorn example of a small for $5, a medium for $7.50, or a large for $8.00. By making the large only slightly more expensive than the medium, you are positioning it as the best option psychologically, which will make your customer feel good about their purchase from the beginning. You can sell with integrity and still get the client to choose the option that is best for both of you.

In regards to determining your pricing strategy from the start, Allan says it is imperative to decide what you’re worth and stick with it. Do good work, and don’t devalue your services just to attract the “price shoppers." You don’t want to work with them anyway.

Come back next week for the conclusion of our conversation with Allan!

Connect with Allan:

https://allanger.com/

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How to do Quarterly Check-Ins with Your Team

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 22:00:00 -0600

In this episode of The Friday Habit, Mark and Ben share why and how to effectively conduct quarterly check-in meetings with each of your team members, including the benefits this can bring to your business. Essentially, check-ins are pre-arranged, lasting approximately an hour. Check-in meetings offer opportunities to discuss how things are going, provide feedback, and meet with each employee individually.

So why do you need to implement this practice into your business?

These meetings provide a space for intentionally staying connected with your team by building this communication time into your structures and culture.
When employees know you are setting aside this time and ask them how things are going, they are more likely to provide honest feedback than they would have without this structured time.
It is a great opportunity to review job descriptions with each team member. This will ensure their actual job functions align with what is written in their job description, and you can discuss any adjustments that need to be made.
Most businesses conduct annual performance reviews (if they conduct them at all), but quarterly meetings are much more effective for true performance evaluations in a less intense environment.

How should you implement this structure for the first time?

Give your employees a heads-up that this will be coming before scheduling a meeting on their calendar.
Set expectations for honest and clear communication.
Establish a performance review chart and communicate the criteria ahead of time. Perhaps send a blank chart to each employee a week prior to their quarterly check-in. This will allow them to do some self-evaluation and then compare notes during your meeting.
Recognize each team member’s strong and weak areas verbally during the check-in.
Prepare a list of general questions to lead the discussion.
Discuss any necessary pay raises, responsibility shifts, and job title changes as well as their career plans and how those align (or don’t align) with those of the company long-term.
Be humble and receptive to their feedback, and then do what you say you are going to do.

Your action item after this episode is to implement these quarterly check-ins by communicating the purpose to your team and then schedule them.

Connect with us:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIMW0w-FD3yXlz3MR0aAEqA

Fight Imposter Syndrome & Build Your Personal Brand

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 22:00:00 -0600

We’ve all felt it, and on this episode of The Friday Habit we are talking about it: imposter syndrome. Perhaps right now you lack confidence in your skills and you feel inadequate no matter how successful you are. Here are 8 keys to building your personal brand and pressing into it with confidence:

Specialization – Have a niche and be confident in describing it to others.
Leadership – Think about where you want to be a leader and get involved in those communities.
Personality – Be genuine and people will gravitate towards you.
Distinctiveness – By being authentically you, you are expressing your brand identity in a unique way that will engage people.
Visibility – Be seen repeatedly and consistently by networking and telling people what you do.
Utility – Be the same publicly and privately and be committed to continuous growth.
Persistence – Be willing to fail and look stupid while you are growing your brand. It will take time to get where you want to be.
Goodwill – Create a positive impact and provide value to those you come in contact with. Be kind, pay it forward, and give good advice rather than primarily being concerned with your bottom line.

Your action item after this episode is to reverse engineer yourself to become who you want to be and to confidently proclaim what you do when you are asked.

Links:
Blog post: https://medium.com/@brandviva/8-ways-to-get-over-your-imposter-syndrome-and-start-building-your-personal-brand-2529484e9022

https://www.videoask.com/

Connect with us:

https://www.thefridayhabit.com/

thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com

https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanley

http://www.benjaminmanley.com/

https://www.brandvivamedia.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

Productize Your Business With Greg Hickman - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 22:30:00 -0600

We pick back up mid-conversation with Greg Hickman on this episode of The Friday Habit. He is talking about how agencies and businesses that function mostly in the full-service space spend too much time and energy thinking that the grass is greener on the DIY side of things, and vice versa. Ultimately, your best bet is to find a sweet spot right in the middle and then branch out in either direction to have multiple income streams and a variety of clients. He describes this as a ladder with one-to-one higher-cost product offerings at the top and several rungs down you get to one-to-many self-service product offerings. Greg encourages businesses to have 1-3 product offerings and to never have more product offerings than you have employees.

Here are a few questions Greg recommends you ask yourself about your business:

What does this market need?
What do I need?
What am I designing this for?
What are my goals?
Is it worth it?

At the end of the episode, Greg describes his top 3 action items for listeners:

Document your current process and focus on doing what you are good at
Write out your 3-5 year goals and reverse-engineer your life to get there
Find a mentor to shorten your learning curve

Connect with Greg:

greg@altagency.com

https://altagency.com/

Connect with us:

Productize Your Business With Greg Hickman - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 06:00:00 -0600

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit is Greg Hickman, founder of Alt Agency. Greg graduated from a small liberal arts college and earned a business management degree, then joined one of his classmates at a big brand agency as a project manager. Working with all departments at the agency really helped give him a good understanding of the design process and working with clients. Before long, he decided to go out on his own to help personal brands sell their courses and develop sales funnels, eventually providing full-service automation.

This experience helped him realize that monthly recurring revenues were not scalable or sustainable for his team and he found himself in a cycle of needing more help to take on new clients but not being able to afford to hire anyone new. As he began to process how he might be able to shift his model, he focused on the 80/20 rule and decided to start with productizing his services and then introduce retainers later in the sales process. They also flipped the script on client work, waiting until the client created the required content before having his team start their portion of the project to reduce unnecessary backups waiting on the client. This became the Foundations flagship program offered by Alt Agency, teaching people that they have to specialize before they can productize. Businesses that successfully productize market to a specific problem and articulate to consumers how they can solve that problem. They also systematize all parts of the funnel, from lead generation to onboarding to communication to billing.

Come back next week for the second half of Mark and Ben’s conversation with Greg!

Connect with Greg:

https://altagency.com/

Connect with us:

Our Top 5 Productivity Apps

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 22:30:00 -0600

This episode of The Friday Habit podcast is dedicated to everyone out there who is looking for a little extra help to maintain or improve their productivity, particularly those people who find themselves thinking “Isn’t there an app out there that can help me with this one thing I need to do AND is well-designed and beautiful to stare at?!” Rest assured that Ben and Mark have got you covered.

Here is Mark’s list:

Spark Mail – This app for Apple and iOS allows you to combine all of your email inboxes into one, snooze emails that you aren’t ready to address yet, schedule responses, pin urgent emails to the top of your inbox, and collaborate with your team members on specific emails without bogging down your inbox.
Paste – This app is like an archived copy + paste function. It allows you to scroll through your clipboard and retrieve previously copied content so you can paste it now. There is also an iPhone app, so you can integrate your computer and phone seamlessly.
Overcast – A podcast curation app that compiles all of your subscribed podcasts into one place, Overcast provides you with the ability to share specific clips of episodes with people and has a smart speed function that can make episodes shorter without distorting the audio.
Pixelmator Pro – If you have ever needed an app like Photoshop but you haven’t wanted to shell out the serious cash required by an Adobe subscription, Pixelmator Pro is the answer to all of your problems. Just trust us on this one.
Calcbot – Essentially, this is a simple calculator with an archive function that allows you to go back to previous calculations for reference.

And here is Ben’s list:

Things – Things is a to-do list and project management app that Ben describes as “simple, minimal, powerful, and intentional” which allows you to schedule tasks and reminders in an environment that promotes productivity.
Bear – This is an app for writing and note-taking which features tags, markdown, search, and full-screen focus functions.
Mindnode – Mindnode is an app for mind mapping, which is great for brainstorming and so much more.
Tempo – An email app which is currently in beta, Tempo aims to solve your email problem by batch delivering new emails into your inbox at specified times and showing you one email at a time for you to categorize or respond to.
Loom – Loom allows you to record your screen or your face or both and easily share these videos with others.Your action item after this episode is to take a look at your apps and evaluate which ones are really helping you, perhaps investing in a few new apps that will help you be more productive.

Links:
Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/
Spark Mail: https://sparkmailapp.com/
Paste: https://pasteapp.io/
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/
Pixelmator Pro: https://www.pixelmator.com/
Calcbot: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calcbot-2/id376694347
Things: https://culturedcode.com/
Bear: https://bear.app/
Mindnode: https://mindnode.com/
Tempo: https://www.yourtempo.co/
Loom: https://www.loom.com/

Connect with us:
https://www.thefridayhabit.com/
thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com

https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanley
http://www.benjaminmanley.com/

https://www.brandvivamedia.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

Morning Rituals for a Better Life

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 22:30:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit podcast, we are finishing up the discussion started last week about the daily rituals that Mark and Ben practice to help them be more productive while still having plenty of time with their families. Ben gets up and intentionally gives his wife some time to herself before he leaves for work, fixing her coffee, and taking care of breakfast for the kids so she can prepare for the day. Next, he usually goes for a run with his son followed by taking a cold shower and riding his electric bike or one-wheel to work. Once he gets to work, he immediately jumps into the most important task that he has set aside for himself the night before, using the pomodoro technique and/or the Portal app to help him concentrate.

Mark wakes up before the rest of his family so he can have his coffee and take time to clear his head before starting his day. Next, he goes to the gym (when it is open) and spends some time in the sauna followed by heading to work on his electric bike if the weather is good. Once he gets to work, he gets to a zero inbox using the Spark mail app. This app allows you to easily categorize emails, snooze them if you want to be reminded to reply later, schedule emails to be sent later, collaborate with team members, and create and use templates. Another mail app that Ben recommends is Tempo, which is set up to make you focus on only one message at a time.

Your action item after this episode is to think through your current routine and consider tweaks that you can make to jumpstart your productivity and creativity in the morning.

Links:

Smaggle article: http://www.smaggle.com/4-slightly-weird-morning-rituals-that-will-change-your-life/

Portal app: https://portal.app/

$50 off Rad Power Bikes:https://www.talkable.com/x/xqRj0a

Spark app: https://sparkmailapp.com/

Tempo app: https://www.yourtempo.co/

Connect with us:

Night Rituals for Entrepreneurs with Families

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:30:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, our topic is evening rituals for entrepreneurs with families and the idea that a great day starts the day before. Once the workday ends every day, Mark and Ben are both committed to spending intentional and focused time with their families over dinner where everyone discusses their highlights and lowlights from the day. They also try to do an activity like a walk, a game, or play outside together after dinner and read together before the kids go to bed. They believe that it is important to be present with their kids when they are young and to build strong bonds that will keep their families close even after the kids have grown.

Ben finds separation from work and home by riding his electric bike home and mentally transitioning to family time on the way. Mark and Ben both set their clothes out for the next day on the night before and try to do some reflective journaling as well as preparing a to-do list and/or a priority task for the morning. They have both found that this family-focused and forward-thinking routine allows them to be meaningfully productive, focused on the things that matter most.

Links:

Day One app: https://dayoneapp.com/

Portal app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/portal-focus-sleep-escape/id1436994560

Connect with us:

10 ways to improve your attitude

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 22:30:00 -0600

Maybe you are like Ben and Mark and you’ve found that positivity helps you have better personal and professional success in life. Or maybe you are one of those people who Mark and Ben smile at relentlessly in the elevator until you make eye contact and smile back. Either way, this episode of The Friday Habit podcast is intended to give you practical pointers for promoting positivity.

When you find yourself struggling with negativity or pessimism, try these ways of improving your attitude:

Identify the source – Ask yourself why you are feeling this way. If it’s helpful, you could write it down to help you trace the source better.
Go for a walk – Even a 5-minute mental break that raises your heart rate has been proven to improve your mood and help you have a clearer mind.
Take a short nap – Taking a 15-minute nap has a unique way of refreshing your mind and body to give you a fresh perspective on even the toughest problems.
Do something creative – Do something with your hands like working with clay, painting, drawing, or making music that will give you the headspace to think.
Meditate and breathe – Take a few deep breaths - with your eyes closed if you feel like it – to get centered and give your mind even a few seconds of calm.
Eat healthy – Eating junk food (or not eating at all) can really bring down your attitude, so have a stash of healthy snacks nearby to give you a quick pick-me-up.
Put things in perspective – Remind yourself what you have already overcome in life and in this situation and remember that things will not always be the way they are right now.
Listen to upbeat music – Sometimes music can help you process things better than anything else. Check out some of the playlists linked below if you need a place to start.
Hang out with positive friends – You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Think about that. If you want to be a more positive person, surround yourself with positive people.
Acknowledge the good things – Have an attitude of gratitude and keep the right perspective. A great way to do this is by working it into your morning routine.

Remember that your attitude shapes your present and your future and you have the power to shape your attitude.

Links:

Morning Motivation playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXc5e2bJhV6pu

Chill Covers playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWXnscMH24yOc

Lobby Music playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DZ06evO1pfLKk

The Enneagram: https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test

Connect with us:

Ben:

Mark:

https://www.accessmobile.io/

Values Before Mission with Todd Evenson

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 28 May 2020 22:30:00 -0600

Within the first few clicks on the websites of most organizations, you can find their mission and vision statements that they communicate to the world. But what do they communicate internally? Access.mobile International’s Todd Evenson has focused his journey as an entrepreneur and leader on the establishment of the values of the organization first, before crafting the mission and vision that are expected by consumers. Essentially, your values, mission, and vision outline the who, what, and why you are in business.

The values of your business are those things that you want to consciously do and the behaviors you expect of yourself and your employees. If you were to sit down and think about the values you want to establish, a good place to start is with the values that would combat the things that make your stomach hurt. If dishonesty is a deal-breaker for you (as it should be), then set up honesty in all things as a core value, for example. Your values should be specific, aspirational, and easily understood so that you can gauge whether potential hires are a good culture fit for your organization.

It is also important that you train your employees to recognize and understand the significance of these values in the midst of everyday tasks. Prioritize the values for them and train them to make decisions based on those priorities, then empower them to make decisions within that framework whether you are involved or not.

Once you have been in business long enough to understand your market position and how you are meeting the needs of your consumers, now it is time to determine your mission. A mission statement starts with a belief and is typically short, clear, and answers the “why” question. This will help you craft a vision, which is the 30,000 foot view of your purpose. You could think of your vision as the impact on the world if your organization had perfect execution on a broad scale.

Connect with Todd:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-evenson-4a66008

Connect with us:

Build Self-Trust & Be More Productive

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 21 May 2020 22:00:00 -0600

Ben has multiple personalities – sort of. But you likely do too: Boss You and Worker You. Boss You is the one who plans out the tasks and objectives, puts them on a to-do list, and allocates a certain amount of time for those things to be completed. Boss You is optimistic, ambitious, not very realistic, not very thorough, and doesn’t know how to prioritize things.

Worker You is the one who receives the to-do list from Boss You, complete with the timing expectations and little else. Worker You is also optimistic, but skeptical of the plan that Boss You has drawn up, prone to distraction, and likely to complete the easiest things over the most important.

So how should Boss You be a better boss to Worker You?

Prioritize tasks – Choose 1-3 specific things that are the most important or time-sensitive for that day.
Prepare – Pull up the necessary background information necessary before Worker You can get to work.
Set realistic goals – Don’t expect Worker You to be able to build a whole website in an hour or edit a video in 15 minutes.
Be kind to yourself – Be understanding and reasonable with Worker You. Emphasize quality over quantity.

And how should Worker You be a better worker?

Trust your plan – Don’t question the priorities or timelines given.
Focus on execution – Reduce the potential for distractions so you can just work.
Make yourself proud – Work hard and build up your self-trust.

Your action item after this episode is to imagine that Boss You is creating this to-do list for someone else and think through the prioritization and research that should be done first.

Connect with us:

https://hepburncreative.com/

Improve Your Video Calls with David Hepburn

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 14 May 2020 22:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit podcast, our guest is David Hepburn of Hepburn Creative. He and his team are committed to optimizing the video platform for their clients before, during, and after the coronavirus pandemic crisis. Since the vast majority of business meetings (and many personal ones as well) have transitioned so abruptly to video, it is likely that you haven’t had the time to put much thought into how you come across to your colleagues on screen. David provides listeners of The Friday Habit with 5 simple ways to improve how people view you in meetings over video.

Change your perspective – Your camera should be just below your eye level. This will allow everyone else on the call to look up to you a bit, elevating you in their minds.
Adjust your room lighting – Make sure you do not sit with a window behind you, but rather in front of you. Also, try not to mix different lighting temperatures: use daylight lightbulbs if you are doing calls during the day and warm lightbulbs if you do more calls at night.
Optimize your audio – Be conscious of the background noise around you and try to choose a microphone option that will isolate your voice as much as possible. Headphones with a microphone right by your mouth are probably the best for this scenario.
Be mindful of your background – Try to limit the likelihood that people will be distracted by what is going on behind you. A blank wall is a great option for video calls. It is also important that you either turn off your ceiling fan or make sure that it is not on camera, as this will cause problems for your camera and connectivity.
Be intentional about what you wear – Avoid wearing stripes and tight patterns. Even though the human eye can distinguish and process patterns like this, cameras are not able to translate them properly and this can be a distractor for the others on the call with you.

Your action item after this episode is to come up with an immediate solution to give you the proper camera angle.

Connect with David:

https://hepburncreative.com/#training

https://www.instagram.com/hepburncreative/

Connect with us:

https://knapsackcreative.com/blog/1-simple-method-to-generate-innovative-business-ideas

How to Generate Innovative Business Ideas

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 07 May 2020 22:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark discuss specific ways to come up with ideas for your business throughout the year, but particularly during this time of COVID-19 quarantine. Undoubtedly, you have noticed many businesses shifting their methodology and messaging out of necessity such as coffee shops and restaurants offering convenience and grocery items for sale to customers. If you are struggling to come up with creative solutions like this for your own business, here are 3 places to start your brainstorming:

Cross-pollinating from other industries – Take a step back from your industry and survey the entire market, thinking about existing ideas and concepts that you could apply to your own business in an innovative way. There are transferrable ideas all over the place if you just take the time to think through the application for your own niche.
Applying imaginary limitations to your business – We are all learning to adapt our businesses to align with the societal and governmental regulations of business operations during this time of COVID-19, but you might also benefit from putting hypothetical restrictions on yourself. For instance, if you had to limit the time or resources used to complete a project, think through what adjustments to your systems or processes would need to be made? If you were to be incapacitated for a week, what would need to be in place for your team to be able to pick up your workload and seamlessly carry on with business?
Use the Friday Habit program – Get the free download from our website that will walk you through how to allocate one day a week to spend on your business instead of in your business. This method of constant improvement and evaluation is a great way to continually innovate.

Your action item this week is to do the cross-pollination brainstorming exercise at the link below.

Links:

Connect with us:

https://www.thefridayhabit.com/

thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com

https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanley

http://www.benjaminmanley.com/

https://www.brandvivamedia.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

Why and How to Start a Podcast

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 22:00:00 -0600

Our topic on this episode of The Friday Habit is using podcasting to communicate, inspire, motivate, and connect. There are nearly 1 million podcasts available to listeners at this point in 2020, and you likely subscribe to or listen to at least a few episodes per month. While it might have been complex to launch a podcast back in 2005 when Ben and Mark were both starting to dabble in the platform, technological advances in the past 15 years have drastically reduced the barriers to entry and made it almost effortless for new podcasters to launch their shows.

As with most things in life, it is important to start with “why”, so if you are considering starting a podcast, here are a few things to consider:

Podcasts capture your audience’s attention – Podcasting as a platform has much higher completion rates than blog posts.
You can create a personalized experience for your listeners – People are drawn in by the conversational format.
They help you build and maintain important network connections – As a branding strategy, having a podcast can act as lead generation and increase brand awareness.
Podcasting can open up a new financial avenue – If you are able to gather enough downloads per episode, you could be eligible for sponsorships and advertising deals to generate additional income.
Having a podcast positions you as a thought leader in your industry – When you add value to your listeners and share your knowledge with the world through podcasting, people will view you as an industry expert.

Once you are ready to get started, there are some questions you can ask yourself to determine your show topic or idea and how to make people want to listen to it. You can also download a FREE guide that walks you through all of the logistics of launching a podcast on https://www.BrandViva.com

Links to things we talked about:
Podcast Hosting Platform: https://transistor.fm/
Podcast Recording Platform: https://squadcast.fm/?ref=marklabriolaii

Connect with us:

https://valuepricingbootcamp.com

Stop Trading Your Time for Money with Jonathan Stark - Part 2

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 22:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to the continuation of Ben and Mark’s interview with Jonathan Stark on The Friday Habit podcast. Jonathan says that it is important to determine the metrics that a client is using or looking for during discussions with them about potential projects or else you will never be successful, and they will never be satisfied. Many clients say that they want to be “thought leaders”, but they are really looking for specific outcomes that they feel like would make them thought leaders, so getting to the root of what they want is the key to your success and, in turn, theirs.

When it comes to working with retainers or on a subscription model, it is important to treat each of these long-term relationships uniquely, specifying the outcomes and deliverables for each client and pricing based on the overall scope of the monthly requirements. You are not doing yourself or your client any favors by promising that you will spend a certain number of hours on them every week or every month, so be sure to price based on the value to the client rather than the time it will take. Jonathan specifically talks about the advisory retainer model where clients pay you for your initial strategy as well as variations of overseeing the projects.

Jonathan sets out a detailed and straightforward narrative for shifting your mindset and that of your clients from an hourly pricing model to value-based pricing in a way that reduces the risk for the client and ensures that their project will not go over budget. He recommends that freelancers offer this value-based and risk-reduced pricing model at an 85% markup from their traditional hourly rate.

He also delves into the pros and cons of productized services and the question he asks himself before agreeing to work with a client. The action item he recommends after this episode is to think about your positioning and target market and to educate yourself about value-based pricing, perhaps through his free email course.

Links:

Connect with Jonathan:

https://jonathanstark.com/

https://www.thebusinessofauthority.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanstark

https://twitter.com/jonathanstark?lang=en

Connect with us:

https://jonathanstark.com/

Stop Trading Your Time for Money with Jonathan Stark - Part 1

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 22:00:00 -0600

Our guest on this episode of The Friday Habit is Jonathan Stark, industry thought leader, CEO of Jonathan Stark Consulting, and cohost of The Business of Authority podcast. Jonathan is working to flip the script on the traditional hourly pricing model used in freelancing and consulting. He points out that when you price your services based on hours, you are creating an unnecessary limit on earning potential.

Instead, he advocates for a value-based pricing model that is based on the value of your service to the client. In order for this model to work, the client must have a clear vision of what they want from you and a specific outcome in mind. Defining this scope will inform your value-based pricing for this specific project and having these outcome conversations will ensure that you are able to provide the most important service: customer satisfaction. Jonathan says that this pricing model only makes sense for longer-term projects that are 6 months or longer, and that it is best to draft a proposal that breaks down the ultimate dollar amount of value to the client into 3 tiers and then determine what you could do for those price points.

When conversing with potential clients, Jonathan focuses on the questions: “Why this?”, “Why now?”, and “Why me?” If they have the answers to all of these questions and you feel like your services align with their needs, draft a proposal. Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions along the way and challenge their narratives if you want to understand better their requests or to define your boundaries.

While it can be intimidating to think about value-based pricing for intangible services, Jonathan says that everything is measurable, even if the measurements are subjective like Amazon reviews. When it comes down to it, the client will tell you what they are willing to pay and why. Even so, you should be willing to walk away if it is not a good fit.

Tune in next week for part 2 of our conversation!

Links:

“Breaking the Time Barrier” e-book: https://www.frameworkhomeownership.org/images/uploads/Breaking-the-Time-Barrier.pdf

Connect with Jonathan:

https://www.thebusinessofauthority.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanstark

https://twitter.com/jonathanstark?lang=en

Connect with us:

7 Ways to Improve Your Website

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 22:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark shine some light on the ethereal subject that is website improvements as only two people who are experienced in branding and creative website creation could do. In fact, they outline 7 ways to improve your website that will not only provide you with a clearer and more effective website but also with greater clarity on your brand as a whole.

Make your text bite-sized – You shouldn’t have any big paragraphs that cause the reader to audibly grunt when they see what they are expected to read. Within 5 seconds, the reader should be able to answer basic questions about your company such as who, what, and how.
Capture email addresses – Use a lead magnet like a free e-book or other exclusive content to get people’s email addresses but avoid the intrusive pop-up technique.
Use real photographs – Put actual photos of your team members on the website rather than relying on the stale stock images that everyone is tired of seeing. Stocksy and Unsplash are great resources for less common stock images as well.
Make your customer the hero – The customer really only cares about what your company can do for them, so craft your messaging to answer their questions rather than boring them with a play-by-play of your career up to this point.
Add clear calls to action – Let your customers know what they can expect to happen next in their process with you. Don’t just have them click a button to “learn more”, but rather “schedule a call” or “request a demo”.
Test it on potential customers – Watch someone interact with your site, either in person or by using a service like Hotjar.
Make updates often – Knapsack Creative recommends that you update your website weekly or monthly to keep clients coming back to see what is new.

Your action item after this episode is to review your website and implement some or all of these changes, then show your site to someone and ask for feedback.

Links:

“The Smart Agency” podcast: https://jasonswenk.com/smart-agency-master-class/

Stocksy: https://www.stocksy.com/

Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/

Hotjar: https://www.hotjar.com/

Connect with us:

https://www.sherrywalling.com/

Being Resilient with Sherry Walling, PhD

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 22:00:00 -0600

On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark talk with Dr. Sherry Walling, a clinical psychologist with a specialization in trauma and stress. She works with people in high-intensity jobs, particularly entrepreneurs, so she has been trained in the space of chaos and has the advantage of experience in knowing how to navigate uncertain times.

Sherry says that during this time of coronavirus affecting countries all over the world and the subsequent impacts on the economy, many people are experiencing instability and a heavier than normal mental load. There is really nothing anyone could have done to plan or prepare for this drastic shift in lifestyle, which makes us all feel unsettled and burdened. It is very important to create as much cushion for yourself as possible: get plenty of sleep, eat well, limit alcohol and sugar intake, move your body every day, and create structures or boundaries.

In fact, these drastic shifts in lifestyle and daily life may merit the need for grieving the loss of rhythms, interactions, jobs, milestones, and comfort. Grieving these things might look like this: talk about it with others (virtually), move your body, and then discuss the question “What is the next meaningful move to make?” You may also find it helpful to step back from your own needs for a minute and reach out to help others around you in any way you can.

It is all about finding a counterbalance to what is going on in the world and in your own life, taking control of what you can through deep breathing, moving your body, and creatively reorganizing your mindset through mindfulness practices. As a business owner, the most practical ways to develop resilience are to be intentional with your choices, be honest about your limitations, and choose joy and creativity. Sherry’s action item after this episode is that you find a “quarantine project” that provides you with an outlet that allows you to experience stillness every day.

Connect with Dr. Walling:

https://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurs-Guide-Keeping-Your-Together-ebook/dp/B079SNX6NB

https://zenfounder.com/

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Running Your Business in Unusual Times

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 22:00:00 -0600

Ben and Mark take a step back from their planned episodes of The Friday Habit to address ways to run your business in these unusual times. Many small business owners and entrepreneurs are struggling to know the next right steps, but there is hope and there are some simple ways that you can keep things moving:

Reach out to your network – Call or send messages to your clients and other people you have business relationships with to check in and see how they are doing. Encourage them during these uncertain times and offer to help in any way you can. You may also consider modifying your business offerings to provide more value to clients in this time.
Take action – Identify problems that your market is facing and create solutions for them. Even consider using some of your gifts that are unrelated to your industry but that might be helpful in providing value.
Be a leader and a resource – Know your market and be present, confidently leading the way and guiding others.
Start using online tools to stay connected – If you aren’t already using online tools, now is a great time to start. We have linked some resources below that will help you stay connected to your business and just to other people in this time of isolation.
Focus on your business – Use this “downtime” as an opportunity to do some short-term and long-term business planning, perhaps using the Business Made Simple online curriculum as a guide.
Be cognizant of the content you’re putting out – Evaluate your message before publishing it to be sure it is thoughtful, relevant, sensitive, respectful, and positive. People are worn down enough just by life’s circumstances – they don’t want to receive emails that rub salt in their wounds.
It’s all about relationships – Be kind to everyone you come in contact with and be intentional about checking in on people you haven’t heard from in a while.

Links:

“Profit First” book: https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making/dp/073521414X/

Mike Michalowicz: https://mikemichalowicz.com/

Squadcast: https://squadcast.fm/

Slack: https://slack.com/

Bonjoro: https://www.bonjoro.com/

Zoom: https://zoom.us/

Business Made Simple: https://www.businessmadesimple.com/

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Increase the Lifetime Value of Your Customers

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 22:00:00 -0600

So how do you retain more of your current clients and increase their lifetime value over time? On this episode of The Friday Habit podcast, Ben and Mark provide their top 3 ways and recommend some awesome resources to help you along the way.

Package or productize your service – Mike McDerment wrote the e-book “Breaking the Time Barrier” demonstrating this topic, which we highly recommend that you read. Horizontal integration such as expanding your current product offerings based on demand and needs expressed by your clients can be a gamechanger for your business.
Create a subscription service – Often referred to as a retainer, a subscription service is a way ensure that your clients will stick around for a specified period of time and that you will be able to provide enough value to them that they will recognize their need for your services. One good way to communicate this value is by providing the client with a quarterly or annual report of what your company has done for them and laying out some goals for the future.
Continue the relationship with content marketing – Content marketing is one of the clearest ways to provide value to clients, new or existing. Setting yourself up as a thought leader in your area of expertise and willingly sharing that knowledge will surprise and delight your clients and keep them engaged. You can do this through weekly email newsletters, hosting a podcast, creating a deliverable that your clients can refer to, or offering free services to help them conduct more effective business themselves.

Your action item after this episode is to read the e-book entitled “Breaking the Time Barrier” and consider how you might implement some of the methods described there into your own business.

Links:

Bonjoro: https://www.bonjoro.com/

BombBomb: https://bombbomb.com/c/

Taylor Landis article: https://www.outboundengine.com/blog/customer-retention-marketing-vs-customer-acquisition-marketing/

“Breaking the Time Barrier” e-book: https://www.frameworkhomeownership.org/images/uploads/Breaking-the-Time-Barrier.pdf

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Dealing with Business Envy

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 22:00:00 -0600

The topic of this episode of The Friday Habit is dealing with business envy. Everyone struggles with comparison and the temptation to be judgmental of yourself and others in the context of business, and when you are in the heat of the moment it can be difficult to see things from the right perspective. Even if you didn’t get that new client or promotion, you are doing better than you think you are. Here are four ways to help combat this business envy and get a better understanding of your own strengths and position in the industry:

Reach out to that competitor – Send them a message or meet them for coffee to congratulate them on their recent success and start to build a relationship with them. Most likely, getting to know them and their story will help you learn a few things and will also set your mind at ease because you will see that they have had their fair share of difficulties as well.
Avoid a scarcity mindset – There are more than 30 million small businesses in America, so if that is your client pool, there is plenty of business out there for you and all of your competitors. Focus on adding value to your potential clients rather than worrying that you won’t get any clients.
Stay humble – Don’t base your worth on being the best. If you remain humble, you will not have as far to fall when something happens and it will be easier for you to get back up again.
Focus on the long game – A majority of your business will come from the relationships you have built rather than the cold calls you make or the social media promotions you run. Be true to yourself and genuinely interested in others and you will set yourself up for a solid sales pipeline without much effort.

Your action time after this episode is to think of someone you have felt jealous of and reach out to them.

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The Right Way To Say No

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 22:00:00 -0700

Whether you realize it or not, when you say “yes” to anything, you are saying “no” to everything else in that situation. On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark discuss the wrong ways that people typically say “no” and the one right way that will be in everyone’s best interest. You could think of this like a financial budget, as described by several business leaders including Michael Hyatt, where overspending in one area will make you go into debt somewhere else.

In his book, “The Power of a Positive No”, William Ury spells out the 4 ways that people say “no”, three of them wrong and one of them right:

Accommodation – This is refusing to say “no” even though you should. Essentially accommodation means saying “yes” to something that is not good for you or you do not have the capacity for.
Attack – Sometimes people overreact and so strongly say “no” that the other person feels attacked and damage is done to the relationship. This is unnecessary and definitely the wrong way to say “no.”
Avoidance – Non-answers are common: “I’ll get back to you”, “Not right now”, “I’ll let you know when I have time”, etc. But this lack of upfront honesty will just lead to frustration for both parties involved in the end due to wasted time and energy.
Affirmation – Ben calls this a “criticism sandwich” where you give them good news, then bad news, then good news again, cushioning the blow and providing them with twice as much good news as bad. This could look like affirming them, rejecting your participation in the project, and then providing a referral or suggestion for how they could move forward in another way.

It is critical to the functioning of your business that you learn to set boundaries and say “no” to the things that are outside of your primary focus or would distract you from your main line of work. This week’s action item is to try the affirmation technique the next time you have to say “no”.

Links:

“Free to Focus” by Michael Hyatt: https://freetofocus.com/

“The Power of a Positive No” by William Ury: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Positive-No-Relationship-Still/dp/0553384260

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How To Do Meetings Right

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 22:00:00 -0700

If you are living with the “live every day like it’s Friday” mentality like Mark and Ben are, you know how this shift in perspective can boost your energy level and help you find the good things in each day, seeing every problem as an opportunity to do something right. This perspective carries over into many aspects of your working life and is especially pertinent to the implementation of effective meetings. Maybe you have never been a part of a meeting that you would define as “effective”, so here are 5 ways to alter the paradigm and make every meeting more productive:

Have a goal for the meeting – Define the reason why the meeting is taking place and include a brief agenda and action items in the meeting invite so all participants are on the same page.
Keep meetings small – Be intentional with who is invited to each meeting, only including those who absolutely need to be there. Identify the key stakeholders in the project or initiative and make sure they can be there, rescheduling the meeting if necessary.
Avoid conference calls – When you can’t see each other, it is easy for people to get distracted and difficult to gauge people’s genuine reactions to things other people are saying. Instead, try to schedule in-person or video conference meetings when possible.
Be present – Institute a rule that all devices should be in “do not disturb” mode and/or face down on the table to reduce the number of distractions. If you are not distracted, it is likely that the meeting will conclude faster and you will be able to get back on your devices quickly anyway.
Clearly define the action items – At the end of the meeting, discuss the action items and delineate the responsibilities for those items to the appropriate people. Set timelines for these tasks and go ahead and set up the next follow-up meeting before you all leave the room.

Your action items after listening to this episode are to define the purpose of your next meeting and split up tasks at the end of that meeting to see how much this improves the effectiveness of the meeting.

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Turn Your Business into a Profit Machine

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 22:00:00 -0700

Based upon the book "Profit First," Ben and Mark share the concept of setting aside profit for yourself first by simply creating different bank accounts (for operating expenses, owner's compensation, taxes and profit). Then, you put a percentage of what is made each pay period into each account. Each quarter, you change the percentages as needed. One of the many perks is it helps you assess reoccurring expenses more often. The four keys to creating stability include:

Keep your overhead low – If you value a really nice office space, perhaps sublease part of that space to cover the expense for your own space. With spaces like WeWork and other coworking spaces, having a really expensive space should be lowest on the priorities.
Every time you hire someone, make sure they pay for themselves and then more- Make sure they for pay themselves, are the value of their work and there is a really good profit margin. Charge three times the service someone is offering but make sure you have enough work for them to do beforehand. "Hire when it hurts," making sure your workload is consistently too heavy for a time period and and not just if you have extra money. You can also hire if you want to offer additional services that you otherwise wouldn't be able to offer.
Create subscription based products/service – This helps with forecasting. There is a scare factor because you aren't sure how it's going to work. One of the perks is it eliminates proposals. Charge a flat rate for the same services every month, and you are, for example, an on demand content department. Offer subscriptions based upon the client's budget. It helps the client see you as a partner instead of "a doer." Once you have the stability and security, it allows you to really grow because you aren't scrambling to meet the budget each month, You know what is coming in and you can plan into the future.
Pay yourself consistently as the business owner– Pay yourself consistently each month to give you a consistent baseline. Then, if needed make sure you have the ability to make an owner's draw. If you follow the process, every quarter you will get a bigger bonus.

Links to Books:

Profit First- https://profitfirstbook.com/

Rework - https://www.amazon.com/Rework-Jason-Fried/dp/0307704513

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How To Stay Focused at Work

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 22:00:00 -0700

Too often, distractions invade our world and keep us from accomplishing everything we have set out to do in a certain timeframe. Whether you find that your distractions are of your own making or the result of those who work around you, hopefully you can find some good insights and action items in these 3 simple strategies for staying focused at work:

Stick to a time management plan such as the Pomodoro technique – Block out some time during your day when you can commit 25 minutes to focus on one task with no distractions whatsoever followed by a 5-minute break. You can then evaluate whether you need to commit to another 25-minute session to that same task or move on to a different focused task, followed by another 5-minute break. There are many helpful apps and tools to help facilitate this focused time/break time balance, but the easiest is just setting a timer on your phone. You will likely find that by spending such concentrated time on a single task skyrockets your productivity and helps you do your best work.
Wear noise cancelling headphones – In addition to the obvious benefits of blocking out ambient and distracting noise, wearing headphones sends a message to those around you that you are in focus mode and they should leave you alone. Mark recommends the Apple AirPods Pro in-ear headphones with noise-cancelling and Ben recommends the Bose Quiet Comfort 2 over-ear headphones.
Set boundaries – If your workplace culture will permit it, clearly communicate with your coworkers and boss that you set aside certain times of the day for focused work. Perhaps block out time on your shared calendar so people know not to schedule meetings with or try to call you during those times and/or establish “open office hours” when those around you are permitted to stop by to talk to you.

Links:

Hourglass timers: https://www.amazon.com/OrgaNice-Hourglass-Sand-Timer-Productivity/dp/B01KFYMFYE/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=hourglass+timer&qid=1581472135&sr=8-12

Connect with us:

https://www.thefridayhabit.com/

thefridayhabit@knapsackcreative.com

https://www.instagram.com/benjaminmanley

http://www.benjaminmanley.com/

https://www.brandvivamedia.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Marklab2

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklab2/

Strategies to Beat Procrastination

Mark Labriola II — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 22:00:00 -0700

Whether you find yourself constantly procrastinating or you are specifically avoiding a particular task, hopefully you realize that you can’t put it off forever and eventually you will have to do it. Why not just get started right now? Ben shares his 5 tips for beating procrastination:

Think through the process – Create some space for yourself each week to consider your upcoming tasks and define the physical actions involved in each one. While having a task like “get better health insurance” on your list is specific, it is just unclear enough that you might not know how to move forward with it. List out the physical actions you will need to take to get better health insurance and then do them.
Set the stage in advance – One great example of this is setting out your workout clothes at night so they are ready for the next morning and you have reduced the number of barriers between yourself and the gym. When you aren’t ready to do the whole task, gather all of the materials you need first and provide yourself with a friction-less jumpstart when you are ready.
Reset your brain – Try one of these techniques for getting your brain back to a clean slate: 10 minutes of cardio exercise, a power nap, a cold shower, or working on the task for 15 minutes and giving yourself a break.
Do a bad job on purpose – Put together the roughest rough draft just to get all of your thoughts out there and all of the content on the table. This gives you a great place to start.
Think out loud – Verbally process with someone else why you don’t want to do this task or what is hindering you. They might have some helpful feedback as someone outside the situation and they can now hold you accountable for getting the task completed.

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