Be an expert and find your niche Happy Thursday everyone. Today on the Appitalize On Your Idea podcast I have Jerry Zigmont and Sam Valencia, who are both Apple Consultants and 2 of the three members of the Command Control Power podcast. The CCP team was at ACEs Conference this year to both do a presentation on Managed services and also taped a live episode of their wildly famous podcast. Today we discuss why they started the podcast. In their mind there wasn't a niche filled for Apple consultan...
Jun 23, 2016•27 min
Empower your Customers Hey Hey everyone! It's time for another great episode of the Appitalize On Your Idea podcast. Today we have Mac Spa owner Amy McKnight on. Amy was an attendee of the 2015 ACEs Conference who then turned into a speaker for the 2016 conference. Amy has a great angle on empowering customers. Many of us would believe that teaching a customer how to do something would eliminate the need for us, but not with Amy. She believes (and rightfully so) that if you empower your customer...
Jun 14, 2016•25 min
Visualize the Spoon Happy Tuesday everyone, and welcome to another episode of Appitalize On Your Idea: The Podcast. Today we have Randy Krum , author of Cool Infographics and owner of InfoNewt , a company dedicated to data visualization and infographics. Randy and I discuss the reason for using infographics. So many times an infographic is incorrectly listed, as many just thing if it has pictures it's an infographic. On Randy's blog Cool Infographics , he posts about different types of graphics ...
Jun 06, 2016•31 min
Know Thyself Happy Tuesday everyone, and welcome to another episode of Appitalize On Your Idea: The Podcast. Today we have Peter Shankman , most famously known for the founder of HARO (Help a Reporter Out), and now a public speaker. Peter has a great grasp on customer service, and even has written the book on it - Zombie Loyalists . Peter's golden rule is to "hire for people". Hire people who can deal with people first and then teach them the technical aspects of their job. Peter has a new podca...
May 23, 2016•24 min
Season 2! Ok so it's been a year or so since my last episode, but its are back! It could be worse. I could have followed the Sherlock seasons on BBC (for those who don't get it, there are 3 episodes a season and they are like 2 years apart!). So here goes again. Welcome to the Appitalize On Your Idea Podcast. This short re-introduction episode is to just explain what's been happening in the last year. Why I haven't produced the show, and what's been happening to me personally. Now that it's all ...
May 17, 2016•7 min
Tell The Story Happy Monday everyone, and welcome to another episode of Appitalize On Your Idea: The Podcast. Today we have on Victor Agreda Jr, of Angry Dad Gamer and SuperPixel studios. Victor has done a lot of things in his life that has brought him to where he is now. Having started as just a commenter on a blog, turned him into the Editor-in-chief (yes I'm skipping a lot of that story here) and when that blog shut down he continued on telling stories with his comedy, his magic and now his n...
Jun 07, 2015•35 min
Be a part of the process and give value up front. Welcome back Appitalizers. Now that the ACEs Conference is over, I'm back to bring you some great content and podcast episodes. We kick off the return with my good friend Tony Ubertaccio. Tony is a business strategist and consultant. He helps businesses by figuring out how to add value to the business. This could be anything from showing them how to capture emails, to social media strategy to brand positioning. Tony's goal is to help you as a bus...
May 31, 2015•32 min
Alto's Adventure Today we have Ryan Cash from Snowman software on the podcast. Ryan and his team built an amazing game for iOS called Alto's Adventure . Ryan and I discuss how the game came to fruition, and the marketing strategy. I know a lot of you have been asking about how to go about building a game, so here's the episode for you! As in previous episodes, we discussed treating the app like a movie — releasing tidbits of the game in teasers and trailers, and then showing some behind the scen...
Apr 05, 2015•34 min
Help advance your idea With today's episode, I have brought on Doug Fluckiger from Silver Creek Studio. Doug happens to be my outsourced graphic designer, but I didn't have him on to talk about us. I brought Doug on today to talk about how to find a graphic designer. With some great tidbits, Doug talks about finding someone who will not just do the graphics and be done, but will help you advance your idea. When you are outsourcing anything, you want someone who will be a partner on the project n...
Mar 30, 2015•28 min
Lawyers across the world! Today is a special episode of Appitalize On Your Idea the Podcast. We have on first time returning guest David Postolski, and his partner Susanne Somersalo on to talk about The Global Intellectual Properties Law Symposium The GIPLS is the first of it's kind. A three day event taking place March 30th-April 1st. The Symposium, being put on by Gearhart Law will bring nine lawyers from around the world together to answer questions about IP protection from around the world. ...
Mar 16, 2015•24 min
Zen of Consulting Bruce Zutler of Venn Products Group joins us today on the Appitalize On Your Idea Podcast. Bruce is a mastermind when it comes to manufacturing, marketing, intellectual property and financing. Essentially if you want to start a business building a product, Bruce is the person to speak to. Bruce and I discuss the challenges of manufacturing. Using sites like Alibaba are great but there's so much more than just posting your idea and hoping someone across the world will make it. T...
Mar 08, 2015•31 min
Ideas are not cheap On todays episode we have the wonderfully talented Michelle Tripp on to talk about how to market your product. Michelle's number one rule? Have a plan! A great line from the movie One Crazy Summer — "Without plan there is no attack, without attack there's no victory!" Michelle comes on today to talk about having a plan and the three tiers of them: • Objectives • Strategies • Tactics Michelle goes on to talk about how to tailor your message for the appropriate platform, and to...
Mar 01, 2015•35 min
Ideas are not cheap It's episode 30! Today we have on special guest Claudia Azula Altucher. Claudia is a two time best seller, and her latest book Become An Idea Machine has just been published. Claudia talks to us today about how to come up with ideas. "The Idea muscle is like any other muscle, it must be worked out." Claudia, and her husband James Altucher , make it a point to say that you need to come up with 10 ideas a day. It seems like a lot of work but it's not really. Claudia says, get i...
Feb 01, 2015•28 min
The 22 year old Serial Entrepreneur Today I bring on Jeet Banerjee. Jeet, at 22 years old, has started multiple successful business, wrote a book, and has even spoke at TEDx! It amazes me how Jeet even has time to sleep! Jeet and I discuss how he gets through his days. Jeet talks about prioritizing your tasks. Figure out your day. What important things MUST get done first? Then he delves into something I think a lot of struggle with - figuring out your strengths and weaknesses. It's ok to be wea...
Jan 26, 2015•20 min
The Jigsaw Puzzle of Marketing Happy Monday! Today I'm glad to have on Annie Scranton of Pace Public Relations in NYC. Annie, whose name you heard back in episode 26 , has graced us by bringing her PR knowledge to the Appitalize On Your Idea Podcast. Annie and I discuss the need for a Public Relations firm. While Annie's firm only works with media relations (which in my opinion in the most important type), there are firms out there that do everything from corporate communications to crisis contr...
Jan 17, 2015•33 min
Light Your Money on Fire! I'm so excited to bring on my mentor, Micah Baldwin on today's episode of Appitalize On Your Idea podcast. I wanted to bring Micah on to discuss something I have been asked a lot about. "How do I raise money for my company?" As someone who has only bootstrapped my ideas, I have never been able to give the right advice about it. Micah, who is a multi-successful entrepreneur who has raised money on many occasions. Micah talks about the things investors look for. This incl...
Jan 10, 2015•42 min
A secret Appitalizer Happy New Year everyone, and welcome back to the Appitalize Podcast. Today I have on my friend Mike Sorrentino. Mike is a secret Appitalizer. By this I mean, he followed all the ways to Appitalize on his idea without even knowing it. Mike is the inventor of the eyePatch case , a physical case for your mobile device with a slider to cover the camera. Mike came up with the idea while listening to the radio one night. He got a patent, and then outsourced the design and manufact...
Jan 05, 2015•36 min
Happy Holidays Everyone! Just a quick note from me to all of you, happy holidays and have a safe new year. This weeks podcast is a special one because I was able to get some of the past guests on to wish everyone a merry christmas, happy hanukah, happy kwanza and happy new year. Thanks to: Jason Womack Elizabeth and Richard Gearhart Martin Waxman David Postolski Jason Frasca Allen Hancock Michael Sorrentino Eyal Amir Warren Whitlock Matthew Hintz For more information check out Appitalize On Your...
Dec 23, 2014•7 min
An entrepreneurial law firm for entrepreneurs Welcome back to another episode of Appitalize On Your Idea: The Podcast. Today I have on Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart of Gearhart law. I know we've had on a lot of lawyers lately, but the reason I wanted to bring these two on is to talk about how Gearhart law in and of itself an entrepreneurial venture. Gearhart law was born on the internet. After a move from Georgia, Richard (with the help of Elizabeth), opened the practice and took to the interne...
Dec 15, 2014•41 min
The Humanity of Twitter Hope everyone is doing well this chilly December day. Today I have Warren Whitlock on the the show. Warren, #8 in Forbes top 50 social media influencers, was the author of the first book about Twitter. Having an account from Twitters inception, Warren has been able to experiment and test how to best use Twitter for your business. While many people think Twitter is just a place to promote their products, there's a much better way to use it. Answer questions! The majority o...
Dec 08, 2014•48 min
Content is King! In today's episode I have on Martin Waxman, digital communications and strategist. Martin and I discuss one of the biggest parts of Appitalize, marketing. More specifically, content. Martin explains how content is such a big thing when it comes to any company. Content isn't just blog posts, it's also pictures, videos, white papers, etc. Martin gives some great examples of how and where to post your information. Using tools like Slide Share , writing an ebook, and making videos a...
Dec 01, 2014•35 min
What's up everyone!!! It's the week of Thanksgiving, and I wanted to give you all my thanks for reading, listening, and commenting on all the stuff I've been doing this past year. With you, my loyal audience, I wouldn't be able to continue to put out this material. Because it's Thanksgiving week, I wanted to reshare with you one of my favorite episodes of Appitalize On Your Idea:The Podcast. I picked Jason Womack's episode. Why? Because I think that as we come into the holiday time, people tend ...
Nov 25, 2014•42 min
Google+ will raise your SEO ranks! Today I bring on my friend Jason Frasca to talk about two very different, yet still connected, technologies: Google+ and Evernote. In the world of both Google+ and Everynote, Jason is considered an expert - but the reason he is, is the reason why they are connected. Jason used his Google+ skills to promote his knowledge of Evernote. Thanks to the way Google ranks Google+ information (such as posts, +1's and comments) it allows your profile and your brand to mov...
Nov 14, 2014•33 min
Create an emotional connection between your customer and your company. Today Pia Silva joins us to discuss branding for your company. Branding is the one thing that will leave your mark on your customers. We discuss a few of Pia's favorite websites and how they brand to position themselves. Branding is the very start of your marketing efforts. Once you've established your brand your products will be associated with them, allowing people to understand where they come from. People remember compani...
Nov 09, 2014•34 min
What is your company going to be? It's your trademark! Today I have Matthew Hintz, a trademark lawyer from New Jersey, on to talk about trademarking your business. What's the difference between a trademark and a patent? A patent is protection on a method or a system, where trademark is protection on the word (a.k.a. Wordmark). Trademark's come in a few variants, such as trademarks, servicemarks, and trade secrets. A trademark protects your name, whether your company or your business. A trademark...
Nov 01, 2014•41 min
What's been happening lately? I know it's been a while since I've posted a podcast episode, and today's episode is a little hostful episode describing what's been happening lately. While many of you know I've been super busy with Virtua Computers , building new apps with Autriv , and my wife and I are expecting our first child. Today I discussed some new cloud tools I've been using such as ZenDesk, Freshbooks, and AirPair.com, and prepping you guys for upcoming episodes. For more information che...
Oct 24, 2014•18 min
Tell the story. Share your vision. I'm super excited about todays episode with Carmine Gallo. Carmine is a communications coach. He helps large (like Fortune 100 companies large) tell their story. He talks to CEO's, Sales Teams, and all in between showing them the right way to tell their story and share their vision. Today he talks with me, so you Appitalizers can hear him first hand. Carmine mentions some great tips in our conversation - such as the "Twitter Friendly Headline". He explains that...
Jun 28, 2014•37 min
USPTO meets College! Today we interview Mindy Bickel from the US Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO and Cornell have teamed up to help entrepreneurs get informed and to learn about how to patent their ideas. As an Appitalizer, you should now be plenty aware that you need to protect yourself and your ideas. We have had lawyers on before to explain how to getting protected, but with Mindy we learn it from the other side. Mindy's goal with the program is to teach Appitalizer's how to educate th...
Jun 21, 2014•33 min
Entrepreneurial Students On this episode I've interview Montclair State University's own Dennis Bone. Dennis was the former CEO of Verizon New Jersey before being tapped to be the director of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship at MSU. Dennis instituted a new 3 class program that will help students become entrepreneurs. I say this a lot during the actual episode, but do I wish this was around when I was a student. Having this kind of hands on experience really allows students to learn abou...
Jun 03, 2014•29 min
Scratch your own itch! Today I'm talking with Luis Giraldo, owner and CEO of Monkey Box in Canada. Luis who's an Apple consultant by day (like me!) found something in his day to day that he needed. He took that idea (what he calls his itch) and made it happen. He was able to Appitalize on his idea. Why I love what Luis did has nothing to do with Monkey Box (despite it being a great app), but more with how he got it built. Luis is a very smart person, but knew where his limits were. He not only o...
Apr 28, 2014•40 min
