Tashima Freeman talks about how she turned her high school dream of becoming an entrepreneur into a reality. From the very beginning, Tashima was determined to own her own accounting firm. She shares how her parents' support and guidance have helped her navigate her entrepreneurial journey without any pressure or stress. Despite their age difference, her parents have their own experience as entrepreneurs and offered encouragement instead of pressure, allowing Tashima to journey into entrepreneur...
Jul 17, 2023•3 min
Tashima Freeman shares her inspiring journey from a college student working in accounting to a successful six-figure boss. She gained valuable experience by filing taxes while still in college, which helped her launch her own accounting firm, KSK Tax and Accounting Solutions, in just nine months after leaving her corporate job in 2020. Two years later, she launched her own coaching business. Tune in to hear Tashima's tips on starting your own business and how she achieved success in such a short...
Jul 16, 2023•2 min
Are you struggling to make sales in your startup? Have you ever wondered why sales often take a backseat in the equation? Elzie delves into the importance of sales with guest speaker, Ron Story, a seasoned sales expert. Elzie kicks off the conversation by asking why people don't prioritize sales despite its crucial role in business success. Ron believes that CEOs should be the best salesperson in their company, as they need to transfer belief in their product. They explore different sales method...
Jul 07, 2023•29 min
Elzie chats with Ron Story about the benefits of long-term business partnerships. Ron shares his preference for a five-year deal to allow both parties to grow together and establish expectations. However, his business operates on a month-to-month basis due to its cyclical nature. Ron emphasizes the importance of not pushing to increase numbers drastically, instead allowing clients to adjust accordingly and avoid an adrenaline dump. Ultimately, their goal is to have skin in the game and provide e...
Jul 06, 2023•3 min
Elzie and Ron Story discuss different ways to identify the lack of concurrency in your business. They explain how asking customers what could have been done better can help you understand where change is needed. As an example, they talk about how Airbnb founders rate their service with star reviews. Ron Story shares his insight on how he increased their service offering by doubling their value at no additional cost and his own experience of asking customers for feedback and using that feedback t...
Jul 05, 2023•4 min
Ron Story discusses the sales process and compares it to a dating situation. He talks about how important it is to engage, converse, and listen when trying to win over prospective customers. Ron reminds us that the quality of the sales process should match your product or service if you want to convince customers. A poor sales pitch for an expensive item will not make a good impression. He also stresses that the sales process should match the quality of the product in order to win customers. Are...
Jul 04, 2023•7 min
Ron Story discusses the different sales methodologies that exist and which one might work best for your business. Ron outlines three models: transactional, consultative, and the Challenger sale. He talks about the advantages and disadvantages of each approach so that sellers can understand which methodology is right for their customers. He also examines the current trends in selling to determine if a shift is occurring. Find out which model Ron suggests that is becoming more prevalent as it focu...
Jul 03, 2023•3 min
Ron Story, the owner of Five Contacts and PitchDB, takes us through the importance of sales and how it is essential to the startup equation. He is a seasoned sales executive who believes that CEOs should be the best salesperson in their company and shares that they must transfer their belief in the product to their team and customers, and develop unique and proprietary sales processes that can't be replicated. Using his experience developing sales for a marketing automation software, Ron illustr...
Jul 02, 2023•3 min
Elzie Flenard interviews Bulut Akisik, the VP of Enterprise Growth at Jotform, whose role involves growth marketing and finding new people who can benefit from the company's software as a service platform. Bulut talks about the importance of balancing family and workplace success, being honest with customers, and establishing a relationship with them. They discuss growth hacking strategies, which involves testing, data engineering, and making decisions based on realistic data. B2B founders, inve...
Jun 23, 2023•18 min
Bulut Akisik shares his valuable insights on balancing family and workplace success. He highlights the importance of being honest with customers and establishing a good relationship with them. Bulut believes that family should always come first, and taking time away from work can actually make one more productive in the workplace. He also discusses Jotform's core competency, which is using forms as a common denominator for communication among different businesses and solutions. By digitizing dat...
Jun 22, 2023•4 min
Are you looking for a way to become more efficient and organized in managing your podcast tasks and schedule? Bulut Akisik shares how Jotform can act as a virtual assistant for podcasters, providing forms and automatic scheduling to help prioritize tasks, and manage inquiries from potential guests. By providing customizable forms and automated scheduling features, podcasters can streamline the process of accepting inquiries and scheduling guests. This means more time to focus on creating great c...
Jun 21, 2023•2 min
Elzie and Bulut Akisik delve into the world of data collection, exploring the benefits of digitizing data and its impact on businesses. The discuss how businesses can collect data in a structured way, highlighting the importance of digitizing data collection. By digitizing data collection, businesses can gain valuable insights into their customers and make informed decisions that can help them grow and compete in their industry. From faster data processing to improved accuracy and accessibility,...
Jun 20, 2023•3 min
Elzie and Bulut Akisik talk about streamlining data collection through Jotform. Bulut explains that it is based on using collected data for a specific purpose, rather than simply collecting it. He also suggests starting by driving a business process as an app to save time and reduce manual labor when it comes to data collection. Their conversation also explores the benefits of reducing the time spent collecting data and the need to eliminate manual labor. If you're looking to streamline your dat...
Jun 19, 2023•3 min
If you are a B2B founder, investor, or entrepreneur looking to get ahead of the competition and leverage modern strategies for growth marketing, then this episode is for you! Growth marketing is the more modern version of traditional marketing, and it involves testing, data engineering, and making decisions based on realistic data. When resources are limited, entrepreneurs should be smart with how they utilize their budget and make sure they see returns before investing more money into an idea. ...
Jun 18, 2023•3 min
Are you interested in learning about how virtual, augmented and extended reality technology can help to make education and training more exciting, effective, and fun? David Scurlock, the founder of In Your Face Learning, speaks with Elzie about revolutionizing education and workforce development using these emerging technologies. David shares how he uses Oculus headsets and other devices to provide immersive experiences for students through virtual field trips and simulations. They discuss the p...
Jun 09, 2023•45 min
Elzie and David Scurlock discuss the exciting possibilities of virtual reality (VR) for training and design purposes. They explore the different resources available to learn about the digital world and its opportunities, recommending that listeners search online for "VR creation" or "immersive technology" to discover more. They highlight how exploring immersive technologies can inspire creativity and open up new avenues for design and training. They also dive into the world of avatars, which are...
Jun 08, 2023•5 min
Explore the exciting new world of Metaverse with us on this episode of the podcast. What is it exactly? It is an area or space accessed through headsets that can be public or require passwords and invitations for access, and is becoming lighter over time. Discover how it works and how it will impact the way we interact with digital content in the future. We discuss the potential safety and security issues, as well as the benefits of using headsets that allow users to interact with the virtual sp...
Jun 07, 2023•6 min
Are you curious about how to leverage virtual, augmented, and extended reality technologies to maximize your business profits? Let's explore the topic of utilizing cutting-edge technologies for maximum business profit with David Scurlock and discuss the implications of VR, AR, and XR. David talks about the use of digital twin technology, which allows for virtual tours of a studio or building before construction even begins. One of the most exciting aspects mentioned is the use of VR/AR headsets,...
Jun 06, 2023•2 min
Are you tired of traditional classroom settings that can be dry and uninspiring? Elzie and David Scurlock discuss how virtual, augmented and extended reality technologies are revolutionizing education and workforce development. David is the CEO and Founder of In Your Face Learning and uses Oculus headsets and other devices to provide immersive experiences such as virtual field trips and International Space Station simulations to both children and adults. He also works with those affected by the ...
Jun 05, 2023•5 min
Our special guest in this episode is Rick Elmore, who shares his incredible journey of going from scratch to success. Rick started out as an athlete and medical device salesperson with no business experience, but he was determined to make it work and develop a winning strategy. With hard work, grit, discipline and passion from his background in sports, he was able to stand out in the corporate world. He also used two useful analogies - climbing a mountain and Dave Ramsey's debt repayment analogy...
May 26, 2023•31 min
Rick Elmore reveals his secrets to creating a strong and successful business team. He explains that flexibility is key. Asking questions, showing interest in others' jobs, and having empathy are also important values he emphasizes for effective entrepreneurship. He shares his experience in sales and sports and how it influenced his leadership style. He emphasizes the importance of building a close-knit team and treating them like family. He also dives deep into the role of empathy in leadership ...
May 25, 2023•3 min
Rick Elmore talks about his journey of building a handwriting robot. He recounts the process of developing a writing robot, starting with buying a pen plotter from China, and then attempting to use an Auto Pen for two years before realizing that building their own writing robot was the only way forward. He walks us through the 14 Phase 0 processes he went through with different engineering companies in order to come up with confidence-building solutions, citing an example of how sending out 500 ...
May 24, 2023•5 min
Rick Elmore shares his insights on climbing the mountain of success as an entrepreneur. He uses two analogies, one about a mountain-climbing journey and another from Dave Ramsey's debt-repayment approach, to explain how he achieved business success. With limited resources coming from a lower-middle class family, Rick found success by asking questions, talking to successful people in the same field, and staying passionate about writing and business. He advises listeners to keep asking questions a...
May 23, 2023•6 min
Rick Elmore shares his inspiring journey from being an athlete to becoming a successful entrepreneur. He talks about the importance of developing discipline and hard work, as well as passion and perseverance. Rick shares how these traits have helped him in entrepreneurship, setting him apart from others in the corporate world. He also discusses strategies for people who don't have similar backgrounds on how they can develop grit by doing something they're passionate about and creating successful...
May 22, 2023•5 min
Rick Elmore shares his inspiring story of how he turned his itch into a successful business venture. As a former athlete and medical device salesman, Rick's journey to entrepreneurship is both unique and intriguing. He talks about what drove him to pursue a Masters in Business Administration and what struck him during a marketing class that made him come up with the idea for Simply Noted. Rick emphasizes that finding a niche often happens organically, as your path finds you when you are constant...
May 21, 2023•2 min
Are you an entrepreneur struggling to grow your startup or established company? This episode is for you. Elzie talks to Liz Heiman, a sales consultant and expert in startup growth. Liz shares her knowledge of building a successful sales team, establishing a culture of sales within your company, and managing your sales funnel effectively. She emphasizes the importance of creating a mission, vision, and values-driven plan, conducting strategic planning sessions, and hiring people who fit those val...
May 12, 2023•41 min
Liz Heiman explains that the sales funnel is shaped like a funnel for a reason because there are many more conversations and prospects at the top of the funnel than there are at the bottom. The goal is to have leads fall out of the funnel, so you can focus on the leads that matter. She discusses the priorities of managing a sales funnel, such as closing ready-to-buy clients first, prospecting for new leads, qualifying new leads, and developing solutions. Liz advises tracking leads, opportunities...
May 11, 2023•8 min
There's a prevailing trend in the world of sales that claims relationship selling is dead. Some argue that customers are already 67% through the sales process before even talking to a salesperson, rendering relationships irrelevant. However, Liz Heiman disagrees. In complex business-to-business sales or even personal sales, relationship is everything. If a customer is making a big investment that will impact their organization, they need to trust the people selling to them. People still buy from...
May 10, 2023•3 min
Liz Heiman guides entrepreneurs through setting up a successful sales system so that they can reap the rewards of their hard work. She covers topics such as how to find and manage sales staff, building business strategy around numbers, creating an effective lead generation strategy, implementing stages and activities for your salespeople in order to reach their goals, running team meetings with training and updates included and finally assessing your process regularly for success. Are you a foun...
May 09, 2023•6 min
Liz Heiman goes over a variety of sales procedures and systems, helping you to gain insights into the best possible approaches. She explains that a framework is a set of guide rails that companies must use to communicate and define their ideal customer. She discusses various recognized methodologies within the sales world such as Sandler, Challenger Sale, MEDDIC, Solution Selling, SPIN Selling, and Miller Heiman’s Strategic Selling, Conceptual Selling, and Large Account Management Process. Liz s...
May 08, 2023•4 min
