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 de...
Dec 11, 2020•31 min•Ep. 46
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 fir...
Dec 04, 2020•26 min•Ep. 45
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:...
Nov 27, 2020•21 min•Ep. 44
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 we...
Nov 20, 2020•26 min•Ep. 43
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 di...
Nov 13, 2020•24 min•Ep. 42
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-awar...
Nov 06, 2020•25 min•Ep. 41
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 priorit...
Oct 30, 2020•21 min•Ep. 40
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 d...
Oct 23, 2020•28 min•Ep. 39
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 c...
Oct 16, 2020•29 min•Ep. 38
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...
Oct 09, 2020•34 min•Ep. 37
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 ne...
Oct 02, 2020•25 min•Ep. 36
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 ...
Sep 25, 2020•31 min•Ep. 35
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 ...
Sep 18, 2020•20 min•Ep. 34
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 ...
Sep 11, 2020•22 min•Ep. 33
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 respo...
Sep 04, 2020•26 min•Ep. 32
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 Fac...
Aug 28, 2020•26 min•Ep. 31
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 re...
Aug 21, 2020•22 min•Ep. 30
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 w...
Aug 14, 2020•17 min•Ep. 29
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,” Zoo...
Aug 07, 2020•27 min•Ep. 28
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 ...
Jul 31, 2020•25 min•Ep. 27
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...
Jul 24, 2020•26 min•Ep. 26
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 pe...
Jul 17, 2020•21 min•Ep. 25
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-t...
Jul 10, 2020•21 min•Ep. 24
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 funne...
Jul 03, 2020•28 min•Ep. 23
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 inb...
Jun 26, 2020•36 min•Ep. 22
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 ...
Jun 19, 2020•22 min•Ep. 21
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 ...
Jun 12, 2020•31 min•Ep. 20
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: Identi...
Jun 05, 2020•24 min•Ep. 19
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 ...
May 29, 2020•35 min•Ep. 18
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...
May 22, 2020•18 min•Ep. 17
