Have you ever been frustrated with a bad employee? Did you ask yourself, “How did I miss the red flags during screening?” How can you utilize LinkedIn lead gen examples when looking for employees best fit for your company?  On the show with me today is Mike Fitzsimmons, CEO of software company Crosschq. Pioneering in human intelligence hiring, the company helps companies find the best talent by gathering direct insights from people and transforming them into predictive data. To see if this interview is for you, I recommend that you read the episode highlights below to get a quick overview of the topics I covered with Mike during our conversation. When you do, I think you'll quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge-bombs for using modern technologies to create the perfect match between companies and talents. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Mike shares. Then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I asked Mike: Part 1: Product overview + stats [02:06] What does your company do? [04:40] Who is your ideal customer? [05:07] What does the pricing model look like? [05:25] What is the average customer paying per month? [06:49] What year did you launch? [10:14] How many customers do you have? How many paid? [10:20] What is your MRR range? [11:47] What is your YOY growth rate? [13:00] How many employees do you have? [13:05] How much have you raised? [13:46] What advice would you give to others that are raising capital? Part 2: Growth Strategies [17:14] Tell me about your customer acquisition systems? [18:50] What is your best marketing activity? [26:35] What is your CAC? [27:43] How many months to get your money back? [28:16] What is the average LTV? [28:21] What is your churn per month? [30:01] What systems are you using for customer success? [30:49] What systems are you using to reduce churn? [31:05] What is one actionable item that a listener could put into action tomorrow? Part 3: Leadership & People [32:18] How have SOPs played a role in scaling your company? [34:29] Tell me about the systems you use to attract talent? [36:17] How many employees do you have? [36:21] How many are in sales & marketing vs engineering? [39:49] Tell me about the interview process? [43:40] Tell me about the systems you use for employee retention? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/314/

The Bright Ideas eCommerce Podcast | Proven Entrepreneur Success Stories

BI 314: The Story of SaaS Startup Crosschq with Mike Fitzsimmons

Have you ever thought about selling products on Amazon, but aren't sure if the opportunity is real? Are you curious as to how to get started and how much revenue can be produced? Today's episode is a little different than the norm in that yours truly is actually the guest on the show, and my "guest" Ian Paterson, is actually the host and the one interviewing me! Ian is the founder of a SaaS company called Plurilock and when Ian and I were introduced, the original goal was to have me interview him. All that changed however, once Ian learned about my story of how selling supplements on Amazon ultimately led to my founding a software company called Flowster that Ian now uses. Questions Ian asked on the show: [01:46] When did you get started on Amazon? [02:42] How did you find profitable products? [03:02] How did creating SOPs and hiring virtual assistants affect your results? [04:03] What happened after you spoke on stage at the industry conference about your success? [04:51] How did you start Flowster? [06:22] What did it cost you to develop the software to the point where you could launch? [10:19] What problems does Flowster solve and how big is the market for this? [18:52] How did you attract your first 1,000 users? [30:59] What are your plans for the future of Flowster? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/306/

BI 306: How Selling Supplements on Amazon Radically Changed the Direction of My Life

Are you looking for a viable business to pursue as a side hustle? Would you like to have your side hustle have the potential to replace your job? Would you like to avoid putting any significant money at risk to get started? If you answered yes to these questions, then this interview is for you. On the show with me today is Davis Siksnans; CEO of Printful, one of the industry's largest print-on-demand drop shipping businesses with more than 800 employees and five fulfillment centers in North Carolina, California, Mexico, and Latvia. The company has fulfilled almost 16 million items since it launched in 2013. People absolutely love custom apparel and with print-on-demand combined with the ease of getting custom graphics created for you on sites like Fiverr, getting into the print on demand business could be just the thing for aspiring entrepreneurs in 2020. Curious to know more? Watch or listen to the episode below. Questions I Asked Davis: [01:26] Who are you and what do you do? [04:25] Why do you think someone looking for a side hustle should consider starting a print on demand business? [06:42] What is the best way to come up with ideas for some products? [11:42] How should they test/validate their products ideas? [14:17] What software should sellers use to generate the sale? [15:23] Can you tell me about a success story from your customer base? [16:36] How did leveraging social help this customer to become successful? [17:29] Can you tell me about another success story? [18:41] What are some of your most successful customers doing to continue to grow? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/305/

BI 305: Is Print on Demand the Best Side Gig for 2020?

Do you offer consulting services of any kind? Are you struggling to generate leads? Would you like to attract more high ticket clients? If you answered yes to these questions, this interview is for you.  On the show with me today is Dr. Travis Zigler; a recovering optometrist turned ecommerce entrepreneur. He is the founder of Eye Love, https://eyelovethesun.com and also is a partner in an Amazon PPC agency. In our discussion, Travis shares with me how he is using a super simply advertising strategy to attract high ticket clients to scales is rapidly growing PPC agency.  Everything that Travis and I discuss in this episode is easy to replicate, so if you are struggling to generate leads and land new clients, be sure to check it out! Questions I Asked Travis: [01:04] Who are you and what do you do? [01:19] What made you decide to start an agency? [01:42] What does your agency focus on? [02:07] Tell me about your client attraction strategy? [11:49] How are you generating leads? [11:49] How are you driving traffic to the course? [13:21] What is your cost per booked call? [13:49] How many email address are you getting a day? (calls) [14:09] Walk me through the experience that a lead gets once they enter your funnel? [30:31] How are you growing your Youtube Channel? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/304/

BI 304: How Travis Zigler is Selling High-Ticket Consulting Using Youtube

Are you struggling to generate qualified leads and fill your calendar? Would you like to learn how to accurately send 2-3 thousand emails a week to your prospects and automate the vast majority of the work? On the show with me today is Darwin Liu, founder of X Agency; a digital agency serving eCommerce brands that sell B2C.  In this interview, Darwin breaks down his cold email outreach strategy into a step by step formula that you can replicate. The results his company has achieved using this approach have been nothing short of incredible. In just their second year, revenue exceed $2.2 million. Want to scale up your outreach, listen to this episode now. Questions I Asked Darwin: [00:37] When did you start and what niche did you pick? [01:44] What was your revenue in the first year? [02:19] How do you attract clients? [02:54] Tell me more about your cold outreach program? [03:22] How do you create your email lists? [05:05] How do you verify the email addresses? [05:52] How do you protect your domain reputation? [06:29] How many subdomains do you use? [07:26] How many email addresses do you use? [07:53]What does the email content look like? [08:14] How many do you send? [10:24] What is the call to action? [12:41] What tool are you using to create and send the emails? [14:36] How are you handling replies? [17:24] What parts are automated or outsourced? [19:19] How many appointments per week does this approach get you? [22:03] How many clients do you get using this? [23:05] Walk me through your Linked outreach and explain how it differs from cold email? [28:45] Tell me about how you are using partnerships? [29:15] Tell me about how you are using SOPs? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/303/

BI 303: How X Agency Grew from Zero to $2.2 Million in Just Two Years Using Cold Email Outreach

Are you running a SaaS business and looking for proven strategies for B2C lead generation? Do you have an idea for a SaaS business and are looking for proven strategies for fundraising? Would you like to better understand how to use Facebook and Google ads? On the show with me today are Cody Barbo (CEO) and Katie Fellenz (Head of Marketing) for a VC-backed SaaS company by the name of Trust and Will, and in our conversation, we talked about all sorts of the strategies they have used to grow to 65,000 customers in just a few short years. Want to know the details of what we covered? Check out the questions I asked them, and then start listening to this episode today. Questions I Asked Cody and Katie: [02:15] What does your company sell? [03:38] When did you start the company? [03:46] How many customers have you signed up so far? [03:54] What made you pick the niche you are in, and how did you research it? [07:38] Once you decided to proceed with the idea, how did you attract your first 1000 customers? [11:01] How did you convince these folks to use your product? [13:08] For people that don't pay for your software, are you able to monetize them on the back end? [14:50] Let's talk about what is working really well in customer acquisition in the last year. What is working the best? [16:36] Tell me about what you are doing on Google. [18:19] Tell me about your marketing funnel; what did you think that was going to work but didn't, and now what is working well? [20:53] Tell me about your tech stack? [22:42] What is the next best channel? [27:54] Tell me how you are using Facebook. [31:19] Do you have a special offer for my listeners? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/302/

BI 302: How a VC-Backed SaaS Company is Disrupting and Old (and Boring) Industry with Cody Barbo

Are you struggling to generate leads for your company? Are you looking for a proven methodology for uncovering exactly what your target audience wants, and the words they use to describe it? Would you like to put lead generation on autopilot so you can focus all your time and energy on closing deals? On the show with me today, if John Whiting; a successful entrepreneurs who, for the last 12 years has focused all his energy at becoming an expert in the area of lead generation. In John and I's discussion today; we focused on answering four important questions: 1. Why do most lead generation programs fail to produce the desired results? 2. What can be done to fix this issue and speak in a way that resonates with your target audience? 3. How to quickly establish authority in your niche so that your target market wants to work with you? 4. How to drive traffic to your offer? Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that John shares...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked John: [01:38] Who are you and what do you do? [03:40] Tell me about your background? [06:05] How did you get started in lead generation? [07:39] When you started you own agency, how well did it work and what type of results did you get? [14:46] Why do you think most lead generation programs fail?  [36:39] Give me an overview of how to drive traffic to your offer, even if you don't have an ad budget? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/301/

BI 301: How to Put Lead Generation on Autopilot with John Whiting

Do you run a business that requires B2B selling or relationship building? Are you struggling to fill your calendar with appointments with new prospects or suppliers? Would you like to show up to work each day with 3-5 pre-qualified appointments in your calendar so you can focus solely on presenting and closing? What I have just described is not a pipe dream. It's real, and if you implement the strategy discussed in the interview, it is completely achievable.  On the show with me today is Ravi Abuvala; a B2B lead generation wizard who is well known for the success he's had scaling his own digital agency, as well as helping other digital agency owners to grow their revenue faster than they ever thought possible; all thanks to Ravi's brilliant combination of leveraging systems and virtual assistants to fill their calendars with 20-30 pre-qualified appointments every week. Whether you are an Amazon wholesale seller looking for new supplier relationships, a digital agency owner looking for new clients, or virtually any other B2B business owner looking for an effective way to generate a steady stream of qualified appointments for your sales team, this episode is for you. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that David share...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked Ravi: [01:25] Who are you and what do you do? [03:24] When did you start the agency? [04:03] Did you have a lot of success initially? [06:06] What did you realize you were doing wrong? [06:27] What was the big aha? [07:08] How long did that take? [07:37]What kind of results were you able to achieve afterward? [09:36] How many VAs did you hire? [09:49] Give me an overview of how the Vas were so successful in getting appointments for you?  [30:13] When did you decide to start hiring employees? [31:18] How are you finding pure commission salespeople? [36:00] Did your management style for employees differ much from Va's?  [37:05] How do the tasks you assign to employees differ from the ones you give to Vas? [38:03] For anyone listening who wants to get started creating systems, what advice do you have? [42:55]Do you have a freebie to offer? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/300

BI 300: How to Secure 20-30 Appointments a Week Using Systems and VAs with Ravi Abuvala

Do you ever wonder how people make all that money on Youtube? Would you like to join them and put yourself on the path to financial freedom? On the show with me today is Travis Marziani; founder of Performance Nut Butter and Youtuber on the rise. To see if this interview is for you,  I recommend that you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked Travis during our conversation. When you do, I think you'll quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge-bombs for success on Youtube. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Travis shares...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked Travis: [01:17] Who are you and what do you do? [01:37] When did you get started on Youtube? [06:40] Why did you pick Youtube vs other social channels? [08:01] How often do you publish? [08:37] How do you come up with the ideas and titles for your videos? [10:42] Walk me through you video production process? [14:13] Do you use a script?  [15:47] Tell me about your filming process.  [16:19] How are your videos edited? [21:26] How important are titles and thumbnails? [22:22] Where are you getting the thumbnails? [23:24] How many views do you get on average? [24:50] Comments? Subscribers? [27:34] How do you promote your videos? [29:51] Who answers your comments? [32:32] What are the key metrics on Youtube that you pay attention to and try to improve? [37:17] Are there any other activities that you do on a regular basis to help you succeed on Youtube?  [37:55] Have you ever talked to a human at Youtube? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/299

BI 299: How Travis Marziani Makes $10,000 a Month on Youtube

Are you looking for a new product idea? Do you already have an idea that you'd like to bring to market? Do you love hearing inspirational stories from successful entrepreneurs?  On the show with me today is Chris Meade; Co-founder of Crossnet - a company that is revolutionizing the sport of volleyball with their new 4-way volleyball net. To see if this interview is for you,  I recommend that you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked Chris during our conversation. When you do, I think you'll quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge-bombs for bringing a new idea to market and rapidly scaling a company. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Chris shares...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked Chris: [01:49] What does your company sell? [02:30] What made you pick the niche you are in, and how did you research it?  [03:57] Did you do any market testing before going into production? [04:55] How is your product sourced/made? [06:27] What do your gross margins look like? [07:03] Have you been able to improve your gross margin over time? If so, how? [08:16] What software do you use for the store? [08:22] What are some of your favorite store apps? [08:58] What software do you use for email marketing? [10:24] Where are you getting all the website traffic from [10:44] Does word of mouth contribute to sales? [11:15] Tell me about your advertising [12:26] How did you get into the school catalogs [12:56] How did you manage all the LinkedIn outreach? [14:10] How are you automating email outreach [14:50] What are some of the areas that your using VAs [15:50] What is your YOY growth rate? [16:50] How did you make the company grow so fast? [17:40] Who is your target customer? [18:30] What percentage of your sales are online vs off? [19:10] How did you learn that moms were your buyer? [19:34] What percentage of sales are coming from cold traffic ads vs retargeting? [20:11] What is your CAC? [20:52] How did you find the agency you are working with? [21:08] Are you in any mastermind groups? [22:11] Are you on Amazon? How? [23:00] How did you find your amazon seller? [25:50] What percentage of your sales are on Amazon? [26:57] How big is the team at this point? [27:10] What types of things do you use freelancers for? [28:15] Tell me about the systems that you are developing? [31:15] What are some of your plans for 2020? [33:07] How are you raising cash for inventory? [36:30] Are you ever going to take investors? Resources Links can be found at https://brightideas.co/chris-meade-interview/

BI 297: How Two Brothers Re-Invented Volleyball and Generated Millions in Sales

Is your company not growing as fast as you'd like? Are you struggling to create profitable ad campaigns on social media? Would you like to tap into the brain of a proven expert? On the show with me today is Erin Corn, founder of Shorebird Media. Prior to launching her agency, Erin worked for Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon; the ultimate trifecta for online advertising and commerce. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Erin shares...and then leave a comment or question for her to answer. Questions I Asked Erin: [02:11] Who are you and what do you do? [03:13] Tell me about an incredible result that your expertise played a role in achieving? (Dudley Stevens - seeing 30-50% ROAS) [04:30] What was the first step you took to create this result? [07:58] Tell me about the retargeting campaigns you created for them? [13:48] Tell me about your use of dynamic ads? [14:25] What is an Instagram collection? [15:41] Do you use FB Ads Manager? [17:31] Tell me about your cold traffic campaigns? [17:50] Did you use interest targeting? [19:36] How did you build out the personas you tested? [21:52] Tell me about exclusions from your campaigns? [22:14] How did you uncover the language the their target market uses? (Understand which organic content got the most traction) [25:00] Tell me about how you create and manage split tests (test headlines first) [26:38] How many ads should be in a ad set? [27:45] How long did it take the campaign to break even? [33:46] How did you scale up ad spend without breaking the campaigns? [38:57] How does a brand find the right agency to work with? [41:11] How should a brand expect to compensate an agency? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/298

BI 298: Proven Online Advertising Strategies with Erin Corn (Ex Facebook and Instagram Employee)

Are you planning to launch your own brand of products to sell on Amazon? Do you already source products from China and looking for proven methods to improve your sourcing efforts? Would you like to better understand how to become a master product sourcing professional? On the show with me today is David Hoffman; CEO of international trade powerhouse Global Regency (shipping products over $200m to over 40 countries).  If you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked David during this interview, and you will quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge bombs for sourcing products from China.  Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that David share...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked David: [01:07] Who are you and what do you do? [02:06] What are some of the biggest mistakes you see people making? [03:05] Is Alibaba the way to go? [04:24] Should someone work with a buyer's agent? [06:51] How should buyers plan and execute a trip to China? [09:54] How often are their trade shows [10:50] How do you determine if you are dealing with a manufacturer or a trading company and why should you care? [12:50] What is the best way to find trade shows to attend? [14:30] What are the most important things to do prior to attending? [17:20] Are there some clever ways to make a good first impression when talking to vendors? [19:30] What are some of the important things the new buyers might forget to ask? [20:18] Why is product compliance so important? [21:50] What type of follow up do you suggest after the show? [24:00] Tell me about some best practices for ordering samples [25:40] Do you have an SOPs for the sampling process? [28:00] So how do people work with your company as their team on the ground in China? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/david-hoffman-interview/

BI 296: How to Source Profitable Product from China The Smart Way with David Hoffman

Are you struggling to grow your small business as fast as you'd hoped? Do you feel that you are working too hard; yet still not getting the results you need? If you answered yes to either question, this podcast episode is for you. On the show with me today is Ben Fewtrell; creator of the Business Acceleration Blueprint. As the founder of several startups, Ben knows a thing or two about getting a business off the ground, and his programs have helped many business owners to build the business they imagined.  During today's interview, I asked Ben to walk us through the blueprint, step by step. If you are struggling get the results you deserve, this interview is for you. Questions I Asked Ben: [01:44] What is this Business Acceleration Blueprint? (5 stages and 5 critical areas per stage) [02:43] What are the five steps of the BAB? [06:10] Tell me more about the foundation phase. [15:45] Tell me more about the KPIs that make up your foundation. [19:50] Tell me about the issue of time management. [21:50] How do you suggest people figure out what activities they should delegate? [24:20] How important is it to have documented systems for your various activities? [26:30] Tell me about the growth phase (lead gen, CRO, AOV, LTV) [27:54] Which of these four is the one to focus on first? [31:45] Can you share some examples to underscore the importance of what we have discussed so far. Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/ben-fewtrell-interview/

BI 295: How to Accelerate the Growth of Your eCommerce Business with Ben Fewtrell

On the show with me today is Stephan Aarstol; founder of Tower Paddle Boards and a number of other direct to consumer brands. Back in 2010, Stephan was barely 6 months into his venture when he received a call from a TV producer for a show he'd never heard of. It was called Shark Tank - and it changed Stephan's life. After hearing Stephan's pitch, Mark Cuban decided to invest $150K in Mark's company, and that company wen on to become one of the biggest success stories in Shark Tank history. Since then, Mark has been a partner in virtually every business Stephan has started. In Stephan and I's conversation, we talked about what it was like to start a company in a highly competitive market, what it was like to work with Mark Cuban, and why he eventually implemented (and wrote a book about) the 5 hour work day in that company. If you are an entrepreneur looking for ways to make your company stand out, this episode is for you. Questions I Asked Stephan: [02:20] How did you come up with the idea for Tower Paddle Boards? [03:19] Did you know anything about making paddle boards? [05:44] How long had inflatable paddle boards been around when you launched? [06:44] How did the level of competition back then compare to now? [10:16] Why did you feel that you could be successful entering this market? [11:30] How long did it take to get the first $100K in revenue? [12:15] How did Shark Tank play a role? [14:35] What was it about your pitch that appealed to Mark [19:18] What was it like working with Mark as an investor? [22:44] Of all the things you've learned from Mark, what was his greatest lesson? [26:41] When and why did you decide to convert to a 5 hour workday? [29:31] Why did you choose to make this shift to a 5 hour work day? [32:24] Tell me about some of the productivity hacks that your team discovered?  [33:45] Why did you shift to 5 hours days in the summer only? [34:20] What was the impact on recruitment and retention? [35:30] How has it evolved since and why? [36:51] What advice would you give to others thinking of trying it out? [39:10] What is your best advice for today's entrepreneurs interested in building a direct to consumer company? Resources link can be found http://brightideas.co/stephan-aarstol-interview/

BI 294: Creating High Growth Companies with Stephan Aarstol

If you are building a business to sell, having an exit plan should be a critical component of your overall strategy, and depending on the kind of business you are building, deciding whether to hire a business broker or an M&A advisor could make the difference between getting a few hundred thousand (or million?) dollars extra or not. There are significant differences between a typical business broker and an M&A advisor, and in today's episode, I'm joined by Chris Shipferling and Jason Sommerville; two of the partners at an M&A advisory firm that specializes in selling digitally-based businesses.  In our discussion, we talk through the differences between the services one can expect from a typical business broker, and that of a firm like theirs, and, as you will hear when you listen, the differences could results in a significant difference in the value of your company when you sell. Questions I Asked Chris: [04:10] What is the difference between a business broker and an M&A advisor? [06:30] What is the difference between a financial buyers and a strategic buyer? [11:00] What market segment do you deal with? [13:25] What is the minimum size of a company that you generally work with and why? [14:50] How does your view of exit valuation compare to that of a business broker? [18:50] How does the background of an M&A advisor generally differ from that of a business broker, and why should the seller of a sub $3M business care? [22:39] How do the fees differ between working with an M&A advisor and a business broker? [25:23] What is your process vs a broker process to sell a business? [28:38] Who defines the portion of the deal book that speaks to opportunities for growth? [34:00] How does your buyer network differ from that of a business broker? Resource links can be found at https://brightideas.co/chris-shipferling-interview/

BI 293: How to Maximize Enterprise Value at Exit Using an M&A Advisor Instead of a Business Broker

The Bright Ideas eCommerce podcast is where proven entrepreneurs share the exact tactics and strategies that are working for them. In each episode you will discover actionable golden nuggets that you can implement in your business today.

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The Bright Ideas eCommerce Podcast | Proven Entrepreneur Suc...

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