News and advice for smallbusiness owners. Included profiles of smallbusiness owners, detailing the challenges theyve faced and successes theyve achieved;. But code ninjas provide the resources. If you cant do the kick and or break the board in martial arts you dont move forward. He was inspired in other ways as well. Each location he has is called a dojo and the instructors are sensei. It has taken off fast with the selfpaced curriculum. No kid wants to go to other classroom. They go to classrooms all day every day in school. Lets make it something not school. The kid comes in picks up a book go to the laptop get set up. And then get started. It didnt hurt that people identified with their mascots as well. I think ninjas are cool. Everybody thinks so. David is doing things differently than other companies in the space which have taken a more academic approach. At first that worried him. I was afraid at the beginning that people would think that this was like a karate studio. What we found out after a while that the population get gets educated and understand before
they are releasing music yearly and entered new territory, beer. Learn how they made their way to from the mmbop to mmhops. In 1997 Three Brothers took the kworld world by storm with the catchy chorus. The success of the first hit single mmbop, isaac taylor and zach hanson catapulted to the top of the charts and became bon a fied rock stars. We have been a band for over 25 years and im not even 33. Its hard. But its fun. And there is so many rewards in it because you could feel the excitement of the accomplishment. We started music as independents. And we developed that you know idea and that identity as we started our own label. I think we really have been the ethos of procure. They were not content with
sticking to music. We have been always intentional. We had the dangerous combination of bleaching the dream, trying for it and having some success doing it. And i think once you feel that and know thats possible it opens up this idea that you can build the next thing zpl for them the next thing was obvious. With the unified love for craft beer they he created hanson Brothers Beer in 2013. We saw that craft beer has such a natural connection to the independent music world. You have the identity of story, passion. Brewers are surprisingly similar to artists. Like everything these guys do this became a family affair. Zach is definitely more on the Creative Design side. Ike is the dreamer. Im asking people to take risk and push starter go longer, stay up later. With we disagree constantly. Its Like Congress or something. Two thirds majority rule. I i its a process were trying
to master man, conflict. Starting this their own thing certainly wasnt the easiest way to go. There was so many cases where we could have rubber stamped the hanson name and cashed in so to speak. We have always in some cases to a faults we said no we want it better. We wouldnt want that to be a part of our story, like, you know, we probably could have made a lot of money on hanson pokemon. But for them it was the only option that felt right. You never do something for the express purpose of success. Its hopefully the result of something being done skillfully and effectively. That way when you do it over and over and over again its not something thats tired for you. Its something that you really are truly invested in and care about. Because otherwise its ending up having mixed results. Everyone universally identifies with the fear of failure. But that willingness to risk is sort of what makes the difference between getting the
opportunity and not. So if you can just get happy with the fear of failure and fighting for it and going hey, maybe we feel, thats about sort of the audacity of dreaming. Because of their devoted fans who love the product, the brand has been a success. So much so that theyve expanded it to be part of something bigger. The hop jack, the annual beer and Music Festival organized by hanson. We will start with taylor. Hanson beer won a gold medal for beer before they won a grammy. Yes. It brings together the largest collection of Craft Brewers in oklahoma, as well as a large scale concert on two stages. You have two communities that are really celebrating their own kind of subcommunity. When you bring them together it creates something bigger than any one thing on its own. Their goal, make tulsa a distinction spot. We are essentially hosting the ultimate party. It allows us to shine a lit on
what we think is the future for a place like tulsa. You can have an awesome quality Lifestyle Experience outside of a mega town. The event serves as a bridge for all of the hansons work. Its about community, the fusion of good local stories, create great breweries doing great work. On the music side we spent 20 years fighting for the same issue which is the corporate music business. Today the brothers focus on all three loves, the music, the festival and their beer. Using the same north star to guide them on all fronts. From the very beginning we have said to our fans we dont want to be just a song. We want to be a muse. Whether thats beer and a festival, or thats a hanson album. And we said if you trust us we will never give you less than everything weve got. And thankfully theyve said, were in. I think being an artist and procure are ultimately very
similar combination of personality traits. A certain level of boldness and creativity. And willingness to solve problems looking for opportunities and saying, thats something i like and im interested in. And i want to chase after that. I dont think anybody can predict the future. But i think the best way to see the vision you want for your life is really just to show up every day giving everything you have to you know what youre going for. And i mean thats kind of all we know how to do were doing something a little bit different for this Elevator Pitch series. Instead of people pitching to potential investors well have them pitch to influencers. Can they get people to write about them . Because it Doesnt Matter how great the company is if nobody knows about it its going to fail. And the stakes for this Elevator Pitch are real and big. Ear at offices in New York City a Lifestyle Brand reaching 75
million. They have a conference called the blog her conference if the pitcher gets the heart emoji from the Panltists Thgteth to blog her in conference in New York City and get to present in front of 3,000 influencers which could change the trajectory of the company. Lets see how the pitcher does. Denise, hi. How are you. Jj. Welcome. Nice to see you. Nice to see you also. Partake foods it your company. Who what do you make. Delicious nutritious allergy friendly stacks. The first product are cookies three of the top 14 allergans. I have a food allergic kid. To me this is like a savior. How much have you sold through influencers. We havent done paid marketing i would say the sales we have had have come from influencers and word of mouth. What would it mean to you together to potentially written by tons of influencers at blog her. That would be a total game changer. We are in the process of
lawmakering whole foods to get the Brand Awareness would be a game changer have you practiced this pitch. Yes. That sounded like maybe i practiced. There is a mirror here if you want to do a quick one. Too late. Let me tell you who you talk to Sam Skchlt Ki president of she knows she has replace was lots of influencers. And then Katie Sterino through her social media channel she has a blog, instagram, et cetera. Blog is called 12ish style. Reaching half a million people. Amazing. She is the kind of person who if she writes about something people listen. Yes, definitely. All right. I think youre going to do great. Lets see how you do. Hi. Hi. Im samantha. Nice to meet. You im denise, the founder of partake foods shortly after my daughter areas first birthday i learned she has food allergies. I set out to find meal and Snack Options she could eat that tasted god and were good for but walked away from store shelves
disappointed sh he is not alone. Two kids in every classroom in america has a life threatening food allergy and thats 50 over the past ten years. I took a leave left the cocacola Brand Division and launched my company. The first is the three cookies that are hopefully delicious but free of allergans. Since launching in augusts. You can find them at whole foods and we are in the process of law firming wagonman. To be on stage at blog her would be a game changer for our business. Building influence with our business is critical to a small company. And thank you. Well. That was that was you said you didnt practice. But that sounded practices denise. Wow. What did you guys think. I want to elect denise for president. And the cookie is delicious. Did you try them. I have a couple of questions is the aim to be all retail. Yes definitely we do some ecommerce as well but we would like to grow within natural Retail Zbleers i love for the story, the mom story, thats what we write about. Thats what people write about is the emotional connection, the frustrations we experience. For bloggers and influencers and the women we serve its on the mark. Because its superrelevant and solves a problem without making your kid feel weird. Im letting you confer. You decide. Okay. If denise is coming to blog her. I have a feeling i know what sam thinks already. I have a nut allergic kid so this is so meaningful. Thank you. And your pitch was great. I dont im not supposed to give advice but im going to in case you get to go go up and there and talk with emotion. We know how scarey it is to have a kid who might eat something and have a reaction to that. Every day when she leaves the house im worried about whats going to happen because there
are some foods out there she cant have. Its nice to have something that i know she can have and enjoys. I think to get that right. I think people with who are parents of allergic kids understand it but everyone else understanding when gou to the Birthday Party its actually a danger soap. Right well everyone every other parent look how cute that slide is. Definitely the feeling of inclusion we came home from a Birthday Party she is only three. And she said i wish i could have had the normal cup cake at the party. As we grow i want to make other products that help kids with allergies and without allergies feel normal. I want you if you want people to write about you to get that across. Right that you are this is real life here and this is why. But i think quit juror job and and started this tells a lot. All right the ladies in blue. Come back to say. We love you and everything you do. Will she be going to blog her. The answer is, denise. Not. We love you. Congratulations thank you. Oh, my. You guys are good actresses. We were just trying to do our own little standup routine. The story is fantastic. We are super fans. I see the fact you stick with this strong brand is perfect because thats the way we think about it. Did you get the cookies the ee mow story, jrjs daughter similar. She is like here the cupcakes for clover and its emotional. I want to take a box home. Yes. Im picturing if i can just say a box in every blog her bag. Oh, yes. All right. Thank you guys. Thank you for everything you will see them at blog her. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Congratulations again we are constantly working
managing plans organizing and doing everything in between. So here are top five ways to have more energy to get you threw the day. One focus on the big three. Sleep, exercise and diet. These are producers. Sleep is the most important, but exercise and diet can also dramatically influence your energy levels. Two, cut back on social media. It can take up a lot of time and crowd out other more stimulating activities. Try limiting your use and see how it affects how you feel. Three, surrounds yourself with positive people. People who have an optimistic outlook on life are energizing and cultivate a positive yououtk yourself. Four, drink more water and let alcohol. Sometimes even slight dehydration can leave you feeling tired. A tall glass of water could revamp your energy levels. And five, take a walk around the block. Getting fresh air can make a world of difference when you are
feeling fatigued. Take five minutes to clear your head and you will feel better. Still to come, how to assemble a rock star sales force. And what the two, four, eight strategy is for growing your company. The line between work and life hasnt just blurred. Its gone. Thats why you need someone behind you. Not just a card. An entire support system. Whether visiting the Airport Lounge to catch up on whats really important. Or even using those hardearned points to squeeze in a Little Family time. No one has your back like American Express. So no matter where youre going. Were right there with you. The powerful backing of American Express. Dont do business without it. Dont live life without it. Id love to have insight around how to build out a Sales Process for a software and service business. Two things to keep in mind when building a Sales Process. One is lead generation. If you are online and selling to solve the wear assoftware, your customer will be on line as well. To driving ads. It is the best way to actually get leads to drive them into your system. Number two, have a really good crn system in inhouse, a Customer Relationship management system. The best ones that are out there, they will integrate your website as leads come in, people can fill out information on your website, it goes right into your crn system. And then you can build work flows to make sure everybody is being followed up on. Systems also come with
templates, they are predict and help you with building a Sales Process so you you dont really have to think about these things. Just remember other people have already done it, you dont have to recreate the wheel. We now have the top two tips you need to know to help you grow your business. Lets get their vice. Eddie yun with a think tank firm, and also we have the ceo of predata. Great to see both of you. Eddie, youre the veteran here. Lets start with you. So my tip is something i call the two, four, eight ratio. Something i learned from a mentor of mine who was a senior part any at mckenzie and my mom who used to play a Math Doubling Game with me. What it really is, it is a measure of how healthy is your business versus most people measure how good your Business Performance is performing right now. So two refers to the number of customers that you can
comfortably serve. Like you have the capacity to serve, high quality without worry about overcommitting and underdelivering. So that is an important part of it. And the four is a ratio of how many prospects versus the customers that you can serve. Usually it is a function of your close rate. How many property spects do you convert into kiss. A customers. And the eight is the most important measure that most ignore. These are the number of people that are not customers, they dont have a need and you are not marketing and selling to them, but they are Category Geeks like you, they love not your business, but the category that you represent. So for me, whether it is consulting or if you are selling cupcakes, Doesnt Matter. But these are people who want to talk about the category and youre geeking out with them. And with no agenda in mind. Usually what happens is those people either convert into leads that become customers, or they are strong referrals. So it is a great way of measuring your business. So if im serving two
customers, then i should have four times that as these Category Geeks, if im serving eight customers, i should have four times of that . Exactly. It is for a consulting partner, two, four, eight is exactly the right ratio. But depending on what you do, for me it might be 16 live customers and then four times that. Exactly. It is more the ratios. Got it. All right. Youre up. So my tip for you today is integrate innovation into your business work flow. And it all starts with changing the way we think about innovation. Changing it from being a competitive advantage into rather than a competitive advantage it is a temporary advantage. And it starts by thinking about innovation years ago cycles used to be years long. So when you have a new product, new invention, your competitive advantage is sustained for many years. Nowadaysinnovation cycle is
only three to six months, so you have to constantly come up with new ideas. And the key to all this is to know who you are and where you are in the innovation Product Innovation lifecycle. So you can start working on the next product, next feature, next idea and have it ready before your product, your existing set of products become complacent. Thank you both so much. Thank you. So because im in media and marketing, i need to know if those Marketing Companies and Media Companies actually have the traffic that they say they do. So similar web. Com has a pretty good benchmark for what kind websites traffic youre looking at. I really appreciate it. An app that i highly recommend is called gusto, it
provides you with an Hr Department to employ our early employees. And we didnt have to hassle with any hr and we could just focus on our product. A tool i use a lot is called intercom, a website and app installed on our site that lets us do our Customer Support and user on boarding. I love it because it helps us really communicate with our customers on a really intimate level. So i spend a lot of time in interc intercom. I utilize a lot of apps some are paid. One is an app that crystal knows. It is really unique. It works with linkedin and it actually will generate a disk profile of an individual, it allows me to get a dossier of an individual in terms of how do they want to be communicated, meaning will it be information based only or is it going to be maybe visual or do i just need to be able to be very, very
direct with a very couple of quick Bullet Points in order to establish credibility. This weeks your biz selfie comes from alison perry in morr morrisville, north carolina. She sells paper goods including stagsza stationary and weddinging inv n tagstags nf invitations. You can send in your sell fig yourbusiness msnbc. Com. Include your name, the name of your company and its location. Thank you so much for joining us. We really, really love hearing from you. So if you want to get in touch, just email us at yourbusiness msnbc. Com. We read every email we get. Also please go over to our website, it is msnbc. Com your business. We put up everything from todays show plus a whole lot
more for you. And of course we are on digital and social media platforms as well. Also please remember to check out our podcast, been there built that. That is where i get to have a longer conversation with a lot of our guests. You can download it for free at tune in or wherever you get your podcasts. We look forward to seeing you next time. Im jj ramberg and remember, we make your business our business. Its Pretty Amazing out there. The world is full of more possibilities than ever before. And American Express has your back every step of the way whether its the comfort of knowing help is just a call away with global assist. Or getting financing to fund your business
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