Insider Stories…
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Why We Need More Transparency in Business with Courtney Nichols Gould Founder of SmartyPants Vitamins
Courtney Nichols Gould is the CEO of SmartyPants Vitamins. SmartyPants Vitamins have a gummy obsession which started because they believed that the very best vitamins are an all in one combination of different nutrients that would save money, time and peace of mind for customers. Their products can be found on Amazon, in Whole Foods, Kroger, Target, Costco and many more locations all over the US. Their bottle is the one with the cute owl winking at you. For every bottle sold they make a 1 for 1 grant to Vitamin Angels to provide children in need with nutrients and they have made over 6.2 million nutrient grants to date. Click to Watch – Learn about the value of transparency!
The Impact of Automation and Email Marketing with Tom Kulzer Founder of AWeber
Tom Kulzer is the founder of AWeber. AWeber is one of the top email marketing providers on the planet and helps over 100,000 businesses build their audience. Tom started AWeber all the way back in 1998.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [1:30] Jeremy introduces his guest, Tom Kulzer.
- [2:30] Why does AWeber have live customer support?
- [5:30] Tom talks about growing the business and making his first hire.
- [8:45] How does Tom hire the right people?
- [13:30] What is the process for collecting and incorporating customer feedback?
- [16:00] Tom talks about the categorizing and tagging aspects of AWeber.
- [23:00] Tom gives a little peek behind the process at AWeber.
- [28:30] How does Tom stay productive?
- [31:00] Why did Tom drop out of school? How has it impacted him?
- [34:30] Tom talks about email back in 1998.
- [39:00] How AWeber has evolved over the years.
- [43:45] Tom talks about the culture he’s created at AWeber.
- [49:00] The lowest moment in the journey so far.
- [50:45] Milestones that Tom is proud of.
- [52:00] Tom talks about how AWeber has impacted client businesses.
In this episode…
What is the impact of automation on your sector of the business community? Are you thriving due to automation or is your organization suffering? On this episode of Inspired Insider, you’ll hear from entrepreneur and innovator, Tom Kulzer. In his conversation with Jeremy, Tom opens up about the early days of AWeber, how he scaled the business, the challenges he faced along the way, how he built his team, what it takes to stay productive, and so much more. Don’t miss this valuable behind the scenes look at AWeber and Tom’s fascinating story!
Do you have to be a college graduate to be successful? If you take a quick look at some of the most notable leaders in business, the answer is no! Leaders like Steve Jobs and Michael Dell enjoyed massive success without finishing higher education. On the other hand, leaders like Tom Kulzer stress the value of education beyond grade school, and that doesn’t have to mean traditional higher education either. Don’t put yourself in a box or others, if you don’t have the “Right stuff” on paper that doesn’t preclude you from going out there and building something you can be proud of.
How do you scale a business from the ground up? Do you secure the best team money can buy right away or do you bide your time looking for the right moment to reinvest your profits back into the company? Tom Kulzer built AWeber from the ground up and knew very quickly that he couldn’t do it alone. When Tom reached out to find his first team member, he was so nervous about getting this important role wrong. Thankfully it all worked out for Tom, and AWeber grew from that moment on, bringing on a whole team of talented individuals. What can you learn from Tom’s story?
When was the last time that your organization took a serious look at how they review and respond to customer feedback? Is this something that your business does on a regular basis or in a more happenstance manner? For Tom Kulzer and his team at AWeber, responding and incorporating customer feedback is critical. They have learned the value of keeping a close tab on what their users want to see from their platform and what they can do to meet those needs. The fact of the matter is, if you don’t work hard to keep the customers you have, someone else will do whatever it takes to win them over.
One of the hot topics in the business world today is automation. Some sectors are embracing automation with open arms, and some are decrying it as the death knell of their industry. Love it or hate it, automation is the wave of the future. Embracing the ingenuity of automation, AWeber is leading the way with their take on email marketing. AWeber is built for time-strapped content creators, small business owners, and entrepreneurs. They’ve created easy-to-use automation tools to launch automated email sequences, tag and segment subscribers based on their behavior, send remarkable one-time promotional emails or newsletters, and track the success of various campaigns. Automation isn’t always a scary word when it comes to email marketing; it’s helping businesses work smarter, not harder.
Resources Mentioned on this episode
Rise25 creates 100% outsourced VIP days for software companies and conference organizers to serve their highest level customers. Rise25 VIP Days have a proven track record of helping companies to get more referrals, increase retention with their VIP customers, and get more engaged new customers without adding extra work to that company’s plate. Rise25 partners and collaborates with entrepreneur-focused communities, with particular emphasis on creating events for high volume Amazon sellers, Walmart sellers, multichannel ecommerce sellers, and founders who want to take their business to the next level. Rise25 has hosted VIP events in cities such as Austin, Chicago, Santa Barbara, San Diego, New York, Sonoma, and Las Vegas to name a few. If your company appreciates the value of bringing your highest level customers together to connect and collaborate, you can learn more and contact us to find out if your company qualifies at Rise25.com. Rise25 was cofounded by Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran.Sponsor for this episode
Insider Stories from Top Leaders & Entrepreneurs…
Designing a Natural Recovery Drink from Scratch with Dave Colina Co-Founder of O2
Dave Colina is the co-founder of O2 which started in Columbus, OH in 2014. O2 Oxygenated Natural Recovery drink was created by a CrossFit trainer and a medical doctor who were sick of unhealthy sports and energy drinks. It has electrolytes, natural caffeine, and added oxygen to help your body process toxins faster. They’ve gone from slinging O2 out of the back of a Prius to becoming a top seller at hundreds of CrossFit gyms and Whole Foods stores in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, DC and Maryland as well as Krogers.
Click to Watch – Learn about creating a natural recovery drink!
Eliminating Waste, One Phone Case at a Time with Matthew Bertulli Co-Founder of Demac Media
Matthew Bertulli is the co-founder of Demac Media and Pela Case. Pela Case is the world’s first compostable phone case. This helps cut down on the billion cases produced each year that will probably end up in the ocean. Demac Media is an award-winning ecommerce products and services company based out of Toronto, Ontario. They are one of the largest Magento Gold partners in Canada and one of the top Magento partners globally and a Shopify partner as well. Their 90 person staff provides ecommerce platform technology and managed services to retailers, manufacturers, and wholesale distributors selling direct to consumer or business to business.
Why its Smart to Lead with Transparency with Nathan Resnick Founder of Sourcify
Nathan Resnick is a sourcing pro and the founder of Sourcify. He has built multiple ecommerce companies, 7-figure Kickstarter projects, and speaks fluent Mandarin. Sourcify is the fastest growing sourcing platform backed by Y Combinator that helps hundreds of companies manufacture products around the world. Nathan even managed to get a cease and desist from Connor McGregor, yes, the UFC competitor.
Click to Watch – Learn about the value of transparency!
Keeping People Safe from their Electronic Devices with Cary Subel & Alaey Kumar Co-Founders of SafeSleeve
Co-founders of SafeSleeve, Cary Subel and Alaey Kumar are both industrial engineers from Cal Poly. SafeSleeve is a manufacturer of radiation blocking laptop and phone cases and accessories. Their distribution includes major retailers in the U.S, on Amazon, walmart.com, jet.com along with SafeSleeve’s website and distributors in Europe, Australia, and Singapore. What started with a laptop and one cell phone (iPhone) case, has expanded into cases for nearly all mobile devices as the company boasts more than 100 products and is expanding to screen protectors and car mounts. SafeSleeve’s revenue more than doubled and sales are at about 3,000 units per month, up from 500 two years ago. SafeSleeve’s products have reached more than 40 countries, and they are looking to expand to the Middle East.
Click to Watch – Learn about protecting yourself from your electronics!
The Value of Social Media Engagement and Reinventing Your Brand with Habib Salo CEO of Young Nails
Habib Salo is the CEO of Young Nails. They have been serving the nail care industry for over 20 years. Habib and Greg (Habib’s older brother) run the business and their mom decided to start her own business at the age of 49. She had a passion for the nail industry and they did everything to support her. Greg, the older brother, became a licensed nail technician after switching gears from firefighter training. Habib took a detour from medical school and a life in music. Young Nails Inc., is a professional nail care manufacturing company exporting to over 40 countries worldwide and distributing domestically to over 3000 stores.
Fueling High Performance with Steve O’Dell and Robbie Page Founders of Tenzo Tea
Steve O’Dell and Robbie Page are the co-founders of Tenzo Tea. They run a matcha tea company based in Santa Monica, CA. Tenzo Matcha Green Tea is grown in Kagoshima, Japan. Their products can be found at various coffee shops and smoothie facilities all over California and online at tenzotea.co and not on Amazon.
Developing Sustainable Solutions from Beer Waste with Dan Kurzrock Co-Founder of ReGrained
Dan Kurzrock is the Co-Founder of ReGrained. ReGrained leverages technology and culinary science to transform beer waste into food. They call this edible upcycling. I was surprised to learn that only about 10% of the ingredients used to brew beer end up in your glass. ReGrained takes the spent grain waste from local brewery partners and they build recipes around it with other locally sourced ingredients to craft delicious, healthy, and inherently sustainable foods.
Developing a Vegan Gelato That Tastes Great with Kailey Donewald Co-Founder of Sacred Serve
Kailey Donewald is the co-founder of Sacred Serve, a Chicago-based company innovating ice cream that is fully organic, raw vegan gelato made from whole coconuts. All flavors are dairy-free, vegan, and paleo and strictly free of gluten, dairy, corn, soy, GMOs, stabilizers, fillers and preservatives. They are challenging the conventional route of pint-sized packaging with their super unique looking 10oz containers. They have 40 locations across Chicago.
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