[Top Resources Series] Marketing Secrets and Productivity Hacks

Mitch Steinberg is the CEO of Wilshire Consulting Partners, a financial consulting firm offering tax planning, accounting, outsourced bookkeeping, CFO services, and strategic guidance to individuals and businesses.

Chris Mason is a marketing expert who specializes in helping business owners turn their expertise into revenue through data-driven, results-oriented marketing strategies.

Alex Gluz is the Founder of T.A. Monroe, a demand generation agency helping B2B SaaS companies to build marketing revenue engines to meet and exceed revenue and growth goals in a scalable, predictable, and sustainable way.

Liana Ling is the Founder of Power Up Strategy, a digital marketing agency that empowers visionary entrepreneurs and expert-based businesses to achieve predictable, sustainable client growth through strategic, data-driven marketing systems.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [3:33] Mitch Steinberg reveals common bookkeeping mistakes and how to fix them
• [10:03] Chris Mason talks about building revenue-generating funnels and marketing strategies
• [15:13] Chris shares insights from Breakthrough Advertising on tapping into market desires
• [22:08] Alex Gluz explains how his agency drives demand and scales B2B SaaS through paid media
• [29:51] Liana Ling shares how AI helps B2B businesses grow and fill their pipeline
• [35:26] Liana explains how she uses AI tools to streamline content creation and improve productivity

In this episode…

In today’s fast-paced world, businesses must navigate marketing, finances, and growth while staying competitive. Could a data-driven, strategic approach be the key? How can business owners use expert insights to optimize operations and ensure long-term success?

Mitch Steinberg, Chris Mason, Alex Gluz, and Liana Ling reveal how they’re transforming their industries with innovative approaches to growth and efficiency. Mitch highlights how proper financial systems and bookkeeping can help businesses avoid common pitfalls and achieve sustainable growth. Chris explains how building marketing funnels around existing customer desires leads to higher conversions, while Alex shares how understanding demographics and refining messaging can drive better customer acquisition and reduce costs. Liana emphasizes how AI-driven tools like N8N and OpenRouter can streamline operations, automate content creation, and improve decision-making for businesses looking to scale efficiently.

In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz speaks with Mitch Steinberg, Chris Mason, Alex Gluz, and Liana Ling to discuss strategies for building sustainable business growth. They discuss optimizing financial systems, creating revenue-generating marketing funnels, and utilizing AI tools to enhance business efficiency. They also dive into the importance of understanding customer needs and demographics to drive success.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Mitch Steinberg on LinkedIn
• Wilshire Consulting Partners LLC
• Chris Mason LinkedIn | Website
• Alex Gluz on LinkedIn
• T.A. Monroe
• Revenue Engine Podcast
• Liana Ling on LinkedIn
• Power Up Strategy
• Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
• Out of the Dog House by Dick Portillo and Don Yaeger
• Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur by Jeff Pearlman
• Chicago Tribune
• Daily Herald
• The Wall Street Journal
• CNN
• Fox News
• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
• Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself by Melody Beattie
• The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations for Codependents by Melody Beattie
• Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M. Schwartz and Martin Edelston
• “Case Study: Making Breakthrough Advertising Accessible for Modern Marketers”
• No B.S. Direct Marketing: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Direct Marketing for Non-Direct Marketing Businesses by Dan S. Kennedy
• Overdeliver: Build a Business for a Lifetime Playing the Long Game in Direct Response Marketing by Brian Kurtz
• Monetization: How to Optimize Sales Funnels and Skyrocket Backend Profits by Mr. Caleb O’Dowd
• Triggers by Joseph Sugarman
• The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful Advertising and Marketing Copy from One of America’s Top Copywriters by Joseph Sugarman
• 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More by Perry Marshall and Richard Koch
• Great Leads: The Six Easiest Ways to Start Any Sales Message by Michael Masterson and John Forde
• Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat by Michael Masterson
• SaaStr Podcast
• The Game Podcast with Alex Hormozi
• The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest by Dan Buettner
• The Science of Scaling: Grow Your Business Bigger and Faster Than You Think Possible by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, Blake Erickson and Tony Robbins
• 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy
• N8N
• Slack
• ClickUp 
• SaneBox
• Calendly
• Textexpander
• Wispr Flow
• Google Gemini
• Fyxer.ai
• AskSpot
• OpenRouter 

Special mention(s):

• Brian Kurtz on LinkedIn
• Titans Marketing

Related episodes:

• “[AI Series] AI Tools That Transform Your Business With Nicole Donnelly” on Inspired Insider Podcast
• “The Business of Creating Legacies with Don Yaeger” on Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Direct Response Series] No Furniture, No Bed, No Nothing with Caleb O’Dowd of MultiChannelMarketing” on Inspired Insider Podcast

Quotable moments:

•  “You don’t know if something’s going to work until you just make the offer — version one doesn’t have to be perfect.”
• “I try to step out of my business bubble and learn from totally different fields, like demographics or social sciences.”
• “If you have nothing else to rely on, you have your skills — make them valuable to others and keep growing them.”
• “The tools you use matter less than clearly knowing the problem you want to solve and starting from there.”
• “Marketing doesn’t create desire; it channels the hopes and dreams already existing in the market toward your product.”

Action steps:

1. Maintain clear financial visibility: Keep accurate, up-to-date books so decisions are based on real performance — not just your bank balance.
2. Learn through biographies and diverse stories: Read books like Shoe Dog to gain perspective, resilience, and practical lessons from unconventional paths.
3. Test fast instead of waiting for perfect: Launch simple versions of offers to get real feedback and avoid over-planning or sunk-cost traps.
4. Automate and streamline your workflow: Use tools like ClickUp, Slack, and N8N to reduce manual work and protect your focus for higher-value tasks.
5. Expand beyond your usual content bubble: Explore ideas outside your industry to spark creativity and uncover insights you’d otherwise miss.

Episode Transcript

Intro 00:15

You are listening to Inspired Insider with your host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz 00:22

Dr. Jeremy Weisz here Founder of InspiredInsider.com, where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders. Thanks for tuning in to this special best-of episode, where we’ll take a look back at some of our favorite moments from previous conversations. This episode is brought to you by Rise25. At Rise25, we help B2B businesses give to and connect to their dream 200 relationships and partnerships. We do this in two ways. Number one, we are an easy button for a company to launch and run a podcast for ROI. We do the strategy, accountability and full execution and production number two. We are also an easy button for your company’s corporate gifting. We make gifting and staying top of mind to your clients, partners and prospects. Simple and seamless and affordable. Some companies even send gifts to staff. From a culture perspective, all you have to do is give us the list of people you want to follow up and keep in touch with, and we do everything else from there, from gift selection to the card to your branding on the box.

We call ourselves the magic elves that run in the background to make it as stress free as possible for companies, so they can build relationships and run their business. For me, the number one thing in my life is relationships, and I am always looking at how to give to my best relationships. And I’ve found no better way over the past decade than having them on my podcast featuring what they are working on and sharing it with the world, and also sending delicious treats in the mail every few months for years. If you have thought about starting a podcast or gifting, do it. If you have questions, email us at [email protected] or go to Rise25.com to learn more.

Now let’s look back at some of our favorite moments from past conversations. Dr. Jeremy Weisz here. This is great people great resources I’m here with an amazing individual, Mitch Steinberg. He’s going to share some of his favorite resources. It could be books. It could be websites. Before we launch into it, Mitch, I just want people to learn a little bit more about you and what you do, and I’ll pull up your website, just share where people can find you and what you do.

Mitch Steinberg: 02:31

Great. Thank you very much, Jeremy. Our company is Wilshire Consulting Partners. We are an accounting firm located in Northbrook, Illinois. We specialize in small businesses and working with individuals. So I would say probably 50% of our revenue is tax related in terms of individual tax returns and then business returns and partnership returns. And the other 50% would be CFO services, outsourced bookkeeping, family office, bill paying type activities. So it could start off that you’re an individual client, start a business, sell the business, and you go through the process with us as you grow.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 03:17

I know we’ll get into resources, but I have to ask Mitch, so what are the biggest mistakes people make, like from a CFO services? They’re probably maybe not so organized. What are they asking you? And what are you seeing under the hood of the mistakes people are making?

Mitch Steinberg: 03:33

Well, underneath the hood is their books are not correct. They’re only looking at their bank account. And to see that they have cash in the in the bank to pay payroll, to pay rent, to pay their car payments. What they’re not doing is properly allocating their expenses, be it it say they have a mortgage payment, breaking out mortgage interest and principal payments, car payments, capitalizing if they’re buying new equipment, it be it restaurant equipment or computers and not putting it on the balance sheet and properly, properly depreciating that over time.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 04:17

Love it. And then so people can check it out. We’re right here. If you’re you’re listening to the audio there’s a video component https://www.wilshirecp.com/ that you can learn more and so much resources. You love biographies. What are some of your favorites?

Mitch Steinberg: 04:34

A few that comes to mind. One is Shoe Dog by Phil Knight.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 04:41

Which that’s one of my favorites.

Mitch Steinberg: 04:43

Phil is the is the creator of Nike, the founder of Nike. And it’s just he’s actually an accountant by trade and was an accountant before he started before he started Nike. But just a true visionary of way before the time and bringing in products from Japan and then China and Indonesia and really about branding. Another book that I read recently was about Dick Portillo. So if anyone’s from Chicago listening to this Portillo’s and he started with a little hot dog stand with no running water and sold it for a billion, $1 billion.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 05:23

And I like I like Portillo’s for sure.

Mitch Steinberg: 05:28

I’ve never heard anyone that doesn’t like Portillo’s. What was really interesting about that book is in his eyes, he made the restaurant business so simple. But yet to anyone else in the restaurant business, it was very complicated. So what he did was he built a moat around his business that it was not. You weren’t able to replicate it. McDonald’s, Subway, Jimmy John’s. They’re replicating the stores over and over again, and that’s why they have thousands of stores. No one was able ever to copy his menu and his atmosphere at the stores, because it was too complicated. You couldn’t replicate that a thousand times. And then the most.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 06:15

Out of theDog House, if you want to check it Out of theDog House by Dick Portillo, it says, turning a 1100 investment into $1 billion profit with Don Yeager. Actually, I’ve had Don Yeager on the podcast who probably who co-authored or wrote the book.

Mitch Steinberg: 06:30

And then new biography I’m reading about is Only God Could Judge Me by Jeff Pearlman, which is the biography of Tupac Shakur. So just fascinating. His upbringing, his life experiences, his mother’s life experiences as a black panther representing herself in court. She had a drug addiction problem. But what he learned and maybe some of the breaks or that he got in life early on, I’m only about halfway through it with going to some of the art schools in, in, in Baltimore and him moving around and living in squalor. And, you know, he’s been gone for almost 30 years. He was only 26 years old when he was shot. And what he was able to accomplish. And it really shows me same thing with Dick Portillo. He never went to college, right? He may have went to college for a little bit, but I don’t think he graduated. You know, Tupac didn’t go to college. And what if you have nothing else to rely on your skills and how to grow those skills and how to make them valuable to others.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 07:50

Oh, thank you for that recommendation. I’ll have to check that out. I have some audible credits. One other piece before we end, which I find it fascinating. We were talking about websites, and some of the websites you frequent actually shocked me a little bit. You talk about where you go every day.

Mitch Steinberg: 08:10

I’m old school.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 08:13

I didn’t realize how old school you were. I didn’t realize until.

Mitch Steinberg: 08:16

I go to the I go to the Chicago Tribune. I go to the daily. I go to the Daily Herald, I go to The Wall Street Journal online, I read it, I still get the Sunday paper delivered to my house, and in the Sunday paper I’ll read different sections than I would online. And then every once in a while, I go to, you know, entertainment websites just to get my mind off of work and read how silly some of these articles are and makes me forget about real life for a few minutes. But yeah, I go to the Chicago Tribune a lot. CNN and then I also, you know, go to Fox just to form my own opinion to see see the other side.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 08:59

I love it. Mitch, I want to thank you. Everyone can check out wilshirecp.com to learn more. And we’ll see you next time. Mitch thanks so much.

Mitch Steinberg: 09:09

Thank you Jeremy.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 09:10

All right. Dr. Jeremy Weisz here. I’m here with Chris Mason. And this is great people, great resources. Chris is one of the best people I know. And we’re going to geek out on whatever he decides on top resources. It’s going to be books. It could be software. He’s really has a lot of knowledge and a lot of different topics. So we’re going to go deep. And Chris, just start off with tell people what you do and I’m going to pull up your website. You can check it out chrismason.net. And when I say Chris, like I say this to people, almost everything relationship wise good tracks. Back to a podcast. Okay, now I did not meet my wife on a podcast, but Chris and I met through the podcasting world way back when. Right. So and we’re friends today. So tell people a little bit about what you’re what you do and I’ll pull up your site.

Chris Mason: 10:03

Yeah. Thanks, Jeremy. So what I do is I work behind the scenes with different business owners primarily. Right now I’m I work with Titans and Brian. Brian Kurtz have been working with Brian for over a decade building his business. And then I’ve had different clients sort of come and go. And so I started out just kind of focusing on writing copy because kind of a copywriter for hire. But then as I got into that world, I started learning, you know, how to build funnels and flows. And Infusionsoft is where I learned and I realized that if you learn how to build automations in Infusionsoft, you can pretty much do it in any other CRM. So I’m thankful that I started there.

So that just allowed me to kind of be able to go into different businesses, set up funnels, landing pages, develop offers for them. That’s what I really started getting into is once I got to learn somebody’s audience, I still always look for the missing offer that is, that is that is not not present. And then what I like to do is, partner with them and create that offer. And yeah, you’re looking at profit partners. So this was a training I did just talking about how I set up these revenue share deals with different clients. I don’t do that with every single client, you know. But, but, but that is usually what I’m looking for is how can I, you know, remove some of the the risk that they may feel of investing and work with me and just say, well, let’s just do it like straight up on a, on a, on a rough share kind of deal.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 11:58

We’ll get into Facebook software. But I have to ask what are you know, you’ve worked with a lot of people. You’ve worked on a lot of offers. What are some big mistakes people make when it comes to offers? Right. This could be on webinars. This could be on a sales page. It could be wherever. What are some mistakes.

Chris Mason: 12:16

From experience. So it’s just you. You don’t know if something’s going to work until you just make the offer. And I’ve been guilty of just getting sort of two in the weeds of making it, trying trying to make version one, version five. And, and so I think that’s a big mistake I know that I’ve made. I’m sure other people have made it where you’re just, you know, you’re making something brand new, a brand new offer. You have to think in terms of like what? What’s the least amount of sort of the minimum viable product to go out and test it. What do I need to test that there’s, there’s interest before you invest a ton of other time because then once you invest time, then you run into sunk cost fallacy and you start thinking it’s harder to to quit because you’ve invested all this time.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 13:13

Yeah. Love it. So talk about some of your favorite books.

Chris Mason: 13:20

I love the Walter Isaacson biography of Ben Franklin. I read that earlier this year, or I listened to it on audible, and that was just a really inspiring book. Listening to his story and all that he accomplished in his life and all the different businesses, the printing press, the fire station. He developed a new stove, the lightning rod, like he was just he was a fascinating individual. So that was a really inspiring book. I just finished reading this book called Codependent No More by Melody Beattie, I think is how you say her last name and that that was a I, I’ve heard about that book for a while and just never read it. And man, it was great. Like if you’re into sort of personal development and codependency is.

I don’t know when the term first came about, but basically like getting your you’re struggling, getting your value from the opinions of other people, like what their opinions of you. And you feel like you sort of need that to feel good about yourself. That’s that’s one example of of codependency. And so her, her her book was was great. That’s that was also it’s on Spotify. That’s where I listen to it. And then she’s got this great. I just discovered it’s called The Language of Letting Go, which is like a daily meditation. And I’ve just started and it’s like, you know, 2 or 3 minutes and I’ve, I’ve started listening to that every day as well. And so that’s kind of the, the two most recent one. And then I have to also mention Breakthrough Advertising. That book changed my life.

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