Weekly Roundup for Sept 29

I frequently run across all sorts of cool things. Some of it is business related and some isn’t.

Each week, I post a handful of tools or great content that peaks my interested. I don’t write a full summary on these. Instead, I posts things that I find interesting and encourage you to check them out.

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What a week! I spent the better part of it at MEGA TRAINING 2014. MEGA TRAINING is the world’d number 1 event for fitness business leaders and is run by my client NPE. There we teach these entrepreneurs the systems and tools to explode their fitness businesses. My team sold all the sponsors for the event and was onsite to take care of them. What a weekend!

One of the highlights of the event was a glass walking exercise. During a presentation from my good friend Billy Beck, every attendee has the opportunity to talk across a pile of sharp broken glass. This was to help you conquer your fears and to be in present. It was a great experience. To the right is a picture of me walking across the broken glass.

For this Weekly Roundup, I wanted to share with you the company’s who sponsored this event. These company’s have solutions for Small Business Owners. I’m sure many of them can help you!

Brands for all Small Business Owners

Infusionsoft – Small Business Sales & Marketing software – It’s incredible. If you’re a small business owner, you should consider using Infusionsoft

GroSocial – Awesome Social Media tool! Get more fans and leads with branding, social promotions & contests!

Tax Alli – Small business accounting made awesome, easy and cheap!

Sixth Division – The firm that makes Infusionsoft easy.

Plus This – Do more with Infusionsoft – A must have tool for Infusionsoft users.

 

Nutrition Brands for everyone

Organo Gold – Premium healthy coffee with a healthy kick!

Tao Nutrition – A Natural Protein Powder for Men & Women that is rich in Superfoods and is Perfect for Recovery.

Brands for Fitness Entrepreneurs

Startup Active – They create the BEST websites for fitness businesses.

CHEK Institute – Exercise education and fitness products for strength and conditioning experts, rehabilitation specialists, personal trainers and fitness experts.

ZenPlanner – Custom scheduling software for your gym

Balanced Habits – A program for trainers to reach their clients goals faster & safer.

Global Bodyweight Training – The home of the Bodyweight Athlete, with videos, articles, workshops and fitness equipment to bring your fitness to

Sport & Fitness Insurance – Insurance services for gyms and personal trainers.

Weekly Roundup for Sept 29

Don't wish ... DO

STOP IT! Stop sitting around wishing your dreams come true. Stop wishing you have the body, the business, or the relationship that you want.

Too many people do this. They wish, then they wait. When it doesn’t happen, that wish and wait some more.

How stupid is that!

Instead … DO

What are you here to do?

What is your purpose?

What ever it is … DO IT

Don’t wish … Just DO!!!

So, I’ll ask you, what are you doing today?

 

Don't wish ... DO

Where do I start when looking for sponsors?

A few weeks ago, I received this question on LinkedIn …

Basically I am looking for any insight in where to start raising sponsorship dollars. I am doing this solo bike ride from SF to LA to promote Men’s Health. Before I started training about 2 months ago, was never of a bike for more then 5 miles. I am shooting to complete this 500 mile ride in 4 days.

Not being a bike rider I have found that the bike alone is fairly expensive as well as the equipment. I was curious if gaining sponsorship for this type of event is possible/probable and if so where should I start. I have about 4 months until the event so time is starting to run out.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 First off, how awesome is that! Here is someone looking to make a significant difference. I can’t imagine riding 500 miles in a month, let alone 4 days. He’s a better man than I am!

My Response:

Great work Justin!

The first thing you need to do is decide what you have to offer a potential sponsor. These are your assets. Some examples are:

• Logo on clothing you’ll wear


• Logo and description for the sponsor on your website


• Social media mentions


• Sending an email to your contact list


• Media exposure you can give to the sponsor

In other words, how will you get exposure for your sponsor. That’s what they are after. Sponsors want a way to communicate that they have something valuable to offer to your audience. How are you going to facilitate that communication?

Once you determine your assets, it’s time to start finding sponsors.

There are a TON of ways to do this. I recommend starting with your network. Find out who has a product or service that your audience can benefit from. Also, the internet is your friend here. There are many places online to find Sponsors.

For more info, download this free report.  Top 3 Resources for Getting Sponsors

If you’d like some one on one help, feel free to contact me here.

Where do I start when looking for sponsors?

7 Things I Learned in my 1st Month of Chasing a Dream Full Time

About a month ago, I resigned from a full time Vice President role to pursue my dream of building a Sponsorship and Strategic Alliance business. (I wrote about this a bit in this post)

For full disclosure … this isn’t the first time i’ve done this. In fact, this is the third time I’ve resigned from a  job to build my own business!

Time 1: I left a massive corporate to sell Real Estate with my wife. It went well … until the 2007 Real Estate bubble burst. We had 13 listings that wouldn’t sell. it was by all account an epic failure and likely the most humbling experience of my life.

Time 2: I left a small but rapidly growing business (Infusionsoft) to try my hand at consulting and later into Sponsorship. It went amazingly well! After a few years, one of my clients hired me on for a to help build their company. Now that I’ve wrapped up that project, it’s on to ….

Time 3: I was the right hand man to the CEO of the company I just completed my work with. I’m now working to rebuild my Sponsorship and Strategic Alliance business. So far so good, and I’ll keep you posted on the progress through this blog.

Anyway, I’ve taken some time to reflect on the things I’ve learned over this past month. Here are a few:

1) Start with your mission and purpose.
You need direction. Your mission and purpose will always by your guide. Why are you chasing this dream? What is it’s purpose? Where are you going? These are key points to clearly understand. All of your decisions should come through the lens of your mission and purpose.

I’ll use my mission and purpose as examples for you.

PURPOSE: My purpose is to inspire people be happy, achieve their dreams, and to live an abundant life.

MISSION: My professional mission (I have a personal mission too!) is to create a marketplace that generates $10M of partner & sponsor revenue by the end of 2017.

2) Take 100% responsibility for your life
This month, I’ve been reminded a ton about the first principle of Jack Canfield’s book The Success Principles. That is to take 100% responsibility for your life! As Jack put it, “If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life.” You sure learn how this is true while building a business!

3) Having a plan helps, but expect your plan not to go the way you thought it would
You need to plan. This helps you with guidance and direction. But you also need to be adaptable. Sometimes you’ll expect life to take you down a certain path and you’ll find yourself going down a completely different one. The best advice I can offer is to have a plan, but allow like to take you through what feels right.

4) Working from home is awesome … most of the time
I work from home every day. I’m not stranger to this. I’ve done so for a good chunk of my career. It’s great for all of the reasons you’d imagine; short commute, see the family more, and flexibility. But it’s also a challenge. For example, I was interrupted in the middle of writing this post to help the 2 year who we’re in the middle of potty training.

Working from home takes a good deal of focus, determination and work ethic. If you need to be around others to be successful, then don’t try working from home!

5) Don’t do it by yourself
Perhaps like me you don’t have a partner in the ownership of the business. Yes, I have individuals who assist me, but this is my company. That being said, I’ve recognized the need for mentors, coaches and guides who can help. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Find someone who you can be accountable to to assist you.

6) It’s fun!
I don’t know what else to say other than I find that pursing your dreams is a LOT more fun than pursuing someone else’s!

7) Remember to find balance
When in business building mode, it’s easy to work all of the time. Chances are if you’re building a company you are a workaholic. Be sure to find some sort of balance. During the day, take time away from your office. Carve out time in your calendar to be with your family or do something just for fun. I find that if I have lunch with my wife or do something with her in the middle of the day, it makes me MORE productive.

Everyone I know who is building their own business working more than the standard 40 hours each week. But, a benefit is you get to choose which 40 hours in the week you’d like to work!

Question:

What’s the one thing you’ve learned about your job or your dream?

7 Things I Learned in my 1st Month of Chasing a Dream Full Time

Weekly Roundup for September 22

I frequently run across all sorts of cool things. Some of it is business related and some isn’t.

Each week, I post a handful of tools or great content that peaks my interested. I don’t write a full summary on these. Instead, I posts things that I find interesting and encourage you to check them out.

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America is going back to space! On September 16th, NASA announced that US astronauts will travel to space once more! They’ve partnered with Boeing & SpaceX to create the next generation spacecraft. Pretty cool! here’ s a link to the NASA Press release.

I also thought this image from NASA was pretty cool …

Image Credit: NASA

I‘m based in Orlando, FL. We’re about an hour from Cape Canaveral where they often launch rockets. Here’s a photo I took from my front yard of a launch in mid-July 2014.

Okay, on to some business tools & content …

Richard Branson on Luck – Speaking of space, here’s a great article form Sir. Richard Brandon on ‘luck’.

Meet Edgar: I haven’t tested this yet, but it looks solid. Edgar is a social media scheduling tool thats allows you to set times when articles will be shared multiple times in the future.

Social HP – I met these guys in Toronto in August. They have a great tools that brings your team together and puts your Facebook sharing on steroids.

Weekly Roundup for September 22

Walt Disney Quotes for Entrepreneurs

I live about 25 minutes from Disney World in Orlando, FL. We’re close enough that each night at 10pm we can hear the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom exploding in the distance.

We moved here in mid-2013 from Arizona. My 3 older kids are good negotiators (wonder where they got that from), so before they agreed to moved to Florida, I had to promise to buy them Disney Season passes. A few weeks after arriving here in Orlando, we bought the passes and used them 23 times in the first year! IT – WAS – AWESOME!

In all of the Disney theme parks, when they have a section where they are doing construction, they set up a “Dream Builders” sign to help make the area look clean and presentable despite the construction. On each of these is a Walt Disney Quote for Entrepreneurs. Okay, they don’t call them that, but that’s what I consider them to be. Over time, I’ve counted a dozen or so different signs.

One night while at downtown Disney with my 3 older kids, we took pictures of every sign we saw. There were a bunch.

Below are pictures we took. (please forgive the quality of many of the pictures. My 7 year old was snapping many of the pics)

I hope you find these as inspirational as I do. Walt Disney was truly a visionary man. He’s created an incredible legacy and these quotes I imagine give just a glimpse of who he was. I hope they help you along your journey in life!

(Oh … and notice how they’re sponsored by Stanley. See, you can with a little creativity you can find sponsors for a TON of things in your business.) If you need some ideas, download this report here.

Walt Disney Quotes for Entrepreneurs

One other thing. I encourage you to take a trip to a Disney Theme park. They are an incredible experience. If you happen to visit any of the DisneyWorld parks, let me know! I’d love to meet up with you and show you around to some of my favorite spots!

Walt Disney Quotes for Entrepreneurs

Believe Success Is Your Only Option

What is your definition of success? Do you have one? If not, it’s time to make one.

Once you do, look for the reasons why the world is plotting to make your success become a reality.

Imagine and believe that your success WILL happen and that failure won’t.

Believe success is your only option.

The woman in this picture is Chalene Johnson. She’s an american fitness celebrity and a successful entrepreneur. At one point, NO ONE WOULD HIRE HER! But she didn’t let that stop her.

Today’s she’s known for having one of the most successful fitness infomercials and is a fitness expert.

What’s your limiting belief? Give it up! Instead …

Believe Success Is Your Only Option!

If you’d like to check out an incredible interview of Chalene, check out the Lewis Howes Podcast here.

Believe Success Is Your Only Option

5 Ways to Get Sponsors for your Event

So you’re hosting an event. Cool! Do you have a plan to find sponsors? If not, you should.

Let me show you 5 Resources for Getting Sponsors for your event.

I wrote a free report for the first three which you can download it here.  On the report, I go into greater detail than I will here in this blog.

Plus, I’ll give you two additional resources that will help you find and sign sponsors.

How To Get Sponsors For Your Event

1) Your Network – This is usually the best place to start. Who do you know? Who in your network would love to get their product or service in front of your audience? Chances are, there are many.

Think about it … if you’re hosting a local event there are likely countless businesses in the general are where you’ll host the event. Chances are you know a few of these business owners, or someone you know is connected to some of these them. Contact them. Tell them what you’re up to. Ask them to be a sponsor.

Now, there some more work you’ll need to do to ensure you have something to offer the potential Sponsor. But, download the report here and I’ll show you how to put that together.

2) Your Marketing Assets – Here’s a great question to ask yourself … How do you communicate with your audience? Do you email them, host webinars, meet in person, send them newsletter, etc. List all of the ways you communicate with them. These are many of the things you can offer to a would be sponsor.

Also, they are great ways to find sponsors in your network. The next time you send that newsletter or host a class, ask your audience who they’d like to see sponsor one of your events.

3) The Internet – Sure, this is a very broad place, but the internet is full of all the resources you’ll need to find sponsors. If you’re active in social media, I recommend starting there. Preferably on LinkedIn. There you’ll find groups of like minded individuals. Be active in these groups and offer your Sponsorship opportunities. Don’t SPAM, but do tell people what you’re up to and ask for help.

Two Bonus Resources

4) Hire a Professional – Far and away this is the easiest way to find sponsors … although it’ll cost you some money.  There are many benefits to hiring a Professional. Let me highlight just two …

Reason 1: They have a network of potential sponsors – Any Sponsorship professional who’s done this for a little while will already have a network of potential sponsors. Find a Professional with a network of Sponsors who would fit your event. Hire the professional and they can likely do a better job at filling sponsors than you could on your own

Reason 2: They have experience in selling sponsorships and know the tricks of the trade – Selling Sponsorships is simple … but it isn’t easy. Hiring someone with experience should yield you better results because they’ve done this before. They know well what would-be sponsors want. They should know how to contact them to.

5) Marketing Efforts – How do you already market your business? Social Media? Paid Advertising? Direct Mail? Regardless, these tactics can work to attract sponsors. Follow the same principles, but instead of promoting your product, service or event, promote your sponsorship opportunities.

So there you have it, 5 Resources for Getting Sponsors!

I’d be happy to give you some one on one attention. For a free consultation, fill in the form found on this page.

5 Ways to Get Sponsors for your Event

Weekly Roundup - September 16, 2014

I frequently run across all sorts of cool things. Some of it is business related and some isn’t.

Each week, I post a handful of tools or great content that peaks my interested. I don’t write a full summary on these. Instead, I posts things that I find interesting and encourage you to check them out.

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Have you checked out the free U2 album available now on your iTunes device? This was a brilliant way to distribute the album. Every other band out there wishes they could get their latest record into the hands of 500 million people in a matter of minutes.

Check out the ad from Apple Here

Good stuff I found this week:

Lewis Howes Podcast: I’ll likely share info I learned from the Lewis Howes Podcast frequently. Lewis is the creator of the School of Greatness. His podcast interviews are great. Every time I listen to one I learn a ton of great things on life & business. I HIGHLY recommend these!

Track your Twitter Activity: I accidentally found this last week. Twitter offers great insight on the impressions, engagement, & engagement rate of your tweets. Who knows, maybe they’ve done this for years and I’m just late to the party! The URL is: [https://ads.twitter.com/user/TwitterHandle/tweets] Replace the word “TwitterHandle” with your actual Twitter account name.

Unsplash: Get free HD stock photos. Hugh boost for Bloggers! There is a limit on how much you can download, who care?!?! Free photos!!!

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Weekly Roundup - September 16, 2014

Why This? Why Now?

Thanks for visiting. And as you arrive to this site, I imagine you may be asking yourself these two questions  Why this? And why now?

Why is Scott creating a blog & newsletter again? Why is he doing it now?

Let me answer these questions for you and also explain why this is a benefit for you.

Why this and why now?

Years ago I ran a regular newsletter and blog. However as my work life changed, that became less of a priority. So, the blog went away.

The truth is, I really missed it! I enjoy putting together content and sharing it. I’d like to share my experience to help you achieve your personal and business goals. So, it’s time to start sharing again!

Business Changes

Recently, I’ve made a major shift in my business. As you may know, I’ve spent the past year and a half or as the Vice President of Sales & Business Development for NPE. This has been a tremendous experience. Through our efforts, NPE now has a fully functional Business Development program that will contribute millions of dollars to the NPE eco-system, not to mention thousands of leads!

I still retain a contractor role with NPE, but it is time for be to transition back into Business Building mode. Meaning, I’m building the ScoMo brand once more!

Specifically we offer Business Development & Sponsorship education and services. If you’re looking to generate more leads and/or revenue in your business, then we can help! Through the years I’ve developed a specific process to build a Business Development resource for any small business. Through this, business owners can unlock a new revenue stream in their business and develop multiple new sources of warm leads! (If you’d like to learn how, contact me and we’ll set up a time to talk)

How this Benefits You

On a regular basis, I’m in touch with businesses who are up to some great things. I want to share their stories and the cool things they do. I’ll be writing about these here. Also, I frequently see cool tools, resources, links & content that are of a value to Small Business owners. Those will also be shared here on this blog. (Here’s an example)

Implementing and using these tools in your business will assist you in achieving your goals. I’m happy to be a resource for you!

Also, about twice each month, I’ll publish a newsletter showcasing some cool companies, tools, and individuals.  If you’d like to receive a copy, sign up here:

How Can I Serve You?

In the mean time, how can I serve you?

Do you have an event or brand where you’d like to leverage sponsorship?

Are you looking to generate more leads & revenue for your business?

If so, I’d like to be a resource for you. Feel free to Contact Me at anytime to set up a Free Consultation.

To YOUR Success!

ScoMo

 

 

Why This? Why Now?

Weekly Roundup - September 8

Each week, I run across all sorts of cool things. Some of it is business related and some isn’t.

Each week, i’ll post a handful of tools or great content that peaks my interested. I won’t do a full write up or summary on these, rather posts things that I find interesting and encourage you to check them out.

I live in Orlando, FL. I saw this billboard the other day advertising the new Jacksonville Jaguars gigantic scoreboard. #TakeThatTexas

Good stuff I found this week:

Izea: Get paid to send social media messages.

Signals by HubSpot: Get FREE Gmail plug-in that notifies you when someone opens your email.

Southwest Airlines: What do you think of the new Southwest Airlines look? here’s a cool time lapse video of painting one of their jets.

Weekly Roundup - September 8

How and What You Sell Matters

I‘m currently reading John Jantsch’s latest book Duct Tape Selling. It’s great!

The world of selling is changing. As Jantsch’s puts it, you no longer need Sales Representatives. Rather Sales Guides are needed.

I see this daily in the Sponsorship world. As our team works to sell Sponsorship properties, our prospects show up educated. They don’t need someone to convince them the importance of finding new avenues to generate leads & revenue. Rather, they need a professional to guide them in how to accomplish this.

Also, for individual sales reps, the need for personal branding is stronger than ever. You need to have a presence on social media, have a blog, and be known as an expert in your niche. This coupled with the knowledge of how your product or service will benefit someone makes you an extremely valuable sales resource.

There is little need today for a Sales Rep who will convince someone to make a purchase. Rather, now you need to educate someone on how you can help solve their problems. Teaching is the new way of selling. Don’t just know and share information. Rather teach your prospects

What are you doing to ensure you are an EXPERT in your field?

Can your prospects find you online … even the individuals who don’t know they are your prospects yet?

Are you regularly communicating in online locations where your prospects hangout?

How are you leveraging technology to assist you in selling?

Also, what are you selling? Is your product or service truly valuable? Or are you just trying to make a buck?

I hold nothing against making a living for you and your family. But, I think Sales Professionals … at least the ones who are truly committing to being successful … should only represent products or services that truly add value. I’m not saying we all need to sell something that makes the world a happier or better place. Rather, does what your selling truly add value to the person who is purchasing it?

How you sell is just as important as what you sell!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How and What You Sell Matters

Not Getting What You Want is ...

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. -Dalai Lama

As I sat down to type today, a few things happened that inspired this post:

1. I stumbled across this quote by one of the Dalai Lama’s


2. This morning I heard the song, You Can’t Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones


3. Yesterday, a friend of mine shared with me an interesting story about bad luck that turned good. (Will share with with you in a moment)

Tell me if this has ever happened to you …

You anticipated life to go a certain way; but it didn’t.  Perhaps something you wished or hoped for didn’t work out.

Because of that, you were disappointed or felt dejected.

Later, your life was improved because you didn’t get the thing your originally wanted.

Can you relate?

Boy I can!!!

Yesterday, my good friend Ken gave me a call. I haven’t talked to Ken in 5 months. The last time we spoke, life was kicking him in the nuts. His business wasn’t going well. A few years ago he, his wife, and their kids moved away from their extended family so he could pursue his business. But it wasn’t working as planned.

So they decided to mov back home. Because of that, his business is now thriving!

Ken had expected life to go one way, but it didn’t. So, instead of getting down and dejected, he let the flow of life direct him in a new path and he was successful.

He’s the moral of the story … Set goals! Have dreams! Make plans! Work our butt off to make them a reality.

BUT … when life doesn’t go your way don’t quit or allow life to beat you up.

Instead, “remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck!”

Has this happened to you? Share your story below where something not working out turned into a stroke of luck!

 

 

 

 

Not Getting What You Want is ...