Startup Life Show with Ande Lyons

Latest Episodes:

Startup Marketing 101: Goals, KPI's and Traction Channels Feb 17, 2019

Show notes

Are you wondering which marketing tactics and resources to use with your limited time and marketing budget? Our guest, Growth Marketer, Educator and Founder Shamir Ozery shares his best startup marketing advice.
Shamir helps entrepreneurs, startups and businesses build, plan and execute digital marketing initiatives that focus on growth, business impact and ongoing optimization, while making the most of existing resources.
Shamir taught Entrepreneurial Marketing at the University of Michigan’s Center For Entrepreneurship, and continues to share his marketing brilliance with the startup community here in Boston.
With extensive international agency experience, and working with various Fortune 500 clients, Shamir Ozery has spent the past 10 years focusing on branding, messaging, digital marketing strategies, and execution to help clients of all sizes attain impactful and measurable growth.
I randomly met Shamir on Twitter, as one does when hanging out at the Twitter bar, when he shared an extraordinary startup marketing slide presentation. Shamir knows that marketing can be especially challenging for startups and early stage companies with limited resources and time.
Which is why I’m so thrilled he’s here to share his best startup marketing insights and guidance, including:
* the 50/50 rule
* 4 steps for Founders to get traction
* beware of Vanity Metrics
* Bull's Eye Traction Strategy
* Minimum Viable Campaigns
* Online Advertising, SEO, Email Marketing
Here's the link for the Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic (2018):
https://chiefmartec.com/2018/04/marketing-technology-landscape-supergraphic-2018/
Please connect with Shamir on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamirozery/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ozery
Blog: http://shamirozery.com/
Sivenso: http://www.sivenso.com/
You can purchase my Pitch Deck Template here:
http://andelyons.com/powerful-pitch-deck-investors/
Be sure to use STARTUPLIFE at checkout to receive a 20% discount.
Until next time dear Listeners - stay strong, stay focused – and remember - you’ve got this – Cheers!

How to Use Persuasive Communication to Grow Your Business Feb 11, 2019

Show notes

Known to many as Mr. Persuasion, our guest, Jeff Tippett, is the founder of Targeted Persuasion, an award-winning public affairs and communications firm. Jeff shares how Startup Founders can use persuasive communication to capture, connect and convince customers, investors, team members, vendors and advisers.
Founders don't need to think they're trying to make somebody else do something or that they have to try to sell someone. He explains founders are showing leadership, sharing their vision for a better future, a better outcome. When we truly believe we are meeting our customer's needs, it sets our minds free to be out there, to run, wide open and it becomes effortless to help persuade our clients and customers.
Jeff shares his three C's for persuasive communication: Capture, Connect, Convince. How do we capture the audience's attention? How do we connect with our audience? How do we convince them to take action?
You will learn how to apply the three C’s to grow your business … to help increase revenue, build brand awareness, acquire and retain customers.
Jeff's book, Unleashing Your Superpower, was just released on Amazon - click this link to grab a copy: http://jefftippett.co/FyKBYS.
Here's the link to BlinkList: https://www.blinkist.com/ - where you can read/listen to more books in less time.
Please visit Jeff at http://jefftippett.com and follow him on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffTippett
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeffTippettSpeaker/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jefftippett/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jeffincary#
If you’re ready to raise capital and need a plug’n’play pitch deck template to wow potential investors, I have the perfect Pitch Deck Template for you. It will save you weeks of time, lower your anxiety and increase your odds of success. You can learn more via the following link, and be sure to use the discount code STARTUPLIFE to receive 20% off. Here's the link: http://andelyons.com/powerful-pitch-deck-investors/
Until next time, stay strong, stay focused – and please remember – you’ve got this – Cheers!
Ande ♥

Instagram Growth Hacking Feb 06, 2019

Show notes

Social Media and Brand Strategist Dede Watson has been a really good online friend of mine for over 8 years. She was one of the first people I met on Twitter in 2011 … when I was a newbie social media user… as a business owner… stumbling along, trying to figure things out. Dede was a warm, welcoming light in a vast, confusing landscape.
Dede is the Founder of Turn It Social, where she provides social media marketing services to personal brands … as well as small to mid-sized companies … helping them build their businesses with fresh, creative social media strategies.
She is recognized as one of the top social media influencers in the world and listed as an exclusive FORBES Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer.
Dede is also responsible for my own special brand: Andelicious! That’s right – it was on Twitter she began calling me Andelicious… and of course, I call HER Dedelicious!
I am so delighted Dede is here to share her best Instagram Growth Hacking tips and social media strategies for startup founders, along with her own personal startup insights and stories.
Favorite Quote:
"Instagram, to me, is a very social place. With social media, and I tell my clients this, just posting something, you can have the best content, you can have the best captions, you can have great hashtags but if you don't communicate with your audience and if you don't hit their emotional points and their pain points and identify with them, then they're just going to look at your pictures and they're going to move on. It's just a post. It's nothing special. You have to let people know that you care about them."
LINKS:
http://dedewatson.com
https://twitter.com/dede_watson
https://www.instagram.com/dede_watson/
https://www.facebook.com/turnitsocial/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dedewatson/
https://courses.dedewatson.com/courses/hashtag-like-a-pro-how-to-get-paying-customer-with-a-targeted-hashtag-strategy
https://courses.dedewatson.com/courses/instagram-growth-hacking
Dede's fave digital planning app: https://www.planoly.com/
You can purchase my Pitch Deck Template here:
http://andelyons.com/powerful-pitch-deck-investors/
Be sure to use STARTUPLIFE at checkout to receive a 20% discount.

How to Build Your Startup from the Ground Up Jan 30, 2019

Show notes

Author, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and mentor Will Herman shares his best startup stories, lessons, insights and advice to help founders build a successful and sustainable business.
Will co-authored The Startup Playbook, based on his and co-author Rajat Bhargava's entrepreneurial journeys. They have started over a dozen high-tech software companies, raised over $500 million in investment capital, acquired over thirty-five companies, had three of their startups go public, sold six of them, and made billions of dollars for shareholders. They’ve also advised and mentored over two hundred companies.
You will find so much valuable and actionable advice in this episode - I'm excited to hear how Will's insights helped you and your startup!
You can grab a copy of The Startup Playbook here: https://startup-playbook.com/ and follow Will on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/FounderBook.
Here's the link to CB Insights: https://www.cbinsights.com/.
You can purchase my Pitch Deck Template here:
http://andelyons.com/powerful-pitch-deck-investors/
Be sure to use STARTUPLIFE at checkout to receive a 20% discount.
Until next time dear Listeners - stay strong, stay focused – and remember - you’ve got this – Cheers!
Will Herman is an entrepreneur, active angel investor, corporate director, startup mentor and author of The Startup Playbook. He was previously a serial entrepreneur, having started and managed five venture-backed companies, resulting in two IPOs and two corporate sales. In a series
of transactions, including multiple IPOs, acquisitions and management buyouts, Will created almost $4B in value for his investors. Will is currently a fund advisor at the venture capital firm, Bolt, a mentor at TechStars and is a frequent speaker at startup accelerators.
As an angel investor, Will has invested in over 70 startups and actively advises ten of those companies. He sits on the boards of Jumpcloud and Concrete Sensors. He lives and works mostly in the Boston area.

How to Build a Local Network in a Digitally Connected World Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

You will love this delicious conversation with Laura Mignott, CEO and Founder of DFlash, a New York-based, experience communications agency!
While attending the Chole Capital Boston Women Investors Forum a few weeks ago, I was so impressed by how well this extraordinary event was run and produced, I asked Chloe Capital’s partner, Kate Cartini, "who made this amazing event happen?!"
She pointed across the room to a glowing powerhouse of a woman and said: Laura Mignott.
DFlash creates high impact brand experiences for Fortune 500s like Samsung, Netflix, Amazon, Bose to tech companies, non-profits and trade associations. DFlash creates experiences that make people feel welcome from pop-ups, private dinners, product launches, guerilla stunts to multi-city tours.
Laura shares how her business idea happened “by accident” in 2010. She and her co-founder were not happy with the current networking experiences in NYC, so they started their own networking events! They built events they would want to go to - always remembering that if you made a space welcoming, whether you're 18 or 94, folks would feel welcome in their space. That's been the core value from the very beginning and through every one of the 400 plus events since they launched.
An introvert at heart Laura shares how networking was a struggle for her. However, she knew it was network or starve, and sure enough - these consistent, warm and welcoming local networking events helped her build long-term client relationships with Fortune 500 companies. Through these events, Laura built trust with these large clients – a key ingredient for a successful relationship marketing campaign.
Throughout our conversation, Laura shares actionable advice to help you use relationship marketing to build a local, national and international presence for your startup.
If you’re ready to have the best event ever, please visit DFlash’s website to learn more about this amazing event planning and production company. Please connect with Laura on LinkedIn and follow DFlash on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (see all the links below).
http://dflash.co
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauramignott/
https://twitter.com/dflashnyc
https://www.facebook.com/DFlash01/
https://www.instagram.com/dflashnyc/
You can purchase my Pitch Deck Template here:
http://andelyons.com/powerful-pitch-deck-investors/
Be sure to use STARTUPLIFE at checkout to receive a 20% discount.
Until next time dear Listeners- stay strong, stay focused – and remember - you’ve got this – Cheers!
Laura Mignott, CEO and Founder of dflash, a New York-based, experience communications agency. DFlash creates high impact brand experiences for Fortune 500s like Samsung, Netflix, Amazon, Bose to tech companies, non-profits and trade associations. DFlash creates experiences that make people feel welcome from pop-ups, private dinners, product launches, guerilla stunts to multi-city tours.
Over a decade of advertising and marketing experience has brought Laura many valuable lessons, which she passes on to next generation of entrepreneurs as a leadership council member for the Young Women’s Leadership Network. Laura is also deeply committed to helping more women of color get on panels and speaking gigs. Laura holds a BA in History from New York University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. Laura lives in NYC and is always on the hunt for the next great cocktail bar. Clink Clink to tha

Why Customer Experience is the BEST Strategy for Scaling Your Startup Jan 18, 2019

Show notes

Please meet Customer Experience expert, Steve Pappas! On this episode you'll learn:
•Why Steve had no choice but to become an entrepreneur!
•The origins of Customer Experience
•The difference between Customer Service and Customer Experience
•How today’s companies are staying competitive using Customer Experience
•How to differentiate your product/service to the level of being so memorable the customer will have no problem in recommending you to everyone they know!
•Advice for founders who choke when it comes to “selling” their product/service – how to embrace the hustle hurdle!
•Why building your Trusted Advisor role will increase sales and give you a competitive edge.
•Steve’s outstanding advice for inspiring and retaining employees is pure gold for any Founder.
•How to stay nimble and flexible while implementing systems and procedures into your scaling business.
•Steve’s “outside in” approach to running a business and driving a business.
You can connect with Steve on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sxpappas/ and feel free to reach out to Steve via email here: spappas@panviva.com.
Powerful Pitch Deck Template - for when you only have 3-5 minutes to pitch your business - here's the link and be sure to use the discount code STARTUPLIFE at check out:
https://selz.co/VkRb7xpUr
Thank you for tuning in and heartfelt thanks for your comments, for following the show on Spreaker, and for sharing the show with other startup founders who could benefit from Steve's fabulous advice.
Ande ♥
Steve Pappas:
Steve has built a career transforming customer experiences. By taking a 360-degree view of the customer, Steve makes sure each employee has the actionable knowledge necessary to make better decisions and serve customers in a way that increases loyalty, referrals, sales and satisfaction.
Currently Steve is Senior Vice President and Head of North American Operation for
Panviva, an omnichannel knowledge cloud company, where he consults with hundreds of companies annually on their Customer experience strategies. Industry associations, publications, and Fortune 500 companies invite him to speak and write about CX best practices.
Yes, Steve has a macro view of the customer experience. But he’s also a successful entrepreneur in his own right! Steve has built and sold six companies. Each company has held to the mantra of “the customer is at the center of the universe.”
When he’s not driving Customer experience strategies, Steve plays the guitar and mentors young entrepreneurs. He lives right up the road up the road from in New Hampshire with his wife and sons.

Civil Engineer Creates Socially Responsible Eco-Friendly Jewelry Company Dec 19, 2018

Show notes

An engineer from Colombia who moved to the USA 15 years ago and earned her MBA at Babson College, Angela Sanchez would constantly get compliments from the jewelry she purchased in Columbia.
An idea sprang up and, given her deep commitment to social responsibility, Angela quickly realized she could launch a business that would not only generate employment for artisans in Latin America, who have no chance of securing employment in the mainstream labor market in their countries, but also support women entrepreneurs in the United States.
Highlights from this delicious conversation:
•How Angela proved her value proposition and customer segment in the crowded jewelry space – you’ll love her tactics and market survey questions!
•How the Babson WIN Lab Accelerator Program propelled her business forward
•Advice for overcoming the Founder “sales hustle syndrome”
•Online sales vs. Wholesale – Angela shares surprising data results
•Angela’s Entrepreneur Magazine “Elevator Pitch” experience -> https://artyfactos.com/blogs/artyfactos-in-media/article
•Artyfactos’ growth strategy
You can learn more about Artyfactos’ GORGEOUS jewelry line and it’s commitment to socially and environmentally responsible jewelry at https://artyfactos.com/. Please connect with Angela on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-sanchez-433a89b/ and follow Artyfactos on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Artyfactos/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/artyfactos/).
Here’s the link for Female Founders to get certified through WBENC:
http://andelyons.com/work-with-ande/women-business-owners-get-wbenc-certified-now/
If you’re ready to raise capital or enter a pitch contest and need a plug’n’play pitch deck template to wow potential investors, I urge you to purchase my powerful pitch deck template. Please click this link to learn more: http://andelyons.com/powerful-pitch-deck-investors/. Be sure to use the discount code STARTUPLIFE to receive 20% off.
Thank you for tuning in and heartfelt thanks for your comments, for following the show on Spreaker, and for sharing the show with other startup founders who could benefit from Angela’s fabulous insights advice.
Ande ♥
Artyfactos is an eco-exotic, statement jewelry business that features handwoven designs by entrepreneurial moms in Latin America. Our products are 100% recycled, made with all natural materials such us orange peel, cantaloupe seeds, coffee beans and vegetal ivory (Tagua). Our jewelry is completely customizable and with an amazing natural aroma that enhances customer's experience.
We provide sustainable economic opportunities for these single moms by creating a viable marketplace for their products. We also offer tools for their workshops to develop their infrastructure and build business capacity.
By using natural and recycled materials we contribute to minimizing environmental impact. Every year 15 million tons of orange peel and unused seeds are eliminated by burning - generating greenhouse gases, or dumping into landfields where the oil from rotting peels percolates into the soil harming plant life.

Remote Hiring, eCommerce and Bootstrapping Nov 19, 2018

Show notes

Please meet Nate Hirsch, Founder and CEO of FreeeUp, a marketplace connecting business owners with the top 1% of freelancers in eCommerce, digital marketing, web development, and much more.
Nate shares his best startup insights and stories – and his deep knowledge of remote hiring, ecommerce and bootstrapping.
Highlights from this delicious conversation:
•Nate’s Big Hairy Problem, how he solved it, and what he learned: one of the most important parts of problem solving is putting steps in place so that the same thing doesn't happen again.
•How many times do you hire someone with a good resume, and it just doesn't work out? Nate shares how they vet the best freelancers at FreeeUp – and it’s not an algorithm!!
•How Nate bootstrapped his businesses: I’m a big proponent of making hires and really investing back into people in order to grow the business and reinvesting revenue that comes in.
•Nate’s best tips for getting off the ground without dumping a ton of money in marketing (you will LOVE his advice!!)
•How to create the right ecommerce mix for your business – Amazon or Shopify or both – Nate digs into awesome ecommerce strategies!
•Why building great relationships and focusing on the customer is key to growing your business.
•Fave Quote: You must believe in yourself and keep a straight eye… where you're only looking forward and not looking at the sides and hearing what people think about you. Being an entrepreneur is not the place to care what people think.
Here’s a terrific offer to Startup Life Listeners from Nate:
“Please visit FreeeUp (https://freeeup.com/) - my calendar is right at the top if anyone wants to meet with me and talk about their business and how we can help. If you create a free client account, mention this podcast, get a $25 credit to try us out. If you're looking to be a freelancer, definitely apply in the site and check out the FreeeUp blog (https://freeeup.com/blog/) and the FreeeUp YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqoq7EGvwLQXgiYuIG8_iMg) for a lot of great hiring content.”
Please connect with Nate on LinkedIn and follow FreeeUp on Twitter and Facebook.
If you’re ready to raise capital or enter a pitch contest and need a plug’n’play pitch deck template to wow potential investors, I urge you to purchase my powerful pitch deck template. You can find it on my website or https://selz.co/VkRb7xpUr. Be sure to use the discount code STARTUPLIFE to receive 20% off.
Thank you for tuning in and heartfelt thanks for your comments, for following the show on Spreaker, and for sharing the show with other startup founders who could benefit from Nate’s fabulous advice.
Ande ♥

How Two Failures Led to a Successful Outcome Sep 22, 2018

Show notes

At the age of 19, college student Vlad Mkrtumyan launched his first startup, where he learned how to hustle, build relationships, and embrace solving problems. His 2nd startup gave him an even deeper knowledge of how to be a better founder and business owner. Even though both businesses failed, they led Vlad to his current successful business.
Today Vlad is a serial entrepreneur, a connector, a community builder and a smarty pants SEO growth hacker. He’s the CEO of Logic Inbound, a digital marketing agency based in Seattle, where they provide high performing search marketing campaigns for clients. Vlad is also the founder of Cofounders Connect, a community he is leading to give back to co-founders seeking mentorship and advice from other co-founding peers.
Vlad shares the best startup stories, marketing tips, and inspirational quotes.
Vlad loves meeting and connecting with people, and hosts some of the largest events in Seattle. Please reach out to him on LinkedIn and Twitter (see links below).
Thank you for tuning in and heartfelt thanks for your comments, for following the show on Spreaker, and for sharing the show with other startup founders who could benefit from Vlad's fabulous advice.
Ande ♥
LOGIC INBOUND: http://www.logicinbound.com
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimir-mkrtumyan
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vladshark
Receive 20% off my Powerful Pitch Deck Template - click the link below and use the Discount Code STARTUPLIFE.
https://selz.co/VkRb7xpUr
Book Recommendations:
The One Thing by Gary Keller
https://www.amazon.com/ONE-Thing-Surprisingly-Extraordinary-Results/dp/B00FPVS27W
The Road Less Stupid by Keith J. Cunningham
https://www.amazon.com/Road-Less-Stupid-Advice-Chairman-ebook/dp/B077NXPL4L

Happiness is a Positive Cash Flow Aug 16, 2018

Show notes

Does your business look good on paper, but it’s actually living on borrowed time?
Several years ago I had the sincere pleasure of interviewing the extraordinary entrepreneur and author, Mike Michaelowicz on my live video show. It was such an eye-opening and engaging interview, I wanted to share it with you, my podcast listeners.
Many founders live in what I’ll call entrepreneurial poverty… walking a stressful tightrope of financial instability.
But it doesn’t have to be that way IF you implement Mike’s advice from his book … Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine.
Throughout this 30 minute interview, Mikes shares tactics that will help you create a predictably profitable business.
My favorite quote from the interview:
"Profit is not an event. It's a habit.”
Get ready to learn some valuable tips for your biz… I promise you’ll be smiling throughout the interview from Mike’s self deprecating humor.
I’m so grateful you tuned in - enjoy the conversation – cheers!
Ande
*About Mike Micalowicz*
Mike Michalowicz is the entrepreneur behind three multi-million dollar companies and is the author of Profit First, The Pumpkin Plan and what BusinessWeek deemed the entrepreneurs cult classic, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. Mike is a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and regularly travels the globe as entrepreneurial advocate
You can learn more about Mike at his website http://www.mikemichalowicz.com/.

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