The Background:

Jason Nazar just gets it.

The short of it is Jason knows how to raise a ton of money and create memorable products.

I had the fortunate opportunity to meet Jason through Neil Patel (who is an amazing connector bringing entrepreneurs together) and sat down for a two-part interview via Skype to discuss the art and science of raising money.

His latest venture Docstoc, a one-stop resource for pretty much every document you could ever crave, want or need,  has raised over 4 million dollars in OPM (Other People’s Money) and Jason has some insider information on how you can market yourself and your business to raise money even in the tough economy.

Raising Money Is Marketing:

This interview got me thinking even more about how marketing really is everything. Even when it comes to raising money, you must market and promote yourself and your business correctly, or wallets will stay shut.

Enjoy and of course let us know your thoughts below.

Connect With Jason

Oh and of course you can connect with Jason in a few ways.

First off, check out Docstoc. An amazing resource of (mostly) free documents, tools, resources. I mean it literally has EVERY kind of document you would need from sales plans, NDA letters, marketing plans, etc. right at your fingertips.

It is like a delicious secret library of all the business resources you could even want…except it is not a secret with several million monthly page views.

Second, Jason blogs. And he knows what he is talking about.

Third, hunt him down and stalk him on social media sites like Twitter.

2010 is going to be an incredible year for marketing. Now, of course I don’t have a crystal ball (or do I…insert creepy music here) but the shift is unmistakable and can’t be ignored.

The days of hit and miss expensive marketing and advertising are OVER. I’ll pause for a moment of silence. But with this big change, comes a tremendous creative opportunity for small and big businesses alike.

Big brands, niche brands and entrepreneurs that survived the storm of 2009 are in an exciting position for 2010. It is going to be a time where innovative and change in marketing is going to flourish. Marketing is going to be cheaper, faster and smarter.

The following predictions aren’t made by simply throwing mama’s spaghetti at the wall and hoping a few pieces stick. The data and ideas come from:

A: Being in the trenches building my brand to become the number #1 resource for young and young-at-heart entrepreneurs and trying everything under the sun which includes big successes, big failures, incredible learning experiences, and tons of takeaways.

B: Interviewing 40+ experts (for some reason the conversation ALWAYS turns to marketing one way or another) including Wine Library’s Gary Vaynerchuk Author of Crush It, Trust Agents Author and Blogging Thought Leader Chris Brogan, The Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger, The founder of 3 billion dollar-plus World Wide Technology Dave Steward, Sarah Evans aka PRSarahEvans, Click To Client’s Shama Kabani, The Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshops Maxine Clark, Author of Never Eat Alone Keith Ferrazzi, Founder of Help A Reporter Peter Shankman, Former Creative head of Anheuser Busch Bob Lachky…and many others (which you can check out right here).

C: Consulting with big brands and entrepreneurs on their marketing challenges and adapting to this quickly changing world.

D: Thousands of conversations in person, online and at speaking events with marketers, big brands, niche brands, entrepreneurs, and business owners.

The bottom line is you, your consumers, clients, customers and friends are all smart.

In 2010, smart and creative marketing is going to win. Here (in no weighted order) are my 10 Big Marketing Predictions For 2010.

1. Big Brands Will Learn From Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses and Niche Brands.

In this case size doesn’t matter.

For entrepreneurs, especially those that have bootstrapped their companies with their own money and your little sister Lilly’s savings (or whatever), big budgets didn’t disappear due to the recession, they never existed.

Without big budgets, us entrepreneurs have always had to turn to whatever valuable (and relatively cheap) resources we could including opening our big mouths, forming amazing relationships on social media sites and in the real world, blogging, and straight up hustling.

Also, without a team of lawyers, accountants and a 224.3 person Board Of Directors, entrepreneurs move quickly, fail fast, recover faster, and try something else. One idea for a blog doesn’t work? Try another. One idea to draw traffic or sell a product doesn’t work? Try another.

These elements of cheap, fast and experimental  are going to finally catch the attention of big brands in 2010. Instead of ignoring the little guys, a painful realization to many larger companies when 2009 ripped apart their business, is going to lead to entrepreneurs being a trusted resource and strong case studies.

2. Digital Schmoozing: Networking Online

My favorite phrase. Call it networking. Call it relationship building. Call it whatever you want. Bottom line is being able to network online is going to be a HUGE element of marketing in 2010.
Is networking also marketing? You better believe it is. Being able to market yourself and your business in the digital world is one of the most overlooked aspects of effective marketing.
Sure, this isn’t a revolutionary concept. But, why are many so bad at it?

Simple. While the principles of online and offline networking are extremely similar, the online world is a different animal.

Many people have mastered or are trying to master the tools (as basic as email all the way to Twitter, Facebook, etc.), but have lacked the online etiquette and understanding of the digital world.
Corporate-speak doesn’t fly. BS doesn’t fly. Forming genuine relationships and partnerships with a real interest in the other person/business? That DOES fly.

In 2010, the world will continue to get smaller and more connected. Will you be able to adapt and market knowing that in most cases you can connect to almost anyone you want to with a little effort?

3. Death Of The One-Way Website

The corporate-speak, one-way website is dead. It has always been boring, but now it is really on its death bed. Your website is like your clothes and smile. It will be the first thing people notice when they find you and see you. Your website could be your greatest marketing asset.

What is wrong with the one-way “traditional” website?

Customers want companies to be more human. Interactive. Social. Sure, your advertising agency charged you your first born child for that fancy flash intro and cool graphics, but are people buying from you? Can they give feedback? Can they easily connect with you on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Is there a COMPELLING reason I should sign up for your email list?

Is your website you on the top of the mountain yelling with a huge horn (Honnnnnkkkk!) or at the bottom listening to your customers and clients?

How do you listen?

Simple. A well-designed blog plus encouraging comments, creating content, adding video (more on all those in a minute). Listening and caring win in 2010.

Best part?

An extremely well-designed blog optimized for search engines and easy-to-use even for the least technical amongst us costs a tiny fraction of a full fledged outdated website. Sorry web companies and agencies trying to charge an arm and a leg, you know it is true *wink*.

4. Content Marketing: Brands As Media Sources And Publishers

Never before has the barrier of entry been so low to create your own content. A plan, a blog  and a few pieces of equipment if you want to do video or audio is all you need (or of course text).
In the old marketing world, you had to get in the press to get to consumers or buy expensive ads.

That was the only way unless your best customer Rose told twenty of her friends at a luncheon while schmoozing (good old fashioned word-of-mouth).

Now YOU can create the content. Gary Vaynerchuk does it with Wine Library TV. Whole Foods does it with the Whole Story Blog.

Instead of a multi-million dollar marketing plan, now YOU THE BRAND can create, promote, syndicate, share and market using content.

Sure, it is has to be good but not earth shattering. Consistency is key. Biggest tip from personal experience is make sure you KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER and what they will find interesting and what they are looking for. Would they prefer video? audio? text? a mix? Knowing your audience and marketing like a publisher is going to absolutely dominate marketing-speak in 2010.

5. Online Video: Forget Viral Focus On Function

Everyone wants to create a “viral” video. Sure, a viral video is a marketing weapon if you can do it, but the real benefit of video to marketers in 2010 is content.

As mentioned above, as a marketer and brand, you have the opportunity to publish content and market/interact with new and existing customers.

The price of video? Way down. No, you don’t need a 20 person crew and $15,000 camera.

The Flip Mino HD and Kodak Zi8 are both under $200 and painfully simple to use.

Sure, the videos have to be good, but they don’t have to be masterpieces to be effective marketing weapons. The good news is video can be used for almost ANY business big or small (with a few regulatory issues of course for our good friends in the financial sector but we still love you financial sector…sort of).

For example (I have about 3 million of these ideas but here are three):

1. If you are a grocery store, why not film the butcher talking about meats or talk about the best deals? Then, market it towards your shoppers.

2. If you are a gas station, why not film a quick special on drinks delivered by the employee-of-the-month. and send it to your best customers.

3. If you are an entrepreneur launching a product, why not show yourself using it and one of your best customers and simply tell us why it rocks and why we would want to use it.

Best practices with video are vast, but some quick advice is just be 100% honest, authentic and have some fun. Personality shines through more on video than literally anything else besides face-to-face.

Oh and did I mention that people love video? Youtube is now the #2 search engine to Google.

6. Death Of The 30-Second Ad: Rise Of Creative Paid Content

I may get in trouble for this one. My team and have sold plenty of 30-second ads. We have run testing, data, and every type of metric measurable.

Is the 30-second ad dead? Short answer: Pretty much. Why? Customers had to be interrupted and everyone hates interruptions especially when the company is essentially guessing that I might like something because I like something else. Does it still work for mass marketing? Sure, to some extent…but make no mistake, it is dying.

For example. I like watching hockey but I don’t like beer. Beer companies are told hockey fans are males who like beer. Therefore, they run beer commercials during games. Simple. But I don’t like it and they made an ASSUMPTION.

Now with tons of niche shows (as opposed to mass marketing), marketers have the opportunity to be a lot more creative.

Here is a creative alternative and how I see things happening in 2010:

For example: The same beer company discovers 5 well-known niche beer blogs and 1 Beer Online TV show. They approach the blog owners and show owners and come up with this creative strategy:

1. The beer company will write three guest blog posts (or monthly posts) for each Beer Blog and will pay the blogger similar to paying a TV station to run ads (of course this relationship has to be disclosed) and creates valuable content agreed upon between the beer company and blogger.

2. The beer company pays the online TV show in two ways:

A: They give beer to the host and tell him or her that if he or she doesn’t like it, they don’t have to market it. But if they do like it, they will pay X dollars (or % of sales affiliate-style) to have a host mention in each episode. “Today’s Beer TV is brought to you by Example Beer. I’ve tried, liked it and won’t promote crap on the show. Head to examplebeer.com for 10% a case and try it today.”

Important note for content creators: Host/show and viewer relationship should be treated like sacred gold. When we launch our new show in 2010, we continue to live by this rule and  ONLY promote and take dollars from products we like, trust and feel comfortable promoting no matter what their budget is. No need to bash products that don’t work for you, but certainly don’t take their money and promote them.

B: The show can have a person from the beer company come on the show and offer valuable content to the viewers and market the beer company for a charge. This is a pay-to-play model that we use for our TV Tip Experts (more on that next year of how/why we do this). For example, the host interviews a person from the beer company who offers “5 Tips For Avoiding Going To The Bathroom Too Much When Drinking Beer.” The beer company is promoted, valuable content is given to the viewers and everyone wins.

Again, the key in all of this is integrity. Disclose sponsorships and remember the audience comes first. Keeping those things in mind, marketing through paid content in 2010 is going to be a BIG PLAY for marketers.

7. Reputation Marketing: Customer Service And Caring

Innovative customer service and caring has always been one of the best ways to market and will become even more prevalent in 2010.

Why? Companies with poor customer service got bombed by word of mouth in 2009. On the other hand companies built around customer service in 2009, flourished such as Zappos.
A recession tends to weed out the really bad companies, don’t you think?

Especially with social media, customers have a lot of power and they are NOT shy. Good customer service spreads, which is great for marketers. Bad customer services spreads faster which is a nightmare.

How can you successfully promote or sell a product (without lying) when everyone is ripping it shreds online and off?

A little caring can go a long way even before there is a problem. Example of caring:

On a recent trip to Chicago with my girlfriend (now fiancee), we were meeting a family member for dinner. Riveting, I know. He emailed us the name of the restaurant and the website. In the olden days (last year?) I would have probably peeked at the menu and that would be about it. However, this pretty fancy restaurant Piccolo Sogno had a button to follow them on Twitter.

So, I sent out this Tweet:  TheRiseToTheTop: @PiccoloSogno Looking forward to eating with you guys Fri night in Chicago!

And they quickly replied:  PiccoloSogno: @TheRiseToTheTop Looking forward to having you!

Earth shattering? Maybe not. However, I felt a quick connection with the brand that was personal. When we went to the restaurant (which was great), I got the share the experience with the owner.

“That is why we are using social media,” he said.

Don’t care? Then you could be the next victim of a video like this from Gary Vaynerchuk.

8. Event Marketing

You can do all the online marketing in the world, but face-to-face is vitally important and nothing really replaces it.

As Chris Brogan told me (paraphrased), we may not be able to see each other in person for a year, and we can use social media to keep in touch, but nothing replaces the face-to-face interaction.
In terms of marketing, holding a unique event has numerous big effects for your company including:

-Word-Of-Mouth: “Where were you last night, Joe?” “At Company X’s Coffee and Cliff diving Event.” “Wow, that sounds interesting…”

-During The Event: Attendees will most likely be posting to Twitter and Facebook where they are. If the event is truly remarkable and different, they will let people know. Lots of people.

-After The Event: Photos can be posted, tagged, and more for a lasting effect.

A few tips:

-Make sure to have a photographer

-Underground video: Encourage people to bring Flip Cameras or Kodak Zi8’s or equip people with them. Post videos on your blog, website and a video site or two after. People love seeing themselves.

-Delivery is everything: I personally hosted 10 events in 2010 and if you over deliver you will be loved and if you underwhelm…well you know what happens…bad marketing.

-Be different: There are way too many happy hours and coffees. Why is your event unique?

2010 is going to be the year of fantastic events. Is your company on board?

9. Social Media: No Longer A Buzzword In Marketing

I feel like social media is like the word “blog” in 1998. There is a guy sitting in the corner office telling the corporate team that we need a blog and get the youngest person in the office on it. He doesn’t know why, he just heard the word.

Social media is going to be like that in 2010. More and more users and brands will pop up, but without real “rules of engagement” many will not be maximizing the potential and need a little help (many of my consulting clients fall into this boat).

The key to marketing on social media in 2010 in my opinion is going to be three-fold:

1. Strategy: What are the concrete goals? No, not amount of followers. Hard analytics: Increase sales, amount of business partnerships, amount of leads, % increase to email list. ROI can measured by Pre-Social Media vs. Engaging In Social Media. No, I don’t recommend using social media for direct sales, but instead forming relationships for all businesses, quality customer service, personal touch and more. If you do all that, the sales will happen if you have the right strategy.

2. Technology: Understanding the technology and using the key tools is a no- brainer. But I’m talking about REALLY understanding the functionality, how to build relationships, and what sites are correct for your company and situation.

3. Key Resources: I’ll repeat this twice. NOTHING replaces human interaction (#1). NOTHING replaces human interaction (#2). Engaging, replying, etc. is key to marketing success on social media. In fact, not doing it will cause a backlash: “Company X doesn’t  “get” social media.” It is called social for a reason.

That being said, there are some incredible tools that continue to emerge to help you with the marketing side of things on social media. Meaning analyzing data, understanding relationships, making sure content you create is pushed onto the sites correctly without being annoying and many other goodies. Does this replace interaction? Absolutely not. Does it help market on social media? Absolutely.

One company I’m loving right now is Objective Marketer. I’ll be testing their product over the next couple of months and let you know the ins and outs and why it could be killer for you as a marketer.

10. Relationships, Relationships, Relationships.

Treat your customers (potential and current) like gold online and off and you will win the 2010 marketing game.

While the online world has changed the ease of communication, word of mouth marketing and lots of other things, good old fashioned rules will be as important as always in 2010.

For example: Do you send thank you’s to customers via snail mail? Handwritten cards? Since everyone is pretty much using email these days, you will stick out if you send a card or package.

We use Send Out Cards to keep up with current customers and clients and also as a marketing tool to stay in touch with customers and clients. It is an online system that sends a REAL card and gift if you choose. You can check it out here (affiliate link: Send Out Cards) if you want to learn more watch the video.

It is cliche but people really do business with those they like and trust. Creating a personal bond in a world where everyone is more connected but busier, can only lead to good things.

Wrapping It Up:

And that is it. 2010 is going to be an incredible year. I know I’m excited for it and am interested to hear your thoughts. What do you think? Any of the above points you would like me to go more in depth on? Should I turn this into an E-book or Video Book?

Happy Marketing!

I started The Rise To The Top in October 2008 for some simple reasons. After starting three companies, like many of us OCD entrepreneurs, I became frustrated that I could not find an entertaining and educational TV show and online hub that resonated with forward-thinking entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses.

Like you, I found lots of practical information on how to START a business (how to set up an LLC for example), but a real lack of advice on how to GROW your business. Answers to questions such as:

How do I get from $1 to $1,000,000 in revenue or $1,000,000 to $100,000,000?
How do I market my business in this crazy fast-paced digital world?
How do I not burn out and have more fun?
How can my company be more efficient while saving more time and money?
What can I learn from other people’s failures and successes?
How do I introduce a new product or service?
How do I maximize social media?
How do I schmooze in the digital world (and real world) and make incredible connections?
How do I get my business to reach its full potential?
How do I know which of these new shiny, cool online tools I should be using for my business and why?

Everything out there, to me at least, seemed so darn dull and boring. *Yawn*

Like many ventures, The Rise To The Top was born brainstorming in a coffee shop with my graphic designer Elizabeth Erickson and has taken a life of its own evolving from just a TV show (the original idea) to an online resource, event series, and more.

There have been ups and downs, hard work and crazy stories, big defeats and massive victories and I love every moment of it (well maybe not EVERY moment but darn close). And it has been incredible to hit benchmarks such as 1,000,000 cumulative TV viewers and over 500 entrepreneurs and business owners attending TRTTT events in 2009.

My number one goal has been and always will be to be helpful to entrepreneurs looking to maximize their businesses.

With that in mind, this is how I plan to be helpful to you in 2010: The launch of “RISE” a new daily web show for entrepreneurs.

And what about TV and events you ask? Great question! Quick answer: This past Sunday was the final episode for 2009. Season #3 of The Rise To The Top will be on KDNL-ABC30 in September 2010 and is going to be a HUGE season which believe it or not we are already working on. If you would like more information on learn how you can become involved, feel free to email me (David AT DSGagency.com). Also, we are launching events all over St. Louis in 2010 from live shows to educational and entertaining seminars to help you as well.

One shameless plug is 2010 is booking up fast, so if you want hire me as a speaker at your next event or as a consultant or trainer to help your business become more interactive, social and profitable, whip me an email and we can talk about “Digital Schmoozing” and “Maximizing Social Media” programs as I’ve been working with a variety of entrepreneurs and big brands. It has been a blast (end shameless plug).

So, why should you care about the new show?
1. RISE is 100% About You: The Entrepreneur Looking To Maximize Your Business:

Starting Monday, January 4th you can count on 5 minutes of easily-digestible practical tips, tricks, creative marketing ideas, How-To’s and more in our “web dome” which includes a white board for diagrams and other goodies (Thanks to Virtual Nerd for the inspiration). There will be action steps, resources and more.
2. You Won’t Be Bored:

Every day will be a little bit different. It may be 10 book reviews for entrepreneurs in 5 minutes or a dissection of how Chris Brogan does business and what you can learn from him or 5 simple things you can do on Twitter right now to create business partnerships. Also, special guests and experts will be stopping into our new studio to do lessons of their own with me.
3. Have A Question? We Will Answer It:

Seriously, this is all about you. It will be easy to submit a question for the show on the newly designed website (launching January 1st, 2010, PUMPED about that) and on social media sites. Many shows (at least once a week) will be devoted to your most burning questions (I had to get the word “burning” into this).
4. Expert Interviews:

I don’t know about you, but I love learning from the absolute best including those that have risen to the top or are standing on top of the mountain. Yup, interviews are here to stay especially in our new longer form Skype interviews that will compliment many of the 5 minute shows. So if you want to stick around and learn from folks like the author of The Four Hour Workweek Tim Ferriss, we will have plenty for you.
5. Resources, Resources, Resources:

It seems every day new web tools are coming out to make your life easier. Awesome. But which ones are the absolute best and add the most value for your business? Well in our “lab” (if you will) we have done the testing (and are still testing and looking for products and services to help entrepreneurs grow their business so if you have one, feel free to contact me). There will be product reviews, demos, and a downloadable interactive PDF called “The Ultimate Entrepreneur Playbook” which has comprehensive listings of products and services we use and trust and recommend to you and why (Mix of free and paid services).

Of course, in full disclosure, each 5 minute show will have a sponsor who we know and trust that brings something great that you can use right now. There will be no crap and we are working hard to get you the absolute best deals on their products and services only offered on RISE and nowhere else (If interested in partnering up with us, feel free to shoot me an email to David AT DSGagency.com)
What Now?

And that’s it. Like a coffee shop, I’m looking forward to 2010 being a year of high energy, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and lots and lots of schmoozing and tips.
If I had my choice, I hope I can help motivate 1,000,000 entrepreneurs to make $1,000,000 or more with their businesses all while having fun and living an inspired life.

More importantly, I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you have an idea for a show? A burning question? A suggestion? Lets start a dialogue about your ideal resource and what you would like to see. I’m all ears (Thanks to Ria Sharon for help with this title *wink*) and although I have a big mouth, I’m most excited about hearing YOUR ideas.

So, why should you care about the new show?

1. RISE is 100% About You: The Entrepreneur Looking To Maximize Your Business:

Starting Monday, January 4th you can count on 5 minutes of easily-digestible practical tips, tricks, creative marketing ideas, How-To’s and more in our “web dome” which includes a white board for diagrams and other goodies (Thanks to Virtual Nerd for the inspiration). There will be action steps, resources and more.

2. You Won’t Be Bored:

Every day will be a little bit different. It may be 10 book reviews for entrepreneurs in 5 minutes or a dissection of how Chris Brogan does business and what you can learn from him or 5 simple things you can do on Twitter right now to create business partnerships. Also, special guests and experts will be stopping into our new studio to do lessons of their own with me.

3. Have A Question? We Will Answer It:

Seriously, this is all about you. It will be easy to submit a question for the show on the newly designed website (launching January 1st, 2010, PUMPED about that) and on social media sites. Many shows (at least once a week) will be devoted to your most burning questions (I had to get the word “burning” into this).

4. Expert Interviews:

I don’t know about you, but I love learning from the absolute best including those that have risen to the top or are standing on top of the mountain. Yup, interviews are here to stay especially in our new longer form Skype interviews that will compliment many of the 5 minute shows. So if you want to stick around and learn from folks like the author of The Four Hour Workweek Tim Ferriss, we will have plenty for you.

5. Resources, Resources, Resources:

It seems every day new web tools are coming out to make your life easier. Awesome. But which ones are the absolute best and add the most value for your business? Well in our “lab” (if you will) we have done the testing (and are still testing and looking for products and services to help entrepreneurs grow their business so if you have one, feel free to contact me). There will be product reviews, demos, and a downloadable interactive PDF called “The Ultimate Entrepreneur Playbook” which has comprehensive listings of products and services we use and trust and recommend to you and why (Mix of free and paid services).

Of course, in full disclosure, each 5 minute show will have a sponsor who we know and trust that brings something great that you can use right now. There will be no crap and we are working hard to get you the absolute best deals on their products and services only offered on RISE and nowhere else (If interested in partnering up with us, feel free to shoot me an email to David AT DSGagency.com)

Enjoy the blooper reel above.

I learned a couple of valuable lessons last week when I posted 5 Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned From Proposing To My Girlfriend.

1. You guys like interesting out-of-the-box analogies that apply to your business.
2. You liked the personal touch.

First of all, thanks so much for the feedback. It means a lot. I somewhat avoided personal stories because I didn’t want the blog to be “too much David”, but now I’ve realized (and correct me if I’m wrong) that the stories help build parallels to your business.

Anyway, enough chit-chat, lets get down to business.

This past Sunday marked the end of the second season of The Rise To The Top and one full year of us being on the air on the online. Oh man, what a year at his been with every kind of mistake, success, failure, right move, and great moments. This blog series is going to a highlight a few major takeaways I believe you can use in your business right away as you grow it like a weed.

Now lets turn back the clock alllll the wayyyyy to November 2008: (Close your eyes….now open them)

The Sticky Situation:

I had just invested my first batch of my own savings into The Rise To The Top and really had no idea what I was doing. Realize we were doing everything from production, promotion, marketing, advertising and everything in-between including cleaning bathrooms. I used a production studio to shoot our first episode. Nothing against this particular production studio, but after the first episode, I was called into their offices for a meeting.

“David,” they said, “We made a mistake. We realize we told you production would be one price for the season, but it is now going to be 2.5x times that price and we have to shoot the next episode in one week.”

Holy crap.

They almost tripled my price and this was coming out of my own pocket. Of course, I had planned my budget and how I was going to make money. Now it was all shattered after one week. Even worse is I had ONE WEEK to figure this out because we were shooting DURING the season.

I did the calculations and realized this was going to cost me over $100,000. Money I did not have. And, let me repeat, I had ONE WEEK to figure it out.

What would you have done?

The Game Plan:

I had to think of my feet. I had no choice. I decided to turn my efforts towards Craigslist and hire my own video production team. I figured if I got lucky, I could find some talented young entrepreneurs who would help me produce the show.

Instead of using a production studio, perhaps we could turn our condo into the production studio (sorry Marcie…having a production studio in your condo is not ideal for your fiancee…fun fact).

So, I posted a simple post on Craigslist asking for video editors in St. Louis looking for a unique freelance opportunity.

I figured maybe I would get one or two replies.

I got 96.

WOW.

Coffee, Contest And Savings:

Amongst the 96 resumes, I realized some would be excellent while others not so good. By sending a weed out email, I narrowed it down to about 25 people.

Remember I had only one week to get this done so I decided to interview all 25 people in 48 hours in coffee shops across the street from one another.

They showed up and we schmoozed.

At the end of I chose 5 I liked and told them I had raw footage we shot at the expensive production studio and I’ve chosen 5 people.

I paid all five a nominal amount and told them the best episode is going on the air on ABC in one week.

My guess was a few would be really good and some not as strong; however, the total cost was 1/10th (Yes, 1/10th) of using the studio.

The Result:

The results were awesome. As expected, a couple from the five really stuck out and I ended up exclusively contracting one in the future.

The next week’s show went off without a hitch.

More importantly, she then helped put together a camera team for me and I invested the money I was going to into the next episode at the production house into purchasing my own cameras, lights and equipment and moving the whole kit-and-caboodle to my condo.

It ended up a classic win-win situation. I got to contract and help out some amazing video entrepreneurs who are young and hungry and in the process I saved last year over $100,000 (no joke).

All because of one Craigslist idea that I had no idea would work and a few coffees.

The Takeaways For Your Business:

1. Business can always be done smarter. Just because it has always been done one way, doesn’t mean you need to adhere to that at all. 20 people told me I was crazy for trying to move a production studio into my condo. I did it anyway.

2. Business can always be done cheaper, but don’t negate quality. The Internet has created an amazing place to save money, but not sacrifice quality if you dig around enough. Cheaper doesn’t have to mean poorly done or that someone is getting “screwed.”

3. Tap into creativity. It’s not cliche. If one plan doesn’t work, try another. Ask for help. Try something different. Kick the status quo in the butt.

4. Business can always be done quicker. You are an entrepreneur for a reason. Smaller organizations can innovate faster and be more experimental without going to a 250-person board of directors or 32 lawyers.

5. If you can’t adapt, you will go out of business. The world isn’t set in its ways and neither should your business. You can do the all the planning in the world, but things WILL and DO pop up that will force you to change. Make the right changes or at least be in the mindset to allow for change and you will be more successful.

What are your thoughts? What would you have done? Have you faced challenges like this? What did you do?

Sign up for HARO (Help A Reporter Out) absolutely free. It will be the best free investment you have ever made.

To check out Peter’s page and hunt him down on social media here is Peter Shankman’s Expert Profile.

Do you use HARO? How successful have you been at it?

Find out more about Tara Hunt the author of “The Whuffie Factor” on her blog and on Twitter. She rocks. Seriously.

And if you haven’t picked up “The Whuffie Factor” yet, it is a must-read for entrepreneurs doing business online. Below is an Amazon link:

The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business

The fastest way to ruin a business relationship? Check that, the fastest way to never create a business relationship is to send a really, really, really horrible email. I sift through 400-600 emails a day, but this could be my favorite example which came today.

Below is copy and pasted with my commentary in bold/underlined. Name has been changed to protect the crappy.

Hi Website Administrator (Hi, random person. Wait you don’t even know my name?!), We are purely organic search SEO Firm; we can get your website on the 1st page of Google, Yahoo and MSN (Bing.com) (Do you have a company name? How do you know if I even care?).

We can increase your sales at least 4 times (Awesome, oh wait I’m not actually selling anything through my website….and do you know my current sales?). We do not use “link farms” or “black hat” methods that Google and the other search engines frown upon and can use to de-list or ban your site (The only farm I’ve been on was a few years ago and to me a Black Hat is an Orthodox Jewish person…actually I know what he is talking about but had to get that funny moment in there. Ba-bing!).

The techniques are proprietary, involving some valuable closely held trade secrets (Closely held secrets? I’m SO intrigued. Wait 99% of SEO firms secrets can be found simply by googling SEO). Our prices are less than half of what other companies charge (What are your prices? Who are the other companies? Wait, you just assumed that price is my deciding factor…which it rarely is for me). We can fairly quickly promote your website to the top of the search rankings with no long term contracts! (Instead they probably will want my first born child and what is fairly quickly? 2 years? 2 months? 2 seconds?)

We are working on Guarantee basis (Ohhhh a shiny guarantee if only Tommy Boy was around to make fun of this. What is the guarantee?) We would be happy to send you a proposal using the top search phrases for your area of expertise (A bit generic here, eh? Do you know my area expertise? Why would I even want to see a proposal?) Please contact me at your convenience (Nope) so we can start saving you some money (Now it is just getting silly. How are they saving me money?).

A few more fun notes:
1. It came from a Gmail address with no company name.
2. No website was given.

My suggestions:

1. Make it personal: At least pretend you give a crap about me and my company. Tell me what we do and what you like about it. Even if you are lying through your teeth, I will like you.

2. Social Proof: If you are offering a service, why not tell me what you have done for similar businesses in my niche? For example: We did this for Entrepreneur Magazine and they experienced this.

3. Don’t Go For The Sale: Going for the sale on the first email is like calling a girl you like and asking her to marry you. An email should be an introduction.

4. Captain Obvious: Obviously a credible website, referenced work, Twitter account and other ways I can find out more about you would be fantastic to be included.

5. Don’t Treat Me Like An Idiot: I know the ploys of SEO firms. I know how you can fake a guarantee. At least humor me and say something funny.

….Deep breath as this quite the rant.

Perhaps a better email would be like this:

Hi David,
I’ve really enjoyed watching The Rise To The Top, it is the greatest show in the history of mankind (shhhh this is my email fantasy). My favorite episode is when you wore short shorts and danced on a tennis court. Anyway, I’m the founder of SEOWHATEVER and I noticed you are probably trying to get help with some key words such as “entrepreneur and “young entrepreneur”. I’m not sure if we would be a good fit to work together or not, but I recently finished a project for Entrepreneur Magazine and they experienced a 200% increase in traffic. Here is a link to an article about it. If you want to chat about SEO anytime, let me know as I have a few easy suggestions you can use now and you can find more on my blog.
All the best,
Better Email Writer
Twitter, Facebook, etc.

What do you think? What is the worst email you have received?

Ever get a little side tracked when working on your business? Raise your hand. OK, put them down.
This weekend we had a GREAT new episode of The Rise To The Top with my special guest Bill Guertin showing you how to dominate your niche and a whole slew of other business building tips and tricks.
While the show was hitting the airwaves and Internet, I had a sneaky plan in place.

I proposed to Marcie on Saturday night at our condo.

But, what does this have to do with business you might ask (asking your soul mate to marry you and growing a company…ummm make a point here, David).

Well, here are the business lessons I learned from my engagement.

Oh, she said yes by the way.

1. Planning Perfect

Engagement: When we got home from the St. Louis Blues game on Saturday night, I had our condo decorated with 50 dozen roses, plus rose petals, a chocolate fountain, candles, champagne. Sinks were filled with floating candles, etc. When we came up, I asked the very unsuspecting Marcie to marry me. As you can probably imagine, this took QUITE a bit of planning to pull off.

Business Lesson: For an entrepreneur, planning can seem like a daunting task. I know lots of us jump in and run and gun. But, a little bit of planning can have a HUGE payoff. I’m not suggesting you need a 5,000 page business plan, but if you don’t have goals and a plan to get there, how can you be successful?

2. It’s In The Details:

Engagement: Marcie likes to play Scrabble with my phone between periods at the Blues game. Potential problem: The few people that knew I was proposing could text me. Solution: Tell people to email me instead so it doesn’t pop up on the IPhone. And of course, true to form, Marcie played Scrabble on my phone.

Business Lesson: Sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest differences. Your product or service could be perfect EXCEPT for one tiny little detail.

3. Helping Hands

Engagement: Jennifer Volk was a huge help making sure our condo was transformed when we were away at the game and handled a lot of the communication. Plus, we secretly communicated using “Operation Blues” via email so there would be no suspicion. Why did I chose Jennifer? Simple, she is an amazing event planner. I had the ideas and she brought in the expertise.

Business Lesson: Seriously, you can’t do it all or be in multiple places at one time. Learning how to delegate is a huge asset to any entrepreneur (I’ve always had problems with it and over the past year have committed to improving and it has increased my business 10-fold)

4. Without Execution You Are Screwed

Engagement:

Step #1: Create Elaborate Plan; Find Perfect Ring
Step #2: Decoy Plans So She Thought It Was Another Weekend
Step #3: Ordering
Step #4: Diversion (Blues Game)
Step #5: Execute With Ring and Tissues In Hand

Business Lesson: Planning is great…however, EXECUTING the plan is what separates the men from the boys, women from the girls, minor leaguers from major leaguers or whatever fun cliche you want to pop in there.

5. Happiness Wins Overall

Engagement: I couldn’t be happier. Period.

Business Lesson: If you aren’t having fun in your business and enjoying what you are doing, you are in the wrong business. Period.

What are your thoughts? Any stories come to mind of non-business related activities that you can relate to your business?
Lets chat about it in the comments.

Above is a clip from “Great Day St. Louis” on CBS (KMOV). I wish I could have talked about 5,00000000 minutes longer but here are some super easy ways you can get involved with Twitter RIGHT now.

Also, in case you missed it, we have a brand spankin’ new episode online to build your business.

You can of course hunt me down on Twitter @therisetothetop

(in case you are having issues with the embed here is the direct link.