Click Here If You Prefer Audio Only The Rise To The Top mission is simple: Inspire (and entertain!) you through interviews with successful, unique, passionate, dynamic and creative guests who tell you their story and offer advice based on their experiences rising to the top (minus the fluff). Unscripted. Unedited. Uncut. My goal with The Rise To The Top interviews is to bring you interesting, creative entrepreneurs in a variety of fields. Different personalities. Different perspectives. Different stories. Today’s guest, Jason Cohen, has one heck of a story. He has founded four companies, including SmartBear and WP Engine. He took SmartBear from start to multiple millions in profit, without debt or VC, and then sold it for cash. In this interview with Jason, I wanted to dig deep. To find out his journey. Why he does what he does. Successes and failures. Mentors. Lessons. And advice for hustling entrepreneurs. Enjoy and, as always, looking forward to your feedback, thoughts, questions…whatever is on your mind. Connect With Jason (and tell him you saw him on RISE): On Twitter On His Blog His New Project: WP Engine This Episode Is Ever-So-Proudly Sponsored By: Rizzo Tees: You know those funny t-shirts like mullet 2.0 and Props To My Tweeps? They come from my man and former show guest, Chris Reimer at Rizzo Tees. Make sure to check out all the new designs at RizzoTees.com and in the show notes look for an exclusive link to nab a limited edition “If you want some fluff,… Read More

Got subscribers? Want some? Jason Cohen knows a thing or two hundred about blogging, creating content, and business. In fact, the last time he was on RISE, Jason gave a glimpse into using his book as a marketing weapon. He is back (lucky us) to talk a bit about blogging and, more importantly, retaining people. Subscribers. Community members. Whatever the heck you want to call them. In fact, Jason increased his subscribers by 6,000 in just one year and blogged about it. Today, Jason joins me to discuss: -How he did it. -Why subscribers are important (and why they might be overrated). -Good traffic vs. worthless traffic. -How to become more subscribable (Ya, I just made that up…). …and much more. Connect With Jason On His Blog Via Twitter How about you and your blog? Any secrets or stories to pass on? This Episode Is Made Possible By You And Our Sponsor On The Run Mobil Local deal here in St. Louis: Head over to On The Run’s website and enter your email to join the home team for all kinds of delicious goodies and deals delivering to your inbox on things like gas, car washes, and food. Oh and for the thirsty among us, check this out. Right now you can nab a 32 ounce drink for 59 cents. Don’t entrepreneur while dehydrated (yes, I used it as a verb). And since we are mentioning subscribing, here’s how you can subscribe to RISE and be awesome:

Part #1 PS: Enjoy my confusion when we cut out Part #2 The Power Of A Book For Entrepreneurs To say Jason Cohen is a smart guy would be an understatement. 1. He is a big time entrepreneur and founder of Smart Bear Software (which he sold for major cash money) 2. His blog A Smart Bear is one of the best in the world on as what he calls “startups + marketing + geekery.” 3. He has his smart hands in many other pots including Capital Factory and OnStartups Answers (with start up legend Dharmesh Shah) 4. He wrote a very (VERY) niche book called Best Kept Secrets of Peer Code Review which to date has been read by over 50,000 people. ..and I have a feeling you will see a lot more of him on The Rise To The Top and you can also find him on Twitter. A Book As A Marketing Weapon In this interview, Jason discusses how he used a book to differentiate in his industry. There is a misconception that books are only for certain audiences and certain subjects. Jason knocks those all down. 1. Interestingly, Jason used all kinds of traditional methods of getting the word out (mailers, newsletters, trade journal advertising, etc.). But hey, it worked! 2. Jason found unique ways to measure the advertising (through special forms on his website) and was able to hustle good deals from dying mediums (play up your smallness). 3. He literally gave the book away… Read More