Leverage: Optimize, Automate, Outsource: Productivity Tips, Virtual Assistant Insights, Outsourcing, Life Hacks, And More

On this episode of the Leverage podcast, Nick sits down with Alex Charfen, a master at helping Entrepreneurs and CEO’s optimize their business practices. Today’s Focus: Learning the 5 most important things that will prevent you from scaling your business. Alex has appeared in almost every major media outlet in print and on TV and is the author of the best-selling book “Entrepreneurial Personality”. Specifically, he helps CEO’s differentiate between and management and leadership.   Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: This history of growing a business to $250 million in sales How he overcame extreme burnout at 32 How to grow a business with more work-life balance Why CEO’s have trouble being managers What the difference is between “leaders” and “managers” How his company helps CEO’s to lead their company from a leadership position and avoid the management position What “entrepreneur's dilemma” is 5 things that prevent companies from scaling What the biggest bottleneck is for Entrepreneurs How he’s cut down ⅓

Kathy Caprino, an internationally-recognized career coach, TEDx speaker, and Senior Forbes Contributor who's dedicated to the global advancement of professional women. Her other specialty? Knowing how to write viral blog posts (she’s had several that have received over 3 million views). Learn how she went from 18-years in corporate marketing to becoming a therapist, and empowering women and their career aspirations all over the world. She also tells us how she’s using Leverage to build her online course. Things You’ll Learn in This Episode: How she switched from 18 years in corporate marketing to a therapist How she got to be a Forbes contributor Her thoughts on alternative therapy Her cautionary tale about Linkedin What “listicles” are and how they make posts go viral How she got to be a Forbes contributor Discrimination against introverts How she uses Leverage How to scale without a team How she organizes her content and ideas Learn more about Leverage: www.getleverage.com  Learn more about Kathy: https:/

How to become the ultimate YOU with Ben Greenfield On today's episode, Nick is joined by a very special guest, Ben Greenfield. He was named as one of the world’s top 100 most influential people in health and fitness. A New York Times bestselling author of the book "Beyond Fitness", founder of Kion.com a high-end supplement and gear company.

Randy Garn has been named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, and is on the Top 40 under 40 list. He’s exited 5+ companies and has one of the most impressive networks we’ve ever seen. (from Eli Manning to the nation’s top CEO’s). Tune in to learn his entrepreneur secrets on exiting companies, planning your business strategy, and mastered the art of customer acquisition through SMS.

How to Run and Scale Remote Teams w/ Liam Martin. Liam is a well-known tech entrepreneur and expert on #remoteteams. He has co-founded companies such as Staff.com and TimeDoctor.com and currently runs "Running Remote", the world's largest remote work conference.  For anyone running a remote team, join Liam and leaders from Helpscout, Evernote, AngeList, and more at the world’s largest remote work conference hosted in Bali, June 29-30th. Head to www.runningremote.com to learn more and use our special promo code:getleverage for 20% off your ticket.

In this episode of the podcast, Nick talks with a good friend and mentor, Lee Brower. Lee is the founder of Empowered Wealth and has been an associate coach at Strategic Coach for the last 19 years - but you may also know him from the movie, The Secret. Listen in as they dive into the difference between milestones and goals, how Lee got his start as a coach, and a quick preview of an upcoming workshop that we’ll be hosting together in Utah.

Leverage Podcast episode featuring marketing guru Dean Jackson. Dean is known for creating simple and easy marketing strategies to help entrepreneurs make more money, and marketing is the best way to do just that. With Joe Polish, Dean runs “I Love Marketing,”  a free source for useful and valuable marketing knowledge for entrepreneurs. As with anything in life or business, the more complex things are, the less likely people are going to do them, and on the flip side the simpler things are the more likely someone will do it. This is what Dean has done with his Marketing strategies: focusing on the finding the simplest way to get the greatest amount of results without his clients having to do anything. Some of Dean’s best known strategies are: The Squeeze Page The 9-word email Super Signature Line Listen in as Dean shares insight on these three strategies and his foresight to the future of marketing on this episode of the Leverage podcast. To learn more about Dean visit: https://ilovemarketing.com/  

Leverage podcast featuring Eric Edmeades, internationally recognized business speaker, film producer,  serial entrepreneur, business coach and film producer. Listen in as Nick Sonnenberg, Leverage Founder and CEO, chats with Eric about his wildly successful business coaching programs Business Freedom and Wildfit. Eric believes that entrepreneurship is the ultimate expression of personal liberty and freedom when practiced correctly. Entrepreneurship is royalty in the Western world, yet very few business owners get to experience the freedom of being their own boss. Entrepreneurs are hopeless optimists. 80% of businesses fail before their 5 year anniversary, and the other 20% are just getting by. Business Freedom helps guide entrepreneurs through the “jungle” of business. “It’s a jungle out there, but jungle is only a jungle if you don’t understand the rules of the jungle.” Just like experiencing any other “jungle,” you always go out with a guide. Business freedom is like your “jungle guide for business”. It hel

Sharon's played a crucial role in bringing meditation and mindfulness to the west, and into mainstream culture since 1974, when she first began teaching. She's a regular columnist for On Being, a contributor to the Huffington Post, and the host of her own podcast, the Metta Hour.   What is Meditation?   “I think people have a lot of ideas, I certainly did, about what meditation is and what it isn't. Sometimes those ideas are pretty off … the point isn't to make a certain thing happen, but to relate different to whatever is happening with more balance, with more kindness, with more presence.”- Sharon Salzberg.   There is a lot of social pressure for meditation to a blissful, peaceful experience. But that’s truly not the final goal, to have a blank thought. Meditation is creating a neutral experience in your everyday life through the ability to be more intuitive with your thoughts and feelings. Positive and negative ones. It changes the way we relate to those feelings and how we can process them.   How do you M

Leverage Podcast featuring Susan Drumm, Founder and CEO at Meritage Leadership.   Susan and her team at Meritage Leadership conduct leadership consulting, coaching, facilitation, strategy and assessment for organizations. One of the tools Susan uses in her leadership development and organization assessments is the Enneagram Type Indicator - a descriptive and intensive personality test based on motivation.   There are 9 different Enneagram types, and within each type there are type-subsets for certain strengths. Each type has its own gifts and challenge areas. Throughout your life, you growth within your type and by learning your Enneagram type it can help point you in the direction of growth.   Listen in as Susan goes over Nick’s Enneagram results (Type 8 - The Challenger), interpreting some of his behaviors with the motivations linked with this type, and how you can interpret your own results, those of your team and family to build better relationships and team cooperation.   Learn more about the Enneagram T

Part 2 of 2   Watch Part 1 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9YaZWNEvAM&t=5s Visit podcast.getleverage.com to download the main takeaways from this incredible insight to Sean Stephenson’s genius. Leverage podcast featuring Dr. Sean Stephenson, therapist, self-help author, and motivational speaker. Faced with numerous and deadly health challenges, Sean has proved that he is a fighter. Sean was predicted not to survive at birth because of a rare bone disorder that stunted his growth and caused his bones to be extremely fragile (fracturing over 200 times by the age of 18) Listen in on this two part episode with Sean as he talks about becoming a student of his pain and fighting through the challenges he has faced to take a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. An inspiring story that you don’t want to miss. Listen in above or on iTunes at: https://goo.gl/QTwrgo And be sure to watch part 1 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9YaZWNEvAM&t=5s

Part 1 of 2.   Leverage podcast featuring Dr. Sean Stephenson,  therapist, self-help author and motivational speaker.   Faced with numerous and deadly health challenges, Sean has proved that he is a fighter. Sean was predicted not to survive at birth because of a rare bone disorder that stunted his growth and caused his bones to be extremely fragile (fracturing over 200 times by the age of 18).   Listen in on this two part episode with Sean as he talks about becoming a student of his pain and fighting through the challenges he has faced to take a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world.   An inspiring story that you don’t want to miss.   Listen in above or on iTunes at: https://goo.gl/QTwrgo   And be sure to tune in next week for part 2.

Leverage podcast featuring Chris Prefontaine, founder of the Smart Real Estate Coach and Leverage member.   After the 2008 real estate market crash, Chris and his company reinvented the way they made deals and now coach and mentor people from all over the country to achieve the same success.   They started doing real estate on their own terms — literally. They started doing real estate deals on terms.   Chris works with (a) sellers who were unsuccessful in selling their homes, for whatever reason, and (b) sellers who have time and want the most out of their home. He offers them an alternative solution to sell their home under a specific set of rules. Without the need for brokerage fees, these sellers are motivated to get as much money as they can out of their home by working with Chris and his family.Think of leasing a car — terms deals are very similar. They also don’t require cash, capital, credit, bank loans or risking personal finances… And the way Chris does them, there is very little risk.In a terms dea

Part 2 of 2   For part one, check out: https://youtu.be/E5XBULJkiD4   Leverage Podcast featuring Leverage member, serial entrepreneur and master salesman, Kevin Donahue.   In his chat with Leverage Co-founder, Nick Sonnenberg, Kevin shares some of his top secrets to success, including: “Remembering the future” visualization tactics The power of reverse gratitude Finding your unique ability and using it in business How to create a team geared for success   To download a cheat sheet with the main takeaways from this podcast episode, visit podcast.getleverage.com   To  learn more about Kevin’s current business ventures visit: Executive Sales Source: http://www.executivesalessource.com/ Neuro Performance Academy: https://neuroperformanceacademy.com/ Surf and Serve: http://surfandserve.com/  

Part 1 of 2 Leverage Podcast featuring Leverage member, serial entrepreneur and master salesman, Kevin Donahue. Kevin is a testament of a true entrepreneur having mastered a huge array of industries across the US. From a skincare brand to a brain trauma center, YouTube influencers, forensic investigative search engines, and the mental health space. How? He knows his unique ability and has mastered it.  "It's like someone who's a bass guitarist. It doesn't really matter the band they play in, they can play the bass guitar. I know what my skill set is, I know my unique ability, I know my entrepreneurial flow. So I'll partner with businesses, and I'll do what I'm best at, and I'll let them do what they're best at. I'm able to grow businesses across industries without ever having to know the real intricacies of the industry." - Kevin In a nutshell, Kevin helps businesses go from selling Honda’s to Ferrari’s by creating the right conversation around of the product that makes a business stand out. It’s not manipula

Leverage Podcast featuring Tyler Koblasa, entrepreneur, technology leader and CloudApp CEO.   Tyler Koblasa has a history in evolving the digital landscape and optimizing online communication and workflows. Through his multiple startups and tech endeavors, Tyler found he was consistently faced with the challenge of adequately conveying a clear and concise message, digitally, to those he was working with. Whether he was developing a new product and needed to provide feedback or quickly explain something to a customer or client; the biggest underlying question was “How can we communicate faster?” Fast forward to 2013 when Tyler met Max Schoening, founder of CloudApp. At the time, CloudApp was a basic screenshot capturing tool that saved content in the cloud. Then, the primary users of CloudApp were the crafters and builders of tomorrow such as the co-founders of Airbnb, CEO and founders of MailChimp, and Kevin Rose — all successful entrepreneurs faced with the same digital communication challenge. As a user him

Leverage Podcast featuring motivational speaker, poet, author and Leverage client Julianna Dawson. Interview by Brittney Martinson, Head of Client Success at Leverage.   Julianna Dawson had big dreams that she didn’t feel possible working full time and spending quality time with her family. She wanted to finish her books, have them published, promote herself as an author, and attend more self development events. She knew what she needed to do, but just didn’t have the time to get it all done.   Some of the challenges Julianna wanted solved when joining Leverage included: - Event planning and management - Editing video content - Social media management - Email management - Writing video scripts - Researching and booking flights and hotels - Vacation planning   “For me it was life changing to realize it was possible to have the job, take care of the kids, have my dreams and actually have someone to help me work on that. Leverage made it really easy.” “It was different than before when I hired a freelancer to

Leverage podcast featuring Peter Shankman, public relations master, best-selling author and host of the #1 ADHD Podcast Faster Than Normal.   Peter Shankman lives a faster than normal life and rocks it. He’s an uber-successful entrepreneur, public relations master, best-selling author, host of the #1 ADHD Podcast “Faster Than Normal,” and single-dad to his 5-year old daughter. Not to mention a licensed skydiver, marathon runner, Ironman participant and Peloton junkie. It’s not that he has more time on his hands, he’s learned how to leverage his ADHD and use it as a gift.It all started in the mid-90’s when Peter was in an online chatroom and was encouraged to apply to a newsroom start-up. With minimal experience outside of a journalism degree, Peter helped build the largest digital online newsroom in the world — AOL — in just 3 years.In the wake of the dot-com boom, with the priceless experience gained from AOL, Peter wanted to start a PR firm. The only problem was… he had no money. With the upcoming release o

Leverage Podcast featuring Nick Sonnenberg, Co-founder and CEO, Tanya Fraser, Head of Tasks and Florence Bout, Head of Operations at Leverage. Like any new business, Leverage was not immune to the challenges and adversities that most start-ups face.As many of you may know, Leverage was founded in 2015 by Ari Meisel and Nick Sonnenberg. Leverage soon created a name for itself in the world of outsourcing as a premier service. With a team of 150+ virtual assistants, the company was growing at a rate of about 5–10% each month…But things quickly changed in October of 2017, when Ari unexpectedly decided to leave the company. Nick had virtually no notice — a mere 5 minutes to prepare for what was about to happen. The biggest initial challenge was dealing with the division of roles and responsibilities between the two founders. Ari was the face of Leverage, working closely with clients, managing the team and company marketing. Nick, on the other hand, was the driver behind operations and technology.He had, historical

WEBSITE COPY IS IMPORTANT, YET OFTEN OVERLOOKED When it comes to marketing content, website copy is often neglected. Yet, it’s a huge (and often missed) opportunity to craft the right message in order to reach the right audience. Well crafted content ultimately helps you attract your dream customers, boost conversions and improve your retention rates. In other words, website copy has powerful potential. The problem is that time, budget and resources are typically spent on marketing emails, ads, landing pages or places where companies see a direct ROI. Although you might not immediately see hard numbers from website copy, it is still a form of sales writing. It may be more subtle than direct sales, but it is where you’re selling your most important product — your business — and therefore the same types of sales strategies apply. GUIDELINES FOR WEBSITE COPY 1. Me-focused vs. You-focused “Me me me” If a company writes in “me me me” style, the content is based around what the company does, how great it is, and ho