IAM380 – Special Episode

INTRO 0:02
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:30
Hello, this is a Gresh from the I am CEO podcast CB nation.com, Blue 16 media. And this is the IMCEO podcast is the third of seven, which I'm going to talk a little bit more about things that you should take into account and look for, specifically from my perspective, but also give you a little bit more of a perspective into like my background, how I got started. All the things that I'm working on, and yeah, it's all of that cool jazz stuff. I usually start everything out with a CEO story. And the last few episodes I kind of talked about, you know, blew 16 media CB nation from a broader level, I wanted to take you actually back to one of my fails. One and I think all these parts become part of your story, which is why I wanted to bring that up. So I probably have two failures that I'm gonna share. Not necessarily today, but over the next couple podcasts. But one of them is my business, my form of business called exemplary editing. And if you can go through Hearpreneurs site, and I believe you the enterpreneur site or might be Teach a CEO site, you can see some exemplary exemplary editing

Speaker 2 1:37
posts that are there. And the reason for that is because I was an English major. When I went to the Howard University, and while I was there, I was an English major. And I knew that I wanted to start a business, I probably should have been an entrepreneurship minor didn't actually do that because of paperwork, probably I just didn't want to take extra steps. I just stayed in the College of Arts and Sciences and became a administration justice minor. But

Gresham Harkless 2:04
I always knew I wanted to start a business didn't necessarily know what business. This was actually after I pledged the fraternity them in Alpha Phi Omega phi Q, you know.

Speaker 2 2:15
And that's why, I guess I was just you have that energy, that confidence after you pledge if you get through any difficulty, you feel as if you want to take on the world, and I was no different. And I wanted to take on the world from an entrepreneurship standpoint. So I wanted to start a business, I had already started an organization before, which I'll probably delve into in a separate episode. But this was going to be something where I use my talents, the thing that I was passionate about to start a business. So I wanted to do an editing business where I would edit like papers and just anything resumes, things like that. So didn't necessarily go as according to plan as I would have hoped. I also found that that was not necessarily my calling, the reason for it. And the lesson that I probably learned more than anything else is Know thyself. And I didn't really like editing, nor that I actually hire anybody to do the editing.

Speaker 2 3:10
So that was kind of failed from day one. But the very first thing I remember that I sent out, was announcing the, the start of my company. So I sent it to family and friends and, and let them know that I was putting my shingle out and I was going to be in business. And that email that I sent out, I did not proofread. And when I sent it out, it had some editing mistakes. Luckily, I'm little bit savvy as a marketing person. So what I did was I re sent another email out that had the correct information in grammatically correct. And I said, you know, if you didn't catch it in the first email, then you need to hire me. But in all reality, I actually made those huge mistakes. So there is definitely a room for mistakes.

Speaker 2 4:00
You don't want to make mistakes like that. But with that being said, I'm still here today, exemplar editing is not here, but I still love the logo, still loving the name. And I'm always thinking about how I can kind of incorporate that into everything that I do. But, you know, editing is still a big part of what we do and what we create mercy does a phenomenal job of editing. Definitely in a different way. But the big thing that I want you to take away from this is that most people never talk about their failures. I think that entrepreneurship is something that you always feel that it is

Speaker 2 4:39
for the super successful and those people that have been quote unquote successful and I don't necessarily consider myself to be one of those but with that being said, you a lot of times don't hear about these stories. So I wanted to share at least one you're probably going to get another one out of the seven episodes about my failure. My big

Gresham Harkless 5:00
mistake and you know, the the business just never really got as far as I would have liked it to go. And I think I learned a lot about business that, you know, you just making or sending an email does not constitute a marketing strategy or a sales strategy. There's so much more that's involved related to that. But again, it was more of a side hustle because I ended up going to grad school and, and did and I got some business and I did some work and created some content and things like that. But I think it wasn't anything that really resonated really strongly with me. And it wasn't necessarily that you need to have a business that does that it just didn't have that time. So anyways exemplary editing did not last as long as I would have hoped we were also not on the fortune 500. So there's that, but lots of learning lessons that I that I learned from, including making sure to proofread your emails when you send them out. So with that being said, I've been working on Blue 16 Media, which is recently turned seven. And of course, the IAMCEO podcast, which has recently turned on for years.

And I've had CB nation, which is the hub for everything related to b2b, our b2b brand that helps increase the business success rate is, is there you can literally click through and find you know, everything there that that we're working on. So that's kind of like an overview of what exactly we do. from a strategic standpoint, Blue 16 media, we do web design, and we do SEO services, our whole entire philosophy is that you are a media company mindset. The idea is that you work backwards from your target market, you work backwards from your artists, look at your resources that you have, you really take into account what your goals are in what you're hoping to accomplish.

And then you figure out the best ingredients, the best things to do, so that you can reach your marketing strategy. And those ingredients are digital strategies, digital ingredients, such as, digital platforms, so things like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, SEO, you know, pay per click advertising, display, advertising, retargeting, all those different things, these are all ingredients into what is going to make your recipe but the important thing that we do for our clients that we try to get really clear on that so that when we're creating the website, when if we are doing SEO, we're doing that with a strategic mindset, not just a, you know, a random approach. So that's really the big thing that makes us you know who we are, what it is that we do, as I mentioned, with CB nation, the whole entire focus is really to increase the business success rate. We do that by creating content like blogs, videos, video podcasts, video interviews, and of course, podcasts, traditional audio podcast, interviews, as well.

All this is catered directly to our target market, which is entrepreneurs, business owners and CEOs. So definitely make sure to check out all of those different sites and our secret sauce. My personal secret sauce I wanted to focus on for this episode was that I really think I'm really good at just trying things. I think that one of the big things that we forget as people that run businesses is that where sometimes you get that edge, you have to try something that's a little bit more unique and a little bit different. And you have to go all in on it. I think there's a lot of things that I would consider as far as characteristics that I think that make me who I am. But I think that curiosity and that creative mindset to want to build and create things is something that really is it sets me apart from I think most of my peers. I think a lot of times I've started to things a lot earlier and not necessarily been in the best possible industries are the best possible scenarios.

But like I mentioned, you know, the very beginning, whether it be an exemplary exemplary editing and editing company that didn't work out, or it's a new product that that we're working on, or is figuring out, maybe we don't want to do as in depth social media. So just all these different things that we kind of worked through, the thing that I think I can say the most is that I'm cool with being curious and trying out new things and trying to make things happen. So I think that is my personal secret sauce. And I hope that it also manifests itself and everything that we do is we're always always trying to work on different products and services and just make the world a better place for lack of a better term. So that's what we're focused on and what I wanted to do as normal. I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I wanted to share with the two CEO hacks. These are ways that you can get visibility. We use it specifically from a publisher standpoint and that's Help a Reporter Out and Help a Reporter Out. Our thing is helpreporter.com

Actually, it's going to be in the show notes help reporter.com where you can type in, H A R O stands for Help a Reporter Out, it's one of the great ways that you can get visibility for your business. I don't know if you've ever been on anybody's site, especially these personal brand websites, people that sometimes are featured on Fox News and USA Today and this side and that side, a lot of times, they will put their logos on their side because they've been featured and they might have been featured because they submit it to a HARO post. So it's one of the big things that you can do to kind of get yourself some visibility, get yourself some earned media reach.

So that you can, you can maximize the visibility that you have for your business and do an earn media way where you're actually being published as an expert on a specific topic. So we definitely do it as publishers, but you can also do it as a contributor. So go to the site, sign up completely for free, you just have to go through and do the due diligence of responding to each of the posts in writing line. Usually, when I describe this other hack, I usually say I usually ask first, have you heard a HARO, if you have not heard a HARO, you should definitely sign up for HARO. And if you're thinking about being on podcast, try out podcast guests that come in. They have you know, different levels you can sign up for, but you can definitely be featured on podcasts, which is pretty awesome.

That you know, people have the opportunity to be added to a list that will get the people that are looking for podcasts, or you basically just like HARO will get an email that has all the different opportunities that are out there. And again, it's a great way for you to be featured on podcast, we have again used it to book podcast guests. So we've had, I think podcast, guests reached out to us and they said, Hey, we were going to help you to get more people on your show. So they created a link that had a form we went through that form was able to look at the different people that had submitted to being on the show.

And then it just kind of moved from there. So I thought that was pretty awesome. So definitely if you're looking for visibility, check out HARO Help a Reporter Out, and also podcast guests. And now I wanted to talk about a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. And I usually say if you can happen to a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self? Here's what I would say.

Along the lines of the URL media company, acronym, the acronym is recipe, Recipeee, and we went through the R&E, that's your marketing plan, the C is your crust. And again, the idea is that the end product, the end thing that you're trying to make is a sweet potato pie, whatever your favorite dish might be, you have to create that foundation and that crust so that you can be successful. So what is the foundation and crest look like from a digital marketing perspective for your business? It's your website. It's potentially your blog, which is an aspect of your website. But the idea is, is whatever you're bringing people back to. So it might be your website, it might be a landing page, it might be your blog, if you're trying to get more traffic. But the idea is you really want to make sure that you are looking strategically to try to bring people back to something, you're not getting traffic just to get traffic, you're getting traffic, because you're typically you're figuring that traffic is going to turn into something, it might be the opportunity to get people to sign up for your email list.

It might be direct sales, it might be just awareness for your product or service. But the idea is that, again, you're doing these things that I'm going to talk about in the next couple of episodes. So that you bring them back to that foundation, your crust, what's going to hold everything together. And a lot of times, especially with personal brands being so very, very important. You might have a personal brand website that you want to draw people back to so every time you're on a podcast, maybe that's what you're going to mention so that people will go from your podcast, and from the shownotes of that podcast, to your website so they can see all the things that you're working on. But again, the whole entire idea. And the concept is it's your foundation, it's what's going to bring everything together. So that's why it's so important in the C and recipe is all about the crust. So last but not least I asked everybody what does being a CEO mean to them? One of the biggest things that I've heard consistently is that CEO is being of service.

And I think that that's the biggest thing that we forget, sometimes as leaders, as entrepreneurs, as business owners that we're of service in many ways. And I think it's a it's a difficult process to to kind of understand how much you have to give and how much you will give and how much you will leave it on the field so to speak, to be of service to your clients, to your teammates, to your family to all these people that are are craving your service, but that's a lot of times what it's all about. It's not necessarily about you know, the revenue and the bottom line, although that does play a part. Obviously you want to keep the doors open but when you look at it

From a really, I guess, high level perspective, it's all about service. How are you making the world a better place because a lot of times, people start ventures, they start entrepreneurial journeys, they become CEOs because they do have the vision and they want to be of service and a will do want to make an impact in the world a better place at least I honestly believe it's not always that case, but I believe it is a lot of the time so that's one of the biggest things make sure that you're you're being of service as a CEO and that's one of the common and more popular definitions that has come up during the podcast. So make sure that you are always being of service and this is Gresh signing out. I hope you enjoy this podcast, as always, please check me out progresshion.com That is my, It will be in the show notes and you can always catch us at Blue16media.com and CBnation.co. Thanks and I hope you have a phenomenal day.

OUTRO 16:03
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai