IAM1200 – Special Episode with Gresh – WHHHAAAATTT 1200 EPISODES!?!?!?!

Gresham “Gresh” W. Harkless Jr. is the founder of CBNation and Blue 16 Media. CBNation is a business-to-business (B2B) Brand focused on increasing the business success rate through content including blogs, podcasts, and videos. CBNation consists of blogs (CEOBlogNation.com), podcasts (CEOPodcasts.com), and videos (CBNation.tv). The brand focuses on increasing the visibility of and providing resources for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners. Blue 16 Media is a digital marketing agency providing digital marketing services including web design & SEO to small to medium-sized businesses and organizations. Central to his marketing philosophy is that You Are a Media Company: Developing a Marketing Strategy to Connect with Your Target and Reach Your Goals. Gresham is a proud graduate of Howard University & Georgetown University.

Check out this new site: Blue16 Marketing

• CEO Hack: Rocketbook – using it for my morning routine
• CEO Nugget: Get a dog (like Star) or cat, someone or something you love, and spend time away from business or professional goals and aspirations because life is precious. Enjoy it.
• CEO Defined: The spirit of the show to completely throw a monkey wrench into what it means

Sites –

• Website: http://iamgresh.com
• Website: http://blue16media.com
• Website: http://cbnation.co

Transcription

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00:01 – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:29 – Gresham W. Harkless Jr.

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast And this is episode number 1200 of the I AM CEO podcast. I'm super excited to talk about all the awesome things that we've been working on. We've made it to 1200 episodes, which is in and of itself no small feat. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes things that we never see whenever we're doing the podcast and whenever we're recording and probably listening to it that you may not necessarily see. So this is hopefully a delve into some of the inner workings of the podcast, of course, to celebrate our 1200 episode and all the ups and downs in Windy Road and everything that is taken to get to that point. So if you haven't listened to a podcast, I want to take this part and this time to actually introduce you to me.

My name is Gresham Harkless Jr. You can definitely call me Gresh. I introduce myself as Gresh on the podcast. And the whole goal of what I'm trying to do is really to help CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners be successful. Under CB Nation, which comprises blogs, podcasts, and video content. Our goal is to help CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners succeed. The way that we do that is simple. We have an equation that is basically visibility plus resources times connections equals success. All that is and all that means is that that's our success equation. So every piece of content, you're gonna either hear a really great story about a CEO, entrepreneur, or business owner, hear what they are working on, what might be their organization, and what kind of sets them apart and makes them unique. Or, I should say, you're gonna hear about a resource that you should know about that could make you more effective and efficient.

Potentially it's gonna be from the experience of a CEO, entrepreneur, or business owner. Or it might be something that they've heard along the way or an organization they're a part of, but just something that can help you level up as a business owner. And at the same time, as we've learned during these last 2 years or so, connection is something that's very vital to us as individuals and as humans. And I often say we often will forget about the human aspect of business. So it's so vital that we have that as a major part. And the reason that it's times connections is because connections can take things to an entirely different level. If you know the right people, especially if you know the people who are able to help you get to where you wanna be, that can definitely be something that is not simply adding 2 things, it's multiplying, it's taking things to an entirely different level.

So with that being said, everything that we do is powered by Blue 16 Media. Blue 16 Media is a media company that focuses on media and technology to help change lives. We have a digital marketing company. We have loads of other kinds of media properties and sites that we kind of focus on, hopefully changing those lives in different ways, across different verticals. But of course, the I Am CEO podcast is the culmination of not either or, it's a combination of all the above. That success equation, you hear it in a laser-focused interview. So I'm super excited about the 1200 episode because we're easing into the new year. I'm actually ramping up getting my goals written for 2022. Also making it a point to try to close out 2021 on the right foot, and make some changes, and some adjustments, but super excited about the trajectory the way things are moving, and the way that things are going.

So with that being said, as you hear through every episode, I start out by telling you a little bit about me, my story. You hear a little bit about what I do, and how we serve the clients that we work with. And then of course you hear my secret sauce, the hacks, the nuggets, and then how I define what it means to even be a CEO. So with that being said, again, my name is Gresh. And if you don't know some of my backstory, I usually start out most podcasts that I'm on, telling the story of me being a 10-year-old kid, starting what eventually became a family newspaper. And that family newspaper is really focused on a way for me to connect with my dad, who went to an entirely different country because he was in the military for about a year. Very frustrating, sad time for me. But definitely, of course, happy that he served and he gave to the country. But at the same time, I just wanted my dad there.

So what I started was essentially a family newspaper. That family newspaper I ran for about 2 years. It wasn't anything too huge. It was simply me getting on Microsoft Word, finding some clipboard, and talking about all the things that were going on in our family. And I would take those papers and we would put a care package together for my dad with all his favorite sweets like honey buns and oatmeal cookies and all those things and send it to him basically monthly. And also within that, I would have some of the newspapers that I created. But in true entrepreneurial form, I also sell the subscriptions of those newspapers to family and friends of the family and try to start my little empire from there. The reason I bring that up is because A lot of what I do now is rooted in that.

That was one of the stories that I feel makes me unique, kind of sets me apart, and was one of those things that I didn't hear or see or feel that everybody was doing. So I feel like those are sometimes those unique stories, those unique things that kind of create that foundation within us or those things that kind of build that foundation to who we are in the essence of like where we should kind of lean more into. So that's all I'm trying to do here is just try to create loads of content. Not do clip art as much, but we have blogs, podcasts, and video content in many different ways, shapes, and avenues to kind of help people succeed basically from a CB Nation standpoint. So I talked to y'all a little bit about like what we do, how we serve our clients.

One of the big things I'll say, especially from a digital marketing standpoint, is we provide web design, SEO, and web support. We're really process-focused and really high-touch, especially from a digital standpoint. We leverage different tools and hacks I'll kind of go a little bit more into this, but one of the tools that I use tremendously is called Basecamp. We also use tools like Freshdesk and the support ticket system that we use for our clients. And we try to automate a lot of things. One of the big things that I usually say about automation is not that you don't have to have that human interaction, but actually I believe automating allows you to spend more time and space actually connecting because you don't have to worry about some of the things not being done.

And that's what I really love about you, leveraging that technology to be able to serve the clients that we work with, but of course, we create loads and loads of content for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners, give them an opportunity to increase their visibility as we try to do as well. And I think it's a great win-win because we're able to kind of build this community and this platform to serve the clients that we ultimately want to work with as well. So definitely really big into creating those win-win-win-win-win scenarios and definitely this is just a unique way that we do that. So you can find all that at blu16marketing.com. If you go to blu16media you can literally see everything that we do, the different brands, the different sites. But at the same time, that's really what we're trying to hammer home. One of the exciting things I'm ramping up into is how to basically create a stronger tie within our community that we're doing. We've featured, as you know, one, 200 podcasts.

We have loads of blog content. It's something that I've been working on for at least 9 years, 7 to 9 years, probably I would say, in some form, shape, or fashion. Since I did the freelance writing, I've been trying to kind of build this community and build a content-based community. And we're doing a better job, I think, going into the new year of being able to kind of create different opportunities for people to connect as a result of that. So stay tuned for some information related to that as we ease into the new year and as we take that holiday season break. So the secret sauce, the thing that I feel sets us apart and makes it unique, makes us unique is what I often preach whenever I typically give talks.

Like I recently gave a talk to wedding professionals, is that you're in the media business. And I think so many times when we think of media, we have this really huge, lofty, aspirational perspective upon media, but we don't realize that we're creating media literally as we speak. Obviously, I'm doing a podcast interview from the conference at my home office. But you can also take out your phone, take out that smart device and you're taking pictures, you're creating video, that's all media. Now we have different platforms like social media, different marketing tactics like SEO or SEM or Google Ads, or all these different tools at our disposal to basically help us to get to goals. The way that I perceive and look at media is simply leveraging those different tools in order to reach your goals.

I actually call them ingredients just like as we're easing into the Thanksgiving holiday it's so important to realize that when you're trying to create something whether it be your favorite dish I often go back to my mom's sweet potato pie because that's my absolute favorite dish you figure out what ingredients are integral to you being able to get that specific goal. So that's a lot of what I believe is our secret sauce is that we get it, we understand it, we take that medicine, and we try to create an ideal community and content for the people that we serve. So it's something I think everybody can tap more into, but that's something that is, I think, an integral part of our secret sauce. And as always, I wanted to switch gears a little bit into more of the resources part of the podcast. The CEO hacks, which are basically apps, books, and habits that people have that make them more effective and efficient.

One of the new hacks that I've heard on the podcast and I decided I wanted to try to implement myself too, is what I'm literally writing in right now, which is called a rocket book. You can check out the link in the show notes of course too to hear a little bit more about the rocket book but the reason I love it so much is because I've had a tablet, I have a note phone, so I love writing. I love kind of blending that ability to be able to write on a pen and pad but the problem is that it always loses paper What the the rocket book does is it allows you to write on with a very special pen on a very special notebook. It allows you to erase that at any time you can erase the pen can also there's one version that actually allows you to put it in the microwave but you can also use Water and just simply erase it with a note towel as well.

So you use both of those to kind of clear out your notebook, but you can scan everything that you're making. So that's been an absolute game changer and I haven't used it for a while, but because I love writing, rather than losing all the paper that I used to write with, I'm able to scan it directly into my Evernote. I can email it to myself. It also goes to Slack and other different platforms. They need to create a Basecamp one. So if you're listening to this Rocketbook, make sure you have a connection to Basecamp. But outside of that, it connects to just about everything that I would want. So absolutely love my rocket book. I am a fan now. So I'm not sponsored or anything for me saying that it's just something that has been truly effective and efficient for me because it allows me to start my day out by writing in my rocket book and end my day by writing in my pocketbook, but also in between I get to write any notes or anything if I feel like writing and not typing.

So with that being said, my next CEO nugget is actually something that I call a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, something you might tell yourself to do if you hop into a time machine. If you have connected with me personally, you probably have heard me mention my four-legged child, which is who is literally at my feet as we speak right now. And the reason that I bring her up is because she's been an absolute change in my life. And I think that the real nugget within that is sometimes finding those things that you love and that you care about. Mine's a star, my four-legged dog. I'm getting the opportunity to kind of spend time with her, like the impact that she's had on my life, but also the impact that she's had on my routine.

Like I'm a much, so much more of a discipline and routine person as a result of her taking her out at a regular time and on a regular basis. But I think also just being able to realize that life is so much more than business. I often say we forget about the human aspect of business and she's definitely reinforced that for me. So what I would say is that if you're a dog person, get yourself a dog. If you're a cat person, get yourself a cat. But if you potentially love to write, then write, if you potentially love to read, then read, but take some time away from the hustle and bustle of trying to achieve those goals to realize that life is so much more, and I think during these last 2 years, we start to experience those loved ones, our friends, you know, all those things, our passions, our gifts, all those things, lean into those, create time, create space for that.

And that isn't gonna take you away from achieving those awesome goals, that's only gonna add to your life. So my nugget is essential, make sure that you're taking time to spend time on those things that you love, but also those things, people, and places that you love. Make sure you lean more into that because I think life is definitely something that's precious and it's definitely meant to be lived. So make sure that you take some time, energy, and spend, and create some space and some opportunity to be able to do that. And so I close this out with my favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

And if you listen to these different podcasts, you might say, we have no idea what being a CEO means. And that's the spirit of this show. It's not to say that we don't know, it's just to say that there's not one way to skin a cat. There's not one way that you can define what it means to be a CEO. And that's the spirit of this show. So I hope you truly enjoy if you are listening to this, especially during the holiday season. I hope you are safe and sound Please if you aren't listening to this and during the holiday season make sure that you're safe for sound as well, too This is Gresh signing out. Please check out my personal site at I am Gresh comm also Like I mentioned check out CB Nation co but a hub of everything that we do is at Blue16Media.com. So make sure, you know, be blessed, have a phenomenal holiday, and looking forward to continuing to provide you with some really awesome content.

15:15 – Outro

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.

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