We are welcoming back a former podcast guest and Summit Member, Michael Murray, the Founder and President at Textbook Painting in Cleveland, OH to today’s episode! Michael shares his experience and insights when it comes to hiring overseas talent, more commonly referred to as Virtual Assistant (VAs) for his organizational growth. From his approach on the strategy, to managing a global team, the importance of clear communication and documentation, compensation and recruiting, to building relationships with the local team, we lay it all on the table.

Some of the tools utilized by Textbook Painting highlighted in this episode:

Job Postings:

https://www.onlinejobs.ph/

https://remote.co/

Tools:

https://www.tango.us/

https://www.notion.so/

https://vocaroo.com/

https://wise.com/us/

https://www.loom.com/

https://justcall.io/

https://www.ringcentral.com/

“ If your website isn’t helping people, then you’re just selling something… and Google might not like that”

Today we’re talking to Chris Long, the VP of Marketing at Go Fish Digital, a full-service digital marketing agency that works with mid-market to Fortune 500 companies. Chris is an SEO expert, a thought leader in this space and he’s helping us dive further into this world of understanding how we can better utilize tools and content to drive organic traffic to our website. We continue to emphasize marketing is a multi-layered approach and SEO is a critical part of that strategy. From creating educational content, service-specific and localized landing pages, to optimizing all components of your Google My Business Profile, we are hitting key areas that all small businesses should be implementing.

Check out Chris's LinkedIn for resources and SEO tips and content each week and sign up Newsletters like The Splash, Search Engine Round Table and Search Engine Land for aggregated, updated SEO content and strategies.

Sign up for the Newsletter: https://gofishdigital.com/newsletter/

Follow Chris on LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-long-marketing/

Twitter: @gofishchris

Today we’re sharing a conversation with Scott Bowman, the Owner of Bowman Painting based in Ormond Beach, FL and a long-term Summit Member. Over the last couple of years, Scott has made Leadership Training a true focus within their organization, creating a formal program with bi-weekly training across a spectrum of content - from Job Site Leadership, to Situational Leadership Training, Crucial Conversations & more. He realized the Operations Team needed the right development and tools to be successful at their job - one that includes managing people! From the feedback that he's received from his team, it's clear that this is a win-win opportunity, with a positive impact on the employees, the customer experience and Bowman brand, as well as personal development outside of work.

When it comes to living their values, Bowman Painting is taking Growth & Learning seriously and the organization is better for it! Listen to Scott share his approach to the training, lessons learned and advice to others, as well as what he hopes to implement in the future

Whether it be a tough conversation you need to have with an employee or need to de-escalate an issue or job gone awry with a customer, we are unlocking the tools to better prepare ourselves for the dynamic of crucial conversations. With a passion for this topic, NCG Sr. Business Coach Colin is here to share key points from “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High” with practical application to the relationships and conflicts we often encounter.

We're changing things up today on Out of the Hourglass! We're sharing an excerpt from our Keynote presentation at the Grand Summit Conference last month in Savannah. The conference theme was "Build Your Inner Citadel." A citadel is a fortress or castle - built for war, bulletproof. Now consider your organization the same way - how can you make it bulletproof, ready to face and win battles against the problem we face when owning a business? Brian Nolan and Colin Nolan shared seven fortifications at the conference. Today, you'll hear about four of those fortifications. If you're interested in the others, reach out. In the meantime, consider how you can build your own inner Citadel as you listen.

We are joined today by Brittany Murphy, the Marketing Manager at Bloom Consulting and a Marketing Strategist who has years of experience working in not only the Trades space but also other small businesses. One of Brittany’s missions is to help Small Businesses use their marketing dollars most effectively, especially in the digital space of SEO and SEM. While these are two acronyms that we often throw around like we know exactly what they mean and what they do, I wanted to really break down the difference and pull these pillars of digital marketing apart. We continue to learn that Marketing is a game of layering everything and no matter your revenue size or industry, we want to optimize your online visibility to be getting in front og the right audience.

Need a second opinion on your marketing plan? Book a time with Brittany to brainstorm your next strategy and implement!
https://brittany.bloomconsultingfirm.com/

Today we are talking about Family Business dynamics and to do that we've brought on Brian Nolan our Managing Partner here at NCG and Senior Business Coach This is an important topic, and while most people know that here at Nolan Consulting, we are a family business, but we also work with a lot of companies that employ family members - whether it's a husband and wife team, adult children or extended family joining the business - it's important to think about how that impacts the dynamics, not only within your family but also within the organization itself.

This episode aims to hit at areas in need of clarity, whether it's the pathway to share-holdership, employment agreements or family values, there is a framework needed to create boundaries and ensure healthy relationships, both in and outside the workplace. Remember, the business should SERVE the family… and not the other way around.

“In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profit. People come first. Unless you have a good team, you cannot do much with the other two.” - Lee Iacocca

This quote sums up the reason behind today’s episode! NCG Business Coach Jim Bradley joins us on the podcast to talk about a chapter in the Management Training Series, a program that he and Andrew Amrhein have been piloting, that focused on developing leaders and creating access to tools for managerial success. This particular conversation today focuses on the characteristics of what it means to BE a team and a high performing one at that. There is statistical data showing that collaborative, high performing teams are most successful compared to those who operate in dysfunction- from better profitability, employee retention, and employee wellbeing. We talk about characteristics of an effective team, the role of leadership in fostering trust and psychological safety, and the significance of high-performance team characteristics such as sharing best practices, holding accountability, and vulnerability.