In this episode, Brian talks with tech expert Ramon Ray about the role tech played in saving the economy in 2020. They also discuss where business owners should invest in technology in 2021 for their business.

Ramon Ray, the founder of SmartHustle.com, joins Small Biz Buzz to discuss how to build a community around your small business in which you can actively engage with customers and see more growth.    

Ray emphasizes how important it is to bring people together and serve them value as well as provide solutions to your customers’ problems after they have come to know, like, and trust you.

“This is what community is about. I would encourage you to get people together on a video call, get people together on a phone call, get people together in a discussion group whenever you want it,” said Ray. “Community can even be an email list. Other people can't see each other per se, but I think to a degree, that in a way, is community. Humans were meant to be with humans.”

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Ramon Ray is not a Law Enforcement Officer – but did graduate from the FBI Citizens Academy. Ramon was never on Sesame Street – but has done puppet shows in developing countries. Ramon is not a preacher – but is a small business evangelist. Ramon is a four-time entrepreneur, author, and speaker who loves burnt pancakes, bacon, and eggs. He’s the founder and producer of Smart Hustle Media, and he’s started four companies and sold two. Ramon has authored four books, and his latest book is Celebrity CEO – How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive By Building a Strong Personal Brand.

Ramon has been invited as an expert witness to the United States Congress, invited by the Office of the President of the United States to speak at the White House on personal branding. He’s produced many events, including the “Smart Hustle Small Business Conference,” “Small Business Summit,” “Small Business Technology Tour,” “Small Biz Big Things,” and more.

Ramon has shared the stage with Seth Godin, Daymond John, Guy Kawasaki, Simon Sinek, and Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s interviewed many of the sharks and contestants on Shark Tank, and other celebrity entrepreneurs. Ramon has also interviewed President Obama in the President’s first live Google Hangout, and was part of the US Delegation to India, led by Ivanka Trump for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Although Ramon has interviewed and shared the stage with many celebrity entrepreneurs, his passion and biggest professional accomplishment is interviewing “main street” small business owners and entrepreneurs and sharing their stories.

Ramon is not just an ivory tower geek or a former technology consultant; he has hands-on experience in various technologies, including social media, mobile computing, computer networks, online software, and more. Ramon’s expertise ranges from technology, marketing, sales, business startup, and growth, and his favorite is personal branding. Over his extensive career, Ramon has written thousands of articles, spoken to thousands of business owners and impacted hundreds of thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs to help their businesses thrive.

What the podcast will teach you:

• How Ramon began his serial entrepreneurship, building and then selling his small businesses while growing his thought leadership
• How Ramon’s career took an unexpected early turn when the United Nations hired him at the young age of 19
• What key lessons Ramon learned over the arc of his career, and why serving others and mentorship have been key pillars of his success
• How Ramon turned his experiences as an entrepreneur and business leader into an opportunity to teach others and share his knowledge
• How serving others and mentoring can strengthen your own leadership and can create new opportunities without “selling”
• Why too many of us are focused on selling and end up rushing the relationship, and how to more effectively form relationships over time
• Why serving causes your prospects to remember you and your company positively and can become the cornerstone of your sales process
• What advice Ramon would offer for business leaders looking to move away from a transactional mentality to more of a service-focused style
• How a simple Thank You card or a short Thank You video can become a transformative tool for your business and its culture
• Why building and nurturing a strong social and professional network is critical, and what steps Ramon takes to network effectively

Resources:

• Weekly Thursday Email from Ramon: https://ramonemail.com/
• Website: www.ramonray.com
• Website: www.smarthustle.com
• The Celebrity CEO by Ramon Ray: www.celebrityceo.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ramonraysmallbiz/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ramonray
• Twitter: @ramonray
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ramonraysmarthustle/

Additional resources:

• Elite Business Health Assessment: https://growwithelite.com/health
• Email: info@GrowWithElite.com
• Website: https://growwithelite.com/

Most entrepreneurs are addicted to the hustle.

They think that a never ending to-do list of writing email newsletters, queuing up the next Facebook ad campaign, tweeting their latest blog post, and launching new programs is the foundation to success and path to fulfillment.

That’s not to say those aren’t effective at growing your business—and they might be just what you need to do to show your business who’s boss…

… but what if there’s a smarter way to hustle?

What if we skip the to-do list?

And, what if we find that by skipping the hustle as-is and take a smarter approach that we build our fan base, strengthen our skills, and heighten our brand all in one fell swoop?

On today’s episode, I’m chatting with an old friend from my networking days, Ramon Ray. Ramon is the founder of Smart Hustle Media, a content platform for small businesses. He’s also a global speaker, event host and producer, and the best selling author of Celebrity CEO.

When I think of Ramon, I think of one of the best networkers I know and his track record shows it. Not only is he a highly sought after commentator on marketing, technology, mindset, startup, and more—his expertise and networking skills have taken him to the White House to present to the President’s staff, he’s testified to Congress, he was with Ivanka Trump in India for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, and he even interviewed President Obama in his first live video chat.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How Ramon monetizes his personal brand without offering any coaching, programs, or selling digital products
• Ways to determine what space you can be a celebrity in
• Why all entrepreneurs seem naturally addicted to the hustle
• How to turn the hustle into smart hustle

Learn more about Ramon Ray:

• ramonray.com
• smarthustle.com
• Follow Ramon on Twitter
• Follow Ramon on Instagram
• Celebrity CEO Book
• Sign up for the Survive and Thrive Summit on 8/20/20—5 hours, 20 speakers all LIVE

Learn more about Pia:

• The Show Your Business Who's Boss Crash Course
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Ramon Ray

– The Sales Conversion Podcast with Rylee Meek Episode 029 Ramon Ray

Ramon Ray is an entrepreneur, author and speaker who loves burnt pancakes and bacon on the weekends.

He's the founder of Smart Hustle Media, has started four companies and sold two. Ramon has authored four books and his latest book is "Celebrity CEO - How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive By Building a Strong Personal Brand"

Ramon has been invited as an expert witness to the United States Congress, invited to speak at the White House on personal branding. He's interviewed President Obama in the President's first live video chat and was with Ivanka Trump at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India.

Ramon has shared the stage with Seth Godin, Daymond John, Guy Kawasaki, Simon Sinek, Gary Vaynerchuk. He's interviewed many of the sharks and contestants on Shark Tank and other celebrity entrepreneurs.

His passion is telling the story, the challenges and success, of "main street" small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Over his extensive career, Ramon has written thousands of articles, spoken to thousands of business owners and impacted hundreds of thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs to help their businesses thrive.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Listen to this informative Sales Conversion Podcast episode with Ramon Ray about his new book Celebrity CEO: How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive by Building Community and a Strong Personal Brand.

Here are some of the beneficial topics covered on this week’s show:

●    Why building your audience and brand is vital for the success of your business.

●    How becoming a local celebrity in your niche field of expertise leads to notoriety.

●    Why marketing is the biggest challenge in getting customers and making sales.

●    How it takes time to see results from content creation and personal branding.

●    Why you need to use the same social media platform that your customers use.

Connect with Ramon:

Links Mentioned:

smarthustle.com

ramonray.com

Guest Contact Info:

Twitter

@ramonray

Instagram

@ramonraysmarthustle

Facebook

facebook.com/ramonray

YouTube

youtube.com/smarthustle

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

-      Big companies often have more resources and can implement disciplined strategies, whereas small companies are nimbler and are often able to react and make necessary changes more quickly.

-      The difference between customer service and customer experience: Customer service is more immediate, often involves a human-to-human interaction and usually is a response to a problem or question. Customer experience is more overarching and can include product packaging.

-      A good customer experience can help you better market your business and build your personal brand.

-      Don’t underestimate the small, seemingly simple tools like business cards and email. Small details mean everything and can make or break your business.

-      Be aware of how the customer service and experience of your business looks from the outside. It can prevent customers from wanting to do business with you in the first place. In other words, it could be the bad customer experience you never hear about!

-      When sending an email, there are three things you must get right: a great signature line, a great subject line and a timely response. This is part of your customer experience.

-      Self-service options are great to have in place. This can range from a FAQ page to video tutorials on YouTube.

-      Don’t be afraid to invest financially in your business. Pay for the tools you need. This will create a better experience for everyone.

-      Above all, be genuine when interacting with people. That’s the key to an amazing customer service and experience.

“Be genuine. You have to really love people. It starts with that. It’s hard to fake a smile. If you enjoy people, you’ll be fine.”

Ramon Ray is a best-selling author, global speaker, event producer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and producer of Smart Hustle Media, and has started four companies and sold two companies.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Go to https://www.ramonray.com/ for more resources and latest insights.

"It’s the small things you do when no one is watching that makes the difference. As you do the little things, it snowballs."  Ramon Ray

About our Guest:

Ramon is a sought-after global keynote speaker, event host, best-selling author, entrepreneur and....part time actor.  He's started four companies, sold two and is an in-demand commentator on marketing, technology and more. He loves burnt pancakes and bacon, on the weekends. Ramon is the founder of Smart Hustle Media.  He's been to the White House to present to the President's staff; testified to Congress; graduated from the FBI Citizens Academy; and worked for the United Nations. Ramon has interviewed President Obama in the President's first live video chat and was with Ivanka Trump in India for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

Episode Summary

If your world got rocked when Covid19 hit as a speaker, you’re going to love my conversation with Ramon Ray.  Among many things that we discussed, Ramon shares how in two days he created the Survive and Thrive Summit, got paid sponsorship and attracted 2,200 registrants.  How'd he do it?  The Snowball Effect. The snowball effect is that moment that you’ve been building up to your whole life – you’ve made the connections, showed up consistently and because of who you are and how you serve, you get the enjoy the benefits of it all working for your good, exactly when you need it to.   In this episode, you’re going to be educated, empowered and equipped to implement the snowball effect in your life. Listen in to discover:

• The top three strategies every business owner must master if they want to be deemed an influencer
• why the marketing really is word of mouth
• The importance of maximizing ideas that spring forth from God moments
• How your vision will always create big opportunities to you if you remember who you are

 This episode is powered by the Grow Your Business Toolkit

Powerful Quotes During the Episode:

• “First I felt panic, fear and anxiety and then I prayed.” Ramon Ray
• "It’s the small things that you do when no one is watching that makes the difference.” Ramon Ray
• “It’s because I take the time to do the small things that most will feel don’t matter and give a handshake without expecting anything in return that my relationships make room for me.”  Ramon Ray
• “I felt like Moses building the Tabernacle.”  Ramon Ray
• [RE: Sponsorships]“It’s going to take time based on the effort you put in.” Ramon Ray
• “Content marketing is everything.” Ramon Ray
• "The vision that you set should put other people into action.”  Darnyelle Jervey Harmon
• "You can’t plant and reap in the same season.” Darnyelle Jervey Harmon

Ramon’s Incredible Factor Wisdom Questions:

Last book Ramon read:  Profit First Mike Michalowicz

Favorite Quote:   "Life is a journey.”  Unknown

Tool Ramon can’t live without to grow his business:    Asana + Calendar

How to Connect with Ramon Ray:

Websites: www.RamonRay.com | www.SmartHustle.com | www.RamonEmail.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/RamonRaySmartHustle

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RamonRay

Incredible One Enterprises, LLC is not responsible for the content and information delivered during the podcast interview by any guest. As always, we suggest that you conduct your own due diligence regarding any proclamations by podcast guests.  Incredible One Enterprises, LLC is providing the podcast for informational purposes only. 

Want more of Darnyelle?

Grab the Grow Your Business Toolkit

Apply for a Discovery Session with Darnyelle’s team

Join the Six Figure Cash Flow Club

Social Media Links:

• http://www.instagram.com/darnyellejerveyharmon
• http://www.facebook.com/darnyellejerveyharmon
• http://www.twitter.com/darnyellejervey
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/businessgrowthstrategy

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Entrepreneurs tend to be made by inspiring situations – a big idea, a moment of clarity, a story they tell at all the dinner parties.

They don’t tend to be made by a letter from head office telling them they’re fired.

Ramon Ray has a history of being an exception to the rule, though. And his story is fit for the stage, not for the dinner table.

After losing his job with the UN, Ramon found inspiration where others would find desperation. He used that experience to pivot to a career in speaking and now, with trademark humor and passion, that story has become his signature.

To have Ramon join me on Standing Ovation was a delight. For me, his brightness, vivacity, and mile-a-minute style makes him as entertaining as he is informative and, Clappers, I know you’re going to agree.

Grab yourself a seat at the front, you’re going to want to hear what Ramon has to say.

Find out about:

• When Ramon felt able and ready to share his now-signature story
• How Ramon chose his path as he was already walking it
• What the key differences are between speaking for free and for payment
• The approaches Ramon believes helped him become a better speaker over time
• How to find the balance between your classic lines and new material
• How to use your voice to great effect
• What a great audience looks like to Ramon

Please Support Our Show Sponsors:

This show is sponsored by Content 10x, the content repurposing experts. Content 10x have a unique service just for speakers called Talk 10x, where they transform your presentation into a suite of unique content to help spread your message. Visit content10x.com/standingovation to learn more!

If you want to get better at the business of speaking, you need to attend a 3 Ring Circus bootcamp, run by Josh Linkner and his team. Josh has created a system that will get you more gigs, more repeat gigs and increase your fees. Get $500 off by using the promo code ‘standing’ on their website.

Brand Builders Group are the best in the world at helping you find your personal brand and monetizing it. They're offering any Clappers who want to take their speaking and personal brand to the next level a free brand strategy call. Visit brandbuildersgroup.com/so to schedule your free call.

For more information and to explore the show, click here.

I’m very excited to share another episode in my Movers & Shakers series, where I feature amazing people who are making a huge impact in not only their lives but the lives of others.

This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Ramon Ray, founder of Smart Hustle Media and SmallBizTechnology.com as well as producer of the annual Smart Hustle Growth Conference in New York City.

Ramon’s latest book, Celebrity CEO – How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive by Building Community and a Strong Personal Brand, is the complete guide to creating a strong personal brand and written for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to make a massive impact and build a loyal fan base.

The post Episode 189: Movers & Shakers – Ramon Ray appeared first on Successful Mind Podcast.