My guest today is David Wachs CEO of Handwritten. David has been an entrepreneur since a young age selling candy door to door as a kid to eventually starting a text marketing company before iPhones were a thing.  Today though we talked about his current business Handwrytten a scale able robot based solution that writes notes with a real pen and look like you wrote them!

David talked about the early decision to build their own robots after they found scaling with their current solution wasn’t feasible. He also went into depth on their process from receiving a customer order to getting it in the mail for them. They are constantly trying to improve their processes, really fascinating stuff.

David Wachs

A serial entrepreneur, David's latest venture, Handwrytten, is bringing back the lost art of letter writing through scalable, robot-based solutions that write your notes in pen. Developed as a platform, Handwrytten lets you send notes from your CRM system, such as Salesforce, the web site, apps, or through custom integration. Used by major meal boxes, eCommerce giants, nonprofits and professionals, Handwrytten is changing the way brands and people connect.

Prior to his current initiatives, David founded Cellit, a mobile marketing platform and mobile agency. Under David’s leadership, Cellit became a leading player in the mobile marketing space and invented the concept of mobile customer relationship management (Mobile CRM). Cellit developed one of the most robust and widely used mobile marketing platforms in the world, delivering millions of SMS and MMS messages to consumers daily. Cellit was sold to HelloWord (f/k/a ePrize) in January of 2012.

David is also a frequent speaker on marketing technology and has presented for the Direct Marketing Association, South By Southwest, Advertising Research Foundation, and the National Restaurant Association. David has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, Variety, Washington Post and many more. Both Handwrytten and Cellit were on Inc. Magazine’s Inc 500 list of fastest growing companies. David now also writes for Inc. Magazine with his column “Stepping Away from the Day to Day”.

Website:

• https://handwrytten.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: @handwrytten
• Instagram: @handwryttennotes
• Twitter: @handwrytten
• LinkedIn: @handwrytten
• YouTube Channel: Handwrytten

Today’s guest is Melanie Marconi Founder and CEO of Vida a curated co-working space in Portland Oregon. She talks about what changes she made to adjust during the pandemic. She also talks about the amenities they offer their members. I was really surprised at some of the amenities. They really take a wholistic approach.

Melanie Marconi

A longtime entrepreneur, philanthropist, and passionate advocate for change, Melanie Marconi is committed to helping women achieve their most ambitious personal and professional goals.

Melanie launched her first company, BDI Development Group, at the age of 23. This mission-driven company is a boutique consulting firm that provides fundraising, event planning, and strategy services to nonprofit organizations across the country. Since taking on the leadership role at BDI Events in 2004, Melanie has achieved annual business growth of 10% to 30% while setting and achieving long-term strategic goals, developing nationwide partnerships, and managing day-to-day company operations. Three years ago, she and her partners launched a spinoff business, Where Will They Stay?, to help clients find and secure custom hotel room blocks for their guests.

In 2017 Melanie was seeking a space for her growing team and realized that there was nothing available to support the day-to-day needs of working women like her and her colleagues. In early 2018, after receiving much social validation of her concept and vision, she committed to building and launching VIDA. Melanie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and Communication, with an emphasis in Public Relations, from the University of Oregon. She is also active in the nonprofit community, having served as a volunteer, donor, and board member for several different nonprofit organizations around the country. She has also presented on productivity and work/life integration to a range of different audiences at workshops, conferences, and through podcasts and webinars.

Since becoming a single mom eight years ago to her daughter, Ellie, Melanie has been searching for innovative ways to get the most out of each day. VIDA stemmed from her desire to have all of life’s daily needs in one beautiful space, surrounded by other inspiring women entrepreneurs.

Website:

• www.vidacoworking.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: @vida_makelifework
• Instagram: @vida_coworking
• LinkedIn: @melanie-marconi
• YouTube Channel: Vida Co-Working

Today’s Guest is Matt Yahes Founder and CEO of Extend Your Team a Virtual Staffing Agency. Matt talks about how his life as an entrepreneur changed when he transitioned to using VAs in his business. He also gives advice on how to evaluate your processes to figure out what your first VA hire should be.

Matt Yahes

As the founder of Extend Your team, a Virtual Assistant company, Matthew Yahes helps entrepreneurs and operators of all company sizes grow their business by getting out of the grind.
Matthew was working 14 hours a day on his eCommerce portfolio, managing a team of 6, was buried in operations, and it was affecting his marriage. The situation was not tenable.
He had enough and finally figured out how to hire an A+ player overseas who could run the operations better than him so he could focus on growth. He realized that the core issue is people look for a "Virtual Assistant" and not a "Real Professional".

In 45 days, Matthew went from working 14 hours to 3 hours a day and now it's 3 hours a week.
Matthew built his past two companies with a 100% remote workforce and now helps others do the same. In his spare time he snowboards well, kiteboards poorly, and enjoys life with his incredibly patient wife.

Website:

• www.extendyourteam.com

Social Media:

• LinkedIn: @yahes
• YouTube Channel: Extend Your Team

Today’s guest is Connie Vanderzanden Founder of Profit with Connie. Connie is a cashflow and business mentor. Connie talks about the top Key Performance indicators you should be paying attention to. What you should do to have a sound financial plan going into 2021 and maybe most importantly steps we can all take to increase the profitability of our business. All that and much more today with our guest Connie Vanderzanden.

Connie Vanderzanden

Connie Vanderzanden is on a mission to help entrepreneurs live the lifestyles they desire by learning the simple steps, structure and discipline to create and save money. With 34 years of accounting and bookkeeping experience, a variety of industry knowledge and her own real-life business growth journey since 2001, Connie developed the Going Beyond Revenue Cash Handling System, focusing on cash flow planning that creates profitable and sustainable businesses. Connie is a true Oregonian, born and raised in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where she spends time with her husband of 34 years and their “fur kid”.

Website:

• www.profitwithconnie.com

Social Media:

• LinkedIn: @connievanderzanden1
• Instagram: @connie.vanderzanden 
• YouTube Channel: Profit with Connie

Today’s guest is Aman Agarwal founder and president of Sanpram Transnational. Aman is a former business executive and engineer who worked on self-driving trucks in Silicon Valley. Aman is bringing up the average IQ on today’s episode. We talk about uplifting topics like how AI could replace jobs and how we will all eventually need to answer to our robot overlords.

Today's Guest

Aman Y. Agarwal

Aman is the Founder and President of SANPRAM Transnational, an executive education company, and a passionate teacher and writer. He was formerly an engineer, building self-driving trucks in Silicon Valley. Besides engineering, he has also been a business executive at two tech companies worth over $1 billion each. These days he is working to help non-technical business people survive and thrive in a tech-driven future.

Website:

• www.sanpram.com

Social Media:

• LinkedIn:@mngrwl
• Twitter: @mngrwl

Links and Resources:

• Honoring the Self: Self-Esteem and Personal Transformation, Nathaniel Branden

Today’s guest is Kristin Molenar Founder and CEO of Yes Boss. Yes, Boss is a PR company focused on getting their clients guest spots on podcasts.  Kristin talks about why podcast guesting can be a great way to get your target clients to buy from you.  She also gives some surprising advice on why you should strategically make sure you don’t know how to do all the processes in your business.

Today's Guest

Kristin Molenaar

Kristin is an entrepreneur-enthusiast who lives by the mantra "work less + make more". She enjoys helping entrepreneurs ditch the vanity metrics for true connections. She's the CEO of YesBoss, a digital agency that helps service-based business owners book podcast features, so they can generate new leads in just one hour per week.

Website:

• www.yessbossva.com

Social Media:

• LinkedIn:@kristinmolenaar

Links and Resources:

• Asana
• Slack
• Google Suite
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown
• Profit First, Mike Michalowicz
• Fix This Next, Mike Michalowicz
• Run Like Clockwork, Mike Michalowicz

Today we have an expert in all things automation on the show he is Will Christensen Co-Founder of Data Automation.  Will shares his expertise on a variety of automation topics. If you are thinking you are overwhelmed and need a few extra hands, hiring might not be your first step. In fact, you may be able to find a few hours in your day just by automating some of your repetitive processes. Will walks a through a few popular DIY automations that you can get done with a tool called Zapier. 

Today's Guest

Will Christensen

With over a decade of business development experience, it’s safe to say Will Christensen has an elevated passion for fulfilling what the end user desires and efficiently working towards faster iterations. Considered by some to be the “Tony Stark of Software,” he enjoys tinkering with cutting-edge technology, apps and systems, and loves to create innovative solutions for businesses and individual clients. He is the co-founder of DataAutomation, which customizes both automation and integration processes for e-commerce sellers. Will also heads up business development for RoundSphere, a tech incubator dedicated to developing new opportunities through software. Prior to his present endeavors Will has garnered extensive proficiency in advertising, media management, and product development.

Website:

• https://dataautomation.com/

Podcast:

Automate, Delegate, Eliminate

Social Media:

• Twitter:@DataAutomation1
• Facebook: @DataAutomation2016
• LinkedIn: @Will-Christensen

Links and Resources:

• Zapier
• Otter.ai
• Trello
• Zen Desk
• The E-Myth

Today we have a sales expert on the show her name is Sarah Mae Dickinson CEO of SMD Coaching.  Sarah shares her expertise on a variety of sales topics including why having an elevator pitch is so important for your business and the best way to deal with objections.

Today's Guest

Sarah Mae Dickinson

Sarah Mae Dickinson is a Sales Coach for entrepreneurs and freelancers looking to further their career or business regardless of their industry. She grew up outside Pittsburgh, graduated from Penn State University and spent most of her life in the Northeast before moving back to North Alabama with her husband. She has spent the last 15 years in sales of all kinds and brings that experience to her clients looking to learn new skills that can be used immediately. She focus on teaching coaching clients how to create and implement more effective processes to increase and automate overall sales and productivity for their business while simultaneously creating more freedom in their life.

Website:

• https://www.sarahmaedickinson.com/

Social Media:

• Instagram: @sarahmaedickinson
• Facebook: @sarahmaedickinsoncoaching
• LinkedIn: @sarahmaedickinson

Links and Resources:

• SMD Coaching Elevator Pitch Freebie
• Hubspot
• Salesforce
• Zoho