INspired INsider Podcast

Samir Balwani is the Founder and CEO of QRY, a media agency for direct-to-consumer (DTC) and e-commerce brands. They have a media methodology and testing framework that's helped brands like Delsey and Peak Design scale their business online. Before starting QRY, Samir worked as a Senior Manager of OPEN Brand Strategy for American Express. In this episode… It's not uncommon to see agency owners brag about their flat management structure — meaning there are no layers and everybody's the same. However, Samir Balwani thinks that's a common agency owner mistake. To him, layers in organizational structure are important. These layers allow people to lean on someone with more experience, enabling you to celebrate and empower people with more knowledge. This is one of Samir's many lessons from working in corporate America that's helping him succeed as an agency owner today. Want to know more? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Founder and CEO of QRY, Samir Balwani. They discuss lessons Samir took from American Express into agency life, using data to distinguish your agency, the direct-to-consumer (DTC) media buying landscape, what it means to grow a DTC brand, and more!

Kevin Hourigan is the President of Spinutech, an agency that develops customized and data-driven digital marketing solutions. Before merging his business with his partner's, Kevin founded Bayshore Solutions in 1996 and ran it for over two decades, delivering websites and custom web applications to thousands of clients in over 54 countries. Kevin led Bayshore Solutions through growth and change to become a leading end-to-end digital agency that is Spinutech. Outside the office, Kevin enjoys hitting the open water on his boat, playing a round of golf, skiing, and just about any outdoor activity. In this episode… One of the unintended blessings of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the astronomic demand for digital solutions. With this demand comes the need to scale quickly, so companies are turning to digital agencies to help do that. Digital agencies themselves are merging to scale their service and provide clients with the right solutions. Unfortunately, navigating a merger is a pain in the neck for many agency owners. Having gone through a successful merger, Kevin Hourigan recommends putting your thoughts into three buckets that you must serve equally. The first step? Figure out what the merger means for your clients and how it's a win for them. Want to find out more? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Kevin Hourigan, the President of Spinutech. They discuss how Kevin helped his company scale to become an end-to-end digital partner through a merger, the lessons along the way, how to maintain a fantastic culture, and more!

Dmitry Buterin is the Founder of three multimillion-dollar businesses, including top-ranked membership management software company Wild Apricot, which serves over 20,000 small nonprofits. He was also the Co-founder of Blockgeeks, an online hub where talented, inspiring, and hard-working entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders learn about the rapidly evolving world of blockchain. Dmitry is also an angel investor and mentor for blockchain startups. He is a proud father of three, one of whom is the creator of Ethereum. In this episode… You've probably heard about Ethereum and how it powers many products and services. You may not know that Ethereum exists partly because one man, Dmitry Buterin, got tired of Soviet Union propaganda. He moved his family to Toronto, where he raised his son, Vitalik Buterin, who would later drop out of college to co-found the Ethereum platform. And that's only the short version of the story. Dmitry, who himself founded and built three multimillion-dollar businesses, played a significant role in introducing Vitalik to bitcoin early on. Fast forward years later, he's undeterred and excited about the future of Ethereum. What does that look like? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring a Co-founder of Blockgeeks, Dmitry Buterin. They discuss the Ethereum origin story, Ethereum use cases, Dmitry's work with Gate To Ukraine, why he is vilified for it, and what the future holds for Ethereum.

Bradley Will is the Founder and CEO of Riseable, a Milwaukee-based marketing agency with a mission to use marketing as a force for good. They develop lead and customer acquisition systems for brands that make a positive impact. Before starting Riseable, Bradley founded and ran Learn To Blog, an education and content-based company that designed programs to help small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs use blogging and content marketing to build an audience and generate new business. In this episode… First-party data — such as an email list — is a goldmine for any business owner. But as much as you'd like to extract the most value from your email list, the one thing you don't want to do is burn the list. You only want to send as many emails as you have to. If you send too many sales emails, people will begin to drop from your lists. How do you sell through email campaigns without burning your list? Today's guest, Bradley Will, proposes a three-step sales email sequence to close a deal. But these steps are only as effective as the health of your list and segmentation. Unfortunately, that's where many businesses miss out. Want to learn more? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Founder and CEO of Riseable, Bradley Will. Together, they dive into big mistakes businesses make with email marketing, quick automation wins you should set up right now, list segmentation, and lots more.

Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, a division of Cheyenne Consultants, a company incorporated in Costa Rica. When Richard was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica, where he started training employees for one of the large call centers in San Jose. He's trained over 10,000 bilingual telemarketers, shaping them to be the finest in the country. Richard is often sought after for private training sessions and consultations. In this episode… When business owners think about telemarketing, they often envision those aggressive-type callers who inundate people with calls, so they pass on implementing it into their business. As a result, they miss out on the opportunity for inbound support, outbound lead generation, and appointment setting. Additionally, many businesses that do set up call support often make the mistake of focusing on the number of calls made or received rather than the quality. They're not adept at handling inbound calls, tackling upsell opportunities, and rendering poor customer service. So how do you improve your customer support? Listen to this Inspired Insider Podcast episode with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Richard Blank, the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. They discuss misconceptions about telemarketing and call centers, diplomatic phrases to improve your customer support, how to handle inbound calls, and more!

David (Dave) Klein is the Founder, CEO, and President of North American Media, a direct marketing company located in Danbury, Connecticut, specializing in list brokerage and management, data solutions, space advertising, and interactive online services. Dave is a direct mail and direct marketing strategist and media buyer for mail space advertising and direct mail email. He has over 30 years of experience working with every type of business imaginable in every industry, partnering with some of the top people in direct response. Dave has a passion for helping people accomplish their customer acquisition goals. In this episode… Most major corporations with substantial online presence — including Google and Facebook — are doing direct mail marketing. Why? Because it works. Unfortunately, many business owners haven't seen great results from their direct mail campaigns, which leads them to believe that direct mail doesn't work. According to direct marketing expert Dave Klein, direct mail works if you do it right. You want to remove the variables that can negatively affect mailing while optimizing the most critical variables. These critical variables include the mail piece, copy, design, and list. How do all these variables work together to deliver outstanding results for both B2C and B2B companies? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Founder, CEO, and President of North American Media, Dave Klein. They discuss the pitfalls to avoid when taking on direct mail marketing, the variables that make all the difference, space advertising and how to use it for B2B marketing, and lots more.

Alex Strathdee is the Founder of Advanced Amazon Ads, an agency that partners with best-selling authors to sell more copies and promote ideas that will change the world. He helps nonfiction authors who use their books to build their brand and generate leads. At 21, Alex convinced 11 colleges to send his book to 40,000 students across the US — so it's no surprise that he helps many authors get more visibility. Alex works from various countries around the world. A minimalist at heart, everything he owns fits into a backpack and duffel bag. In this episode… Have you ever wondered why some nonfiction books start to explode in sales over time compared to many others? We'll let you in on a secret: it's because they are recommendable books. The first step to creating a recommendable book is writing a good book. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Writing a good book is a more calculated process than people think. Additionally, to see great results, you have to clean up your Amazon listing page, avoid Amazon description mistakes, and set up a strategy to promote your book. Want to get the details? Listen to this Inspired Insider Podcast episode with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Founder of Advanced Amazon Ads, Alex Strathdee. They discuss the tips and tricks for using your book as a marketing funnel, promoting it on Amazon, and common mistakes to avoid. Alex also shares his favorite books and digs into the details of successful book promotion.

Alex Strathdee is the Founder of Advanced Amazon Ads, an agency that partners with best-selling authors to sell more copies and promote ideas that will change the world. He helps nonfiction authors who use their books to build their brand and generate leads. At 21, Alex convinced 11 colleges to send his book to 40,000 students across the US — so it's no surprise that he helps many authors get more visibility. Alex works from various countries around the world. A minimalist at heart, everything he owns fits into a backpack and duffel bag. In this episode… Have you ever wondered why some nonfiction books start to explode in sales over time compared to many others? We'll let you in on a secret: it's because they are recommendable books. The first step to creating a recommendable book is writing a good book. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Writing a good book is a more calculated process than people think. Additionally, to see great results, you have to clean up your Amazon listing page, avoid Amazon description mistakes, and set up a strategy to promote your book. Want to get the details? Listen to this Inspired Insider Podcast episode with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Founder of Advanced Amazon Ads, Alex Strathdee. They discuss the tips and tricks for using your book as a marketing funnel, promoting it on Amazon, and common mistakes to avoid. Alex also shares his favorite books and digs into the details of successful book promotion.

Ben Glass is a lawyer, entrepreneur, business coach, soccer referee, and father to nine. He founded BenGlassLaw in 1995 and has secured major verdicts — his disability team manages over $45 million in future disability benefits for clients. Beyond litigating, Ben also authors books, speaks nationally, and leads Great Legal Marketing to help small-firm lawyers grow. BenGlassLaw is a Northern Virginia-based law firm dedicated to helping people stand up to powerful insurance companies. With decades of experience in personal injury, auto accident, and long-term disability claims, their team fights to secure fair compensation and guide clients through complex legal processes. At BenGlassLaw, they're committed to protecting their clients rights and to help them move forward with confidence. In this episode… If you've built a business for any number of years, you know exactly how hard it is to keep the wheels spinning. Imagine building a law firm for over three decades while spending half your time teaching other lawyers how to grow theirs. If that is not complex enough, think about building those businesses, adopting four children from abroad to increase the family size to nine kids, and writing and publishing books. Such is the wealth of learning, insight, and experience Ben Glass brings to this podcast episode. If you want to hear all about what it takes to grow your business despite challenges… Listen to this Inspired Insider Podcast episode with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Ben Glass, the Founder and CEO of BenGlassLaw and Great Legal Marketing. They discuss creating lasting partnerships in business, strategies for hiring and retaining staff, fostering a strong culture, and more.

Guillaume Le Tual Is a multimedia technologist with a career spanning 15 years. Earlier in his career, he worked as a professional visual artist for clients such as Volkswagen, Discovery Channel, The National Bank of Canada, and Warner Bros. He gained experience working in web design and digital marketing, and his expertise in the Magento e-commerce platform led him to start his own company, MageMontreal, an agency that works exclusively on the Magento platform to build e-commerce websites. Guillaume is also the Host of the Ecommerce Wizards Podcast. In this episode… If you're an e-commerce entrepreneur, you know how important it is to have your website, irrespective of the number of marketplaces you're on. But the problem is that many e-commerce business owners struggle to sell websites. Do you have enough traffic? Does that traffic convert? Does your product have proper product-market fit, and how efficient is your operation? When you answer these questions, you realize that you can turn your website into a sales machine. Here's how it starts… Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Guillaume Le Tual, the CEO and Founder of MageMontreal. They discuss the low-hanging fruits of e-commerce websites, the use of AI in e-commerce, making your website sell, and more.