This week you will learn from a LinkedIn superstar about how to win on LinkedIn without needing to spend a cent on advertising. Adam Houlahan is a world-renowned social media guru, having authored two Amazon bestselling books on the matter. He is also in great demand as a keynote speaker. At the latest count, Adam has helped 13,500 people fulfil their potential on LinkedIn.

See some of Adam’s top tips below:

**  Don’t be afraid to reach out to gurus. You might be surprised at how generous people can be with their time.

**  The preparation for your campaign is everything. Get your content right!

**  Be prepared to invest an hour per day on LinkedIn.

**  85% of videos are watched without sound.

**  Mix up your content on LinkedIn, otherwise you will be marked down by the algorithm.

**  Be careful about over-selling yourself. Only two articles per month should be directly promotional content.

**  Don’t accept connection requests from anybody. Make sure your connections are genuinely useful to you.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  How LinkedIn can work for you

**  Should you be on LinkedIn?

**  LinkedIn searching

**  The amount of content you need each month

**  LinkedIn videos

**  How to capitalise on leads on LinkedIn

**  Where Linkedin fits into the sales funnel

**  How to approach connecting with people

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Learn more about our Business Excelerator program: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au

**  Adam’s free LinkedIn profile optimisation course: http://www.adamhoulahan.com

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

There is no magic bullet towards becoming a marketable prospect on LinkedIn, but if you follow some of Adam’s simple rules, you won’t go far wrong.

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

This week we will gain an amazing insight into the new world of disruption, with the founder of an app that completely redefines the way people apply for jobs. Andrew Joyce is the co-founder of Found Careers: the only job platofrm where prospects can instantly apply for multiple jobs from one tap on their phone. Starting in 2015, Andrew is now presiding over a multi-million dollar business, and has raised AUD 4.5m in funding along the way.

See some of Andrew’s top tips below:

**  Take action when you can. Don’t agonise too much on your plan and stop yourself innovating.

**  Once you make a short-term plan (i.e. 6 months), don’t be afraid to review it and change your stance early on.

**  Over half of website traffic comes from mobiles. There is no sign of this upward curve stopping.

**  Do what you can to prove some early traction for your project before going to investors.

**  Always remember that anything you are developing needs to solve a problem.

**  Marketing is king. If you’re starting an app and you put it on the app store with no marketing, you’ll get no downloads whatsoever.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  The story of Found Careers

**  The future of job advertising

**  How best to court investors

**  How to build a big business in the long term

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Download our free business-planning template: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au

**  Andrew’s job site: http://www.found.careers

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood 

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

Listen to Andrew: everything is going mobile. If you aren’t ready for this, you will lose!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

Alex Baro really is not your average CEO. He’s only 28 and he’s never even had a full-time job! The trials and tribulations of his online fashion retailer Black Swallow serve as a great lesson for all of us. He built up his company from zero to 10m AUD annual turnover in year two, so how did he do it?

See some of Alex’s top tips below:

**  Price is the biggest differentiator in online retailing.

**  Suppliers need to genuinely like you. If there is no rapport you won’t get a good deal.

**  Do not underestimate the power of video. If you’re selling a product that you believe in, create a video that demonstrates how good it is.

**  Get your online advertising right. Alex spends 10% of his annual turnover on Facebook advertising (over a million dollars!).

**  Be persistent. One of Alex’s biggest-selling product came after multiple refusals from the supplier.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  The fast-fashion marketplace explained

**  The pitfalls of an importation business

**  How Alex recovered from being hacked

**  The potential cost of outdoor advertising

**  How Alex risked everything and made his own luck

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Would you like to join MaxMyProfit as a Business Excellerator? Visit us here for more information: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au/about

**  Alex’s company website: http://www.blackswallow.com.au

**  Black Swallow’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/blackswallowboutique/

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

Alex’s story is a lesson in persistence. To build that multi-million dollar business you always dreamed of, you need to take some big risks and be prepared to ride out some rough times.

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

If you listen to our guest Isaac Tolpin, you will totally change the way you train your staff! Isaac is an EdTech disruptor and an expert in the relationship between human behaviour, technology and business. He knows exactly how to tap into millennials to get the best out of them in the workplace.

See some of Isaac’s top tips below:

**  Micro learning has been proven as the most effective form of learning in business. Bitesized content is the way to go.

**  If you’re doing anything digital, don’t break learner trust. They need to learn something, feedback, complete it and get recognised for it within 5 minutes.

**  Be careful when training your team. Long, extensive courses can become outdated quickly. If your audience sees something irrelevant they will not engage with the rest of the content.

**  Learning should never be an event. Only if it’s constant can it actually change a culture.

**  You can create courses yourself for a tiny percentage of the cost of conventional training courses.

**  48% of millennials will not use a PC for any digital media. Take note of this! You can’t assume you can teach people using long and detailed resources that require a computer.

**  To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be selective with whose opinion you listen to. Make sure they don’t have a vested interest!

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  The definition of an EdTech disruptor

**  The inner workings of conveyour.com

**  The benefits of micro learning

**  How a leaderboard can encourage learning and achievement

**  Decision-tree mechanisms explained

**  Training via SMS

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Would you like to join MaxMyProfit as a Business Excellerator? Visit us here for more information: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au/about

**  Isaac’s training business: http://www.conveyour.com

**  Isaac's Microlearning Webinar and 19 Page E-Book: https://events.genndi.com/register/818182175026316034/f813fa2f1f

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

Listen to Isaac and modernise your training! Don’t assume millennials will have the patience for long, formal courses.

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

A common tale among business owners is how difficult it is to find the right people. Thankfully our guest this week knows all of the tricks of the trade to help you make the right hiring choices.

Natasha Hawker is an old hand in the recruitment game. Her company, Emloyee Matters, works with clients across Australia, the UK, US and Asia to find the best candidates. She’s also written the highly acclaimed book, “From Hire to fire”.

See some of Natasha’s top tips below:

**  Your employees are your greatest assets, but they’re also your greatest liability.

**  Do what you can to avoid using agencies. If you’ve focused your role and offering well enough, you should find the right candidates.

**  Get your job advert right. No spelling mistakes!

**  Don’t get stuck on the idea of just one interview. You should do a phone screen first, then an interview specific to the role, and then an interview to understand the values of the candidate.

**  Don’t go over the top when selling your own organisation. If you give too much away to your candidate then you won’t get a true understanding of their preparation.

**  Even if you’re a small business, think long and hard about your extra offerings for a job, i.e. working from home, healthcare etc.

**  Don’t assume your future employees will come by simply replying to your adverts. Natasha finds 50% of her candidates by approaching them cold.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  What makes people nervous about recruitment

**  The pros and cons of recruitment agencies

**  The different sourcing channels available

**  The active V passive market

**  What makes a great job description

**  The flexibility needed to attract good employees

**  Talent banking explained

**  How to structure your interviews

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Would you like to join MaxMyProfit as a Business Excellerator? Visit us here for more information: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au/about

**  Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” methodology can be found here

**  Natasha’s website with a load of free recruitment resources, including a free employee metrics tool, can be found here

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

When you’re recruiting, don’t forget you’re in 2018. BE FLEXIBLE!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

Today we hear the amazing story of Dean Taylor; a man who started selling wine as a side hustle but who ultimately cashed in his business for 8m AUD! Since then he has etablished seven other successful businesses. Dean’s story really is an inspiration to all of us.

See some of Dean’s top tips below:

**  Find good people to run your business. If you are a serial entrepreneur, you can’t get bogged down in the detail.

**  Hire long, fire fast. Don’t be shy about moving on if it isn’t working out with an employee.

**  Keep your head clear. Do exercise and spend time with your family.

**  Don’t get too hung up on the numbers. There’s more to life than money!

**  You must embrace technology if you are to be successful in business. Scott Farquhar of Atlessian says: “these days you’re either a tech company, or you’re being disrupted by a tech company”

**  Try and avoid purely competing on price. The mass buying power of the likes of Amazon makes it nigh-on impossible for a small business to compete on price.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  Dean’s amazing story

**  How to provide a first-class service to your customers

**  How to stay on top of seven businesses

**  How Dean rode out the GFC

**  The changing dynamics of the online marketplace

**  The potential for Amazon Australia

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Would you like to join MaxMyProfit as a Business Excellerator? Visit us here for more information: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au/about

**  Dean’s company website: http://www.crackawines.com.au

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

Dean is an example of a man who made is fortune by taking his chance. If you find yourself in the right place at the right time, be ready!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

This week we have some straightforward SEO advice from a man who calls himself “just a regular guy”. Like most of us entrepreneurs, Greg Jeffries has done his time trying to master SEO and has wasted a lot of money. But last year was Greg’s first year where he made a 6-figure sum, purely off the back of affiliate marketing using SEO.

See some of Greg’s top tips below:

**  Target the longer key-phrase suggestions using a tool like keywordtool.io. These tend to have lower competition than the shorter, more obvious phrases.

**  Location can be your friend. If you have a business that is based in a specific location, you can add this to the end of a long-tail phrase so you can have even less competition.

**  Don’t forget about Youtube. It’s easy to think of SEO in terms of written content in blog posts, but a Youtube video with the right title and description can be worth its weight in gold.

**  Keyword density isn’t everything. Search engine algorithms are a lot more intelligent than simply counting up the instances of keywords.

**  Create a content schedule and stick to it. Discipline and consistency are fundamental to SEO success.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  Affiliate marketing explained

**  How Greg has achieved substantial passive income

**  How to generate leads with SEO marketing

**  When to outsource your blog writing

**  Backlinks explained

**  Is it worth buying social media shares?

**  The optimum length of a blog post

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Would you like to join MaxMyProfit as a Business Excellerator? Visit us here for more information: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au/about

**  Greg’s no-nonsense SEO course can be found here: http://www.seoaffiliatedomination.com

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

The message that Greg keeps going back to is that there is no dark art to SEO anymore. Create good content, and do it regularly!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

We’re tackling some deep ideology this week with our very esteemed guest, Anne Bahr Thompson.

Anne has been named America’s top thought-leader for 2018, having published a hugely successful book called “Do Good” which explains how modern-day business can do good for the world and still make profit at the same time.

You will have to listen to the show to hear exactly what Anne’s five rules of contientious business are, but keep reading for some additional insight from the show.

See some of the conversation points below:

**  Nowadays people want businesses to solve problems with social issues and the environment; not just their own specific customer ‘problem’.

**  Think of how you build trust with your closest friends… this is the way you should shape the relationship with your customer base.

**  Make sure you build a good ethos in your company. If you obviously stand for something, you can relate to your audience.

**  Responsibility begins with how you treat your employees.

**  Business is a social organism - never forget this! It exists in the same society we spend our everyday lives in.

**  Foster a sense of community in your organisation. Shared values amongst employees can be very powerful indeed.

**  Don’t be scared of making mistakes when you run a company. If you are sincere enough in learning from the mistakes, your marketplace will trust you.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  Examples of good corporate citizenship

**  How Apple built trust with its customers

**  How to be clear about your values and culture

**  Why the banks lost trust

**  The ‘stakeholder view’ versus the ‘shareholder view’

**  Social entrepreneurialism explained

**  Courage in business

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Work with one of our business Excellerators: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au

**  Buy Anne’s book, “Do Good: Embarcing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit” here

**  Anne’s website: http://www.brandcitizenship.com

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

Remember what Anne said about creating virtuous circles. Now more than ever it is possible for businesses to connect with causes for the sake of the wider good.

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot/ of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

This week our host Ben will share some absolute gold about facebook marketing.

This is the down-to-earth advice of a business owner who’s learnt the hard way, having wasted time and money on it for years.

Now, MaxMyProfit makes millions of dollars from Facebook advertising, but it wasn’t always the case. You’ll have to listen to the show for all 9 tips, but you can read on for a few highlights.

See some of the conversation points below:

**  Be wary of agencies. They won’t know your business like you do.

**  Understand the nature of the marketing you’re doing. Is it ‘solution marketing’ or ‘interruption marketing’? With solution marketing, you're dealing with people who know they have a problem and your job as a marketeer is to prove that you can solve their problem. With interruption marketing, the person you’re targeting is not looking for a solution, so your job is to shock them into action. Facebook advertising is interruption marketing.

**  If you’re searching for leads, make sure the information you gather is definitely useful to your sales process. You should be thinking things like, “will I need a phone number, or can I get by with just an email address?”

**  Do A/B testing! Facebook has a multitude of data to help you understand why something works and why something else doesn’t, so make sure you use it!

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  The two types of marketing campaigns

**  How your sales process links with your FB advertising

**  Facebook pixels explained

**  When to use lead ads

**  How best to use images for FB advertising

**  The 80/20 marketing

**  Advertising for different genders

**  What is an appropriate advertising spend?

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Work with one of our business Excellerators: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au

**  80/20 Marketing by Perry Marshall can be bought here

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

As Ben says, “Facebook marketing is a way for most businesses to make money”. So don’t delay… get on top of it!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot/ of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

We’ve got a real winner on the show this week, so listen up! Tom Kulzer shares with us some great insight on how to build, grow and maintain a large business. Tom is the founder and CEO of AWeber: one of the leading small-business email marketing packages. Originally founded in 1998, AWeber now has over 100,000 customers around the world and a team of 120 people. Another remarkable part of the story is that Tom built up the business entirely from his own funding. Not one dollar of investment has come from an external source.

Read on for Tom’s top tips for business longevity:

**  Really understand the problems your customers have. You may have many different types of customers, so take the time to understand as many different groups as you can.

**  If you’re going to raise funds, make absolutely sure you have a focus on how to spend it.

**  Take away the things that keep people up at night. Look after your team!

**  The majority of AWeber’s money is spent on R & D. It’s a constant battle to stay relevant with your products.

**  If your company is growing, don’t assume you can do it all yourself. Hiring people might seem difficult, but it won’t be as difficult as running an entire business day-to-day.

**  Hire people who are smarter than you. Put your ego aside… you need these people to grow!

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  Tom’s amazing story

**  How to build a business without external funding

**  The business growth stool

**  Hiring the perfect management team

**  How Tom kept his tech company relevant

**  What Tom likes about being an entrepreneur

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  We’re looking for franchise partners. Do you have what it takes to become one of our Business Excelerators? Go to: http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au/about

**  Go to http://www.aweber.com for a free trial. This software comes highly recommended from us!

**  Go to http://www.aweber.com/connect for free email marketing bundles.

**  The Business Brain Food Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

As Tom says, “if you’re not trying, you’re not growing!”. Don’t get complacent!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot/ of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000