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The “Imposter Syndrome” was first defined by Dr. Pauline Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes as “internal experience of intellectual phoniness which appears to be particularly prevalent and intense among a select sample of high achieving women.”

Everybody feels it. Even professionals who are experts in their fields get imposter syndrome. It can be an advantage or a disadvantage for you and your business depending on how you deal with it.

In today’s episode, we discuss this very personal but important topic. We share our moments of battling imposter syndrome and tips on how to overcome barriers we put on ourselves so we can move on from moments of self-sabotage.

What To Listen For:

• Experts feel like they’re newbies but all business owners learn something new every day (1:22)
• Imposter syndrome’s history and definition (2:15)
• The Dunning Kruger effect (3:03)
• TED Talk by Mike Cannon-Brookes, who talked about imposter syndrome (3:46)
• Imposter syndrome could be an advantage (5:11)
• Signs of imposter syndrome that could be detrimental to your business (9:15)
• The imposter syndrome could be exacerbated by following “successful” people on social media (12:39)
• Not wanting to share stories on social media could be a classic case of imposter syndrome (13:42)
• You can’t control people’s mindset (14:46)
• As a business owner, you need to make decisions, whether they’re the good or bad decisions (16:09)
• It’s okay to be out of your depth (18:23)
• Some tips to conquer imposter syndrome (21:00)
• Learn more than the average person but practice self-introspection and apply your knowledge (27:49)

One Cool Thing

Jennifer: Voxer, a communication tool for remote teams (35:45) 

Sources Mentioned

Imposter Syndrome by Dr. Pauline Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes 

TED Talk by Mike Cannon-Brookes 

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 8pm EDT / Tuesday 10am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show. Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

 

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

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Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

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A Contrepreneur is “an ambitious entrepreneur offering exciting business opportunities but who instead offers a scam that causes their victims to part with their money.” 

From the Urban Dictionary: “A con artist who makes their fortune by fooling wantrepreneurs into thinking they’re getting a great deal or coming into some easy money when the reality is, it’s the Contrepreneur making the real money.”

These are people who are very good at convincing people that riches are attainable without a lot of effort. However, there are honest and ethical people who use the same formula for good. So what do you do?

In this episode, we break down our thoughts on the issue of Contrepreneurs. 

How do you know if the “business expert” you’re listening to really wants to help you become a great business owner or is just enticing you to be part of a money-making scheme? What are the grey areas of this issue? Are you using contrepreneurial tactics without realizing you’re doing so? How do you distance yourself from these con artists? 

What To Listen For:

• What is a “Contrepreneur”? (1:23)
• Mike Winnet’s “The Contrepreneur Formula Exposed” (2:25)
• Two sides of the issue (5:49) 
• Marketing tactics the right and wrong way (9:44)
• Establishing authority vs. researching the legitimacy of “experts” (12:25)
• “Wishful identification”: when people want to be that person in the examples of Contrepreneurs (15:01)
• It’s not the only formula out there (18:33)
• Technical smoke and mirrors (19:45)
• Inviting famous people to encourage more attendance to contrepreneurial events (20:34)
• Coaching you to be the best business owner you can be vs. teaching you to be part of a pyramid scheme (24:54)
• It comes down to people’s values (27:30)
• Using the formula of ending a price with a “7” (29:08)
• Re-evaluating yourself as an entrepreneur (31:16)
• Spread the message of entrepreneurs doing good (32:21)
• You don’t need to go to these events to be a successful entrepreneur (35:08)

One Cool Thing

Joe: Epidemic Sound

Sources Mentioned

Mike Winnet’s The Contrepreneur Formula Exposed 

Melissa Demple photography 

Six Figure Salon

Indiepod University 

Epidemic Sound

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 8pm EDT / Tuesday 10am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show. Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

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Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

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Jennifer has set the theme for this episode and she opens it with the very intriguing question: should we work six-hour work days instead of the traditional eight-hour work days?

The paradigm of a 9-to-5 work day in the US is based on the Fair Labor Act of 1938, which was drafted to curb abuse of factory workers at that time and standardise labour hours. A lot has changed since then, but the same paradigm is still being implemented in many businesses.

As business owners and leaders, what does a work day look like to you? What does productivity look like? Do you believe that you need to change this paradigm for you and your employees?

Join us as we dive deep into this topic. We’ll also talk about protecting your passwords and domains from hackers.

What To Listen For:

• Harvard Business Review’s case for the 6-hour work day instead of the traditional 8-hour work day (2:09)
• Explore outcome-based instead of hour-based work (5:59)
• Applying the Pareto Principle (7:45)
• People will find a way to use up the hours on non-work related tasks (8:09)
• Everything has a deadline (10:30)
• Prioritise things according to how much it moves the “needle” of your business (11:34)
• The “Inbox Zero” principle (13:52)
• As business owners, how do you rethink the concept of hours versus outcomes? (20:32)
• “Unlimited vacation” benefit (22:15)
• For many, the office never turns off (25:01)
• Set boundaries (26:03)

One Cool Thing

Jennifer: LastPass: a password manager (31:49)

What’s Grinding Our Gears?

Jennifer: Typosquatters: people who use domains that are similar to mainstream domains, e.g., googla.com (37:07)

Sources Mentioned

Harvard Business Review [need to confirm that the link is the actual article, otherwise just the main link to HBR will suffice]

Pareto Principle 

Boomerang

LastPass

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 8pm EDT / Tuesday 10am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show. Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

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The Internet has truly revolutionized modern living. We remember, though, when you had to dial to a server and wait quite a while to connect to the Internet. Yet even during those early years in the ‘90s, we knew that this newfangled tool would be big.

Fast forward to today. With just a click of a button, you can get and share ideas anywhere from the world. These ideas are especially important if you’re thinking of starting a new business or gathering resources for your current venture. However, in the competitive arena of modern entrepreneurship, is it all right to take the ideas you discover on the Internet and claim it as your own? For that matter, would you be willing to share your own ideas with others?

We put in our two cents on this topic in this week’s episode.

What To Listen For:

• Seth Godin’s blog post on stolen ideas 8:18
• An idea that you don’t execute doesn’t have a lot of value 9:01
• It’s okay to borrow, reshape, retool, and bring others’ ideas to your industry 11:20
• When you share someone else’s idea, give the proper attribution 12:23
• Some businesspeople will not share ideas until you sign an NDA 14:49

One Cool Thing

Sam: Answer the Public 16:30

Video Reaction

Sam: How much money do you need to earn to be happy? According to a study, $70,000. 19:48

What’s Grinding Our Gears?

Sam: People who send friend invites but who ghost you when you message them 35:45

Take My Lunch Money

Sam: Outsource School: the ultimate education for outsourcing 42:47 

Sources Mentioned

Seth’s Blog

Answer the Public

Outsource School

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 5pm EDT / Tuesday 7am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show. Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

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In this episode the Geeks tackle the topic of  “morning routines” and exactly what a great morning routine is for you. 

As a business owner, you know that your daily entrepreneurial habits start the moment you get up, not when you get to your office. Per a plethora of memes and social media posts, this moment starts before the crack of dawn for successful people. 

A morning structure can also impact on how you perform for the entire day. We’ll share what routines work for us.

What To Listen For:

• Some people say you have to get up at 4am to be successful 3:44
• Four chronotypes of sleepers: lions, bears, dolphins, and wolves 5:14
• Getting up early can give you time to focus on certain work-related tasks before your family wakes up 8:43
• Morning routine vs. waking routine 10:48
• Structure your day by planning things out the night before or by setting reminders 12:09

One Cool Thing

Joe: Apple will switch away from Intel

Video Reaction

Joe: Living on a $120,000 in DC with passive income from multiple real estate investments

Urban Dictionary 

Sam: Three Stooges Syndrome: when lots of things are wrong, all of those things being wrong can create something positive

Jennifer: Two uglies make a pretty: two ugly parents can produce a beautiful child

What’s Grinding Our Gears?

Joe: Why do some people have the ability to slap their names on a product and people buy it?

Take My Lunch Money

Joe: Amigos Mexican Restaurant

Sources mentioned:

Apple

Intel

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 5pm EDT / Tuesday 7am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show. Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

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Media consumption is changing rapidly. The majority of people do not watch TV anymore. They would rather spend a lot of time watching TikTok videos than sit through a 4-minute video on Youtube.

Two factors have given rise to this TikTok phenomenon: people have more time to spend on social media due to quarantines and the application has many built-in programs that tap into the creativity of its users.

So, what does this trend mean for business? We discuss sample TikToks, statistics, and opinions about this topic in this episode. 

What To Listen For:

• Gen Zs spend more time watching TikTok than Youtube 2:52
• TikTok vs. Vine 8:43
• TikTok is where media is going 10:03
• Coronavirus effects on media consumption 10:36
• Some stats on TikTok usage 11:33
• Businesses that started with TikTok 12:43
• A TikTok challenge to hosts and viewers 14:14

One Cool Thing

Jennifer: TravelJohn: A bag you pee into

Video Reaction

Joe: According to articles and videos, 40% of black-owned businesses are not expected to survive the coronavirus

America vs. Australia

Sam: Do the Tim Tam slam 

What’s Grinding Our Gears?

Jennifer: Facebook ad “teasing”

Take My Lunch Money

Jennifer: We are launching a new segment that gives a shoutout to businesses that we’d gladly spend money on, suggestions are welcome

Sources mentioned:

TikTok

Youtube

Vine

TravelJohn

Tim Tam

Facebook

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 8pm EDT / Tuesday 10am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show. Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at

SamanthaRiley.global

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

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Everyone has a business idea or a dream they’d love to turn into reality. Some business ideas may be a dime a dozen or they could be as precious and as rare as diamonds. Some ideas like Uber reinvented transportation. Some ideas like Pet Rock began as a joke. Some ideas like Disneyland were considered bad ideas.

So, how do you know if your idea will become a hit or a miss? What questions could you ask yourself when a great business venture pops into your head? How do you determine if what you’ve been pouring your money on will result in a great return of investment or if it will bankrupt you? What’s the best method to validate an idea? 

These are some of the important questions we answer in this episode. 

What To Listen For:

• Frank Lloyd Wright: “An idea is salvation by imagination” 13:22
• Many people remain stuck at the starting line because they focus on the wrong things 14:14
• Many people spend thousands of dollars on a business that they later discover has no customer 15:11
• A word of caution about Kickstarter 16:40
• Some businesses create new markets while others reinvent the market 18:25
• Time is money 19:40
• Questions to ask yourself 22:08
• Interview industry experts for information and validation 22:56
• Market testing doesn’t need to be sophisticated 27:18
• Tips for people who struggle with coming up with an idea 29:04
• Validate services by selling it first 30:09
• What is an acceptable financial threshold to validate an idea? 32:40
• Richard Branson’s proof of concept for Virgin Atlantic 33:50
• Niched and scalable ideas that solve a problem 34:35
• A magical idea and timing is a great combination 42:42
• Many people thought Disneyland was a bad idea 44:27
• Get your idea out there 45:06
• What if someone steals my idea? 45:46

What’s Grinding Our Gears?

Jennifer: If you take unflattering pictures, don’t share it without the permission of person(s) in the picture

One Cool Thing

Joe: IBM will no longer offer or develop facial recognition software

Sources mentioned:

Kickstarter

Uber

Apple

Masterminds [need to confirm site link]

Virgin Atlantic

Pet Rock

Disneyland 

What’s Up with the Geeks?

Posted by Business Geeks Podcast on Monday, 15 June 2020

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 8pm EDT / Tuesday 10am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show. Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

A business needs several key ingredients. Having clients is a key element to starting a service-based business. Yet, how do you define a client? Is it someone who pays for your service? Is it someone who is a member of a community and might generate leads for your business in the future? 

Speaking of community, how do you define a community and should you use your access to certain online communities to sell your business?

In this episode, we share our thoughts on what you need to start a business. We also have a heated debate on how you define words that are popular in a time when people are interacting virtually.

What To Listen For:

• Key ingredient to start a business (11:18)
• Hobbies vs businesses (13:55)
• Go where the clients are (14:23)
• Service-based businesses (15:31)
• Get off the starting block (15:50)
• Set the goal (20:50)
• Strategy to reach the end goal (24:27)
• Clients vs. Leads and Referrals (26:58)
• Community vs Membership (29:50)
• You don’t need a logo and a website before you start a business (40:53)
• Be careful of pushing your beliefs to other people (44:40)
• A “real” community 45:41

One Cool Thing

Jennifer: Ben & Jerry’s corporate statement on white supremacy 

America vs. Australia

Sam: 3 things to know if you are doing business with Australians:

“We’re gonna have a ripper weekend. We’re just gonna head to the bottle-o before we head on to the barbie.”

What’s Grinding Our Gears?

Joe: Dealing with bad customer service from a pool company

Jen: Plain View Project – a group of lawyers are analyzing racist social media posts of the Philadelphia Police Department

Sources mentioned:

Indie Pod Conference

DoodyCalls

Ben & Jerry’s

Plain View Project

What’s Up with the Geeks?

Joe: Free Live Virtual Automate Your Podcast Conference – July 11, 2020

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 8pm EDT / Tuesday 10am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show. Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

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Having easy access to the web has radically changed how customers choose their products or services. People need social proof to know that their money is going to the right place, which is why online reviews play an essential part in your business.

In this episode, we discuss why your business needs online reviews, how to get more reviews, and where to get them. We also unpack tips on how to deal with negative online reviews.

Whatever your business or brand, having a positive online presence can boost your sales and grow your business.

What To Listen For:

• The right time to request for a review (9:00)
• Having an online strategy incorporated in your marketing strategy (12:08)
• How reviews can help your business (12:21)
• How clients trust online reviews (13:29)
• Reviews for service-based businesses (14:48)
• Where is the best online platform for reviews? (16:17)
• Make your reviews as easy as possible to answer for your client/customers (19:09)
• Communicate why your customer’s reviews are important to your business (19:40)
• Do you need a physical address of your business for your reviews? (20:20)
• Negative reviews can work for your business (22:57)
• 5-star businesses earn less than 4 or 3-star rated businesses (25:50)
• Look at businesses’ replies to negative reviews  (28:10)
• Top online review sites (29:10)
• The importance of cleanliness and friendliness (33:24)
• How do you handle bad reviews? (35:22)
• Comments vs reviews (37:15)
• Outstanding memorable customer service (44:33)
• Best times to ask for a review (49:09)

What’s Grinding Our Gears?

Joe: Bad customer services 

America vs. Australia

Sam: 3 things to know if you are doing business with Australians:

• “If you need some help just sing out”
• “Just have a crack”
• “It’s my shout”

Sources mentioned:

Facebook

Amazon

Yelp

Trip Advisor

Google My Business

Angies List

Spiegel Research

LinkedIn

Harvard Business School

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 8pm EDT / Tuesday 10am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.  

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show.  Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

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No one could have predicted this pandemic, but the same does not hold true with the business-landscape after the crisis. 

The coronavirus pandemic has a lot of dark sides and has caused a lot of pain and grief all over the world. But in times of crisis comes windows of opportunities. 

Join us as we unpack the different business trends and practices that will either continue, change, or stop post-pandemic and how businesses can take advantage of these trends to thrive in the future of business.

What To Listen For:

• Pre-pandemic business predictions
• Environmental-friendly businesses
• The importance of customer reviews
• Leveraging e-commerce and online sales
• Mobile Marketing
• Geo-targeting
• Online stories and live streams will dominate social media
• TikTok: The black hole of social media
• Business predictions for 2021
• The perfect time to start your business
• Editing our lives during this time 
• Hot or not topic: Cardboard cut-outs in restaurants

What’s Grinding Our Gears?

Joe: “Wherever you get your podcast”

Check-In With The Geeks

Catch us live each week on Monday 8pm EDT / Tuesday 10am AEST at the Business Geeks Podcast page on Facebook.  

Submit your question to the geeks at questions@businessgeekspodcast.com to have your question answered live on the show.  Be sure to include your business name for a free shoutout.

Find Samantha at SamanthaRiley.global

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Find Jennifer at Sparent.co

Find Joe at SuperJoePardo.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS