Build Your Queue

Starting a company is great, but how do you get enough revenue early on so you don't have to stress about keeping your doors open? And then how do you scale that operation? Mosquito Joe Franchisee Trey Powell joins the Build Your Queue podcast to talk about opening one of the first Mosquito Joe franchises, how he got his early customers, and how he streamlined operations while creating delightful customer experiences to take his business to new heights. Listeners will walk away knowing how to do exactly the same.

Releasing a new product or feature is great, but how do you get customers to start using it? How do you leverage it to bring in new customers while also getting your existing customers on board? Kelly Oechslin, product marketing manager for flooring dealer software company RollMaster, joins us in The Queue to discuss. Listeners will walk away understanding how to take a new product or feature to market, how to how to build partnerships with customers instead of just transactions, and what it ultimately takes to help customers succeed.

Running restaurants is tough, and it's gotten exponentially tougher throughout the pandemic. How do you handle hiring and turnover? How do you keep customers coming in? How can you change your operations to be more profitable while creating great customer experiences? How do you navigate unexpected challenges without failing? These are some of the questions Owner of Bitter Alibi and Daily Ration Jason Bowers answers in his interview with Build Your Queue. Have a listen.

Building a SaaS company from the ground up is no joke. How do you get your first customers? Build a brand? Start to grow exponentially? StoragePug co-founders Tommy Nguyen and Matt Huddleston stop by The Queue to share their story of finding answers to these questions. You'll walk away knowing where to go to find your first customers, how to build a reputable brand that grows by word of mouth, how to create top quality content, and more.

Leading an organization's marketing and communications takes a lot of planning. But what needs to be included in that plan? How far in advance should you be working on stories? How do brand and messaging come into play? Sybil Topel, Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce's VP of Marketing and Communications, joined Build Your Queue to discuss. Listeners will walk away with a deeper understanding of corporate communications planning and strategy, how long it takes to see results from your work, and how to find partners to help you along the way.

Retailers tend to sell commodity items or niche products. It's tough in both cases to stand out and draw in the traffic you need (digitally or in-person) to hit sales goals. You're either competing with everyone or fighting to create demand. So how can brands differentiate themselves, and bring in enough customers to keep business booming? Owner of furniture marketing agency R&A Marketing, Kevin Doran, joins Build Your Queue to discuss. You'll walk away understanding how to get hyper focused with your customer targeting, create repeat customers, and ultimately grow your profits.

Startup founders have a tough time educating customers, usually because your products are unique - first of their kind solutions that most people aren't familiar with. So how do you educate customers on your new product and why it's valuable? Felicia Jackson, founder of CPR Wrap, drops by Build Your Queue to discuss turning traumatic events (watching those close to her choke almost to death) into life-saving products, and how to educate potential customers without using fear. You'll walk away from this understanding how to connect with customers, find channel partners, and use education to draw engagement and grow sales.

Fitness studios and gyms see a boom in new memberships with new year's resolutions (and around other big holidays and promotions). But then there's a large drop off. What happens? Why do so many people who've just made this commitment choose to back out, and what can fitness professionals do about it? Loud Rumor's Brittany Welk and Corbyn May, who have worked on both the consultant and studio sides of the fitness business, joined Build Your Queue to talk customer retention, effective marketing, and putting yourself in a place to grow without straining your resources. This is can't-miss content for anyone running a fitness studio, gym, or personal training business.

Small businesses can be about more than making profits, but how do you balance leading a mission-fueled company with making money? According to Luis Contreras, Owner of The Local Juicery + Kitchen and Squeaky Clean, they should be one in the same. Check out Luis's story of immigrating to the U.S. from Venezuela, starting multiple businesses, and committing to impacting people's live through small business.

Kim White has spent decades running for-profit and non-profit organizations, and one of the keys to her (and her orgs') success is how she intentionally interacts with people - employees, customers, and others in her community. Kim joins The Queue to chat with Text Request VP of Marketing Kenneth Burke on putting those people skills to use to lead effectively and grow an organization.

Subscription businesses from magazines to clubs to software products are all trying to increase subscription revenue, but how do you do it? How do you bring in more customers, keep them longer, and encourage them to spend more? Co-founder and CEO of Profitwell, Patrick Campbell, joins The Queue to tell us. This episode covers gaining new subscribers, retaining them (or decreasing churn), and how to continually add more value so those subscribers are happy to pay you more. You'll walk away with advice on freemium services as a customer acquisition channel, good and bad approaches to handling retention, and how to price your services.

You'd rather do a few things that have a major impact than do a lot of things that have little impact, right? Today's episode of Build Your Queue is just for you! Alex Pang, author of Shorter, Rest, and The Distraction Addiction, and founder of Strategy and Rest, joins us in The Queue to discuss how you can accomplish more by doing less. We discuss creative and impactful work, restorative rest, and creating systems that empower you to pack a bigger punch. This episode's filled with science and practical applications. After listening, you'll understand why constant work is counterproductive, know how to create personal boundaries that set you up for success, and how to shape a company culture of accomplishing more by doing less.

It's no secret - there's been a major shift to working from home, and it's not going away anytime soon. How can company leaders handle the transition and set their teams up for long term success? Chris Wilson, CEO of Smart Furniture, joins The Queue to discuss. In this episode we talk about differences in work from home and office cultures, taking care of employees, and where companies need to improve. You'll walk away knowing what your employees need to be successful working from home, how you can improve communications and management to make distributed employees work for your company, and common mistakes company leaders make that you can address.

Local businesses face lots of competition, both from other local businesses and from larger brands who've set up shop in town. How do you compete? How do you stand out from the pack and grow your business? Justin Knott, President of Intrepy Healthcare Marketing, joins The Queue to discuss. In this episode we talk about understanding your customers, storytelling, using social proof effectively, and more. After listening, you'll know how to craft a compelling story to market to customers, when to use organic tactics vs. paid tactics, and ultimately how to win your local market.

Running a business is tough, and there are always pressing issues or tasks you need to handle. But business leaders can get so caught up in that day-to-day problem solving, that they miss out on the big picture, on long-term growth opportunities. How do you fix that? Marcus Shaw, Executive Director for The Company Lab startup accelerator, joins The Queue to discuss. In this episode we discuss how to look at longer term trends, finding the right talent or hire to help you do that if it's not your strong suit, and how a strategic plan is a living, breathing document. You'll walk away knowing how to put a strategic plan in place, improve on what you have, and - most importantly - how to execute that plan successfully over time.

Many businesses think they're doing great things, and wonder why media professionals aren't covering their successes. Others want media coverage, but aren't sure how to go about getting it. Mary Fortune, Staff Writer for the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Editor of EDGE Magazine, joins The Queue to share her decades of experience in both journalism and corporate communications to show business professionals how to get the coverage they want. Mary discusses a day in the life of a writer, what goes into a story, and how to make sure your pitches stand out. Listeners will walk away knowing how to build quality relationships with media pros, craft a pitch that resonates with a writer's audience, and get the coverage you want.

Studies show that sales and marketing leaders view in-person events as their #1 lead generation tactic. So how do you host a successful event that makes your brand look great and brings in new business? Mackenzie Burysek, Event Sales Manager with LEO Events, joins the Build Your Queue podcast to discuss. We'll cover what successful events have in common, what attendees want to get out of your event, and how to structure your event to encourage lead generation. You'll walk away feeling confident in hosting your own event to build quality customer relationships and close new deals.

Getting in front of prospective customers is always valuable, so how can you use public speaking as a strategic customer acquisition channel? Max Farrell, co-founder and CEO of Workhound, joins The Queue to discuss. We talk about gaining the confidence and skills to speak publicly, finding opportunities that will yield positive ROIs for your company, and how to turn opportunities into deals closed. You'll walk away knowing how to host and market an effective speaking event, what content needs to be included in your talk, and how to handle public speaking for virtual events.

Running a store and building a brand are both difficult. Doing it entirely online is perhaps even more tough, because you have fewer personal interactions. So how do you define and grow a strong ecommerce brand? Rob Bettis, an independent paid media manager for ecommerce brands, joins the Build Your Queue podcast to teach us all about it. We'll talk about standing out from competitors, earning loyal followers, and growing your brand online. After listening you'll know how to create a concrete foundation to succeed online, how to bring in and keep customers, and how to use paid media to pour fuel on your fire.

Businesses often need more capital to create or execute on opportunities. How can you think strategically about where you get your capital from, and whether you need outside funding at all? Forbes 30 under 30 honoree and Partner with Dynamo Ventures Santosh Sankar joins us in The Queue to discuss. We talk about different funding sources, what you give up and get with each, and what funding looks like during (and after) a pandemic. After listening, you'll know whether outside investment is the best option for you, the mindset you need to have going into your search, what mistakes to avoid, and how to get the most value out of every dollar raised.