The phrase, “New Year, New Me,” could not be more fitting to describe the client we’re talking with today, only we think they would spell it “New Year, ‘NU’ Me.”

In this episode, we’re talking with Alvaro Vaselli, Founder & CEO of Nuvanna: an online mattress retail company. See what we did there?

Only six months ago, Alvaro came to us looking for a social media marketing agency to help spread Nuvanna’s message about bringing balance to your life through a better night’s sleep. We are so excited to help Alvaro and his team of experts launch this company because we truly believe in their mission, and we're looking forward to learning how to find more balance in our own lives.

As the leader of Nuvanna, Alvaro brings a unique set of skills to the online mattress industry. Not only does he bring his specific expertise in mattress engineering, but also he brings his personal experience of learning to live a more balance life.

A few years ago, Alvaro recognized an imbalance in his priorities: He was spending too much time working and not enough time on the things that mattered to him. After his success in realigning his priorities, Alvaro wanted to help others learn how to bring balance to their lives - starting with a better night’s sleep.

Over the next 30 minutes, you’ll hear about Alvaro’s journey to balance, the three moments where your mattress is the cornerstone of your health, why what’s in your mattress matters to how well you sleep, and why this mattress company’s mission makes them different from other retailers.

If you’re like us and you’re looking to bring more balance to your life, we definitely recommend listening to this one!

Today, Jeff’s talking about how to better understand your Facebook Ad results.

Recently, a client asked Jeff how to tell the difference between terms like reach, impressions, engagements, and so on.

So if you’re looking for a quick explanation to help you keep these key terms straight, take a listen and join us in The Classroom.

Originally hailing from Brisbane, Australia, Kris has worked in SEO since the olden days. Now, Kris' the founder of a digital marketing agency that he calls Ardor SEO.

When Kris first entered the giant black hole of SEO, he was just a "wee backlink creator." As SEO evolved, Kris has spun deeper into the vortex, and his company grew into a full service SEO company. And now, they’re transitioning into conversion-optimization that specializes in bringing business to your door.

On this week’s show, you’ll hear about gaining authority through some old and new SEO tricks. You’ll also hear Kris’s take on the grand state of SEO. Enjoy!

Coming to us from Miami, Florida, Ryan Stewart is the founder of WEBRIS, a digital marketing agency, owner of an e-commerce store that sells shoelaces called Laces Out, and creator of some damn good SEO training courses.

Initially skeeved out by the online course market, Ryan made his way to trainings by deciding that he needed to find the best way to train his own staff. After realizing how well his trainings actually worked, he decided to roll out his product to the public.

In this episode, you’ll hear how Ryan built his trainings, chose a price, and marketed to his lists. Ryan breaks down his process, step by step, so if you’re gearing up to build an online course don’t skip this one!

Jon came to True Voice Media at the beginning of his career in Social Media. It was important to me that as an employee of True Voice Media, Jon understood the proper way to create social media strategy. It was important to me that he had depth. It was important to me that he learned “the right way to do it.”

Jon was an amazing contributor while he was here.

He worked on strategy. He conducted research. He interfaced directly with clients.

He started, and hosted, our original podcast: Social Echoes. Look at the guest list, it’s epic! Jon really got the who’s who of Social.

When Jon left True Voice Media for Pet360 it was rough for me, but it was exciting to watch him flourish at Pet360.

Jon has been very successful, and I like to think a lot of that is a testament to the work we did together and the theories and frameworks he learned while he was here. When I first got into this industry, there were certain voices that resonated with me, people who just made sense. People like Brian Solis, Jerimiah Owyang, Avinash Kaushik, Mitch Joel, and many more…

Today, we talk about why it’s so important “who gets to you first.”

We don’t just connect with people because they talk.

Stories aren’t always about two people because sometimes to the most powerful stories in the world, are the ones we tell ourselves. There are stories we tell ourselves about the world we’re in, or who we are in that world we inhabit. The greatest storytellers know much that today’s garden variety chatterheads and Snapchat ranters do not.

In this episode, Shannon Presson gives us a master class in the what it means to be a storyteller. Listen in, I’m sure you’ll get a lot out of it.

Parchelle is the owner of Fresh Level Productions, and she’s been doing more than just producing video, she’s been marketing videos for her clients to drive actual results.

Listen in to find out more about best practices, hear us talk about Facebook Live and Periscope, social advertising, and what today’s video production companies are working on.

But once in a while, an episode just clicks in a unique way. Everything just seems to flow. Once in a while, I have a guest come on who I could talk to almost indefinitely.

Today’s episode features Tom Asacker, a multiple time author, a blogger, a brand strategist, and really so much more. Tom is a deep thinker, someone who examines all sides of things.

In this episode we talk about belief, brand, identity, happiness, and much more. This is without a doubt one of my favorite episodes of this show and I’m thrilled to publish it.

Ivy dropped by the show to chat a bit about how digital has impacted her business, and her perspective on how business has changed since she left her last business as a printer, to work with entrepreneurs instead.

Don’t miss it.

Then there’s Tony Wilkins…

Tony doesn’t get involved in “networking” at least not the kind I just described. Tony has been systematically building a network of valuable people with whom he has a reciprocal exchange of value. It’s what brought him to this show highly recommended, and it’s why Tony and I instantly recognized each other as birds of a feather.

In this episode, Tony shares his life’s work of building a network, and tells you exactly how he approaches it.

Be smart. Listen to this episode.

She now coaches women entrepreneurs and anyone else that needs to get out of their own way. If you’ve ever said any of the following to yourself, don’t miss this episode:

I don’t know what to do next.
I feel like I have tried everything.
I am tired of trying to do this alone, I need help now.
I wish I had a simple checklist to follow every day to help me grow my business.

I need someone who understands me and what I want to create.

I am tired of working so hard and not making any progress.

She’s also the best-selling book The Artful Marketer: The Fundamental Business Guide for Creative Entrepreneurs.

Listen to this episode as Jeremy shares how he learned the ins-and-outs of direct response copywriting and perfected the art of the sales funnel to the tune of more than $50 million dollars of results for his clients.

Doesn’t that sound like something worth listening to?

From the quaint little town of Chicago, Dean DeLisle calls himself the Founder and CEO of Forward Progress...but I just call him Dean.

He has a wealth of digital marketing experience, logging more than 13 years in this one business alone. But Dean didn’t start here and that’s the point...he’s always making Forward Progress ;)

Today, Dean is here to talk to us about how building a strong team of hardworking and trustworthy people helped him get to where he wanted to go. And now, Dean has made it his personal mission to show everyone how to do the same for themselves through his system: Social Jack.

In this episode you’ll hear how Dean discovered, early in his childhood, that he is an entrepreneur. We talk about “social teaming,” a concept you’ll need to know about in order to build your ideal team.

Now, I know that I hype my guests, and mainly that’s because I get incredible guests on my show. But this episode is SERIOUSLY a CAN’T MISS episode if you want to know about Conversion Optimization.

We start with the basics and slowly progress into the frameworks that make up the art of Conversion Optimization. This episode is one of our longer ones. I threw our sponsor clip at the beginning and that’s it, no other interruptions. Just 57 minutes of hardcore knowledge dropping.

Snapchat may not be ideal for every business but Saba makes the case that plenty of businesses should be considering it, and she even goes so far as to give clear examples of how.

If you want to hear Saba design ways of using Snapchat for companies ranging from real estate agents to a local deli, listen to this episode.

In this episode, Saba and I have our usual fun and witty banter but we focus entirely on this new thing the kids are using these days called Snapchat.

Listen in if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines of Snapchat, watching your kids use it, or just started and find yourself trying to figure out what it’s all about.

With hard work, thoughtful progress, and a willingness to make mistakes, Jonny lays out what it takes to take your life to a whole new level. Don’t miss this episode and be sure to head over to hacktheentrepreneur.com and subscribe to his show. It’s fantastic!

Admittedly this is not my area of expertise, but we’ve added a new segment to our podcast called The Classroom, and today I’m going to give a high level overview of how to do this, and then provide a bunch of great resources for you to check out.

In this episode of our podcast, Ron Tite schooled us, in the most entertaining way, about how the life of a professional speaker and owner of a content marketing agency is everything we thought it would be, and that you should quit your job to follow in his footsteps. That might not be what he was meaning to convey but once you listen to this episode, it will become quite clear I think.

All jokes aside, Ron is a wealth of information and a true pro, who is generous with sharing his ideas, time, experience, and insight. Ron and I go over tips for being a more effective speaker, embracing our flaws, and how content marketing drives real business results…along the way we giggled and laughed.

Don’t miss this episode. Seriously.

With so many people focused on one particular aspect of Social Media (such as marketing or sales), it’s refreshing to have a conversation about the big picture: Social Business. Bernie not only defines it, but puts it in context.

If you’ve been listening for a while and still don’t quite “get” social business, this is the episode to listen to.

Tim also wrote a blog post encouraging marketers to make one of several different new year’s resolutions. Learn about three of them in this episode!

As a result he’s built a business entirely around helping people get through the barriers that stand in the way of growth, focusing most notably on sales.

With a high integrity based sales approach, Ian helps clients see the bigger picture and close more sales in a way that never feels icky.

Come learn about sales in this highly actionable podcast episode with notable author, and keynote speaker, Ian Altman of Grow My Revenue.

She deeply understands how to create the right content, at the right time, for the right person.

Lucky for you, she shares all about it in this episode.

We talk Linkedin, podcasting, and the other up and coming trends of the web.

Howard is a sharp dude, and he’s got “the goods” to help you deliver. Don’t miss this episode.

But there’s a good story as to why he uses bacon in his marketing, and you’ll have to listen to this delicious episode to learn why.

Beyond that, Brian is a kindred spirit of social media marketing coming to us with years upon years of experience in a variety of different media disciplines.

Don’t miss this episode, Brian’s sharp and you’d be sad not to hear this one.

She helps leaders and organizations build on their strengths, unearth their super powers, and create robust workplace and team environments that get powerful business results.

In addition to doing work with forward thinking organizations and leaders, she is currently exploring how humans and machines/robots will work together in the future, and the changing world of work.

The mere sound of Maile’s voice is going to soothe away your worries, make you smile, and unleash your an insatiable curiosity. Don’t miss this episode.

In this conversation, Amol Waishampayan, Digital Creative Director for Stream Companies, walks us through the various ways in which Facebook ads have evolved, and how it has changed the meaning of Social Media as we once knew it.

Intrigued? You should be. Listen in.

In this episode, we talk all about Social Sales. The stages of social selling, why you should be social selling, and how to stay on top of the best practices.

If you want to more about the future of Periscope, Meerkat, Blab and live streaming video, you need to tune in to this episode.

Step 1: Admit to yourself that you don’t really understand Linkedin Advertising.

Step 2: Listen to this episode to hear AJ Wilcox break it down and help you better understand just how to do it right.

This is one of the most valuable conversations you’ll hear on our Podcast if you’re trying to reach your audience on Linkedin.

He’s also the author of Content Machine, and is currently working on a handful of other projects.

Dan came onto the podcast to drop some knowledge about being an entrepreneur, finding ideas that stick, and how content marketing helped him build his business in ways other tactics could never dream of.

Dan also gave us a giant list of tools to check out. Take a look in the show notes below.

We were lucky enough to grab some time to chat with Julie about how companies can do well, while doing good.

Mike has been featured on Business Insider, Content Marketing Institute, Huffington Post, and more. Take a listen to today’s episode.

#RealTalk

Thousands of people around the web know of Carlos Gil. He’s become a prime example of how you can use social media to advance your career. Carlos is seemingly everywhere on the web and in this episode of Conversations, I sit down with Carlos to find out how he gets it all done.

In this episode I talk to Q about how he conducts research, how to build the sales organization of the future, and where exactly he gets all of the cool stuff he finds on the web.

Thanks for coming back Q. Take a listen everyone.

I don’t care what industry you are in, following in Ramon’s foot steps is a recipe for success because no matter what business you are in, your customers are people.

Please, please, please listen to this podcast. If more businesses operated like how Ramon suggests, we’d have a much better world.

In my opinion, Mark is one of the most insightful and level headed people in the world of Social Media and Strategy. He doesn’t get wrapped up in fads for the sake of following the crowd, but instead artfully surveys and analyzes the digital landscape and breaks down the trends into easily understood concepts. This is what makes him such an effective blogger, author and educator: his knack for practical insight.

Recently, Mark wrote a post called content shock that has gotten a tremendous amount of attention, and rightfully so. In this post he details how the adoption of “content marketing” as a central component of a strategy is not sustainable. As the web gets more crowded and noisy, it becomes more difficult to stand out. In today’s podcast, we discuss this same phenomenon across everything, from social media, to apps, to people.

With an entrepreneurial spirit, deep knowledge of social media, and a winning personality, Elly Deutch is one of those people you’d be smart to follow.

She has recently moved into the position of Associate Director of Digital and Social Media for Garrett Popcorn.

As the owner and founder of Proudly Represents, a PR firm based out of Amsterdam, Remco has been working with startups across Europe to capture people’s minds and imaginations.

Meanwhile he’s been showing everyone how to bootstrap your way into an amazing career.

Remco doesn’t hold back on bit in this episode. Prepare yourself.

How should value be assigned to your Facebook status update history?

Have you thought about all of the passwords you have across the web and who will assume control of those sites when you die?

Digital Death is a conversation that we’re not having nearly enough. Holly Isdale is about to change that.

As a foremost thought leader in this space, Holly has been pondering everything from the Terms of Service to the value of virtual goods and everything else. As an attorney and a financial advisor, Holly has a wealth of information on this subject.

Have a listen, trust me, it’s worth our time.

Nick is the co-founder of e-commerce consulting company I’m From The Future, and also the owner of a top ranked SEO blog.

In 2013 Nick published a book titled “How to Do Keyword Research for SEO,” that has sold over 5,000 copies.

Corey is Google AdWords certified, a Certified Inbound Marketer, and a leading authority on the notion of Social Equity and Responsive Branding.

As the author of t2 Marketing’s social business blog and a keynote speaker, Corey regularly shares his wealth of knowledge in the realm of social media and its applications to business in the digital age.

He’s also just plain, good old fashioned awesome! He’s just like me, only younger, smarter and with 75% more Canada

Tori left public school her freshman year to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and never looked back.

At just 13, Tori founded Utoria, an entrepreneurial community where young women can access all of the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to be successful.

She’s had to overcome her fair share of obstacles, from the early death of her father to being diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, but she never let that hold her back from reaching her goals and now she teaches and mentors others to do the same.

With an inspirational take on life and business, Peter is one of those people you’d be lucky to meet in life.

In this podcast we discuss all sorts of things from Peter’s early days, how companies can be both successful and caring, to the future of the social internet as we know it. Don’t miss this episode.

He’s been named one of the top 30 people in Social Selling. The guy is just smart.

In this episode, we talk about how sales has changed and what you can do about it.

In those early days of social media where only a handful of early adopters were on Twitter and there was more conversation than promotion, Gloria and I became friends, first online, and then offline.

We’ve attended conferences together, worked as board members for Social Media Club Philadelphia, attended numerous tech, social media and startup events, and even worked on a few projects together. Gloria is also the person that taught the course I’m teaching at Drexel before me.

But enough about how we met, here’s what you should know about Gloria: she is one of the most kind-hearted people you could ever have the opportunity to meet. I like to call her the virtual hug because she brings empathy online like no one I’ve ever met. Not only does she get how to create and maintain deep human connections, she’s also smart and observant. She’s been doing the social media thing before it had a name.

Don’t miss this episode.

In the beginning, you may not understand Q, many don’t. The way he speaks can simultaneously seem profoundly deep and stunningly simple.

He will say something such as “just do the thing.” By itself, the statement seems to fit with other idioms like “it is what it is.” But once you grasp the depth of Q’s thought process, you see it’s a part of something far larger.

Q is a man on a mission to build strong people and he does it in a variety of ways, but most importantly, by saying exactly what it is that you need to hear.

This is Q’s first podcast appearance, but if you want the full Q Xavier experience, you’ll just have to seek him out using the links below.

Sound crazy? Maybe you should listen to this podcast and hear about how it’s going.

He’s the Digital Marketing Evangelist at Marketo, a leading Marketing Automation Platform (one we’re very fond of).

DJ is a prominent speaker, blogger and author. He’s very cool and lucky for you, we recorded our conversation for your listening pleasure.

Mark is the CEO of Evolve and Raynforest, a sports influencer marketplace.

He’s also a prominent speaker, blogger and author.

You’ll want to listen to this one.

But we’re not just rehashing the same topics you see and read about on other blogs.

We don’t get stuck on theory or buzzwords. Scott brings world class, real-life experience working with IBM and its clients. As one of the leading thinkers in the space, Scott was kind enough to stop by for a second visit to give us his six predictions for social business in 2014.

This episode runs a little longer than most, but that’s because it’s simply not possible to jam all this awesome into 30 minutes.

So grab a nice Venti latte, settle into your favorite comfy chair and relax, because for the next 64 minutes, we’re droppin’ some serious knowledge.

Maybe he always was.

One thing is for sure, the first time I met Bob I was sure that he was going to be one of those people that lead the charge for using data effectively in this new world. The dude is just plain smart, but he’s also able to communicate some really intense ideas in a way that is relatable.

So when I got the opportunity to pick his brain about data, how could I refuse?

Take some time to listen to this interesting conversation and get some insights about how to use data more effectively in your business.

I’ve always been fascinated by people who can work effectively inside of a company, especially because I have so much difficulty in scenarios where I’m not the boss.

Jamie set aside some time to tell me how to go about being an effective intrapreneur, and how he’s helping people use technology more efficiently. Take some time to listen to this interesting conversation.

We talked about the status of conferences (specifically social media ones), employee engagement, employee advocacy, social business, and some other stuff…I don’t even remember it all, it’s a big blur!

I hope you take some time out of your day to grab a pumpkin spice latte and give this episode a listen.

She tells us all about disaster response and the role of Social Media.

We talk about Superheroes, open source technology, the “appification” of the web, web design trends, the post PC era, the second screen and more… Sit back, throw on those headphones and get your learn on.