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5 Secrets on Getting the Most Out of Partnerships
April 28, 2015
Entrepreneur
Every entrepreneur and business leader needs something — money, information, technology, relationships or whatever.
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How to Make Money By Talking to Cool People
You’re always looking for ways to bolster your digital marketing strategy and stand out as an expert in your field, so why not consider hosting a podcast series?
Sure, it’s not exactly bleeding edge, but the practice is expanding. In fact, podcasting grew 105 percent between 2006 and 2012, and the number of customers listening jumped 163%.
According to a survey KnowledgeStorm and Universal McCann conducted, 65% of business and IT professionals listen to podcasts for personal and business purposes, and 60 percent interviewees said whitepapers and analyst reports would be more attractive in podcast form.
That is a huge potential for a strong revenue stream–plus a brand and credibility boost.
Think about it this way: You’ve spent years gathering knowledge, and now you have tools to share it with the world. How empowering is that?
Learn From the Best
Podcasting is a portable way to communicate a message, which fits seamlessly into an entrepreneur’s busy lifestyle. It doesn’t need to be live–it’s on-demand. And you can forgo the screen because it plugs into your smartphone or car. It’s a brand extension that demonstrates your expertise and credibility to your target audience and sets you apart from competitors.
Celebrities and entrepreneurs alike have begun to capitalize on these incredible benefits.
For example, Internet marketer Brendon Burchard led the charge in building audiences, teaching them techniques in certain verticals, and selling them products or events that dive deep into the topic. For Burchard, this has netted millions and launched several New York Times best sellers.
Television mogul Kathie Lee Gifford also runs a successful podcast. She promotes her brand affiliates, such as Walmart, and hosts a long line of celebrity guests each week. An especially entertaining moment was hearing Gifford try to explain podcasts to an incredulous Regis Philbin.
“You mean they can hear this anywhere in the country?” Philbin asked. “No Reg, they can hear this anywhere in the world,” Gifford retorted. “It’s a radio show that goes out in cyberspace.”
5 Keys to Podcasting Success
These entrepreneurs didn’t create successful podcasts overnight, though. They planned and prepared carefully. Here are five tricks to cut down time and achieve rapid success:
- Plan ahead. If you’re doing a solo show, you might want to script it. For some, this means writing down every word you plan to say. For others, it’s making a cheat sheet of topics you want to cover in case you lose your place.
- Consult your knowledge bank. If you can’t decide where to start, sift through old blog posts or articles you’ve written, and use them as a guide or script. Choose a post that’s a few months old so the content isn’t too new but is still relevant.
- Find the right platform. Podcast success stories aren’t limited to massive spaces such as PodcastOne and iTunes. Other venues–including Libsyn and BlogTalkRadio–have built huge followings of do-it-yourselfers on social media. Keep your options open.
- Let your guests do the talking. If you’re doing an interview-based show, coach your guest with premade questions beforehand. Hosting a guest is also another promotional outlet, so make sure to ask interviewees to promote shows by linking to them on their website, blog, social media sites, email, etc.
- Get it on paper. Invest a few dollars to get the interview transcribed and sent to your guests soon after. You can also post it on your website’s blog or newsletter. I recycle the audios for an audiobook and have also created a series of audio “snacks” from my series I call “Coffee & Connections.” It’s another way for listeners to engage, and with a modest annual subscription fee attached, it provides a passive revenue stream. For entrepreneurs who teach, you can repurpose these into workbooks or audio portions of subscription-based training products, such as Kajabi.
The benefits podcasting has produced for my brand has far outweighed the risks–and the solid brand recognition that accompanies interviewing intriguing people is a fantastic asset and differentiator for any entrepreneur. So next time you’re searching for a new digital marketing tactic, consider a podcast. The personal and professional impact it’ll have might surprise you.
This article was previously published in Inc.com magazine
To your best success,
Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC
PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter
PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)
4 Ways to Make the Most of Your Mentor-Mentee Relationship
Whether you’ve never had one before or you’ve heard horror stories from friends, it’s natural to be a little skeptical of the whole mentor-mentee thing, especially if you’re familiar with the competitive business world.
Somehow–by fate or circumstance–you’re supposed to meet a successful, experienced entrepreneur who just happens to want to chitchat about your ideas for hours each week and has the time and inclination to do so?
In a climate where there’s no free lunch, it’s easy to assume there’s a hidden catch. But if you feel this way, it’s because you don’t understand how mentorship helps your mentor. Did you know that training and advising mentees is a powerful way for your mentor to gain leadership skills and team-building experience? And that mentees often help their mentors understand things in new ways through feedback, communication, and interpersonal skills?
The most satisfied mentees are the ones who recognize that every meeting has the potential to help their mentors advance their own careers, too. There are a few simple things you can do to make sure that reciprocal value gets created, including the following:
- Build a Reciprocal Relationship Research shows that people put more into relationships when they share common values and personalities. If you suspect your mentor isn’t getting anything out of your relationship, it might be because you’re asking her to chat up a brick wall or it’s simply not a good fit. Work toward making your relationship reciprocal by asking insightful, personal questions, sharing personal stories of your own, and offering to help whenever possible. At the very least, spring for lunch every once in a while. Do everything you can to make sure your relationship is a two-way street, and you’ll uncover a much more animated, energetic mentor.
- Know Your Role Understanding each person’s expectations is a key ingredient in relationship building, and the mentor-mentee relationship is no exception. Each party needs to understand her role in the relationship and approach the conversation with that attitude. For example, if your mentor prefers to offer straightforward coaching, it’s up to you to adjust your expectations and be flexible and responsive to her advice. This give and take allows both individuals to contribute to (and benefit from) the relationship.
- Don’t Shy Away From Your Expertise Your mentor knows that you have expertise outside of her wheelhouse. Don’t shy away from this fact in an effort to protect her feelings. Playing dumb will only make you a bad mentee. For example, if you’re a Millennial mentee partnered with a baby boomer mentor, you might be able to provide insight into up-and-coming tech trends that could prove valuable to her. It’s that give and take (more emphasis on the give) that will make the relationship between the two of you stand out.
- Take Advice and Offer Feedback When your mentor invests time in your relationship and offers you advice, it’s wise to consider taking it if it makes sense to do so. There’s nothing worse than a mentee who listens, ignores, and doesn’t even follow up on practical advice that’s offered to her. If you’re on the receiving end of advice, it’s up to you to implement it and keep your mentor updated on how those strategies are working out. If you don’t plan to take the advice, stand up for yourself and explain your thinking. This deeper discussion might help your mentor understand your position, or it might expose a misunderstanding that was preventing you from embracing the idea. Who knows? It might even reveal a better idea.
If you’re skeptical about why a mentor would want to partner with a mentee, it may be because you don’t have a plan in place to make it worth her while. Figure out what you have to offer your mentor, and do everything you can to provide that value. It’s how you’ll build a reciprocal, mutual relationship that benefits you both in the long term.
This article was previously published in Inc.com magazine
To your best success,
Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC
PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter
PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)
Streaming and Beyond: Apple Will Lead the Way to the Next Music Experience
If you wanted to listen to a certain song just 30 years ago, you had two options: You could buy the physical album, or you could spend an afternoon waiting for the song to come on the radio so you could record it on a cassette tape in your boom box.
Now, almost any song is just a click away. First, there were on-demand services such as Napster, then came the iPod and other portable MP3 players. Today, millions of people sign up for streaming services such as Pandora, Spotify, and Google Play Music for a nearly unlimited supply of music.
Listeners now control the entire experience. We can listen to our favorite artists or songs at any time and on any device. Streaming has even made the listening experience social. Services such as Spotify are integrated with Facebook, allowing listeners to see what their friends are listening to in real time, making it easy to discover new music.
But what’s next for the listening experience? For now, streaming music services are going strong, but the future of music — streaming and beyond — will likely be heavily influenced by the company that has already remade the music industry: Apple.
Apple’s New Streaming Service Will Start With a Lead
During my 10-plus years leading music and entertainment initiatives at Apple, I helped set the company on a course to become an innovator in the way artists create, market, and distribute music. Back then, the effort revolved around the Macintosh and Pro Tools, leading into the digital revolution. Then, Apple created the iPod and iTunes to move the music industry beyond the analog era, and the rest is (well-documented) history.
Apple has retained its focus on music to this day, so it’s no surprise that it will continue to play a key role in determining the future of the listening experience. Its latest effort began last year when the company bought Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion. At the time, I predicted the acquisition might be the company’s smartest move yet, and if recent reports can be trusted, it appears this will prove correct.
The first fruits of the Apple-Beats collaboration are likely to arrive this year, according to 9to5Mac, which reported in February that Apple was working on a new paid streaming music service based on Beats’ technologies and music content integrated into the iTunes service.
The service reportedly will cost $7.99 per month — which is $2 cheaper than rivals such as Spotify and Google Play Music — and will be integrated into iTunes and the default Music app on iOS.
The lower price tag is a clear advantage, but beyond that, the service would launch with a huge potential customer base. By integrating the new service into iOS, iTunes, and Apple TV, Apple will reach all of its hundreds of millions of customers in addition to existing subscribers to the Beats Music streaming service.
Apple is also reportedly revamping the Beats Music Android application, so it, too, will attract customers who use the mobile operating system with the largest global market share.
Combine Apple’s price advantage, its marketing prowess, and its unsurpassed market penetration with its history as a music innovator, and you have a solid foundation for streaming success.
Music Innovation Won’t Stop at Streaming
Although Apple is set to launch a streaming service that could quickly become an industry leader, the company isn’t content to stop there. Apple knows that customers crave a unique experience that combines the best of streaming and physical CDs, and it’s working on a product to meet that demand.
Apple and U2 have been collaborating on a secret interactive digital music experience— something so unique and engaging that it could tempt music fans into buying whole albums again. According to Bono, this new audiovisual format can’t be pirated and will bring back album artwork while giving fans a behind-the-songs experience.
Fans always want to be closer to their favorite artists. During my time at Apple, my friend Ty Roberts of Gracenote created the technology behind the enhanced CD, which offered an immersive listening experience and helped to usher in the digital music revolution.
Today, Apple and U2 appear poised to bring a next-generation version of that concept to the digital world, while helping artists protect their rights and income.
Streaming music as it exists today probably isn’t the final destination for music because we crave something more — a richer experience that combines what we miss with what’s still to come. Just as it did with the iPod and iTunes, Apple will create the next listening experience that will help us delve deeper into our favorite tracks and get closer to our favorite artists.
This article was first published on www.huffingtonpost.com/tech/.
To your best success,
Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC
PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter
PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)
Streaming and Beyond: Apple Will Lead the Way to the Next Music Experience
April 6, 2015
The Huffington Post
You could buy the physical album, or you could spend an afternoon waiting for the song to come on the radio so you could record it on a cassette tape in your boom box.
Read the entire article here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/streaming-and-beyond-appl_b_6996898
Peter Bregman
Is It Time to Spring Clean Your Business? Here’s How to Do It
April 3, 2015,
Inc.
Can Apple’s Interactive Digital Music Solution Refresh the Music Industry?
When U2 released its album “Songs of Innocence” with an exclusive iTunes partnership, the band was trying to figure out something a bit more complex than simply reaching as many fans as possible. It was grappling with which side of music history it wanted to fall into: the “stream or die” path of slowly decreasing record sales and pirated downloads or the path to reviving the music industry.
While automatically downloading the album to all iTunes users’ libraries felt a little too “Big Brother” for some consumers, it’s a great example of revenue-generating experiments on the horizon. As piracy and streaming continue to cut into artists’ revenues, bands and record labels are actively upping their game to encourage fans to purchase more music, goods, and experiences.
Few artists are likely to follow in U2’s footsteps with the same strategy after the backlash from iTunes users, but when a challenge emerges in the market, we can always look to Apple to lead with the most creative solutions. The “Songs of Innocence” maneuver was Apple showing its hand: The solution to diminishing music sales could be an interactive digital music approach.
How Innovation Shaped the Music Industry’s Path.
Fans crave a sense of being closer to the artist, and even 20 years ago, Apple was involved in making this happen. During my years at Apple, my good friend Ty Roberts of Gracenote had created something called the enhanced CD, which created the same types of immersive artist-to-fan experiences for the CD (years ahead of the digital online music curve).
For more than 25 years, Apple has been a leading innovator in the way bands make, market, and distribute music. During my tenure driving music initiatives at Apple, I spent a fair amount of time encouraging artists to use Macintosh (coupled with software such as Pro Tools) as a partner in liberating their music-creation process from expensive recording studios. For the first time, artists could write, record, and mix their music from their own home studios at their leisure.
The digital landscape subsequently changed the industry forever. The 2001 introduction of the iPod and the launch of iTunes in 2003 were seismic shifts. But when songs first became available in MP3 format, pirating software such as Napster and BitTorrent took over, costing the music industry billions in illegally downloaded songs every year. To be fair, both services attempted to demonstrate to record labels how they could monetize the many millions of users who were accessing songs through these torrents — but those efforts fell on deaf ears back then.
This demand for free media led to the development of streaming music options such as Spotify and Rdio. While access to artists is at an all-time high (a pro for consumers and smaller bands), the sweeping popularity of these applications deprives established artists of fair compensation. Streaming music has its share of detractors, including Taylor Swift and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. These big-name naysayers choose to ride a new wave of marketing and distribution that will protect their hard-earned income: the creation of products desirable enough (and personal enough) to coax fans into paying.
How Interactivity Feeds the Artist and the Fan
Interactive digital music is one attempt at recapturing these lost music dollars. Rather than downloading individual songs (legally or illegally), interactive albums give fans access to a rich, immersive visual and audio experience with add-ons they can’t get from a streaming service, such as photography, interactive lyrics, and fan remixes.
Then, these interactive downloads can be woven into an artist-focused app that organizes each artist’s concerts, brand partnerships, merchandise, and product offerings into one place and sends revenue straight to the artist — instead of to the other players in the music ecosystem.
Interactive digital music is a perfect extension of Apple’s philosophy because it allows musicians to embrace their creativity and recapture some of what made physical albums special. It’s a flashback to a time when artists had the resources to care about the presentation of the artwork, write long-form albums on specific themes, and design a rich and powerful artist-to-fan experience.
Although we can sense hunger from fans for more of this engagement, we don’t yet know how much money they’re willing to pay for these types of experiences or how they’ll actually embrace these opportunities. One of the most important aspects of developing any new product is deciding whether it meets the needs and desires of consumers. But as Apple has proven time and again, consumers often don’t know they want something until it’s presented for them to try.
Like anything in marketing, interactive digital music is an evolving experiment. But as long as companies dabbling in this arena avoid a fiasco like Sony’s ill-fated anti-copy rootkit technology, there aren’t a whole lot of foreseeable downsides. Apple has the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the growing interest of artists, fans, and its own products that can deliver this new immersive experience.
The music industry has always been about more than sounding good and getting a record deal. But today, artists have to give more than ever just to get what they got in the past. Artists who want to recoup lost sales and protect their livelihood from piracy must be willing to try new things — and surprise and delight fans with engaging, cutting-edge, interactive experiences.
This article was first published on Innovation Insights.
To your best success,
Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC
PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter
PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)
How The Apple Watch Is Paving The Way To A New Generation Of Wearable Technology
When the iPod, iPhone, and iPad launched, they gave way to entirely new categories of MP3 players, smartphones, and portable computers. They were hardly necessities when they hit the market, and the prices seemed exorbitant at launch. In fact, people didn’t realize they wanted–let alone needed–these devices as part of their lifestyles when they first came out. That’s part of Apple’s magic.
Each of those devices proved its worth over time by offering consumers simple conveniences through innovative technology. Now, iPhones and iPads are ubiquitous and deemed essential items for businesspeople, students, and anyone with a desire to be connected.
The next frontier is wearable technology, and with the Apple Watch set to arrive this spring, Apple is preparing to blaze the trail in the marketplace, just as it did with its other iconic devices.
The Difference Is in the Details
Apple devices have gone mainstream because they’ve transformed people’s lives for the better. That was the primary goal. The products enabled users to become more productive and efficient, with the minimalist style and ease that Apple products are famous for. While its smartwatch might not be the first one in its class, Apple is determined to set it apart from the rest.
For starters, the company hired several established senior-level executives from the fashion industry to collaborate on the watch and invited fashion houses to weigh in. The result? A watch that offers unparalleled stylistic options and personalization. And once you get past the beauty of it, you can peel back the layers and discover the functionality that makes this wearable unique.
As expected, the Apple Watch will integrate seamlessly with other Apple devices and connect with Siri to enable quick reminders and real-time requests. The watch also supports Apple Pay, which is being accepted by a growing number of retailers.
Users will no longer have to fumble around to find their hotel keycards and boarding passes, either. The watch will unlock hotel rooms at select chains and speed users through the airport with boarding pass access in select airlines.
Like the iPhone, the Apple Watch will continue to simplify a number of daily tasks. Before long, you’ll wonder how you ever functioned without it.
The Future of the Apple Watch and Wearable Tech
The functionality of wearable tech makes these items true lifestyle partners. As they assist you with multiple routine tasks in personal and professional settings, they’ll quickly become must-haves due to how integrated they are in your life.
The Apple Watch will give you the power to optimize daily tasks, leverage apps for information and communication, and be more productive and efficient in general, just as smartphones do. But with the Apple Watch, you’ll be able to do it all hands-free rather than having to carry your phone around in your hand.
But as wearables become mainstream, the industry will become ripe for innovation in multiple directions. Although few consumers have gotten past Apple Watch’s sticker shock, more niche groups will inevitably be identified as potential customers, including those interested in tracking personal fitness (be it weekend warriors or professional athletes) and elite frequent flyers.
When Apple revolutionized smartphones with a more sophisticated (and expensive) option, some questioned the value in paying hundreds of dollars for a cell phone. Consumers also greeted the iPad with skepticism. But soon after, users uncovered the plethora of handy features and the immense value behind these products, and today, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s not clenching a smartphone at this very moment.
As the price of the Apple Watch comes down, the same will prove true with this new wearable tech. Instead of simply being a timekeeper, it will be a timesaver–and an indispensable part of your daily routine.
This article was first published on Inc.com
To your best success,
Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC
PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter
PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)
Dr. Judith Orloff, New York Times Best-Selling Author
Transforming the face of psychiatry, Judith Orloff MD asserts that we are keepers of an innate intuitive intelligence so perceptive that it can tell us how to heal — and prevent — illness.Yet intuition and spirituality are the very aspects of our wisdom usually disenfranchised from traditional health care.
Dr. Orloff is accomplishing for psychiatry what physicians like Dean Ornish and Mehmet Oz have done for mainstream medicine — she is proving that the links between physical, emotional, and spiritual health can’t be ignored. Dr. Orloff is a New York Times bestselling author and is on the UCLA psychiatric clinical faculty. She specializes in treating empaths and sensitive people in her Los Angeles based private practice. She has spoken at medical schools, hospitals, the American Psychiatric Association, Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women Summit, and alternative and traditional health forums — venues where she presents practical intuitive tools to doctors, patients, and everyday people. In response to her work, The Los Angeles Times calls Dr. Orloff “a prominent energy-based healer.”
Dr. Orloff’s latest book “The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People” (Sounds True, 2017) is an invaluable resource to help sensitive people of all kinds develop healthy coping mechanisms in our high-stimulus world without experiencing compassion fatigue or burnout. Then empaths can fully embody their gifts of intuition, creativity, and compassion.
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-dr-judith-orloff
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Complimentary Access to NARM Webinar Thursday 9/22
I will be offering a 45 minute presentation with NARM this Thursday 9/22 at 1pm PST.
The team at NARM has graciously given me 15 free “seats” at the Webinar to share with my followers and colleagues. The topic will be “Taking The Crowd to The Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry,” which was the focus of my recent eBook.
Please use code WEBINAR-15-narm when you register to get your free access to this exciting Webinar. https://netforum.avectra.com/e
***NOTE: You go through the entire registration process before you get a chance to enter your code and save the $29 fee. But it’s there, don’t worry. Hope all 15 seats get used!
Kelli Richards,
CEO of the All Access Group
An Intimate Fireside Chat with Video Music Director and Producer, Robby Starbuck
This month’s Fireside Chat is an informal Q&A with Music Video Director and Producer, Robby Starbuck.
Robby Starbuck is an artist who’s willing to take huge risks to walk the walk and paint his unique voice on his own private canvas — film. He’s directed music videos for such amazing artists as: Snoop Dogg, Smashing Pumpkins, Escape The Fate, Metric The Sounds, Pierce The Veil and dozens of others and has, to date, almost 28 million views on his YouTube channel. CEO, Producer, Video and film director, Robby Starbuck is pioneering a new interpersonal relationship between music, video, artist and film. He is first an artist, but constantly raises the bar on himself as a CEO — and on the industry in which he operates.
Kelli: Let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about the industry itself. Video’s been given new life by social media, and especially through YouTube. Videos by Vevo alone were seen by almost 40% of the unique US videos last year. Do you think video will continue its new popularity after being on the decline for so long? AND if so, do you think mainstream media, like MTV, could jump back on board?
Robby Starbuck: Well there’s two answers there, I think absolutely yes, as far as video continuing its rise… if you look at the numbers and the statistics … and combine it all, it’s staggering. Now is the time when we see the most music videos ever watched in the history of television and the modern era. One thing that we have in the palm of our hands is that people are watching from third world countries, tiny cities in Africa. Do they have TV with MTV on it? I think not. But they’re watching on YouTube. As far as MTV goes, from what I know about production at MTV, I doubt there’s going to be a huge resurgence.
Kelli: Would you share, in broad strokes, what your social media campaign looks like and how you’ve used it (quite brilliantly, I might add) to embrace the fan tribe around your work?
Robby Starbuck: I really feel like such a huge part of me getting to do what I do was building a social network and a following, and my approach to it has always been wanting to know people. Still to this day you can access me any day. Some people would argue that it’s a bad thing, but I love it. I love having that connectivity with my audience. Yeah, I’m very accessible, you can contact me pretty much on any social network…. That’s been my approach, to just be me. I’ve had a lot of relationships grow just mentoring kids, where I’ve exchanged emails to try to keep them up. Kids need that. A lot of them don’t have a system or foundation to be confident. That’s what I’m trying to do, to give people something to believe in themselves about. Just loving people is what it’s about for me. Genuinely wanting to be a piece of the puzzle.
Click here to hear the entire interview…
Kelli Richards,
CEO of The All Access Group, LLC
An Intimate Fireside Chat with Thomas Dolby and Kelli Richards
This week’s “Fireside Chat“ was with the Iconic ’80s electronic music and MTV pioneer, Thomas Dolby. I’m very fortunate to know Thomas personally and professionally, for almost 20 years. Best known for his hit, “She Blinded Me with Science,” Thomas Dolby is much more than a recording artist, he’s also a Producer and the Music Director for TED. In fact, he’s STILL leading the tech revolution with his interactive game, Floating City, which reacts to player contributions, eventually granting access to Thomas’ newest music.
This is digital technology meeting music at its best!
Kelli Richards,
CEO of The All Access Group, LLC
The Gifts of the Digital Age – Remember 9/11
Like so many, I have my own story about 9/11, one which remains especially poignant for me. I was scheduled to be on Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco, returning from a trip to New York to see two-day concert that Michael Jackson did there to celebrate his 35th anniversary in the business. I had a terrible feeling about going to New York though — and didn’t wind up making the trip at all. I listened to that inner voice, and every day since, I feel that in some not so small way, I’m one of the lucky ones who survived.
Today’s article will be short. It reflects upon one of the most powerful testaments to the age of digital technology. Because of the advances in digital technology, we are able to keep alive the memories of those who lost loved ones on this day, ten years ago – and even more, to broadcast those memories to our nation and to our world. They do not remain locked in a vault somewhere, for eternity, they are instead broadcast to the far corners of the universe through social media.
https://storycorps.org/listen/stories/category/september-11/
For the past five years, StoryCorps and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have worked to record at least one story to honor each life lost on September 11, 2001, ten years ago today. To date, families and friends have memorialized nearly 600 individual victims of the attacks through the StoryCorps interview process. When the 9/11 Memorial opened this morning, excerpts from 10 of these StoryCorps interviews will be featured at the site.
The gifts of digital technology go one step further. Gratefully, the 9/11 Memorial Guide is available through a new iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone app, which visitors to the Memorial will download before visiting the site. This app will allow visitors to search the names arrangement of the Memorial and present select StoryCorps interviews, which help illustrate the enormity of the loss on 9/11 through the personal remembrances of families who lost loved ones on that day. The app will feature StoryCorps stories from each of the nine groups of victims memorialized at the site: WorldTradeCenter(North), WorldTradeCenter(South), the Pentagon, Flight 93, Flight 77, Flight 175, Flight 11.
May the memories of those lost be preserved and shared.
Kelli Richards,
CEO of The All Access Group, LLC
https://storycorps.org/listen/stories/category/september-11/
VIP Breakfast at Digital Music West – Redefining Social Media for the Music Industry
One of the best perks of being a speaker and a leader in the digital space for over two decades is that several times a year I get to take the stage at a variety of industry events and share the freshest ideas and tech advances with my peers and colleagues.
Digital Music Forum West, put together by Digital Media Wire, is a big favorite among these events. Recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top reads for digital media insiders, Digital Media Wire offers a free daily newsletter that curates the most important headlines impacting entertainment, media and digital technology. Twice a year, Ned and Tinzar Sherman, the heart and soul behind the scenes of DMW, gather some of the industry’s leading minds and put on the leading technology forum for all things music.
As the technology and issues surrounding digital music become more difficult to navigate, Digital Music Forum West (and east, in the spring) provides the stage for discourse, information and sometimes fierce disagreement. It offers great content, access to industry leaders and an introduction to fresh new faces on the music-tech scene, all gathered to socialize, share ideas, do deals and learn about digital technology and services in music.
This year, I’m fortunate to lead a complimentary VIP breakfast kicking off the start of Day 2. This is an informal roundtable discussion focused on my newest eBook “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry” on Friday, October 7th, from 8:00-9:00am. The VIP Breakfast includes a vibrant discussion, great company, and a printed copy of my eBook, for the first 20 people who reserve their seat by Tuesday, October 4th (to do so, contact my team at sandy@allaccessgroup.com). The breakfast will coincide with the formal Amazon publication launch of my eBook on 11/11/11.
This is the second quarterly VIP breakfast I’ve put together to kick off an industry event. The first was an amazing gathering of new faces and thought leaders, led by me, at the Bandwidth Music / Tech Conference in August. It included my own social media strategist, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos, Scott Perry from Music Tipsheet (friend to all undiscovered artists), Sibley Verbeck from The Electric Sheep Company / Steam Jam, Aaron Williams from SocialSamba.com (a branded social app that fans join to interact directly with the characters they’re fans TV), and over a dozen other industry leaders.
This VIP Breakfast should be just as exciting, with Digital Media West, setting the stage with 300+ of the most influential music and digital media leaders. Some of who are close personal friends and colleagues, like industry leaders Michael Robertson, Jim Griffin and Ian Rogers, CEO of Topspin.
Ian is a rock star in the digital music world and was one of the first to define the way artists and labels promote and experience digital media. Ian built many of the earliest promotional websites for the music and film industries and prior to joining Topspin Media as their CEO in 2008 and had been GM of music at Yahoo. He was one of the first guests on my streaming radio show Monday nights, which you can hear in its entirety on my website at https://allaccessgroup.com/articles-and-resources/blog-talk-radio
To save your seat at the upcoming VIP breakfast, please email my team at sandy@allaccessgroup.com and feel free to use code DMFW25 to save 25% off the registration fee at Digital Music Forum West.
Kelli Richards,
CEO of The All Access Group, LLC
https://allaccessgroup.com/articles-and-resources/events/
VizLingo – The Newest Gadget for Gen Z
Yes, the tech revolution has produced an endless stream of new gizmos, gadgets and tools. Some of these are vital to our day-to-day existence, like email, and some are simply a fun and entertaining distraction (Angry Birds anyone?)…
Not long ago, entrepreneurs Todd Younggren and Azeo Fables created hatched the idea to use the latest revolution in tech, mobile, to create a new way to communicate, and VizLingo was born. Simply put, VizLingo is a messaging tool that translates your words into video. The UI is exactly what the new generation of users demands, fun and easy! Just type, see and send. The user simply types any message into VizLingo to see each word of their message illustrated by a 1-2 second video clip. Streamed together (with subtitles at the bottom for the less creative), it’s a visual puzzle that can be sent anywhere – directly to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, mobile phones and email addresses.
If you’re thinking “I don’t get it” – that’s actually a good thing. It’s one of those subtle mechanisms that has to be experienced, like poetry for instance. VizLingo is definitely a sort of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” medium – a new form of visual poetry, if you will. It’s not only who it plays TO, but also what the “writer” puts into their work. My favorite part of VizLingo is that, soon, the creator can customize their own Lingo by uploading video clips right from a mobile phone or digital camera. It’s fun and easy, and in the hands of a user who has the time to be super creative, it could definitely go big and go viral.
VizLingo’s Global Lingo is communal, created by and for the VizLingo community, boasting tens of thousands of user-generated clips shared from all over the world. And in today’s world of “new normal” social marketing, VizLingo could be a BIG deal. In fact, I think Ford and the Hershey Chocolate company and Virgin Airlines, etc., should engage their younger clientele and create a promotion where anyone using their products in a VizLingo video and pushing it out to their own friends and fans, wins a [fill in the blank].
In the immortal words of one of my favorite ads, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” And if VizLingo finds the creative joint ventures that FourSquare embarked on when everyone first stood there saying, “I don’t get it,” well, we may end up wishing we did.
Kelli Richards,
CEO of The All Access Group, LLC
Big Brother has Landed, and his name is Foursquare
It’s hard to know just how big social media is going to get – and even harder to remember that there was once a world without an internet. We’ve all just accepted this “new normal” in our day-to-day lives – along with digital music, eBooks, iPads and a long list of other tech advances that were barely even imagined a mere thirty years ago. (Some of which I actually had the privilege to work on at their inception – like Music at Apple.)
In my recent interview with the CEO of BookBaby and CDBaby, Brian Felsen, Brian shared that 80% of people under the age of 30 have never even bought a CD. (To hear that interview, go to https://bit.ly/BrianFelsen).
So where does this go next? It’s more than viral and mobile, in my humble opinion, Social is very quickly becoming Big Brother. Take Foursquare, the king of Geolocated Social Media platforms. Foursquare made its debut in 2009, popularizing the idea of “checking in,” or using a cell phone application to tell friends that you are at a particular restaurant, bar or park. It’s definitely a cool idea – so cool that Facebook and Google developed their own geolocated check in apps. Everyone wondered if the web giants would squash Foursquare like a bug, but so far Foursquare is definitely more than holding its ground, with over 10 million registered users.
Dennis Crowley, the chief executive and one of the founders of Foursquare, attributed its continued momentum to its singular focus on location. “When people think about Facebook, they think about it as a place to send their friends messages or post updates, not necessarily as a place to check in,” he said. “We’re associated with one thing, location, and that really helps.”
Most recently, Foursquare teamed up with Groupon. Groupon is actually Foursquare’s sixth and latest daily deals partner, but by no means their last. Along with Groupon deals, app users also will be able to see deals offered by Foursquare’s five other partners: BuyWithMe, Zozi, Gilt City, Living Social and AT&T Interactive.
In June, they also created an alliance with finance giant, American Express to offer discounts to cardholders when they check in on their cell phone at certain shops and restaurants. (Although Foursquare will not be receiving any revenue from the American Express deal, it says the promotion will help legitimize the company’s approach and will help attract other, more lucrative partnerships.)
How does all of this affect the consumer? It means real-time, by-location deals will be created through users’ apps. A simpler explanation: You’ll soon walk by a Gap and get a Gap deal sent to your device, simply because geolocated Foursquare knows where you are. Yes, Big Brother is here, and we have invited him into our lives, kimono wide open and location checked in.
Kelli Richards,
CEO of All Access Group
CEO of All Access Group Invited to be in Alan’s Gang
Kelli Richards, a thought leader in digital music and entertainment, and one of only a few select members of Alan Weiss’ Master Mentor Program and Thought Leadership Summit, has recently been invited to participate both Weiss’ new Summit Global Network and also in the collaborative “Alan & the Gang.”
Alan & the Gang is an online destination where both aspiring and veteran entrepreneurs and business people can access thought leaders from around the globe. Kelli Richards joins a limited group of elite international experts in both process and content who contribute their intellectual property and expertise. Gang members are a unique group of consultants and industry thought leaders who offer forward-thinking content to one another and to the world at large, including 320 videos, 426 audios and over 60 articles. These experts are recognized leaders and experts in their fields, offering impressive track records of success to their clients. The Summit Global Network is a network of top boutique consulting and advisory firms. Members are invited only after careful criteria have been met and existing members become familiar with the quality of the candidate firm’s work and client base. Members share resources, best practices, personnel, and expertise. It’s not unusual for a firm in Australia to provide expertise to a firm in Canada, or one in Maine to one in the United Kingdom. The current membership resides in seven countries and four continents. The combined intellectual property of the member firms comprises over 70 commercially published books, a thousand published articles, and thousands of audio, video, and public speaking appearances.
Alan Weiss is an Inductee in the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame®, a Recipient of the American Press Institute Lifetime Achievement Award and the New England Institute of Management Consultants Lifetime Contribution Award, and is one of the most highly respected independent consultants in the country, according to The New York Post.
Kelli Richards is a true trailblazer in the digital music, entertainment and technology worlds with more than twenty years of senior-level leadership experience. With a unique talent for connecting innovators in technology with creative leaders in entertainment, Richards is a highly sought-after consultant, mentor, speaker, producer, coach and author, As the CEO of The All Access Group, Richards and her team facilitate powerful strategic business opportunities in digital distribution between technology companies, established artists and celebrities, film studios, record labels, and consumer brand companies to foster new revenue streams and deliver compelling consumer experiences.
Prior to founding The All Access Group, Kelli served in senior roles at Fortune 100 entertainment and technology companies, including Apple Inc., where she launched Apple’s earliest focus on music and drove all music initiatives during her 10 years with the market leader. She also served in senior-level leadership capacities at EMI Music as an A&R exec, and at Silicon Graphics (SGI) where she helped launch Silicon Studio, the company’s entertainment division. She developed PatroNet, the first Internet-based artist subscription service with rocker partner Todd Rundgren in the mid-90s – and helped to launch the entire digital music revolution.
A frequent speaker and panel moderator at digital music and entertainment industry conferences globally, Kelli has also been an acclaimed talent producer of a wide range of award shows, epic concerts, and celebrity fundraiser events for over 25 years. She co-produced a celebrity fundraiser event to support the UN’s “Adopt-A-Minefield” initiative featuring Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Stephen Stills and hosted by Jay Leno. Additionally, she was a 20-year talent producer behind the BAMMIES, and remains a long-time talent executive and co-producer of the annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards.
***
Kelli Richards has co-authored two books, including the critically acclaimed “The Art of Digital Music: 56 Artists, Visionaries & Insiders Reveal Their Creative Secrets.” And her next book, “You Say You Want a Revolution – An Artist’s Manifesto for Success in the Digital Age,” is due out 11-11-11. A true renaissance woman, Kelli is also a Certified Integrative Life Coach trained under best-selling authors and coaches Debbie Ford and Alan Cohen. She lives in Cupertino, CA in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
Chatting with Brenden Mulligan, Founder of OneSheet, the One Stop Solution for Artists
A few weeks ago, I was very fortunate to interview creative disruptor, Brenden Mulligan, the CEO of OneSheet. For those of you who don’t know, OneSheet is a completely free website which allows musicians to connect their existing social networks and services, creating a basic and graphically exciting site that includes music, videos, photos, concert dates, social streams, mailing list signups and online stores. Although it literally JUST moved out of beta, Onesheet already has more than 10,000 recording artists signed up, including major label artists like Paramore , Mat Kearny and Owl City.
OneSheet has the added feature of working with many of the most-used musician’s online services, including Tunes, Beatport, Topspin, Bandcamp, YouTube, Tumblr, Songkick, FanBridge and SoundCloud. It’s also compatible with ArtistData, a popular syndication tool for musicians to post information across the web, which was also started by founder Brenden Mulligan.
Brenden Mulligan: For a long time now, artists have been asked to create profiles on all of these different services, and one problem I felt was there was that there wasn’t necessarily an easy way to weave these together. What I wanted to do was make it incredibly easy for an artist to create a maintenance free web presence, something that would take them only a few minutes to do and be totally affordable.
OneSheet isn’t only a one-stop-shop solution for artists, it’s also been very collaborative. Founder Brenden Mulligan has made many adjustments based on the feedback of artists. For instance, users can remove the Onesheet header, customize the navigation bar and rename concerts to tour, live, appearances, events or shows, etc. Most importantly, Onesheets can be assigned a custom domain name, which is a great asset in today’s world of uber branding.
Brenden Mulligan plans to add a premium paid service will add additional features and customization. “Mobile optimization is another feature we may charge for. What kind of artists use Onesheet and how they use it, will drive what we do next.”
To hear my entire interview with entrepreneur and CEO, Brenden Mulligan, go to https://bit.ly/BrendenMulligan
Legacy and Celebrity Wrangling
One of the most important aspects of my career has been creating high impact collaborations between artists, celebrities and corporations, and sometimes between artists and charities. I call this celebrity wrangling.
There’s no shortage of passion in the world surrounding celebrities and musicians; in fact, it’s rare to find one that doesn’t crave the opportunity to create lasting change and global/societal impact. Connecting the right artist for the right purpose – or simply being part of event production as a talent producer for award shows & charity events involving great artist/celeb talent, well, those are definitely career high points. Whether for corporations who want to have a celebrity appear in an ad campaign or established artists perform at employee events or at corporate industry conferences & special events. I’ve had the chance to work on some pretty amazing projects over the years, including great global causes with a broad range of artists, celebrities, and big companies. To learn more about celebrity wrangling, please visit my website: https://allaccessgroup.com/services/celebrity-wrangling
One of my favorite charity event projects was the “Open Hearts – Clear Mines: Adopt-a-Minefield” benefit concert hosted by the United Nations featuring performances by Sir Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson, where they joined together and sang, “God Only Knows“ & “Let it Be”. The concert and the song definitely live in my mind as one of the most moving and inspiring events that I ever participated in. Unfortunately only the attendees in that room got to experience the magic of that union. Though there isn’t any video from the event to really speak of, there is a snippet of it in an Access Hollywood interview, speaking with Sir Paul and host, Jay Leno, about the event. (See below.)
Another example is when I was asked by John Chambers & his team to bring Jerry Seinfeld to Cisco to participate in a 25th anniversary employee thank-you event.
As a veteran Talent Producer and Celebrity Wrangler, it’s events like these that become knots in the thread of one’s life. I’m proud to have been a part of creating these special events and experiences that if executed well tend to leave a lasting impact.
Kelli Richards, CEO, The All Access Group, LLC
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David Butler: Investor, Advisor, Designer, Brand Strategist
David Butler brings over 25 years of experience as an investor, advisor, designer and brand strategist to his current role as Vice President of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Coca-Cola. Joining the company as its first global head of design, David successfully led the design-driven turnaround of an $80M brand, prompting Fast Company to name him a “Master of Design” and Forbes to elect him to their “Executive Dream Team.” Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-david-butler
My Favorite Book of 2015 for Entrepreneurs
December 14, 2015, Inc. These cutting-edge, scalable trends are attracting not only lots of investment, but also great talent — which are two of the key drivers behind any successful startup. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/my-favorite-book-of-2015-for-entrepreneurs.html
From Seinfeld to Bieber: How to Engage the Right Celebrity for Your Business?
Companies engage celebrities to participate at launch or marketing events, milestones and anniversaries, sales conferences, or other events to honor and celebrate key employees, VIP customer appreciation events, birthday parties for CEOs, fundraising events, and more.
From Seinfeld to Bieber: How to Engage the Right Celebrity for Your Business
December 7, 2015, Inc. How to get in on the “star-up” game.
How to Pay Attention to the Whispers When Vetting a Connection?
kinds of distracting, time-consuming, and expensive legal dealings, which were a big drain on my business–and on me, personally.
Though it took a long time, I ultimately prevailed in that case, but it was a painful experience and one I’d like to help others avoid. Trust me, no small business owner needs that kind of angst.
Jay Samit: Disrupt You, Master Personal Transformation (Part II)
There are very few people who have worked as successfully across as many industries as Jay Samit has, and he wanted to share that knowledge and help people on their journey. That is why he wrote the bestseller Disrupt You, Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovations. Throughout this book, Jay explores the importance of personal disruption. “You really have to say, what is limiting you in this limitless world?
Jay Samit: Disrupt You, Master Personal Transformation (Part I)
Jay Samit is the CEO of See Change International, a leading multi-screen video services company. A dynamic entrepreneur, Jay is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on disruption and innovation. Described by Wired Magazine as having the coolest job in the industry, he’s raised hundreds of millions of dollars for startups, sold companies to fortune five hundred firms, and has transformed entire industries.
Gail Zappa: Tireless Champion, Wonderful Friend
Gail, the wife of musician Frank Zappa, was a role model and a tireless champion on behalf of her husband and children for many years and has been a protector of Frank’s estate. She was compassionate, extremely smart and creative advocate and champion, and over time, she became an outspoken advocate for artists to retain their rights and their masters.
Spotify Could Go Away Overnight And No One Would Care
November 9, 2015, Hypebot.com Although Spotify was able to get its foot in the door early, the presence of companies like Apple Music, Amazon Prime, and others means that the historically un-profitable streaming service either needs to find away to differentiate itself from the competition or risk crashing and burning. Read the entire article here: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/11/spotify-could-go-away-overnight-and-no-one-would-care-.html?curator=MusicREDEF
Spotify Could Go Away Overnight And No One Would Care
Although Spotify was able to get its foot in the door early, the presence of companies like Apple Music, Amazon Prime, and others means that the historically un-profitable streaming service either needs to find away to differentiate itself from thecompetition or risk crashing and burning.
What’s the Difference Between a Coach and a Mentor?
No matter your stage, both mentors and coaches can be valuable resources. What’s the difference between the two? How do you know which is needed?
Cynthia Kersey, the Unstoppable Woman
So few people really take the risk to live their dreams, play full out with passion & commitment, and create true impact and legacy during their time on the planet. Cynthia Kersey is definitely one of those rare individuals. Cynthia is the Chief Humanitarian Officer of the Unstoppable Foundation (hyperlink?), whose mission is to ensure that every child on the planet receives access to the life-long gift of education. Just read that sentence a few times and stand in awe, right? That’s a mission worth getting out of bed for each morning!
Influencers on a Plane: 3 Ways to Strike Up Great Conversations
Whether you meet people who end up providing new business opportunities, find great new friends, connect with someone influential, or simply reconnect with established colleagues, with the right mindset, you can improve your business just by striking up a conversation on the road.
3 Signs It’s Time for a (Professional) Breakup
October 19, 2015, Inc. Ending a professional relationship is sometimes necessary, and it can lead to better opportunities.
3 Signs It’s Time for a (Professional) Breakup
A leader is more likely to feel weighed down by professional negativity and anxiety, which can lead to a loss of self-confidence and reduced productivity–and can even bring the business to a grinding halt.
What’s the Difference Between a Coach and a Mentor?
October 15, 2015, Forbes Women We hear a lot about coaching and mentoring — for good reason. As Zig Ziglar famously said, “A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” Read the entire article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellevate/2015/10/15/the-difference-between-a-coach-and-a-mentor/
Influencers on a Plane: 3 Ways to Strike Up Great Conversations
October 12, 2015, Inc. With the right mindset, you can improve your business just by striking up a conversation on the road. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/influencers-on-a-plane-three-ways-to-strike-up-great-conversations.html
Why It Pays to Identify and Approach Mentors in the Professional ‘Cafeteria’
October 7, 2015, Entrepreneur At times, the workplace “cafeteria” resembles a middle-school lunchroom, with heightened stakes and competitors striving for power in lieu of popularity. Who sits where, and why? Read the entire article here: https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/why-it-pays-to-identify-and-approach-mentors-in-the/249748
3 Reasons You Need a Mentor, Even If You Don’t Think You Do
September 28, 2015, Inc. If you want to experience success in any capacity, you owe it to yourself to find great mentors. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/3-reasons-you-need-a-mentor-even-if-you-don-t-think-you-do.html
Rob Tercek: Speaker, Innovator, Strategist
Robert Tercek’s unique views on managing innovation are sought by organizations around the world. His motto is “Inventing the Future.” He is passionate about inspiring audiences to seize their own destiny by thinking creatively and taking decisive action. Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/category/Technology
Jay Samit: CEO SeaChange International
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-jay-samit
How Amazon Shows the Need for a Tech Industry Workforce Revolution
September 18, 2015, Inc. Business is not about being cutthroat anymore; it’s time for the tech industry to re-evaluate the perks being offered to workers. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/how-amazon-shows-the-need-for-a-tech-industry-workforce-revolution.html
Karen Stever and Frank Gryner
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-karen-stever-frank-gryner
4 Characteristics of Trailblazing Entrepreneurs
September 4, 2015, Inc. Trailblazers don’t just see a need in the market — they create new markets, and they forge their own paths to get where their outsized visions tell them they need to go. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/4-characteristics-of-trailblazing-entrepreneurs.html
Steve Jobs Grew From His Failures — You Can, Too
August 28, 2015, Inc. Any weakness — if you look at it the right way — is a lesson. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/steve-jobs-grew-from-his-failures-you-can-too.html
The Art of Taking Vacation for Entrepreneurs
August 14, 2015, Inc. Although circumstances will understandably make it challenging to get away sometimes, the point is not just to get away physically, but to also distance yourself mentally.
4 Ways a Great Advisor Can Protect Your Investment
August 7, 2015, Huff Post Women Last year marked the highest annual total of venture capital funding since 2001, and with $47.3 billion in investments, this represents a 62 percent year-over-year growth. Read the entire article here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/4-ways-a-great-advisor-ca_b_7957254/amp
Wearable Technology – Where Fashion & Fitness Converge
Think of the obvious first, like fashion electronics. Whether it’s FitBit or the Apple Watch that just hit the scene, or Jawbone, or any of these things that are now considered fashion accessories – but they are primarily fitness accessories that give you information in real time about what’s happening with your body and your activity level.
Why Advisors Are Worth Your Equity (and How to Find a Good One)
Think of these advisors as business sherpas: people more experienced than you who help you navigate and climb the startup mountain.
Why Advisors Are Worth Your Equity (and How to Find a Good One)
July 24, 2015 Inc Magazine Think of these advisors as business sherpas: People more experienced than you who help you navigate and climb the startup mountain. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/why-advisers-are-worth-your-equity-and-how-to-find-a-good-one.html
Jim Griffin
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-jim-griffin
Nick Adler
“This is a quote by Nick Adler” Nick Adler single handedly saved the Hollywood Sunset Strip and saved way more than The Roxy. Listen here for the story! Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-qa-nic-adler-of-sunset-strip-music-festival
Tom Keifer
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://jeeni.com/track/kelli-richards-interviews-tom-keifer-of-cinderella
Tom Silverman
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-tommy-boys-ceo-tom-silverman
5 Secrets to Building High-Yield Partnerships
Forming strategic partnerships not only creates a powerful reciprocal network, but also propels you toward your goals, exposes you to new insights and optimizes the time and energy you invest in relationships. And these advantages work both ways.
4 Expensive Mistakes Your Start-up Could Make-And How to Avoid Them
June 12, 2015 Inc. Magazine In business and in life, there are certain dos and don’ts that can decide the fate of your business and your career.
4 Expensive Mistakes Your Startup Could Make — and How to Avoid Them
In business and in life, there are certain dos and don’ts. Four common (and costly) don’ts I often see first-time entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them
Michael Solomon
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-michael-solomon
Will Tidal Make Waves In The Music Industry Or Get Washed Out?
May 25, 2015 Tech Crunch In late March, when a group of A-list musicians gathered in Manhattan to show support for Jay Z’s new music streaming service, Tidal, expectations were sky-high. Read the entire article here: https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/25/will-tidal-make-waves-in-the-music-industry-or-get-washed-out/
Greg Estes
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-greg-estes
Video Marketing Lessons Small Businesses Can Learn From Big Brands
For starters, a high-quality or clever video has the potential to go viral, which can get your brand in front of the eyes of millions of people in a single afternoon. Video also can be inexpensive and therefore cost effective, provided you know what you’re doing.
Wild Bill Stealy
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-interviews-jw-wild-bill-stealey
Is It Time to Spring Clean Your Business? Here’s 4 Ways on How to Do It!
It’s spring! As signs of life begin to reappear outside, you might feel the urge to swing open the windows and tackle that growing pile of clutter that you ignored all winter.
5 Secrets on Getting the Most Out of Partnerships
April 28, 2015 Entrepreneur Every entrepreneur and business leader needs something — money, information, technology, relationships or whatever.
How to Make Money By Talking to Cool People
According to a survey KnowledgeStorm and Universal McCann conducted, 65% of business and IT professionals listen to podcasts for personal and business purposes, and 60 percent interviewees said whitepapers and analyst reports would be more attractive in podcast form.
4 Ways to Make the Most of Your Mentor-Mentee Relationship
In a climate where there’s no free lunch, it’s easy to assume there’s a hidden catch. But if you feel this way, it’s because you don’t understand how mentorship helps your mentor. Did you know that training and advising mentees is a powerful way for your mentor to gain leadership skills and team-building experience? And that mentees often help their mentors understand things in new ways through feedback, communication, and interpersonal skills?
Streaming and Beyond: Apple Will Lead the Way to the Next Music Experience
Listeners now control the entire experience. We can listen to our favorite artists or songs at any time and on any device. Streaming has even made the listening experience social. Services such as Spotify are integrated with Facebook, allowing listeners to see what their friends are listening to in real time, making it easy to discover new music.
Streaming and Beyond: Apple Will Lead the Way to the Next Music Experience
April 6, 2015 The Huffington Post You could buy the physical album, or you could spend an afternoon waiting for the song to come on the radio so you could record it on a cassette tape in your boom box. Read the entire article here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/streaming-and-beyond-appl_b_6996898
Peter Bregman
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-peter-bregman
Is It Time to Spring Clean Your Business? Here’s How to Do It
April 3, 2015, Inc. Spring cleaning is about starting fresh. By applying this mindset to your business, you can return your business to a healthier, livelier, and more profitable state in no time. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/is-it-time-to-spring-clean-your-business-here-s-how-to-do-it.html
Can Apple’s Interactive Digital Music Solution Refresh the Music Industry?
Few artists are likely to follow in U2’s footsteps with the same strategy after the backlash from iTunes users, but when a challenge emerges in the market, we can always look to Apple to lead with the most creative solutions. The “Songs of Innocence” maneuver was Apple showing its hand: The solution to diminishing music sales could be an interactive digital music approach.
How The Apple Watch Is Paving The Way To A New Generation Of Wearable Technology
The Apple Watch will give you the power to optimize daily tasks, leverage apps for information and communication, and be more productive and efficient in general, just as smartphones do. But with the Apple Watch, you’ll be able to do it all hands-free rather than having to carry your phone around in your hand.
Dr. Judith Orloff, New York Times Best-Selling Author
Transforming the face of psychiatry, Judith Orloff MD asserts that we are keepers of an innate intuitive intelligence so perceptive that it can tell us how to heal — and prevent — illness.Yet intuition and spirituality are the very aspects of our wisdom usually disenfranchised from traditional health care. Dr. Orloff is accomplishing for psychiatry what physicians like Dean Ornish and Mehmet Oz have done for mainstream medicine — she is proving that the links between physical, emotional, and spiritual health can’t be ignored. Dr. Orloff is a New York Times bestselling author and is on the UCLA psychiatric clinical faculty. She specializes in treating empaths and sensitive people in her Los Angeles based private practice. She has spoken at medical schools, hospitals, the American Psychiatric Association, Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women Summit, and alternative and traditional health forums — venues where she presents practical intuitive tools to doctors, patients, and everyday people. In response to her work, The Los Angeles Times calls Dr. Orloff “a prominent energy-based healer.” Dr. Orloff’s latest book “The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People” (Sounds True, 2017) is an invaluable resource to help sensitive people of all kinds develop healthy coping mechanisms in our high-stimulus world without experiencing compassion fatigue or burnout. Then empaths can fully embody their gifts of intuition, creativity, and compassion. Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-dr-judith-orloff
How the Apple Watch Is Paving the Way to a New Generation of Wearable Tech
March 20, 2015, Inc The next frontier is wearable technology and the Apple Watch will not only be a timekeeper, but it will also be a timesaver. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/how-the-apple-watch-is-paving-the-way-to-a-new-generation-of-wearable-tech.html
Turn Up Your Volume: 5 Big Moves Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Music Moguls
When you think about it, there are multiple ways that the music industry reflects what you’re trying to accomplish as an entrepreneur. Music rewards innovation and originality–finding “the next big thing” is a mantra you both share–and you both aim to immerse customers in rich and compelling experiences, right?
Can Apple’s Interactive Digital Music Solution Refresh the Music Industry?
March 17, 2015, Wired, Innovation Insights When U2 released its album “Songs of Innocence” with an exclusive iTunes partnership, the band was trying to figure out something a bit more complex than simply reaching as many fans as possible.
Peter Dekom
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-peter-dekom-0
5 Critical Lessons in Mergers and Acquisitions From the Apple-Beats Deal
March 13, 2015, Inc. 5 critical lessons from the Apple-Beats deal to keep mergers and acquisitions seamless and swift.
5 Critical Lessons in Mergers and Acquisitions From the Apple-Beats Deal
Mergers and acquisitions are notoriously complicated, clumsy, and fraught with bad feelings when they’re not executed carefully and strategically. Often, leaders fail to communicate, which derails productivity and leaves employees worried about their jobs. Companies also tend to struggle to manage customer integration, branding, and media relations during the transition.
Alan Weiss
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-alan-weiss
How to Harness Power Like a Celebrity
While there is such a thing as “overnight success,” most celebrities work hard over a long period of time to reach their powerful status. Here are three strategies of the stars that business professionals can use to make a difference in the world and do things that truly matter to them:
The Super Connector’s Guide to Making Powerful Business Introductions
As an entrepreneur, you understand the importance of having a strong network. What many people don’t understand is that it’s not always who you know, but what you do with those connections, that matters. Throughout my career, my extensive network in Silicon Valley has allowed me to create intros for startups seeking funding for their ventures and secure celebrities like Jerry Seinfeld for corporate events. But I haven’t done this by connecting with a bunch of random people on LinkedIn; I’ve nurtured these relationships through the power of reciprocal networking. If you aren’t actively looking for ways to make valuable introductions for your connections, your network isn’t as strong as it could be. Here are a few ways to make winning introductions that will lead to lucrative long-term opportunities for you and your connections. How to Make a Powerful Business Introduction When you start making business introductions in person, it can feel a bit awkward. But the key to a successful connection is a clear understanding of what each individual has to gain from the relationship. If your connections don’t see an advantage to meeting the people you suggest, they’ll be skeptical of your intent. A proper business introduction immediately erases confusion among mixed groups of people. It sets the stage for respectful interactions and eases the otherwise uncomfortable first conversation. Always introduce the person with more authority first. Adding explanatory statements after saying each person’s name will also get the conversation flowing naturally and provide context. These can be simple statements such as their job titles. When introducing one person to a group, announce that person’s name and identifier, and introduce each group member in the order they’re sitting or standing. Connecting people who offer complementary services is a great way to promote mutually beneficial relationships. You can also offer to let people you respect sift through your LinkedIn connections and facilitate these meetings to add value. Tips for Navigating the Uncomfortable Email Introduction Making introductions in person usually feels less forced than sending emails out of the blue, but it’s not always feasible to get the two people you want to connect in the same place at the same time. This is where email introductions come in. When emailing your connections to establish an introduction, make sure you always: Ask for permission first. Explain the value proposition for each party meeting the other, and ask if they’d feel comfortable with you making the connection. Mention whether they’ve met before. People often forget brief meetings, and the reminder can save them some embarrassment. Make haste slowly. Good introductions require careful preparation. Think through how both parties could benefit from each other, and spell it out in an email. Hurried, ill-planned emails can have a negative impact on these burgeoning relationships–and your reputation. Encourage the conversation. You never want to start an email thread, only to receive no response from either party. To avoid this social disaster, urge both people in the email to arrange a time to talk in the near future. Make action steps clear. Be straightforward in your email, and outline what the specific next steps should be. Solid introductions always come down to adding value for other people. When you set up a long-term cycle of promoting mutual wins, you position yourself as a credible and trustworthy business connection. Establishing a reputation for facilitating great relationships is the best way to increase your chances of success, no matter what field you’re in. And as this cycle of reciprocity continues throughout your career, the referrals, invitations, and unique experiences will start pouring in. This article was previously published in Inc. To your best success, Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)
5 Unlikely Music Legends With Great Advice for Entrepreneurs
February 25, 2014, LinkedIn Articles As an entrepreneur, it’s important to keep your ears open for helpful advice — especially when you’re new to the game. Read the entire article here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140225155053-9638-5-unlikely-music-legends-with-great-advice-for-entrepreneurs/
Know When to Hold ‘Em, Fold ‘Em, and Walk Away in a Business Deal
In high-stakes poker, managing your emotions is just as important as the hand you’ve been dealt. In order to emerge with your mortgage intact, it’s vital to have an effective poker face.
Business negotiations require a similar approach. Letting your emotions rule your decision-making process can be catastrophic, but failing to seek a win-win situation can be just as dangerous. With that in mind, how can you maintain your cool and, ultimately, your control of the situation?
In this article, Kelli Richards explains how to stay level-headed when the chips are down.
Jeet Singh
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-jeet-singh
How Writing a Book Can Advance Your Career
What’s more, writing a book is a great way to establish you as a credible industry expert. You can create a brand platform for yourself, increase your market value, differentiate yourself from competitors, and discover new ways to grow your authority in your field. But before you can add the title “published author” to your resume, you need to invest some time and energy in planning, crafting, and publishing your unique message–and understanding how the publishing world really works.
Know When to Hold ‘Em, Fold ‘Em, and Walk Away in a Business Deal
February 6, 2015, Inc. The only way to come out on top of a business deal is to pay attention to what’s on the table and play smart. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/know-when-to-hold-em-fold-em-and-walk-away-in-a-business-deal.html
Steve Rubel
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-steve-rubel
5 Ways The Cloud Can Make Your Business & Personal Life Easier
The cloud is becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives. Use it to enhance your business and personal life, increase productivity, and to give you peace of mind when you store and back up your most important files.
Roberta Medina
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-roberta-medina
5 Simple Steps to Schedule Your Week for Business and Personal Success
As an entrepreneur, attending to your work is essential for building your business. But creating a balanced life is the key to sustained success in the office and at home. Aim to structure your time so you can meet both personal and professional obligations, then establish, communicate, and maintain healthy boundaries so you can actually live the lifestyle you desire. It’s doable!
COPING WITH FAILURE The Ultimate Entrepreneur Pep Talk: 4 Important Affirmations for Any Innovator
Having a list of mantras that you can pull out of your toolkit in any situation will prepare you to turn challenges into successes.
6 Surefire Tactics That Will Ignite Client Referrals
January 15, 2015, Inc. Here are six strategic ways to ask for referrals and grow your business exponentially. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/6-surefire-tactics-that-will-ignite-client-referrals.html
5 Reasons Developing Confidence Is Critical to Your Success
Confidence is essential to your success and that of your business — in fact, it’s vital to everything you do in life. In my own career, confidence has been a pivotal skill and strength I’ve needed every step of the way, especially in the male-dominated tech and music industries.
Just Because You Have 500+ Connections Doesn’t Mean Your Network Is Healthy
January 9, 2015, Inc. The best way to build solid connections is to earn a reputation of being a person who adds value for others in virtually every interaction you have with them. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/just-because-you-have-500-connections-doesn-t-mean-your-network-is-healthy.html
Just Because You Have 500+ Connections Doesn’t Mean Your Network Is Healthy
The best way to build solid connections is to earn a reputation of being a person who adds value for others in virtually every interaction you have with them.
12 Affirmations For The Struggling Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs are an optimistic lot. Naysayers might say “naïve.” But they have to be. Odds are against their success, but those who do succeed will provide for their families, solve customers’ problems, and possibly change the world in a big way.The best entrepreneur, therefore, has a healthy confidence that “I’ll be the one person in a thousand who makes it big.”
4 Things You Can Do to Personalize Your Brand Like the Celebs
Between Google and social media, it’s become simultaneously easier and more difficult than ever to maintain your brand image. With a few keystrokes, anyone can learn just about anything about you. On the other hand, if you can cultivate what your audience will find, you can influence your brand image and how others perceive you.
12 Affirmations For The Struggling Entrepreneur
December 15, 2014, LinkedIn Articles Entrepreneurs are an optimistic lot. Naysayers might say “naïve.” But they have to be.
How to Create Your Own Industry to Fit Your Strengths
By leveraging my core strengths and skills and combining my backgrounds in entertainment and tech, I’ve molded my own brand and carved a unique career path for myself. Having been a talent producer for award shows, cause concerts, and celebrity fundraising events for three decades, I’ve developed a very large network, connecting musicians, actors, comedians, and tech innovators with the corporate world to create performances and campaigns.
How Writing a Book Can Advance Your Career
December 12, 2014, Inc. A book can be a powerful tool for advancing your career and establishing yourself as a brand and as an industry leader. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/why-or-how-writing-a-book-can-advance-your-career.html
The 4 Most Important Reasons You Need to Become a Mentor
When you decide to mentor someone, you really have no way of knowing how far she’ll go. Whether you shape the next great entrepreneur of our time or help someone achieve her dreams, you’ll make a difference–and that’s all that matters.
Ann Wilson
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-ann-wilson-of-heart
5 Reasons Developing Confidence Is Critical to Your Success
December 5, 2014, The Huffington Post Confidence is essential to your success and that of your business — in fact, it’s vital to everything you do in life. Read the entire article here: https://www.ellevatenetwork.com/articles/5870-5-reasons-developing-confidence-is-critical-to-your-success
4 Things You Can Do to Personalize Your Brand Like the Celebs
December 4, 2014, The Huffington Post Between Google and social media, it’s become simultaneously easier and more difficult than ever to maintain your brand image. Read the entire article here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/4-things-you-can-do-to-personalize-your-brand-like-the-celebs_b_6148030
5 Simple Steps to Schedule Your Week for Business and Personal Success
December 1,2014, Inc. As an entrepreneur, attending to your work is essential for building your business. But creating a balanced life is the key to sustained success in the office and at home. Read the entire article here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-simple-steps-schedule-your-week-business-personal-success-richards/
5 Conversation Tools For Nurturing Your Relationship With A Mentor
We’ve all longed for a classic mentor-mentee relationship at some point in our careers. We want someone who is savvy and seasoned. We want her to provide the perfect insights and career advice that will help us reach our goals. We want someone who will guide us to our destination.
Cynthia Kersey
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-cynthia-kersey
Michael Van Himbergen
Listen to the entire podcast here: https://allaccessradio.libsyn.com/kelli-richards-interviews-michael-van-himbergen
The Secret Weapon of Billionaire CEOs and Wildly Successful People
If you’ve hit a wall, it might be time to hire a business coach. Sometimes no matter how passionate you are about your business, it takes an outsider’s perspective to see where the company is lacking and identify areas for growth. And that additional insight and shift in perspective can take moments but make a huge difference in your results and the outcome.
The 4 Most Important Reasons You Need to Become a Mentor
November 20, 2014, Inc. When you decide to mentor someone, you really have no way of knowing how far she’ll go. Whether you shape the next great entrepreneur of our time or help someone achieve her dreams, you’ll make a difference — and that’s all that matters. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/the-4-most-important-reasons-you-need-to-become-a-mentor.html
5 Conversation Tools For Nurturing Your Relationship With A Mentor
November 17, 2014, LinkedIn Articles We’ve all longed for a classic mentor-mentee relationship at some point in our careers.
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Pep Talk: 4 Important Affirmations for Any Innovator
You were prepared for the uncertainty that comes with entrepreneurship. You braced yourself for the long workdays–and for your first business failure. You were ready for just about everything–except the inner strength it takes to be your own biggest motivator.
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Pep Talk: 4 Important Affirmations for Any Innovator
November 11, 2014, Inc. Having a list of mantras that you can pull out of your toolkit in any situation will prepare you to turn challenges into successes. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/the-ultimate-entrepreneur-pep-talk-4-important-affirmations-for-any-innovator.html
Become an Effective Delegator
Delegation doesn’t come naturally to everyone–especially workaholic entrepreneurs. Recognize your #strengths. Tackle the things you love or do very well yourself, and then #DELEGATE the duties that slow down your productivity or otherwise aren’t a good use of your talents and time. Acknowledge and reward others for their strengths. Delegating is not only a way to decrease your workload it’s a way to channel your productivity and expertise! To read https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/the-ultimate-guide-to-delegating-for-entrepreneurs-who-hate-delegating.html
How to Create Your Own Industry to Fit Your Strengths
November 7, 2014, Inc. Your new industry has to reflect you because whether you’re a “collaborator genie” or a “green-energy explorer,” you’ve got all the makings of becoming your own unique brand of superhero. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/how-to-create-your-own-industry-to-fit-your-strengths.html
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Delegating
Is your to-do list a mile long? Do you spend your day in meetings and bring your work home with you because there aren’t enough hours in the workday? Do you feel as though the weight of the entire company is resting on your shoulders?
4 Ways to Make the Most of Your Mentor-Mentee Relationship
October 31, 2014, Inc. If you’re skeptical about why a mentor would want to partner with a mentee, it may be because you don’t have a plan in place to make it worth her while. Figure out what you have to offer your mentor, and do everything you can to provide that value. Read the entire article here: https://www.inc.com/kelli-richards/4-ways-to-make-the-most-of-your-mentor-mentee-relationship.html
Do you have a strong network, or do you just think you have a strong network?
Do you have a strong network, or do you just think you have a strong network?
Many entrepreneurs believe it’s who you know that matters, but what’s even more important is what you do with the people you know. By working to introduce and connect your connections, you can build a more lucrative network that can lead to further opportunities for you. By establishing a reputation as an effective facilitator of great relationships, you increase your chances of success.
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