In The Trenches with Tom Morkes provides behind-the-scenes look into the life and work of entrepreneurs, writers, artists, warriors, and leaders.
Episodes
Sunday Aug 09, 2015
Sunday Aug 09, 2015
Dane Maxwell started his entrepreneurial journey about ten years ago at twenty-one after reading "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." After getting scammed buying and selling websites, Dane decided to start building his own business instead. Over the course of several years, Dane built multiple 6-figure software companies, and people began asking Dane to help teach them how to do it as well. This led to the start of The Foundation, a training program and community that teaches entrepreneurs how to build software as a service (SaaS) businesses quickly and profitably. Through The Foundation, Dane takes entrepreneurs through the six phases of building a software business: Phase 1: Acquire the mindset of an entrepreneur Phase 2: Idea extraction Phase 3: Sketching a solution Phase 4: Pre-selling Phase 5: Build the product Phase 6: Grow The Foundation has become one of the leading training programs for entrepreneurs starting software businesses. In fact, Dane has already generated over $5,000,000 in sales of The Foundation over the past three years, and the trend looks to continue as a new class just opened up for enrollment. Dane Maxwell on building a successful company:
"The greater you niche down, the easier it is to sell stuff." [click to share]
Dane Maxwell on choosing your path in life:
"Wake up, take control of your life...and say I'm not going to let any external circumstance stop me." [click to share]
Dane Maxwell on business and life:
"Caring is very profitable." [click to share]
What Dane Maxwell and I talk about in this broadcast:
- How Dane approaches his students and how that impacts his business
- How critical it is to become an entrepreneur (now more than ever)
- The importance of service and creating value
- The importance of outsourcing to focus on your highest value activities (the stuff that actually moves the needle for your business and the stuff ONLY YOU can do)
- How Dane plans to build a business that will address a greater pain point than the Foundation addresses
Where you can find Dane Maxwell:
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Friday Jul 03, 2015
Friday Jul 03, 2015
Bryan Harris is the founder of Video Fruit, a marketing website he built from 0 to over 10,000 subscribers and over $200,000 in revenue during the first year. What Bryan Harris and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- How Bryan started Video Fruit as a blog, modeling high-level bloggers
- Behind-the-scenes of digital marketing
- How Bryan started as an entrepreneurial child and built an eBay business
- Why Bryan built his own platform instead of borrowing from someone else
- Bryan's definition of success in business and life
You can find Bryan Harris online:
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Monday Jun 29, 2015
Monday Jun 29, 2015
Bronson Taylor is the co-founder of Growth Hacker TV, a leader in growth hacking education, and the co-author of The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking (alongside Neil Patel of Quicksprout). Bronson got his start online by working with his brother as web developers. However, it didn't take long for them both to discover that they didn't actually like client work, so they shifted focus to developing products and, most recently, membership sites. What Bronson Taylor and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- The trials Bronson and his brother went through to scale their business
- How Bronson entered the growth hacking space (and how he teamed up with Neil Patel to write "The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking")
- How Bronson met his co-founder and how they started Growth Hacker TV
- The purpose behind building a video based platform verses a podcast
- How Bronson has grown Growth Hacker TV using the techniques and strategies he teaches inside the platform (this stuff is really great)
- Why execution is better than idea creation (and other musings on business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and growth hacking)
You can find Bronson Taylor online:
- Growthhacker.tv/
- @growthhackertv
- The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking (I highly recommend this free resource)
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Friday Jun 26, 2015
Friday Jun 26, 2015
Katrina Tan is a freelance filmmaker and designer at ZeroTheOne.com. In today's interview, Katrina shares her views on art and creation, and specifically how we can leverage constraint to do our best work. What Katrina Tan and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- How Katrina overcame the lack of opportunities in the Philippines to create a thriving business
- How to create constraint in your own creative process to improve your results
- How to test the impact of your art based on user response
- And much more...
You can find Katrina Tan online:
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Monday Jun 22, 2015
Monday Jun 22, 2015
Denny Krahe is the founder of Dizruns.com. He is also the founder of dkfitsolutions.com, a personal training business where he goes to his clients instead of them coming to him at the gym. Denny has a background in sports medicine and degree in athletic training. His career started with sports medicine, but changed to one-on-one training after evaluating his personal and family balance. What Denny Krahe and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- Some of the challenges of starting a personal training business and how Denny is overcoming them
- How Denny is doing passion projects
- How Denny is dealing with building a business in a competitive niche
- What works and doesn’t work for getting new clients
- What goals Denny has for the next year
You can find Denny Krahe online:
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Friday Jun 19, 2015
Friday Jun 19, 2015
MP MacDougall is a writer and published author, as well as a veteran. After his service in the military, he used his G.I. Bill to go to school even though he didn't want to leave the job he enjoyed. Graduating with a military history degree, he started a blog to share some history with the world, which has since turned into a platform from which he can launch new books. What MP MacDougall and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- How MP started his first boo
- How MP used a monthly challenge to improve as a writer
- How MP is structuring his day to accomplish his writing goals, day after day
- The balance between quality publishing and quantity publishing (it's harder than it seems)
You can find MP MacDougall online:
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Monday Jun 15, 2015
Monday Jun 15, 2015
Josh Elledge is the founder of MillionsInFreeMedia.com and SavingsAngel.com. Josh is a Navy veteran currently living in western Michigan. During his five years in the Navy, Josh was a Navy journalist, sharing all the great things that sailors were doing. Josh started in entrepreneurship as an internet developer in the mid-nineties. What Josh Elledge and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- How Josh used his family’s financial struggle to start Savings Angel
- What an entrepreneur can do to become noticed and successful
- How Millions in Free Media can help digital entrepreneurs
- Why journalists and media producers are adverse to risk
- How to cultivate a relationship with local journalists
You can find Josh Elledge online:
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Friday Jun 12, 2015
Friday Jun 12, 2015
Bree Brouwer is a freelance blogger and digital new media writer, recently launching her site, GeekAndProsper.com. She is also a writer at Tubefilter.com. Bree is native to Arizona and has always been a writer. During college, she started getting more into business and developing her entrepreneurial spirit. What Bree Brouwer and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- How Bree became a writer at TubeFilter
- The writing process Bree developed at TubeFilter
- Why Bree decided to start GeekandProsper.com and the struggles she experienced building it from scratch
- Bree's goal to replace her day job income through her online business
You can find Bree Brouwer online:
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Monday Jun 08, 2015
Monday Jun 08, 2015
Gary Auerbach is the winner of the World Freestyle Frisbee Championship in Jacksonville, FL. Gary started playing with a Frisbee at age 11 during summer camp and became immediately hooked. Eventually, this led him to compete all over the world. After winning the The World Freestyle Frisbee Championship, Gary has turned his hobby into a full fledged business, which inspires and teaches people everywhere to pursue their dreams. According to Gary (and I agree): the sky's the limit. What Gary Auerbach and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- How Gary leveraged his position to connect with schools
- How Gary grew his TV exposure during the early years
- How Gary diversified and pivoted his business
- The ways that he is improving his marketing
You can find Gary Auerbach online:
- www.frisbeeguy.com/
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.
Friday Jun 05, 2015
Friday Jun 05, 2015
Lisa Stiefel is the founder of The Multicultural Life. She has had a life of travelling a lot growing up, participating in a European exchange student program in high school. It was her interest in language and culture that drove her travels. What Lisa Stiefel and I talk about in today's broadcast:
- How Lisa is able to learn a new language when living in a new country
- How to deal with culture shock, even in an English-speaking country
- Why Lisa is focusing on English with Lisa for now
- Lisa's expectations and how she will met them
- What Lisa loves about teaching languages
- The hardest thing about this work
You can find Lisa Stiefel online:
- http://www.themulticulturallife.com/
- http://www.english-with-lisa.com/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisamstiefel
If you enjoyed today's podcast, please leave a review on iTunes here. Thanks so much in advance for your support.