TOP TEN ENTREPRENEURS
I
became aware of Joe Polish just this
year after hearing his name come up
from several of my entrepreneurial
friends. Polish is a marketer and
bestselling author who’s consulted
many of the industry’s best: Sir
Richard Branson, Body for Life’s Bill
Phillips, Tim Ferriss and many more. He’s
co-creator of the10Xtalk.com podcast and
founder of Genius Network that brings
together renowned executives (including
Forbes’ own Steve Forbes) every year.
However, here's what interested me
most as I interviewed Polish: He is
the embodiment of authentic PR and
marketing, which is my own biggest theme.
In essence, Polish was “thought leadership”
before the term had ever been coined.
“I was a troubled kid – struggled with
drugs, and my efforts to get past those issues
pushed me towards the path of personal
development,” he said in our interview.
In his early 20s (circa 1990), he started
a carpet cleaning business. Intuitively,
he determined that sharing value-add
information would be a better way to
market his service than filling the airwaves
with marketing hype. Well before the
era of social media and online marketing
he shared his messages through direct
mail, recorded messages and email. He
developed Education-Based Marketing
tools he distributed in print, video and free
recorded messages. His material included
a Consumers Guide To Carpet Cleaning,
with entries such as “How To Avoid Four
Carpet Cleaning Rip-offs,” “8 Mistakes To
Avoid When Choosing A Carpet Cleaner,”
and “7 Questions To Ask A Carpet Cleaner
Before You Invite Them Into Your Home.”
In short, he followed (maybe even
pioneered) the Golden Rule of Content
I’ve covered before: Great content provides
information people need and are genuinely
eager to hear. His business thrived. He
quickly became the voice of marketing
advice to other carpeting cleaners. So he
developed marketing services for others.
He opened advisory services to additional
sectors. He launched podcasts. Conferences.
Daily dial-in tips. From there he became a
high-end consultant to many of the world’s
best authorities in business (as well as at
least a few of my entrepreneurial friends).
You can find Joe Polish’s podcasts including
10XTalk.com and I Love Marketing on
iTunes, and you can find his events and
marketing resources at JoePolish.com.
Today I invited Polish to share with
Forbes readers a list of the top 10 inspiring
(and even surprising) entrepreneurs he’s
consulted and interviewed who’ve been
the most personally inspiring to him.
Here they are.
1. Dan
Sullivan.
Sullivan is co-
founder and
co-host with
Polish on the
10XTalk.
com podcast
series. “Dan
Sullivan has
coached more successful entrepreneurs
than almost anyone,” Polish says. “He’s one
of the smartest entrepreneurial thinkers
alive . He also has an amazing partnership
with his partner in life and business, Babs
Smith.” What would it take to make your
business 10x larger in the future than it is
today? When you learn to put each of your
decisions (even your daily decisions and
actions) through this filter, your business
becomes much stronger, Sullivan says.
2. Arianna
Huffing-
ton. Arianna
is a personal
friend of
Polish that
he finds
particularly
inspiring,
13
he says. She was also the featured speaker
at his most recent Genius Network event.
“Arianna Huffington is redefining success
with The Third Metric,” he says. “She’s an
amazing person who is helping people all
over the world see what real success means.”
3. Ron
Zeller. I was
particularly
excited about
this selection
as I know
Ron Zeller
myself and
have had the
opportunity
to spend time with Zeller and his wife, Mary
Louise Zeller, who in her late 60s is a nine-
time world champion in taekwando. Zeller
is a Landmark Forum coach who has trained
more than 250,000 people and is an icon
for personal transformation. In 2011, Zeller
was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.
Zeller’s interview with Joe Polish took place
in a hospice center after Ron was given just
a few days left to live. Today he is not only
still alive, but doing well as he continues
to serve as a beacon for ageless living.
4. JJ
Virgin. “JJ
is one of the
foremost
experts in
fitness and
nutrition,
an awesome
speaker,
and an even
more awesome human being,” Polish
says. “She is internationally recognized,
has worked with many celebrities,
athletes, CEO's, and has appeared on
television as a top nutrition expert,
along with appearances on a myriad
of online broadcast and radio
shows.” (JJ’s information on fat-
loss and nutrition is available
at www.jjvirgin.com)
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