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42 lessons · 9 categories · Learn at your own pace
Technology & AI
Practical AI Tools for Business Growth
This session explores practical, everyday applications of Artificial Intelligence for small businesses, moving beyond the hype of basic chatbots. It highlights how training specific AI tools with your unique business context can automate proposal writing, content creation, and administrative tasks, ultimately saving time and money.
Start a Business
Legal Foundations for Setting Up a Business
This guide breaks down the critical difference between the legal and tax aspects of starting a business in Florida. It explains why simply registering a name or filing basic forms online is not enough to protect your personal assets, and details the structural requirements needed to build a strong "liability shield" through a Corporation or LLC.
Technology & AI
Practical AI Implementation and App Building
This session moves past simple chatbots to demonstrate how businesses can build actual applications, CRMs, and workflows using AI tools. It emphasizes the importance of establishing internal governance rules, keeping humans in the loop, and strictly measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) of any AI implementation.
Marketing
Marketing Plan Strategy and Execution
This guide explores the structural components of a business marketing plan, moving far beyond simple advertising. It emphasizes that marketing is the coordination of people, processes, and products to profitably solve customer problems, heavily relying on thorough market research, competitive analysis, and exceptional customer service.
People & Compliance
Human Resources Compliance for Small Businesses
This session covers the critical employment laws that small to medium-sized businesses must follow to avoid devastating lawsuits and audits. It clarifies common misconceptions regarding independent contractors, salaried employees, and required accommodations, emphasizing that HR compliance is about business survival.
Planning & Strategy
Psychological Capital and Mental Toughness for Leaders
This session explores "Psychological Capital" (PsyCap), focusing on building inner mental strength to overcome business and personal challenges. It introduces the HERO framework (Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, Optimism) as a set of developable traits to help leaders combat their "inner villain" of self-doubt and imposter syndrome.
Sales & Customers
Creating Stories that Sell
This session teaches business owners how to use storytelling as a powerful sales and marketing tool. It covers identifying the right audience (users, buyers, influencers), constructing effective stories with a "kernel" and a "punchline," and leveraging the four key emotional triggers (Ego, Fear, Greed, and Hope) to connect with customers and drive sales.
Planning & Strategy
Business Plan Requirements and Financial Fundamentals
This session covers the foundational concepts of creating a brand and writing a business plan, but it heavily emphasizes the financial requirements and metrics necessary for small business survival. It highlights that the process of planning is more valuable than the final document, and it provides a detailed walkthrough of cash flow, break-even analysis, and the costs associated with hiring employees versus independent contractors.
Consulting
Starting and Pricing a Solo Consulting Practice (101)
This session covers the practical realities of starting a solo consulting or advisory business. It focuses heavily on the mechanics of pricing services (hourly vs. value billing), calculating true overhead costs when hiring employees, and navigating the persistent "Consultant's Paradox" where working prevents selling and vice versa.
Planning & Strategy
Crafting a Winning Business Plan
This session provides a comprehensive guide to building a business plan, moving from the foundational vision to detailed financial projections. It emphasizes that a business plan is a "living document" necessary not just for securing funding, but for stress-testing a concept to determine its actual viability before risking capital.
Sales & Customers
Networking with Intention and Confidence
This session redefines networking as the skill of intentionally building connections rather than a transactional exchange of business cards. It provides a five-step framework to help entrepreneurs overcome anxiety, shift their mindset, and forge meaningful relationships that actually lead to business growth.
Sales & Customers
Discovering What Your Customers Actually Want
This session emphasizes that successful sales and product development hinge on understanding that customers buy what they want, not what they need. It provides a framework for conducting effective customer interviews, listening for specific emotional triggers, and differentiating between the users, buyers, and influencers in any sales process.
Nonprofits & Government
Starting a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit
This guide details the foundational steps and considerations for formally incorporating and managing a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It covers the essential administrative process, building a governing board of directors, and creating a sustainable business plan to ensure long-term community impact.
Marketing
Email Marketing Best Practices and Automation
This session covers the fundamentals of email marketing for small businesses, emphasizing that email yields the highest return on investment (ROI) compared to social media. It focuses on the strategic setup of automated email series (Welcome, Abandoned Cart, Thank You) to save time, maintain consistent engagement, and drive revenue without requiring manual effort for every send.
Marketing
Engaging and Converting via Social Media and Email
This session explores the strategic relationship between social media and email marketing. It explains how to use social media for broad reach and audience building, while using email marketing for direct control and customer conversion. The guide details how to optimize social profiles, craft compelling posts using a specific framework, and effectively repurpose content.
Sales & Customers
Escalating Sales Through Empathetic Persuasion
This session reframes the sales process from a high-pressure, guilt-driven activity into a process of "empathetic persuasion." It teaches that effective selling involves identifying an ideal client's specific problems, establishing trust, and providing ongoing value through consistent follow-up, waiting for "buying signals" rather than pushing for an immediate transaction.
Sales & Customers
Mastering the Face-to-Face Sales Process
This session frames sales as a universal profession based on consultative problem-solving. It breaks down the preparation required before ever stepping into a prospect's office, focusing on deep product mastery, objective competitive analysis, and the necessity of listening rather than talking during the discovery phase.
Sales & Customers
Filling Your Sales Pipeline (Prospecting)
This session tackles the fear and mechanics of prospecting for new B2B clients. It argues against outdated "hand out business cards" advice, advocating instead for hyper-targeted research leveraging AI, permission-based cold calling, and creative outreach strategies to bypass gatekeepers and secure meetings with C-level executives.
Consulting
Scaling a Consulting Practice (Stages 1-6)
This session explores the lifecycle of a consulting business, charting the progression from a solo practitioner (Stage 1) to a large corporation with over 100 employees (Stage 6). It emphasizes the critical mental and structural shifts required at each stage, particularly the difficult transition from being a "doer" to a "visionary," the importance of protecting equity, and the necessity of establishing a strong company culture and Board of Advisors as you scale.
Planning & Strategy
Developing Mission, Vision, and Value Statements
This session explains the crucial differences between Mission, Vision, and Value statements, arguing that they are not just theoretical exercises but essential tools for establishing company culture and guiding employee behavior. It demonstrates how these foundational statements tell the public what you do, and tell your employees how to act when leadership isn't in the room.
Nonprofits & Government
Establishing and Funding a Non-Profit Organization
This session covers the foundational steps required to structure a non-profit organization before seeking funding. It emphasizes that securing grants and donations requires operating the non-profit as a professional business, complete with strict legal compliance, a strong working board of directors, and highly targeted grant-writing strategies.
Planning & Strategy
Identity-Powered Goal Setting and Achievement
This session reframes traditional goal-setting by arguing that achieving goals is primarily a matter of personal identity and mindset, rather than just implementing mechanical systems. It emphasizes setting challenging "growth goals" and taking active, continuous steps to align one's internal self-image with the desired outcome, while proactively combating fear and limiting beliefs.
Marketing
Social Media Strategy and Video Marketing Basics
This session provides a foundational overview of utilizing social media for marketing, focusing specifically on organic (free) video content creation. It outlines the purpose of different social platforms, strongly cautions against using Generative AI for content creation due to authenticity and legal concerns, and provides practical, low-budget steps for scripting and filming social media videos.
Nonprofits & Government
The Procurement Lifecycle in Government Contracting
This session breaks down the government contracting process, aiming to move small businesses away from the frustrating cycle of blindly bidding on public RFPs. It teaches the "Procurement Lifecycle" to help contractors understand how the government buys, emphasizing the critical strategy of "moving left"—engaging with agencies during the pre-solicitation phase before the restrictive "Cone of Silence" takes effect.
Nonprofits & Government
Navigating the Government Contracting Lifecycle
This session provides an insider's view of the federal government contracting process from the perspective of an Acquisition Subject Matter Expert (SME). It demystifies how the government defines its requirements, conducts market research, and evaluates proposals, emphasizing strict adherence to instructions, the importance of past performance, and the necessity for businesses to fiercely protect themselves through documentation.
Start a Business
Legal and Practical Requirements for a Home-Based Business
This session covers the vital legal, zoning, and administrative steps required to launch a home-based business in Florida. It emphasizes that while operating from home lowers overhead, it does not exempt a business from municipal zoning restrictions, proper corporate formation, or rigorous financial separation and tax compliance.
Money & Finance
Income Tax Strategies and Compliance for Small Businesses
This session provides a foundational overview of how different business structures impact income tax liabilities. It covers essential record-keeping practices, breaks down allowable deductions on Schedule C, and highlights the major tax code changes brought about by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (often referred to here playfully as the "One Big Beautiful Bill").
Marketing
Easy DIY Video Creation and Editing
This session provides an introduction to the landscape of social media and details practical, low-cost steps for creating video content for those platforms. It covers basic filming setups, the importance of non-AI, authentic content, and provides actionable ideas for what small businesses should actually be filming to connect with their audience.
Start a Business
Launching Your Dream: Location, HR, and Financing
This session covers the practical aspects of transitioning a business from concept to reality, focusing heavily on securing a brick-and-mortar location, building a team (HR), and understanding the financial requirements for survival. It emphasizes the critical need for a solid business plan, understanding startup costs versus operating capital, and the rigorous scrutiny lenders apply to borrowers.
Sales & Customers
LinkedIn Prospecting and Outreach Strategies
This session provides practical, non-spammy strategies for using LinkedIn to prospect for B2B clients. It emphasizes treating LinkedIn like an in-person networking event, ditching the long, formal sales pitches in favor of building authentic relationships, finding commonalities, and using a structured "A-C-A" (Acknowledge, Compliment, Ask) framework to move conversations offline and schedule meetings.
Nonprofits & Government
Managing a Non-Profit Organization
This session emphasizes that a non-profit organization is a business and must be managed with the same professional discipline, financial rigor, and structural organization as any for-profit entity. It details the critical distinction between governance (the Board of Directors) and execution (the Staff), the necessity of quantifying results for fundraising, and the operational administration required for survival.
Marketing
Content Marketing for Humans (Blogging, Email, and Podcasting)
This session explores a "marketing minimalism" approach, focusing on creating high-value content across three primary channels: blogging, email marketing, and podcasting. It emphasizes consistency, simplifying the user experience on your website, avoiding the pitfalls of generic newsletters, and using the "One-Sheet" to secure guest spots on podcasts to boost organic reach and SEO.
Start a Business
Exploring Career Ownership and Franchise Opportunities
This session is designed for individuals feeling trapped or undervalued in corporate America. It systematically compares the pros and cons of four career paths: the traditional job market, starting a business from scratch, buying an existing business, and investing in a franchise, positioning franchising as a viable "business in a box" alternative for those seeking autonomy with built-in support.
Money & Finance
Budgeting for Profitability and Expense Management
This session focuses on the mathematical foundation of business survival: ensuring your pricing covers your expenses and your desired profit. It breaks down the critical differences between fixed (operating) expenses and variable expenses, and teaches entrepreneurs how to calculate the exact profit margin they should expect in their specific industry using the RMA Annual Statement Studies.
Money & Finance
Pathways to Capital: Understanding SBA Financing
This session demystifies Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs, focusing primarily on the 7(a) and 504 loans. It explains how SBA guarantees mitigate lender risk, allowing small businesses to secure funding with lower down payments and longer repayment terms than conventional loans, and outlines the critical documentation needed to apply.
Marketing
Marketing Minimalism: Maximizing Digital Presence
This session introduces a "Marketing Minimalism" approach designed to prevent burnout by creating a cohesive, interconnected digital strategy. It teaches entrepreneurs how to leverage one piece of core content across their Website, Google Business Profile, Social Media, and Email Marketing, ensuring consistent visibility without requiring constant daily effort.
Money & Finance
Finding and Applying for Small Business Grants
This session explores the landscape of small business grants, dispelling common myths that they are "easy, free money." It details the differences between federal and private grants, provides specific resources for finding them, and offers actionable strategies for crafting a winning application and preparing your business for funding opportunities.
Nonprofits & Government
Establishing and Organizing a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit
This session outlines the technical and administrative steps required to start a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Florida. It breaks down the differences between public charities and private foundations, explains the strict IRS and state filing requirements (including the critical difference between the 1023 and 1023-EZ forms), and emphasizes that a non-profit must be run as a compliant, board-governed business.
Marketing
Overcoming Videophobia
This session addresses the common psychological and technical fears holding business owners back from using video marketing (videophobia). It provides a four-stage roadmap for gradually getting comfortable on camera, starting with "faceless" videos and moving toward direct-to-camera content, emphasizing authenticity over perfection.
Sales & Customers
Selling to the Four Personality Types (DISC)
This session teaches salespeople how to adapt their selling style to match the buying style of their prospects, moving from the "Golden Rule" (treat others how you want to be treated) to the "Platinum Rule" (treat others how they need to be treated). It uses the DISC personality assessment, reimagined as four bird types (Eagle, Parrot, Dove, Owl), to explain what drives each buyer and how to communicate with them effectively to close more deals.
People & Compliance
Legal Implications of Social Media Policies in the Workplace
This session examines the legal risks employers face regarding their employees' social media use. It clarifies the common misconception that the First Amendment protects private-sector employees from being fired for their posts, explains the protections afforded by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and provides guidance on drafting and enforcing a legally sound social media policy.
Marketing
Essential Marketing Tools for Small Businesses
This session provides a comprehensive walkthrough of the "Pro Toolkit," a curated list of marketing, legal, and operational software tools for small businesses. The speaker emphasizes simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and the importance of auditing your tech stack to avoid overpaying for redundant or unnecessary systems.