It’s about what those metrics reflect: the fact that you’re sharing your passion with more people.

The drive to bring joy to customers while sharing something they care deeply about is what sets apart this year’s finalists for our MODERN ONTRAPRENEUR Awards. The awards, hosted by ONTRAPORT, recognize entrepreneurs who have creatively employed the latest strategies to grow their audience and impress their customers, all in service of their mission to make life better for everyone who crosses their path.

“ONTRAPORT’s mission is centered around supporting entrepreneurs, and the MODERN ONTRAPRENEUR awards are one way we celebrate their journeys and honor their important role in the business community,” said ONTRAPORT President Lena Requist. “We created the MODERN ONTRAPRENEUR awards to celebrate the innovative ways in which entrepreneurs are meeting the needs of their customers in today’s competitive landscape.”

With at least six times as many applicants as we had last year, our team had no shortage of impressive candidates to choose from. Here are our five winners for 2017.

Joan T. Randall

Founder, Victorious You

Joan Randall is an international speaker, author and personal development coach. She is president of Joan T. Randall Enterprises and the founder of Victorious You. As a domestic violence survivor who is thriving, Joan is a transformation catalyst who empowers women to go from stuck to success. Through her personal experiences, she has developed a guaranteed five-step strategy called “Finding a Way Out,” proven to support women as they transform from broken to brave, victim to victor, and survivor to thriver.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Joan’s career began in sales at Macy’s, where she advanced to become a vice president. Joan has written two bestselling books and has made appearances on Fox, CNN, NBC and ABC.

Alanna Kaivalya

The Yoga Doctor

Often referred to as the “Yoga Doctor,” Alanna Kaivalya has made it her mission to help yoga teachers embody their knowledge, take their skills to the next level and create more impact in the world. Alanna holds a Ph.D. in Mythology and has authored three books and numerous guides on yoga, spirituality and mythology.

Since becoming the host of the first-ever yoga podcast in 2005, Alanna has continued finding ways to provide access to yoga education for  yoga instructors hoping to make a career out of their spiritual practice. She offers multiple courses on alannak.com, including the world’s first 500-hour online teacher training with YogaDownload and The Modern Mystery school. Alanna and her work have been featured by The Huffington Post, Yoga International, The History Channel, Well + Good, and more.

Scott Hawksworth

Founder, AudioSkills

Scott Hawksworth launched AudioSkills in February of this year to give musicians and aspiring music producers an easier way to record, mix, master and produce their own music. Scott, a lifelong musician and audiophile, realized his passion for “DIY music” was shared by many millions of people all over the world. He works with expert audio professionals (including Grammy Award winners) to regularly release new premium courses to the AudioSkills community. Scott also hosts the popular AudioSkills Podcast and consistently produces content for the AudioSkills blog and YouTube Channel.

The AudioSkills team believes we’re currently in a golden age for DIY music production and is on a mission to help self-produced artists bring out the best of their musical ideas so they can share their music with the world.

Caz and Craig Makepeace

Creators, ytravelblog.com

Caz and Craig Makepeace are the founders of ytravelblog.com, one of the world’s most influential travel blogs. Since the blog launched in 2010, its monthly readership has grown to over 350,000 visitors who come for the in-depth tips about how to travel with kids and a tight budget.

The couple has worked with some of the biggest brands and travel destinations in the world and regularly speak at travel events and blogging conferences. They have been featured as travel experts on The Today Show, Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, Forbes and CNN online and were invited to attend the White House as top digital travel influencers.

Kate Northrup

Founder, Origin Collective

As an entrepreneur, bestselling author, mother and activist, Kate Northrup supports ambitious, motivated and successful women in lighting up the world without burning themselves out in the process. Committed to empowering women entrepreneurs to create their most successful businesses while navigating motherhood, Kate is the founder and CEO of Origin Collective, a monthly membership site where women all over the world gather to achieve more while doing less.

Her first book, Money: A Love Story, has been published in five languages. Kate’s work has been featured by The Today Show, Yahoo! Finance, Women’s Health, Glamour, and The Huffington Post, and she’s spoken to audiences of thousands with Hay House, Wanderlust, USANA Health Sciences and more.

Honorable Mentions

There were many more deserving entrepreneurs than we had space to recognize this year. We’d like to mention several more inspiring applicants, including:

Malorie Tadimi, Founder of Tadimi.com

With over $100 million in consulting contracts under her belt, Malorie helps her Fortune 100 clients close about $800 billion in sales each year.

Matthew Kostanecki, Founder of Owners Academy

Owners Academy is a membership site powered by ONTRAPORT that helps people create physical product brands. Matthew shows members exactly what he’s doing with his own physical brands that have achieved over $1 million in sales.

Hamish Coulter, Founder of Ready to Eat Ltd.

Hamish is the creator of a signature brand of ready-to-eat meals, Muscle Fuel, available for delivery in New Zealand. Before launching Muscle Fuel, Hamish was well-known as a wrestling champion with both regional and national titles.

Ben and Benieke Treverton, Co-founders of Wanderloud

Who doesn’t love being in the moment on holiday? This shared passion led Ben and Benieke to create Wanderloud, a global network of photographers who provide destination photoshoots, allowing travelers to enjoy no-selfie holidays.

Ryan Gromfin, Founder of The Restaurant Boss

After years running a restaurant, Ryan discovered that restaurateurs like himself needed more resources to succeed in a competitive industry. He is the creator of The Restaurant Boss, a membership site that helps restaurant owners increase profits and freedom, and clickbacon.com, a software that helps owners operate highly profitable restaurants.

Brian Wallace, Director of Marketing at Kiefer Consulting

As the Director of Marketing at Kiefer Consulting, Brian and his team build online solutions that people actually use. They stay focused on solving their clients’ business challenges while leveraging technology, rather than leading with it.

Brigit Esselmont, Founder of Biddy Tarot

Biddy Tarot provides a safe, modern learning environment to inspire individuals to live an intuitive, conscious life with Tarot as a guide. Brigit has grown the business by 77% in the past year, building the company to seven figures with 14 team members.

Molly Keyser, Founder of Boudie Shorts

After starting her own successful boudoir photography business, Molly decided to help others do the same. Boudie Shorts offers tools and courses to help photographers book more boudoir sessions and, in turn, empower more women around the world.

Helen James, Founder of Nutriri

As the founder of a nonprofit whose mission is to disrupt diet culture, Helen focuses on speaking out for a more positive approach toward food and dieting to promote better mental health and a more positive self image. Nutriri provides group workshops, online content and one-on-one coaching.

Cathy Margolin, Founder of Pacific Herbs

Cathy focuses on helping people be healthy and stay healthy by promoting non-addictive herbal alternatives for pain relief. Pacific Herbs focuses on providing the highest quality, tested botanicals as well as resources and consultations.

We’re now accepting applications for 2018 awards. Enter to win $5,000, a free year of ONTRAPORT, and more amazing prizes by filling out our short application here by August 24, 2018.

The post Find Out How These Five Business Owners Embody The Entrepreneurial Spirit appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

Each year, we put hours of deliberation into our speaker selection process. Although there’s never a shortage of interesting speakers to choose from, we focus on experts who have actionable tips and strategies that our audience of entrepreneurs and marketers can use to grow their businesses.

We’re excited to announce our roster of keynote speakers plus a sneak peek of speakers for our mainstage talks, workshops and software sessions.

Industry-Leading Keynote Speakers

Rand Fishkin

Rand Fishkin goes by the self-proclaimed “ludicrous” title, Wizard of Moz. He’s founder and former CEO of SEO software startup Moz, host of Whiteboard Friday, co-author of a pair of books on SEO, co-founder of Inbound.org, and board member of the presentation software firm Haiku Deck. Rand is currently writing a book for Penguin/Random House on the ups and downs of startup culture, due out in 2018. In his miniscule spare time, he loves to travel with his wife, author Geraldine DeRuiter, and read about their adventures in her books and blog. Geraldine and Rand are also small investors in Backstage Capital and Techstars Seattle.

Hilary Rushford

Hilary Rushford’s personal styling business Dean Street Society launched in August, 2011 and soon amassed a loyal following on Instagram, growing to 40,000 followers in just 18 months. Soon, Hilary’s audience began to ask for advice on building their own blogs, businesses and brands. The same professor-plus-therapist-plus-best-friend approach Hilary took with her styling clients carried over into her business coaching clients. In style and in business, Hilary simplifies the complex and builds authentic confidence.

John Jantsch

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker and the bestselling author of Duct Tape Marketing, Duct Tape Selling, The Commitment Engine, The Referral Engine, and SEO for Growth. He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing System and Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network that trains and licenses small business marketing consultants around the world. Seth Godin once called him “the Peter Drucker of small business marketing tactics.”

Ryan Levesque

Ryan Levesque is an Inc. 5000 company CEO and author of the #1 National Best-Selling book, ASK, recognized by Inc. and Entrepreneur. Ryan has used the ASK Method to build multimillion dollar businesses in 23 industries, generating over $100 million in sales. His student entrepreneurs have used the ASK Method to launch and scale thousands of businesses online. Ryan is also co-founder of Bucket.io, the segmentation funnel software entrepreneurs are using to implement the ASK Method in their businesses.

Landon Ray

Landon Ray, ONTRAPORT’s founder and CEO, is a serial entrepreneur whose personal mission is to educate, motivate and enable others to realize their goal of starting and growing their own businesses. At the age of 25, Landon transformed himself from a street-corner flower vendor into one of the nation’s top securities day traders in only 12 months. After beating the odds on Wall Street, Landon created ONTRAPORT, a marketing and sales automation platform for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Lena Requist

Lena Requist, president of ONTRAPORT, was the driving force behind the company’s 5,000% growth, which landed it on Inc. 500’s list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for four consecutive years. The recipient of a 2017 Silver Stevie Award for Executive of the Year in Computer Software, Lena has been recognized for her impressive background of building startups into multimillion dollar companies. She has fostered a progressive company culture of productivity and empowerment, for which ONTRAPORT continues to receive awards.

Expert Mainstage Speakers

Our mainstage speakers represent the best and the brightest in the marketing and entrepreneurship space.

Attendees will hear digital marketing strategies from experts such as Andrew Warner, who will share strategies for marketing with Facebook Messenger Chat Bots; Syed Balkhi, who will share tips for faster lead generation; and Aprille Franks-Hunt, offering strategies for reaching more customers via live streaming.

Entrepreneurs will gain tangible strategies for increasing their effectiveness from Noah St. John’s session on ending procrastination to get more done, Brad Martineau’s best practices for executing marketing campaigns on schedule, and Patty Aubery’s tips for strategically planning an entrepreneurial career.

Finally, attendees will learn how to make their mark in a competitive landscape. Oliver Billson will share strategies for standing out in front of your audience, and Gene Hammett will reveal how to build trust through content.

Check out the ONTRApalooza speakers page for bios and more details about each of these mainstage speakers.

Hands-On Workshops

During workshops, attendees will take a deep dive into their own businesses and learn how to directly apply the strategies that our innovative speakers have used to get results in their own businesses. Attendees will leave with a list of actionable takeaways, plus the knowledge and skills they need to make them happen. In some sessions, attendees will even do a portion of the work right then and there

To lead these sessions, we’ve chosen speakers who bring a wide variety of skills and experiences to the table, including brand strategists, Facebook advertising specialists and bestselling authors.

Workshop attendees will learn how to leverage social media to build their network with Shadé Y. Adu, strategies for balancing automation and personalization in the sales funnel with Holly Chantal, secrets for publishing twice the amount of high-value content with Maya Elious, and Facebook advertising strategies that will boost revenue with Justin Lofton — and that’s just a sneak peek.

We will be adding additional workshop speakers over the next several weeks to the speakers page at ONTRApalooza.com, so check back often to see who else will be bringing their expertise to the workshop room. You can also learn more about each speaker and read their bios.

Step-by-Step Software Sessions

In the software room, attendees will hear directly from ONTRAPORT experts and follow step-by-step guided tutorials to get more out of the platform, with an emphasis on powerful new features such as the visual campaign builder, performance reporting, and more. Automation experts will share specific tips for building high-value campaigns and continuously optimizing them for even better results.

We will announce many more software room speakers between now and October, so keep an eye on the speakers page to get the latest updates, plus bios and more information.

The post Meet the Experts Who Are Taking the Stage at ONTRApalooza 2017 appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

Many small business owners, startup founders and entrepreneurs are naturally outgoing. These social butterflies have no hesitation when it comes to sharing their sparkling personalities with potential business connections. If this is you, your biggest networking challenge is likely finding relationships with the most potential or identifying the right moment to make a pitch.

However, there are also many entrepreneurs for whom working a room full of unfamiliar faces presents a gut-wrenching, heart-pounding challenge.

If the thought of striking up a conversation out of the blue with potential peers, mentors, investors or strategic partners makes you nervous, you’re not alone! There have been many successful entrepreneurs who are naturally introverted:  Bill Gates, Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg just to name a few.

To achieve your goals, you don’t have to be a natural extrovert — but you should have some basic networking skills. The good news is there are some networking strategies you can start using now to help you build rewarding business relationships.

If you do happen to be one of those naturally outgoing entrepreneurs, these same strategies can also help you find more new connections in unexpected places, forge stronger bonds and even lead to more mutually profitable long-term relationships.

Here are our 10 best tips that are sure to help you get more out of your next networking event.

1. Have a Few Fail-Proof Icebreakers Up Your Sleeve

Does the thought of walking up to a stranger and starting a conversation seem intimidating? Having a few reliable conversion-starters you can always fall back on can dramatically increase your confidence.

One of our favorites for networking events that have a learning component (like ONTRApalooza) is to start out a conversation by asking about what they’ve learned. For example, at an ONTRApalooza networking party, kick off a conversation by asking, “Which one of today’s speakers was your favorite?” or “What was the most useful thing you’ve learned from today’s sessions?”

Another fail-proof conversation starter is to give someone a compliment! Share your admiration for their laptop bag, their shoes or even their business cards.

For an even easier conversation starter, try finding a loner at the event — look for someone standing alone on the sidelines or trying to make themselves look busy at the food table — and strike up a conversation that acknowledges the universal awkwardness of networking with strangers. Careerealism suggests trying a line like “Man, these networking events can be so crazy. Mind if I join you over here where it’s a little quieter?” to quickly and painlessly break the ice.

2. Feeling Shy? Get in a Line — Any Line!

One of the toughest moments of any networking event is the moment when you first walk in, scan the crowd and find that you’re on your own. If you’re not prepared to charge fearlessly into the crowd, try getting in line for something — drinks, food, a book signing — any queue will do!

Here’s why Devora Zack of Careerealism says getting in line is a smart strategy: “A queue gives you a place to put your body and a temporary purpose in the world. There are only two people to talk with — the person in front and person behind you. There is a reward — whatever is given out at the front of the queue. And a natural ending — the front of the queue. Nice meeting you! Ta-ta!”

3. Show Up Early

Especially for introverts, this is an important tip. By showing up before the event has really gotten into full swing, you’ll have more opportunities to insert yourself into a group and make connections without breaking into an established conversation that began long before you showed up.

Some people have no trouble walking into a room full of small conversational circles and effortlessly becoming part of the dialogue, but for everyone else, the trick is to show up early when there’s less competition for conversation partners.

4. Offer to Help Others Instead of Asking for Help

Many people mistakenly view networking events solely as an opportunity to ask, ask, ask. Whether you’re looking for new clients, investors or a mentor, this mindset can cause you to miss out on relationship-building opportunities.

Instead of looking for your chance to ask others for a favor, start looking for your chance to do them a favor. You could help them out by introducing them to someone, sharing an idea for their business, volunteering your expertise to solve a problem they’re facing or even just by sending them an interesting article.

By looking for ways to be helpful, you’ll build up social capital and trust that will benefit you in the long run.

5. Strengthen a New Bond by Asking for a Favor

Although focusing only on what favors you can ask for is strategy guaranteed to backfire, you can still look for the right moment to ask for a small favor after you’ve cemented a new relationship.

It’s counterintuitive, but asking someone for a favor at the right time can actually increase their positive feelings toward you. Choose the right moment and ask for something small.

For example, ask a potential mentor you sat next to at an ONTRApalooza workshop to take a look at your landing page and offer their feedback.

6. Plan Your First Impression

If you’re nervous about putting your best foot forward, why not increase your confidence by rehearsing it? It’s a lot easier to feel comfortable at a networking event if you know you’re reflecting the best version of yourself.

To prepare to make a memorable first impression, approach your wardrobe thoughtfully. You don’t want to meet valuable potential connections wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, but is a starched suit and tie really the impression you want to leave?

Another factor to consider is body language. You may be communicating an unintended message! Crossed arms, hunched shoulders or even a weak handshake tell the world that you’re not open to connection, so be aware of how you present yourself. It may be helpful to practice the body language you want to use by role playing with a trusted friend before the event.

7. Do Your Homework Ahead of Time

You can get a lot more out of a networking opportunity by doing some leg work in advance. If you can get a list from the organizers of the companies and individuals who’ll be attending, do a quick Google or LinkedIn search on them to see if you can identify a few of your best networking targets.

If the event you’re attending has a Facebook event page like ONTRApalooza, check out the list of who’s RSVP’d and see if there’s anyone you’d like to get to know. You can even make a post in the discussion thread to find out if anyone would like to do a smaller meetup at the event! For example, you could invite attendees who are part of your industry or from your area to get together.

If there are specific people that you want to meet, be sure and read up on them beforehand. Find out if they have a blog, a podcast or even a published book. Mention your appreciation of their work when you first meet and you’ll be sure to make a lasting impression.

8. Stop Idolizing Business Cards

Some networkers treat business cards like baseball cards; for them, it’s all about collecting and trading. However, it’s important to remember that just because you’ve collected someone’s business card doesn’t mean that you’ve struck up a real relationship with them.

Instead of doing the rounds to collect business cards as if they were Halloween candy, focus on the quality of your interactions. If you’re feeling shy, simply swapping business cards and moving on from a conversation may be the easy way out, but is it really worthwhile?

Collecting business cards is smart because it allows you to follow up with new connections, but it isn’t the end-all be-all of networking. Which leads to our next tip …

9. Follow Up!

Let’s not mince words here. If you’re not following up with new connections after you meet them, you’re flat out wasting your time. It takes time to build a worthwhile business relationship. By reaching out after the initial introduction, you’re demonstrating that you care enough to stay in contact.

Following up goes beyond merely sending a LinkedIn invite: Send a personalized message and offer something of value. For example, send useful articles or links, share contact info of another interesting connection or even invite them for coffee.

Although it’s important to keep your follow-up personal, you can still use automation to save some time and improve your consistency. Write a basic follow-up email message that you can personalize with merge fields such as company name and event name. Include links to your favorite content, then input the contact info you harvested from the business cards you’ve collected into ONTRAPORT and subscribe them to your event follow-up sequence. Works every time!

10. Find Super-connectors

At any event, there are always a few people who know the most people. These people, often called “super-connectors,” have the potential to introduce you to most of their business friends and professional connections — which makes these relationships worth investing in.

People who are connected to a large number of different worlds are far more likely to introduce you to a new connection that none of your existing friends know. According to self-proclaimed superconnector Keith Ferazzi, author of Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time, the reason super-connectors are advantageous friends “is not only that we know thousands of people but that we know thousands of people in many different worlds, and we know them well enough to give them a call. Once you become friendly with a super-connector, you’re only two degrees away from the thousands of different people we know.”

With these simple strategies, you’ll be prepared to make the most out of yo

The post 10 Event Networking Strategies Everyone Should Know appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

To help you balance the multiple aspects of your busy entrepreneurial life, we compiled five business-building tips from our 2016 Modern ONTRApreneur winners.

1. Take Small Steps

Often when you start off as an entrepreneur, you have a grand idea and want millions of customers. However, it’s important to break it down into small action steps to avoid overwhelm and start building up your knowledge and confidence levels.

Just ask Kristen Noel, winner of the 2016 Modern Publisher Award, who launched an entirely digital publication. Kristen wanted to write an inspirational novel but didn’t feel quite ready for such a large endeavor. Instead, she began Best Self Magazine as an online platform to build an audience for her eventual book.

2. Keep Your Audience Engaged

You might have caught your audience’s attention, but now that you have, how do you keep it? It’s a tricky question to answer but our 2016 Modern ONTRApreneur, James Taylor, has it all figured out. In fact, James has refined his retention process so well that he recently sold out a $2,000 per ticket creative retreat — in 45 seconds.

James keeps his audience intrigued by enacting a post-purchase, 365 day engagement campaign. Following customers’ purchases, James sends them a daily tip, video, or other valuable content piece, in order to build their trust and keep them interested. So when it comes time to sell tickets, James has a highly captivated audience who eagerly buys out events.

3. Generate Passive Income: Membership Site Magic

If you consider yourself an expert in your field and have content to share, then a membership site might be for you. Membership sites allow you to protect the content you create while simultaneously sharing it. When you position yourself as an expert, people will want access to the information and resources you can provide them via a gated membership site.

Our 2016 Modern Organizer Award winner, Rob Malicki, made a business out of his membership site alone. Rob created a study abroad membership community that is now used by over half of the universities in Australia. His site allows students to access resources they’ll need to prepare for their travels and connect with other students across universities who have or will study abroad in a specific country.

4. Build Your Community

Nowadays your business’s reputation is just as important as your business itself. Word-of-mouth marketing and social proof is imperative to distinguish your company, prove your company’s value and gain trust from your prospects.

For last year’s Modern Marketer Award winner, Amy Chalker, social proof was a way of establishing the legitimacy of her business when she started the first boutique artisan grocery in Santa Barbara, Calfornia. Amy’s business grew as she sold products that garnered recognition and ended up on Oprah’s favorite things and Amazon best-selling list, which she could then promote as being “as seen on” those lists to further gain credibility.

5. Market to Your Niche

Refining your market niche is a definite must to help grow your business. Our Modern Sales winners of 2016, Jason and Cecilia Hilkey, found their niche while teaching at a progressive, non-authoritative school. As more and more parents dropped in to watch the Hilkeys teach, Jason and Cecilia realized there was a great need for their parenting tips.

They hosted their first online parenting conference full of interviews with brain science and developmental psychology experts. “We went viral in our own little corner of the internet. It reached people who don’t have access to this kind of information and who also feel kind of isolated, like their family might not ‘get it,’” Cecilia said. They started getting clients from around the world and launched a successful educational coaching site shortly after.

Growing your business requires a lot of experimentation and refined skill. If you’ve got an entrepreneurial success story, share it with us for a chance to become one of our 2017 Modern ONTRApreneur winners.

By entering, you’ll get a chance at the grand prize of $5,000 to help you grow and expand your business as well as a free ONTRAPORT account for an entire year. In addition, winners will get a complimentary ticket to our annual modern marketing conference, ONTRApalooza, where hundreds of entrepreneurs will gather to participate in in-depth software workshops and hear  industry-leading keynotes. Apply here.

The post Entrepreneurial Advice from our Modern ONTRApreneur Winners appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

Cutting through the noise to find clarity is the reason we created ONTRApalooza, our biggest event of the year. If you’ve ever struggled to decide which strategies your business should focus on, or had trouble following through with them, ONTRApalooza will be a turning point.

This one-of-a-kind event has been featured by publications such as Forbes, which named it a “Must-Attend Conference for Entrepreneurs,” and Inc., which spotlighted it as one of the “Top Entrepreneur Conferences to Check Out in 2017.”

We’re excited to announce the dates for this year’s can’t-miss Modern Marketing Summit. ONTRApalooza 2017 is happening October 4-6 in Santa Barbara, California. This year we’ll be hosting hundreds of entrepreneurs, marketers and thought leaders at The Fess Parker – A Doubletree Resort, one of the most stunning beachfront venues on California’s Central Coast

Each year, ONTRApalooza features industry-leading keynote speakers who push attendees to challenge the status quo and inspire them to take action to grow their businesses. At ONTRApalooza 2016, attendees heard from headliners such as:

Marc Randolph, Co-Founder of Netflix

Sophia Amoruso, Founder of Nasty Gal

Neil Patel, Co-Founder of Crazy Egg and Hello Bar

Ryan Deiss, Founder/CEO, Digital Marker

Landon Ray, Founder/CEO, ONTRAPORT

Lena Requist, President, ONTRAPORT

The world-class keynotes are only one part of the reason ONTRApalooza is such a transformative event. When you attend, you will also have the opportunity to get hands-on in smaller, interactive workshops with industry leaders in publishing, marketing, sales and operations. You’ll network with entrepreneurial peers, mentors, influencers and even investors. You’ll enjoy nightly meet-ups and events to get to know the ONTRAPORT community, and – one of the most exciting perks for ONTRAPORT users – you’ll be front and center for exciting announcements about new features and product launches.

Right now, pre-sale tickets are available for the lowest price they’ll ever be. As we announce keynote speakers, our agenda, and more information over the next few months, prices will continue to rise. You can take advantage of our pre-sale pricing today to earn more than 60% off the price of your ticket. The last day to get pre-sale tickets is June 1, so don’t miss your chance.

The post Find Your Business’s Next Steps at ONTRApalooza 2017 appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

The screen adaptation of Sophia’s journey featuring “Tomorrowland” star Britt Robertson  is expected to premiere in early 2017.  Serving as Executive Producer, Sophia Amoruso has teamed up with writers Kay Cannon, Charlize Theron and Laverne McKinnon to create this highly anticipated comedy series.  

#GIRLBOSS chronicles her journey from a dumpster-diving, thrift-store bargain hunter to the founder and executive chairwoman of Nasty Gal, one of today’s most iconic online fashion retailers. You can check out ten more little known facts about her in this article.

At the moment, Amoruso’s gearing up to release her second book Nasty Galaxy — It’s scheduled for release on October 4, 2016.

The Nasty Gal website (where Nasty Galaxy is available for pre-order) warns readers expecting a fashion “how-to” book to look elsewhere saying, “It’s not about how to mix prints — it’s about how to leave yours on everything you touch.”

Hailed as Amoruso’s new “life bible,” we can’t wait to see how her book approaches fashion and lifestyle, music, philosophy, and advice. The book description alone has us on the edge of our seats:

“Highly graphic and visual, filled with illustrations, photos and short essays, Nasty Galaxy is part scrapbook, part inspo-journey, with moments of frivolity scattered throughout. Tactical and entertaining, envelope-pushing and conventional, surprising and refreshingly straightforward, Nasty Galaxy is a dive into Sophia’s philosophies on work, relationships, balance, friendships, and more.”

To celebrate the release of Nasty Galaxy, we’re teaming up with Sophia Amoruso for an exclusive book signing at this year’s ONTRApalooza, only nine days after this full-color inspo-journey is officially unveiled.

On October 13, Amoruso will sign Nasty Galaxy at ONTRApalooza, our three-day Modern Marketing Summit in Santa Barbara California. The book signing, which is one of only three West Coast Nasty Gal events, will follow an onstage Q&A session with ONTRAPORT CEO Landon Ray.

To open up this exciting event to a wider audience of Sophia Amoruso fans, we’ve decided to make a limited quantity of single-night ONTRApalooza tickets available for the Q&A and book signing!

You can get your ticket, which includes entry to the onstage Q&A, the opportunity to meet Sophia at the book signing, and a copy of Nasty Galaxy, for only $97 here. (Of course, there’s always the option to upgrade to an All-Access ONTRApalooza ticket if you want to see keynotes with more thought leaders such as Neil Patel, Ryan Deiss and Marc Randolph!)

The post Thought Leadership With Attitude: appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

In this year’s Modern ONTRApreneur Awards, we found five entrepreneurs who have taken this spirit of innovation to the next level.

People can say that they’re an entrepreneur, but to be a truly successful Modern ONTRApreneur you have to be dedicated, passionate, driven and willing to grind harder than anyone else.

We searched worldwide to find five businesses owners who excel in one or all of the main pillars of entrepreneurship: Publishing, Marketing, Selling and Organization. This year’s Modern ONTRApreneur Awards finalists are coming from all over the globe to share their entrepreneurial journeys and accept their awards onstage at ONTRApalooza 2016 : THE Modern Marketing Summit.

Check out our Finalists (in no particular order):

Rob Malicki, Founder, The Global Society

The Global Society provides engaging resources and connections for people who have either previously embarked on overseas study or are current international university students. Founder Rob Malicki was inspired to create a network of like-minded students and professionals, and has expanded The Global Society through partnerships with 10 Universities. Rob brought together a community of thousands of members who are about to study internationally and works with multiple partners and organizations to provide his members with a wide range of travel benefits and resources.

Cecilia & Jason Hilkey, co-Founders, Happily Family

After having two beautiful children, Cecilia and Jason Hilkey were in love with parenting, but they also realized how overwhelming and challenging parenting could be. They were balancing two successful careers, two children, and a marriage while simultaneously trying to absorb as much research and parenting information as they could. After leaving their careers to start teaching full time at their children’s school, they discovered that their feelings of “parenting overwhelm” were not just unique to them. Cecilia and Jason launched their parent education website, Happily Family, to help serve a larger community of parents. The two-parent team has a mission to teach parents how to connect with their children, meet their emotional needs and create a lasting partnership.

James Taylor, CEO, JamesTaylor.me

For the first 10 years of James Taylor’s job as a manager and marketer to multiple Grammy award winning artists, it was his responsibility to help make other people famous. Then he realized that rather than helping the rich get richer, his passions lay in helping the public develop and market their own creative ideas. JamesTaylor.me is dedicated to helping people and organizations become more creative through his courses, worldwide retreats, memberhsip sites and coaching programs. He has launched over 25 online subscription-based music schools and produces exclusive four-day retreats throughout the globe, the last of which sold out in 45 seconds.

Kristen Noel, Editor-In-Chief, Best Self Magazine

Kristen Noel thought that she had a perfect life, until a series of life-altering events showed her that she had not been living anywhere near her “best self.” Through her own journey of healing and self-exploration, she realized a desire to help others pick themselves up and reclaim their vibrancy no matter what they had experienced. Best Self Magazine showcases and celebrates the powerful work of voices in the realm of self-empowerment and personal development. The magazine is a subscription-based, digital publication created for iPad and mobile devices and has expanded from these platforms to include newsletters and affiliate partnerships. Best Self Magazine envisions becoming a leading global resource for self-empowerment.  

Amy Isabella Chalker, Owner, Isabella Gourmet Foods

Isabella Gourmet Foods is an artisan grocery store that promotes regionally grown and produced small-batch food products from the California coast. As a Registered Dietician and Licensed Massage Therapist, Amy Isabella Chalker wants to help her community understand how eating and shopping locally can not only improve an individual’s overall health and well-being, but it can also help improve local economies. Isabella Gourmet Foods has been named among Expedia’s “Best Places in Santa Barbara to Visit for Summer Solstice” and strives to give a home to vendors who rely on the store to gain footing in their fields.

The post Announcing the Finalists for ONTRAPORT’s 2016 Modern ONTRApreneur Awards! appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

Situated between the tech giants of the Bay Area and the creative genius of Los Angeles, ONTRAPORT is based in the coastal region known as “Silicon Beach,” thanks to Santa Barbara’s growing tech scene. This year’s ONTRApalooza brings together the best minds in marketing, entrepreneurship, sales, leadership, and more, which is why we’re convinced that every small business owner, marketer or startup founder must attend.

If you’re a California-based entrepreneur, small business owner or marketer, here are five reasons to get yourself to Santa Barbara this fall for the fifth annual ONTRApalooza:

1. You Can See Big Names in Marketing Without Getting On a Plane

Ever heard of a little company called Netflix? Their founding CEO Marc Randolph will be giving a keynote this year — and he’s got some pretty impressive company on this year’s speaker roster. He’ll be joined by Sophia Amoruso, the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Nasty Gal, one of the internet’s most rapidly growing women’s fashion retailers; Neil Patel, serial entrepreneur and Founder of three wildly successful software companies, including Kissmetrics; and Ryan Deiss, Founder of Digital Marketer; and more!

2. Connect With New Mentors from Your Area

Looking for an introduction to your next business mentor? With hundreds of driven entrepreneurs, marketers and small business owners converging at one vibrant event, ONTRApalooza is the perfect place to network with potential mentors from a variety of industries.

Especially for entrepreneurs from Silicon Beach, this will be a prime opportunity to meet leaders from the local tech and entrepreneurship scene.

3. Build Relationships (And Potential Strategic Partnerships) With Local Peers

In addition to meeting mentors who may be a bit further along on their entrepreneurial journey than you are, at ONTRApalooza you’ll also have the opportunity to meet other ambitious and like-minded peers from California, many who may be at the same stage of business building as you.

At ONTRApalooza 2016, you can learn from entrepreneurs with a collection of diverse business backgrounds and even form relationships and strategic partnerships that can change the trajectory of your business for the better.

4. Learn New Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business Exponentially

ONTRApalooza isn’t just about networking — this event is built around hands-on workshops where you’ll learn strategies and growth hacks to expand your business and participate in software training sessions that will give you the skills and confidence to fully-leverage business automation.

There are two big obstacles entrepreneurs typically face as they prepare to scale their businesses. The first is not knowing what marketing strategies to focus on first — those that will help them grow most rapidly. With so many possible strategies to choose from, it’s incredibly difficult for most entrepreneurs to pinpoint the one that will make the biggest difference in their business.

The second problem is time. Most entrepreneurs simply don’t have enough of it — because working IN their businesses consistently gets in the way of working ON their business.

ONTRApalooza is designed to give entrepreneurs the skills to overcome both of these obstacles. Marketing and growth experts will share the strategies that are getting results now and show you how to apply them in your business (and in which order), and in-depth software sessions will show you how to leverage your time using business and marketing automation so that you can focus on the ambitious marketing projects that will get you real results.

5. The Last, And Very Best Reason You Should Buy a Ticket… (Drumroll Please!)

The final, and best, reason that every entrepreneur from San Diego to Sacramento needs to be at ONTRApalooza is because of the incredible locals-only discount. We want as many entrepreneurs from California as possible to be present at this unique, so we’re giving you a massive discount.

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If you’re a California-based entrepreneur, use promo code OPLZALocals to get your ONTRApalooza ticket for only $297 — that’s $400 off a regular All Access Pass! Head over to ONTRApalooza.com to claim your ticket for this exclusive, California-only price.

The post 5 Reasons Every Entrepreneur in California Should Be at ONTRApalooza 2016 appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

Answer the following questions to get an idea of whether ONTRApalooza is right for you. Once the decision’s made, you can get your tickets at ONTRApalooza.com.

The post Should You Attend ONTRApalooza 2016? appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

Video marketing is a proven way to improve conversion rates by fostering an emotional connection to your brand. In this ONTRApalooza talk, Wistia’s Kristen Craft teaches you how to effectively communicate your products through video creation.

Looking for something specific? Jump into a topic:

01:38 — Create an emotional connection with your audience

05:30 — Invite your audience to be a part of your community by empowering them

08:15 — Find what’s sexy about your company

14:31 — What’s better than going viral? Going viral within your targeted audience

17:21 — Transparency evokes empathy

20:23 — Spice up the customer relationship — tell your story from a clever angle

23:10 — Everyone loves a hero

25:34 — Creating videos that will drive you toward your goal

31:15 — Wait, aren’t videos hard to make?

41:05 — Leverage your data to make better content

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Kristen Craft

As the Director of Business Development at Wistia, Kristen Craft enjoys helping people use video more effectively in their market. She loves working with Wistia’s partner community: building connections with other companies that care about video marketing. Kristen holds advanced degrees in business and education from MIT and Harvard. In her spare time, she brews and drinks a variety of beer.

The post Going Viral: How to Create Buzz Online in 2016 appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.