Interview: Chris Brogan
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Brogan. Chris is the President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency. With the market being awash of so called social media “experts,” Chris, who would never refer to himself as such, is absolutely the real deal. In addition to running a successful agency, Chris has reached celebrity status as a blogger (www.chrisbrogan.com), social media advisor, and most recently as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of “Trust Agents.” If you want to see Chris at work, just follow him on Twitter @chrisbrogan where his followers (now numbering more than 100,000) represent one of the most fiercely loyal and engaged communities on the web. However what I admire most about Chris is that with all his success he has remained one of the true nice guys in the business. On with the interview…
CEO job searches are extremely competitive in today’s market. Other than running for political office, there is no interview process that will subject you to such a rigorous vetting process. I was recently interviewed for the September issue of ”CareerSmart Advisor” in which I was asked to articulate what it takes to successfully secure a CEO position. In the text that follows I have provided a copy of the questions I was asked, as well as my answers, in hope that this information will assist you in preparing for your next job search…
Advising CEOs and entrepreneurs for a living I have had the pleasure of working with a wide variety of truly amazing individuals over the years. However when I look back amongst those individuals who have left an indelible impression on me it is not the smartest, toughest, wealthiest or most powerful executives, but rather it has been the “nicest” executives that made the lasting impression. Let’s face it, most C-level executives are savvy, intelligent, resourceful, shrewd, calculating and successful but how many of them are truly warm, caring and friendly? Sadly not as many as I would hope to be able to report. That being said, if Robin Koval has anything to say about it (and trust me she does) there is a paradigm shift in process within the business world which is bringing ”nice” back…
There is nary a week that passes where I don’t receive at least one inquiry asking for my opinion as to the value of an MBA in the business world. Now if you’ve been in business for any length of time I sure you have heard more than a few humorous stories recounting the trials of young MBAs attempting to prove their value and failing miserably in their effort to do so. However the stereotypes about MBAs chronicled in these tales of corporate folklore don’t give justice to the majority of MBAs who make frequent and truly significant contributions to everything they touch. In today’s post I have the privilege of interviewing Sydney Finkelstein who without question is better positioned to provide expert commentary on the value of an MBA than anyone I know…
When it comes to the business of business few decisions are as pivotal as those surrounding capital formation issues. Understanding when to seek capital, where to look for funding, how to structure the deal and other such decisions are at a minimum complex, and if made incorrectly problematic if not disasterous. For those executives and entrepreneurs who deal with such issues you’re in for a treat…Today’s post contains an exclusive interview with Marty Secada, one of the leading minds in alternative corporate finance.
Ken Fisher is perhaps one of the most fascinating men of our time. He possesses both incredible intellect and genuine humility. He is a true renaissance man…A family man who has been married for 36 years, a best selling author (his current book The Only Three Questions That Count is ranked #14 on the NY Times Hardcover Bestseller list), The CEO of 
As most of you know I’m always interested in exchanging information with people who have successfully crafted strong personal brands through careful attention to managing their reputations while in the public eye. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing such an individual. Carolyn Kepcher formerly of The Trump Organization and best known to the public for her role as Donald’s intelligent and level-headed top executive on the hit TV show “The Apprentice” has built a very strong personal brand. Donald hand picked Carolyn for her part on “The Apprentice” from the ranks of his senior executives. “She’s also very firm, very tough, very smart, very shrewd and has good judgment” said Trump. My perception from my limited interaction with Carolyn is that she has played her cards well…She has obviously leveraged her experience, savvy and very strong work ethic to create a level of personal branding to be envied by all. On to the interview…
With the unprecedented growth and undeniable success of the Blogosphere, Rupert Murdoch paying $580 million dollars to purchase MySpace, Facebook’s valuation resting comfortably in excess of $1 Billion dollars, and venture capitalists tripping all over each other to fund social networking companies before the ink is even dry on their business plans there is little doubt that social networking is at the forefront of today’s business climate. I recently had the opportunity to interview Penny Power, the founder of Ecademy. Ecademy, founded in 1998 is not only one of social networking’s pioneers, but having in excess of 80,000 members in more than 100 countries worldwide and operating in the black, Ecademy is also the leader in social networking for business. In the interview that follows you’ll have the opportunity to hear the inside story on social networking and one of its hottest companies.
One of the requests I’ve had of late is to begin conducting interviews with Authors, CEO’s and other business personalities that would be of interest our readers. Well, ask and you shall receive….I first stumbled across Phil Gerbyshak on the blogosphere by posting a comment on an article he authored. An e-mail dialogue ensued, and a few weeks later Phil and I have learned that we have many things in common…A passion for personal development and learning, a love for baseball, and an admiration of Zig Ziglar among other things. My hope is that I will be the first one to put Phil Gerbyshak on your radar screen, and that you can follow along with what I believe is truly one of the rising stars in the personal develop business. May I introduce Phil Gerbyshak, author and speaker. On to the interview…