Q&A with Donna Gunter, CEO of BizSmart Media
Tell us a bit about BizSmart Media.
I started BizSmart Media in 2014 as a way to help entrepreneurs, consultants, speakers, coaches, and local service professionals stop the client chase by leveraging their knowledge to gain authority status in their industry, then dramatically amplify their message and convert the new audience into high-paying customers.
Using my proven Become Business Famous signature seven-step system, I work with my clients to build powerful personal brands and grow their businesses through speaking, publishing, and publicity.
What gave you the idea for your business and how did it start?
I started my first online business, SOHO Business Solutions, in 1999 from my mother’s garage, which is where I ended up after blowing up my life and relocating halfway across the country back to my hometown after the end of a 10-year marriage. In this business, I provided marketing technology and strategy support to my clients until 2014. Having grown bored with this business, I joined a mastermind group that taught me about book publishing and published my first multi-author book in 2014 that became an Amazon Best-Seller for the nine other authors that were a part of the book and me. Later that year I closed SOHO Business Solutions and opened BizSmart Media and branded myself as an authority marketing expert and consultant.
What’s your favorite thing about your job?
I love helping service business owners position themselves as the obvious choice for their clients. Whether I help them create a lead generation book, become an Amazon Best-Selling Author, get seen on affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox, or hear them talk about their expertise on radio shows, I am thrilled that they are thrilled with their newfound “business fame” and visibility!
What are your keys to making yourself productive?
I set up my year on my calendar one year in advance. I remove the days/weeks where I’ll be taking off and/or on vacation. From the remaining days, I schedule my free days (no work), my profit-generating days (where I do contracted client work) and my business development days (where I work ON my business rather than IN my business). I then use a combination of Google Tasks and Ora Project Manager.
Tell us one long-term goal in your career.
My graduate degree is in higher education administration. When I started my first job after getting my master’s degree, I told the interview committee that my long-term career goal was to become president of a college. In 2006 I did in a way when I launched my online business training community, Online Business University, which I ran successfully until closing it down in 2014 when I changed the direction of my business. Since then, my longer-term goal has been to create a business from which I don’t have to take a vacation. That business is BizSmart Media.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned through the course of your career?
My most valuable lesson has been to not say “yes” to every opportunity. Many opportunities are merely bright, shiny objects that can detract you from what you need/should be doing to move yourself/your business forward. Only say yes to those opportunities that make your heart sing and/or fulfill your longer-term goals.
What advice would you give to others aspiring to succeed in your field?
Much has changed in the online world, but if you have a successful solution to a problem and a tightly-niched group of people who need that solution, you can have a very successful business. If you try to be everything to all people, you’ll be nothing to anyone.
What are your favorite things to do outside of work?
I love to go to high-end craft fairs, art shows. and gourmet food events and visit with the artisans, and I love to try out new recipes I’ve discovered on some of my favorite Food Network shows.
Name a few influential books you’ve read and/or websites you keep up with that you’d recommend to readers.
Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara Winter is the book that got me started on my entrepreneurial path and one to which I still refer today. The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell and Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort of Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach are two daily meditative guides that have helped me tremendously in my life and my business. Two of the best marketing website out there are John Jantsch’s DuctTapeMarketing.com and Neil Patel’s NeilPatel.com
