Hey Syndicate Fam, I hope your week has started out amazing or at least better than expected, lol. I am in the middle of a very hectic week here in NE Ohio. I have a couple of my quarterly doctor's appt's and am getting Cataract surgery this week as well. I also have 2 client deadlines I am working against. I hope you all will watch the Tedx Talk video below, through to the end. It takes a bit to get there, but with wit and wisdom, it really tells the importance of what we can accomplish as a group. It is one of the reasons I founded the Success Syndicate, and my guiding principle. Individually our skills are great and important to the work we do in our lives, but when we bring those skills, life lessons, and resources together as a group, we can accomplish amazing things. Please watch the video and if you haven't been able to check in as much since you joined, I hope you will find a way to re-energize yourself and commit to spending a little bit more time here. YOU just might be the missing piece of the puzzle one of our other members need to move themselves or their project forward. We all should be sharing our successes, but we should also be bringing our goals/dreams and the obstacles keeping us from making them a reality. Let's see what the group can do about them....... Reminder: Thursday Morning's Success Chat will be at 10am Eastern Time and will be about SEO, how to make your posts and content get in front of the eyes you are targeting. It will be lead by our great team member @Aidan McClain who will be bringing his experience in digital print and advertising, to share with us tips and best practices. We have some exciting Success Chats coming up in the future and if you would like to lead one, like @Andrew Edwards or @Mike Bennion-Rowe in the next few weeks, let me know. I did an interview for the Success Syndicate with Luxury Brand Marketing Specialist, and Founder of the next new performance drink, "Disco Fizz," to an lgbtq gay bar or lounge near you soon. Recently launched primarily on his home turn in NYC, Ben Zumsteg has created a great tasting, low calorie, non-alcoholic beverage alternative. We talk about his marketing strategy, research and why he thinks his Disco Fizz is the next big thing.

Hey Syndicate Family. It's officially the start of Spring!! How do I know this? Well here in Northeast Ohio, the first roar of the lawn mower started this week, and it's on like Donkey Kong. Mowing your lawn in our area is not a weekly chore that needs to be done, but a competition. Once that first lawn mower fires up, the rest have until the end of that weekend to catch-up. Most of the homes in my neighborhood sit on about 1/3 of an acre, so riding mowers are common, but wait, there's more, lol. You need to create patterns in your lawn, and God Forbid you do the same pattern twice in a week. So those in the know, will use hand-held mowers to get more intricately made patterns that your riding mower just doesn't have the turning radius for, hehe. So what's the tell-tale signs of Spring for YOUR family or neighborhood? I hope you have a most excellent weekend everyone!!

Happy Friday Syndicate Fam! We made it through another week and I hope you have some successes to share with the group! Let us know in the comments any Wins of the Week! I said last week that we are less than 2 months away from the traditional Pride Month of June. As I work with clients in my own business as an lgbtq business and marketing coach/consultant, I thought on the next few Fridays, I would share some of what I thought were great Marketing Campaigns and ask you a question. What has been one of your best offers or campaigns that helped boost your business? Share with the group as it may help someone else here in the Syndicate. Pride Month gives brands a golden opportunity to boost their reputation, establish deep connections with their customers, and drive growth. But only if your Pride Month marketing comes with the right intentions. Today’s buyers are looking for more than just great products. They want to support brands that align with their values and support important social causes, including LGBTQ+ inclusivity. You need to show that your business is genuinely committed to diversity and inclusion. If you nail that, your ideal customers will choose you over your competitors. That means more repeat buyers, higher order values, and more cash/credibility in your pocket. in 2021 Lego premiered its "Everyone is Awesome" build set, released during Pride Month. This set was designed by LEGO®’s Vice President of Design, Matthew Ashton, who is himself a member of the LGBTQ+ community. The global toy company showcased a vibrant lineup of LEGO® figurines representing the diverse identities of the LGBTQ+ community. LEGO® went beyond the normal Pride flag and included the colors of the transgender flag and a drag queen figurine. (They're still available). It was a great twist on their Lego Movie's tune about how "Everything is Awesome." It gave a quick nostalgia nod to the movie and it kept very on brand for other lego figurines they have made in the past. It was packaged to look like a regular Lego products, although the colors were definitely Pride-centric, all of Lego's bricks are colorful, so it felt congruent, and it included assembly instructions, just like every other Lego set does. And it was very On-Brand for the company, which already had a very good rep for inclusiveness and diversity: https://www.lego.com/en-za/sustainability/diversity-and-inclusion

Happy Hump Day Syndicate Fam! Welcome to the group our newest member, @Joelle Gomez, a Life Coach and Yoga Teacher who offers Holistic Pain Relief, (as a bear of a certain age, YES!). Hopefully we can get a Success Chat on that sometime soon. Today is our Wednesday Visibility Boost, so share with the group, what’s one thing about your brand, business, or story that makes you unforgettable? Visibility is about being seen in a way that feels authentic, memorable, and enjoyable for your audience, because “fun” is about creating enjoyment and engagement. Be sure to join us tomorrow, Thursday at 10am Eastern Time for our Coffee Success Chat, here LIVE in the Syndicate. The topic will be talking about Decision Making and how to make a framework around it to help you in your business. Would love to know your strategies for making quick, informed business decisions too.

Hey Syndicate Fam, hope you are ready for a most excellent week ahead. Here's a few things I thought I would recap from last week and what's coming up. First I hope you all had a fantastic Easter/Passover weekend. I enjoyed with some extended family and a trip to the movies. Today we are having a Gratitude Success Chat at 3pm US Eastern Time, where we will just catch up and be thankful for the friends and colleagues we made here in the Syndicate. Be sure to bring any wins you have had and any questions or requests for upcoming or future projects to the group. If you missed @Pk Kulasegram talk last Thursday on "What If Things Go Wrong," they gave an excellent presentation and it is available for re-watch under the "Discussion" tab. https://www.skool.com/successsyndicate/success-chat-replay-with-pk-getting-things-wrong Congratulations to member @Richard Jones for returning and hosting the second season of the Bear World Podcast. If you haven't checked it out, his interview with Ravi Roth, be sure to check it out. https://bearworldmag.com/podcast/ If you haven't checked out @Aidan McClain revamp of his "Hollywood Rebound" website, it really was done so great and looks professional, artistic and I really love the articles and interviews he does. https://www.hollywoodrebound.com/ I am thinking about doing a new podcast. It would be a "Re-watch" style, that is pretty popular right now and I want to use my "Gay of a Certain Age" status to review movies from the 70's, 80's 90's and 200's that some of our younger gays, may not be aware of. I also wanted to include some "straight films" that may have lead to a gay awakening, lol. My first thoughts are "Beautiful Thing," a UK classic and "Newsies" because guys singing and dancing..um ya! I would LOVE to have some recommendations from you what movies I should put on my list. I would really appreciate it.