Josh Steimle

MWI, a marketing agency, is the first "real" business I started, way back in 1999. Today, MWI has offices on multiple continents and works with clients like Marriott, Sony, LG, Hotels.com, and Orangetheory Fitness. MWI is actually more than a single company, it's a collection of marketing agencies. We grow by diversifying ourselves across geographies, services, and industries. Geography: We're always interested in opening or acquiring offices in new locations. If you currently run a marketing agency and want to be part of the MWI network, please reach out. Services: We started out as a web development agency but then moved into services like SEO, paid search, social, PR, content, and video. We start subsidiary agencies focused on these services, while MWI HQ acts as the coordinating hub for clients who need multiple services. If you run a firm that focuses on a particular marketing service and are interesting in partnering with us, I'd love to talk. Industries: We launch subsidiary marketing agencies that focus on niche industries such as self storage, dentists, hospitals, and hospitality. If you have a marketing agency that focuses on a particular industry and would like to discuss a potential acquisition, let me know. For more info visit www.mwi.com.

In 2013, I published my first article in a major publication (FastCo). Then I was invited to write a column for Forbes. Then I got into Entrepreneur, Insider, Fortune, TIME, Mashable, Techcrunch, and ultimately I wrote hundreds of articles for more than two-dozen publications. However, the more I wrote and published articles, the more I got on the radar of PR firms. At first, it was just a few pitches each month. Then it was dozens, then hundreds, and some months I'm pretty sure it neared 1,000 pitches. The pitches came from all types of PR firms, including big NYC PR firms, and yet they were all the same. "Hey, I've got big time CEO so and so available, would you like to talk to them?" It was almost like every PR firm gave their people the same "How to Pitch PR" book that included a single template which everyone copied and then mass-emailed to everyone they could find on MuckRack. I knew there had to be a better way. I looked at the pitches I actually read, the ones that were customized so I knew they were only sent to me and no one else. I saw how they reached out to me because they knew what I wrote about, and had a client they thought would fit well with my swim lane. And they didn't just say, "Hey, I've got so and so!" they would also give me ideas for headlines and offer to help me put together the article by gathering data, quotes, other interviews (even though not clients), etc. Actually, no one ever pitched me that way, I only wished they would. We started offering PR services through my marketing agency, MWI, using this type of pitch, but then we launched Canvas PR as a standalone agency. Because of our process and the relationships we've developed, we are able to offer our clients guaranteed PR placements for a flat fee. Finally, there's accountability in PR. If you're interested in learning more, reach out to Logan Derrick at logan@canvaspr.com.

It took me over 20 years to figure out why I'm an entrepreneur. I used to think I wanted money, or stuff, or for people to see me as successful. But chasing all of that left me empty, and it didn't seem to work out well business-wise, either. Instead, what seemed to align everything in my business and personal life was a desire to help others progress, to see them maximize their potential. I started Pando Partners as a way to create businesses as vehicles to help people get unstuck and keep learning and growing. Of course, we care about money—a business can't survive without profits, just like a person can't survive without food. Money matters like food matters. But if all you live for is to eat, and all your business exists for is to make money, what kind of existence is that? At Pando, our first core value is people. Our other core values are purpose, abundance, partnership, and stewardship. Through Pando's multi-business system (MBS), I can partner with great experts, leaders, and creators to find unlimited opportunities. At other companies, you compete against your own team to move up the corporate ladder. At Pando, there is no limit to the number of companies we can create, which encourages collaboration and loyalty. The Pando plan involved two phases. Phase I is to create several self-managing businesses related to marketing and promotion. During Phase II, we'll use those companies to help larger, more scalable companies grow quickly. Interested in joining the team? Shoot me a message.

Since 2007 I've harbored an interest in doing academic research, primarily on the intersection of government policy with entrepreneurship/startup hubs globally. I've done light work with a number of professors, but to get more hands-on experience I've taken on contract work at HBS writing case studies.

While writing for Forbes circa 2014, I began testing whether my articles got more attention on Forbes.com or LinkedIn, and found that LinkedIn did 10x as much for me when it came to connecting with the right people and spreading my message. The more I experimented with LinkedIn, the more I saw it as a powerful platform for content marketing and personal branding. I began providing LinkedIn services to others, helping them optimize their profiles, add lots of high-quality connections, and create compelling content, which led to the founding of BlueMethod, an agency that provides these services to clients at scale.

Want 1-1 book coaching? Contact me at josh@publishedauthor.com. Published Author helps entrepreneurs write, publish, and leverage business books to grow their businesses.

I believe most people in the world are good and if I can help people become more influential, they'll use that influence to make the world a better place. That's the "why" that led me to create 7 Systems, a publishing, training, and events company that helps clients increase their influence using The 7 Systems of Influence framework. The 7 Systems framework is used by executives, entrepreneurs, educators, marketing and PR professionals, parents, and government leaders to zero in on their objectives, identify their ideal audience, and create compelling content that moves their audience to action.

I'm the author of Chief Marketing Officers at Work, 60 Days to LinkedIn Mastery, The 7 Systems of Influence, and I've written over 300 articles for print and online publications including Forbes, Fortune, Mashable, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, TechinAsia, TIME, Entrepreneur, CMO.com, Fast Company, ClickZ, CBS, Fox Small Business, Asia Trail Magazine, and The Salt Lake Tribune. Chief Marketing Officers at Work (http://amzn.to/2lK6t4q) contains 29 exclusive, in-depth interviews with chief marketing officers like Jeff Jones of Target, Linda Boff of GE, Brian Kenny of the Harvard Business School, Trish Mueller of The Home Depot, and Seth Farbman of Spotify.

I always have and always will see myself as an entrepreneur, which is why I loved writing for Entrepreneur Magazine. It's where I connect with my tribe. Check out my articles about entrepreneurship, marketing, and personal influence at https://www.entrepreneur.com/author/joshua-steimle.

Impact Summit is an annual event organized by Influencer Inc that educates executives, entrepreneurs, professionals, and others on personal branding and thought leadership. It's the place to come to learn how to figure out who you are, who your audience is, and what you message to them should be. It's where you'll learn how to launch a podcast, write a book, market a book (cause don't believe for a second that your publisher will), get paid speaking gigs, break out on social media, and more.

In 1997 as the internet was coming into its own, I heard about this new program at BYU, an integrated undergrad and graduate course that was half business, half technology. My advisor told me "Get this degree and you'll be able to go anywhere in the world and do anything you want." In the program I took many MBA core classes, as well as courses on programming, networking, and technology implementation. Since then I've lived across the US, as well as 5.5 years in Asia, mostly doing what I wanted to, so it would appear that professor was prophetic in his advice.

I was part of a unique program in which I received my undergrad and graduate degrees at the same time. It was a five-year, integrated program in which after year three I skipped my senior year and went straight into the graduate program. Good thing I didn't drop out during years four or five, or I would have left school with no degree at all!

I enjoyed my experience at BYU Provo, but BYU Idaho is where my heart is. Best. School. Ever. Exactly 20 years after I graduated I had the opportunity to go back and speak to 2,000 students about networking. What a great experience. Check out the video.