Entrepreneur, Blogger and Web Darling, its Maren Kate!

VBL003 – Entrepreneur, Blogger and Web Darling, with Maren Kate!

Welcome to another edition of the VBL Podcast. The first two podcasts, with Tony Ruiz and Pat Flynn proved to be quite popular, so to follow these guys up I needed to come up with someone that could really ‘knock your socks off’. I believe I’ve done it with Maren Kate from Escapingthe9to5.com.

Maren has worked her way up from waiting tables to become a successful entrepreneur in her own right, with just two years of ‘business life skills’ under her belt. Brilliant, Ballsy and Beautiful she is slowly, but surely, becoming more and more popular in the land of social media, especially for those that want to escape the rat race to become their own boss!

In this interview we discuss, among other topics:

How she utilizes a number of virtual staff to grow her businesses!
The one piece of entrepreneurial wisdom she gives to all aspiring rat-race-quitters!
The easiest way to get ‘out there’ as an online marketer!
How she eve-drop’s her way into meeting awesome business people in Starbucks and beyond..!

Having Maren featured on the blog’s Podcast has been a real pleasure. And it is an even greater pleasure to let you know that she also interviewed yours truly at the same time, and will be posting the audio at her blog soon, too!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:24 — 15.9MB)

So, when you’re done listening to Maren’s pearls of wisdom, feel free to hop over to her blog, and check out my docile tones, too – if you like!

I’ve asked Maren to pop onto the blog from time to time to answer any questions you might have for her, so feel free to comment below, and I’m sure she’ll reply soon.

Comments

Tony Ruiz says:

May 25, 2010 at 11:21 pm Tony Ruiz(Quote)

Very refreshing interviewing to wake up too. Maren is making some great moves in the online space. Oracle Launch sounds like its doing great. Let’s start this comment section off with some awesome discussion. My question for Maren is what tools does she find effective for managing her VA staff or is all the responsibility given to her project manager?

- Chris C. Ducker says:
  
  May 26, 2010 at 1:32 am Chris C. Ducker(Quote)
  
  Hi Tony
  
  Great question to Maren – I’m sure she’ll get around to dropping by and answering that.
  
  Thanks for the support as always, bud.
  
  Chris
  
Mars Dorian says:

May 25, 2010 at 11:46 pm Mars Dorian(Quote)

That’s a shiny interview,

the first time ever I hear about Maren’s VAs, man, that freaking rocks !!

I seriously consider hiring some kick-ass VAs in the near future.

Maren’s doing a grrreat job.
Nice interview, Chris

- Chris C. Ducker says:
  
  May 26, 2010 at 1:35 am Chris C. Ducker(Quote)
  
  Hey Mars
  
  Maren has put together a good team it seems. Its the systems in place that make these things work.
  
  Thanks for the kudos on the interview.
  
  Stay tuned…
  
  Chris
  
Tyler WebCPA says:

May 26, 2010 at 6:15 am Tyler WebCPA(Quote)

Way cool interview, unbelievably I had never heard of Marin before.
I just want to vouch for Marin’s call up people in positions that she admires and just calling them up or emailing them to get a chance to meet them and network/pick their brain a little. When I have done that almost everyone I have spoken with has been flattered and delighted to speak with me. Nothing monetary has come out of it, but it has been fun and educational.

- Chris C. Ducker says:
  
  May 26, 2010 at 6:24 pm Chris C. Ducker(Quote)
  
  Hi Tyler
  
  Yes, its a great way to gain insight and experience. Also, you never, ever know what those types of conversations will lead to. Plain and simple.
  
  Real ‘entrepreneurs’ go out there and they TAKE IT every day. This is a perfect example of one.
  
  Thanks for the comment, bud!
  
  Chris
  
Andy says:

May 26, 2010 at 7:57 am Andy(Quote)

Hey Chris

Are your podcasts available to subscribe to on iTunes?

Thanks

Andy

- Chris C. Ducker says:
  
  May 26, 2010 at 6:25 pm Chris C. Ducker(Quote)
  
  Hey Andy
  
  This is actually something that I have my PA looking into right now. I actually have no idea on the process. Is it a complex one, do you know…?
  
  Thanks for showing interest – I’m enjoying putting these together. Another really cool one next week…!
  
  Chris
  
  - Antti Kokkonen says:
    
    May 27, 2010 at 4:16 am Antti Kokkonen(Quote)
    
    Chris, I immediately looked for subscribe / download link too when I saw this. I like to listen to these when I’m on the road…
    
    Awesome choices you’ve done for the interviewees, Pat Flynn is amazing and so is lovely Maren Kate.
    
    Thanks for these! And humongous high five when you have this in the iTunes
    
    - Chris C. Ducker says:
      
      May 27, 2010 at 6:36 am Chris C. Ducker(Quote)
      
      Hi Antti
      
      I have my PA working on the iTunes set-up as I type this… It shouldn’t be long.
      
      Another edition of the podcast next week, with another awesome kick-ass entrepreneur who is crushing it every day – Dan Andrews.
      
      Stay tuned, bud.
      
      Chris
      
Eric | My 4 Hour Workweek says:

May 26, 2010 at 9:11 am Eric | My 4 Hour Workweek(Quote)

Awesome interview, Chris and Maren. I’m a huge fan of both of you, and have a lot to learn with respect to VAs and outsourcing in general.

It’s gotten to the point where I think you’re shooting yourself in the foot (speaking about myself and others) if you don’t at least examine your own work and identify pieces that would be well suited for outsourcing.

- Chris C. Ducker says:
  
  May 26, 2010 at 6:27 pm Chris C. Ducker(Quote)
  
  Hi there, Eric.
  
  Thanks for dropping by. Maren is very good at what she does.
  
  She also mentioned to me once before that she has NEVER actually spoken verbally to any of her VAs, too. Not even her project manager. Which is amazing, if not a little scary!!!
  
  Two Rules:
  If you dont like doing it – outsource it.
  If you feel you should be doing it – outsource it.
  
  Chris