Keynote Speaker on Sales, Marketing, and Building Trust...Author of They Ask You Answer...Ranked #1 LinkedIn Voices for Entrepreneurship...and a Dang Good Follow on LinkedIn

Called a “web marketing guru” by the New York Times, the Story of how Marcus Sheridan was able to save his swimming pool company, River Pools, from the economic crash of 2008 has been featured in multiple books, publications, and stories around the world and is the centerpiece to his best-selling book, They Ask You Answer, which has been named “One of the 5 Best Marketing Books of All Time” by BookAuthority and his follow up book, Endless Customers, was named a National Bestseller by USA Today.

Sheridan is a highly sought-after global speaker (averaging 50 keynotes yearly) in the digital sales and marketing space, working with hundreds of businesses and brands alike to achieve their potential in a rapidly evolving marketplace, ultimately helping them to connect deeper and become the most trusted voice in their respective industry.

Companies Marcus is a Part of: IMPACT, River Pools, Marcus Sheridan International, Question First Group, PriceGuide.ai

Keynote topics include:  Sales, Marketing, AI, Leadership Communication

Marcus Sheridan

First speaking trip of the year is in the books, and I already had a massive “W” by taking my wife and two youngest on the trip to speak in St. Pete to the Table of Titans Mastermind, put on by Tony Hoty.

There is just something so magical about showing your children what the world looks like out there.  And the fact that they’ve been accompanying me on these trips for 15 years now is one of the greatest joys of my life. ❤️

One of the most engaging keynote speakers on the planet—I create experiences that change how businesses sell, connect, and win | Author of Endless Customers and They Ask, You Answer | Entrepreneur | Master Storyteller

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Dear Marketers, 

Put the answer first.
Put the answer first.
Put the answer first.

Sincerely,

Humans & Answer Engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Etc.)

-------

(In other words, stop burying the lead with your content. If you want impatient humans to stick around, put the main answer FIRST. If you want your content to be found in the AI summary, put the main answer FIRST. And if you want LLMs to consistently source you, recommend you, etc. - put the main answer FIRST. I know for the last 20 years content marketing had lovely intros, build up, and lead-ins before giving the actual answer to the core question of the post, but that needs to stop. Yes, it's a total rethink of the way you write, but that's where we are, and that's what you now need to do.)

And here we go 2026! Off to the first gig of the year, and I have to tell you - I'm just as excited to start year 15 of speaking full-time as I was when this journey began in 2011. Why?

Because I'm doing what I feel like I was put on Earth to do.

And one of these days, when I'm able to meet my Maker, it's my hope He is pleased with my efforts. 

Of course, I have a long ways to go, and I fall short often, but the fire to be better (personally and professionally) burns brighter than ever.

So here's to you making 2026 an extraordinary year, and hopefully, if you're reading this, we'll cross paths in real life soon.

Let's do this. 🤜 🤛

Two things are becoming crystal clear to me when it comes to AI in business:

👉 #1: Stop marrying yourself to any single AI platform.

I don't care if it's ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.

The market is moving too fast. I'm watching ChatGPT lose ground to competitors that are flat-out better right now. And honestly? I have no idea who the "Google of AI" is going to be.

So stay flexible, friends. The leader today might not be the leader tomorrow.

👉 #2 And this is the bigger one...Stop saying "AI sucks at..."

Just last month, University of Michigan researchers released an AI model that can diagnose a complex heart condition from a 10-second EKG.

This same condition used to require advanced imaging equipment or invasive procedures.

10 seconds. Incredible.

Here's my point:

The moment you cement your opinion about what AI can't do, you've entered a very slippery, unproductive slope.

Why? Because by the time AI masters that thing you said it couldn't, you (or your business) will have moved on - completely missing the opportunity.

This is why, if you're not careful, your business systems, workflows, and very assumptions as to what is possible can easily become outdated faster than we've ever seen. 

So here's what I'm asking you to do:

Have short memories when it comes to AI capabilities.

Stay skeptical of permanence.

And stay open to what's next.

Agree? Disagree? What say you?

My commercial fishing company did something online that has never been done before a few days ago, and the story is a wild one. Here's what went down:

During commercial bluefin tuna season (which happens to be right now) we (Speechless Sportfishing) go LIVE on Facebook whenever we hook up with a fish.

This means viewers get to see EVERYTHING - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Our successes, our failures - all of it.

Well, a few days ago with hooked up with the biggest tuna fish of our lifetime (not an exaggeration), and we fought it LIVE on Facebook for 8.5 hours (see photo below).

That's right, 8.5 hours, with many viewers watching the ENTIRE experience.

By the end, as the fish finally crested the surface of the water and we were just about to bring it in the boat, over 1,100 devices were watching the event LIVE. 

Many people said they were watching with their entire family or friend group, cheering us on.

My best estimate is about 2,500 people were enthralled with this epic battle.

It was a magical experience...until at the last second, when the line snapped just before we were to land the fish.

Absolute, total heartbreak.

Yes, it's the ultimate story of "the one that got away."

Here's the beauty though - Yes, we lost the fish.

But we gained legions of fans in the process, with hundreds of "keep your heads up" and "you guys were amazing" messages flooding our inboxes.

And let me repeat - Many of these people watched THE ENTIRE 8.5 HOURS.

We always hear that no one these days has the attention span to consume long-form content.

Well, I'm here to tell you this is simply not true.

People, more than ever, will watch and consume your content...but only if they have a REASON to stay.

And why did these viewers stay? Why did the numbers grow throughout the day?

It comes back to AUTHENTICITY my friends.

A real boat, with real crew and a real monster fish...with real heartbreak to top it all off.

All of this led to thousands of people being *emotionally invested* in the outcome at the end.

My point here is simple:

Show what others in your space are not willing to show.

Be more authentic than others are willing to be.

Let them fall in love with your imperfections.

By so doing, you may not always catch the biggest fish, but you will gain fans and customers for life.

And that, my friends, is what it's all about.

😀 🎣 🐟

Dear Sales Professional,

If you would like to lose a ton of deals you should have closed, keep attempting to resolve concerns over text messages instead of calling the person directly and having a real conversion.

Sincerely,

A Friend Who Wants You to Hit Quota

🙂

Life Tip (that took me years to learn): 

If you don't know *why* you’ve been invited to a meeting, don't go.

Let's translate the "why":

👉 "To hear updates" ...That's an email.
👉 "To give input" ...That's a shared doc.
👉 "To be in the loop" ...That's a CC.

Are you picking up what I'm putting down?

Your calendar is NOT a public park. It’s private property.

Protect your time. Protect your energy. Protect your sanity.

My team and I have reviewed over 1,000 sales conversations over the last year and one thing has become very, very clear:

👉 Companies over over-indexing on "product training" and grossly under-indexing on "people" training.

It's wild to watch it over and over again, but let me give you two classic examples:

A SaaS company has someone in engineer deliver a demo who is technically 100X smarter than any potential client about the product's ins and outs yet has zero ability to ask thoughtful discovery questions, build rapport, and create an excitement and energy for the product.

Another example:

A manufacturer does a two-day training with their dealer reps and 100% of the conversation is about product knowledge and competitor comparison, with 0% spent on helping the reps learn to ask better questions, make deeper connections, and be truly LOVED by the prospect.

Do you see the issue here?

Yes, product knowledge is very, very important, especially as consumers and buyers are becoming more and more informed.

But when sales training becomes all about the product and not about the power of human connection, it loses its soul, which ultimately kills the sale and stagnates the entire organization. 

Balance my friends, balance.

Important Reminder for All Marketers: 👇 

Yesterday I was chatting with a client (boat retailer) that told me they wanted to focus more on their LinkedIn efforts.

My response: Why would you put your energy on a B2B platform when you're selling high end boats to consumers?

Their answer? "Because some of our potential customers may be there."

Here's the thing. Sure, they *may* get a few leads on LinkedIn but there are MANY other platforms that would be a better use of their time and produce a stronger ROI (as a B2C company).

Here's what we have to remember:

👉 1. Just because a platform *might* generate you leads doesn't mean you *should* focus on that platform.

👉 2. You're better off being GREAT on one platform than being incredibly average on multiple platforms.

👉 3. And finally, every minute you spend on one platform is another minute you won't spend on another. 

Focus, friends, focus.

A business owner told me this week, "Yep, we're ranking well in ChatGPT. I've run a bunch of tests."

My response was not what he wanted to hear. I said:

"Well, the truth is, ranking doesn't even exist with ChatGPT.  Furthermore, you're looking at biased results anyway, only made for you. The rest of the world is seeing something very different."

He was shocked and disappointed. 

This, of course, is because he (and so many others) are still treating AI-Visibility like Legacy Google - linear/binary thinking - "Do I rank or do I not?" - and not understanding that the days of "ranking" are coming to an end (outside of legacy Google).

Remember:
LLMs do NOT give set answers.
There is no “page one.”
There is no universal result everyone sees.

Every response is shaped by:
👉 the individual user
👉 the specific LLM
👉 context, history, inputs
👉 and countless other variables

So can you *roughly* test how likely AI is to recommend you?

Yes...to a degree.

But only if you disable saved memories (like I’ve shown here). That’s the only way to get closer to an “unbiased” view of what others might see.

Even then, it’s still just one possible outcome among many.

That’s the shift my friends. 

So stop obsessing over “ranking.”
And start obsessing over trust and authority.

The sooner we let go of the old mental model, the better we’ll all perform in the new one.

How to Learn Your AI Visibility without Bias

I just walked off the keynote stage for the JobTread Software Connect Conference and my goodness that was fun! 1400 leaders in the trades coming together to improve their businesses and raise the bar for the entire industry.  

So much of the credit goes to the amazing guy standing next to me here, their CEO and Founder Eric Fortenberry. This is a man of the highest integrity and vision, who truly wants blue collar businesses to succeed.  

What an honor it was to be a part of the movement!! 😃

Tomorrow I'm doing something I've never done before:

Putting on a FREE, 90 Minute Sales Kickoff (SKO) for ANYONE that wants to dramatically improve their sales skills and mindset for 2026 - B2B, B2C, sales leaders, soloists, this is for you.

Even better, there will be no "pitch", no "offer", and no "first 100 people that sign up for X" to have to listen to at the end.

Just the best sales class you've probably experienced in a long time. (Yes, I'm serious, which is why it's called a "Level 5" SKO.)

That's my personal promise.

The plan is to do this at the beginning of every year for the foreseeable future for any person or organization that wants to attend. 

Your job is simply to show up with an open heart and open mind. 

You'll also get a powerful workbook to follow along, 2 free sales tools that I've developed, the Level 5 SKO Checklist, and more. (see the link in the comments)

Sound awesome? Well, it will be, and I hope to see you (or your team) there. 

Again, whether you're B2B, B2C, a manager, a soloist, etc...whatever you call yourself, you'll walk away with a plan, action items, and immediate takeaways.

Simply put, you will be better at your job and you will SELL MORE in 2026 by attending.

Link is in the comments below.

I hope to see you there. 😀

The 3 Hardest Skills to Teach in Sales (From 2,000+ Hours of Coaching) 👇 

After two decades in the trenches and thousands of hours coaching sales professionals, I’ve realized that the "mechanics" of sales are (with the right coaching) easy. It’s the *psychology* that’s difficult.

If I had to rank the three hardest skills to instill in a seller, they would be:

👉 1. The Audacity to Walk Away
Most sellers operate from a place of scarcity, not abundance. Their internal dialogue is: "I have to close this." The problem, of course, is that this creates a sense of desperation on the part of the seller. It manifests as pressure, which crushes their authority and plants seeds of doubt in the buyer’s mind. Turning "walking away" into a superpower is the hardest thing to teach because it isn't a tactic. Instead, it's 100% mindset. It requires the confidence to realize that you're not a fit for everyone...and that's a good thing.

👉 2. Radical Situational Fluency
Average sellers have a "mode." Great sellers have a "dial." Stay with me here, because this one really matters. They don't just bring high energy, they bring the *right* energy. They can read a room in seconds and adjust their presence (turning it up to inspire or dialing it back to build empathy) without it ever feeling inauthentic. This requires an extreme level of presence and situational awareness that most people simply haven't developed and is VERY hard to coach.

👉 3. "Straight-Line" Inquiry
Anyone can ask discovery questions. Very few can ask the one question that cuts through the noise and hits the core of the issue instantly. Asking questions in a straight line means removing the fluff and having the courage to take a buyer where they haven’t gone before. It’s about making them think in ways they haven't yet considered. This skill only comes after years of reps and a refusal to settle for surface-level answers (see skill #1).

These are the skills that move the needle the most, yet they are the rarest to find. In fact, think about your sales team for a minute. How many truly have all three of these? If more than 10% of your team have these skills, you can consider yourself world-class. They are that rare.

I’m curious, for those of you in the sales arena: Do you agree or disagree with these three? Any you'd add to the list? Fee free to share your honest thoughts below. 👇

Joe Rando

LifeStarr

LifeStarr is dedicated to helping solopreneurs, coaches, contractors, and freelancers build successful businesses that serve their lives. We do this through education, community, events, and tools, all focused on one-person businesses.

Founder & CEO

CENTER FOR PARTNERSHIP STUDIES

The Center for Partnership Studies was founded by Riane Eisler and based on her lifelong work as a scholar and social systems scientist to become a leading progressive cultural change organization with a global presence. Its expanding community consists of its board and staff, our donors and supporters, partner organizations, and a speaker's bureau, along with active partnership leaders from 18 countries worldwide, all supporting the cultural movement to partnership systems literacy.

Board Member

Trade Area Systems (TAS)

Trade Area Systems was acquired by Kalibrate Ltd in May 2020.

Chair Of The Board Of Directors

I help to envision the future direction of TAS while bringing my perspective as a retail developer to the team. I am also involved in overseeing the business operations at TAS.  This includes finance, sales, vendor relations, marketing, and all other non-technical aspects of the business.  I worked with an amazing team of people who know how to "get it done." All the people at TAS are changing the way retail real estate gets done, not by changing our clients, but by giving them tools to make their unique talents and processes work better, faster and more efficiently. TAS was sold to Kalibrate in May 2020.

President

Land Development - Northeast

Developed almost 1 million square feet of retail. Involved in the entire development and operation process from site selection, design & layout, permitting, leasing, financing, and construction to asset & property managment.

Retail Analytics

Research, analysis and modeling of spatial consumer behavior to analyze retail markets.

President and Founder

Gems Sensors

Started the Gems Sensors fiber optic line of of liquid level sensors.

Optical Engineer

ADC Fiber Optics

I help #solopreneurs, #freelancers, #coaches, #consultants, #contractors, and other one-person businesses create and build business in service of their life and goals.

You're probably reading this because:
- You are a solopreneur looking to make your business run more smoothly and perhaps network with other solos
- You want to become a solopreneur and aren't 100% sure how to start
- You're a Millennial or Gen Z, and you want to see if someone actually has the name Joe Rando 😉

You don't have to go solo in business alone. 
You don't have to be alone and guess at your next move.
And you don't have to rely on advice tailored to subject matter experts or people who work for big companies.

LifeStarr helps solopreneurs build a business that serves their life.

Specifically, we help established solopreneurs to:
- Improve your lead generation and close rates
- Improve your operational efficiency
- Keep up with changes in the world and tech
- Evolve your business to suit you 

We help aspiring solopreneurs to:
- Imagine and build a business that serves their life.
- Build that business while avoiding common mistakes.
 
We do this through:
- A community of solopreneurs
- Information and education designed for solopreneurs, both established and aspiring
- Networking with other solopreneurs
- Tools for solopreneurs

I've been a solopreneur, developing nearly 1 million square feet of retail space. Success stories like the 450,000 SF Taunton Depot Shopping Center have been landmarks in my journey.

On the flip side, I've also ventured into the tech startup world. My first foray, Retail Analytics, didn't end well. But from the ashes of that business rose Trade Area Systems, which I started with my partner, Bill Dakai. Each venture has taught me more about business than my MBA.

We have both free and paid tiers. The free tier is free forever, so there is no bait-and-switch.

Interested? Click on the SoloSuite Starter link in the Featured Section below.

I tell some potential clients to go away.
Not because I don’t want the work.
 Because I don’t want that work.

As a solopreneur, it’s tempting to say yes to every opportunity.
More clients. More revenue. Problem solved, right?

Not always.

Over time, I’ve learned that the wrong clients cost more than they pay.
Especially the ones chasing shortcuts or “get rich quick” results.

In fact, when someone tells us they want a get-rich-quick scheme, we send a (polite) breakup letter.

At LifeStarr, we work with solopreneurs who want businesses that support their lives and their goals. 

We believe that if you really want to get rich, foregoing employees is a poor strategy.

The truth is that you can't help everyone do everything.

Before you say yes to your next client, ask yourself:
- Can I truly help them?
- Do they align with how I work?
- Will this be good for both of us long term?

Defining who you don’t work with is just as important as defining who you do.

What types of clients have you learned to avoid?

Founder & CEO @ LifeStarr - the Solopreneur Hub | Co-author of Solopreneur Business for Dummies | Co-host of The Aspiring Solopreneur podcast | Principles, Not Platitudes

Portrait of Joe Rando with the words "Not every client is a good client."

Most solopreneurs don’t avoid delegation because they don’t trust other people.

They avoid it because everything lives in their head.

When you’re the system, the instructions, and the backup plan, even simple tasks start to feel heavy. You keep doing the same things over and over, not because it’s the best use of your time, but because explaining it feels like more work than just doing it yourself.

That’s where simple documentation changes the game.

Not big-company SOPs.
Not binders.
Not bureaucracy.

Just getting the task out of your head and into something visible.

When a process is written down, handing it off feels less risky
Repeating it takes less time and energy
And improving it becomes more obvious

For solopreneurs, this isn’t about becoming rigid or “corporate.”
It’s about reducing friction, lowering stress, and giving yourself options.

If there’s a task you’re doing repeatedly that costs you time and energy, that’s usually the best place to start.

Curious, which task are you thinking about handing off? 

#solopreneur

If your homepage doesn’t instantly say what you do and whom you do it for, you’re losing business.
People now have the attention span of goldfish... or worse.
Here’s a quick example of what not to do (and what to do instead).

I once landed on a solopreneur’s site with a hero headline that said something like:

“Empowering Transformation Through Synergistic Experiences.”

Underneath was a button that said “Start Your Journey.”

No mention of what they actually offered, who it was for, or why anyone should care.

I still don’t know if they were a coach, a retreat planner, or an alien lifeform trying to sell me essential oils through blockchain.

Here’s the fix:

Your hero section should pass the “Would my ideal client understand this in 3 seconds?” test.

Try this instead:

“Build a Solopreneur Business that Truly Supports Your Life.”

Clear. Specific. Understandable. Instantly qualifies the reader.

So remember:
If someone has to guess what you do, they won't...
They’ll just leave.

Seen any hilariously vague homepage headlines lately? Share them in the comments; I could use a chuckle today.

#solopreneur

An example of a unclear website hero and on that quickly says what they do and who they do it for.

taplio

The Battle

Marcus Sheridan

Joe Rando

Followers

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taplio

The Battle

Marcus Sheridan

Joe Rando

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Marcus Sheridan's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJoe Rando's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMarcus Sheridan's LinkedIn Performance