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In this episode of The Business Owner’s Journey, Nick Berry interviews Anthony Milia, owner of Milia Marketing, a Cleveland-based digital marketing agency. They explore Anthony’s journey from generalist to niche marketer, his innovative marketing benchmarking platform, and the impact of tools like EOS and peer groups like Entrepreneurs Organization. Anthony shares actionable insights on data-driven marketing, personal branding, and adapting AI in business.
Anthony shares how starting as a generalist agency allowed him to explore various industries before focusing on the stone, kitchen and bath industry. Working with multi-generational, family-owned businesses gave his agency purpose and specialization. “We love making a lasting impact, seeing the journey from first contact to final project completion.”
Anthony discusses Milia Marketing’s proprietary marketing benchmarking platform, tailored for the stone kitchen and bath industry. It provides insights into industry standards, helping businesses measure and manage performance effectively. “We’re taking data to turn emotion-based decisions into actionable insights.”
Anthony credits implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) with clarifying roles, fostering accountability, and streamlining processes at his agency. “We’ve never had this much clarity and focus across the board.”
Mentorship from industry experts like John DiJulius and participation in Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) has been transformative for Anthony. He emphasizes the importance of peer advisory groups and the power of personal branding.
Anthony, like Nick, includes hiring a business coach and joining a peer group among the best business decisions he's ever made. “Surrounding yourself with like-minded people provides invaluable perspective and support.”
Anthony highlights how adopting AI tools has enhanced team efficiency and creativity while cautioning against over-reliance. “AI is an assistant, not a replacement for subject matter expertise.”
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The Business Owner's Journey Podcast host: Nick Berry
Production Company: FCG
Anthony Milia (00:00)
one of our core values is advise and educate. So we always look to, advise and educate where we can with those reports or throughout our engagements. Because a lot of the times we're getting new partners where they're coming from a bad experience or another vendor and they couldn't of understand the report, it's bad communication, there's no ROI.
They were more of an order taker, not an advisor. And that's really what we're trying to solve within our engagements with our that's how tie in both reporting and advising and
Nick Berry (00:31)
The Business Owner's Journey. I'm Nick Berry and I've got real business owners telling their real stories, sharing their real lessons and strategies so you don't have to figure it all out on your
Nick Berry (00:43)
Anthony Milia is the owner of Milia Marketing, a digital marketing firm in Cleveland, Ohio. I've known Anthony for several years. I've worked with his agency he always has original perspectives and is very insightful. we talked about how he went from being a generalist agency to niching down, what he's learned from working
John DiJulius about creating experiences, the impact that entrepreneurs organization
the entrepreneurial operating system and other programs and mentors have had on him, how he got ready for the big time speaking tour and how much of an idiot I am because he was trying to get me to do more personal branding years ago and why I wouldn't do it. Enjoy this episode with Anthony Milia.
Nick Berry (01:23)
So what I wanted to start with, actually, you mentioned this benchmarking platform that you guys have put together. That's yours? OK.
Anthony Milia (01:31)
Yeah, it's ours. And we had it under production and development for a long time. We've kind of gotten the reputation of being analytical and known for our reporting. We wanted to take it a step further because a lot of businesses have their industry benchmarks for operations and finance. But a lot of the businesses that we're working with, don't have it for marketing benchmarking.
So how they compare for cost per click, cost per conversion, cost per acquisition. And a lot of the questions we were fielding was, hey, I feel like my cost per conversion or my cost per click should be this. And it's not based on any concrete data or factual information. It's just based on emotion. And that's when we kind of decided, like, maybe there's an opportunity here.
Nick Berry (02:21)
as a business owner, a lot of us have no data. as we become more wise, we get sharper and we get some data. And then we're like, well, how do we know if that's good? Right? And so then now you're giving your clients some way to tell like, here's what's good. So now that you're measuring it, that's good.
but now we need to know if your performance is good.
Anthony Milia (02:42)
So now we can really measure and manage their performance based off the industry as a whole. So comparing one shop compared to the industry and whether they rank in the top 25 percentile, if they're below the percentile or below average, then that's something that we can report on. And just as an agency, where are all of our clients projected within that industry benchmark too?
Nick Berry (03:05)
So how long has that been around?
Anthony Milia (03:06)
like three to four months, give or take, that we've had it out there. And we're still getting people that sign up for it and looking to be a part of it. But it definitely, it positions us so well to say that we have the first to the industry, a marketing benchmarking platform for the stone kitchen and bath industry that we serve. So that is something that positions us, it adds a little more value to our engagements.
You know, that data alone is very valuable because we're making decisions based on based on stats, right? And other firms might. They don't have that info.
Nick Berry (03:38)
I mean, it makes total sense. And I was looking at your case studies on your website earlier and it's like data, data, data, data, you got performance everywhere. So how have the people who've been involved, how are they receiving it?
Anthony Milia (03:52)
I mean, they value it for sure. It's another piece that they value that's added to our reporting and to just our engagement alone. And it allows them to make better decisions with that info. And it allows us to make that better decision too. So it's not kind of flying in the dark or just shooting from the hip. It's like, here's where you're at and...
Here are some recommendations or action items that we can do to improve that metric moving forward.
Nick Berry (04:24)
my favorite thing about from the time that we were at work together was like, you always had insight. you always.
are turning the information into insight, which is that's what we really need, right? So what kind of insight, what's going on that the small business world needs to know about right now?
Anthony Milia (04:41)
It really goes down to the basics, but I'm going to also tell you something here that one of our core values is advise and educate. So we always look to, you know, advise and educate where we can with those reports or throughout our engagements. Because a lot of the times we're getting new partners where they're coming from a bad experience or another vendor and they couldn't of understand the report, it's bad communication, there's no ROI.
They were more of an order taker, not an advisor. And that's really what we're trying to solve within our engagements with our partners. that's how we kind of tie in both reporting and advising and educating.
yeah, and I'm to go back to my first statement there is going back to the basics of what gets measured gets managed. So really having those key KPIs and being consistent with what you're doing with marketing activities and just monitoring it and measuring it on a weekly monthly basis and setting those success metrics. So if you're not doing them, then what do have to change to move forward or how can you improve one percent each day?
Now, some of the things that are really disrupting or you're asking about trends is obviously AI. So you have all your LLMs, have AI tools going left and right. People are saying it's the AI bubble. There's a ton of different platforms. Everyone is being blasted with, upgrade your plan to include this AI add-on for an extra X amount per month per user. And it's just coming left and right to a lot of different firms. So that is something that is definitely impacting
not only the marketing firm space, but also just for any really, any knowledge-based worker in their role. So we're really encouraging every team member to adopt AI to help them be more efficient within their role and be more productive as well. And it's just, it's an assistant for everyone. But in terms of other businesses looking to improve their marketing efforts, definitely you can lean on AI to help
figure out a problem or just talk to something, right? You know, talking to chat GPT and how they might recommend or just brainstorm some different ideas, subject lines, blog articles, video scripts, video outlines. So it's a neat little resource.
Nick Berry (07:05)
So I think the default from what I've seen is people tend to jump in there and have it create a piece of content for you, write an article or whatever. I'm not, won't speak for you, but I probably know what you think about that. that's not really the best use of it. what kind of things are you seeing or other ideas? Like what are good starting points?
Anthony Milia (07:24)
Yeah, one starting point is just mentioning like what problem are you experiencing and coming up with ideas and brainstorming what types of solutions or what steps it can provide or suggest to solve that problem. And you're not kind of just taking it, just copying and pasting it and saying, hey, Nick, here's my deliverable or document and here's how I'm going to solve the problem. It's just an idea to get you started. Right. And really to brainstorm with an assistant.
Nick Berry (07:49)
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Milia (07:53)
So we're not looking for, hey, Nick, this client needs four articles, go use ChatGPT to write the four articles, because that's not the use case there. And at that same time, it's removing the subject matter expert and just learning that content. It's removing that out of the equation. And that's what we try to pride ourselves on, again, is advising and educate. We have to understand the content and that information.
Nick Berry (08:16)
for me, one of the things that that's been particularly handy with using the AI is just forcing me to try to articulate something that otherwise I may have just kind of tried to do on my own in my head. So there's the clarity there. And sometimes I get something that is really helpful back, you know, when I'm talking to the machine. but sometimes I don't.
but it still was a worthwhile exercise. I mean, there are so many uses for it.
Anthony Milia (08:40)
yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you definitely learn the more you continue to use it, like how to better prompt a tool like that. Or like sometimes if I am struggling to come up with a response to an email, it helps me navigate those conversations, right? Or creating a proposal and you know, just how to word things is really something that has been incredibly helpful.
Nick Berry (09:06)
agreed. Yeah, I'm prone to try to over explain something in an email and sometimes I'm like, you know what, I just need to simplify this back down. And I've even used the machine for that.
Anthony Milia (09:17)
yeah, right there with you.
Nick Berry (09:20)
Do you remember our conversations and when you were encouraging me to do more of the personal branding and maybe I was. So I'm interested to hear.
Anthony Milia (09:26)
Of course I do. Of course I do.
Nick Berry (09:31)
your perspective on what you're seeing me do now after just a few years ago when you were pushing me to do more personal branding and I was like...
Anthony Milia (09:43)
Yeah, yeah. Well, first off, Nick, I'm super proud and happy to see what you're doing right now. Just hosting these podcast episodes and really being more active on LinkedIn and publishing videos of yourself and having these conversations with other people. It's super awesome to see that. but back then, several years ago, when we were working together as one of our recommendations is for Nick to get on camera and to record some new ad videos and to record some content.
Nick Berry (09:59)
Thank you.
Anthony Milia (10:13)
And we had a little bit of friction, right? There was a little bit of like, I don't know, I don't know how comfortable I feel. And now look at you like like you're doing it.
Nick Berry (10:21)
Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure what it would have taken for me to be willing to concede. you laid out a logical and compelling case for it. Like it makes sense. Had I not had several like repeated experiences that were all the same before that, where it was like,
We're not actually doing anything unique to me here. We're just creating other versions of junk that's out there. Like I was at that point by the time you talked to me, I was just really biased. Like you're, I don't know what you're gonna have to hit me with. So I apologize if it was frustrating.
Anthony Milia (10:49)
Mm-hmm.
Hey, it's, you we navigate these types of conversations and, you know, clients or partners that are hesitant to do things that we were like, hey, let's let's give this a shot. And sometimes there's, a little resistance, that's okay.
Nick Berry (11:13)
Yeah, another thing that I really appreciated about the situation was like, you, you kept bringing it back, like as long as you felt like it was a something that should be on the table, you brought it back. And I was like, yeah, I'm not ready to do that. Yeah.
Anthony Milia (11:26)
Yeah, Nick, I think for probably six plus months, that was a topic or an agenda item that was mentioned. And I felt kind of felt bad every time. but fast forward, you know, 234 years, you're you're hosting a podcast. So it's it's I feel I feel accomplished. I'll say that.
Nick Berry (11:43)
There you go. You did, you won. Yeah. And you remember that we were talking about doing videos like, Hormozi.
Anthony Milia (11:53)
That's right. Yeah. Yeah, that would have been something that would definitely a little bit out of your comfort zone, but Yeah
Nick Berry (11:59)
Yeah. The breathe easy strip, I think was going to be where I drew the line, but I don't know. But yeah, I appreciated that. I mean, that's like, that's how, when handled properly. And I think it was handled perfectly. Like that's a healthy relationship, right? We, we, for better or worse, we ended up where we ended up, but it was like, I feel like we were working on figuring that out together. And that's what I'm looking for.
Anthony Milia (12:04)
Yeah. Hey.
yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, but it, you know, Nick, it is really cool to see, you know, now that there's a podcast going, you're on camera, you're having these conversations and, and super, super happy to see that.
Nick Berry (12:41)
Yeah, thank you. I'm a person. have a little bit of a personality. It's not for everybody, but it's here. So let's talk about Milia Marketing. you have not been in business for 10 years yet, right?
Anthony Milia (12:45)
Little bit of one. Yeah
We just crossed our eight year mark.
Nick Berry (12:56)
All right. I want you to go into a little more detail, but like, I know you started out broader, more general, and you were just kind of, I'm to get in there and I'm going to figure things out. I know what I know. I'm going to learn a lot more and turn this into something. And over time you have, you you evolved, you've niche down, written a book, you've got some big name clients.
Anthony Milia (13:13)
That's right.
Nick Berry (13:17)
so let's talk through your journey
Anthony Milia (13:20)
Yeah, so back in 2016 is when Millie marketing was created and I wasn't creative or clever enough to come up with a different name than using my last name as the company name So here I am stuck with it But it did indeed start out as a generalist agency and I'm also self-taught in a lot of the different services that we provide like your Google Ads your social ads website design and development So it started out slow, right? You're trying to get
you know, anyone that can trust you to just build that initial portfolio, starting out with smaller sites. Our first client actually was a factory modeling and foreign company, which now fast forward to here that fits our niche, right? but the first few years was definitely we were more of a generalist agency as we look to figure out.
you know, who is our core customer, like the customer that we love to work with and that we do a great job with. And back in around 2017, 2018, we ended up starting to work with a local kitchen and bath granite shop based in Cleveland, Ohio. And after working with them for a little bit, we started to learn like, we really love like working with multi-generation owned family businesses where we can make a lasting impact from first contact to
to last contact, right? We're seeing the whole journey through from the moment that they engage with their marketing online to the time that their granite countertops or their kitchen is remodeled into the customer's home. We're able to see that entire journey. So once we really started to see that, of working with this particular kitchen and bath fabricator,
That is when it really started to click. Maybe we have something here and we have a lot of the processes. We're very systems and operationally driven at our agency. And we started to take the steps forward to really position ourselves to only work within that stone and kitchen and bath industry, which is awesome now because I'm speaking at those events and...
writing content for a lot of the publications were part of those associations. And now we have clients across the United States, but it did take some bumps in the road, right? Of just trying to figure out who do we really enjoy working with? Who do we do a great job for? Where is our fit within the market as well? And what are we passionate about?
Nick Berry (15:42)
So what is it in particular about this niche that meets those criteria? Like you mentioned the multi-generational and what is it about that that really clicks with you?
Anthony Milia (15:53)
Yeah, so multi-generation owned, family owned, being able to work with just, you know, the mom and dad or the kids that started it or that are, you know, getting into the business and trying to learn as they go. And a lot of these businesses have grown from word of mouth and referrals, but oftentimes that gets inconsistent, And inconsistency doesn't grow businesses, which is where we really come into play of introducing marketing back into the mix. A lot of these businesses really haven't had marketing as a line item.
So now that word of mouth and referrals dry up, you know, at different points of the year, that's when they start to have those conversations of, how can we really, you know, get our, get our shop to the next level? and a lot of these guys have done a great job of scaling their business from, you know, two to five, 10, 20, $40 million shop without marketing. And all of sudden, just the leads are drying up. Maybe competitors are taking online market share.
whatever the variable or the reason is, that's where we come into play. And it's it's very heartwarming to be able to see, again, that whole journey go from a potential homeowner engaging within an ad or an article that we might've created for them to then fill out a form or call phone number, which leads to them getting an appointment into their showroom. They have a successful and happy experience with our partner.
Their job is completed. They leave a review. They're happy with their kitchen. And then it turns into having them be their their biggest brand advocate. And we have an influence in every step of that. Right. Because we don't want to just be that or take over marketer. We really want to have like that that knowledge in that experience within the sales experience operations and especially customer experience.
Nick Berry (17:44)
of, can totally see how that, that jabs with you then you want to offer insight, right? You're not just trying to hand them stuff and let them help them tell them to go get them, You want to help them figure it out the best way for their situations, be the advisor. And that's awesome.
because it happens all the time, right? There's somebody who's like the pool builder, who's been in business for 30 years and just dominated the local market because they, they're really good and they were really reliable and they knew everybody. But like the world has changed and it probably snuck up and just slapped them in the face all at one time, you know, five years ago, just out there. they're like, I've never had to look for customers. I don't know how to get customers. And that's an,
Anthony Milia (18:20)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Berry (18:25)
awkward spot to be in for somebody who's been in business for a really long time, that they're going to have to actually like start going and flexing a muscle that they have never had to really use.
Anthony Milia (18:36)
Yeah, and especially they don't, you know, they might not know what questions to ask. They don't know what to look for out of like a successful marketing engagement. So those are some of the conversations that we try to help address and clarify for our partners. But it's definitely, it's something that some shops are just, they don't have that much experience with just like you said, they're navigating for the first time and they don't know what they're looking for exactly.
And they're hoping that they get a great first experience with whoever they choose. And we just hope that we're given that opportunity to help them, you know, get to the next level. And the other thing that I like from working within this industry, too, is being able to tour these shops, like the showrooms that they put together, their operations and how they're cutting the marble or the stone that they're working with. And
Nick Berry (19:10)
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Milia (19:29)
just seeing how everything is set up. It's such a cool experience. then, you know, visiting them a year later to see did they expand their showroom, adding another 10,000 square feet, or did they add any new machinery or new trucks because of the impact that we might have had on their business. And that's probably one of the more heartwarming things about working within this industry is just being able to see that that tangible impact.
Nick Berry (19:54)
Yeah, I mean, when we peek out of our digital world, like there's some just really cool things that are being done out there. talent, artistry, creativity in the real world.
Anthony Milia (20:04)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, not behind my computer here.
Nick Berry (20:09)
So going back to your journey, tell me about some of the inflection points, things that have had a major impact on you, shaped you to get you to go into business, to become the business person that you become, and for Milia Marketing to turn into the firm that it's turned into.
Anthony Milia (20:24)
Yeah, so we did start in September of 2016, but I'm going to fast forward around that 2017-2018 mark when two things happened. Number one is that we started working with that fabricator based in Cleveland, which was a big milestone for us because it ended up being one of our larger, our first larger clients at the time. And then the second piece is working with John DiJulius, who you just recently interviewed and his team over at the DiJulius Group.
More on that is just John has been like an John and his team both have been an incredible resource and just mentor to to me, especially growing a professional services company and figuring out as I go of just growing our portfolio and especially most importantly is delivering a great partner experience to the people that we serve and who like I learned it from the best, right?
from working with their team and doing the marketing for them and being able to consume that content and implement it, it's been such a great mentorship for me and just both personally and professionally I've grown so much.
Nick Berry (21:36)
much have they affected the standards? have they had to come to you at any point when you were working with them? You're like, Anthony, that's not good enough, man. Not for us.
Anthony Milia (21:45)
Well, I mean, there's definitely been moments of that. But it's raised my standard for sure on what I work for, not only in like working with other vendors. So I want a world class customer experience from the people that we work with as an agency. But I want to be able to turn that around and being able to provide that on the end partner as well of what their perception of our value is or what their customer experience is.
We want to make sure they're having the best experience, but they can't find it anywhere else. So that has been something that I am now like, I'm very nitpicky on like, what are those minor things, those minor moments that can really make an impact in every single interaction that we might have with a potential partner? And how can we just improve that budget? Maybe just by 1%. Like what is that? What is that switch? What can we do?
Nick Berry (22:37)
Yeah. I think once you become aware of those things, like if it's not just minutia or tedious, right, those are the layups. Those are the things that they're not that hard to do. You just got to recognize them.
Anthony Milia (22:50)
You definitely have to, that's definitely the first step. And now we're very obsessed with it, which I love because it's something that we're for every, you know, all the time. And we're always adjusting like our scripts, our templates, our processes, so we can continue to, to improve that whole experience.
Nick Berry (23:08)
Yeah, you really did learn from the best. And I appreciate you getting me in touch with him. He was a pleasure to work with.
Anthony Milia (23:15)
Yeah, that's awesome. And like that also was one of the inspirations for, you know, motivating me to write the book, but also like now I'm speaking right and have like really good slide decks. I'm being able to speak in Vegas and Miami and all across the United States on the topic of marketing and learning from John and how he's conducted his keynote presentations has really helped me position myself and get, you know, just get started.
So those were two of the big moments back in 2017 and 2018. Around 2020 is when we joined the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, went through that for a little bit, and that's how we originally connected, right? so we, yeah, yeah, and we were part of the same business group that's a US-wide business group teaching kind of the fundamentals.
Nick Berry (23:55)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kelly was in there with you.
Anthony Milia (24:08)
And that is also where I my growth opportunity was niching down So that was like this the very very start of us repositioning ourselves to only focus on the stone kitchen and bath industry and I fast forward to one more point is Last year about 14 months ago is when we started to run on EOS and That has probably been the biggest and best shift that we've made
in the last 14 months is hiring a business coach that helps us implement EOS within our agency. We never had as much clarity, accountability and focus across the board. And I can't remember how we used to, I can't remember how I used to run the firm before, before that.
Nick Berry (24:54)
I get it. EOS has that place with us also for that same reason. noticed that you used the phrase delegate and elevate somewhere and I was like, I know what you're doing.
Anthony Milia (25:04)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it's across the board with every team member to is what you know, what is every team member on our team? What are they just like strongly dislike doing? That's part of their role. And how can we move that to either someone else or to someone that enjoys doing that that line of work? Because we really want every responsibility to be something that every team member like
Nick Berry (25:22)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Anthony Milia (25:30)
They love to do it and they're great at it. That's where we want every team member to be in like that upper left quadrant of that worksheet, right? like ever since implementing just like a minor exercise like that, like you have happier employees.
Nick Berry (25:45)
it gives you a method to apply to things that that you feel you don't realize you're experiencing like all day long. And everybody on in on your team is probably experiencing all day long.
Anthony Milia (25:58)
It gives a sense of direction for the entire team. The goals for each department, for the company as a whole, everyone knows where we're heading. You're reporting on a weekly basis. You're able to IDS, like what are your issues that are popping up on a weekly basis? And that's being very proactive in resolving those. So it doesn't amount to something else like in six months. If you weren't doing that, then you might catch yourself in a massive emergency, right? You just.
But since you're having EOS in place and you're able to IDS those moments, you're ahead of it.
Nick Berry (26:30)
right. I hear you said IDS and delegate and elevate the common language, I think is another thing that it does for you internally. It lets your team knows what IDS means and they know how to IDS, it's these, the set of heuristics and tools that
empower people on your team to do things, apply themselves more efficiently and collectively.
Anthony Milia (26:53)
Yeah, it's been a great resource. One of the best investments we made for just over the last 14 months and moving forward, we're going to continue to run on it.
Nick Berry (27:03)
we got into it in 2014. Like it was so long ago, Gino was the person who ran our workshop and sold us into it. Yeah, there were like four implementers on their website at the time. And this comes up in.
Anthony Milia (27:10)
That's insane.
Nick Berry (27:17)
more than half of my podcast interviews, we end up talking about EOS. And something that came up recently that I've started to talk more about is, you notice when, any of your clients already use EOS? So you can tell, can't you, when somebody's using your?
Anthony Milia (27:28)
Yeah, yeah.
I can I can absolutely tell when we're working with a partner. It's actually one of the one of the questions I ask in my discovery calls is like, you know, like, how are you guys? Are you guys running on the US? Because if I know that, then I know it's like a very operationally strong, structurally sound organization where we're going to fast or more efficiently with that partner because they have their ducks in a row, most likely most of the time. Right.
Nick Berry (28:00)
you can plug right in. you know what, for the most part, what you're walking into. Yeah.
Anthony Milia (28:04)
Yeah, I'm surprised that you're running on, you've known about EOS since 2014, you've been running on it. Maybe being an implementer and an integrator yourself, a fractional world consulting group for you.
Nick Berry (28:22)
so the clients that I'm consulting with now. We use it.
Anthony Milia (28:26)
think you and Kelly would be great at that. just from the 10 years of experience from you running a business and owning it and then using EOS, there's a lot of experience sharing from you guys for sure.
Nick Berry (28:38)
Yeah. I I know, I know that system. So, you know, with fitness revolution, we built the alignment system, which there's 50 % of that is EOS, It's the same thing. And like, that's the case with a lot of these systems. but EOS is just the simplest, easiest, broadest application. Like if you have some, aptitude and can think on top of that framework, like your gold.
Anthony Milia (28:48)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Berry (29:02)
You should be just fine.
Anthony Milia (29:04)
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Nick Berry (29:05)
so you mentioned the book, Marketing Magnifier is the book. And I got it whenever it came out, but I'm rereading again because we're having this conversation. And it was just another reminder of I just have always enjoyed our conversations because of the insight and the book has insight, It's not just a, like a stock marketing here, the fundamentals you need to know.
Anthony Milia (29:12)
Awesome.
Nick Berry (29:31)
I think the last thing that I was reading about that I think was really cool in there was where you're talking about the customer journey and the difficulty of putting yourself, like seeing things through their eyes, Because they are typically so different. They're living in a different world from you as the business owner. So that's an example of insight that I think is...
Anthony Milia (29:50)
Yeah.
Nick Berry (29:54)
not as prevalent as it should be and is super, super valuable.
Anthony Milia (29:57)
It's always something I wanted to do and I appreciate you rereading it again just just to be able to share that knowledge and the experiences the interviews and examples which which really allows people to implement those ideas right back into their business is what I what I hope for and I feel people do and And the other piece is just it's just very heartwarming From the side of things that people read it and then they put into action so when I hear that and
makes me feel happy to know that not only is it on your bookshelf, it's being read and being implemented, and I get to hear that feedback too. It's such an awesome feeling. And crossing that off the list of being able to write the book was definitely, it was for sure a challenge. And I wrote it before ChatGBT, FYI. So.
Nick Berry (30:47)
Because now that kind of thing has to be said.
Anthony Milia (30:52)
Yeah, I think so. think so. I'm taking full credit for writing that book because like
Nick Berry (30:57)
Yeah, you should. GBT couldn't write that.
Anthony Milia (31:00)
I know. mean, we can write a lot. yeah, so just the whole journey and the experience of writing it from start to finish, you're interviewing all the different people, you're reflecting back on different experiences and memories and consuming content from different industries. And how can you put that into a story so people can read that and then get value from it as well?
And at the same time of going through those motions, like I'm consuming the content, right? So it's just, it's only sharpening me learning that marketing knowledge and positioning me as a subject matter expert, which is, which is one of the main, one of the main goals. So number one, obviously wanted to provide value. Number two is being able to write that now maybe, you know, I hope a little bit smarter in the world of marketing and has
helped me create a reputation as a subject matter expert and then leading to speaking engagements across the United States, which is awesome.
Nick Berry (32:00)
talk about a little bit about the speaking engagements. You said you're trying to do four or five a year.
Anthony Milia (32:06)
Yeah, I try to do four to five. That's kind of my number right now. It's still a little bit taxing for me to prep for it. Once I get there, this is just like the behind the scenes, right? You're prepping for the presentation. You're getting to the conference. And then once you get on stage, everything's fine. It's really every time that happens. But my goal is about four to five per year. And I'm typically aiming to
give that value and present at those major conferences. So recently it's been in like Vegas and because that's where the major conferences within our industry are being held. But then also there's some in Florida and a few other states. So just traveling a little bit here and there, being able to talk about what we like to do best and share some knowledge. then, yeah, it allows me to stay sharp.
Nick Berry (32:58)
Yeah, grow and grow the business. So you mentioned John, his influence on you with your speaking and presentations. Did you hire a speaking coach? Yeah.
Anthony Milia (33:00)
Yeah.
I did, I did hire a speaking coach. And it was actually someone that I just found on Upwork originally, because I didn't really know where to turn to for like a more official speaking coach that can dedicate more of the etiquette towards that and just keeping me a little more accountable on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. So I was working with her for several months, especially for my first go around at my first
larger presentation and that had really helped me build up that confidence and and just and just hold me accountable. So showing up to those meetings and then rehearsing and just like I am here and then her providing feedback on what I can do to improve like am I moving too much? Am I fidgety? Am I saying am I humming my ums? Those are all things to pay attention to right so the more that you practice the more that you can you know refine it.
I highly recommend a speaking coach, especially just to get you going.
Nick Berry (34:08)
Yeah, it's trial and error unless you have somebody why not get somebody to tell you here's, here's the way. Just like with EOS. I mean, you could read the book. You could try to do that. And it, and it's possible, but man, it's so much easier if you just have somebody who's done it to say like, here's the way.
Anthony Milia (34:23)
Yeah. Well, to that point, there's people around you that will help you that are better than you at it and that are going to help coach you to get you to that point. So even for the person that designed my slide deck, I'm not the strongest at... I could build a Google slide deck, a PowerPoint, Canva presentation, right? But I can't do it in a way where it's...
It has that creativity, it builds upon the slides. And they had more of the eye for detail, right? And it builds throughout the journey and the story. So I had someone else work on the slide deck for me and it was a great experience because what sucks when you're attending a keynote presentation or a session like that is that you're sitting on these sessions and these speakers have like just walls of text.
on their slides and they're just either reading from them or they're saying something over here and then their slide deck says something different. And I'm trying to create just a better speaking experience, right?
Nick Berry (35:30)
Right. Yeah. Like I can create a Google slide deck or PowerPoint, but you would know I did it. Right. And that's not, that's not being a pro. That's amateur. So did you, so you had someone work with you on like speaking and presence, someone do the design. What about the, your, your presentation itself? Do you have somebody help you with that? Or did you already have that?
Anthony Milia (35:39)
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
the speaking coach kind of helped me navigate that a little bit, but really the content behind it was driven primarily from the book. So it was, was already something I had experience on. and I've been able to use that type of presentation and, and several speaking engagements. And now I'm working on my next topic that I'm, going back to the drawing board of getting that designer, rehearsing the content, repositioning the slides where they need to go.
and just building out that story so it's actionable, people learn from it and it's not a sales pitch.
Nick Berry (36:28)
Yeah. So what are your topics for your keynotes?
Anthony Milia (36:31)
Yeah, so my first one, which is the one I have dialed in and I'm speaking on next week, which is November 6 in Miami, it's called The Eight Keys to Magnify Your Marketing and it's kind of stemming from the book. And then the second one, the title is under production, but it's about measuring your marketing ROI.
mainly just being able to speak to how it's done, what's done, what are the steps needed to take, examples from businesses doing it successfully, what they'll look out for, best practices, and that's what it'll essentially entail and have worksheets and exercises throughout as well.
Nick Berry (37:08)
before I move too far from inflection points, we talked a lot about EOS, the Goldman Sachs, the 10,000 small businesses, is that something you would recommend for anybody getting into business or like a certain type of person?
Anthony Milia (37:22)
Yeah, I think the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program does a great job on teaching the fundamentals through the modules. Now, back in October 2020, we did the whole cohort virtually. So I had a little bit of a different experience because I attended the program over Zoom, which made it a little challenging at times, but I still gained a ton of value from my coaches, my team, and all that. But I would recommend it for people
that are looking to kind of get that foundational business knowledge. And it allows you the opportunity to work on your business throughout that, I think, eight or 12 week timeline. I forget what it is. And you're going through like your finances, your marketing plan, sales plan, your accountability chart, your organization, and really just trying to take you to the next level. I think the result of it is you creating a growth opportunity
on what is going to be that major driver in getting you to the next phase of your business. It's not something like, I'm going to build a website. It's like a very major milestone that the next phase of your business that's going to take you to the next level. So in summary, I would say I do recommend it. The next step after that, once you graduate from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program would be something considering something like EO, so Entrepreneurs Organization.
It does surround yourself with people that are most likely running on EOS or scaling up. And that a lot of time it's a great transition from people that are graduating from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program. They find EO because they just want more of what they did from the 10,000 Small Business Program. And you're surrounding yourself with other people that are other entrepreneurs, small business owners that are going through.
The emotional roller coaster, the peaks and valleys of trying to grow their business, the ups and downs of revenue, the people leaving your company, people issues, client issues, whatever it is. And you have someone else to talk to where you get very vulnerable with that group of people. You're getting into the 1 % to 5 % of those experience shares. And you can't do that anywhere else. You can't turn to your neighbor or some people can't turn to their significant other.
you know, share that out loud, right? Because they just don't, they don't get it.
Nick Berry (39:46)
this is another thing that comes up just about every conversation. you get into business ownership and they're just not that many people who can relate. No, even if they want to, no matter how bad they want to, they can't relate to the things that are going to keep you up at night. And the more success you have, the number becomes fewer and fewer. And it's nobody's fault. Like that's just it. There are things in their lives that we can relate to either, but
Anthony Milia (40:08)
Exactly
Nick Berry (40:09)
You need to find people who can. And like those peer groups, I think I'm glad you mentioned EO. I was a ten year Vistage member. it's up there with EOS on my inflection points. One of the most valuable things I've ever done for that reason. you're, you're in there with other people who are looking for the same things that you're looking for. They think kind of like you there. A lot of people are.
Anthony Milia (40:20)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Berry (40:35)
are either solving or have solved a lot of those issues, the challenges that you're facing, it's access to speed when it comes to solving problems.
Anthony Milia (40:43)
Yeah. Access to speed, your circle of influence and just surrounding yourself with other people just like you going through the same challenges, but it could be a completely different business and having someone to talk to just not maybe not even solving your problem. Just being able to vocalize it is probably the more valuable element to it is just being able to talk out loud. Someone is able to hear you and understand it, acknowledge it and and and resonate with it is has been
Nick Berry (40:53)
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Milia (41:13)
an incredible resource.
Nick Berry (41:14)
Yeah, that reminds me like one of the first, my first memories from being in Vistage, a guy who's like still a mentor to me. I don't remember what we were talking about, but I was kind of stressed out. you know, that you have these blind spots and you know it, but you don't really know how to go about looking for them. And he just said something along the lines of like, you don't know what you don't know. Like, that's all right. That's why you're here. And I was like, yeah.
Anthony Milia (41:35)
Mm-hmm.
Nick Berry (41:41)
It just feels so much better for it to have been acknowledged and him being like, that's why you're here. There's nothing you can do about it other than that. It's like the weight was lifted. Are you still in EO?
Anthony Milia (41:51)
yeah.
Yeah, yeah, we are. Been about three years since we joined. It's been probably one of the best investments we made. It's just being part of that type of community. And the EO Cleveland chapter is awesome. Very well ran, a ton of great people and businesses in it, and have developed a lot of great relationships with them as well.
Nick Berry (42:01)
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
That's awesome. for people who hear me talk about this, they already know this, like this is not BNI, right? It's not, I mean, there's networking involved, but it's not why you join.
Anthony Milia (42:22)
I don't know.
Right, you're not joining to really network or try to get referrals at all. It's a different environment.
Nick Berry (42:35)
Anthony, this is great, man. I love talking to you. We think alike in a lot of ways, and now we think alike on personal branding. So I've gone a long way there.
Anthony Milia (42:43)
That's right. Yeah, that's awesome. Nick, I appreciate you having me. This has been a great experience.
Nick Berry is an accomplished entrepreneur and CEO, whose track record includes founding and leading numerous companies since 2002.
He is also a mentor and coach to other entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for a trusted (and proven) advisor.
Among peers, colleagues, staff, and clients, Nick has been referred to as both 'The Business Guy' as well as 'The Anti-Guru', due to his pragmatic approach and principled leadership.
He shares his insights and lessons learned, along with those of his expert guests,
on his podcast, 'The Business Owner's Journey'.
