---
title: The Key To Success As An Entrepreneur, Colleen DeBaise
description: Colleen DeBaise has spent her career in media working with successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. She has great advice on how you can grow your company and get more publicity by getting your story picked up and spread far and wide in the media.
image: https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-5514828.jpg
---

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[Get The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily)

 Apr 19, 2018

# The Key To Success As An Entrepreneur, Colleen DeBaise

![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer)

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## Remove the polish and make it personal to help your story sell

<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/51VPuzSsMLlvI3DteBKvSx?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>

***[\[ LISTEN NOW ON APPLE PODCASTS \]](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sales-whisperer-wes-schaeffer-hosts-the-sales-podcast/id655310847?mt=2)***

## [Sales Tips](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) you'll learn today on [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)...

- "[The Wall Street Journal. Complete Small Business Guidebook](https://amzn.to/2HttYHZ)"
- "[Start a Successful Business: Expert Advice to Take Your Startup from Idea to Empire (Inc. Magazine)](https://amzn.to/2qs87Zg)" 
    - Many entrepreneurs are driven to start a business because of a pain point they want to solve
    - Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx
    - Time, patient, effort, resources are required
- Mint.com founder was struggling with his personal finances became his own first customer
- Be willing to adapt and modify your initial idea
- "[The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses](https://amzn.to/2Hvla4g)," Eric Reiss 
    - Start with your MVP—Minimum Viable Product
    - Netflix and Amazon
    - Elon Musk
- Things will never be perfect to launch so launch
- So much common sense is overlooked
- "Staple yourself to your customer's order."
- Get new ideas from new people 
    - Conferences
    - Mentors
    - Masterminds
    - Co-working
- Your pitch is too polished and impersonal for bonding with the media 
    - Highlight the quirky bits of your entrepreneurial journey
    - "We (in the media) are not investors."
    - "If it bleeds it leads."
    - Make it personal
    - Share your secrets to success, your growth hacks, your secrets, your morning routines
    - Create a hook around a "news peg"
    - "Fast turnaround" - less of a profile piece and more current
- Her favorite entrepreneurial story is Warby Parker, online eyeglass retailer 
    - They disrupted the status quo

**Related Articles:**

- [Dean Rotbart: Get More Press With Less Stress (For Free)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/dean-rotbart/)
- [Design Pickle's Russ Perry Is "The Sober Entrepreneur"](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/russ-perry)
- [From Stanford to Google To Entrepreneur, How Steven Benson Launched Badger Mapping](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/steven-benson-badger-mapping)

[![Score My Pipeline](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/443614/interactive-178194433547.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJ5SUTZZVSEOv5yj8ShpPtY7In3kk4aW7XMgVNX%2Bh626VYttXZ%2FJgfYknEIj0La6syl6JKAb00IxBNFr41cRsfnYAcESCNQPB%2FbeS4v%2FzPneVTmwcTZYTtdI83c9V1Svcaf4Bl6C8ifiX4QVa1TBQsJCd8jyZ675ALrFgJ8YCA%2BxPTCAbtdOb7aSEshpPbhmynxlnbdGyWt&webInteractiveContentId=178194433547&portalId=443614)

## Listen To Previous Episodes of[The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)

## Links Mentioned In [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)

- Check out [Colleen DeBaise's home on the web](https://colleendebaise.com)
- Get Colleen DeBaise's books 
    - [Start a Successful Business: Expert Advice to Take Your Startup from Idea to Empire (Inc. Magazine)](https://amzn.to/2EUkQtb)
    - [The Wall Street Journal. Complete Small Business Guidebook](https://amzn.to/2Hw5mB4)
- Follow [Colleen DeBaise's work on Inc](https://www.inc.com/author/colleen-debaise)

[![Score My Pipeline](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/443614/interactive-178194433547.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJ5SUTZZVSEOv5yj8ShpPtY7In3kk4aW7XMgVNX%2Bh626VYttXZ%2FJgfYknEIj0La6syl6JKAb00IxBNFr41cRsfnYAcESCNQPB%2FbeS4v%2FzPneVTmwcTZYTtdI83c9V1Svcaf4Bl6C8ifiX4QVa1TBQsJCd8jyZ675ALrFgJ8YCA%2BxPTCAbtdOb7aSEshpPbhmynxlnbdGyWt&webInteractiveContentId=178194433547&portalId=443614)

[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)

## Related posts

[![](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_Podcast_Images/Travis%20Chambers%20-%20The%20Sales%20Podcast%20%23290.png?height=200&name=Travis%20Chambers%20-%20The%20Sales%20Podcast%20%23290.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/travis-chambers)

[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)

## [Travis Chambers Shares How To Make Scalable Social Videos](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/travis-chambers)

![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) 

 Jun 13, 2025

You must get these two things right to grow your sales with scalable social videos

[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/travis-chambers)

[![Rebekah Radice, Do Social Media Right With Top 40 Pro — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Rebekah%20Radice%20On%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20Podcast%20Session%2036.jpg?height=200&name=Rebekah%20Radice%20On%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20Podcast%20Session%2036.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/rebekah-radice-social-media-marketing)

[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)

## [Rebekah Radice, Do Social Media Right With Top 40 Pro](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/rebekah-radice-social-media-marketing)

![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) 

 Jan 27, 2014

About Today's Guest Rebekah Radice is a social media strategist, consultant, trainer and digital...

[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/rebekah-radice-social-media-marketing)

[![Convince & Convert With Inbound Marketing Expert Jay Baer — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_Podcast_Images/Jay-Baer-The-Sales-Podcast-15.png?height=200&name=Jay-Baer-The-Sales-Podcast-15.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jay-baer-inbound-marketing)

[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)

## [Convince & Convert With Inbound Marketing Expert Jay Baer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jay-baer-inbound-marketing)

![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) 

 Aug 16, 2013

Key Inbound Marketing Sales Tips From Jay Baer Be patient with creating your inbound marketing via...

[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jay-baer-inbound-marketing)

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