Week 2 - Part B : Business Research

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My research is on business consultants who are also former Navy SEALs. I am undertaking this business for the class because my husband is a retired Navy SEAL who just finished two masters degrees in Global leadership and Organization Development. He just started his consulting agency. He is now working on a book, but he needs paying clients. I am hoping that I can help him on the marketing end of his new business. 
 
The public is hungry for anything SEAL related. The SEAL books sell well and make their authors famous, even if the book is terrible and/or the SEAL had a lackluster Navy career.
 
 

Alden Mills, Unstoppable, Inc.

Former Navy SEAL, Author, Keynote Speaker, Leadership Training, Inc. 500 CEO, Entrepreneur, CXO Advisor

https://alden-mills.com/

Alden Mills capitalizes on his SEAL tenure to deliver keynote speeches. His website says he uses his experiences as a SEAL commander and as the founder of a consumer goods company (Perfect Fitness) to help organizations to build and lead high performance teams. Most of his focus appears to be on his motivation speaking, with speaking fees of $10,000 - $20,000. He speaks locally (Bay Area), nationally, and internationally. He list the following social media platforms on his website: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blog. His Pinterest page appears under Be Unstoppable. He also does podcasts but I can only find them as guests of other people. I found them with a search but there's no physical link to them on his website.
 
LinkedIn: Alden Mills
Last post: 1 week ago, January 29, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments about 1-2 times per month
Followers: 5,955
 
Instagram: alden_mills
Last post: 3 days ago, February 3, 2021
Total posts: 381
Frequency: Posts or comments average 1-2 times per week in clusters
Followers:1,126
 
Facebook: Alden Mills
Last post: 5 days ago, February 1, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments about 1-2 times per week
Followers: 1,116
Page created: November 30, 2016
 
Twitter: Alden Mills
Last post: 1 week ago, January 29, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments about once a month
Followers: 8,026
 
YouTube: Alden Mills 
Joined Aug 12, 2013
Last post: May 17, 2020
Frequency:  40 videos over the last 4 years, only one in the last year
Views: 6,513 views
 
Blog: on his website
Articles are on his website but there is no way to determine date of posting. There is no place to comment so the interaction is entirely pushed. 
 
Pinterest: Be Unstoppable
Last post: Unknown
Frequency: Unknown
Followers: 21
Monthly views: 13
 
Pinterest: Alden Mills
Last post: Unknown
Frequency:   Unknown
Followers: 18
Monthly views: ?
 
Alden Mills does a great job building excitement for his motivational speeches. His headshots are warm, smiling and friendly. His key words are "perseverance", "mindset", and "being unstoppable."  The social media platforms he uses the most are Instagram and Facebook  but has very little interaction with his followers/friends. So while he sends out uplifting memes and links to his events, it is a one way street.
 

Thom Shea, Unbreakable Leadership/Adamantine Alliance 

Former Navy SEAL, Author, Motivational Speaker, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, Team Building, Corporate Training

https://www.unbreakableleadership.com/
 
Thom Shea uses simplistic motivational blurbs and masculinized law of attraction quotes to sell his programs. His website says he uses his experiences as a SEAL leader to teach people to keep their word, never give up, and manifest their desired life through internal dialogue. Most of his focus appears to be on selling his books. He operates mostly locally (Greenville, SC) and nationally. He is extremely active on social media sites. He lists and links the following social media platforms on his website: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and podcasts.
 
LinkedIn: Thom Shea
Last post: 4 days ago, Feb 2, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments almost daily, mostly promoting his podcasts
Followers: 7,402
 
LinkedIn: Unbreakable Leadership
Last post: 4 days ago, Feb 2, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments biweekly, mostly promoting his podcasts
Followers: 121
 
Instagram: frogmanout
Last post: 3 days ago, February 3, 2021
Total posts: 326
Hashtags for thomshea: 500+
Frequency: Posts or comments average 5 times per week
Followers: 1,546
 
Facebook: He has 2 personal accounts (behind privacy wall) and one business page under Unbreakable Leadership
Unbreakable Leadership
Last post: Yesterday, February 5, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments about every 4-7 days
Followers: 17,000
 
Twitter: @thomshea
Last post: 4 days ago, Feb 2, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments every 1-5 days
Followers: 275
 
YouTube: Unbreakable with Thom Shea
Last post: Last week
Frequency: Every week for the last 6 years
Subscribers: 938
 
Podcasts: weekly podcasts are on listed/posted on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify and many other sites. 
 
Thom is one of the better at utilizing social media to promote himself. While mostly for business promotion, he does occasionally have a dialog with his followers. 

Brent Gleeson, TakingPoint Leadership

Former Navy SEAL, Author, Motivational Speaker, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, High Performance Team Building, Workshops, Business Consulting

 
Brent Gleeson had a short but intense career as a Navy SEAL. Although he was an operator with limited leadership experience, his subsequent education and running of several companies provided him with the expertise to navigate the crowded Navy SEAL consultant niche. He operates locally (Rancho Santa Fe, CA), nationally, and internationally. He is very active on social media sites. He lists and links the following social media platforms on his website: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blog, and newsletters. While he doesn't run his own podcast, he is a frequent guest on other people's. He links to those on his Instagram.
 
LinkedIn: Brent Gleeson
Last post: 1 day ago, Feb 5, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments almost daily
Followers: 16,740
 
LinkedIn: TakingPoint Leadership
Last post: 3 days ago, Feb 3, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments biweekly
Followers: 1,722
 
Instagram: takingpointleadership
Last post: 3 days ago, February 3, 2021
Total posts: 193
Hashtags: #takingpointleadeship 100+
Frequency: Posts or comments average 5 times per week
Followers: 1,995
 
Instagram: brent_gleeson
Last post: 3 days ago, February 3, 2021
Total posts: 466
Hashtags: #brentgleeson 100+
Frequency: Posts or comments average 5-6 times per week
Followers: 12,400
 
Facebook: Taking Point Leadership
Last post: 3 days ago, February 3, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments about every 2-3 days
Followers: 619
 
Twitter: TakingPoint Leadership
Last post: 11 days ago, Feb 2, 2021
Frequency: Typically posts or comments every 2-4 days 
Tweets: 231
Followers: 41
 
YouTube: Brent Gleeson
Last post: Sept 1, 2017
Frequency: no posts for 3 years
Subscribers: 444
 
Podcasts: links to most are on Instagram
 
Brent was the founder of a full service digital marketing agency, and it is apparent in the professional polished look of his media. He is an expert at utilizing digital marketing and social media for promoting his business offerings. He is highly engaged with anyone who posts about his books or podcasts. 

Jon Sanchez, Team Performance Institute

Former Navy SEAL, Leadership & Performance Training, One-on-One Professional Coaching, Experiential Keynote Speaking Engagements, Virtual Services

 
Jon Sanchez is a former Navy SEAL Officer who like many other retired SEALs, does keynote speaking and business consulting. He operates locally (Cincinnati, OH), nationally, and internationally. His firm appears to have 15 people on his team. His website is polished and inviting. He does not link to social media on his home page but under the "news" link he links to Twitter and his blog. The blog focuses on introducing his new team members. The Twitter account that he links to is the business site. Lately it has not been very active.
 
LinkedIn: Jonathan Sanchez
Last post: 1 month ago
Frequency: New posts every 1-2 months
Followers: 4,705
 
LinkedIn: Team Performance Institute
Last post: 3 days ago, Feb 3, 2021
Frequency: Posts or comments biweekly
Followers: 521
 
Instagram: none
 
Facebook: Team Performance Institute
Last post: January 1, 2021
Frequency: Majority of posts are on holidays
Followers: 482
 
Facebook: Jon Sanchez
Last post: July 9, 2020
Frequency: Infrequent and sporatic. Combination personal and business
Followers: 534
 
Twitter: TeamPerformanceInst
Last post: January 1, 2021
Frequency: Recently the majority of posts are on holidays
Followers: 435
Tweets: 1155
 
Twitter: Jon Sanchez
Last post: January 1, 2021
Frequency: Much more frequent than on the business twitter. About 2-4 times per week.
Followers: 435 
Tweets: 3208 
 
YouTube: Team Performance Institute
Last post: August 27, 2019
Frequency: Total of 7 videos. 1-2 per year
Subscribers: 30
 
Podcasts: Team Performance Institute
Last post: Nov 9, 2020
Frequency: about once per month, although he says the podcasts are every Thursday. Total of 9 podcasts

Compared to the previous 3 people, Jon Sanchez is the least active on social media. On LinkedIn and on Twitter he does actively interact with people. 

David Silverman, CrossLead Inc.

Former Navy SEAL, Author, Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneur, CEO of CrossLead, Business Consultant specializing in agility, productivity, and high-performance teams.

 
David Silverman is also retired Navy SEAL Officer. He does keynote speaking, leadership events, process optimization and alignment and executive coaching. He operates locally (Washington, DC), nationally, and internationally. His website is easy to navigate and he explains clearly what he does. His social media links are easy to find on the bottom of his home page. He lists Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. His blog is linked at the top of the page.
 
LinkedIn: David Silverman
Last post: 2 weeks ago, but is engaged with other posts almost daily.
Frequency: Typically post or reposts weekly
Followers: 3,693
 
LinkedIn: CrossLead
Last post: 2 months ago
Frequency: Approx once per month
Followers: 800
 
Instagram: CrossLead
Last post: 100 days ago
Total posts:17
Frequency: Very infrequent
Followers: 78
 
Facebook: CrossLead
Last post: January 7, 2020
Frequency: Infrequent posts recently. A flurry of post happened in 2019, infrequent thereafter
Followers: 152
 
Twitter: CrossLead
Last post: January 1, 2021
Frequency: Frequent tweets in 2019 and only 1 in 2020. Little interaction during tweets. 
Followers: 638
Tweets: 297
 
YouTube: CrossLead
Last post: March 1, 2019
Frequency: Total of 3 videos. All are promotional videos. No interaction with viewers.
Subscribers: 8
 
Podcasts: I can't find any of his own, but he appears as guests on other people's podcasts

Blog: on his website, linked at the top of the page
Articles are on his website but they are not dated. There is no interaction with readers because there is no place to comment. He has well written articles with real content, relating military life to business leadership.

Mr. Silverman is not much of a social media user, however he is most active on LinkedIn. CrossLead's YouTube is not listed on his website but there is one channel for the business there. 
 

Final conclusions:

The market for former Navy SEAL business consultants is crowded and competitive. While I haven't done an exhaustive search of these gentlemen, I did check in on about 20 of them. It seems as if the more they play the SEAL card and the less they are actually educated in the field, then the more they use social media to sell their Hooyah motivational talks. Some of these guys have real content and respectable businesses. I would hire Jon Sanchez and David Silverman in a heartbeat. Brent Gleeson sits in the middle of the group. He is educated in business. What sets him apart is he has very active marketing practices. His experience owning a digital marketing firm shows very clearly in his presentation of his company. However, if one does a Google search then Thom Shea and Brent Gleeson rise to the top of the results. Promotion on social media pays when establishing your brand.
 
If I were to counsel my husband in his desire to start his organization development consulting firm, I would recommend the tactics of Brent Gleeson. Provide real content and value and interact with your followers often to build rapport and soon you will establish yourself as an expert worthy of paying for your expertise. 
 
I would further advise to find a niche that sets him apart from these other guys who seem to be a jack of all trades. Branding and differentiation will be key to success in this market. 

Comments

  1. Anthony McCarthyFebruary 11, 2021 at 3:40 PM

    Hi Janet,
    I thoroughly enjoyed reading your reasearch. This is a very intriguing topic and immediately caught my interest. Being a Navy SEAL is no joke. I agree with your advice to find a niche that sets him apart rather than being a jack of all trades like many others.

    - Anthony

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janet WalkerFebruary 14, 2021 at 8:19 PM

      Hi Anthony,
      I appreciate you checking in on my blog. As we move forward I would love any advice on how to develop a brand for my husband.
      -Jan

      Delete

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