Heroes in Business - Rena McGill CEO Corlinc Community Software and Eliances Member

Episode Date: February 11, 2021

The one thing can help simplify small business marketing. Rena McGill is the CEO of Corlinc community software and Corlinc University plus an Eliances member. She is interviewed by David Cogan, famous celebrity host of the Eliances Heroes Show. Broadcasted on am and fm networks, and online syndication.  

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. exciting. It's just been a phenomenal morning. I have the best job ever in the world because I get to interview people that are so amazing. And you know what? We learned something from each and every single one. So make sure you go back and make sure you see and listen to our past episodes by going to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com. Even recently when I had on the co-founder of Travelocity and the chairman of Kayak. You know where to go, alliances.com. Why? Because it is the only place where entrepreneurs align. Well, let's welcome to the show our next hero.

Because every small business owner needs a helping hand to build their business. And our next hero is focused on that. Welcome to the show, Rena McGill, the CEO of CoreLink Community by engaging and using software. And you can reach her at corelink.com. That's C-O-R-L-I-N-C.com. Welcome to the show, Rena. Well, good morning, David. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. So let's go and let. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. So let's go and let's just jump right into it.

You've had a very successful career and you've launched now Coralink Community. Talk to us about how that came to be and what inspired you to start it. Well, you know, David, I come from a really long line of successful women entrepreneurs going back, yikes, 140 years. So I have a lot to live up to. You know, as a serial entrepreneur in my latest venture, I found myself partnered with my son, Taylor McGill. So we began looking for a solution to the fragmented marketing challenges that small brands face. And we came across a study that showed how disconnected marketing and e-commerce across multiple platforms often breaks the customer connection. This really can impact

the bottom line of a business by 11%. And truly, that 11% can really be the difference between success or failure for a small brand, which became my aha moment. And that moment told me that every brand needs a tool to restore the customer connection. So Coralink was created as a community-based marketing tool for small brands who needed a simple and affordable way to grow deeper relationships with their customers and then sell them in the same place that they interact. Since the traditional website is expensive, difficult to build, and doesn't allow for customer interaction, we set out to create an affordable and easy to use solution that increases interaction. I love it. I love the idea that you're focused on small business too, because that's such important

and so critical, you know, to really, right? I mean, they employ so many and it's just like this, we were built on small businesses. So that's incredible. What's the sweet spot of who you are looking for? Is there a specific type of industry or person that you could share with our audience? Yeah, of course. So when COVID hit earlier this year, it drove it home to us bigger than ever that there was the need that we were filling for entrepreneurs the rising to the top. I sat on conference calls with scores of solopreneurs and small brands who were deeply worried about whether they were going to be able to adapt to a fully online marketing strategy, you know, what a plan B might look

like for them, or frankly, even if they could pivot and effectively keep those customer relationships. You know, with 24 million small brands, I mean, and I'm talking solopreneurs, you know, under two employees in the US, we designed our platform to quickly get you up and running, you know, whether you need an affordable online presence, or whether you have an existing website that could benefit from adding e-commerce, customer engagement, or consolidation of your social media presence. And then I think it's important to note too is that you launched a beta campaign with the largest annual nonprofit in Spokane where you're at, and you broke their all-time fundraising by 30%.

How was the magic done with that? by 30%. How was the magic done with that? Well, it's a hybrid of using a community and integrating it with social media. As I just mentioned, content begins to get buried. Your competitors can fish in your pond, but there's also a great way to implement that, which is to use social as a fishing line and then drive them back for your community for engagement. Previously, they had no means to pre-sell their fundraising event. And so this afforded them a vehicle to get people engaged and interested and then bring them back to the community to generate interest. I had a real fun experience.

I was sitting in a program and somebody stood up and said, I know you. This is the first year I've been able to do my shopping for the holiday event. And I couldn't believe how much fun it was for my friends and I. So that's how I feel. And it's got to feel so good too for doing it for a non-profit. And you know, what also feels good is listening and watching the Alliance's Hero Show, which you're watching, listening to me, David Kogan, host of the Alliance's Hero Show. And we have with us Rena McGill, the CEO of CoreLink Community. She can be reached at corelink.com. That's C-O-R-L-I-N-C.com.

at Coralink.com. That's C-O-R-L-I-N-C.com. And you may have the lifetime opportunity to see her in person or in one of our many virtual interactive sessions and roundtables and other things because she is also part of the Alliances community. In fact, Rena, tell us what it's like for you to be, because you're involved, you're very highly respected. A lot of people want to talk to you in the community. Well, what it's like to be with personally for you to be because you're involved, you're very highly respected, a lot of people want to talk to you in the community, but what it's like to be with personally for you to be part of the Alliances entrepreneur community. Oh, happy to talk about that. So I was honored to be asked to be a presenter at Grand Table. And I discovered very quickly that Alliances is a high level community of entrepreneurs, resources, influence, and vision. And how did that get, get hit home for me?

Well, as I approached the table and sat down, I've discovered I was flanked with the founder of Priceline, Jeff Hoffman on my left and the founder of Coyote, ugly Liliana Lavelle on my right. You know what I've learned is that alliances really does exemplify the power of community. For us, we've been able to form powerful strategic alliances and relationships with power players who share a mission and vision. And just recently, it became very clear that this community is where you're going to find a warm reception and powerful advice from a billionaire who traveled the road before me.

Excellent. Well, again, it's an honor to have you part of the community. You know, people love interacting with you. And when you present everybody, I mean, they're listening, they're watching, they're hanging on to each word. And I think that's just amazing in that. And then you also mentioned that you work with your son. Talk to us about what it's like working with a family member and then working with your son, particularly within a business, because there's enough stress with things in general. And I got to imagine there's certain challenges and yet certain fulfillment that's being done. It's a gift. You know, everybody says their, their offspring is brilliant. Mine is

just flat out. He has been responsible for oversight of all the development and growth of the company on the tech side, which is not my bailiwick. I'm more on the operations and marketing side of things. And so we come together and we make a great team. Is it challenging? You bet. You have to take off your parental hat and you have to put on the partner hat. So yeah, it's very interesting. And frankly, I wouldn't trade it for the world. So you can't say, hey, listen, if you don't switch this program to this type thing, you're grounded? No, it doesn't work. to this type thing, you're grounded?

No, it doesn't work. What type of advice would you share with other parents that are out there, though, that are listening now that want their kids to be successful and maybe even perhaps, you know, be in business with them in that? What kind of secrets would you share of being able to raise kids that are successful? Taylor has been to the grand table. He carries himself extremely well, you know, very professional and people like him that. So what kind of things would you say that they need to instill in their children and how to do it? Character and integrity, first and foremost, starting that from a very young age.

and foremost, starting that from a very young age. And then as a consummate entrepreneur myself, for better or worse, I instilled that in him from a very young age. I, you know, taught him the lemonade stand principle. I taught him how to be responsible for credit. I taught him how to be an independent thinker. And when you give the basics to your offspring, they can't help but be successful. Well, that's great and fantastic. And also too, as listeners and viewers, make sure you also check out CoreLink because you're going to learn too about the CoreLink University that she has. So make sure that you check that out. Well, Rena, you create community. You're also part of the alliances community. You work to bring so many together and help them be successful in their businesses. That's a hero.

Someone that cares about small businesses. So make sure you go to Coralink.com. That's C-O-R-L-I-N-C.com. This has been David Kogan with the Alliances Hero Show. Thank you so much.