I am Sage Part 1 Why my upbringing matters.

Here is the first video in this series on how I got to where I am today.

Thank you so much for watching this series of videos.

I made them for several different reasons.

One reason is to let people know how I got to where I am today. I’m not a multimillionaire. But I truly believe that has more to do with me not giving 2 shits about money.

What I am is a person who lives for experiences.

  • I’ve taken my kid to Disney World every other year since he was 2 1/2.
  • We spent a month in our camper out West last year.
  • We rented a convertible and drove up Highway 1 in California.
  • We camp every year at an island that is filled with gentle, wild ponies.
  • We go to New York City just to hang out at least once a year.

These are just a few things that came to me off the top of my head that happened in the last couple years.

Here are a few pictures from some of these trips:

indy-indy indy-disney assateague

0134_nyc-trip-march-2011_20110307_1142

I’m not doing this to brag. I’m doing this to show you that I have consciously made my life into what I wanted it to be.

I don’t work nights. I don’t work weekends. I vacation with almost zero concern for money.

And, for what it’s worth, you should know that I’m not some guy that came from a long line of rich entrepreneurs.

My dad left when I was 7. My mom raised us on minimum wage for most of my youth. We had a renter who rented a room in our house most of my growing up. (While nice, she was a raging alcoholic that often had different men stay over.)

And I didn’t go to college to study business. I was a double major in English and Music. And then I went on to spend years bartending and waiting tables. I consider myself more of an artist than a business person.

This all came about by me deciding I wanted something different than what was offered in life.

I decided I didn’t want to be a 9 to 5 guy. I decided I didn’t want someone telling me where I needed to be or when I needed to be there.

The life I have today is a life of decision.

Most of the financial freedom I have today comes from one thing: Knowing digital marketing.

I know how to use Google, Facebook, blogs, Twitter, email, LinkedIn, YouTube or any of the other myriad tools out there.

They are the reason I am where I am today.

Here’s a picture of the Skills and Endorsements people have given me on LinkedIn:

sage-linkedin

I run a digital marketing agency, SageRock. I do this work for my clients. I train people at universities. And, of course, I use these tools for my own businesses. Shoot… you are reading this right now because I used these tools to pull you in 🙂

I believe that a person that understands how to properly use these tools can direct their life in any way they want.

  • Be a millionaire
  • Be a full time traveler
  • Be a celebrity
  • Be a person who is free to live the life they want to live.

Over the years SageRock and I have been very fortunate to receive many kind words for my speaking and training. Here are some of them:

Twitter Testimonial of Sage Lewis Training

A great social media pro!

Heres a note I got from the organizer of an event I recently did:

Hi Sage, Thanks so much for a terrific presentation. I really appreciate it. It was good working with you. Youre very informative — a great social media pro! I hope your video is useful.

Looking forward to future opportunities together. All the best,

~Sunny Sunny K. Lurie, PhD. CEO, Fast Focus Careers Div of Advanced Performance, Inc.
www.FastFocusCareers.com

Review From Career Energizer Seminar

Heres a really nice email I got from an event I did for people looking to change careers… the Career Energizer Seminar:

Very entertaining and informative last night, as always. Youre one of the very few who manages to do both in about equal measure. Thats much harder to pull off than it seems.Have a great weekend.

John Ettorre

Cleveland State SEO Class October 2010

Here are the quotes I received from my October 2010 Search Engine Optimization class I did at Cleveland State University:

Very practical. Real world examples.

The instructor was dynamic and a fresh perspective.

Sage used good real-life examples of what he was talking about. Easier to retain it that way.

Sage is high-energy, knowledgeable and relevant. Excellent course!!

Sages CSU SEO Class Evaluations June 2010

Here are the quotes from the evaluation I received for my Cleveland State University Search Engine Optimization class I did in June of 2010:

Elevated my understanding of SEO and what I personally must do to improve. Sage does an excellent job!

You will find something you can use to better your business.

Sage really knows his stuff and his passion is obvious.

If I was creating my own website, this info would be crucial to getting the best experience for search.

Learned a lot of useful things about web marketing

Thank you all! I had a great time teaching the class. 🙂

March 2010 CSU SEO Class Comments

These are all the comments I got for the search engine optimization class I did at Cleveland State University in March 2010:

Sage Lewis is an excellent instructor. His energy and enthusiasm make the class interesting and informative. The course content is very relevant.

Sage is an awesome instructor and motivates you to want to take your knowledge to the next level.

I learned a lot. Sage really knows this stuff. However, I would focus more in detail of how SEO really works across all SE. I really enjoyed this class.

Sage is a intense dude. Kinda zany. Fun.

Instructor has real life experience not just academics.

Sage Lewis is a really great speaker who brings a lot of enthusiasm, knowledge and energy into the classroom.

Very informative Sage is great!

Instructor was great!

Cleveland State Social Media Class

I (Sage) did a full day social media class at Cleveland State University recently.

A full day gives us a nice opportunity to address a lot of social media topics in a good way.

These are all the recorded comments I got back on my evaluation:

Very informative. I plan to use this knowledge in both business and personal aspects.

More classes like this with industry experts more on web optimization this class could be longer! & SEO copywriting, other topics…

More time for questions and discussion would have made it greater.

Sage Lewis is very knowledgeable and experienced in social media. He has an enthusiastic and effective method of presenting the material.

National Speakers Association Evaluation

I (Sage) just got the evaluations for the speaking engagment I did for the National Speakers Association in Columbus Ohio.

It was an all day conference. There were 2 speakers who spoke for about 2 hours each. I had a quick 30 minute spot.

Ive pulled out the comments that had to do with my speaking. I didnt remove any negative ones. Actually, many these are negative… in a way. Apparently, they wanted more Sage in their diet. 🙂

What was the best thing you got out of today?

The importance of Google analytics.

Find others who think like you on Linked In

Sages info about Google and local ‘claim it

Claiming my site on Google

Steve and Sage were also extremely helpful.

What do you wish would have been included today?

More time and detail with Sage would be great. So much to cover with social media.

More from Sage Lewis!

I want more from Sage. He was great!

More time for Sage Lewis

More from Sage Lewis and social networking.

More time for Sage.

More time for Sage Lewis.

Other Comments: (Use back of page if needed)

Great meeting as always

Great, great day!

Thanks!

Excellent as always!

Good day.

Not enough time for Sage.

Need more time with Sage.

Sage too short. Was this by design?

Sage was great. Wished for more!

Sage had great energy.

COSE Small Businesses Conference Workshop Evaluation

I (Sage) just got back the evaluations I got for a Cose Conference workshop I did on getting over your Social Media Fears.

These are all of the comments (including the not-so-good ones):

1.    Sage rocks!

2.    Didnt really talk about getting over fears how to protect oneself

3.    The most engaging speaker at COSE!

4.    100% A+ Awesome. Enthusiasm.

5.    Wow! Great! Thanks!

6.    Needed more time for this speaker!

7.    I am a novice and could use an advice for my company and myself.

8.    He should present at every opportunity for COSE.

9.    Sage, you are very dynamic! I love it!

10.    Sage was the best speaker I have heard at the conference.

11.    needed to talk more about the privacy of all this social media.

12.    Sage is enthusiastic about his work. Full of good info. He put passion into his topic. Time flew.

13.    Great energy! Great info!

14.    Engaging speaker with a great sense of humor to help with the info/presentation

15.    Sage was enthusiastic about his subject. He was well informed.

16.    I understand this better

17.    Great passion

18.    Great speaker, very engaging

(There are more, but hopefully you get the idea. …and its getting embarrassing typing them all in.)

And these are some testimonials of the work we’ve done:

Your organization always impressed me with not only your knowledge of the industry but also your integrity. Unfortunately that is something you rarely find these days, especially as a small business owner trying to survive in this economy.

The expertise that SageRock has brought to my firm has far surpassed my expectations. I would have never guessed that I would now be one of the leading family law attorneys within my region when it comes to rankings on the search engines. I have more prospective clients than my office can handle and, as such, I am able to select the types of clients and cases that I prefer. SageRock’s professional guidance and experience in creating a comprehensive Web presence has made all the difference. I am extremely grateful for having found SageRock.


Again, I’m not doing this to brag. I’m doing this to prove that I am who I say I am.

With that said, if you are still reading, there must be a part of you that is interested in this topic. (That’s the whole point of this video series and this long page. I’m looking for people that are legitimately interested in all this.)

I would like to give you an offer.

I have a service called: CMO SAGE. It is on demand marketing consultation, advice and strategy. You don’t have to sit through hours of classes (although I have 300 hours of video training sessions if you want them). You just cut right to the chase, ask your question and get your answer. Then you can move on.

This is the most efficient way I’ve ever structured my strategy and training.

What I’d like to do is offer you a free CMO SAGE strategy session with me. We can talk about anything you’d like:

  • How to do better on social media
  • How to do better with search engine optimization
  • How to do better in Google AdWords
  • How to do better with email marketing
  • Or… maybe you don’t even know what questions to ask. I can help you with that too.

There are no strings attached. There is no payment. There is nothing other than signing up for this one free session and giving it a try.

If you have gotten to this point on the page, you are serious. You are the real deal. You are the kind of person I want to work with.

So please, use the link below and try a CMO SAGE session totally for free. Go here:

CMO SAGE Free Trial

Thank you for reading. I hope you are having the most amazing life you can possibly have.