Most people I talk to are astonished when I tell them I spend zero dollars in marketing for my company Unconventional Life’s sold-out business accelerators. Just last week, Inc. Magazine named us the #1 Event for Entrepreneurs To Attend In 2018.

You see, most people underestimate the value of community.

You’ve probably heard you need to have a massive community before you can monetize it—but in reality, it’s actually the quality, not the quantity of your members that counts.

Our community at Unconventional Life is humble in size compared to others, but it’s a force to be reckoned with. We consistently sell out our spots through word of mouth, and research shows that’s the most effective kind of marketing there is.

92 percent of consumers trust peer-to-peer recommendations over traditional advertising.

If you’re looking to grow your company, you may need to look no farther than your very own community.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, I spoke with one millennial founder whose community is the engine of his company. Meet Aristotle Loumis, the founder and CEO of Ellison, a Greece-based, handmade designer eyewear company with an integrated social mission. Ellison offers a $10 VIP Club Membership that grants 50% discounted access to all of its eyeglasses after the purchase of one full-priced pair.

The only catch? Tell Ellison the epic tale of how you lost your first pair.

“Most people lose their glasses in the act of adventure,” Loumis says. “They’re snowboarding, skydiving, honeymooning, tailgating, they’re living life. We believe in the act of losing something you’re finding something bigger, so our call to action is don’t worry get lost.”

Ellison’s “insurance policy” for adventure has attracted a loyal membership base who helped fund its crowdfunding campaign 4x beyond its initial goal, making it one of the fastest and most successfully funded companies on Republic.

Below, learn from Loumis how you can translate your community into capital for your company.

Schroeder: Where did you get the idea for Ellison’s membership model?

Loumis: Picture this. You’d call me on Friday and be like hey Aristotle, I need a couple pairs of shades we’re going skiing this weekend. By Monday I’d get a call from you being like hey listen there was about a foot of snow, it was great skiing, but unfortunately I went off this ramp and while I’m still alive the glasses are not. As a result I’d say to you, hey listen, don’t tell anyone but I’m gonna give you a hookup price. Instead of paying $150 I’d give it to you at $75. I got the idea for Ellison’s model when I started hearing more of these stories. After about 2,000 stories that were submitted I knew we were on to something.

Schroeder: How did you convert these stories into marketing materials for your company?

Loumis: We mobilize our customers as our marketing engines. The only way you get that replacement pair is to tell us a story, that’s all we ask for. We’d say how’d you lose them did you have too many beers at that tailgate? How was that honeymoon did your wife push you off the boat? And then we reward you for that story. We reward our customers for their living experiences, not punish them. They then share their stories organically with their own networks, and everyone knows the best form of marketing is word of mouth. As a result we have a very high retention rate.

Schroeder: What words of advice do you have for entrepreneurs building a community?

Loumis: When you tap into and work with your customers on a very deep level, they are essentially part of the company and they feel like they’re part of the company. While we only have 6,500 members that’s equivalent to 200k+ members for other startups because the retention is so high for us. I’d rather have 10k loyal customers than 10M because they’re interacting with the company and they’re moving the company up. Every new customer we get is obsessed with what we’re doing… not only is that really good for retention but it’s really good for growing it. Our tribe is growing because we’re bringing authenticity and recruiting the people who are aligned with us. Instead of spending money on numbers we’re going for quality.

Schroeder: Tell me more about Ellison’s social impact.

Loumis: When I was participating in Doctors Without Borders, I fell in love with an eye organization called the Himalayan Cataract Project which was giving people their eyesight back. I realized how big the problem was and I wanted to be able to impact that problem. This was around the time Tom Shoes was just getting launched so this one for one model was very innovative. I thought to myself, if there’s a one for one model what if I was to do an eye for an eye.

I knew at the time there was a market gap when I created this. There’s essentially two big players that own the rights to licensing to some of the biggest brand names that everybody buys. What they do is they buy these brand names and then they artificially inflate the prices 10-20x the cost to manufacture them. I knew there was a way to create a better product at a better price, and that’s the idea behind our membership model.

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This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

With 2018 just around the corner many of us are beginning to ponder our resolutions for the upcoming year.

Maybe you’ve already begun thinking about purchasing a new gym membership or enrolling in a personal development program—or maybe you’re jaded about the whole thing and don’t really care to watch the ball drop in Times Square.

It’s no secret that 92% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Just the other night the topic of my family dinner was about how flimsy these resolutions can be. My sister summed it up when she said “you can’t just flip a switch and expect your life to change overnight.”

One of the main reasons why New Year’s resolutions don’t tend to last is because they bait us with the “quick fix” without integrating change into our existing habits.

That being said, the New Year represents a ripe opportunity to set new intentions and ambitions. It can provide a powerful burst of momentum to initiate new goals in the context of community.

But how do you create a resolution that actually sticks? That’s exactly what I asked my good friend Nadav Wilf on the Unconventional Life Podcast this week.

Wilf is the founder of Lifestyle Perfected, a coaching and consulting company for successful founders and CEOs in partnership with top-notch personal development resources like Tony Robbins, Landmark, Abraham Hicks, and Headspace. He’s also the founder of enlightened.org, a marketplace that integrates philanthropy into everyday life through social shopping.

This week on my podcast, Wilf and I chatted about how you can capitalize on the New Year to create lasting change with a methodology that actually works.

Instead of the “resolution” you may have been planning on jotting down in a journal, Wilf calls his change agent the “passion pivot.” At its essence, the passion pivot helps enact change at the level of the subconscious mind, which scientists say is the underpinning of our “nasty” little habits.

Below, read up on Wilf’s methodology behind the “passion pivot” to initiate a strategy for realizing your goals in 2018.

Step #1: Identify What Isn’t Working. The first step is to identify what isn’t working in your current situation. This is the key step where you meet yourself exactly where you are at. It’s critical in this step to try to witness yourself from the perspective of an objective observer to release any judgments you might have about your current situation. After all, psychologists say shame is not an effective motivator for change.

While considering your current situation, ask yourself the following questions: What undesired, recurring feelings do I have? What are the major sources of stress in my life? What are my limiting beliefs? Wilf suggests, “Maybe you’re anxious about not having enough money. Maybe your limiting beliefs are, ‘I have to work and grind to have what I want’ or ‘my family would disown me if I decided to do what I’m really passionate about.’”

Step #2: Identify Your Desired Future State. In this step, Wilf capitalizes on the operation of the subconscious mind. Experts speculate our beliefs and values tend to be at the root of our behavior. When we “reprogram” our beliefs, we can often shift our behavior.

Wilf says, “Get clear about how you want to feel—for example, ‘I want to trust,’ or ‘I want to feel in alignment’—and what you want to believe—for example, ‘I am aligned and everything I want flows easily and smoothly.’”

Make a habit of reaffirming these beliefs to yourself on a daily basis. Jake Ducey, bestselling author of Into The Wind, recommends starting each day writing down your desired beliefs 30-50 times. “The goal is to imprint them onto your mind. Most people start the day and they’re getting programmed with a bunch of negative things. They’re getting their thoughts and beliefs suggested to them by the outer world, living out of reaction instead of creation.”

Step #3: Take Action. While the subconscious mind is one component to behavior, we cannot rely on it alone; we must take deliberate, conscious action. Wilf says, “Create a practical action plan. For example, If you love social impact, reach out to social impact events and find successful people to model.” Taking action in alignment with your new beliefs can help you feel a sense of accomplishment and actualize your goals.

Step #4: Give. Wilf says the act of giving can be a potent source of life satisfaction, and it’s even been proven to reduce stress and aging and promote health and longevity. Consider donating to a cause you care about this holiday season. Or, rally your friends and community together by “donating your birthday.” Wilf is currently donating his birthday to the SAN-DAL project, which empowers an ancient African tribe to sustain itself by selling its signature sandals around the world.

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This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard my friends say they’d rather work anywhere over a corporate job. For many millennials, corporate companies have long had a bad rap. We remember well our parents’ groans and gripes about their dictatorial bosses and distant coworkers.

Seventy five percent of millennials believe corporate businesses are focused on their own agendas instead of improving society.

What millennials really want out of work is to make an impact. Nine in ten seek to benefit society with their skills, and one in two would be willing to take a pay cut if it meant working for a company that matched their values.

As millennials shoulder the workforce, we’re setting a new standard for ethical, transparent, and sustainable business practices. Take Uber, for example, whose peer-to-peer rideshare app is bringing communities closer and empowering workers to pilot their own schedules.

For companies that want to thrive in the 21st century, adapting to this new way is a necessity.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, I spoke with one millennial founder whose value-centered company is becoming a favorite among millennials.

Meet Rafael Museri, the founder of Selina, a hospitality group that hosts co-working and co-playing spaces in destination locations around the world. Selina is on a mission to become a major hotel chain, displacing industry giants like Hilton. Currently, they have 20 operating Selinas and 15 additional under development and they expect to end 2018 with 50-60 operating (globally) and 15-20 under development.

What makes Selina so attractive to millennials? Museri says it’s Selina’s values. The Jerusalem-born founder has cultivated an atmosphere of equality that makes travelers of all backgrounds feel at home.

Below, Museri shares five practices he’s convinced set Selina apart. If you’re looking to uplevel your company, consider integrating some of these tips in order to resonate more with millennials.

Treat All Of Your Clients Equally. While most services tend to treat higher-paying customers better than lower-paying ones, Selina treats all of its customers equally. Guests cohabit the same common areas independently of how much they paid for a room, and there’s nothing that distinguishes smaller rooms from larger rooms; each of the doors are marked exactly the same. For Museri, shared humanity is the great equalizer. No matter if guests pay $5 a night or $300 a night, they are all treated equally.

“Traditionally they break up 2, 3, 4, and 5 stars based on how much you can afford and that’s how they treat you,” says Museri. “At Selina, it’s not about who you are and how much money you have.”

Cater Your Products To Individuals. Part of what’s made Selina such a hit is its due diligence in conducting market research. Museri says, “We traveled to 140 different hostels around the world and asked travelers to share their experiences with us. We collected data about travelers, their interests, and the changes they wanted to see. It’s all about data, all about market research, all about trends. We always prefer to spend more on the market research side and feel confident in our vision.”

In order to strike a chord with millennials, you’ve got to talk to them. Narrow your target market down to a very specific niche and develop services that are uniquely tailored to their needs.

Create A Community. Millennials value relationships and experiences. They wanted to feel bonded with others who share similar values as them. Your company is more than just your product or service, it’s why you do what you do. What are your core values? What do your customers have in common?

Consider creating a mission statement that reflects your values. Express these values in your community, either in your digital content or at in-person gatherings. Your values will act as cohesive glue for your community and generate loyalty.

Museri says, “I think one of the main reasons communities are exist are they make people feel more comfortable; they let people know there are others who share the same values as them. I traveled the world via bicycle across India, Europe, and South America seeing and experiencing different types of communities. It made me very interested in understanding how the world was connected.”

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt heard about the trend that everyone’s talking about right now—cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin jumped to a record $20k last week, which means if you’d have bought $100 of Bitcoin seven years ago, you’d be sitting on $75M right now.

While some are saying cryptocurrencies are bound to collapse, others believe it’s the beginning of a blockchain revolution. With so many different reports, it can be hard to make sense of the cryptocurrency landscape.

One thing’s for certain—Bitcoin is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many promising blockchain projects sprouting up with millennials leading the way. From 24-year-old Vitalik Buterin who founded Ethereum, now the world’s second largest cryptocurrency to 26-year-old Justin Sun, who seeks to reinvent how digital creators get paid for their online content with TRON.

Our generation is shaping the biggest wave of innovation since the creation of the internet. And it’s just the beginning.

I wanted to get to the insider’s scoop on the blockchain world so I invited Mel Gelderman and David Hogardd, the founders of TokenCard to join me on the Unconventional Life Podcast this week.

These two twenty-somethings raised 16.7M in just 6 minutes during an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) crowdsale. TokenCard is a mobile app that works worldwide allowing token holders to use their digital assets in real-time, in the real world, as real money.

On the fence about cryptocurrency? Check out what these insiders had to say about getting involved.

1. Crypto Is The New Paradigm. Hogardd and Gelderman stress that there is an incredible amount of opportunity in the Blockchain space right now. “The barriers to entry are quite low. For people looking to do something interesting with their life, blockchain is such a staggeringly opportunity.” Hogardd says.

If you want to begin learning the skills check out blockgeeks.com for technical tutorials and instruction on understanding cryptocurrency and the blockchain.

2. Here’s How To Get Started. While Hogardd and Gelderman believe that TokenCard will be the easiest point of entry for someone looking to get started with cryptocurrencies, their project won’t be released for another 6 months.

Alternatively, the best option right now is to sign up on Coinbase. They have an incredibly user-friendly interface that even beginners can learn to use quickly. One downside is your options are limited compared to the more complex cryptocurrency exchanges. Right now on Coinbase you can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and most recently Bitcoin Cash

3. Crypto Is Just The Beginning. Hogardd and Geldermann are betting big on the trend of tokenization. They see a future where anything that has value will be “tokenized.”

This could mean that one day with TokenCard you’ll be able to hold any number of assets including cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, something physical like gold, shares of company like Apple stock, or even a fraction of the Mona Lisa.

“We don’t think you even need to hold dollars or pounds in the future we think people will literally be spending with their Mona Lisa tokens or with their gold or with their Apple stock, only what they want to hold not what they think they need to hold simply because it’s the only thing that’s accepted. People will literally be able to walk into McDonalds and pay with their Mona Lisa tokens and that’s why we created this company,” Gelderman says

4. Don’t Be Afraid To Fail. Gelderman and Hogardd say they’ve always sought out the cutting edge because it makes them feel alive. The prospect of doing something new and exciting can fill you with a deep sense of purpose.

The problem with doing something new is that there isn’t a playbook. If you’re considering getting involved in this space, you’re going to make mistakes. The crypto market can seem unpredictable but there’s no denying that in the long-term it’s been steadily rising to exponential proportions.

If you do decide to invest in cryptocurrency, you have to notice the opportunities in front of you and be willing to take a chance. Sitting on the sidelines might protect you from failure but it robs you from the chance to capitalize on this opportunity.

5. Beware The FOMO-FUD Cycle. There is a ton of news and information being published 24/7 about cryptocurrency. How do you make sense of it all?

It’s important to know that the newscycle switches between spreading FOMO and FUD. FOMO is the fear of missing out that causes people to jump in and invest. FUD is the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that gets spread around prompting people to jump ship and sell.

People who have been paying attention to cryptos know that this FOMO-FUD cycle is common so they aren’t as easily swayed.

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