10 Lessons CEO Matt Cherry Taught Me

by Mella Noir

Ever met a man who for a living is surrounded by, speaking to and with, connecting, writing for and about, interviewing, conferencing, skyping, and creating content driven by women all day, every day? One who travels and attends woman-centered blog and social media conferences across the United States, and has a list of them pages long?

I have, and his name is Matt Cherry.

Matt is the Founder & CEO of iBlog magazine and iBlogmagazine.com for professional women bloggers, influencers and has just launched the new print version nationally! iBlog is the only magazine to connect professional women bloggers with social media experts, the nation’s top bloggers, national brands, and marketing specialists.  They seek out and share insider secrets from the social media world and the blogging industry’s best with professional women bloggers who are trying to grow their businesses and brands.

What makes iBlog magazine so incredibly unique, is the advisory committee comprised of the most influential women in social media and blogging today,  including women in the Forbes Top 50 most influential, Blog Conference Organizers, Blog Network Founders, Top Bloggers, Senior PR and Agency representatives, Social Media Experts and Leading National Brand representatives. Seriously, have a glance at the advisory board.  Not fooling around…

With an emphasis on video and channel programming for professional women bloggers, there are hundreds of interviews and shows annually providing in-depth features on bloggers and their rise to the top of their industry.  

I met Matt when I was en route to a conference called Social Media Marketing World, which is the world’s largest social media marketing conference. By that, I mean there were 80 + of the world’s top social media pros, plus 2000 of my social media lovin’ peeps.  I was the last one on the bus, and there was one seat left beside Matt, waiting for me to take it.  Little did I know I had hit the connector jackpot!

Matt is smart, fun, outgoing, confident, and has that special “knack”. You know, the one who recognizes everyone in sight and says, “There is __________ , c’mon, let’s go say hi!” Before I knew it, I had met many of the most well-known social media influencers in the industry, had a wonderful opportunity chat with and hopefully, make an impression on them as well.  Folks like Bryan Kramer, Ted Rubin, Lynette Young, Viveka von Rosen, Kim Garst, Ryan Campbell, Cynthia Sanchez, Joel Comm, Pat Flynn, Andrea Vahl, Patty Elizee, Lisa Loeffler, and Ian Cleary.  None of that would have happened without Matt’s extraordinary way of bounding around the crowd — engaging, connecting, and introducing himself, and by association, me to everyone in the vicinity.

Today, we get together to share a few ideas, so simple to Matt, but so enlightening to our ears, eyes, and hearts.

Here are 10 lessons Matt Cherry the CEO & Founder of iBlog Magazine taught me, and you should learn too:

1. Good enough is good enough. Launch a new idea without overanalyzing and let your customers and followers provide feedback as to what they would like.

2. Let your customers outgrow you. You cannot please everybody and you cannot build everything your customers want. You have to let some go if they outgrow you.

3. Network, Network, Network! Your friends and closest business connections can pave your way to success. It truly can be who you know over what you know if the situation is right.

4. Estimates are usually bad guesses. You cannot accurately predict the future, and will get mired down by estimates of what you cannot possibly predict..

5. Take of one thing off every day. Less is more. Remove one item to simplify your look, life and business.

6. Everyone’s base desire is to be happy! Try to make people happy all the time. They really do not care about money as much as you think.

7. Extreme customer service is always the only choice!

8. You cannot do it alone.

9. Define your niche to a very small, specific segment and own it. Educate and become an invaluable resource.

10. Family first, always — no matter what.

Bonus 11. Someone always has it worse than you. You should wake up positive and happy every day.

What I also learned from Matt is that you must stand in the forefront, not hide in the back. Where is the best seat in the house? Find it, and sit there. Where are the people you want to meet? Find them and introduce yourself. Listen intently and return advice when asked. Make connections FOR people, not just for you. It is about bringing people together, not simply advancing yourself. People want to be associated with positive people, and by being one, you will always bring more and more of the same type of good energy around you. Plus, you want people to remember you!

All of these lessons are the reason that every time he walked up to someone new (with me trotting obediently along), by the time he left, there were big smiles, enthusiastic handshakes, business cards exchanged, and a sincere promise to follow through with a video Skype call so he can continue to build face to face relationships with everyone he meets.  And, he most certainly did. An inspiring entrepreneur, indeed!

Thanks for the lessons, Matt!