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CEO Hacks: App, Books, Resources & Habits

Be a more effective & efficient CEO, entrepreneur & business owner

During our I AM CEO Podcast, we ask each guest for a CEO Hack that makes them more effective and efficient. We decided to share some of our best hacks.

What are CEO Hacks? They are books, apps, habits, tools, platforms or things that we believe you should incorporate into your business that will make you more efficient, effective, or successful (and maybe save money) as a CEO, entrepreneur or business owner.

Take a look at some of the CEO Hacks that have been recommended below, check out a different CEO Hack on our daily, laser focused I AM CEO Podcast with Gresh and feel free to look through the CEO Hacks by categories or just browse the list. For CBNation members, you will find more “how-to” and deeper tricks and strategy for many of these hacks.

If you need help implementing these CEO Hacks into your organization contact Blue 16 Tech.

Lastly, don't forget to grab your free download.

– Gresh

Please note in the sake of transparency our sites do contain affiliate links that pay us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read our Affiliate Disclaimer.

P.S. If you want to contact us or have any CEO Hacks to recommend, please let us know HERE.

Smartphone screen showing a navigation menu for CEO Hacks. Menu options include Free, Apps, Supplies, Books, Podcast, Web, Video, Deals, Habits, and Marketing.
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We help journalists, writers and bloggers connect with an extensive network of quality sources; and we help subscribers to the service get publicity (or famous, whichever comes first). You can post a 'call out' for a source on the site whenever you like.

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OnPay logo with the text "Payroll · HR · Benefits" on a blue gradient background.
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Long Business Description

OnPay: Simplify Payroll and HR Before Administrative Work Slows Your Growth

Business Website Address : ceohack.co/refer/onpay

What Is OnPay?

OnPay is a payroll and HR platform that helps businesses manage employee payroll, tax filings, benefits administration, hiring processes, and workforce management. It provides entrepreneurs with a centralized system for handling essential people operations while reducing administrative complexity.

OnPay: Simplify Payroll and HR Before Administrative Work Slows Your Growth

The Problem

Hiring employees changes everything.

At first, managing payroll seems simple.

A few team members.

A few payments.

A few forms.

Then the business grows.

More employees join.

Tax responsibilities increase.

Benefits need administration.

Compliance requirements expand.

New hires require onboarding.

Suddenly, entrepreneurs find themselves spending valuable hours managing paperwork instead of growing the company.

The challenge is not building a team.

The challenge is supporting that team without creating administrative chaos.

As headcount increases, operational complexity often grows faster than revenue.

Without systems, payroll and HR quickly become distractions that pull founders away from strategic priorities.

What Is OnPay?

OnPay is a payroll and human resources platform designed to help businesses manage employee-related operations from a centralized environment.

The platform supports payroll processing, tax management, benefits administration, employee onboarding, and HR workflows, helping organizations simplify workforce management.

For entrepreneurs, OnPay creates a more structured approach to people operations so they can focus on building the business rather than managing paperwork.

Why It Matters for Builders

Most founders don't start businesses because they love payroll.

They start businesses to solve problems, serve customers, and create value.

Yet as organizations grow, people operations consume more time and attention.

Every payroll cycle requires accuracy.

Every employee interaction requires consistency.

Every compliance obligation requires attention.

Without proper systems, administrative work becomes a bottleneck.

OnPay helps entrepreneurs create operational structure around one of the most important areas of the business: the team.

This creates leverage.

Instead of manually managing employee processes, founders can rely on systems that support efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.

The result is a healthier organization with fewer administrative distractions.

3 Practical Use Cases

Use Case #1: Managing Payroll Efficiently

Problem

Business owners spend excessive time processing payroll and handling related administrative tasks.

How OnPay Helps

Payroll operations are managed through a centralized platform.

Business Outcome

Improved efficiency and reduced administrative burden.

Use Case #2: Supporting Business Growth

Problem

As employee count increases, workforce management becomes more complex.

How OnPay Helps

The platform helps organize payroll and HR processes as the company scales.

Business Outcome

Stronger operational consistency and better growth readiness.

Use Case #3: Simplifying Employee Administration

Problem

Hiring, onboarding, and managing employee information often require multiple disconnected systems.

How OnPay Helps

People operations can be managed through a more unified workflow.

Business Outcome

Improved employee experience and reduced administrative complexity.

CEO Growth Hack

Most entrepreneurs focus on customer systems.

Smart entrepreneurs also build people systems.

Customers create revenue.

Employees create capacity.

Capacity creates growth.

The mindset shift OnPay enables is moving from people management to people infrastructure.

Instead of asking:

"How do I keep up with employee administration?"

Ask:

"How do I build systems that support my team as we grow?"

This is how Builders become Architects.

Builders manage payroll manually.

Architects create operational frameworks.

Builders react to growth.

Architects prepare for growth.

The businesses that scale successfully are often the ones that invest in systems before administrative complexity becomes a problem.

Key Benefits

  • Simplifies payroll management
  • Supports HR operations
  • Reduces administrative workload
  • Helps manage workforce growth
  • Improves operational efficiency
  • Supports employee onboarding
  • Creates scalable people systems
  • Enhances organizational structure

Best For

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Founders
  • CEOs
  • Small Business Owners
  • Growing Companies
  • HR Teams
  • Operations Leaders
  • Professional Service Firms
  • Startups
  • Multi-Employee Organizations

CEO Nugget

Growth becomes easier when your systems can support the people who make growth possible.

Ready to Simplify This?

If you're spending too much time processing payroll, managing HR tasks, or handling employee administration, OnPay can help create a more efficient people operations system so you can spend more time growing the business and less time managing paperwork.

Business Website Address
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Long Business Description

Google Chrome extension that checks the ranking for a particular keyword in Google and Bing for the website currently viewed.

Fat Rank is a FREE lightweight in browser keyword rank checker tool. Simply visit a website, click the Fat Rank icon, type in your keyword and it will tell you where that website ranks in Google and which page URL ranks. It is very practical and usable for both competitor research, prospecting and even simple quick ranking reports for your clients.

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Long Business Description

Duda is a responsive website builder for digital marketing agencies, hosting companies, and online directories.

Business Website Address
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Business Genre
Long Business Description

A Google Voice number gives users one number that can receive calls from all of their various phones. Users can customize their account so that when someone calls a user's Google Voice phone number, it can ring on all of their phones, or just certain phones that a user selects.

Business Website Address
Business Tags
Text on image reads: "Castmagic. Turn Audio Into Content Like Magic." Black geometric design on a white background.
Business Name
Business Genre
Long Business Description

Castmagic: Turn One Conversation Into Weeks of Content

Business Website Address : ceohack.co/refer/castmagic

What Is Castmagic?

Castmagic is an AI-powered content workflow platform that transforms audio and video recordings into usable content assets. It helps users generate summaries, transcripts, articles, social media content, emails, show notes, and other content from existing conversations, allowing entrepreneurs to maximize the value of every recording.

Castmagic: Turn One Conversation Into Weeks of Content

The Problem

Most entrepreneurs are sitting on a goldmine of content.

The problem is they don't have the time to extract it.

Every podcast interview, sales call, coaching session, webinar, team meeting, customer conversation, and presentation contains valuable insights. Yet once the conversation ends, much of that knowledge disappears.

Founders know they should be publishing more content.

They know they should be building authority.

They know they should be documenting expertise.

But creating content from scratch is time-consuming, repetitive, and difficult to sustain while running a business.

As a result, valuable conversations remain trapped in recordings instead of becoming business assets.

The challenge isn't generating ideas.

The challenge is converting existing knowledge into scalable content.

What Is Castmagic?

Castmagic is an AI-powered platform that helps users transform audio and video recordings into multiple forms of content.

Instead of manually reviewing recordings and creating content from scratch, entrepreneurs can use existing conversations as the foundation for articles, summaries, social posts, emails, show notes, and other business assets.

For Builders, this means every conversation has the potential to create far more value than the original interaction alone.

Why It Matters for Builders

Builders spend much of their day communicating.

They lead meetings.

They speak with customers.

They record podcasts.

They train employees.

They conduct sales calls.

Every one of these interactions contains expertise that could support marketing, sales, education, or operational growth.

Unfortunately, most of that knowledge is never reused.

This creates a massive efficiency gap.

Castmagic helps entrepreneurs capture more value from work they are already doing.

Instead of treating conversations as one-time events, they can become reusable assets that support visibility, authority, and business growth.

This creates leverage.

The same conversation that serves one audience today can continue generating value for many audiences tomorrow.

3 Practical Use Cases

Use Case #1: Repurposing Podcast Content

Problem

Podcast hosts often spend more time creating promotional content than recording the episode itself.

How Castmagic Helps

Podcast recordings can be transformed into multiple content assets from a single conversation.

Business Outcome

Greater content output, improved consistency, and increased return on every episode.

Use Case #2: Turning Meetings Into Knowledge Assets

Problem

Important insights shared during meetings are often forgotten or buried in notes.

How Castmagic Helps

Recorded conversations can become structured content and documentation.

Business Outcome

Improved knowledge retention and greater organizational efficiency.

Use Case #3: Scaling Thought Leadership

Problem

Entrepreneurs have valuable expertise but limited time to create content around it.

How Castmagic Helps

Existing conversations become a foundation for creating educational and marketing content.

Business Outcome

Stronger authority, increased visibility, and more opportunities to attract qualified prospects.

CEO Growth Hack

Most entrepreneurs think content starts with writing.

The most efficient entrepreneurs understand content starts with conversations.

Your best ideas often emerge during client calls, interviews, workshops, webinars, coaching sessions, and strategic discussions.

The mindset shift Castmagic enables is moving from content creation to content extraction.

Instead of asking:

"What should I create today?"

Ask:

"What have I already created that can be repurposed?"

This is how Builders become Architects.

Builders create new content every day.

Architects build systems that extract maximum value from existing knowledge.

One conversation becomes multiple assets.

One recording becomes multiple touchpoints.

One insight reaches multiple audiences.

The businesses that scale content successfully are often not creating more—they are simply capturing more value from what already exists.

Key Benefits

  • Maximizes value from existing conversations
  • Reduces content creation workload
  • Supports content repurposing strategies
  • Improves marketing consistency
  • Helps build thought leadership
  • Creates reusable business assets
  • Increases content production efficiency
  • Generates leverage from everyday communication

Best For

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Founders
  • CEOs
  • Consultants
  • Coaches
  • Agency Owners
  • Podcasters
  • Content Creators
  • Educators
  • Marketing Teams

CEO Nugget

The fastest way to create more content isn't producing more—it’s extracting more value from the conversations you're already having.

Ready to Simplify This?

If you're spending too much time creating content from scratch or letting valuable recordings go unused, Castmagic can help create a more efficient content workflow so you can spend more time growing the business and less time managing content production.

Business Website Address
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HostGator is a leading provider of secure and easy website hosting services. Discover why thousands of customers trust us to handle their hosting needs.

Hosting



Website Builder


Gator Website Builder

SSL


WP Optimized


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Long Business Description

Your WordPress website needs a reliable backup strategy using a trusted WordPress backup plugin like BackupBuddy. WordPress doesn’t include built-in backups, so we built BackupBuddy in 2010 to meet the need for a solid WordPress backup solution.

Even your host backup may not be enough if you experience a server crash. Other WordPress security issues include hacks, malware, user error, deleted files and running bad commands. All of these things can completely wipe out your WordPress site forever. Having a current backup of your WordPress website is critical for protecting your website. BackupBuddy is here to help.

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DoorDash logo featuring a white stylized “D” and the word “DOORDASH” in white text on an orange background.
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Long Business Description

DoorDash Dasher: Earn Flexible Income While Building Your Business

Business Website Address : ceohack.co/refer/door-dash-driver

The Problem

Every entrepreneur eventually encounters a cash flow challenge. Whether you're launching a startup, growing an agency, building a consulting practice, or transitioning from a traditional job into business ownership, there are periods when revenue doesn't arrive as quickly as expenses.

The reality is that many builders need financial runway. They need a way to generate income without sacrificing the flexibility required to grow their business. Traditional part-time jobs often create scheduling conflicts, limit availability, and consume valuable time that could be spent acquiring clients, improving systems, or developing new revenue streams.

For entrepreneurs who need additional income without giving up control of their schedule, flexible delivery opportunities can provide a practical solution.

What Is DoorDash Dasher?

DoorDash Dasher is a delivery program that allows individuals to earn money by delivering food, groceries, and other orders through the DoorDash platform. Dashers use the DoorDash app to accept delivery opportunities, complete deliveries, and receive earnings for their work.

Unlike traditional employment, Dashers have the ability to choose when they want to work. They can log into the app, accept available delivery requests, and work around their existing commitments. This flexibility makes DoorDash an attractive option for individuals looking to generate supplemental income while maintaining control over their schedule.

For builders, that flexibility can be just as valuable as the income itself.

Why It Matters for Builders

Entrepreneurs need options.

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is relying on a single source of income. When revenue slows down, stress increases, decision-making suffers, and long-term growth plans often get pushed aside in favor of immediate financial needs.

DoorDash can provide a way to create an additional income stream without requiring a rigid commitment. Builders can generate income during slower periods, evenings, weekends, or whenever their schedule allows.

The real advantage isn't simply earning more money. It's creating breathing room. When entrepreneurs have greater financial flexibility, they can focus on improving systems, serving clients, and making strategic decisions instead of constantly worrying about short-term cash flow.

This can help transform reactive business management into proactive business growth.

3 Practical Use Cases

Use Case #1: Creating Runway for a New Business

Problem

A founder is investing time and resources into launching a business but hasn't yet reached consistent profitability.

How DoorDash Helps

The founder can complete deliveries during available hours while dedicating most of their time to building the business.

Business Outcome

Additional earnings help cover personal expenses and business costs while preserving the flexibility needed for growth.

Use Case #2: Managing Seasonal Revenue Fluctuations

Problem

Many consultants, freelancers, and agency owners experience periods when client work slows down.

How DoorDash Helps

The entrepreneur can use DoorDash as a temporary source of income during slower business cycles.

Business Outcome

More consistent cash flow reduces financial stress and allows the entrepreneur to continue focusing on long-term business objectives.

Use Case #3: Funding Growth Investments

Problem

A business owner wants to invest in marketing campaigns, software tools, education, or equipment but prefers not to use existing business capital.

How DoorDash Helps

Additional delivery hours can generate extra income dedicated specifically to growth initiatives.

Business Outcome

The entrepreneur gains the ability to invest in business expansion while maintaining healthier cash reserves.

CEO Growth Hack

Most entrepreneurs think flexibility is about working less.

Successful entrepreneurs understand that flexibility is about creating leverage.

When all of your income depends on one source, every setback feels bigger. A lost client, delayed payment, or slow sales month can immediately impact your decisions.

Having a flexible earning option changes the equation.

It creates a buffer between short-term financial pressure and long-term strategic planning. That buffer gives you the freedom to make better decisions, pursue better opportunities, and focus on building systems instead of constantly solving cash flow problems.

The shift from builder to architect happens when you stop reacting to circumstances and start creating options.

DoorDash isn't the end goal.

It's one tool that can help create the financial flexibility needed to build something larger.

Key Benefits

  • Earn income on a flexible schedule
  • Generate supplemental cash flow when needed
  • Maintain focus on business growth
  • Reduce pressure during slow revenue periods
  • Support startup and business launch efforts
  • Fund marketing and operational investments
  • Create additional income opportunities
  • Improve financial stability and flexibility

Best For

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Startup founders
  • Consultants
  • Agency owners
  • Freelancers
  • Coaches
  • Side-hustlers
  • Business owners seeking flexible income opportunities

CEO Nugget

The more options you create, the less pressure any single opportunity has on your success.

Ready to Simplify This?

If you're looking for a flexible way to generate additional income while continuing to build your business, DoorDash Dasher can help create financial stability without locking you into a traditional work schedule.

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Generate on-brand creatives / banners that bring conversions—while saving time and money. The most talked banner automation platform of 2022, generate creatives that brings sales.

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