The Midas Guide to Credit and Business Funding

The Business Credit Builder

Here are some of the questions guiding our discussion with Theresa M. Welbourne, Ph.D:

1. I wanted to start with the research you’re involved with. How are you conducting this research and what is it telling you about the qualitative connection between leadership, change management, human resources and a company performance?
2. If our listeners are interested in learning more about the research you’re doing or even about participating, how can they get more information?
3. Let’s shift gears. Your company is eePulse, Inc. What exactly does eePulse do?
4. What do many companies get wrong about how to manage growth and the resulting cultural changes that come with that growth? Give us a sense of the tone you might find struggling in this area.
5. How does Measurecom™ work?
6. You’re an adjunct professor of Executive Education at the University of Michigan Business School. Tell us about your activities there and how they inform the work your doing in the real business world.

Here are some of the questions that guided this segment with Mr. Groves:

1. You’ve been with Constant Contact since 2001. How has the email marketing space evolved since you first started in this space?

2. I know you travel around the world for various speaking engagements. What are you hearing in terms of the challenges small businesses owners are facing today in the area of email marketing?

3. What is Constant Contact?

4. What specific elements should a campaign include?

5. Are their particular email marketing FORMATS or tips you can share—-that tend to help increase open rates and conversions?

6. What can small businesses do to make the final quarter success and to prepare for the holiday season?

7. How does Constant Contact coach customers about the matter of integrating the various social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn?

8. Any other advice for small businesses looking to impress and delight their customers

9. Where do small businesses go if they want to learn more?

Scott Letourneau is an expert speaker and consultant on all matters relating to forming and funding your start up enterprise.
Here are some of the questions that guided this interview segment:

1. I do want to talk about getting capital for small businesses, but first I wanted to spend some time on the subject of business startups. Given the employment environment—-many new small businesses are popping up—entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, home-based businesses. Why do so many new small businesses fail?
2. What are the most common pitfalls for these new entrepreneurs and how can they avoid getting into trouble.
3. You’ve got a lot of expertise around getting capital for a business in any stage of growth. What are some of the best ways for a small business owners to secure cash or capital in this current environment—we’re sitting in early August of 2009.
4. Are we going to see a tsunami of credit card defaults soon?
5. Let’s shift gears—you’re the founder of Nevada Corporate Planners, Inc. What do newbees to the business arena not understand about the how and where to incorporate their new business startup?
6. You’re a contributor to the new book,“Entrepreneur Magazine’s Start Up series” Start Your Own Information Marketing Business—Your Step-by-Step Guide to Success. Tell us a little about the book—how is it structured and what kinds of ideas will we find in it?
7. What are some of the activities you’re involved with and how can we learn more about Scott Letourneau’s universe?

Contact Information:
Scott Letourneau
Fast Business Credit, Inc. &
Nevada Corporate Planners, Inc.
7477 W. Lake Mead Blvd., Ste. 170
Las Vegas, NV 89128
Mailing Address:
PO Box 28909
Las Vegas, NV, 89126
Toll-free: (888) 313-6333
Toll-free: (888-627-7007
Local: (702) 367-7373
Fax: (702) 220-6444
Web Site: http://www.FastBusinessCredit.com
Web Site: http://www.nvinc.com
E-mail: info@FastBusinessCredit.com
E-mail: ncp@nvinc.com

Rick is publisher at Morgan James Publishing in New York. They’ve published over 150 books in 2008 and are always looking for wonderful non- fiction authors who have a “platform”.

Tom Krekel’s business and leadership skills grew from more than 30 years as a top executive and business owner in the newspaper industry. He started his own company that published weekly newspapers in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The companies Tom ran ranged in employment from as few as seven to as many as 200.

In 2007, he left the newspaper industry to return to New Mexico, retiring as President of an Advance Publications company in New Jersey which published 20 newspapers with over 300,000 circulation.

For ten years, Tom participated as a CEO member in a peer advisory board in Milwaukee. That experience plus his special interest in small business development led to his interest in building Executive Forums in New Mexico.

He has been selected to leadership in state and national associations having been President of the Wisconsin Free Community Papers, and First Vice President of the national Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP). He was President of the 100 member Waukesha Rotary Club during his fifteen year tenure with that organization. He’s a past board member of both the Wisconsin and New Jersey State Press Associations.

The Wisconsin native earned a BA in journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tom received his MBA from the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee.

His interests include fitness, golf, and reading. He is a member of the Del Norte Rotary Club, The New Mexico Angels, Albuquerque Economic Development and The Executive Association of Greater Albuquerque.

Marc’s methodologies, models, and ideas are utilized by many successful organizations including Nokia, G.E., Marriott, Genentech, O.C. Tanner, Oracle, Dun & Bradstreet, Delta Systems, Sun Microsystems, and Siemens Medical.

Here are some of the questions guiding this interview segment:

1. In your new book, A Seat At The Table, you show how top salespeople connect and drive decisions at the executive level. Why is this so important?

2. Have you helped others earn “a seat at the table”?

3. Why don’t senior executives see salespeople as consultative partners?

4. What is the one key to achieving radically better sales results?

5. What misconceptions do salespeople have when it comes to selling to high-level executives?

6. How can a salesperson quit talking about expenses-products and services-and start having discussions about investments-productivity and differentiation?

7. What type of questions (FOCAS) should a great salesperson always ask an executive?

8. Why do most salespeople think they are providing strategic value when in fact they are not?

9. Why are salespeople reluctant to try and influence a senior executive to consider a new way of doing things?

10. How can salespeople get a better handle on their true competency level?

11. You developed something called the Sogistics Smartpen. What exactly does it do and how is it helpful to the sales process?

12. Why do you say every salesperson has to confront the same problems a potential client has?

13. What is a value pipeline and how does one develop one?

14. How is the economy influencing the behavior and mindset of salespeople and executives?

15. How can a salesperson “be like Velcro?” Describe your analogy…

16. Why do you say: “The first step in improving selling effectiveness lies in understanding that not all sales are created equal?”

17. What are the big four decisions that all senior executives will need to make in their quest to sustain growth of their companies?

18. Why do you stress salespeople discuss the strategic, not the tactical, and to build a foundation, not push a product while conversing with a senior executive?

19. What are examples of what you call “concern questions” and how do they move the processing of a sale along?

20. Why do you believe the most important tool a salesperson can bring to the table is a “mirror” that forces honest reflection on the current reality?

21. How does a salesperson paint an “end-game vision” to a prospective client?

In a business that’s one of the toughest when it comes to employees——Dave’s average employee tenure is 8 years—-amazing!

Here are some of the questions guiding this discussion:

1. When you listen to the plight of franchisees—-what are some of the biggest challenges they’re facing with their employees?
2. It’s been said that you’ve more or less cracked the code on employee recruiting and retention—-you’ve promoted many entry-level employees from delivery to management. What do you look for when you’re hiring at the entry level?
3. Many of our listeners have small businesses—-not only in the food service industry but all kinds of businesses. How do you recommend business owners keep the culture, the game, the day-to-day work environment interesting and engaging for their employees?
4. Let’s shift to marketing and advertising. It’s been said that the New York Pizza Market is one of the most if not THE most competitive out there. When you meet with the franchisees about marketing—-what does that discussion look like?
5. How do you break through the clutter?
6. In your advertising mix—-What is the relative balance of Domino’s Brand and, for example, coupons and more direct-response mechanisms?
7. Why do your think Dominos has been so successful in this crowded and competitive business?—-what do they know that the others don’t?
8. When you and Tim McIntire set out to write the book, Hire The American Dream, what did you want to say that other books have not said?
9. Who is the book written for, and what can readers expect to get from it?

Terry Ostrowiak
Author of: The Greatest Book on Coaching-For Small Business.

Currently operates as a Master Coach to The Small Business Company providing resources and coaching services to Small Business Owners.

He is The Quantum Leap Catalyst-A Global Coaching Consultancy.

Creator and Founder of SuperCatalyst.com—an alliance of select professionals designed to “Create Quantum Leap Results in Organizations”.

Conducted an Organizational Culture Change Project for the GTS group at ABN AMRO Bank and continues to provide ongoing Professional Coaching and Mentoring Services for Senior Managers and high potentials.

Coached the Management Team at Symmetry—a healthcare provider for people who suffer from pain

Appointed special advisor to the International Federation of Professional Coaches and Mentors—A South African based organization,
focused on developing and certifying Professional Coaches.

Main Focus: Executive Catalyst who inspires Business Leaders to achieve Quantum-leap, Bottom-Line Results.
Also measures and evaluates Organizational Culture and Values, then coaches executives and management for Long—-Term Superior Performance Results.

He has been a featured speaker at numerous international conferences, and has shared the platform with Earl Nightingale, a personal friend, and Og Mandino. In The Netherlands he was rated the most practical speaker at an international conference on Mergers and Acquisitions.

Terry Ostrowiak’s career in coaching, training and personal development spans over 40 years and includes experience in over 26 countries.

From 1975-1987, Terry ran one of the most successful independent Dale Carnegie© operations in the world from his base, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He received the much-coveted “International President’s Cup” three times for excellence in generating and conducting quality business.

In 1979, with sponsorship from Caterpillar, Terry pioneered the first “Youth Leadership Program” which trained mixed race and white high school students in communications, human relations and personal development to introduce them to the world of business. For most students it was the first time ever that they had interacted with other racial groups on an equal level.

From 1987 – 1998, Terry was based in The Netherlands where he organized and conducted Coaching Programs and Practical workshops for international companies in Europe such as: KPMG, KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), Shell, AKZO NOBEL, ABN AMRO Bank, ING Bank, DSM, L’Oreal, EDS, IBM and The European Space Agency.

He conducted workshops for the development of high-potential managers on the BOSNO Project for companies in Europe such as DSM, Heidemij, Ballast Nedam, Digital Computers and the Netherlands Police.

From 1998 to 2000 he served on the San Diego Board of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association; was a Resource Speaker/Coach for TEC (The Executives Committee) on “Understanding Cultural Diversity for International Expansion” and continues his activities as President of Dynamus©International and is a Catalyst to business professionals world-wide.

They simply didn’t know the critical element in creating a successful business—how to
CREATE a certain financial result. At best, it seemed, a few business owners could
MEASURE historical financial results.
Steve discovered that most business owners simply did not know where their business
actually made money for them. And even worse, they didn’t “know how to know”.
There was simply no mechanism to take “traditional” accounting information and
transform it into something the business owner could use day-to-day in their business to
transform it.

So Steve started working hard to create that mechanism for business owners. And
when he delivered it the results were almost always amazing. One example is the client
who “found” over $10,000 in a one hour meeting with Steve. And that additional profit
was money that would continue to be realized year after year after year into the future.
Steve also started seeing that as soon as business owners “got” that connection they
wanted to talk about better marketing as the way to improve their profits.

Realizing a need, Steve started a concentrated study of marketing tactics, strategies, and methods,
and started working with clients to help them improve their marketing. Steve even
became a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach, a program endorsed by Jay Conrad
Levinson (probably the only accountant to also be a Guerrilla Marketing Coach).
Steve realized, though, that simply increasing and improving marketing efforts often still
resulted in a business that didn’t realize its total profit potential. And even worse, great
marketing targeted in the wrong areas could actually create a “business from hell”. One
where the owner was trapped working endless hours, not making enough money,
burning out, and always tight on cash flow.

So Steve wrote his first book,“Found Money-Simple Strategies for Uncovering the
Hidden Profit and Cash Flow in Your Business” to create yet another connection critical
for business owners. The book and its concepts empower business owners to
understand all the financial information already being created by their business, and
then use it to pinpoint where their business makes money, where it just “holds it own”,
and where it actually loses money.

Steve consults with business owners using the Found Money™ system modeled after
the tools and processes from his book. Steve also regularly presents at seminars and
speaks to groups of business owners to help them realize how and where their
businesses make money. He also delivers an online coaching program modeled after
the content of his current “Found Money” book.

His newest book, The Organizational Sweet Spot: Engaging the Innovative Dynamics of Your Social Networks, to be published in June 2009, pinpoints where the formal and informal elements of an organization overlap, and how that “sweet spot,” which he believes is where most of the productive work in an enterprise takes place, can be expanded.

Dr. Ehin was born in Tallinn, Estonia but fled his native country during World War II when it was torn apart by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
In 1950, he immigrated to the United States, where he obtained a BA from Colgate University, an MBA from Syracuse University, and a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Oklahoma.

He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1960 and held several leadership positions including teaching at the Air Command and Staff College. He began teaching business at Westminster College, Utah’s only private nondenominational liberal arts college, in 1983 and served as Dean of the its Gore School of Business from 1983 to 1990.

Dr. Ehin coined the term “UnManagement” in 1995 at a conference management conference in San Jose, California, in reference to the informal (as opposed to formal) management that occurs within all organizations through informal networks that develop organically among workers based on their individual genetics, knowledge and social factors. A description of his work is found at http://www.unmanagement.com.

Our guest on this segment is an international speaker, and recognized expert in the field of “Technology Marketing” and “Mortgage Lending”. Chip Cummings has appeared on radio and television segments including Fox & Friends, FOX Business, NBC, The Neil Cavuto Show, and on CBS, and ABC. He’s been interviewed and quoted in newspapers and magazines such as Entrepreneur, Broker/Banker, National Mortgage News, Mortgage Originator and many others.

He’s the author of several books, including his latest best-selling release, “Cashing In on Pre-Foreclosures and Short Sales”.

Here are the questions guiding our interview and discussion with Chip:

1. Capture new customers and turn suspects into prospects – without even talking to them! What are some of the key ingredients that make up a Top Producer a Top Producer

2. You have a system for generating quality website traffic and convert them into HOT LEADS – automatically! —Of course this is the dream of every online marketer on the planet—-give us a sense of how you help business owners do this…

3. You have 31 e-Marketing strategies used by Top Producers—could you share a couple of your favorites and tell us how they work?

4. What do we tend to get wrong about the way we construct business websites?—-and…how can we make them more effective? (6 secrets)

5. You’ve coined the phrase, “Sleep-working”—-referring to the creation of an automated system that produces a steady stream of customers while you sleep! How does this system work?

6. It’s difficult for many business owners to focus when it comes to marketing. Why is it so difficult for them, and how do you advise small business owners to create laser-targeted marketing strategies for their own business?

7. Learn how to answer the 3 critical questions EVERY customer wants to know!

Adrie Reinders (Founder)

is a serial entrepreneur. In 1975 he founded Microlife B.V., a company specializing in customer related services and training for mainframe environments. Clients included ING Bank, ABN-AMRO Bank and European Government Agencies, In 1987, Adrie sold the business , now 500 employees, with an annual revenue of 22.5 million euro.

In 1989 Adrie founded I.C.T. Rijnhaave, an I.T. firm specializing in systems integration. Shareholders included Bank Paribas, NOM Capital, DBG Bank, AG, CIN/VEN and ACHMEA (insurance). After selling the company to Syntegra (a subsidiary of British Telecom) in 1996, he served on the Syntegra Board of Directors until 2001.

Adrie founded his third I.T. business, Plus Integration Supply Chain Solutions B.V. in 1997. During the subsequent 4 years, he built the global business solutions firm specializing in supply chain management and software services into a robust business with interests in the Netherlands, United States and the United Kingdom. Customers consisted of major pharmaceutical manufacturers based in the U.S. as well as many of the largest retailers in Europe.

Over the course of his professional career Adrie has served as an advisor and board member for numerous successful private and public companies including Residex Ventures, as Chairman.

In 2004 – Adrie co-founded OHM Inc., which specialises in assisting technology companies achieve quicker and more effective sales results by offering his considerable expertise, experience and access to his global network of high level business contacts.

Adrie has a black-belt in Martial Arts and ran the New York Marathon in 1994. He is an avid sportsman allround.

Marion Freijsen (Founder & CTO)

has had over 20 years of extensive entrepreneurial experience in International business with a primary focus on Technology and Sales Management. From an early start in Merchant Banking in London in 1987, she has worked solely in commercial roles at technology companies, at five different hi-tech start-ups.

Throughout her career – Marion has been successful in expanding the organisation’s activities in greenfield regions across Europe. She has sold, or managed a wide variety of technology solutions ranging from highly complex enterprise solutions to serving the specific demands of on-line trading markets.

During the course of the past 20 odd years, Marion has set-up and managed offices in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands and built an extensive network amongst the financial services industry and blue-chip multi-national corporates across Europe and the US.

Marion is co-founder and Executive Board Member of OHM, and co-founder of The E.Factor and Cranevision. At E.Factor she has been responsible for the entire build from concept to finished product of the website and continues the development on an ongoing basis. She is advisor to a few start-up companies and is member of a think-tank in the Netherlands consisting of government, CEOs and board members of top organisations and other related individuals.

Marion is author of the book “The N-Factor – how Networking can change the dynamics of your business”, which she wrote with Adrie Reinders and which was published in the US in May 2007.
She is a frequent speaker at events on Technology and Entrepreneurship and Business Plan competition judge and panellist at Business Schools globally. Marion writes a weekly blog on “Do’s and Don’ts in Entrepreneurship” on http://www.Efactor.com

Marion holds a degree in International Sales & Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Marion’s main passion outside of E.Factor is sports – she participated in sports from waterskiing and paragliding as well as enjoys more regular sports such as running, mountainbiking, swimming and fitness. Her main achievements were in Triathlon – culminating in her participation in the 1994 World Championships for the Netherlands (Amateurs).

Our guest on this segment believes that effective public relations is the most versatile, cost-effective component of a successful marketing program. Pat Harriman is the founder of The Harriman Group—-her company is a full-service public relations agency that designs high- impact PR programs based on the “3Bs“PR strategy—Build the Base, Build the Buzz, Build the Brand.

Here are the questions guiding this episode:

1. From your perspective, what is that many companies don’t understand about the value of PR and how to use it?
2. Many people believe that PR is all about creating and sending press releases—-but it’s really much more, isn’t it?
3. How has social media changed your approach to designing PR campaigns?
4. Your approach is based on the 3-B’s PR strategy. What is this strategy and how does it work?
a. Build the Base—-this phase includes the development of core press materials, identification of key media contacts and industry analysts, determining market position and defining strategic message points.
b. Build the Buzz —-this phase involves writing and distributing press releases, conducting proactive media relations activities, providing tradeshow support and identifying opportunities for media coverage.
c. Build the Brand—-as momentum increases, this phase focuses on continuing to expand awareness and enhancing relationships with media, analysts, partners, investors and customers by keeping them informed on the company’s activities and aligning PR strategies and activities with the company’s business model.

John Hayes has worked in the franchise community as a consultant, franchisee and franchisor since 1979. He is the author of several franchise-related books and countless articles that have appeared in media worldwide. Dr. Hayes has served as an advisor to franchisors, franchisees and small business owners internationally. His areas of expertise include management development, marketing, customer service, training, and strategic planning.

He is the author or co-author of 18 non-fiction books including the Franchise Pre-Investment Checklist, Franchising: The Inside Story, Start Small, Finish Big, You Can’t Teach A Kid To Ride A Bike At A Seminar and most recently Get It! The Secrets of Cultivating the HomeVestors Millionaire Mindset.

His articles about franchising have appeared in Reader’s Digest, Inc. Magazine, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, USA Today, etc., as well as many IFA-sponsored publications. Dr. Hayes leads seminars—How To Capture & Keep Customers—strategic planning workshops and Franchise Masterminds. He is the founder of FranchiseMastermind.com and he’s a popular speaker and trainer at franchise conventions and meetings internationally. He has provided services to more than 100 franchise companies during his career. Dr. Hayes served aas President/CEO of HomeVestors of America, Inc., the We Buy Ugly Houses company from 2004-2009. He is based in Dallas, TX.

Here are some of the questions that guided this segment:

1. You’ve been around the franchising universe for some 30 years. How has the environment for franchising changed since you started?

2. We’re sitting in early June 2009—-we are booking a 9.4% percent unemployment rate and likely to face still more job losses in the US. How has this changed the face of franchising and small business in general—-from your vantage point.

3. Franchising is not for everybody—-but how do you really know if it’s the patch you should follow?

4. I know you’re working with franchisees a lot—-are you also consulting aspiring or established franchisors?

5. When you do your speaking and consulting events, teleseminars and so forth——where is the pain with small business owners on the street and how do you find your work most helpful to relieve that pain?

6. Tell us about the Franchise Mastermind System you’ve founded—-what is it and how does it work?

Melanie Rembrandt and her team of experts can help your small business boost sales, credibility and awareness.

As the founder of Rembrandt Communications, LLC, Melanie is a public-relations consultant, SEO copywriter and published writer with over 15 years of extensive experience and an excellent track-record for success.

She specializes in helping small-business owners get the national media attention they need via targeted public-relations and SEO copywriting efforts. Melanie offers tips and insights via her blog and monthly newsletter, and she provides in-depth training presentations to various businesses and organizations nationwide.

A magna cum laude graduate of the prestigious UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Melanie is the official small-business PR expert for StartupNation and Pink Magazine Online.

Melanie only accepts a limited number of clients. Then, she acts as an extension of your team, provides the individual attention you deserve and uses her in-the-trenches media relations and SEO copywriting experience to help your business succeed.

Check out Melanie’s brand new program, “Secrets of Becoming a Publicist,“here: http://bit.ly/PRProgram

And with over 200 published articles related to e-commerce, technology, HR, small business, entertainment, and more, Melanie is also a member of the following organizations:

She is the founder and principal of Dynasty Consultants, —The firm is dedicated to creative thinking and solutions for clients with business and lifestyle challenges.
A celebrated presenter, author and speaker, a television show host—-she’s been voted “Realtor of the Year” by the San Diego North County Association of Realtors.

Loraine is the founder and principal of Dynasty Consultants, based in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. The firm is dedicated to creative thinking and solutions for clients with business and lifestyle challenges.

Prior to opening her consulting firm, she and her husband, Robert, led Dyson & Dyson Real Estate to a prominent position in the San Diego, Las Vegas and Palm Springs markets.

Dyson hosted the firm’s half hour real estate show, Dyson & Dyson’s Best of the Best for over four years which aired in three markets, and has been a guest of television show, “Desert Business”, sharing her recently published book “A Woman in Real Estate”.

She founded the Dyson & Dyson Charitable Foundation in 2000, which has granted over $750,000 to worthwhile local charities. In addition, Loraine sits on the Cardiovascular Disease Foundation Board and the National Charity League. Her efforts on various fundraisers have helped raise millions for various philanthropies.

Loraine has been recognized as a “Woman of the Year” by the Soroptimists, “Realtor of the Year”, but the San Diego North County Association of Realtors and has been the featured Speaker for several Women Leaders Forum events in Palm Springs. She has served as an Expert Panel Facilitator for Real Estate Boards and Master of Ceremonies for numerous real estate events.

Loraine is a positive personality with a genuinely optimistic viewpoint. She and her family live in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Co-Founder and President David Larson has spent nearly 40 years as an entrepreneur and worked for employers in roles as varied as start-ups, hi-tech, low-tech, and divisions of major corporations. He is a published author and sought-after for his expertise in marketing, promotions, sales, distribution and operations. His work experience with divisions of DuPont, American Express, Kodak, Gerber Scientific and Agfa also honed his global branding and marketing skills. He is married, has two daughters, three granddaughters, and is an avid softball and racquetball player, writer and songwriter.

THE SMALL BUSINESS COMPANY

Founded in November 2002, The Small Business Company’s vision remains to build “the small business brand” by providing affordable and powerful products (books and interactive CDs) and services to over 50 million small and home based business owners.

With a new business starting every 3 seconds in America (and every 3.1 seconds, one dies), the Company also provides the tools and guidance necessary for a want-to-be entrepreneurs to quickly start a new business—-from their home or from a storefront. Additionally, the Company offers insightful and affordable coaching—- unlike anything on the market today —-to give small business owners a trusted “partner” to walk in step with them on their pressing problems.

She’s appeared on ABC’s Home Show, and the Financial News Network has featured her as well in a two part series for their show American Entrepreneur.

Here are some questions that guided this interview segment:

1. Where did the idea to create funding roadmap come from?
2. Is their anything out their in the market like the Fundingroadmap?
3. What are some of the typical sources of capital for small business—-and perhaps some things to know about each of them?
4. Aside from a recessionary environment or challenging economic cycle that might be happening at a given time—-Why is it so difficult for small business people to raise capital?
5. How does your system, Fund Road Map, help business owners raise the capital they need?
6. What’s the experience of using the system like——how does it work?
7. What are some of the benefits—-beyond raising capital itself, for a business owner who gets online with your business planning system?
8. What’s on the horizon in terms of growth for funding road map——where are you today and where do you want to be with the project?

1. It seems your career in radio may have led you to the world of small business marketing. How did the work you did in radio inform the work you’re now doing for small businesses?
2. What’s missing from the way small businesses approach the matter of marketing?
3. You’ve have constructed a step-by-step process to help small businesses called the Marketing Map. If you would, please give us a tour of the Marketing Map, what it is and how it works?
a. FOCUS
b. POSITION
c. FRAMEWORK MARKETING
d. MASTER THE WEB
e. PR & AFFILIATE MARKETING
f. SALES & REFERRAL MKTG
g. ADVERTISE
4. You’ve produced segments for The Dave Ramsey Show and for Money Matters with Howard Dayton—-what kind of work did you do with these shows and what was your own “take-away” from that money-centric journalism experience?
5. Tell us about Embark Business Advancement—-what does your company do?

Jon offered a very practical insight about the SEO process for any website. Here are some of the questions that guided this interview segment:

1. Why did you write Content Rich?

2. Why should businesses buy this book, how can it make a difference in their marketing plans?

3. How are ad agencies and search marketing firms doing a dis-service to their clients?

4. Why are the techniques you discuss perfect for companies facing shrinking marketing budgets in a recessionary economy?

5. What would you tell a company that hasn’t written much content or started down the path to writing articles, press releases, site content and other types of online copy?

6. What are keywords and how do you perform keyword research?

7. What’s the future of online content and online marketing in general would you say?

8. Why is this copywriting book better than the rest out there? How is it different?

9. What are “meta tags” and how do they play a role in SEO copywriting?

10. What is “Search Engine Optimization”?

11. How do you perform competitive research online?

12. How do blogs fit into the SEO copywriting universe?

13. How would you go about doing a content analysis on a website?

14. What are some of the tricks of SEO copywriting?

Today, Bruce is embarking upon a national radio appearance campaign to inform small business owners regarding President Barak Obama’s Small Business initiatives and their impact on small business in today’s economy.

1. Before we dive into Obama’s Stimulus Package—You’re the author of Birthing the Elephant—-what’s your book all about?

2. Okay—-let’s shift to the Stimulus Package—-if you would, give us a quick overview of the economic stimulus package for small business….
a. Help firms obtain the loans they need to meet day to day operations
b. Make important short term operations and meet payrolls

3. What are some of the key programs included in the package?
a. Business Stabilization
b. Microloans
c. Refinancing

4. How do the incentives included in the package provide the catalyst for business growth?
a. Tax cuts for small owners are aimed at encouraging people to spend more money

5. Let’s talk about the geography—-do some regions in the US benefit more from the stimulus package than others?
a. Certain SBA loans do target particular areas
6. I know you’re getting feedback from your Scripps Howard Column—-what are you hearing the street about the Stimulus?

How we help you—

• Find hidden profits through our proprietary purchasing processes and cost reduction methodologies
• Focus on non-core operating expenses which client personnel are generally too busy or lack the expertise to do
• Work on a no-risk contingent fee basis — No savings, No fee

What’s in it for you?

• Increased profitability and company valuation
• Access to our experts who average 15-20 years of category specific experience
• Minimal investment of your time
• Average cost savings of 20%
• Average payback over 2 years is over $10K/hour invested by client
  
  Representative categories we review-
  o Freight and Courier Services
  o Voice and Data Communications
  o Merchant Card Fees
  o Office Consumables
  o Leased Equipment
  o Printing
  o Janitorial and Cleaning Supplies
  o Waste and recycling
  o Payroll Processing
  o Temporary Personnel
  o Factory Consumables
  o Document Storage
  o Packaging
  o Other Categories upon request
  
  Sample Case Studies

• Saved 23% on a $450,000 parcel freight spend with incumbent supplier
• Saved 32% on a $122,000 office supplies spend with a new supplier
• Saved 32% on a $152,000 merchant card processing fee spend with new supplier
• Saved 51% on a $105,000 telecom spend with incumbent supplier
• Saved 30% on a $763,000 telecom spend with a new supplier
• Saved 18% on a $1.5MM freight spend with the incumbent supplier

Another way to think about it—- 20% savings on a $250,000 spend would equate to an additional $500,000 in revenue assuming a 10% profit margin

For further information contact:
J.D. Heiden, Director 786-522-4268
jheiden@expensereduction.com

Jill Konrath

Chief Sales Officer, Author, Speaker & Trainer

Jill Konrath, a leading-edge sales strategist and business advisor, is a popular speaker at annual sales meetings and association events. She helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, speed up their sales cycle and win big contracts.

She’s the author of the instant sales classic, Selling to Big Companies, an Amazon Top 25 sales book for 3 years running. Most recently, Fortune magazine selected it as one of eight “must read” sales books, along with classics such as How to Win Friends & Influence People and Getting to Yes.

As a thought leader in the selling and marketing arena, Jill also publishes an industry-leading newsletter and hosts an award-winning blog. In 2007, she launched the Sales SheBang conference for women in sales.

Jill has written hundreds of articles on sales strategies and is frequently quoted in top business media. She’s appeared in Entrepreneur, New York Times, Business Journal, Selling Power, Sales & Marketing Management as well as countless online publications and radio shows.

Most recently, her expertise has been cited in the following books:

Jill serves as on the Advisory Board for Landslide Technologies, Inc., a sales productivity and performance tool. In addition, she’s on the Board of Trustees for the Society for Business Development Professionals.

In 2004, Jill was selected as a FAST 50 semi-finalist by FAST Company magazine for creating a web resource for small business owners. Additionally she was selected as a “Women Changemaker of the Year” by the Business Journal of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Her joy in selling, combined with an innate ability to teach, led her to present countless training programs for colleagues, create a myriad of sales tools, coach dozens of trainees and to work on new product launches – in addition to her sales job! This was the impetus for starting her own sales consultancy.

In addition to her work in the sales field, Jill is a Founding Mother of Awesome Women, a nonprofit focused on creating a world in which “every woman’s voice makes a difference.” She’s also an active member of the National Speakers Association.

Jill and her husband Fred share their home in White Bear Lake, Minnesota with Cali, the cat. Their daughter Katie just finished her Master’s program in Innovation and writes a popular creativity blog called Get Fresh Minds. During the fall, they frequently visit their son Ryan who’s studying aviation at the University of North Dakota and plays on the football team.

In her spare time, Jill loves to do New York Times crossword puzzles, take long walks, read (she suffers from ARD-Addictive Reading Disorder) and write.

Here are some of the questions guiding this interview with Tom:

1. How did you originally get into helping small businesses?
2. Why do so many small businesses fail? What crisis are they facing?
3. I know you concentrate on 4 key areas for small business. What are they?
4. You’ve said that SB owners would be well served running our business—like a hotel. What did you take away from the hospitality business that translates to small business at large?
5. There is not a small business owner on the planet that isn’t interested in getting more customers. What are some of your strategic or tactical approaches to making this happen?
6. Tell us about MY LITTLE BLACK BOOK TO SUCCESS—-why did you write it and what do you hope small business owners take away from it?

Corey Perlman quickly transforms business owners, entrepreneurs and company employees into Internet marketing “propeller-heads!” He’s the author of: eBoot Camp: Proven Internet Marketing Techniques to Grow Your Business, is a #1 Amazon.com bestseller and in major bookstores all over the world.

Here are some of the questions that guided this segment with Corey:

1. Tell us, if you would, about your career beginnings and what lead you to consolidating your approach to internet marketing?
2. Is there “one-thing” that many small business marketers just don’t really get about how to leverage the internet for their business?
3. Your book is eBoot Camp—tell us about the book and what we can expect to find discover from it?
4. When you set out to write eBoot Camp—how did you want to show up differently in terms of your recommended approach to this subject?
5. Maybe it would be good to get a little preview here-what are some ideas our listeners can take away from this segment—-ideas they can put to work right now in their own business?
6. Tell us about your other activities—-are you speaking, writing more, consulting?
7. Where can we find eBoot Camp?

Company Profile

PixelFish, Inc. is a technology-driven provider of award-winning video advertising solutions for small and medium-sized businesses and their partners. The company has developed a revolutionary platform for quickly and easily creating, distributing and optimizing the most affordable and effective video ads. PixelFish provides a wide range of video solutions to meet the varying needs and budgets of businesses of all sizes, supported by: its intuitive online application; a global network of more than 2,000 professional videographers; and dozens of online, broadcast and mobile ad distribution partners. The company’s patent-pending ad creation and optimization technology produces video ads that generate measurably higher response rates. Founded in 2006, PixelFish is a privately-held corporation headquartered in Torrance, CA, with additional locations in New York and Hyderabad, India. For more information, please visit http://www.pixelfish.com.

Questions covered in this episode:

1. What do most businesses feel is their best form of advertising and why are they way off?
a. I’d visit about how businesses rely on word of mouth because they see it as free. I’ll explain that word of mouth is slow, incomplete and more likely to be negative than positive.

2. Should a business strive to achieve name awareness?
a. I’ll visit about how many businesses want to “get their name out” and then explain in more detail what we call the Buying Funnel and how consumers must be taken from unawareness, to awareness, to a comprehension, to a conviction of your business before they will ever enter into the action stage which is the only stage you will ever see as the business owner. So you can see, if your goal is “awareness” you are long way away from a sale.

3. What is the biggest source of untapped revenue for most businesses?
a. We’ll talk about how businesses do such a poor job of communicating with existing customers. So many businesses collect a database of contact information and don’t do anything with it. Others assume that once the consumer has become a customer, they can move on to find other customers. It’s like relationships. We court someone and if we stop paying attention to them, they may seek out someone else who will. Customers are no different.

4. Where is the biggest waste of advertising dollars by most small businesses?
a. Easily, it’s the yellow pages. So many business owners feel they must be in the yellow pages to be legitimate. They can be in there; they just don’t have to invest thousands of dollars every year. Businesses in today’s economy need to spend time educating and not advertising the consumer to turn them into a customer. You have to proactive with that education. You can’t put your money in a book and hope it get’s opened to your ad. Of the six ways consumers use the yellow pages, the top four (92% of the users) are going to the book to find a specific name they already have in mind, not opening it for a random search.

5. Does a company need a website?
a. Yes. Yes. Yes. It does not have to be something that costs thousands of dollars but because of the way consumers do business, especially with someone new, they’ll most likely check out the company website. In addition, directing consumers to the website is a much more efficient way to promote a business. They just need to be sure the content is kept current!

6. What form of advertising is the most effective?
a. This question is hard to answer because each market a company is in will be different but there are six key characteristics that should be considered when deciding which media to select and I’ll cover that list of six.

7. Why is advertising often a test of a business and not of the advertising?
a. We offer a video titled the Marketing Bridge. It discusses all the areas of a company that impact the marketing and advertising is just one of the steps on that bridge. If any of the other steps are out of whack, it will negatively affect any advertising done.

8. When developing advertising messages, who is the most important person to talk to?
a. We can talk about how the customer is usually not included in the discussion about what is great about a business and that they need to be.

9. How much should I budget for my advertising?
a. Often the question asked by businesses is how little can I spend and get by when they should be asking how much firepower I can bring to the marketplace to dominate. Customers are the life blood of the business. They can’t short change that process, especially in today’s economy. We can talk about several studies that reinforce the need to maintain and even increase a presence in difficult economic times because of the short and long term benefits.

10. What’s the key element in customer service?
a. The customer. We can talk about how businesses spend a great deal of time and money on operations, product, employees and procedures but you can’t have great customer service if you have no customers to serve.

Katie K. Snapp comes from a corporate business environment and technical production, where the daily grind was less than inspiring, until she found the hidden secrets in transforming work into creative prospecting. After leaving the engineering world 21 years ago, she became a Leadership Performance Coach and a nationwide speaker. She thrives in interacting with groups and training teams to be more productive while having fun.

Of primary interest to Katie when developing clients’ leadership potential is the concept of Story. Through collaborative coaching, the client uncovers the subtle themes and underlying patterns that define his or her style and history. Then, intentional change can occur by articulating empowering beliefs and owning the behaviors to author the desired future.

Katie’s first book Skirt Strategies: 249 Success Tips for Women in Leadership has just been published and is a collection of inspiring ideas and practical tips for woman in leadership.

Katie is also the founder of Better-Leadership.com, an online resource for what she refers to as the “Everyday Leader.” This ever-growing website serves as a worldwide outreach to educate leaders in not only the basics of leadership as well as emerging leadership topics.

More recently, he’s been reporting on the extraordinary issues at the forefront of the US economy…all of are effecting small business owners…

Here are the show notes from this edition:

1. Let’s get right into it—-the mortgage meltdown and subsequent deep recession. About 6 weeks ago, I heard you gave an extremely coherent, and accessible overview of the progression of economic events leading to where we are today—-culminating your description of the current inability to readily identify the so-called toxic assets in the mortgage securities markets. If you would, give us a cliff-note version for our audience of entrepreneurs so they can better understand the progression as it unfolded and why it’s created the lending difficulties they’re experiencing at the street level?

2. In your March 2 Article U.S. Likely to Keep the Reins on Fannie and Freddie you’re discussing the near-if-absolute-nationalization of Fannie May & Freddie Mac…and with it, the suggestion that these once-government, then privatized organizations, may never be the same in terms of the collateral damage is being done internally. Why are these 2 entities the only lubricants at the US government’s disposal to get mortgages moving again?—-and behind that question—-why do think it might be so difficult to re-privatize them on down the line?

3. Let’s turn to the small business environment, this is our core audience—— This week the Obama administration announced measures designed to help loosen credit facilities for small businesses. Any thoughts or comments on the structure or substance of the package?—-And how do we know the banks will actually start making loans again—-do we have confidence that they’ll behave accordingly?

a. 90% Guarantees of SBA Loans
b. Reduction of Origination Fees
c. 15 Billion in loan purchases to provide capital for new loans

4. Finally—-back to the broader economic picture…Many have suggested that we still have some serious credit issues left to unwind—-auto loan portfolios, consumer credit portfolios, combined with an environment of rising unemployment, so forth. Assuming these shoes will ultimately drop—- does the US government have enough tools in it’s toolkit to continue to (at least somewhat) mitigate against catastrophe?

5. From your perspective, what might this pending unraveling look like for the US alone for the next 3-5 or even 10 years down the line?

Feed Shark

Clate Mask, CEO

Clate loves to turn small businesses into big businesses. His decades of experience with paper routes, door-to-door sales and start-up ventures give him the heart, entrepreneurial fire and courage to think big. His economics, MBA and law degrees give him the formal training to turn that entrepreneurial fire into a successful, revolutionary company that creates value for everyone associated with it. So, while his grad school friends pursued traditional jobs in Corporate America, Clate wanted to build small businesses.

A year before finishing grad school, Clate was bitten by the technology bug. He began working for a dot com start-up called North Sky, where he continued to work throughout school. He wrote the business plan and helped to build and sell the company to About.com in December of 1999 for $42 million. After the acquisition, he took control of several Internet properties, converted those properties from ‘free’ to ‘fee’, created additional revenue streams and then watched the company go through another acquisition. At that point, it was time for Clate to get in on the equity game, so he joined Infusionsoft and set out to build the company to be the leading provider of Automated Follow-up Marketing solutions for small businesses (that want to become big businesses). He loves what he does at Infusionsoft and his passion can be felt the moment he starts talking.

When Clate isn’t working to build Infusionsoft, he loves to spend time with his gorgeous wife and six great kids. The balancing act can be difficult at times, but his family supports him 100% and serves as a constant reminder about what really matters in life. As much as Clate loves to write and execute a good business plan, his real joy comes from the time he spends with his family.

Clate loves to play golf (he shot his first hole-in-one on June 14, 2006!), basketball, softball and racquetball – and don’t even get him started about ping pong.

Read Clate’s e-book, “The Edge of Success: 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales”.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Jerry Straks is a certified coach and management consultant. Jerry
spent 25 years in the high-tech industry prior to founding his own management consulting business in
2003. He completed a graduate level coach certification program at John F. Kennedy University in 2004
and began a master’s degree in organizational psychology. He has worked for companies ranging from
Fortune 500 companies to startups. Managing teams ranging from 5 to 250, Jerry has led corporate
functions ranging from engineering to marketing and product management, including holding P&L
accountability. In addition to line management, he has experience in corporate strategy, business
development, and business planning and analysis. He also has extensive experience working with nonprofit
organizations, including having been on the board of directors for an organization that builds and
manages low-income retirement communities.

From this broad base of experience Jerry has distilled certain key principles and skills necessary for
effective leadership in the twenty-first century. His focus for coaching and consulting is sustainable
leadership development and his goal is to help organizations establish a culture based on the core
principles of sustainable leadership he has developed over the last three decades. A significant focus of
his business is in helping companies of all sizes define and calibrate their own “scorecard” and processes
for investment decision support, referred to as “project portfolio management.” Customers ranging
from Johnson Controls and Carlson Companies to Robert Half and Safeway have been able to get
“more bang for the buck” by choosing initiatives and projects that best support their strategy and
mission. Regardless of the thorny problem he is brought in to help solve, he utilizes coaching,
organization development, conflict management, and management consulting to help craft and
implement creative, pragmatic solutions that fit the customer’s needs in ways that will last.

A paperboy, or papergirl, was once the quintessential American iconic job. Millions of boys and girls learned invaluable life and business lessons from loading and lugging the daily news. Past paperboys, winners in all walks of life, include Warren Buffet, Jack Welch, Martin Luther King, Jr., Sam Walton, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jackie Robinson. Rain: What A Paperboy Learned About Business recaptures the magic, the self-discipline, the on-the-job education of generations of America’s youngest entrepreneurs. A Fox innovation is The Rain Reader. The Rain Reader is an analytic that follows the story narrative enabling interested readers, and students of business, to study the varying complexities of Rain.

ABOUT JEFFERY J. FOX

Jeffrey Fox is an accomplished consultant, popular speaker and the acclaimed author of a series of hard-hitting international business best-sellers, including: Secrets of Great Rainmakers is Jeffrey’s latest title, released in February 2006.

Based on over 50 interviews with industry leaders from a wide variety of fields,
Jeffrey Fox reveals the proven techniques and hard-won wisdom that have
helped great rainmakers get ahead, along with his trademark brand of counterintuitive
insight and commentary that have made his books so popular.

How To Become A Rainmaker was published in 2000 and quickly became a
BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal best-seller. It has become required reading
among some of the top sales organizations in the world, including Citigroup,
IBM and GE. More than four years after its publication,
RAINMAKER continues to hit the bestseller lists.

The Dollarization Discipline, co-authored with consultant Rick Gregory, was
recently named one of the Top 30 Business Books of 2005 by Soundview Executive
Book Summaries. This in-depth book explains how smart companies
can effectively “dollarize” the economic value created by their products and
services.

How to Make Big Money in Your Own Small Business was published in May
2004. It’s crisp delivery of broad-ranging small business ideas has made it an
instant success.

How to Become a Marketing Superstar was published in May 2003 is on its way
to being another business best-seller. Its entertaining and iconoclastic marketing
insights ring true to marketers in all industries.

The Entertainment Technology Center at USC, founded in 1993 with the help of George Lucas, is a non-profit organization within USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. The ETC brings together the top entertainment, technology and consumer electronic companies to evaluate what consumers really want, which is then translated to the companies that make technology products. The ETC strives to show how technology impacts the next generation consumer, which will improve the consumer experience and will uncover new revenue streams for entertainment-related products. Current ETC sponsor participants include; Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Viacom/Paramount, Warner Bros., along with Alcatel-Lucent, LG Electronics, Inc., Cisco, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd, Sharp, TATA Consultancy Services, Thomson and Volkswagen of America.

KC also heads the ongoing research efforts in the ETC’s Anytime/Anywhere Content Laboratory (AACL) where the entertainment, consumer electronics and technology services industries explore how consumers will interact with high-quality entertainment in an integrated environment. This research identifies consumer trends and opportunities that facilitate cross-industry discussions about today’s reality and tomorrow’s potential digital entertainment offerings.

Prior to joining the ETC, KC worked in content development both as a supervising sound designer on numerous feature films and as the producer of the animated DVD series Junior’s Giants. KC has a BS in Film from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Here are some of the questions we covered:

1. How did you first get involved with the work you now do at ETC?
2. Content is king and digital technology is the way we deliver it. When these companies get together to evaluate and consumer behaviors at ETC, what does that process look like?
3. In terms of consumer preferences—-what’s the most compelling or exciting trend you’re now seeing around the corner—-what would it be?
4. You also head up the research at the ETC’s Anytime/Anywhere Content Lab—-what happens there?—-is this is “alot about mobile”?
5. Let’s talk 3-D. When we think of 3D, that image of those funky glasses comes to mind. How does the new 3D work?
6. Is the 3D Super Bowl ad for Monsters vs. Aliens a sign of the mainstreaming of 3D?
7. What is the future of 3D?

So many businesses are being tested with the uncertainty of these troubled times in our global economy. Some will falter or even go out of business; others will weather through the storm and become even stronger, smarter and more adaptive—-consider ‘Survival of the Fittest’——See Wikipedia.org for more info. Are you the latter? Are you ready to take control of your brand’s destiny? YES or YES?

Every business, whether small, medium or large; start-up or well-established; B2B or B2C has a unique Brand DNA. Have you defined yours? Have you dug deep, just scratched the surface, or never thought about it? Well, then, now is the time—-more than ever, to make sure you and your employees are crystal clear on who you are as a brand, what you stand for, and what you promise to deliver to your customers. Now is the time—-more than ever, to define, build and evolve your brand from the inside out by aligning your leadership, culture, and processes with your unique Brand DNA to not only survive, but thrive in this and every economy.

Branding, let alone building a Brand DNA, is a concept that many companies struggle to understand because they believe Branding exists under the auspices of Marketing. Not so! Businesses typically look to marketing for the quick-fix immediate solution to a problem. Effective marketing may get your customers in the door but it doesn’t and cannot keep them coming back for more, nor does it transform them into loyal, brand champions. What compels your customers to come back for more is your brand’s ability to deliver a consistent, distinctive and relevant experience for all stakeholders.

To create the desired brand experience, you must first define the specifics of your brand then articulate it to your employees so that they are crystal clear on it:
A. Communicate!
B. Communicate!
C. Communicate!

We invite you to take the next 15 minutes to work ON your brand and answer the following eight questions. These questions are designed to help you glean some insight into your distinctive Brand DNA. Now is the time, as it is imperative to succeed and thrive in this troubled global economy.

1. What perception does your brand want to “own” in the minds of your market (employees and customers)?
Have you asked this question? Do you know how you want to be perceived?
Successful brands like Disney (fun, magical family entertainment), FedEx (on-time overnight delivery), Ritz Carlton (refined ambience), Volvo (safety), Google (innovation), and Southwest Airlines (low-cost and humor) all own a perception in the minds of their market. These companies have created processes, behavioral expectations and rituals that enable their employees to deliver on their brand——to build the desired perception.
You don’t have to be on the list of the most valuable and prominent global brands to take control of the perception you want to create and hold in your market space.

2. What is the distinctive style of your brand? In other words, how would you describe your brand’s personality? Are you hip and confident? Bold and eclectic? Or customer-centric and transparent? Think about how you could package your style into a distinctive brand experience on a multi-sensory, physical, emotional, intellectual and even spiritual level for your employees and customers. The Google culture has embraced a distinctive style (spontaneously creative). One way they emulate and foster their style is by hanging hundreds of feet of white boards throughout their campus offices in Northern California. Their employees jot down creative concepts, visual ideas and brainstorms on these boards to collaborate and share information. Frequently, ideas get chosen for further exploration.

3. What are the core values of your brand that guide your behaviors and business practices?
Values are guiding principles that form the basis of what is important to us. They give meaning to the intentions behind our brand and business practices. In Built to Last, by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, their research showed that strong brands have enduring values and they don’t waver from them. We’ve seen the negative effects of brands that don’t live by their values——their brand image is severely tarnished and in some cases we have seen the annihilation of a business (examples: Enron and Arthur Andersen). Think of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by these companies not living up to their values. Strong brands continuously refer to their values to drive their actions. In a global study of 365 companies by Booz Allen Hamilton & Aspen Institute, respondents reported that a company’s core values are most critical in two strategic business areas——reputation and relationships.

4. What are your unique differentiators that help create and leverage brand advantage? What are the things that make you stand out and set you apart from all others in your industry category/market space? Consider your point of difference in the products, services, solutions you provide your customers. Consider your proprietary intellectual capital such as your trade secrets or unique processes, awards or unique service delivery.
Here’s a great example——Build-A-Bear Workshop™. They reinvented the concept of toy manufacturing in a mall-based store. Their differentiators are in the retail experience they create with heavily themed and colorful stores that tantalize all the senses. Store associates (Master Bear Builders) share in the experience of the guest at each phase of the bear-making process. Build-a-Bear’s brand differentiation is in the experience it delivers to guests through their creativity, processes, product and personalized interaction. A great quote by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore, authors of The Experience Economy, “In the absence of a distinctive brand experience, price becomes the default in your customer’s purchase decision.” Build-a-Bear brand’s stores report an average income of double the typical retail outlet.

5. What standards of performance excellence will you adhere to across your brand scorecard: employees, customers, processes, and financial? Companies that have clearly defined standards of performance significantly increase their ability to manage and deliver on their business goals and strategies. Channeling employee behaviors, having established standards for service delivery, implementing processes that are followed without fail along with clear financial practices—-guides everyone within the company to support the Brand DNA.
Consider Ritz Carlton Hotels. They have their ‘Gold Standards’that set the guidelines for what they will deliver to their guests and what they pledge to their employees. These standards are a way of life and are reflective of their values and operating philosophy in action.

6. How will your brand reinforce who you are and the desired perception you want to create in the minds of your employees and customers? Implement a recognition program that reaffirms behaviors consistent with your values and the desired brand experience you want to deliver. Get your employees involved in developing the program and ensure everyone has the opportunity to recognize one another.
Ritz Carlton’s motto or Brand Mantra is famously known as, “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen”. It has become a collective internal perception continually reinforced among all its employees and expressed consistently in how they interact with guests.

7. Does your brand have a strong point of view? Do you clearly stand for something different or special? What is it? Brands like Harley Davidson have a strong point of view. They continuously deliver the experience of freedom to its avid cyclists of kindred spirits across the world. They have created a customer community called ‘HOG’—-Harley Owners Group that is unlike any other in the world. The company sponsors rallies, road tours, festivals and other celebrations.

The power of the Harley Davidson’s brand symbol is expressed consistently in all their product lines, including maintaining the look and feel of their motorcycles while competitors have succumbed to design trends over the years. It’s no wonder they maintain a strong loyal base of customers. They are an authentic brand attracting and sustaining customers who share their values and experience of freedom. The brand has literally become a ritual to its customers.

8. What is your BRAND PROMISE to your employees and customers? What is a Brand Promise? It’s a clearly articulated, succinct declaration of the promise you commit to deliver at every employee and customer touch point. It’s reflected in every action and interaction. It is reflected in your processes and service delivery. It drives company decisions and the brand experience you desire to create. Brands with clearly articulated brand promises can better reinforce a culture that is inspired, passionate and energized. The Brand Promise becomes the guiding light for all employees and stops arguments.

I invite you to consider these questions carefully. What are the attributes of your unique Brand DNA? What is your Brand Promise? Take the time to define your Brand DNA, be true to what you stand for, consistent in how you deliver and thrive in these uncertain economic times. Visit http://www.BrandAscension.com for more information on the Brand DNA.

He’s been a real estate entrepreneur, executive recruiter, and today he’s an executive producer or new media sites such as Think Big Work Small.com and others. Here are some of the show note-questions from this segment:

1. You worked in the restaurant and service businesses for several years—-what golden nuggets did you take away from that experience?
2. When you consult or speak with small businesses or indy-sales people, what is the missing piece that you often find you can help them with? The part they may not intuitively “get” themselves?
3. Some call you a BOOM specialist—-that is, you have a natural ability to see trends before they happen. How do your think about what’s on the horizon—-is there a method to your ability to do this?
4. You’re the executive producer at Think Big Work Small. What is Think Big Work Small?—-tell us about the project there…
5. Why is video so important to the internet sales process?
6. How do you suggest small business owners or solopreneurs use social media as a part of their sales strategy?
7. We’re in a period of economic dislocation not seen since the 1930’s. How are you suggesting your clients manage through this period of transition?

Bill Kasko is President and CEO of Frontline Source Group which is headquartered in Dallas, TX. Bill founded Frontline 5 years ago and provides both temporary and direct placements for technical services, IT, accounting/finance, HR, legal, admin/clerical positions. The company has grown from the original location in Dallas to over 7 regional locations throughout Texas. In 2007 & 2008, The Dallas Business Journal named Frontline Source Group the #1 Best Small Company to Work for in Dallas Fort Worth.

Recently, the SMU School of Business awarded the company with the Dallas 100 award for being the 59th fastest growing company in Dallas Fort Worth. At the 2008 American Staffing Association Staffing World convention in San Diego, Frontline was honored as the leader in marketing communications for staffing agencies throughout the United States and received the 2008 ASA Staffing Voice Award for Excellence.
Bill and his team have also hosted the country’s First All Employment Talk radio show on CBS radio in Dallas. The company recently moved the show to a new internet based radio venue with their creation of JoberTalk.com Prior to starting Frontline Source Group, Bill was a Division Director with Robert Half International and Sapphire Technologies.

An expert in online advertising and marketing, David covers search engine marketing, online video advertising, Internet ad targeting, e-mail marketing, local advertising and ad spending across media.
He’s a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, The New York Times, Business Week, Forbes, USA Today and many more…

Here are some of the show notes and talking points…

1. eMarketer collects information from 3000 sources in order to identify trends in online advertising and marketing. In a broad sense, what are some of the trends you’re seeing in the way companies advertise online?
2. What are the basic categorical ways that a company can advertise online today? Could you briefly describe each one?
3. In relative terms, how would you rate the effectiveness for the different ways companies currently spend ad dollars online?
4. Are there any specific ad types that are simply not working any more?
5. What are you seeing in terms of consumer behaviors around the different types of ad techniques? Are there some that seem to be less intrusive?
6. What part is mobile playing and how do you see that part of the market developing over the next few years?
7. How do the usage and effectiveness of video vs. audio media—-including podcasting and online radio compare in today’s market—-and where is this relative scheme heading?
8. Looking around the corner a bit—-What’s in the future that you can see that the rest of us may not yet see?

In the time frame we have I would like to talk about a little known method of getting “immediate capital”. The use of business credit cards. Lenders are saying NO to requests for loans and lines of credit at an alarming rate. Yet those same lenders are offering up to 50k on a business credit card. Applying for several simultaneously can give you an immediate cash infusion of up to 150k. DON’T BE AFRAID OF A CREDIT CARD! Business credit cards are totally different than personal credit cards. Although you need to qualify for a business credit card the same way as a personal card, business credit cards DO NOT report balances to the credit bureau’s there fore keeping your scores intact. Additionally, many business credit cards are offering 0% interest for up to 15 months including cash advances. By understanding the nuances of this type of financing you can achieve your goals rather quickly. Midas Financial has successfully obtained business credit cards with limits exceeding $3mm for our clients in the last 9 months alone.

At eMarketer, she focuses on social network marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, virtual worlds and targeting online marketing to key demographic groups, including kids and teens, college students and women.

She’s been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, BusinessWeek, the San Francisco Chronicle, Advertising Age, MediaPost and other publications.

Here are some of the talking points from the segment:

1. You’ve been in this space since 1993—-has anything totally surprised you in terms of the ways internet advertising and marketing has unfolded?
2. At eMarketer—-you’ve got a birds-eye view of how the world of social media is changing the landscape of marketing. What does social media do that traditional media simply cannot do?
3. The issue of brand control has certainly been a concern for many companies as they make their entrance into social media. How are you seeing companies manage their brands in a world that’s all about letting go of control, and harvesting authenticity from the consumer?
4. How do you see strategic possibilities evolving for companies that want to participate in social networks as advertisers—-how are they looking to approach the challenge?
5. Do you think it’s more effective for companies to create their own social networking platforms—-or is it a better idea to leverage the existing platforms that have huge traction?
6. How is search marketing evolving—-and what can we look forward to in terms of changes there?

Here are some of the questions covered during this interview segment:

1. When you set out to create Sales Solutions—-what did you want to do differently in terms of how you approach helping your clients with sales?
2. Do you have a typical kind of client that can benefit from your program, or does it run the gambit?
3. Where do you think business owners or sales professionals need the most assistance? What issues are you typically working to solve with them?
4. How does Sales Solutions work? What are he various programs you offer to you clients to help them?
5. What are you observing about selling in the current economic environment?
6. How do you approach helping them manage through this transitional period?
7. I know you created a 2007 top sales article about creating urgency. What do you think did the article said that resonated with readers?
8. What are you working on now?

Hazel Wagner teaches companies and their employees how to make better use of their brainpower. She does it through keynotes, seminars, consulting and facilitation on the subjects of power brainstorming, learning how to learn better, tapping into thinking style diversity, and critical, creative, and innovative thinking skills. She applies these subjects to specific business functions and industries. She also volunteers to go to high schools, junior high schools, and colleges to teach her techniques to improve note taking, memory, and grades.

B9D, Inc: B9D stands for Beyond 9 Dots and refers to the puzzle from which the expression came: Thinking outside the Box.

She founded B9D in 1992 at first to provide marketing and sales consulting to the many new technology companies that were being formed. Many of them were started by brilliant engineers and inventors who either didn’t have the experience to build good marketing and sales teams for their new company or preferred to spend their time and effort on their technology and let B9D handle the marketing and sales.

Hazel has 4 web sites to inform and to answer questions you may have on any of these topics.
http://www.hazelwagner.com
http://www.brainstorming-that-works.com
http://www.brainiance.com
http://www.b9d.com

Key talking points:

1. Why do we need to learn how to think better? Doesn’t thinking come automatically?

2. Is brainstorming something that business people need to learn? I would have thought everyone does it already.

3. How does all this apply to marketing and sales?

4. You talk about creating a brainstorming culture. What does that mean and how does an organization do it?

5. What are some directions you can give our listeners now before they even read your book?

Susan is a respected and engaging speaker, teacher and leader in the field of Life and Business Coaching who brings positive change to people who would otherwise remain stuck in a rut of indecision.

Susan’s inspirational workshops have brought an awareness of life and business coaching to the eastern shores of Delaware and Maryland where she consults clients on how to make a strong positive impact on the way corporate America views their employees as she unravels the internal destructive competitiveness within.

Susan Rae Baker is the author of “The Last Box—A Women’s Guide to Surviving Corporate America.” In this book, she has taken over 30 years of life experience and brings an awareness to women in the working world or about to enter it, of the personalities that they should aspire to or run from.

Here are some of the questions I asked Susan during this segment:

• You’ve recently published a book, The Last Box: a Women’s Guide to Surviving Corporate America. Why did you write it and tell us about what’s inside.

• We’re sitting together in late December 2008—-a volatile time for all businesses in America. What advice would you give top level executives in a climate like this?

• I know that good coaching can be about discovering the true passions of the clients they coach. Do you have any advice for people at this time who are doing okay in their job, but not doing what they love? Should they stay put or look for something new?

• How do you advice small business owners or corporate managers who want to retain great employees without additional costs to the company? What can they do?

• What do you think are the key issues that need to be addressed in corporate America today?

• You’ve said that within the world of business a “silo” or exclusive social structure created by employees who have decided that they need to form their own private society within the business can form. Why do you think this happens? And—-beyond that. What can a business owner or manager to manage this kind of “destructive” silo-ing in their company?

• I know you’ve had experience helping companies solve “turf wars”. What are turf wars, how do they start, and how can business owners manage so they don’t happen?

• Communications skills or a lack thereof is vital to any business. How can business owners improve and encourage healthy communication within their business?

Harry S. Dent, Jr. is the Founder and President of the H. S. Dent Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is “Helping People Understand Change”. Using exciting new research developed from years of hands-on business experience, Mr. Dent offers unprecedented and refreshingly understandable tools for seeing the key economic trends that will affect your life, your business, and your investments over the rest of your lifetime.

Mr. Dent is also a best-selling author. In his book The Great Boom Ahead, published in 1992, Mr. Dent stood virtually alone in accurately forecasting the unanticipated boom of the 1990s and the continued expansion into this decade. Today he continues to educate audiences about his predictions for the next great depression, especially between 2009 and 2012 that he has been forecasting now for 20 years. Mr. Dent publishes the HS Dent Forecast newsletter and has created the HS Dent Financial Advisors Network.

Mr. Dent received his MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and was elected to the Century Club for leadership excellence. At Bain and Company he was a strategy consultant for Fortune 100 companies. He has also been the CEO of several entrepreneurial growth companies and a new venture investor. Since 1988 he has been speaking to executives and investors around the world. He has appeared on “Good Morning America”, PBS, CNBC, CNN/FN, and has been featured in Barron’s, Investor’s Business Daily, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Success, US News and World Report, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, American Demographics, Gentlemen’s Quarterly and Omni.

Here are the show notes:

1. The book features 4 unique and very different characters who set out to take a journey on a company (Handover Company) teambuilding white-water rafting trip…plus their guide for trip. Why the rafting trip?
2. You have 4 principle characters—-each representing their own generation’s unique work-think-leadership styles. Walk us through the 4 main characters and the generations and characteristics they represent.
a. Nate-Millennial 1982-2002
b. Brianna-Gen X 1961-1981
c. Brad-Boomer-1946-1964
d. George-Silent Generation 1925-1942
3. It seems that Daniela is a pivotal character in all of this—-how did you think about her role as it relates to this journey?
4. Page 107—-you say, “for the Millennials, this is a no brainer. Relationships rule”. As you progress through the 4 generations, how important is the value of relationships for each relative to the work itself?
5. What does an organization need to understand about itself in order to facilitate a successful transition of leadership?
6. Tell us what you’re doing now-what projects are you working on?

In his roles as sales person, manager, executive and consultant, Joe has worked with firms that have looked to introduce new products and services, penetrate new markets, enter new geographic areas or drastically shift their approach to selling in an effort to offset market conditions and increase revenue and profitability.

Joe’s methods for change have always included promoting a shift in culture facilitated by new forms communication, clarity of purpose, alignment of initiatives, adherence to measurable best practices and an integrated approach to skill development for motivating and maximizing staff performance for reaching individual and team objectives.

Since establishing Emergent Educational Services in 2006, Joe has applied his principles to a variety of industries that include financial and insurance advisory services, public accounting, health care, information technology, manufacturing, distribution, publishing, printing, education and economic development.