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?

As an entrepreneur CEO, Sramana founded 3 companies: Dais (Off-shore Software Services), Intarka (Sales Lead Generation and Qualification Software; VC: NEA) and Uuma (Online Personalized Store for selling clothes using Expert Systems software; VC: Redwood). Two of these were acquired, while the third received an acquisition offer from Ralph Lauren which the company did not accept.

As strategy consultant, Sramana Mitra has consulted with over 80 companies, including public companies like SAP, Cadence Design Systems, Webex, KLA-Tencor, Best Buy, MercadoLibre and Tessera among others. Her work has also included numerous startups and VCs, and she played Interim VP Marketing roles for 7 such ventures. Sramana has a proven track-record in turnarounds, both small private companies (Example: think3, with Joe Costello) and divisions of larger companies (Example: a $100 Million Business Unit of Cadence, with Lavi Lev). She has also created major growth strategies through new market penetration, M&A, Industry Roll-ups, etc.

Sramana has developed a well-regarded methodology for Positioning which she has used repeatedly in different situations and across a variety of market segments.

Sramana writes a weekly column for Forbes and is currently authoring Entrepreneur Journeys, a series of books focused on demystifying entrepreneurship. Entrepreneur Journeys (Volume One) is now available from Amazon.com.

Writings from Sramana’s popular strategy blog are syndicated by Seeking Alpha, GigaOm, ReadWriteWeb, TheStreet.com and many other high traffic online business, finance, and technology publishers.

Sramana has a Masters degree in EECS from MIT and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Economics from Smith College.

Sramana is an engaging and entertaining public speaker. Here are some video clips of her at Forbes and YouTube. A recent NPR appearance on Marty Nemko’s radio show was particularly animated.

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.

Clients include: Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Federal Reserve Bank,
Helena Chemical, JP Morgan, Medco Health, Madison Square Garden,
Merck, National Basketball Association, Starwood Hotels and many more.

She’s the author of Knockout Presentations: How to
Deliver Your Message with Power, Punch, and Pizzazz, (an Amazon.com category
best-seller)

1. You have said that speaking, or how we speak is, in fact, the new competitive weapon. What do business owners and entrepreneurs often miss about this element of their brand?
2. How do you help your clients focus and tighten their message so they can get the results they want when they speak?
3. We’re living in a world where relationship capital has more value to business owners in many new ways. You’ve said “Success is a direct result of the relationship”. Has our emphasis on relationships changed?
4. How do you coach your clients to manage their relationships in business?
5. When business leaders come to you to learn to present themselves more effectively—-what kinds of techniques might they be missing—and how do you work with them to get better at this?
6. What do we not really appreciate or understand about listening?

Ms. Kelly Cutler is Co-Founder and CEO of Marcel Media (http://www.marcelmedia.com), a Chicago-based strategic interactive advisory firm that delivers world class SEO, SEM, Social Media, and Analytics solutions to clients including Ryland Homes, HUB International, University of Southern California, and NorthShore University HealthSystem. Under Ms. Cutler’s leadership, Marcel Media has evolved into one of Inc. 5000’s fastest growing private companies, a national Stevie Award Winner, and a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant. A certified Google Ad Words professional and University of Chicago New Entrepreneur Program instructor, Ms. Cutler is an active member of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, Chicago Internet Marketing Association, and SEMPO. She has been noted or quoted by Crain’s Chicago Business, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, MSN, The Register (UK), Startup Nation, Direct Marketing News and Inc. Magazine. A rising star and leader in the interactive marketing industry, Ms. Cutler is very involved in the SEO/SEM community, speaking at numerous events across the country. A graduate of Michigan State University, Ms. Cutler has successfully completed marketing and business certification at the University Of Chicago Graham School Of Business.

About Marcel Media – Marcel Media is an award-winning, Inc. 5000 ranked, Chicago-based Internet marketing agency that specializes in search engine marketing, web development, social media, web analytics consulting, and custom online marketing solutions. Since 2003, Marcel Media has worked with clients such as Ryland Homes, Hub International and Rush University Medical Center to achieve their online marketing goals.

Gene Marks is one of the country’s leading small business
experts. A nationally recognized speaker, spokesperson, columnist, and consultant, Gene is the author of four books on small business, including the best selling Streetwise Small Business Book of Lists.Gene writes monthly columns for both Forbes.com and Businessweek.com.

He also writes a bi-weekly column called “The Penny Pincher’s Almanac” which appears nationwide in American City Business Journals.
Gene has been a frequent guest on radio programs throughout the country discussing ways small business owners can do things quicker and better. He has participated in radio interviews for ClearChannel, the Wall-Street Journal Radio and most major market stations.

Gene has been featured and quoted in other national media outlets such as The New York Times, The Chicago
Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today.

Gene regularly presents his program Quicker! Better! Wiser! Programs including the popular “6 Secrets For Managing A Successful Business”. Through his keynotes, workshops, seminars and executive retreats, Gene helps small business owners, executives and managers understand the proven strategies for doing things Quicker! Better! Wiser!

Finally, Gene is also a business owner. He owns and operates the Marks Group PC, a highly successful ten person
firm that provides technology and consulting services to small and medium sized businesses. Launched in 1994, Gene’s company has grown to help
over 500 companies and thousand of business managers throughout the country. Prior to starting the Marks Group PC Gene spent nine years in the entrepreneurial services arm of the international consulting firm KPMG in Philadelphia where he was a Senior Manager. A nonpracticing Certified Public Accountant, Gene frequently refers to himself as “The World’s Worst CPA!”

Here are some of the questions addressed in this segment:

1. To lay the groundwork for this segment, let’s learn more about the Alternative Board itself: How was it original created and deployed?
2. What are the logistics—how do Alternative Boards really work for small business owners?
3. The company has experienced significant growth since you arrived about 7 years ago. Why do you think it’s been so successful?
4. How many Alternative Boards are there today?
5. Is TAB a franchise-business model?

Since the recession began in December of 2007, the economy has lost nearly 2 million jobs—devastating for both the employees let go and the business owners forced to do layoffs. We’re sitting together in January 2009—-clearly one of the most challenging periods in terms of the US and global economy—-and for those who own and operate businesses. One of those challenges is managing the people in the equation—-employees who are let go and employees who are left behind to continue working in the business.

For business owners, you’ve culled the “best of the best” tips from the Alternative Board 3,300 business owner member network to help move employees forward after a layoff. Let’s walk through some of these tips and dig into them a bit:

• Nip it in the bud— Be proactive and clear about outlining and prioritizing new or revised workloads. Don’t wait for your overwhelmed employees to come to you confused about their new responsibilities.

• Eliminate Work that Doesn’t Work— You can’t do the same volume of work with less people. Owners must prioritize both tasks and customers. Require employees to cease doing non-essential work. Restructure your workload to produce better results by working smarter.

• Say & Show Your Appreciation- Reassurance from the employer to the survivors is a vital moral booster. Also, consider offering incentives that demonstrate the company’s commitment and appreciation to the employee.

• Make Your Power Players Accessible—During turbulent times, executives need to be visible to help reassure and motivate employees. Make sure the power players have answers to frequently asked questions related to layoffs and restructuring.

• Watch for Extreme Cases—Alert managers to watch for extreme cases of depression. A list of the warning symptoms of depression should be distributed to managers so that they can assist in the early identification.

Jeff says many boomers who are over 50 years old choose to continue to work until a much older age than their parents did. In this segment we gain some insight about why this demographic group is so vibrant in this emerging and unpresidented startup business segment.

Here are some of the questions discussed in this podcast segment:

1. How popular is starting a business after age 50 or more today?
2. When you talk to “50 or over” entrepreneurs—-what are they saying about WHY they are starting a business? What’s driving this interest or movement?
3. What are the most popular business styles or business models that Boomers are starting?
4. What advantages do Boomer entrepreneurs bring to the task of planning and launching their own business?
5. What’s is typically the exit strategy for Boomer-Entrepreneurs?
6. Do you see Boomer entrepreneurs selling to their Boomer peers?
7. We’re sitting in January of 2009—-a most difficult time in terms of the economy. You’ve said now is the best time ever to launch a business? This seems counter-intuitive, so why do you think that’s the case?

Here’s an excerpt from http://www.bizstarters.com:

At age 10, I had my first entrepreneurial encounter almost by accident.

Thanks to my grandmother’s promotion among her bridge club ladies, I suddenly found myself committed to cut 40 lawns a week. So, I got three of my Little League buddies and together we ran a full-time summer lawncare business.

Even as I settled down into a fairly traditional corporate career path after earning a business degree from the University of Virginia, I continued to engage in entrepreneurial projects, such as earning a cool $1000 for organizing a Spring trip to New Orleans for a group of my college friends.

I started my sales career selling packaging materials for a division of Corning Glass Works, but quickly realized that what I really enjoyed was working with the marketing guys on new products, such as Corelleware.

Guided by the direction of the Corning HR department that an MBA would help me transition into product development, I scoured the U.S. for a MBA program that was strong in marketing and from which I could graduate as quickly as possible, as money was tight.

My choice: Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, which permitted me to graduate after four straight quarters, having studied with some of the top marketing professors in the U.S.

I’d been told by the business school Dean that I was being groomed to become someone’s CEO, but I couldn’t get the memory out my head of that summer when I was 10-year old entrepreneur.

When I finally jumped out of the corporate world at age 39 to start my first business, the Go Smart Business Start-Up Center, my corporate buddies used to rib me about what I was losing.

But, by the time I started Bizstarters at age 50, the very same friends had changed their outlook.

Now, my Boomer friends continuously call me with ideas on how they can take early retirement from their corporate jobs and join me as small business owners!

I understand from first-hand experience the financial challenges that many of my 50+ peers are facing. Like more than 50% of the U.S. work force, I am not eligible to receive a pension. My retirement security comes from the salary and retirement savings my business affords me.

I am a nationally-renowned business start-up coach and trainer and my Go Smart start-up course has won state and national awards for its effectiveness in helping downsized corporate managers successfully transition to
self-employment.

I have written eleven small business workbooks, guides, CDs and DVDs and regularly offer a series of interactive live workshops and telegroups, as well as acting as a Featured Advison on SBTV.com, the #1 source for small business how-to videos.

I am frequently quoted in national print and online business publications, such as MSN.com, Fortune.com, Wall Street Journal.com and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, from which Bizstarters.com won “Best Entrepreneurial Website For People Over 50”.

To date, more than 4,000 new entrepreneurs have completed my business start-up training program.

I live in suburban Chicago with my wife Marianne, who’s looking to start a post-retirement business after a thirty year career as a court administrator.

I take a hands-on approach with my 50+ business start-up clients—I’m always just one e-mail or phone call away when a business planning or management question arises.

Here are some Key points we covered in this segment:

Every marketing tactic gets more scrutiny when budgets face the severity of a struggling economy. Put SEO under the microscope, and it consistently delivers. But marketers need to insure they are getting the most out of SEO, especially during a recession.

With this in mind, here are 6 key tactics from Steve Riegel, director of Search and co-founder of the award-winning interactive agency, Faction Media to maximize SEO:

1. Use Analytics and plan on Keyword Platform Optimization – Internal Search and PPC provide active avenues to grow keyword targets for SEO. Internal search shows how visitors seek out products on site and what keywords they use to discover your best answers. PPC efforts when combined with success events through analytics can show you what engines and what terms covert to a desired result. Keyword platform optimization is an ongoing process of evaluating PPC, Internal Search, and SEO key terms across engines and providing expanding keyword targets for SEO and PPC efforts across engines.

2. Localize your content – Whether you sell locally or through distribution channels, on average 7% of searches include a location modifier. Place your address(es) or at the very least city, state on each page of your site. We capture traffic for Denver Digital Marketing agency based on our location and Search Visibility for Digital Marketing.

3. Make sure all your pages are crawled to have them properly indexed with Sitemaps – Create both xml based for Search Engine spiders and user friendly sitemaps for your site visitors. XML sitemaps are becoming the standard fare for Search Engine crawl submissions and can provide SE based data reporting benefits. User friendly sitemaps provide additional navigation links throughout your site for users and spiders alike.

4. Optimize the title tag on each page on your site – Title tags are still one of the most important elements of Search Engines Algorthims. Keep the tag under 128 characters and keep your branding to the end, make the title tag unique and descriptive for each pages content.

5. Check keyword rankings across engines for phrases just outside the top 20-30 and target those for additional efforts.

6. Validate your code often. If the search engines can’t parse your code, they will miss your entire page around a few “simple errors”. Spend the extra 5 minutes and validate your code through tools like http://www.w3.org/QA/Tools/.

Newman started this business with a direct mail campaign from my kitchen table. Bruce has built numerous products such as PC Mirror, a successful non-technical product, and numerous programs and systems, and has built three successful companies and been a part of several others. Newman also hasthree patents and have authored numerous papers. Having many years of experience – both as a consultant and as management of consultants, he has extensive first-hand knowledge of consultants and consulting requirements.

VALUE PROPOSITION:

Bruce is Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC which specializes in the matching of any company’s consulting needs to the expertise of rated outstanding consultants. All companies need consultants; they simply can’t afford to have experts in every area. Particularly in these dire economic times, companies cannot even contemplate having expertise in all areas. Consultants have the expertise and knowledge to design and implement a project within a time and budgetary constraint while supporting existing staff – and enhance productivity. Outstanding consultants can further greatly enhance this value and prodinst. However, finding and rating outstanding consultants can be a difficult, expensive and time consuming task. At the Productivity Institute, we do all the locating and rating of all consultants – at no cost or obligation. And, we only work with those consultants who are rated outstanding. Simply put, a company comes to us with specific needs, we find out more about those needs and then, at no charge we supply them with up to five rated outstanding consultants to evaluate. (We make our money from the consultants.)

Today Rob McNealy is New Media Consultant, Small Business Coach, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Radio Talkshow Host, Author, Marketing Strategist, Blogger, Podcaster, Husband & Dad. His passion is using social media to evangelize about small businesses, and coaching entrepreneurs on his Startup Story Radio podcast and blog.

Title: Chief Strategist of Contrived Media, Ltd. / Host of Startup Story Radio

Topic: How the economy is effecting small business, and how many people are becoming entrepreneurs as they can’t find jobs after being laid off.

Joining us on the line from Denver Colorado to share his insights around employment, passion, social media, and how we can harvest opportunities in a down economy is Chief Strategist of Contrived Media, Ltd. / Host of Startup Story Radio Rob McNealy…Here are some of the questions I asked him:

1. Rob, you’ve said there’s no such thing as a secure job or job security. Is this sentiment the result of your own professional journey?
2. Let’s talk about passion. You advise small business owners as a coach and public speaker. Can“having passion” be learned or does it need to be in an entrepreneur’s DNA?
3. You’ve attained a high level of expertise around social media, and you’re a business person and marketer. But, for those who may be new to this universe—-What makes social media “social media”?
4. What did your own process look like as social media became a larger part of your own marketing experience.
5. How do you suggest newbie’s to the world of social media approach marketing their own businesses online?
6. We’re sitting in December of 2008—certainly a challenging economic environment. How are you continue to thrive in this environment, and beyond that, how do you suggest entrepreneurs approach harvesting opportunities?

Here are some of some of the questions covered in this segment:

1. Why did you initially move from wireless to the restaurant industry?
2. Let’s talk about Just Dine In—what is the business model and how does it work?
3. What was your process like—creating the business, then orchestrating the rollout of it?
4. In this business—-you have 3 basic “groups” of customers in the mix. Let’s walk through each type and talk about how you work with each of them.
5. As your business evolved—-did you have any challenges or bumps along the way that would be productive to share with our audience of small business owners and enthusiasts?
6. Le’s talk about the RMDA, the professional association for restaurant delivery service industry business owners. How does the organization support business owners like you?
7. For those that would like to learn more—-what is the website of RMDA?
8. If someone listening wanted to learn more about the restaurant delivery service, or RDS industry—-how would you advise them?

Mr. Ahrens is probably best known for his 27-year career as Albuquerque’s number one morning radio host. He is still called “The Voice of New Mexico” and served 25 years behind the microphone at KKOB Radio and 2 years at KAGM-FM. His radio career also includes 5 years on the air in Roswell and 3 years in El Paso.

He was selected to the New Mexico Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2000 and has been recognized in the broadcasting industry with many awards. Larry also was chosen as a New Mexico Power Broker 6 consecutive years by New Mexico Business Weekly.

Larry is also the founder and host of the annual Bank of America — Larry Ahrens Presidential Scholarship Golf Tournament for UNM. The event is in its 25th year and has raised over $1 million for the Presidential Scholarship Program. There are currently over 50 students on campus at UNM on the scholarships generated from this tournament.

Mr. Ahrens is a member of the Popejoy Society at UNM. He was also appointed by Governor Richardson to the New Mexico Sports Authority board. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America. Larry also serves as co-chair of the Chamber’s USS Albuquerque committee.

Larry is married to Susan Ahrens. His son Ryan is an oil and gas attorney in Fort Worth and his daughter is a Respiratory Therapist in St. Petersburg, Florida. His step-son Brady is in commercial real estate in Denver.

RealTimeSites provides a wide-range of Information Technology Services encompassing the following areas:

RealTimeSites was founded with the goal of providing businesses and government entities with comprehensive and economical IT solutions. RealTimeSites prides itself on the strictest professional and technical performance standards. Our success is measured by the success of our clients.

RealTimeSites has many successful client relationships in both commercial and government markets. The diversity of our clients illustrates RealTimeSites ability to balance technology, professionalism, and performance within the budget constraints faced by business and government entities today. Our commitment to provide the best IT solutions at the most competitive prices in the market has allowed RealTimeSites to grow into the premier commercial/government web services, software development, and informational technology firm in the region.

Biography of Dr. Bruce Howard
Author of Charting the Course

Like most great professors, Dr. Bruce Howard is an engaging storyteller who brings theoretical principles to life for his students, in whom he has a deeply personal interest. “We use the term market, but what we’re really talking about is the way people treat each other,” he tells his students. “We interact about food, housing, clothing, jobs, value…and we tend to call that economic action. But it’s really just people interacting with people” To Howard, economics is simply the stuff of everyday life, and his discussions of the market economics usually include humorous, memorable allusions to his own everyday life.

As an undergraduate student at Wheaton College, Howard’s fascination with systems and the way they work initially led him to the science department, where he studied biology and chemistry. He only took an economics class because his father, a Wheaton professor for thirty years, was teaching it. He was surprised to find the economic system as intriguing as any scientific system he had studied. Thanks in part to his remarkably poor lab technique (“I broke test tubes and tended to burn things,” he recalls), he changed his major and has enjoyed a fulfilling career in economics, finance, and education.

Dr. Howard holds a PhD in economics and a Masters of administration in accountancy. He joined the faculty of Wheaton College in 1980 and currently serves as professor of business and economics. “ I’m in the enterprise of education because i’s about transformation. At the end of the day, I am hoping I have helped people be a little better,” he muses. “How can we use the study of markets and finance to change people? For me, that change means becoming more like Christ. Because I am in Christian education, my students share this desire for change.”

Dr. Howard is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also worked with Tyndale House Publishers since 1980 and currently serves as a member of their board of directors. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Howard worked in the banking and health care industries. As a professor, he has traveled several times to teach business and economics at a small university in Kazakhstan.

Dr. Howard is the author of two other books, Safe & Sound: Why You Can Stand Secure on the Future of the United States Economy and You Can’t Spank a Kid in a Snowsuit, both published by Tyndale House Publishers. He has also been published several times in Christianity Today and has authored several articles for various scholarly journals.

Above all, Dr. Howard is a doting husband, father, and grandfather. He has been married for thirty-four years. The Howards enjoy visiting their three grown children and their spouses and spoiling their four grandchildren. They look forward to the birth of a fifth grandchild in January 2009. Dr. Howard’s hobbies include oil painting and writing songs for his kids and grandkids. He has played the guitar for forty years and is a self-described “sincere, not a good“banjo player. The Howards attend College Church in Wheaton.

1. Take us back to Detroit: It’s 1937 and a new company called Eaton Springs was founded by the Eaton Family—-was it your grandfather?
2. The auto industry is facing a whole new and somewhat disturbing set of challenges. Do you know any stories about the business challenges that Eaton Springs business faced in through the 1940’s 50’s 60’s 70’s and onward?
3. When did you take over the wheel at Eaton Springs and how did you get involved or interested in joining the family business?
4. You’ve mentioned that the company was in a real crisis when you took over. What was the crisis, and how did you manage the company through it?
5. How has the aftermarket business evolved or changed since you’ve been involved?
6. Let’s talk about your products. What makes Eaton Springs better than the competition?
7. Who are your customers today?
8. What’s your view on the big 3 auto manufactures—-how did they get into so much trouble?
9. Is there a way to save the auto industry in America?

Tom Marx is the President and founder of Marx Group Advisors (MGA), a mergers and acquisition specialist focused on providing M&A services to the Automotive and Heavy Duty aftermarkets.

Marx Group Advisors was formed in early 2007 with the mission of providing full service M&A support for middle-market enterprises. As boomers age and often do not have a succession plan in place, and as the economy drives consolidation and acquisition-for-growth trends, Tom saw the growing need and opportunity to provide consulting services as well as bringing buyers and sellers together.

Tom represents sellers and buyers of companies and provides consulting services that enable company’s to improve their balance sheet before beginning the M&A process, as well as post M&A integration. TMG also represents private equity firms when financing is a part of the transaction.

Tom also brings a depth of marketing and business knowledge from 25 years experience in the Aftermarket, as well as from many other industries, including motorsports, technology, telecommunications, broadcast, real estate, financial services, and resort property management. His comprehensive experience in lead generation, direct mail, public relations and almost every discipline of marketing and advertising has enabled him to support his clients with highly strategic marketing planning and the implementation of marketing programs that create breakthrough results for their businesses.

He continues to be President and CEO of The Marx Group, a full-service marketing communications company that provides Business Development, Marketing Strategy and Marketing Communications services to the Automotive and Heavy Duty Aftermarket.

The Marx Group (http://www.themarxgroup.com) is headquartered in San Rafael, CA, and has offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Marx Group Advisors (http://www.marxgroupadvisors.com) is headquartered in San Rafael, CA, and has offices in Boston, MA.

Tom co-authored Marketing Sucks! (And Sales, Too!) The book is designed to mold the culture of an enterprise toward improved internal and external communications, resulting in more efficient and effective collaboration between Sales, Marketing, Executive and other teams, while improving their internal and external communications.

Tom is a native of California. At the age of 17, he started his first business in Southern California, selling racing components by mail order, which lead to owning a Porsche repair and racing business. Tom was a professional racing driver in SCCA, IMSA and FIA for many years. He is a graduate from the School of Journalism at Cal State University at Northridge and relocated his business to the San Francisco Bay Area in October of 1997, where he currently resides. He is an avid sportsperson, active in snow skiing, hiking, camping and golf.

Tom is an active member SEMA, AAIA and APRA. He is past vice chair of the AAIA Marketing Communications and Member Relations Committee and is past president of the Automotive Communications Council. He also serves on several other Boards of Directors. He writes a monthly eNewsletter, Catalyst, which provides M&A, marketing and business management insights and tips, and also writes a monthly article for APRA’s print and online newspaper, called Global Connections.

Stolberg graduated from Indiana University in 1982 with a B.S. degree in finance. He joined the family business in 1984 in Chicago, after working in the insurance industry from 1982 to 1984. Stolberg moved to Los Angeles in 1986 to help open the company’s west coast distribution center and then relocated the west coast headquarters to Las Vegas in 1992. He was also involved in the establishment of EngineQuest (EQ Engine Parts) in 1987, the company’s engine parts division that manufactures unique problem solving parts for engine builders and race enthusiasts.

In 2004, Stolberg led the company in the development of its full-service scrap metal division in Las Vegas under the AAEQ banner. Stolberg jointly operates the company with his brother, Billy, president and COO, who heads the company’s Midwest headquarters in Chicago.

Stolberg is active in the Las Vegas area community. He is currently serving as president of the Rotary Club of Las Vegas (Fremont). He is also past president of Congregation Ner Tamid. During his term as president, he was instrumental in the sale of the congregation’s existing building and helping raise $20 million toward building a new campus.

AAEQ is a member of many automotive and recycling associations, including the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), Production Engine Remanufacturing Association (PERA), Automotive Engine Builders Association (AERA), Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA), Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association (ATRA), Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI).

The future of small business depends on the commitment of independent business owners to join together and fight back against the big-boxes. Our member dues allow us to gain leverage in that fight and significantly impact public awareness to make a difference for small business. ABC cannot function effectively for small businesses without your support and your active involvement.

To carry out our mission, we provide five key tools to help our members maximize their business and get more customers quickly, easily, and cost effectively.

A natural entrepreneur with an interest in food, Margarita started selling cakes and cookies to her classmates in high school. She established a bigger business in college selling cookies to the restaurants and cafes on campus. After graduating from the California Culinary Academy, she did a brief stint at Starbucks as a manager, and another one at Panera Bread as a lead baker. After owning and running her first restaurant with her husband in Knoxville, TN, she finally realized she did not want to cook for a living. A few months later, they closed their restaurant and opened a new franchised restaurant. After a few more months of that, Margarita was finally REALLY convinced that she did not want to deal with food any longer. Yes, she can cook, and bake any kind of cake known to man. Just don’t ask her to do dishes.

Margarita stumbled upon the cloth diaper business after the birth of her first child in 2004. Trying to find ways to entertain herself during the quiet moments of her first baby’s infancy when he slept a lot, she learned to make cloth diapers. She used to sew her own dresses back in high school, and her mom taught her how to make clothing patterns.

Her sewing skills, along with her passion for business and healthier alternatives for her children, led her to found Swaddlebees, a cloth reusable diaper company that quickly grew into the million dollar business she now runs with her husband. To offer a more fashionable approach she also began Blueberry Diapers. Both lines feature organic cotton liners to make them safer and even more ecologically conscious.

Margarita lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband Casey and their two children, Jacob and Nathan.

Chris Talis is my guest in this episode of The Smallbiz Brain.

Mr. Talis, Hedgerow founder and Senior Partner, has intimately dealt with the vital issues surrounding middle market

companies his entire career. His diverse background includes business consultancy; debt and equity placements; business

valuation; mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; financial analysis; succession planning; and exit strategies.

His career began at Campos Stratis, a world-renowned forensic accounting firm; he then expanded to Merrill Lynch in Foreign

Securities. Mr. Talis later became controller for a middle-market industrial machine distributor, and served as Director and

Treasurer for this multi-state corporation. Thereafter, he co-founded Zisa Talis, a New Jersey accounting partnership and

subsequently formed his own accounting and consultancy firm offering wide ranging services and solutions to its client base

of companies, entrepreneurs, professionals and celebrities.

Mr. Talis has personally refinanced troubled companies, directed a management buyout and most recently completed the equity

placement of SANpulse Technologies, a SAN consulting concern where he is an equity holder and sits on the Board of Directors.

Current projects include a national food franchise build-out, a medical management services company using an offshore

outsourcing model, a warehouse management solutions provider using an ASP model, and an ethnic focused debit card offering.

Mr. Talis has also directed bankruptcy workouts, federal and state tax restructurings, and administered creative financing

strategies with the SBA and EDA. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Cathedral of St. John the Theologian, and was

elected to its Executive Council.

Mr. Talis holds an MBA in finance and taxation, and is a New Jersey licensed Certified Public Accountant.

Here are some of the topics covered in this segment:

1. Find a law firm which focuses on entrepreneurs looking to help you grow

2. Hire an accountant who works with entrepreneurs and who understands the economic realities of a start up.

3. Consider forming a Limited Liability Company or Corporation; discuss with your lawyer and accountant which entity is the

best for you.

4. Visit a commercial bank and discuss the requirements of establishing a small line of credit..even if they will only offer

you a small credit card line in your company’s name in order that you begin a credit history for your company.

5. Establish from the start accurate records and detailed bookkeeping system so that your progress is documented at all

times.

• 24/7 access to resources they need to further develop their businesses and
  achieve the entrepreneurial lifestyle they envision for themselves, including:

• Ongoing discussion groups, where they can learn from each other
  about what it takes to move their businesses to the next level as
  well as how other female entrepreneurs manage their businesses
  and their lives for success.

• The opportunity to feature their businesses in an online directory of
  women-owned companies.

• Advice from a panel of business and lifestyle experts – on
  everything from how to maintain a great work/life balance, to sales
  and marketing techniques and strategies, to the best practices in
  business management.

• Downloadable tools, templates, articles, and instructional programs
  to help run their businesses.

• She did it! Downloadable audio interviews with successful women
  entrepreneurs whose businesses have crossed the million-dollar
  revenue mark.

• The opportunity to participate in ground-breaking research that will
  influence the decisions made by large corporations who want to
  understand female entrepreneurs and meet their needs.

• Customized learning guides based on the areas in which they need
  assistance the most.

Mission:

To provide information, tools and resources, networking and marketing
opportunities, and a compassionate community of peers to aid the personal and
professional growth of female entrepreneurs. Also, to inform and train
companies, non-profits and governments who wish to better meet the needs of
this vibrant and growing community.

Vision:

To help female entrepreneurs create the businesses and the lifestyles of their
dreams.