Barry Moltz, Founder of Barry J. Moltz: Crazy About Business, Insane for Your Success joins Anita Campbell for an in-depth discussion on customer service. More specifically, customer service as a new way of marketing for small business.
Barry has founded and run small businesses with a great deal of success and failure for more than 15 years. He has also founded an angel investor group, an angel fund, and is a former advisory member of the board of the Angel Capital Education Foundation. Barry’s third book, “BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self Service World“ talks about how customer service is the new marketing in a social media world.
Below are the questions we asked Barry:
- (2:22) First Barry, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background and what kind of businesses you’ve run?
- (4:02) You wrote a book titled, “BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self Service World.” Tell us, what does BAM stand for?
- (5:36) Getting back to your book specifically, what drove you to write a book about customer service specifically in that way.
- (7:05) Can you tell us how social media, specifically, has changed the dynamics of customer service?
- (8:42) Let’s talk specifically about social media. What, specifically, are people doing with social media?
- (10:21) Are you finding that people are running to social media platforms right away versus contacting the company directly first for the opportunity to address their complaint or problem?
- (11:28) So why is it that many companies do not offer good customer service? Why is that?
- (12:22) So one things small business owners should be doing is taking a look at what their paying their customer services representatives and giving prestige to the position?
- (13:19) If a company doesn’t have much money to pay their customer service representatives, how do you respond to that?
- (17:27) In the book, you say that a monopoly doesn’t have to provide customer service. Why is that?
- (19;16) Can you tell us about some of the myths about customer service that company’s are still engaging in?
- (20:51) “The customer is always right.” You say that is a myth. Can you explain the difference between the view that the customer is always right versus the customer is wrong?
- (21:54) How do you actually fire a customer and what does that mean, to fire a customer?
- (23:20) Isn’t a small businesses success really based on having a narrow enough vision that you carry it out well?
- (24:29) What is your “customer manifesto” referenced in the book?
- (25:38) So, a manifesto is literally a document that you can lay out and deliver to every employee within the company?
- (26:39) Hi Barry, we have a caller, can you take a caller?
- (26:54) As a business entrepreneur, how can I expand my business?
- (2:39) What would you suggest for small business owners that they do?
- (28:42) Barry, where can people find out more?
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Prime Strategies and Small Biz Technology just announced their Fifth Annual Small Business Summit 2010, taking place on March 16, 2010 in New York City. The theme for this event gathering is Business & Technology: Strategies for the New Economy.
Since the first Summit 5 years ago, this event has attracted a loyal following of small and medium size businesses, technology providers, sponsors and media and Seth Godin headlines this year’s agenda, sharing his “Insights on Being Indispensable to Your Customers.” Marian Banker and Ramon Ray, Summit Co-Producers, join Anita Campbell and Brent Leary to share more of the details on this exciting upcoming event.
Below are the questions we asked Marian and Ramon:
- (2:49) First Marian, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
- (3:47) Ramon, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background as well?
- (5:03) Marian, what was the overriding point that compelled you to start the Small Business Summit with Ramon?
- (6:39) Ramon, tell us how the progression was to grow the summit. What was that first year like?
- (8:21) Is that your recollection of it from last year, Brent?
- (8:49) What do you have in store for us this year, Marian? Any surprises?
- (10:25) Ramon, what are the highlights?
- (12:12) How many people are you expecting this year?
- (14:24) Marian, what are some new things that people can expect at this year’s summit?
- (16:20) Can you give a list of the sponsors, both new and returning?
- (18:32) How is registration going and where can people go online and register to attend?
- (20:51) Ramon, what would you like people to come away with from the 2010 Small Business Summit this year?
- (21:41) Marian, 2009 was a tough year for small business and 2010 is equally tough. What do you hope that the folks that attend the 2010 Small Business Summit to feel as they participate in this event, considering this economy is still tough?
- (22:48) Ramon, what is the most surprising aspect of the summit from the organizer’s perspective?
- (23:50) Anita, since you’ve been involved in several of the Small Business Summit’s, what is the most surprising thing you’ve noticed from the event?
- (25:21) Marian, how important is networking to an event like the 2010 Small Business Summit?
- (26:38) Ramon, where can people go to learn more?
- (27:45) Are there going to be a lot of people tweeting so those that aren’t in attendance can stay abreast of what’s going on at the event?
- (28:40) Brent, what is the music that you’ve chosen to open this year’s summit?
Wait, there’s even more good news! There are $99 tickets available to the first 50 people who register for the 2010 Small Business Summit using the discount code SMBTRENDS2010. Don’t miss out on this 50% savings – be sure to register and get your ticket for half price now!
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It’s that time again!
Each year we scour the Internet for you and choose 100 of the most useful and informative podcasts we can find for entrepreneurs, small businesses and small business owners.
We realize that many people don’t have the time to do the footwork and sift through all of the resources out there, so we’ve done that for you and categorized them as well.
The majority of the podcasts listed have a focus on small business while others have a bit more of a broader focus. Nonetheless, the focus of all of the podcasts listed is on business. And that’s what we’re all here for, right?
So relax, sit back and listen!
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
MeetInnovators – With Adrian Bye. This podcast includes interviews with today’s influential men and women on the Internet.
DishyMix – With Susan Bratton. Susan serves up a mix of lessons from individuals from the world of advertising, digital media, marketing, social media and more.
Total Picture Radio — With Peter Clayton. This podcast features career empowerment interviews with best-selling authors, senior executives, leadership coaches and entrepreneurs.
Project Management War Stories — With Wayne Thompson. Monthly interviews with seasoned business leaders, managers and top level executives offering advice.
The Starbucks Experience — With Dr. Joseph A. Michelli. This podcast will provide you with practical advice from a wide variety of businesses – both large and small.
Book Digest – Matthew Scott summarizes business books for busy business leaders in only eight short minutes.
Trafcom News Podcast – With Donna Papacosta. Listen to interviews and discussions about topics that are important to people in the business of communicating.
Manager Tool Podcasts – With Mauzenne & Co. This podcast is about new tools and easy techniques you can use to help achieve your management and career objectives.
Rule 53 – With Jake Cacciapaglia. This is a cross-generational podcast that focuses on leadership, business, technology and professional development.
The Engaging Brand – With Anna Farmery. A podcast to motivate, inspire and engage people at work.
Customer Management IQ – With Blake Landau. This podcast is a forum for sharing ideas, best practices and solutions within the customer management community.
The Bottom Line – With Evan Davis. This podcast gives insight into business from those leaders at the top.
MARKETING AND SALES
Marketing Over Coffee – By John Wall and Christopher Phenn. This podcast stays on top of all that’s new in the world of business marketing.
Internet Marketing This Week – This podcast stays on top of today’s hot marketing topics and answers questions such as, “Why did YouTube go to wide screen?”
Duct Tape Marketing — By John Jantsch. John provides interviews with influential marketing professionals and those who demonstrate advanced marketing tactics.
Marketing Edge — With Albert Maruggi. This podcast features insights and advice on public relations, marketing, communication and more.
Small Business Big Marketing Show – With Luke Moulton & Timbo Reid. Hear how other small business owners from around the world go about their marketing.
The Selling to Consumers Podcast – With Skip Anderson. This is a sales training podcast for salespeople who sell to consumers.
Sales Podcast – With Shane Gibson. Shane is talking about sales force leadership, new entrepreneur development, social media marketing and how ”to close bigger deals.”
AdVerve – With Angela Natividad & Bill Green. This is a podcast about advertising and marketing.
The Official BNI Podcast – With Dr. Ivan Misner. This podcast is a weekly audio discussion with Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder and Chairman of BNI.
Six Pixels of Separation – With Mitch Joel. Mitch talks about digital marketing, new media and personal branding.
The BeanCast – By Bob Knorpp. This podcast features a panel of smart ad-biz types discussing news and issues.
Managing The Gray – By C.C. Chapman. This is is a marketing podcast that is teaching you and your company about the changing business world.
Clarity Advantage’s Sales Thoughts – With Nick Miller. Gain tips and techniques for prospecting, negotiating, coaching, and managing the sales process.
OPERATING A SMALL BUSINESS
Mind Your Own Business Podcast — With Guy Kingston. Guy discusses topics such as hourly billing, working from home, bankruptcy, business insurance and much more.
Escape from Cubicle Nation — With Pamela Slim. Pamela shares advice on issues for those who have gone from employee – to business owner.
Accelerate Your Business Growth – Diane Helbig is discussing small business issues – whatever it is that keeps a small business owner up at night, and she is offering input and suggestions for resolution.
Views From the Top – With Adrienne Graham. Adrienne takes a look at the hard hitting issues affecting women in corporate positions and entrepreneurs at the top of their game.
Be The Media – With David Mathison. This show teaches you how to accelerate your message, build your audience, and earn more revenues.
The Smallbiz Brain – By David Wolf. This podcast features interviews with small business experts and leaders.
Little Things Matter – By Todd Smith. Improving your life one thing at a time.
Metromom – With Kim DeYoung. The get it done resource for motivated mom entrepreneurs.
The Passionate Entrepreneur – With Kenneth Darryl Brown. This show is for passionate entrepreneurs who want to take their companies to the next level.
Entrepreneur People – With Sherry Borzo. Real Stories about real people that teach lessons in business and in life.
TAX AND FINANCE
Accounting Best Practices — With Steve Bragg. Steve covers a broad range of accounting topics and other financial-related matters.
Kiplinger Podcast — By Kiplinger. This podcast covers personal finance topics and tips to pay attention to your finances.
Marketplace — A daily dose of news on business and current economics trends affecting your business.
The Clark Howard Show – With Clark Howard. Save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs.
NPR: Planet Money Podcast – Everything you need to know or want to learn about money and finance.
WSJ’s Your Money Matters – This podcast by The Wall Street Journal will help you to keep your finances in tip-top shape.
Ernst & Young International Tax Podcast – Business insights by Ernst & Young.
Money Box – With Paul Lewis. News of savings and investments, credit cards and loans, pensions, banking, tax, benefits and giving to charity.
STARTUPS AND STARTING A BUSINESS
Success U – With Christian and Ben. Start-up excellence and life lessons of battle hardened serial entrepreneurs.
The Startup Success Podcast – With Bob Walsh and Patrick Foley. Get the information you need as a startup, indie or micro-ISV (independent software vendor).
StartUpNation Radio – With Rich Sloan and Troy Janisch. This podcast provides in-the-trenches expertise on how to start and grow your dream business.
HOME BASED BUSINESS
Work at Home Success – With Leslie Truex. Leslies shares business tips, tools and resources for those who work from home.
Home Business Internet Talk Show — With host Paul Stanton. Paul covers all aspects of running a business from home and episodes range anywhere from 2 minutes to a half hour or more.
Work at Home Moms Talk Radio — With Kelly McCausey. Kelly interviews a successful WAHM (work at home mom) or business owner every Monday morning with an emphasis on Internet-based businesses.
Freelance Radio – With a panel of 4 freelance interviewers, topics are geared for those freelancing full-time, side contracting or those just starting to think about it.
I Should Be Writing – With Mur Lafferty. Mur shares tips, insights and motivation for freelance writers.
Freelance Advisor – With Darren Fell and Andy White. Darren and Andy share tips and insights from real freelancers and contractors.
Big Illustration Party Time – A new podcast discussing the inns and outs of freelance illustration and cartooning with Joshua Kemble and Kevin Cross.
SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY
The Force Field — With Rick Savoia. This podcast is a half hour production dedicated to the small, independent IT service provider.
Entrepreneur’s Journey — By Yaro Starak. Yaro provides specific help to those starting and running Internet businesses such as how to take payments online, sell e-books or launch a new product.
Managing The Edge – With Doug Mitchell & Andy Brudtkuhl. This podcast helps you become more findable and engagable on the web.
The Social Customer – With Brent Leary, Maggie Fox, et al. ”Meta-conversations” on Social Customer Relationship Management, small biz tech trends and social media.
Net@Night – With Amber MacArthur & Leo Laporte. Amber checks out what’s happening on the ‘net right now, finding new cool sites.
Twooting – With Bo Bennett & Ryan Levesque. The podcast where Twitter means business.
The Hobson & Holtz Report – With Neville Hobson & Shel Holtz. This podcast is a twice-weekly show at the intersection of online communication and public relations.
Mobility Podcast – By David Ciccone. This podcast is a mobile news resource for mobile professionals, enthusiasts and newcomers.
The Web 2.0 Show – By Adam Stacoviak. This podcast profiles the people, businesses and technologies of Web 2.0.
WordCast – By Kym Huynh. Each week, WordCast Conversations goes in depth with special guests on the hottest topics in the blogging, social media, and WordPress world.
On Digital Media – With John Federico. It is a podcast about the technology, creation, distribution, consumption and monetization of digital media and its effects on traditional media and marketing.
On The Record Online – By Eric Schwartzman. This podcast is talking about how technology is changing the way organizations communicate.
Practical eCommerce — This podcast is for those attempting to grow their businesses online and provides practical tips, tools and resources including help with ecommerce software and more.
Scobleizer – By Robert Scoble. A podcast by a geek who grew up in Silicon Valley and interviews technology innovators and executives.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND FRANCHISES
Ecommerce Podcast – This podcast interviews ecommerce entrepreneurs who share the lessons they’ve learned.
“ALL AROUND” SMALL BUSINESS PODCASTS
The Small Business Podcast – With David Michaels and Daniel Miller. Using their wit and smarts, David and Daniel bring you practical tips, concepts and advice to apply to your small business.
Microbusiness News Briefs — By Dawn Rivers Baker. Dawn focuses on the needs of microbusiness owners, those with 5 employees or less.
Wall Street Journal Podcasts – Stay up-to-date on the latest business trends and changes with The Wall Street Journal.
Eye on Small Business – With K. Scanlon. A weekly radio show that features interviews with small business owners sharing practical tips and advice.
Small Business Trends Radio — Our very own show with Anita Campbell and Steve Rucinski, featuring interviews with today’s professionals on a wide variety of business topics.
Business Insanity Talk Radio – By Barry Moltz. This is a business radio show where we talk about all the craziness of small business.
Blog Business Success – With Wayne Hurlbert. Podcast about business blogging, search engine optimization SEO, marketing, public relations, and entrepreneurship topics that will help your business grow.
Zane Safrit – Zane talks with his guests about small business, innovation, word-of-mouth, leadership, generating positive cash-flows, topgrading, social media, and the economy.
Small Business Radio – With Jim Blasingame. The Small Business Advocate® Show is the world’s only weekday small business radio program.
Mixergy – By Andrew Warner. Online business tips from successful entrepreneurs.
BUSINESS NEWS AND THE BIG PICTURE
Inspiring Words of Encouragement – By Zig Ziglar. Zig provides encouragement and motivation for business and personal life.
The Real Story – With Frank Curzio. Frank discusses stocks and headlines keeping you current in today’s investing and trading.
Killer Innovations — With Phil McKinney. Phil covers all things “innovation” and offers thought provoking ideas for entrepreneurs.
WallStreet Unspun – By Peter Schiff. Peter provides the market outlook and a dose of current news events.
World Business News – By BBC World Service. This podcast provides in-depth analysis of global business developments and trends that affect consumers, investors and the environment at large.
Business Week — Ten different shows are offered and literally hundreds of recordings to choose from all relating to business.
TIME Business Podcast — This podcast covers business stories addressing executive interests from technology to management to small business.
New York Times Podcasts — The New York Times offers over a dozen podcasts on topics ranging from personal technology, international news, book reviews and the backstories behind NYT published articles.
Marketplace – By American Public Media. This podcast brings you the latest and most talked about headlines in business news today.
WSJ’s This Morning – The Wall Street Journal brings you the morning’s top business and finance news.
CNNMoney – This podcast provides a wealth of finance information, advice, tips and tactics to apply to your business and personal life.
Business Week Cover Stories – Business Week provides coverage of current business news and backstories behind the business week covers.
David Allen Company Podcast – by David Allen. David’s show, “Getting Things Done” is “a podcast designed to help you win at the game of work and business of life.”
Stiernholm Consulting – By David Stiernholm. This is a podcast about structure and how to visualize, simplify and get more time at your disposal.
The Great Work Interviews – With Michael Bungay Stanier. ”Find Your Great Work” by Michael Bungay Stanier.
Knowledge@Wharton – With Wharton faculty. Listen to CEOs and other commentators have to say about the latest business trends, breaking news and market research.
On The Media – From NPR. Podcasts on the Internet.
The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders – Podcasts from the Stanford Technology Ventures Program.
The Economist – Business content from The Economist magazine.
Peter Day’s World of Business – Insights into the business world with Peter Day.
World Business News – By BBC. Analysis of the day’s big global business developments and how they affect consumers, investors and the environment.
Americana – With Matt Frei. An insider’s guide to the stories shaping the USA today.
For more, you can visit our previous list of 100 small business audio podcasts from 2009. We encourage you to leave suggestions for your favorites below in the comments section. We’d love to hear from you!
Shashi Bellamkonda, “Social Media Swami” (Director of Social Media) at Network Solutions and Founder of Happenings, Advice and Technology Thoughts, and small business owner, Dr. Alan Glazier of Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care, join Anita Campbell for an in-depth discussion on the results of the Small Business Success Index.
This special episode will be followed up with a TweetChat today at 8:00PM EST (5:00 PM PST) including @ShashiB, @smallbiztrends and @SBBuzz using the hashtag #SBBuzz.
Below are the questions we asked Shashi and Dr. Glazier:
- (3:31) First Shashi, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
- (6:14) What is the Small Business Success Index, Shashi?
- (7:19) What were the criteria of the businesses included in the survey?
- (8:03) Dr. Glazier, can you tell us about your business, where you’re located and how you got to where you are today?
- (8:48) Dr. Glazier, you’re a profession as well as a business. Was that a hard adjustment to make or did it just come naturally?
- (10:00) “Social media presence has doubled from 12% to 24% in the past 12 months, and 45% expect social media to be profitable in the next 12 months.” Tell us, Shashi, what does that mean?
- (11:57) So it sounds as if they are happy from their social media efforts, but it seems that they view it as an investment and expect to see profit coming from their social media efforts. Is that a fair statement?
- (12:39) “Almost 1 out of 5 small business owners actively use social media for a part of their business, 58% of small business owners currently using social media feel it has meet expectations, and 61% of small business owners use social media to entice and attract new customers.” Were you surprised by that?
- (15:18) Dr. Glazier, how long have you been on Twitter?
- (15:45) Is there one that you use more than the others for business purposes or are they equal?
- (16:15) Can you give us one example of how you use Twitter for business purposes?
- (20:25) Do you remember when you first began to realize the importance of getting found in the search engines? How did that happen or was that a gradual awareness that you came into?
- (22:58) How would you measure your success in the search engines and your social media efforts?
- (25:42) Shashi, are there any other key points about social media or the Small Business Index that you’d like to mention?
- (28:42) Dr. Glazier, where can people find out more about you and your practice?
- (29:57) Where can people go to learn more, Shashi?
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Self-employed businesses are often on top of the world – that is, until the dreaded tax time arrives. Keith Hall, a certified public accountant and the National Tax Advisor for the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), joins Anita Campbell for an in-depth discussion on tax related matters concerning small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Every year, the NASE’s Tax Talk program fields more than 10,000 small business questions, many of which come during tax season. Keith Hall shares his top tax tips for small business owners and the self-employed and answers some of the most frequently asked questions by small business owners.
Below are the questions we asked Keith:
- (2:47) First Keith, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be connected with NASE?
- (4:25) Do I have to have a CPA or tax preparer assist me with my tax return? Can I do that confidently on my own, maybe using some of the software that’s out there today?
- (7:37) If you had to list the most common mistakes that small business owners make on their tax return, what would they be?
- (10:08) Are there “red flags” that would subject your tax return to a greater chance of being audited or questioned in some way?
- (13:15) Are there any brand new issues this year regarding taxes that we should be aware of?
- (15:15) I know there are different “expensing” rules in place, is the Section 179 expense still in place for 2009 and 2010?
- (20:05) What can we do now to reduce the amount of our taxes that will be paid on April 15th?
- (27:16) Can you point out a couple of things we can start doing right now to save taxes on our 2010 tax bill?
- (28:40) Where can people go to learn more, Keith?
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Karen Kerrigan, President of the SBE Council, an advocacy and research organization dedicated to promoting small business, joins Anita Campbell for an in-depth discussion on the legislative outlook for small business. Particularly, whether Congress and President Obama will move forward with policies that will help small businesses grow, create jobs and compete in this challenging economic environment.
Below are the questions we asked Karen:
- (2:08) First Karen, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to lead an organization like the SBE Council?
- (6:26) Can you bring us up to date on where the healthcare bills stand right now and what the current situation is with them?
- (10:24) Is there anything that you’re hearing from small business owners that they need and what is the SBE Council’s position? Can you tell us, what are you advocating at the SBC Council?
- (17:27) Can you bring us up to date on what is going on with the stimulus package(s)?
- (23:22) What do small business owners need to be concerned about? What issues should they be telephoning their representatives about?
- (30:30) Is there anything out there that is positive on the legislative or regulatory front that can give small business owners a glimmer of hope?
- (33:44) Where can people learn more, Karen? Is there anything that you’d like to point out?
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In today’s economic climate, the cost of setting up, maintaining and growing a business is a capital expense that many entrepreneurs and small business owners do not have access to – or simply cannot afford. The good news is that small businesses can now save money by eliminating unnecessary costs associated with investing in IT hardware and software.
Small businesses can leverage the “cloud” and eliminate costs like never before.
Mark Stellini, Founder of Virtual Resources, and John Panico, VP of Sales & Marketing, join Anita Campbell and Brent Leary for an in-depth discussion to show you how it’s done.
Below are the questions we asked Mark and John:
- (3:04) First, Mark, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
- (4:56) John, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
- (5:48) What exactly does Virtual Resources do?
- (6:40) What exactly can you do for small businesses?
- (9:30) From a small business perspective, what do I need to equip my staff with?
- (10:43) So basically, an employee only needs Internet access? They don’t need any special equipment beyond that, correct?
- (11:01) How do you know that you can continue with business operations and not get interrupted by a data loss that can’t be recovered or a disaster that takes out the computers?
- (13:26) A lot of entrepreneurs think of “cloud computing” as connecting with a wireless connection and using Google apps and Gmail or other online services – and that’s cloud computing to them. How does what Virtual Resources does differ from what I just described?
- (15:03) So it’s really a more robust, sophisticated, tailorable type of approach than simply going online and picking a few software as a service applications that may be limited? Which is OK for entrepreneurs starting out, but would not meet the needs of an established business?
- (19:04) What are some of the applications that you typically host for small businesses when it comes to using your services?
- (19:59) Are we talking things like accounting applications, CRM and the like? What are some of the applications you host?
- (22:02) Do you also help in terms of integrating applications that will make their life easier and hosting it on your side?
- (22:33) Do you integrate with this whole area of unified communications? Do you enable the Windows apps to work with the phone systems, too?
- (23:30) Is the desktop Windows 7 based or are there a number of different Windows editions that you are able to work with?
- (24:27) What are some of the business types that would really benefit most from the services you are providing?
- (25:30) You are based in Delaware, but do you have a geographic location “sweet spot” or do you serve anywhere in the country or around the world?
- (26:25) What are the costs involved with using a service like Virtual Resources provides?
- (27:34) Where can people learn more?
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Geno Prussakov, a veteran of the affiliate marketing industry and Founder of AM Navigator, offers his insider tips and “how to” advice on properly setting up a successful affiliate program.
Geno joins Anita Campbell to let you know what your expectations should be and how to achieve the results you’re looking for. You want to make sure that when you enter into an affiliate program, you need to set your expectations accordingly so that you’re not disappointed.
Below are the questions we asked Geno:
- (2:01) First, Geno, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
- (5:07) What keeps you busy in addition to the affiliate marketing industry?
- (7:10) Can you define “affiliate marketing” for listeners?
- (9:02) If I am a business owner of a small business, how do I know if an affiliate program is right for my business? Which types of businesses are affiliate programs best suited for?
- (11:18) Should I try to set up and run my program with a software program in-house, or should I go to one of the affiliate networking programs out there like ShareASale?
- (14:01) Which of the affiliate programs out there are best for small businesses? Are some better for small businesses or are some better for larger businesses?
- (17:37) Can we assume that the recommendations you gave are affiliate networks that actually score very high on those sectors?
- (20:08) How much should you assume that an affiliate program is going to cost your business?
- (22:34) If you’re going to be paying just fees to the affiliate or what might be equivalent to a sales commission, then how do you go about setting up the commission structure or the fee structure?
- (24:56) Can you tell us a little bit about the affiliates out there? What kinds are there and where do they advertise their products?
- (27:04) Let’s talk about fraudulent affiliate accounts. Is this something that a merchant should worry about and how frequently does this occur? What should you do about it?
- (28:40) What are three of the deadliest mistakes that a merchant can make while getting involved in affiliate marketing?
- (30:20) What are a few good resources to learn about affiliate marketing?
- (31:41) Where can people learn more about you on the Internet?
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Kristina Bouweiri, President & CEO of Reston Limousine and Travel Service, Inc. , started her business with only five cars and today – she has over 150. Kristina admits to being a micro manager, but she soon came to realize that she benefited immensely when she added another team member to the payroll and she learned that hiring the right people with the right skills got the job done better and faster then she could. Today Reston Limousine and Travel Service, Inc. is the 17th largest limousine and bus company in the United States.
Kristina joins Anita Campbell and Brent Leary to share the story of how she stopped micro managing and hired good people for key positions. By doing so, Kristina’s company doubled in size in only one short year.
Below are the questions we asked Kristina:
- (2:22) First, Kristina, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
- (2:57) What was it like, being here in the United States, after living in all of those exotic places?
- (4:23) Can you tell us how the limousine service was started?
- (5:31) How did you come to be the CEO of the company that your husband founded?
- (8:52) I know you admit to being a micro manager, but what was it that forced you to stop being a micro manager?
- (11:23) So you started with an accounting professional, then hired a human resources professional, and then hired an operations manager – until finally, you hired a general manager?
- (13:42) How did you find the right person? What did you learn about the qualities that you needed for a general manager?
- (18:00) What role did the other managers play in determining what type of general manager would be a fit?
- (19:50) What are some of the long term benefits you’ve received from hiring the right type of general manger for your business?
- (20:50) Has your leadership style changed as a result of bringing in a general manger?
- (22:10) Do you see your role changing as time goes on?
- (23:37) What kinds of things should people be on the lookout for to indicate that it’s time to bring in a general manager?
- (25:04) How long did it take you to feel comfortable having a general manager in your company?
- (26:09) Did you see those types of benefits before you saw tangible benefits?
- (27:39) Where can people learn more about your business online?
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Paul Rosenfeld, CEO of Fanminder, says, “Move over Facebook. So long Twitter. The year 2010 belongs to mobile marketing for the savvy small business owner.” Paul believes that the next must-have tool for business growth is text message marketing. Let’s face it, we’re all connected to gadgets and information 24/7 these days. So, it only makes sense that tapping into these channels is going to be the next wave of the future.
Paul joins Anita Campbell for a discussion to explain, in detail, why text message marketing, in particular, is poised to be your next must-have tool to grow your business in 2010. Paul explains exactly how you can take easy steps to drive immediate revenues for your business.
Below are the questions we asked Paul:
- (2:19) First, tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
- (3:58) Can you tell us exactly what mobile marketing is, for those that may not be aware?
- (7:00) What kinds of businesses are doing mobile marketing? Who does it work best for and who should be using it?
- (12:02) Can you give us an example or two of how a traditional small business might use text marketing?
- (14:18) So it’s an “opt in” by the customer for the marketing messages and they join a list for the business so that they can receive specials, discounts and more, correct?
- (17:42) You mention that text message marketing gets a phenomenal response rate because the person receiving it has to read it to clear it, but you also mention that it’s much more effective than social media marketing. I wonder if you could explain?
- (21:43) As a business owner, how do you get people to sign up for your text message marketing program?
- (24:38) So you can find tips at FanMinder.com/learningcenter?
- (24:53) Isn’t this just marketing to the younger generations? What are the ages of people using text messaging?
- (26:40) If you were going to pick a texting provider to help you with your marketing, what would you look for?
- (29:10) Is there anything else you’d like to share with listeners today?
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Dawn Rivers Baker, host of The Micobusiness News Briefs Podcast, had a special guest at the end of 2009 – our very own Anita Campbell.
The tables were turned and this time, Anita found herself on the opposite side of the microphone where she was interviewed about the topic of trend spotting and how to apply it to your small business:
“I’m talking about turning our hands to trend-watching, a topic about which I had a fun and informative conversation with my good friend, Anita Campbell. Anita offers us tips on:
- how do you spot trends and what can you do about them?
- how early is “too early” to take advantage of new trends?
- what’s the window of opportunity between “fad” and “trend” and “mainstream”?”
Trend spotting can be very beneficial to small business. Staying abreast of up-and-coming opportunities can really payoff if you’ve spotted a trend and jumped on the bandwagon early. Visit “An Interview With Anita Campbell” to hear the entire discussion.
Akemi Gaines, Founder of Yes to Me, quit her corporate job in October 2007 because she believed she could help more people worldwide with her unique skills. She rented out the house she bought less than a year prior, moved herself from Tennessee to Oregon, and started her service as spiritual coach. Today she has a successful practice and is earning more than she did in her corporate job.
Akemi shares her insights with Anita Campbell and Brent Leary on how spirituality can actually help entrepreneurs – especially during the difficult startup phase – when it might be hard to pull yourself out of the darkness and into the light. Akemi has published an ebook titled, “Lightworkers Guide to Self-Employment” which you can download and view, free of charge.
Below are the questions we asked Akemi:
- (2:32) First, tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
- (2:37) Is that what made you decide to leave the corporate world?
- (3:47) Was it scary when you decided to leave? How did you come to leave that position?
- (4:50) So you felt you could achieve more with your new business? Is that what actually led you to leave the corporate world?
- (5:56) Tell us why you feel spirituality can help entrepreneurs? Isn’t pursuing money and wealth at opposite ends of the spectrum from spirituality?
- (7:59) Do you feel that many entrepreneurs are in touch with those points, or is that something that we could more successful with if we got in touch with those points?
- (9:22) I know you’ve got an ebook and you lay out some steps for entrepreneurs, with the first step being to ”find your niche.” Where does the title come from?
- (10:55) In the ebook, you talk about self-sabotaging patterns. What are some of those negative patterns and how do we identify if we are engaging in self-sabotaging patterns?
- (7:17) When it comes to spirituality, there are a lot of business people who don’t seem to practice it when it comes to business. Are there cases where people just don’t have spirituality? Are there people who simply have no spirituality?
- (19:31) You write about starting a business as a way to live your life purposefully. What does that mean? What does “life purpose” mean to you?
- (20:40) When you think about perfectionism, where does it fit into starting your own business as an entrepreneur?
- (21:17) When you talk about spirituality in business, when can it become a detriment? Can you rely on it too heavily?
- (22:17) What if you come across a customer who leads with their religion as opposed to their spirituality? And it conflicts with how your spirituality leads you in business – how do you resolve that?
- (23:34) How does culture impact the way people view spirituality? Does it keep us from really understanding the spiritual aspects of how we’re trying to do things?
- (24:56) You have a concept that you call “jumping” - what is jumping?
- (26:15) How would you suggest entrepreneurs start to drill down and get a clear vision of their success?
- (27:20) Akemi, where can people find out more about you on the Internet and get your ebook?
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Aviv Shahar, Founder of Aviv Consulting, is an international consultant, CEO Coach, author and a world leader in the design of leadership and talent development programs for Fortune 100 companies. For more than 25 years, Aviv has specialized in helping leaders and teams improve collaboration, cultivate innovation and accelerate breakthroughs. His experience in coaching for high-level performance in critical operations was gained as a fighter pilot, responsible for training other fighter pilots, in the Israeli Air Force.
Aviv brings cutting edge methodologies to help entrepreneurs enhance their creativity, develop clarity of vision, and execute an action plan. Today, he shares how he helps executives and entrepreneurs in Europe, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Brazil and the United States develop their purpose and strategy, realize their potential and create breakthrough results.
Below are the questions we asked Aviv:
- (2:10) First, where are you speaking to us from?
- (2:31) I wonder if you can tell us about yourself and your background?
- (6:39) How do you get the people that you coach and consult with to get those breakthrough results?
- (9:09) How do you prioritize your time? What should entrepreneurs be doing? Where do you start?
- (11:30) How does that translate into the life of the entrepreneur? How do you learn and reach greatness? How do you practice or do you just have to be in business a long time?
- (14:06) You’ve written about the peak productivity zone. What is that?
- (17:24) How do successful professionals and entrepreneurs actually apply and use their peak productivity zone?
- (20:52) How do you identify what your peak productive pattern is and how do you hone your use of that?
- (23:14) What is the next decade going to be like and what is it that’s going to make business owners and entrepreneurs succeed in this upcoming decade?
- (24:58) If you had one final piece of advice for professionals to use in the coming year, what would that piece of advice be?
- (27:07) Aviv, where can people find out more about you on the Internet?
Aviv is also offering Small Business Trends listeners a special free complimentary MP3 recording of his teleseminar: “The Ten Rules Practiced by Innovators, Transformational Leaders and Champions.” This is a special offer for Small Business Trends listeners only. It is not available elsewhere and is a paid for offering on his site.
If you’d like to receive a free complimentary copy of Aviv’s teleseminar recording, simply contact Aviv via email using the subject line “Small Business Trends Gift” and Aviv will send you your complimentary MP3.
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Chris Gaba, Co-Founder of Central Bark Doggy Day Care, has taken his passion for pets and for service to others – and combined them into one powerful philanthropic program for his franchise system. Chris Gaba has owned and trained dogs since age nine, starting with the family dog Ringo, a liver-spotted Dalmatian. He is a true dog lover and has developed a deep affinity with dogs of every breed.
Chris worked in Advertising and Marketing for over 12 years when in 2000, he decided it was time to hang up the suit and follow his passion. He opened Central Bark Dog Day Care and Training Center, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, and in less than three years the business has grown into one of the most successful new ventures in Broward County. He has three four-legged children, Sophie and Taz, both Weimaraners, and Boo Radley, a Brussels Griffon. Chris shares how he integrated his vision for Dog Bless America, an organization that places service dogs with wounded veterans returning from war, into Central Bark and he’s here today to share advice for small business owners on how to successfully develop their own charitable programs.
Below are the questions we asked Chris:
- (2:19) First, can you tell us about yourself and your background?
- (4:12) How does Central Bark Doggy Daycare work?
- (7:08) Is the entire concept of Central Bark franchised or is it just the philanthropic program?
- (8:24) Tell us more about Dog Bless America? What exactly is that program?
- (11:52) How does this philanthropic program help the franchisee? If I am a franchisee, why would I want that?
- (12:33) How do you encourage franchisees to participate?
- (16:13) How has your work with Dog Bless America impacted your life from a personal standpoint?
- (17:23) How has this impacted the way you look at and do business?
- (18:27) How has that translated to some of the charitable contributions your franchisees are making? Are you seeing that impacting their business through this process as well?
- (20:13) How has social media impacted the way you are using, and doing business with, Dog Bless America?
- (21:02) So you are thinking that maybe the use of social media on the charitable side may actually help the franchises on the business side as well?
- (21:42) What are the more important qualities that are necessary for a charitable program like yours to be successful?
- (23:00) How much time do you spend on the business side versus the charitable side?
- (24:08) Has this made your overall quality of life better, both the personal and the business side?
- (24:30) What advice would you give business owners to integrate charitable giving into their business?
- (25:18) Chris, where can people find out more?
- (25:28) A year or two from now, how many franchises do you think you will have?
- (26:17) If you had to guess, how much of your success would you put to the charitable side of your business?
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Natalie MacNeil co-founded Garage Entrepreneurs shortly after starting her first business as a student entrepreneur. Natalie says, “Garage Entrepreneurs is a community I wish I had when I started my first business.” Her entrepreneurial journey has led her to become a media producer and consultant, specializing in online media and marketing, an award winning blogger and a speaker. Natalie has been featured in Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com and the Financial Post. Natalie was also recognized as one of Canada’s top 25 young entrepreneurs by the Impact Organization.
Natalie is passionate about encouraging younger generations to consider entrepreneurship as a career option. She shares her insights on young entrepreneurs, what it takes to build a successful business, and the impact of the recession on new businesses.
Below are the questions we asked Natalie:
- (1:58) First, can you tell us about yourself and your background?
- (3:33) You also write at Forbes.com, is that right?
- (4:06) Do you think the trend of young entrepreneurs is here to stay, Natalie?
- (5:48) How old were you when you noticed that you were an entrepreneur?
- (6:58) Tell us about Garage Entrepreneurs, where did the name come from?
- (7:48) Garage Entrepreneurs is a web site, correct?
- (8:39) How do you define a young entrepreneur?
- (10:02) As an entrepreneur, what would you say that the main characteristics someone should have to be successful and happy about it?
- (11:13) What else would you say are key characteristics?
- (16:28) What are some of the benefits that you’ve seen in starting a business when you’re younger?
- (18:31) Do you think that the econimic downturn has forced more graduates to consider entrepreneurship?
- (20:29) Are existing entrepreneurs working harder or abandoning entrepreneurship? What do you see happening there?
- (22:35) Do you see people bootstrapping longer or finding new paths to entrepreneurship?
- (25:00) Younger generations seem to be really web and mobile saavy. How do you see that translating?
- (27:09) Natalie, where can people find out more?
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As a young man, Larry’s Janesky’s entrepreneurial journey began right out of high school when he started a carpentry business. Larry’s journey eventually lead him to become the owner of a multi-national company with 27 patents that revolutionized the industry.
Larry’s entrepreneurial journey continues and today he is the Founder and CEO of the largest basement waterproofing and crawl space repair dealer network in the world, Basement Systems. He shares the universal lessons learned along the way, which he has applied to 5 other businesses with the same results.
Larry believes that if you improve yourself, your business will improve.
Below are the questions we asked Larry:
- (2:50) First, can you tell us about yourself and your background?
- (5:43) Can you tell us about some of the high points and the low points in your entrepreneurial journey so far?
- (7:58) As an entrepreneur, what is it about your advice that makes it worth listening to?
- (10:19) What would you say is the one single most important theme you’ve discovered?
- (11:43) What’s one concrete example of the business leader’s way of thinking making a difference?
- (13:30) How do you go about developing a vision as a business owner? Can you give us an example of what a clear vision might sound like for a business?
- (15:06) So be detailed and clear and fill it out in your head?
- (17:10) What inspires you?
- (18:29) How does that inspiration help you to overcome the obstacles you’ve faced?
- (20:13) Is it easy to develop a desire to succeed or is that something that you’re born with?
- (22:12) Can you tell us about your blogs?
- (23:23) How has the impact of writing these blogs changed the way you look at business or helped your approach to business?
- (24:08) Are you putting out a new book?
- (26:03) Are there autobiographical overtones in the book, perhaps?
- (27:01) Where can people get the book?
- (27:46) What is your overall definition of success?
- (28:27) Larry, where can people find out more?
For more information on Larry Janesky and Basement Systems you can read, “How One Entrepreneur Grew Sales to $50 Million in a Mundane Industry.”
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Many entrepreneurs have varied professional backgrounds and Dan McComb, Co-founder of Biznik, is one of them. Dan started his professional career as a photo journalist where he covered the end of the war in Bosnia and the extreme right-wing militia movement here in the United States. However, he soon realized that the work he was producing actually belonged to someone else – his employer – which led him to start his first small business as a freelance photographer. Dan learned the hard way that even though he wanted to run his own business, early on he lacked the business skills to do so and his first business soon failed.
Dan has come a long way since then and is now a full-time filmmaker in addition to being the Co-founder of Biznik. He has just completed a movie, Shine, profiling entrepreneurs, their challenges and what they lost and gained in their quests for success. Dan shares the insights he’s gained as he discusses how happiness matters . . . therefore, people are following their passions – not money.
Below are the questions we asked Dan:
- (1:50) First, can you tell us about yourself and your background?
- (4:30) How is Biznik different from Linkedin, a site that a lot of business owners and operators use?
- (6:16) Can you explain how you can go to Biznik and be connected with people in your local area to network with?
- (8:14) Tell us about your survey with iStockPhoto and how this correlates to our topic today?
- (10:03) What did the survey reveal?
- (11:42) Do you think this had anything to do with the survey being conducted in part with iStockPhoto or do you think that this goes well beyond that?
- (12:43) What other things did you find through this survey?
- (17:00) You talk about the enjoyment factor. Was that regarding older entrepreneurs, younger ones or both?
- (18:00) How did you become interested in film-making and how that happened?
- (21:10) So what are the messages that one can take away from the film?
- (23:13) What do you hope the impact of the film is for people who see it?
- (24:34) How can the film be viewed?
- (25:34) Are you displaying clips of it now online?
- (27:45) Dan, where can people find out more?
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In today’s modern world, many of us are “on-the-go.” With the advent of new technologies, it seems that it’s more possible now, than ever before, to be mobile and still remain in touch. As a result, many small business owners, operators and employees are now afforded the ability to conduct business “on-the-go.” The side effect to this – the lines between our personal and professional lives are blurring more quickly than ever.
Drew Garcia, VP of Product Management at SugarSync joins hosts Anita Campbell and Brent Leary to share his tips on how to manage our digital lives while living on the go.
Below are the questions we asked Drew:
- (3:13) First, can you tell us about yourself and your background?
- (3:57) In your experience, how have you seen the lines between personal lives and professional lives blend together? And is that a good thing, or a bad thing?
- (6:25) What exactly does a VP of Product Management do?
- (7:16) Drew, how do you stay productive “on-the-go?
- (8:45) What exactly does SugarSync do?
- (10:00) So, SugarSync works will all of your files. You don’t have to be on a software as a service product, correct?
- (11:09) In addition to SugarSync, what other solutions or devices to you use or recommend to others?
- (15:34) How does a service like yours work with the different kinds of data content we’re creating? Is is strictly for professional content or personal content?
- (16:57) What are some major examples of the need to work with this type of mobile syncing and back up that you see?
- (18:21) How important is it in today’s world for entrepreneurs and small business owners to be connected and share this type of information? Is it really impacted by this idea of being connected 24/7?
- (19:42) What kinds of solutions does SugarSync offer small business owners?
- (21:33) You mentioned before the whole idea of the cloud and that the data will be stored in the cloud. How secure is that?
- (23:00) What if there was a catastrophe? What’s the process for getting the data back onto your computer?
- (23:54) Is it any easier depending on the device?
- (24:46) How long would it take to restore a decent amount of data to a mobile device?
- (25:34) What are one or two “best practices” you can give us to get us started on the right foot?
- (27:03) Drew, where can people find out more?
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We’ve all suffered through employment for employers that we didn’t necessarily like – or enjoy working for. If you are currently in that situation, or have been at some point in time, you’ve come to realize that everybody copes with that atmosphere in a different way. Some are healthy ways to cope and some are not.
Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster, Authors of “Working for You Isn’t Working for Me,” joins hosts Anita Campbell to show you how to take back some control and learn to manage your boss and yourself by applying their four-step process.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to technical issues with our broadcasting company, BlogTalkRadio.com, there is a silence and delay at the beginning of the recording. Just keep listening – the show will start — we promise!
Below are the questions we asked Katherine and Kathi:
- (2:33) First, can you tell us about yourself and your background?
- (3:32) Did that lead you directly to writing the book or was that something that happened in between?
- (7:08) Katherine, what kind of situations do people encounter with bosses?
- (7:46) Some people like to be left alone at work, so why an absentee boss such a problem then?
- (9:07) What kinds of bosses are there and who is the most difficult to work with?
- (10:30) What other types are difficult to work with?
- (13:43) How do people cope with bad bosses? What can you do about it?
- (16:44) What should you do, instead of these negative coping mechanisms, to deal with a bad boss?
- (18:32) What can you do, physically, to calm down?
- (20:30) What does the four step process involve?
- (23:20) Let’s say you work for someone who is younger than you are. What is the challenge in that situation?
- (24:36) Are there any final thoughts each of you would like to leave our listeners with before we close?
- (26:40) Katherine and Kathi, where can people find out more?
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Have you ever noticed how detrimental “silent problems” can become? Things unspoken - they tend to eat away at people, situations and even business. One man has recognized how silent problems, problems that are being avoided, neglected and going unnoticed, are negatively impacting small businesses in very profound ways.
Rod Johnson, Speaker, Executive Business Coach and Author of “Without Warning: Breakthrough Strategies for Solving the Silent Problems Taking Aim at Your Organization,” joins hosts Anita Campbell and Brent Leary to share how business owners can significantly improve their organizations performance - by simply identifying and then resolving the silent problems that lie within.
Below are the questions we asked Rod:
- (7:08) First Rod, can you tell us a bit more about yourself and your background?
- (7:51) How would you describe being a business coach?
- (8:30) What IS the number one reason why businesses underperform?
- (9:39) What is the difference between working FOR your business and your business working for YOU? How would you characterize the difference between the two?
- (10:35) What is a “silent problem?” How is that different from a “loud” one?
- (12:52) Can you give us an example of a business owner experiencing a silent problem that is festering?
- (16:49) How long does it take for one of those silent problems to become “loud” and noticeable for people?
- (18:03) Who, typically, notices these problems first and feels like something should be addressed?
- (18:34) How long before they communicate that?
- (19:49) What are some of the best ways that an employee can bring this to the attention of an owner who doesn’t like to hear about problems?
- (21:12) Suppose a small business owner identifies a problem and the problem is that the organization’s manager is actually a brother-in-law . . . what can you do?
- (23:21) So, businesses started with friends or family businesses, do they have more opportunities to develop “silent problems” than a company that isn’t structured like that?
- (24:32) What are a couple of steps that business men and women can take to identify these “silent problems” within an organization?
- (25:53) Are these silent problems more critical than visible ones? Or do they not reach that impact until they become more visible?
- (26:58) Any final thoughts to share with the audience before we finish?
- (27:50) Rod, where can people find out more?
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