Open For Business

[audio ] Hot Potato News items are two articles that connect very well with our discussion this evening. 7 Targeted Social Networks Niche Marketers Should Try. Hubspot’s blog is on the mark again, exploring how the social network world is becoming more and more fragmented, not unlike great traditional niche marketing. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33663/7-targeted-social-networks-niche-marketers-should-try?source=Blog_Email_[7%20Targeted%20Social%20Ne] 20 Stats That Explain Why Marketers Still Struggle to Measure Social Media ROI. 9 year old LinkedIn, 8 year old Facebook, and 6 year old Twitter, and still marketers struggle with measuring how effective these social media tools are in achieving goals and delivering a positive ROI. Here are some reasons for that. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33672/20-stats-that-explain-why-marketers-still-struggle-to-measure-social-media-roi-data?source=Blog_Email_[20%20Stats%20That%20Explai] Featured Discussion -- Social Media, SEO an

Franchising has great appeal, but is it right for you? Tom Russo, Brian Parker and Ken Cook take an in depth look at franchising; the good, bad and ugly of it. As always, we open with what’s Hot in the world of customers, marketing, and sales. Presenting the Hot Potato News for the first full week of October 2012. Are Facebook clicks totally meaningless? The answer is yes, no or maybe, depending on who you are. Hubspot’s blog explores how your social media metrics need to align with your marketing strategy. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33671/are-facebook-clicks-totally-and-utterly-meaningless?source=Blog_Email_[Are%20Facebook%20Clicks%20] Hubspot’s blog strikes again with 7 Reasons Why Your Brand Will Never Be As Awesome As Apple’s. How many do you identify with? http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33661/7-reasons-your-brand-will-never-be-as-awesome-as-apple?source=Blog_Email_[7%20Reasons%20Your%20Brand] One feature you don’t want on your iPhone -- the ability to spy on yo

This is episode #50 – Who Loves You Baby!? If “customers” is not your answer, then tune in. Tom Russo, Ken Cook and Brian Parker explore seven ways+ to make customer love you As always, we open with what’s Hot in the world of customers, marketing, and sales. Presenting the Hot Potato News for the last week of September 2012. The Turf Wars Continue as Apple CEO Tim Cook says he is extremely sorry for IPhone maps frustration. The giants continue to battle for the control of your smartphone real estate, and Tim Cook and Apple demonstrate how to turn a fiasco into lemonade. Bloomberg Link Instagram Kicks Twitters Butt on Mobiles -- from Fast Company. Facebook paid a cool billion for Instagram and is now looking at Twitter in the rear view mirror. Hubspot Link Google's Stock Market Value Passes Microsoft's – The old man in the software world is overtaken by the new world leader. Yahoo News Link 7 Ways+ to Make Customers Love You. #1 – Focus on the relationship. If you do #1 well the rest become a lot

Marketing is a foundational and necessary element because it tells the world who you are and maybe why they should do business with you. At least that’s the hope. The challenge is marketing encompasses so many different things and can and should be different for every company. What you say, who you say it to and the means in which you say it are all unique because each company is unique. More importantly, the customers you want to reach are unique. However, there are some universal truths that hold true for all marketing, and this is where the biggest mistakes get made. Truth #1 – Focus: You are not all things to all people and your marketing should focus on the customers best aligned to buy your products and services. Truth #2 – Emotion Overrides Fact: People buy based on emotion and your marketing should connect with those emotions. Your marketing should not spout facts and figures about what you do. Truth #3 – Execution Trumps Strategy: Being excellent at implementing your marketing is critically

In the latest edition of Open for Business Tom Russo, Brian Parker and Ken Cook, along with our special guest Marc Halpert explore the world of Social Media. We looked at the Social Media universe and how the multitude of tools work, both independently and with each other. Our primary focus was on LinkedIn and its value in the B:B space; where it fits, how to use it, and the value it offers. We also talked about how Facebook and Twitter are much more B:C tools connecting businesses with consumers and consumers with consumers. When Marc Halpert joined LinkedIn 10 years ago as its’ approximate 220,000 user it wasn’t part of a larger Social Media phenomenon. LinkedIn in its infancy merely facilitated the connection between people who had lost touch with each other. Now there are 175 million users worldwide and 1-2 new users joining every minute. LiinkedIn has evolved into the preeminent online business branding tool. LinkedIn enables personal and company branding in a very personalized way. LinkedIn als

In the latest edition of Open for Business Tom Russo, Brian Parker and Ken Cook explore where the jobs are, what jobs are worth getting, and how talent wins out on a global scale. PLus, the continuing titanic battle between Apple & Samsung (with Google and every mobile equipment maker on the planet being drawn into it). According to Forbes, if you are in the energy, technology, and (believe it or not) manufacturing fields, your industry is doing well. The best job opportunities are in these areas, and the geographic centers that support these industries are growing. That means oil states like Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. It means manufacturing centers in the midwest like Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. According to CNN/Money, If you work for companies where you find your work meaningful, then you work at a “best company to work for” winner. This includes Google, Wegman’s Markets, and Men’s Wearhouse. What you do is not nearly as important as whether you find your work meaningful and whether it is v

This show covers a lot of territory in 45 short minutes. Ken Cook, Brian Parker and Tommy Russo explore in some depth the growing trend of “sequestering” by manufacturers as one more way for them to stay viable and for that matter profitable, too! Another topic that took up some of the show’s real estate was whether or not investing in Facebook stocks would prove to be, both short and long term, a good investment. As a sidebar to the Facebook discussion the three hosts shared their observations on whether advertisers, using social media, were keeping their messages on point or going way overboard, providing their target markets with way too much useless information. Finally, the trio all seemed to agree on that higher education, in this country, is long overdue for an overhaul. Tom, Ken & Brian all concur that colleges need to do a better job of preparing their students for the 21st Century’s work force. Open for Business #44 – worth a listen if you’re looking to learn something and have a few laughs

In our latest edition of Open for Business Tom Russo, Brian Parker, Ken Cook and guest Mike Lynch explore how understanding one’s passion and why you do something is a great accelerator for finding that ideal job. There are 631 people who are part of the CT Re-employment Group founded by Mike Lynch on LinkedIn. The group helps members with their job search. And one of the words they use most frequently to do that is why. Inspired by Simon Sinek’s bestseller Start with Why, members tap into their passion and motivation for work. Tune in and hear how understanding why you do something is more important than what you do. Open for Business #42 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour. Click Here to Subscribe in iTunes: Open for Business http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/open-for-business/id533309378?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

When it comes to getting things done everyone wants to do things right – being efficient. Everyone wants to do the right things – being effective. The best processes work though when everyone is disciplined to do things – they execute. Add to that the up front discipline of setting goals that are realistic, attainable and measurable, and you have a formula for success. In our latest edition of Open for Business Tom Russo, Brian Parker and Ken Cook went in depth on effectiveness, efficiency, and execution, and how goal setting directs all of them. We explored how all of these elements interact in the context of workflow processes, what it takes to make things happen, and making some money while doing it. Tune in and hear how workflow impacts profits, growth and a better work environment. Open for Business #41 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour.

Just because you get to the top of the mountain doesn’t mean you can stay there. Bad style had the proverbial door hitting CEO Bill Johnson on his way out. North Carolina Utilities Commission Board of Directors fired CEO Bill Johnson 20 minutes after the $32 billion merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy. Why? Because the Board “felt Johnson’s style was too autocratic and discouraged different points of view”. Good leadership characteristics and bad leadership characteristics can be hidden, especially when you reach high levels of compensation. Great leaders create cultures where employees feel free to speak up rather than merely “buying in” to the vision and mission. Click Here to Subscribe in iTunes: Open for Business

Dr Stephen Covey passed away on Monday the 16th of July. We reviewed his "7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and the relevance today. Hear Tony Robbins reaction to the passing of Covey. Seth Godin recently was explored “Making money in the digital world!” Godin’s blog entry on monetizing digital attention explains the odd paradigm that has developed in digital content creation. It appears, says Godin, that most everyone wants a business where they sit at home, develop content, put it on the web, and have people pay them scads of money for it. But there's a trick they miss -- how to sell it online! Managing your online reputation: oh heck, really, we have to do this? Tommy had discovered in the July/August edition of Inc Magazine an article by John Brandon. Brandon explores in depth in his article how he manages his online reputation by using two separate services. The first one iswww.socialmention.com which is a free service and the second is www.myreputation.com which is approximately $99 for a year

I sure hope we don’t need a bank loan soon, because last night on Open for Business Tom Russo, Brian Parker and Ken Cook dove deep into the lack of lending by financial institutions. Businesses want to grow and there are thousands of them across the country who could grow with a little more capital behind them. There are hundreds of millions of dollars on bank balance sheets that are not getting to these businesses. Why not? In a sentence, because banks don’t have to lend the money to make money. Citing examples from big banks, local banks, and credit unions the discussion highlighted again and again that the banks are not in the customer service business. They are in the make money business. They want to give great customer service. They just don’t have to in order to make money. Tune in to hear more about the fascinating revelation on the disconnect between a bank’s brand image and its’ “on the street” practices. Open for Business #38 – more great information than you could hope for in less than a

The latest edition of Open for Business focused exclusively on Customer Service; what does it look like, how do you deliver it, and what should be the expectations? Tom Russo, Brian Parker, and Ken Cook challenged assumptions, questioned the “unreasonable” expectations of customers, and wondered, in the end, whether great customer service is worth it. After an engaging 45 minutes the definitive answer is YES, great customer service is worth it. Jessica Davis and Duke Cajala, two of Zappos.com’s Customer Loyalty Team Managers joined us and helped explain, at least from Zappos’ perspective, why they embrace customer service as the cornerstone for everything the company does. The show is filled with stories and best practices about delivering customer service your customers talk about. Jessica had the simplest and most profound guidepost for delivering great customer service – Treat customers as you would want to be treated. We all learned it as kids. Who would think we’d make money on it as adults? Tune i

This segment of “Open For Business” features Dr. Bruce Stein speaking with Ken Cook & Tommy Russo. Bruce is the Executive Director of Vanishing Veins & Vivesse, both located in the greater Hartford area. Bruce shares with Ken & Tommy how he made the decision to retire from his practice as a Gastroenterologist and turn his focus and energies to the marketing of the two practices that he and his wife, Dr Lori Greenwald, co-own! Bruce shares in detail the conscious decision that he and Lori made, at the beginning of the recession, to increase their advertising/marketing budget. They were convinced, against all popular believe, that there was still significant demand in their trading area for the services their two practices provide. Their bold move absolutely paid off as they watched their businesses grow market share from one campaign to the next. The interview explores some of the FREE online tools Bruce employs to learn more about their patient base and then take that knowledge to better mark

Guest Expert: Matt Service, owner of Service Internet Solutions Having a website is just good business sense, right? Ten years ago, we all questioned why we need a website. Now APPs are the fad. Do we need a website and an APP? To answer this (or just further grapple with) Matt Sevice explains the trend and score card of open vs close internet experiences. The "walled garden" days of AOL could be coming back. Does this add security? Does this diminish freedoms?

When it comes to exiting from their most valuable asset, their business, 90% of business owners do little to no planning. Last night on Open for Business Ken Savino, Partner with North Star Wealth Partners, joined Tom Russo and Ken Cook to explore why. Ken Savino believes you should start your thinking and planning for an exit around 10 years from the date you desire to leave. Yet so few owners do. And there is an ever increasing number of baby boomers who own businesses, and they are all reaching the age where continuing to run their company is becoming less and less appealing. The negative repercussions from not planning can be many, and definitely not good. Having to sell below market value, settle for poor contract terms, or lay off employees are just a few of the unfortunate outcomes. Listen in as Tom Russo, Ken Cook and Ken Savino help you avoid these pitfalls and plan for a better result.

Mark Zuckerburg, Tom Houge’s coming up behind you. Sean Parker, Tom Houge’s Fipeo.com is better than your Airtime.com, and Tom built it for less than 1% of the $33.5 million you invested to launch Airtime. [audio ] Tom Houge is the co-founder of Fipeo.com and he was Tom Russo and Ken Cook’s guest this week on Open for Business. Tom represents what is great and innovative about the start-up world. Fipeo is a video chat platform that takes Facebook’s 4.74 degrees of separation and reduces it to zero. Unlike its’ massively funded competitor Airtime, Fipeo zealously guards privacy yet connects people and resources with real connections via video. Fipeo’s applications and revenue opportunities are abundant. While discussing Houge’s start-up journey what also came to light are the serious shortcomings in the start-up environment in CT. Where start-up environments thrive around the world there exists a passion from all stakeholders, and a earnest curiosity that needs to be satisfied. Houge’s experience i

It’s not alchemy. It’s not having a money tree. It’s crowdfunding – the latest means for entrepreneurs or anyone with an idea or project to get funding. Tom Russo and Ken Cook had as their guest this week on Open for Business Bob Metzler, an attorney and Principal with Cohn, Birnbaum & Shea in Hartford. Bob has looked long and hard at crowdfunding, what it entails, and what the roadblocks for it might be. Simply put, crowdfunding solicits “contributions” over the web. Using a portal such as kickstarter.com, you list your project, how much money you want, and ask for it. For a company called Pebble Watch it was a “home run”. They wanted $100,000 to develop and launch their new “programmable face” watch. Using crowdfunding they now have $10,266,845. And for all of that money Pebble Watch gives up no equity. They give individual contributors just watches (in some cases lots of watches). And the equity question is where the problems start. The investment industry talked to the SEC and they talke

You hear their commercials everywhere. A great rags to riches story, hear how Dr. Abbas Mohammadi, DDS started with only $200 in his pocket and sleeping in his car, learned some valuable lessons from unrelated businesses, and why working 7 days a weeks isn’t like working 7 days a week. Home Depot amazes the DDS: the scope of products available under one roof. Inspiration of Leonardo da Vinci saying “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Elegant design and clarity of Steve Jobs’ design of the IPhone. Tom and Ken explored the journey with Dr. Mohammadi. Take a listen as he explains how the Columbia Dental business model is all about basic business principles applied and executed very well.