Business: Engaged! – Carrie Perrien Smith

Running a business can be a lonely life, especially when your loved ones don’t understand the unique challenges of entrepreneurial life. Every business owner needs an advisory board to share ideas and address challenges with. One tool that addresses these issues is the mastermind group. They come in all shapes and sizes. On this episode of Business: Engaged!, we talk … Read more about this episode...

Procrastination can cost your company $10,000 per procrastinating employee per year. An estimated 25 percent of our population are chronic procrastinators but most of us procrastinate from time to time. On this episode of Business: Engaged!, we talk with Gary Sheely. He is an executive coach and counselor as well as the author of Cutting Away: Facing the Fatal … Read more about this episode...

Not everyone wants to build a sprawling business loaded with employees and large capital investments. Some prefer to keep it lean, and that can equate to running a shoestring business. Today’s technology and the internet provide us more variations on the shoestring business than ever before. On this episode of Business: Engaged! we talk with retired business owner Wayne Simpson. … Read more about this episode...

Trade shows can be the best way to prospect leads that end in sales or they can be a king-sized waste of time and money. It all depends on your strategy for meeting your objectives. On this episode of Business: Engaged! we talk with Ken Abernathy, president of Big Hats Consulting. He has over 25 years of experience serving … Read more about this episode...

Employees carry out your vision for your company and care for the needs of your hard-earned customers. Selecting them and understanding the needs of employees in today’s labor market determines your success. On this episode of Business: Engaged! we talk with Pamela J. Green MBA SPHR. She is a human resources consultant and executive coach. We talk about what to … Read more about this episode...

You probably have a LinkedIn profile but you might know how powerful it is as a business tool. On this episode of Business: Engaged! we talk with Michael Phelps of In-Direct Information. He’s an expert on using LinkedIn to its fullest capacity for prospecting, relationship building, and job searching. We also feature Courthouse Concepts on our product and service … Read more about this episode...

What is your favorite networking tips? I went on location to my favorite networking group and asked that question. Check in with Business: Engaged! to hear what they had to say. We also highlight Legal Shield’s business plan on our product and service spotlight. They have two levels of business plans that you’ll find useful. You know well that when … Read more about this episode...

One of the great, still largely unexplored frontiers for traditional local businesses is the internet. How do we sell what we do to a wider market? In this episode of Business: Engaged!, we welcome back Josh Clemence of Acumen Brands. We talk about where some of their web properties got their start and what makes them successful. We also … Read more about this episode...

Business valuation isn’t just used when selling your business. It can serve as a periodic checkup. You’ll see the process used to estimate the value of a partners’ ownership and in retirement planning. It is necessary in disputes related to estate value and divorce litigation. This show explores the topic and includes important information such as factors that affect value … Read more about this episode...

It is what Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad calls the business of the 21st century. You might be familiar with brands like Amway, Mary Kay, and Tupperware. But what do you know about the changes in the industry that were made possible by the Internet and social media? This isn’t your grandma’s multi-level marketing organization anymore. There … Read more about this episode...

It seems like almost every problem with a small business owner’s bottom line can be tied to the ability to market the company’s products and services. But how do we choose which tools to use? The Internet has brought us so many new marketing tools. Instead of empowering and equipping us, we often find ourselves paralyzed when we try to … Read more about this episode...

After a 40-year career as a hairdresser, salon owner, and educator, Sara Lou Manning signed the lease for a new business and up for Social Security on the same day. She sold her salon several years earlier but maintained a number of clients while she followed her passion for helping people with hair loss. Instead of retiring though, she opened … Read more about this episode...

Most of my episodes are designed for business owners with at least ten years of business ownership experience under their belt. The topic of this episode is about repurposing what you do to turn it into a new product or service. In this case though, we use the military and space exploration career of Skylab 4 astronaut Bill Pogue to … Read more about this episode...

No workplace is immune to the potential of an employee injury. On this episode of Business: Engaged!, I talk with Steve Joseph LPT of Maximum Performance Spine Sports and Physical Therapy about preventing and addressing workplace injuries. As a licensed physical therapist, he has helped all kinds of patients whether they were injured at home, play, or work or he … Read more about this episode...

If you’ve hired anyone — or heaven forbid looked for a job yourself — in the last few years, you know the recruiting game has changed. On this episode of Business: Engaged!, Jan McCormick Ed D of Job Lingo talks about how and why we make our recruiting decisions. There are plenty of tips in this episode for hiring managers … Read more about this episode...

If you’ve ever wondered why people don’t do what you ask and other puzzling communication questions, this episode is for you. I pull the content for today’s episode on creating meaningful conversation from my book, Currency: Striking Networking Gold in a Relationship Economy. We talk about the importance of getting face-to-face and engaging in two-way, one-on-one conversations with the … Read more about this episode...

You know those times that you wish you had your camera because you would have taken a picture of a moment that might never happen again? I feel the same way about recording interviews. Thanks to technology, I can always whip out my smartphone and take a photo or record an interview. This week’s show is about understanding the decisions … Read more about this episode...

Safe workplaces aren’t just for warehouses and manufacturing facilities. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is chartered with ensuring that companies throughout the United States are working to keep employees safe. A surprise OSHA visit to a business that is violating safety standards and endangering employees can result in thousands of dollars in fines. Our guest on this episode … Read more about this episode...

A chamber of commerce is often the first place a business connects in a community. However, they do more than host networking groups and send out welcome packets. How much do you know about what they do? In this episode of Business: Engaged!, we talk with Raymond Burns and Michael Lindsey of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce in Rogers, … Read more about this episode...

The Hispanic population is the fastest-growing ethnic demographic in the United States. In the last 10 years, they have accounted for more than half of the overall population increase. And in the next five years, they will account for at least 60% of that increase. Hispanics are more inclined to build trustworthy relationships with people and companies that take the … Read more about this episode...

Over twenty years, Eureka Pizza has earned its place as Arkansas’ leading independent pizzeria. Owner Rolf Wilkin today is keeping it local with his nine Northwest Arkansas pizza shops. He talks about the journey to expand and shares his insights. He’ll be the first to tell you that massive growth doesn’t always mean more profit, or, more importantly, quality of … Read more about this episode...

It was 2008 and the writing was on the wall: Kent Rylee’s 20-year business relationship with General Motors was about to change forever. He was faced with many options. Instead, he chose to reinvent his business. While other car dealers faced with the same dilemma were closing their doors, he took a long look at what they could do with … Read more about this episode...

If she should know better, why is she not doing what you want her to do? One of the biggest management challenges is motivating and leading employees to do what we want them to do. The key to addressing performance issues with employees is communicating clear expectations. In this episode of Business: Engaged!, Kelly Riggs of Vmax Performance Group talks … Read more about this episode...

No business owner starts out with any thought of closing his business. The dirty little secret in business is that every company has a life span, no matter what size or format. Products change. Customer needs evolve. Life moves on. Owners need to stay close to shifting conditions and be ready to make tough decisions. In this episode, we chat … Read more about this episode...

So where do you go when you have questions about that next step or even the first step in business ownership? Well, many entrepreneurs turn to SCORE for help. SCORE is a volunteer organization funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration that provides free small business advice. I spent six years with the organization as a counselor although today they … Read more about this episode...

The internet and technology advances have changed the way we start up our businesses. It has changed where and how we work and how we connect to others. In this episode of Business: Engaged!, we talk about the concept of co-working. Never heard of it? I bet you’ve wished for it. Tune in this week to hear entrepreneurship advocate Josh … Read more about this episode...

Business valuation isn’t just used when selling your business. It can serve as a periodic checkup. You’ll see the process used to estimate the value of a partners’ ownership and in retirement planning. It is necessary in disputes related to estate value and divorce litigation. This show explores the topic and includes important information such as factors that affect value … Read more about this episode...

Lifelong business relationships don’t happen with just one encounter. They are forged over a series of meaningful conversations. Networking is a great tool for prospecting but the real gold is found in networking conversations. Your host Carrie Perrien Smith is the author of Currency: Striking Networking Gold in a Relationship Economy. In this show, she shares her secrets to … Read more about this episode...

Only 7% of our message is communicated through words. In a digital word that is dominated by text-only communication, it’s time to re-engage face to face. That one-on-one conversation with where relationships are forged and we get the total communication picture. We welcome performance and training consultant Willie Johnson, the “Ambassador of Potentiality,” to the show. We’ll talk about … Read more about this episode...

If you think the time isn’t right to make a big-time impact in your world, think again. Kim Hodous started making jewelry at her kitchen table and built it into a seven-figure business in less than seven years. Join us to learn the secret to balancing a growing family with a growing business and hiring the right people. She talks … Read more about this episode...