Open For Business

We talk with Joe Zwiebel, President of New England Business Media., about: What is a flat business org chart? Why is flat better for selling? And we role play with Joe Zwiebel selling US on advertising with his online publications.

Issue: Your business model is about how you make money. Rules: Sell products - gross margins rule the day Sell personal services - hourly optimization is key Sell knowledge - licensing and distribution matter Solve a need - Uber has no cars; Alibaba has no inventory Actions: Answer the following questions: What problem do you solve? Is it worth solving? Is anyone else focusing on the problem? Are you better? Will people pay for the answer? Will they pay enough to make it worthwhile? Conclusion: A unique business model that solves a problem and makes money Dissent: Speed to market and resources

Social Media has become CLICK BAIT for business owners getting screwed by consultants. I observe people forgetting the basic tenant of social media, if they ever knew it at all, and that’s is SOCIAL! Engaging with other, sans sales pitch. For this episode I ask my friend Johnny Mac -- owner of Barbarino Nissan and Barbarino Mitsubishi, to visit with me to discuss social media and how he uses it.

At the age of five, Billy Nachman and Hobson Brown were forced into their first collared shirts to attend an all-boys school in New York City. Although initially squirmy and uncomfortable, the boys quickly began to notice the power of the polo: the approving nods from parents, the lingering glances from the ladies... These two lifelong friends have created a brand that is classic but not stuffy. They tell us how they did it.

CEO and Founder of iDevices, Chris Allen, iDevices - started with the invention of the iGrill - one of the first app-enabled devices to be featured in the Apple retail stores way back in 2010, This was the cutting / bleeding edge of the IoT era - the Internet of Things era. Today Chris’ company, iDevices, blends the art and science of app development and hardware infuse to create wondrous new products to make our lives more enjoyable.

Inbound marketing and accurate marketing ROI -- they are like two peas in a pod. Beer prices may go up if fracking messes up the water. Starting an online business? A few bases you need to cover. Customers leaving? A few questions to ask. Brian, Tommy and Ken go far and wide in this episode of Open for Business. Steve Hall from Hubspot was our guest this week (he also run AdRant.com). He wrote a HubSpot blog post about how inbound marketing aligns well with how people make buying decisions. The biggest AHA moment of the conversation -- the alignment really brings to the forefront the ability to get accurate ROI on your inbound marketing, and marketing ROI has been the elusive holy grail forever. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34158/how-inbound-marketing-aligns-with-the-new-purchase-loop?source=Blog_Email_[How%20Inbound%20Marketin] Brewers in Philly are in a panic. Fracking is coming to PA and if it pollutes the water it pollutes the beer. Pizza in Philly will never taste the same. http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/dell-poncet/2013/02/new-reason-to-oppose-fracking-is.html?ana=e_abd Going online with your business? 1) make sure your domain is available, 2) decide on open source or custom built for the website, 3) start small and build. http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/broadway_17th/2013/02/lessons-learned-from-launching-an.html?ana=e_abd&page=all Have you ever asked a customer the following -- How will you know we are doing a good job? What does success look like? These are just two of the questions to consider if you are losing customers and are not sure why. http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/broadway_17th/2013/02/im-losing-customers-and-i-dont-know.html?ana=e_abd&page=all Open for Business #67 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour.

Super Bowl ads for $3.9M, social media hijackers, inbound marketing bubbles?, and a message of endearment from LinkedIn. All this and more to help you get and keep customers, on the latest edition of OFB. Brian, Tom and Ken explore the mania of advertising tied to the Super Bowl, specifically looking into some marketing stories tied to the game. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34138/the-top-5-super-bowl-themed-marketing-stories-of-the-week?source=Blog_Email_[The%20Top%205%20Super%20Bowl] And did you know that you can dunk Oreo’s in the dark and radiologists can operate in the dark? These are just two of the brands that “newsjacked” the Super Bowl blackout through really fast and pretty creative use of Twitter. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34141/10-innovative-social-media-newsjacks-of-the-super-bowl-power-outage?source=Blog_Email_[10%20Innovative%20Social] Want to go to a game? Be a good customer. Companies spent over $20 billion on sports tickets last year; a 25% increase over two years ago. More than 75% of the tickets went to customers. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/01/31/businesses-shelled-out-20b-on-sports.html?ana=e_abd With February 14th around the corner, LinkedIn offers up 7 do’s and 7 don’ts in using LinkedIn. Follow them and you will definitely endear yourself to all of your connections. http://www.linkedin.com/groups/LinkedIn-Status-Updates-7-Dos-54066.S.205646647?qid=213fe6da-08bc-4555-b441-f0516a2955be&trk=group_most_popular-0-b-ttl&goback=.gmp_54066 And finally, no one is still around from the “tulip mania” over 100 years ago in Holland, but lots of us remember the dot.com bubble and the burst heard around the world. There’s thought among a lot of smart people that the inbound marketing mania is a bubble waiting to burst. You decide. http://www.mpdailyfix.com/the-folly-of-inbound-marketing/ Open for Business #66 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour.

Ken, Brian and Tommy “fly off” on the airlines and airports and then segue into an enlightening conversation about the revolution going on in our universities. And speaking of revolutions, Facebook appears to be, at the very least, redefining the rules of the social media game leaving some “users: feeling that Facebook is being rather anti-social with some of their new restrictions . http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34108/facebook-puts-their-foot-down-and-other-marketing-stories-of-the-week?source=Blog_Email_[Facebook%20Puts%20Their%20] All three OFB hosts seem to agree that Seth Godin provides wonderful commentary on a wide variety of subjects. In one of his recent blogs, he reminds us why most ,if not all ,of us hate airports and air travel. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/01/ten-things-organizations-can-learn-from-airports-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29 Speaking of OFB “favs” Tom Friedman’s recent article in the New York Times about the revolution going on in our universities makes you realize and even believe that great things are on the horizon here in our country. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/opinion/sunday/friedman-revolution-hits-the-universities.html?hp Open for Business #65 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour .

Short exploratory to marketing hell courtesy of HubSpot, wonder why Facebook needs a search engine, and discuss intrapreneurs vs. entrepreneurs. References to Dante aside, HubSpot says there are nine circles of marketing hell. From ugly content to bad automation to interrupting way too much, we take a look at all nine circles and how they hurt your marketing efforts. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34055/the-9-circles-of-marketing-hell-where-will-you-spend-eternity?source=Blog_Email_[The%209%20Circles%20of%20Mar] Facebook is about to introduce a new search engine called Facebook Graph Search. The foundation of any search will be what matters to someone in the context of their social life -- people, pictures, places, interests. It depends on the data entered in Facebook, and is limited to the data entered in Facebook. The jury is skeptical but still out on this one. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34058/facebook-announces-new-social-search-feature-called-graph-search?source=Blog_Email_[Facebook%20Announces%20N] Ownership has its censorship privileges. CBS removed the best in show award given to Hopper at the CES show in Vegas. Hopper is owned by Dish who is in a big legal hassle with CBS. CBS owns CNET who runs the CES show. Hence, Hopper gets no rewards in CBS’ sandbox. http://adage.com/article/special-report-ces/cnet-disqualifies-dish-s-hopper-ces-awards/239134/ From the inside they are known as intrapreneurs. On their own they are known as entrepreneurs. In today’s business climate the successful ones are valued, even revered. Why? Fast Company looks at intrapreneurs, Inc.com looks at entrepreneurs, and Guy Kawaski adds the voice of experience. We talk about all of it. http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681203/to-change-a-company-you-need-intrapreneurs http://www.inc.com/steve-tobak/great-entrepreneurs..html?goback=.gde_4577943_member_198444328 http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/the_art_of_intr.html Open for Business #64 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour.

http:/www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/ofb.s3.amazonaws.com/OFB63_TheTalkingStick.mp3 On this edition of OFB Brian, Tommy and Ken take a crowd sourced funded trip to Vegas, visit another innovative online retailer, and explore how collaboration works in Silicon Valley, but doesn’t work in Washington. HOT POTATO NEWS: Crowd sourced funding is still wide open because the SEC has not acted yet. But they will. CrowdTilt (another Kickstarter funding site) tapped their crowd while the getting was good. They got $62,000 in crowd funding for a killer private jet, limo laden New Year’s Eve trip and party in Vegas. Cynical, smart, or just too drunk to care. You decide. http://www.businessinsider.com/crowdtilt-new-years-eve-party-2013-1 Hall and Madden make custom clothing for men. They saw in today’s Mad Men dress up era $1,000+ suits teamed up with off-the-rack ill fitting shirts. Another innovative online retailer is born. Order a custom fitted shirt online for $50. Over 1,000 paid subscribers in just the first few months. http://www.businessinsider.com/hall-and-madden-business-story-2013-1 Tom Friedman in his latest NY Times column talks about collaboration. He highlights how collaboration works in the one of the most competitive arenas in the world -- Silicon Valley. He contrasts that with Washington DC where the word collaboration is considered treasonous. Friedman notes that if Congress were a start-up it would fail and the investors would be left with nothing. Why -- the inability of the partners to collaborate. We dive deep on the power of collaboration, blasting Congress for the power grab and exploring why collaboration works and how it enables 1+1=4. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/opinion/sunday/friedman-collaborate-vs-collaborate.html?hp Open for Business #63 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour.

Smart marketing is smart marketing, regardless of the venue. On this edition of OFB Brian, Tommy and Ken, along with our guest Chris Reimer explored some applications of smart marketing, and some not so smart marketing moves as well. Our first Hot Potato was ReferralKey.com. Describing itself as an online community of connected people sending lots of referrals to each other, we all concluded that what they really do is SPAM people and offer little in the way of new business opportunities. Our guest Chris Reimer wrote an especially insightful and funny blog entry on the topic -- @RizzoTees Chris Reimer Blog about Referral Key Our next Hot Potato stop was WalMart who is going somewhere no retailer or channel partner has gone before -- they are discounting iPhones and iPads. We initially thought this demonstrated the power of WalMart as a discount retailer. But maybe not. There’s real value in hearing Brian’s astute insight about channel conflicts and this being a somewhat desperate strategic move by WalMart to counter Amazon and other online retailers stealing their business. http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/walmart-cuts-prices-on-some-iphones-and-ipads/?emc=eta1 Our third Hot Potato was time of the year appropriate -- Resoultions -- do they work? We pretty much concluded they do not. Tune in to hear our clinical analysis of this annual and always important debate. Our focused discussion was about smart marketing and how it really applies anywhere. The in thing in marketing is social media, inbound marketing, and the connection to the website. A recent article highlighted some well known websites and how they exhibited brilliant home page design. What they actually exhibited was smart marketing, whether it’s on a home page, in a mail piece, in an ad, or face-to-face in conversation. The principles espoused in the article are below and they don’t change; just the venue changes. Clarity on who you are and what you do Messages that are important and valuable to your target audience Compelling Value Easy to understand Call to action Relevant and timely http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34006/15-Examples-of-Brilliant-Homepage-Design.aspx#i xzz2H1Ls8uy9 Open for Business #62 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour.

-Which do you like better ALL INCLUDED pricing, or ALA CARTE pricing? -What company lost millions in dollars and customers, then gave their CEO a 100% pay increase? -And How to raise prices for your products or services and not lose business Guest Host: Lon Seidman - Host of Behind the Video and Lead Writer of CTTechJunkie.com, but also a partner in the Safety Zone, his family’s glove and safety equipment business, SafetyZone.com. *******HOT POTATO NEWS 1. Is Ala Carte ruining the Airline Industry? Add on fees initially kept the cost of the air ticket down. They have creeped up, along with increased fees. Is air travel a unique industry for pricing? http://www.telegram.com/article/20121230/NEWS/112309994/1002/business Lon: No fees on Southwest Everyone else subsidzes elite flyers on major airlines. They pay no fees. 2. Double you’re prices and see the CEO double his pay. NetFlix CEO Reed Hastings gets $4million now. $10-$20 monthly subs or $8/mo. We can complain, but only cable TV providers might listen -- and laugh. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-28/netflix-doubles-ceo-hastings-yearly-compensation-to-4-million.html Lon: Consumers need to demand more, people complain but don’t change their behavior which is why companies get away with this stuff. *************FOCUSED DISCUSSION LINKS At some point, we all have to raise prices for our products or services. This is a lose-lose situation: I hate having to re-explain or re-sell why I’m valuable at a certain price, and certainly my customers our advertisers here don’t JUMP at the opportunity to spend more. Here are some tips: Inc Magazine (Ken Cook contributor) http://www.inc.com/tom-searcy/raise-prices-without-losing-customers.html Entrepreneur Magazine http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219752 OpenForum.com http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/money/article/5-ways-to-increase-prices-without-losing-your-customer-1/ SBA.gov http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/community-blogs/small-business-cents/how-raise-your-prices-or-rates-without-losing-c Small Business Success Blog | blog.score.org http://blog.score.org/2012/sba/4-tips-for-raising-your-prices-without-losing-business/ Tell us what you think. Email Tommy or Ken at OpenForBusiness@OnTheHORN.com. Open for Business – Seven days of Fun 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

In 2012 we saw wonderful marketing from clever producers and agencies. Here's a rundown of the top campaigns in 2012. What can we steal from their great ideas? Happy New Year! Tommy and Ken

When it comes to content everyone wants a virus, or better said, wants their content to go viral. We’ll explore how to do that. Plus, warm your heart this holiday season with a feel good story out of rural Minnesota. Give holiday cheers at the signs of the resurgence of American Manufacturing. Give holiday jeers to the hyped language overused on LinkedIn. Joe Leuken is a retiring grocer in Bemidji, MN. After 46 years Joe is giving up his multi-location grocery business and plans to travel the world with his wife. What makes this story great is the disposition of the stores. Joe gave them to his 400 person employee family. Listen in to the whole story; it will make you feel good. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/49984095/ns/today-good_news/#.UMH19Kz4KSo Apple is evolving into a good American Corporate Citizen. They are opening an iMac production plant in the U.S. sometime in 2013. New jobs and further evidence of the resurgence of American Manufacturing. http://www.nbcnews.com/business/macs-made-usa-could-jump-start-american-manufacturing-1C7475426 The english language can be elegant one minute and crass the next. On LinkedIn the crass side seems to be winning sometimes. Here are the Top Ten Most Overused Words on LinkedIn. http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/225165 Discussion Item -- Content Going Viral Be a thought leader. Content is King. Content drives traffic. All great marketing sentiments. What completes the cycle is developing content that actually attracts visitors, again and again. For the hundreds of thousands of content providers, so few are reaping rewards. We’re going to explore some tips to reverse that situation and to help you get your online content to go viral. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33906/6-tips-for-creating-content-that-spreads-naturally?source=Blog_Email_[6%20Tips%20for%20Creating%20] http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-Chances-of-Going-Viral http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217695# http://socialmediatoday.com/zekecamusio/559577/how-create-viral-content Tell us what you think. Email Tommy or Ken at OpenForBusiness@OnTheHORN.com. Open for Business – Seven days of Fun 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

An interesting mix of items this week -- A 30 year fan offers surprising suggestion to HP; Burn your business plan before it burns you; Thumbs up / thumbs down on the best business books of 2012. Plus, some insights and homage to Zig Ziglar, a man who inspired generations of successful salespeople. We begin with some Hot Potato News items …. We talked last time about another multi-billion dollar write off HP endured with the purchase of Autonomy. Bill George, the former CEO of Medtronic and a 30 year fan of HP offers a stark and surprising suggestion on what HP’s next strategy should be (hint -- breaking up is hard to do). http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/to-save-hewlett-packard-break-it-in-two/ Write a business plan. It’s the roadmap for where you are going and how to get there. Alexander Osterwalder in his Wall Street Journal Accelerator Blog has a different suggestion -- Burn your business plan. “No business plan survives first contact with customers.” There is an alternate path worth exploring. http://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2012/11/26/burn-your-business-plan-before-it-burns-you/ We consider Fast Company’s list of the Top 12 Business Books of 2012, and offer some frank Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down assessments. http://www.fastcompany.com/3003283/best-business-books-2012-find-fulfillment-get-productive-and-create-healthy-habits Discussion Item -- Remembering Zig Ziglar Zig Ziglar died last week at age 86. He was a world renowned motivational speaker and sales trainer. Brian, Tom and Ken remember Ziglar through his own words, more accurately quotes for which he is well known. Our three favorites: Tommy -- “You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success and endowed with the seeds of greatness”. Brian -- “Timid salesmen have skinny kids.” Ken -- “Stop selling. Start helping.” Here’s some more -- http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33889/17-inspirational-sales-marketing-quotes-to-honor-zig-ziglar?source=Blog_Email_[17%20Inspirational%20Sal] http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/11/28/zig-ziglar-10-quotes-that-can-change-your-life/ Tell us what you think. Email Tommy or Ken at OpenForBusiness@OnTheHORN.com. Open for Business – Seven days of Fun 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

Hot Potato News -- iPad owned 88% of Black Friday deals LINK Arrests made at Walmart on Friday for snooty strikers LINK IPOs in a deep freeze for now LINK HOSTS: Brian Parker: Chief HORN at OnTheHORN.com Jeffery Powers: Jeffrey Powers - Owner and podcaster at Geekazine.com - Started 5 years ago this month. 3 podcasts - Geek Smack!, iPad app show iPad365 and Day in Tech History - Daily rundown of technology history 365 days a year. Also just started a new website - How to Record Podcasts - where he help people with their shows. Salvatore Presutti: Sal Presutti immigrant entrepreneur, real estate developer, history and economics teacher and all around problem solver. SalPresutti@yahoo.com Big Story -- Apple’s next Big Thing! Rumors and wants from the blogosphere! Apple and AI Apple TV Redux iPhone 5s – Do we care about that – Samsung hugeness vs the iPhone Thumb gauge – does anyone use there phone with just one hand – impact on driving and texting? 23x More likely to get into accident. Passbook vs Wallet ** Is Passbook dying too soon? Is payment the next big Change the world idea from Apple – Influence from itunes?

[audio http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/ofb.s3.amazonaws.com/OFB56_SayThankyouToCustomers.mp3] OFB 56 | Saying thank you should not be reserved just for Thanksgiving, HP has no thanks for Autonomy, WalMart survived “no thanks” from workers, SAC Capital are just thankless bastards. On this edition of OFB Tom, Ken and Brian get in the spirit of the season and discuss saying thanks. First, some Hot Potato News items …. HP took another black eye in their strategy with a writeoff of $8B of the $11B acquisition of Autonomy, alleging accounting irregularities and fraud. Can you find a more dysfunctional Board and Management team in what was a great technology success? http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomgroenfeldt/2012/11/20/hp-and-autonomy-buyers-remorse-or-worse/ OUR WalMart (Organization United for Respect at WalMart) staged demonstrations at WalMarts throughout the country. The impact -- not that much. Maybe WalMart needs to learn more about saying thank you. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/22/walmart-strike-dallas_n_2175697.html SAC Capital is in hot water again with the SEC, this time for a $276M insider trading windfall. Mathew Martoma is the trader who was arrested. Steven Cohen is the owner of the fund and is under SEC investigation for the umpteenth time. Maybe this time it will stick? http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-21/business/sns-rt-us-sac-insidertrading-falloutbre8ak1h6-20121121_1_cohen-and-sac-insider-illicit-trades Discussion Item -- Saying Thank You The Thanksgiving season is a time when we all pause, take a breath, and reflect. We give thanks for all of the good things in our lives. Focusing solely on business (we are OFB after all), we should all take time to say thanks. Say thanks to family and friends. They support you so you can continue on. Say thanks to your employees. Without them you cease to exist. Say thanks to customers. Without them you cease to exist. And most importantly, don’t have the business say thank you. Get personal. You say thank you. Tell us what you think. How do you make 30 seconds work for you? Email Tommy or Ken at OpenForBusiness@OnTheHORN.com. Open for Business – Seven days of Fun 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

An American icon rises, Branson is audacious, and landmines and cliffs. On this edition of OFB Tom, Ken and Brian revisit a favorite from our childhood with the Radio Flyer wagon. Sir Richard Branson discusses the need for audacity. Ken rants on the dismal NFC East. And we look at the post election forecasts, fiscal cliffs and all. First, some Hot Potato News items …. The iconic Radio Flyer Wagon -- A Different Kind of “American Radio” success story http://www.inc.com/magazine/201211/reshma-memon-yaqub/backstory-radio-flyer.html Sir Richard Branson talks about how entrepreneurs need to be audacious http://www.inc.com/leigh-buchanan-and-andrew-maclean/richard-branson-virgin.html?nav=special Ken rants on the NFC East where the Super Bowl Champ Giants, America’s team Dallas, Philadelphia the next great dynasty, and wunderkind RGIII and the Redskins are all underperforming. Discussion Item -- Post election forecasts and predictions The election is over and the government is relatively the same as it was four years ago. We have a Democrat as President, a Democratic controlled Senate, and a Republican controlled House. They couldn’t get along or get anything done for the last four years. Will it be different going forward? We dive into the various factors that help answer that question, both in the short term and the longer term. The impending fiscal cliff from sequestration A tax code that is old, antiquated, and in the way The folly of corporate tax rates and how they slow economic growth Some softening of rhetoric from President Obama and John Boehner A President that does not have another election in front of him And most importantly, an electorate that won’t put up with more of the same Tell us what you think. How do you make 30 seconds work for you? Email Tommy or Ken at OpenForBusiness@OnTheHORN.com. Open for Business – Seven days of Fun 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

Connecting – when you first meet do you elevator pitch, sell, connect, ask, tell …? How good are your first-impression-making skills? We explore The Art of Making a Connection on this edition of Open For Business. But first, some Hot Potato News items …. Oh Sandy!! The storm was devastating, disrupting lives and destroying billions in property. The aftermath in terms of long term economic impact could be worse. Read more … http://www.marketplace.org/topics/generic/weather-economy/hurricane-sandy-could-cost-billions-damages Stories from the Storm -- Read how one CEO, in order to ensure service to their clients, carried diesel fuel up 17 flights of stairs so their generator kept running. http://betabeat.com/2012/11/squarespace-diesel-peer1-wall-street-hurricane-sandy-data-center/ Happy Feet at Penguin House -- In response to a rapidly changing publishing industry Penguin Publishing and Random House have merged. They now control 25% of all English speaking published books on the planet. http://qz.com/20988/citibank-and-goldman-sachs-are-working-from-home-today/ Discussion Item -- The Art of the Connection Sales training 101 instructs that you should develop and practice your elevator pitch because you never know when you will meet your ideal prospect. You need to be ready. But do you need to be so rehearsed? Do you need an elevator pitch? In the latest edition of OFB we explore the Art of the Connection. And our conclusions may surprise you. Authenticity is more important than rehearsal. Connect to the person; focus on who, not what. Listening well and appropriate questions count much more than talking about yourself. Don’t elevator pitch, and especially don’t sell. Think about 30 minutes, not 30 seconds, and tee up the next meeting. Tell us what you think. How do you make 30 seconds work for you? Email Tommy or Ken at OpenForBusiness@OnTheHORN.com. Open for Business – Seven days of Fun 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 VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPDNq_r_6B0&feature=plcp

There is a thin line between confidence and hubris. This is true is what ever we do, be especially in selling professional services. The top eleven business writers (Seth Godin, Alan Weiss, Keith Ferrazzi and others), have teamed up for a focused look at this most delicate endeavor: How to Sell Professional Services. Is it true that products are easier to sell than services? A product itself is has no ego to contend with in the selling cycle. This avoidance-of-arrogance makes the process concentrated on the features and benefits of the product. Might it be said it is easier to sell someone else, than yourself? By selling someone else we can at least remove one degree away from egoism. Tips from Top Thinkers: Seth Godin - It's All About Trust Jill Konrath - Stop Selling and Start Making a Difference Alan Weiss - If You're Talking About Price, You've Lost Control of the Discussion Paige Arnof-Fenn - The "Real Thing" | Why Authenticity Rules Michael W. McLaughlin - Mastring the Art the Client Interview Paul Dunay - Do You Really Care About Your Client? No, Really? Keith Ferrazzi - Do Your Homework Frank Stasiowski - You Must have a Controversial Opinion and Tell People Sam Reese - Understand the Client's Concept Larry Bodine - Listening Your Way to New Business Mike Schultz - Sell with H.P.I (Hustle. Passion. Intensity.) Tell us what you think, email Tommy or Ken at OpenForBusiness@OnTheHORN.com! Click Here to Subscribe in iTunes: Open for Business http://youtu.be/Gep_uR5btoE

[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 and Making Money Online Matt Service is a 20+ year veteran of the online world. He founded Service Internet Solutions to help clients navigate the complexities of being online and making money at it. Matt helped us explore the options, obstacles and opportunities that exist today, and how to leverage your online presence for business and a strong ROI. Brian Parker, Ken Cook and Open for Business #52 – 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

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 you. Yet Congress has decreed that iPhone’s (and other smartphones) can spy on you because the manufacturers are based in China -- specifically Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-07/huawei-zte-provide-opening-for-china-spying-report-says The Allure of the Franchise -- Here are 10 Things Every Franchise Owner Should Know http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/60746 Here are Five Reasons Why Franchise Ownership isNo Longer the American Dream http://www.forbes.com/sites/caroltice/2012/05/23/5-reasons-why-franchising-is-not-american-dream/ And lastly, the do's and don'ts of franchising. With franchising, just like any other business, success is far from guaranteed. But here are a few tips to better your odds. http://money.cnn.com/2007/08h/07/smbusiness/franchising_dosanddonts/?postversion=2007080803 Tom Russo, Brian Parker, Ken Cook and Open for Business #51 – 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

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 easier. If you don’t do #1 well, the rest are almost impossible to do. INC Magazine Link Other Great References: http://blog.springmetrics.com/2012/06/how-to-love-your-customers/ Tom Russo, Brian Parker, Ken Cook and Open for Business #50 – 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

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 important. While good implementation can overcome a bad strategy, poor implementation can quickly kill a good strategy. Tune in and hear Tom Russo, Brian Parker, and Ken Cook explore these marketing mistakes, and more. Open for Business #48 – 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

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 also completes the circular nature of Social Media in that it connects with Facebook and Twitter, feeding each other with news and information. If you’ve ever thought about how to best use Social Media, tune in and hear how LinkedIn and other tools can be some of your best marketing friends. Open for Business #47 – 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

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 valued. Finally, Tom Friedman takes us to Rethink Robotics, a MA robot maker who uses talent across the world to make robots that remake how companies get stuff done. Tune in and hear how the job market and opportunities are evolving. Open for Business #45 – more great information than you could hope for in less than an hour.

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 while you do it.

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. These services essentially “comb” the web looking for anything and everything that has been written about you and or your business. Brian thinks it's a scam. Find out why.

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 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

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 in and hear what great customer service looks like, feels like, and sounds like. Open for Business #37 – 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

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 market to them. And underlying all of these marketing efforts is Bruce’s dedication to strategic planning. Strategic planning is a big part of the reason why the two practices continue to experience growth and because of it, as Bruce shares, they are adding new services on a semi-regular basis. Bruce epitomizes that you don’t need a degree in marketing to be able to market with the best of them. No matter what your business is this “Open For Business” segment will motivate you to hunker down and teach yourself how to market and promote your business more effectively and subsequently successfully!

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 in CT makes it painfully evident that passion and curiosity are not at the forefront of the state’s initiatives to foster start-ups. Tune into to Tom Russo and Ken Cook’s fascinating conversation; hear about the birth of potentially the next Facebook; hear how the start-up environment in CT cannot sustain what Fipeo needs. Subscribe in iTunes to Open for Business at http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/open-for-business/id533309378?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

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 talked to Congress and now everyone has their hand in the mix. Legislation is flying about and exactly how things will turn out is yet to be determined. Tune into Open for Business as Tom Russo, Ken Cook and Bob Metzler explore all of it, and provide you the most informed and up to date information.

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.