Podcast appearances and mentions of shane simmons

‍Is your dental practice ready to break free from the ordinary and embrace new marketing strategies that truly make a difference? This episode features Shane Simmons from Crimson Media Group, who walks us through unique approaches that transform how dentists connect with their local communities. By leveraging the power of local Facebook groups, Shane shares the secrets to building meaningful relationships and promoting dental services through community engagement. Whether it's through exciting collaborations like organizing yoga sessions or axe throwing events with fellow local business owners, the insights shared in this conversation will open your eyes to the potential of grassroots marketing.But it's not just about joining any group—it's about authentically positioning yourself as a part of the community. Shane shares the value of engaging with these groups using a personal profile to foster trust and connection. These small steps can lead to significant benefits, including cross-promotion with businesses boasting strong social media influence. To cap it all off, Shane extends an exclusive offer to the audience—a complimentary marketing analysis aimed at unveiling the intricacies of local advertising and helping you position your practice for maximum impact.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Innovative marketing strategies tailored for dental practices.How to effectively use local Facebook groups for community engagement.The benefits of collaborating with local businesses for mutual growth.Why personal profiles are better than business pages for building trust online.How Shane's marketing analysis can help you understand your local market.Discover new marketing insights that could reshape your dental practice—tune in now!‍(This episode originally aired on December 26th, 2022)‍‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Website: crimsonmediagroup.comFacebook: facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing‍Love the Podcast? Let Us Know How We're Doing on Apple Podcasts!‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Episodes, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey Shane. So talk to us about uncommon marketing methods. Tell me one or a couple tactics or strategies that will help bring in new patients. Shane: Yeah, so Michael, we've got one that a everybody can do. So if you've ever been in, you know, these local, like Facebook groups in your communities, you'll find that there's a Facebook group for everybody, moms, dads, but one in particular is small businesses in the area, and it's usually like shop small business or shop, you know, the community that you're living in.And one of the things that we're starting to have clients do is get into these groups and find someone who has a small business in that group that's in your community that could come to your office and do some sort of, Event or just like team building exercise at the practice. so I'll get where, how this kind of comes into getting new patients in a bit.Mm-hmm. . But the first way that you can look at this, is like as a team building opportunity. So think of people like, Yoga instructors or think of someone who maybe teaches people how to meditate. Invite that person to do a session at your office for your team one day. And one, it's gonna be a great team building exercise.It's gonna be something that's beneficial to, you know, everybody on the team. But what you can then do is say, Hey, we would love for, you know, you to post this on your Facebook and your Instagram account. You know, talking about how you had this session here. We'll share. To our audience that way in case you know, people can go check out your yoga studio or whatever the case may be, but then if they're sharing that they came to your practice, they're going to be putting your practice in front of their entire audience too.So it's obviously ideal. To find somebody who has a decent social media following, like, you probably wouldn't wanna do this with a yoga instructor, or somebody who teaches medication who's not on social media. Mm-hmm. . But, finding someone who has an audience and, and cross promoting with each other, um, through that.But then the second piece of this, which is, you know, really the cool thing is if you're in with the Facebook group where you found that individual, you can then, Pictures and videos of that day where that yoga instructor or whoever came to the practice and give them a shout out and tag them in their business in that post saying, Hey, we wanna thank, you know Michael's yoga studio for coming to our dental practice and Rancho Cucamonga and doing a full day, you know, or a half day session or whatever the case is.It's like definitely go check them out. And oh, by the way, if you guys need a dentist in the area, we would love to, be your dental home. So it's a way that you can promote yourself, but while doing so, you're promoting another business and you're not going to get kicked out of the Facebook group because it's not like you're just going in there.And dropping a promotion, it's like you used somebody's services in that group. You supported another local business. So it looks, you know, it shows that you're supporting the community while also just putting yourself out there that, hey, you know, we're also here. We would love to, to help those in the community.So that's really what we're starting to find is Almost like a ground marketing technique really, but just doing it through these Facebook groups, and again, there's so many different options that you could do with this. You could do an onsite, somewhere else where you actually go and do like, a obstacle course.You know, somebody like that owns like an obstacle course thing in the area, whatever it is. I know one thing that's like really popular right now in the Midwest, I don't know if, it's like nationally. Ax throwing is like a thing Okay. That a lot of people like go and do now. So, you know, it's, it's all about just how can you get and support other businesses in the area and then talk to that person and ask about how can we, cross promote each other to our audiences to drive more business.And the great thing about it is, it's free with the exception of whatever you may pay to get the person to come out and do the event, or if you go do. , activity at their place of business. Yeah. Okay. Michael: So then how would you recommend we go about doing this? From step one, we're going inside the Facebook group.We're looking betting, and then we're like, okay, let's see who has a good following. So would that take some time, I would assume, right. . Shane: Yeah. So, yeah, it's just a little bit of groundwork at the beginning. Mm-hmm. . So the first thing you wanna do is, you know, go to Facebook and search small business and then type in whatever, city, town you live in.That's the first thing. And join all of those groups, um, and you would join those from your personal, profile, your Facebook profile, but make sure it has. Listed on your profile, owner, dentist at such and such practice, so that that's listed in there. So first thing you wanna do is join the group.Once you've joined the groups, you can then search the group members. And the first thing that I would personally do I would scroll through the Facebook group and look at. Who's actively posting in there? You know, who are people that are regularly posting or promoting something in that group and looking at what it is that they, do.Are they real estate agents? Are they gym owners? what is it that is their profession? If you find somebody who's really active and you can. , that person could really benefit. my team, we could do something fun with them, have them come out to the office, do a day session, whatever the case is. Then that would be the person, you're trying to, reach. So I would just scroll through the group, look at, see who the active posters are, and then just make a list of, how could we use this service? Could we use this service? And, and then, you know, from there you can check out their.Page profile and see how many followers they have, and then it's from there, Michael, it's just about sending a message to them, on that group and introducing yourself as a fellow small business owner in the community who had saw one of their posts and was like, Hey, I would love to, do this or have my team do this.How can we, get set up with you guys and maybe promote each other, um, in the community. So it's really kind of three steps joining the. Researching the group and finding out, who would be a good fit to kind of partner with. Mm-hmm. and then just reaching out to that person and so far the offices that have done this that we work with, nobody's been turned down because everybody wants to partner with another local business if they can to help mutually benefit each other. Michael: Yeah. Do you think they should also kind of like once they come in, let's just say it's like the ACT's throwing, right? You go to them. We ask like, Hey, is the manager here or the owner here, kind of thing. Like that. Or, Shane: that's a great question, Michael.Usually what we're finding as of right now at least, is it's usually the owners or like the main, manager, branch manager, who is like the member of these groups. Mm-hmm. , um, because they're the actively, the ones that are trying to. Grow their, footprint in the community. So if for these smaller businesses, it's usually, you know, the owners that, that we're seeing in the groups.So it's a lot easier to, you know, be talking to the, the main person rather than going to their website and then having to see, you know, hey, who's the owner or the manager and contacting them. That way you may have a hard time getting through. that initial gatekeeper, but if you're reaching out to the owner directly on Facebook and you'll be able to find that out, you know, obviously by clicking on their profile and it should say if they're the owner slash operator or whatever the case is of mm-hmm.such and such business. Michael: I like how you mentioned join from the personal Facebook because that, I mean, I get that question.Everybody gives that question like, should we, they wanna join with their like business Facebook? Why is that Shane: not a good idea? Yeah, because I think we're the business. if you create, you know, business page and you try to join through the business group, it just doesn't have that personal connection that, you're looking for.And it can sometimes raise red flags with group admins. I mean, you know, Michael, you're group admin. It can raise red flags of us. This person just gonna come in and spam the group, nobody wants that who's running one of these Facebook groups. So when you join in from your personal profile, it's showing that you're actually there trying to. Meaningful connections. You're not afraid to hide your face right, or hide behind the business, and you're just more likely to be looked at as like a legitimate person or poster contributor to that group, rather than going in and joining through the business page where in that case there's just no personal, touch to that.Michael: Yeah, I can see that a hundred percent. Awesome. And then so when we go in there, we're talking to them, let's just say we're going in there, talking to them and then, The owner's like, Hey, yeah, yeah, come on in. Should we do something where're like, Hey, if your employees Or like, wait and then have them, you know, until you guys interact more.What? What do you Shane: think? Yeah, no, I'm glad you asked this because we would, suggest, or the way we're suggesting it right now is go in, you know, u utilize their service, whatever the case is, kind of use that the first time. And, and that's kind of it. but then follow up, a month down the road and saying something like, you know, Hey, we just wanna say how much we appreciated you guys.Maybe you drop off. to go whitening boxes, you know, crest whitening strips, something along those lines to the, business and to the group, and put some membership. If you have a membership plan, which hopefully you do in the practice, practice, put some membership plan, graphics or a QR code that goes to your membership plan in that gift box as well.And so when you give that to the, the manager there, let them know, you know, Hey, we just really enjoyed, you know, utilizing your service. Obviously, you know, we're another small business in the area. If you don't have, currently any like dental insurance that you're offering your team, because, you know, we understand small businesses, a lot of them don't have that.here's an option for the people who work here where they can come to our office and join this membership plan. And so that's a way where you can then start to. Build that, relationship a little bit more, taking it to the next level and kind of showing them how you can, you with their team and, and provide those type of benefits.But I would say wait at least a month after you've kind of really connected with that person, utilized their services already. That way it doesn't look like you're trying to get something from them. and that's it. You know, you want to look at this as, you know, how can we show them we're wanting to utilize their services as much as possible, we value them. And at that point, reciprocity just comes into play where they're gonna wanna be able to do whatever they can for you to help promote you and your business, um, because you've shown support to. . Michael: Yeah. Awesome man. Awesome. I appreciate this, Shane, and I appreciate your time and if anyone has further questions, you can definitely find 'em on the Dental Marketer Society Facebook group, or where can they reach out to you directly?Shane: Yeah, no. So they can, uh, always find us@crimsonmediagroup.com. It's a great way to reach out to us, through that platform. And yeah, we'd be happy to answer any questions you have about your current marketing or what marketing maybe we, you wanna explore doing, you know, definitely reach out to us and we'd be happy to be a resource.Michael: Yeah. And real quick, you, y'all still do the free analysis, right? For. Shane: Yes. So we do, just for Michael's audience here, we do a free marketing analysis for, any practice owners in this group. So we'll go through, we'll look at, what people are looking for when they're, when they're searching for a dentist, who's advertising in the area, what are they advertising? That way you get a really good glimpse of the kind of landscape in your community, and it's just really great insight, if anything. So, yeah, if you wanna check out. what that's all about. You can reach out to us through, again, crimson mediagroup.com and just let us know in the comments that you'd like to request a marketing analysis and, uh, we'd be happy to to do that for you.Michael: Awesome. So guys, that's gonna be the first link in the show notes below, so go check it out, get your free analysis and shin. Thank you so much for being with me on this Monday morning marketing episode. Thanks Michael.

Shane Simmons is the Senior Director IT Security, Global Lending Services LLC. As a seasoned IT executive with over a decade of experience, he specializes in driving cybersecurity and information technology strategies that transform organizations. His expertise as both a Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) uniquely positions him to lead comprehensive digital transformation efforts while ensuring robust cybersecurity frameworks that protect critical assets and drive business outcomes.

If you're in the digital marketing agency space and are eager to scale to seven figures, then today's blog post is a must-read. We're going behind the scenes with Shane Simmons of Crimson Media, a member of our Seven Figure Agency program, who has managed to build a highly successful seven-figure agency catering [...] The post Scaling Success in the Dental Niche: An Agency Success Interview with Shane Simmons appeared first on Seven Figure Agency.

‍(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our listeners a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍‍In this week's Monday Morning Marketing episode, join us as we cultivate a deeper understanding of the world of Google Ads with our guest, Shane Simmons. Discover how a laser-focused Google Ad campaign will help you truly stand out in today's fiercely competitive market. We unravel the art of campaign precision, emphasizing the value of targeting specific keywords related to one core service, as opposed to casting a wide net. Shane guides us through the essential steps, from implementing call tracking to calculate your cost per patient, to setting a reasonable budget (hint: expect to invest AT LEAST $1,000 per month for significant impact, depending on your location). We dissect the metrics that matter most, including cost per click, click-through rate, and conversion tracking. Plus, learn the secret sauce of creating a dedicated landing page with key details prominently displayed. ‍Tune in and gain the insights you need to dominate your Google Ads game and elevate your marketing strategy to new heights. Don't miss out on this invaluable episode with Shane!‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Website: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/‍Other Mentions and Links:Google MapsGoogle AdsGoogle Local Service AdsFacebook Ads‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey, Shane. So talk to us about Google ads. How can we utilize this or what advice suggestions or methods can you give us that will help actually attract new patients through Google ads? Shane: Yeah, michael, so with google ads, these are great because these are people, Doing a search looking for a dentist or a dental service in their community So you're really looking at for the most part pretty serious in market patients at this point, so With that being said the number one piece of advice I could give on launching a successful google ads campaign is making sure that your Targeted campaigns are built out individually, and what I mean by that is, you know, if you're running a an emergency campaign, you you should be specifically bidding on and targeting the emergency dental terms in the area.So emergency dentist, same day dentist, 24 7 dentist, whatever the case is. Having a campaign geared just around emergency dentistry and then if you're wanting to run just a general patient campaign to build the hygiene, um, side of the practice, then those should be general terms that people look at such as, dentist near me, best dental office, dental cleaning, so on and so forth.So that's the number one thing that I think I've seen in the past is a lot of people try to Build one campaign and then bid on like all the different keywords that are general related. And if anybody who's ran Google ads knows, it can get really expensive really quick if you do it that way. Google ads isn't necessarily like, running an ad on Facebook or boosting a post on Facebook.Uh, this is something that you have to have a really, solid strategy in. Otherwise, you're going to blow your budget really quickly and not get any results. So... That's number one. I mean, for us, every new client that we take on, we run two campaigns right out the get go.First is a general campaign. Second is that emergency campaign. And especially for you startups out there listening to this, the emergency campaign is great because a lot of times what we have found is, you're going to have some openings in your schedule as a startup. So people come in, they feel that real personalized service that you're able to give them.Thank you. You get them out of pain get them taken care of and then what a lot of our startups have found is Many of those patients end up getting put on the hygiene schedule afterwards because they had you know Such a great experience. So that's something for you startup listeners out there I would highly recommend right out.The gate is launching an emergency campaign. So general campaign being second now One question we get is, all right, when we run these campaigns, what's next? Where are we sending them? Are we sending them to the website? You need to have a dedicated landing page for every ad campaign that you're running when it comes to Google.So if it's an emergency campaign, having an emergency specific landing page that you're sending that traffic. And what makes up a good landing page? First and foremost, the information that the patient's looking for they shouldn't have to scroll down to get to it when they go to the page So if you have an offer for a 79 emergency exam Then you need to have that right at the top of the landing page with a call to action button to call now Schedule online, whatever the case is have the call to action with the offer right there Um, the next thing you need to make sure that that landing page has is the proper tracking in place And this is kind of a theme every time I do these, uh interviews with you michael But it's so important is making sure you have call tracking set up so you can know where those patients came from which ad which campaign And whether or not they booked or not and then also having the proper form tracking too.So if you're collecting that patient's information on that landing page, or maybe they're entering their phone number, their name, their email address, and you know, what insurance they have, for example, um, you need to make sure that you have the proper tracking set up for that because Google ultimately in these ad campaigns is going to look at.How people clicked on the ad, what they did when they clicked on the ad, and whether or not they converted. So if you don't have conversion set up properly, it's going to mess up your whole bidding strategy, and you're going to end up never being able to actually dial in, a cost for new patient.ultimately when you're running an ad, after 3, 4, 5 months of doing that, you want to be able to get to a point where you say, All right, I know if we put two thousand dollars in ads. We're going to get 10 new patients out of that and that puts our cost per new patient at 200 so that's where we have to get to but if we don't have that proper tracking in place You're not going to ever be able to get to that because the campaign and Google and the algorithm is not going to know who responded to the ad and who didn't. So that's the second thing. Landing page and making sure that you have that proper tracking set up there. And then the third thing is come in with a realistic budget. too many times... I'll see practices say, you know, they're in southern california I spent you know, five hundred dollars a month in google ads, but i'm not getting nothing You're not going to get anything with five hundred dollars a month in google ads It's just the nature of that platform, you need to be able to dedicate at least 1200 a month in google ads spend if not more than that, especially if you're targeting things like implants and higher end procedures.so just going into it with realistic expectations and knowing that it's an investment and there's other people out there bidding for the same keywords. So you have to make yourself stand out one way or another. And that's where good ad copy comes into play, proper tracking. And of course, the landing page is everything when it comes to making sure that those patients actually convert.Michael: Real quick, what does good ad copy look Shane: like? Yeah, so it really is based around a couple of things with Google ads. One is the keywords that people are actually searching for. So if you can, for example, if somebody searches dentist near me, you know, you would ideally have dentist near me in that ad copy and then something that makes you unique.So maybe that's, we specialize in patients with dental anxieties or maybe it's something around Be seen same week or maybe it's we're a network with most insurances. So having something that's not just You know dentist in fontana and your best dentist in fontana.It's like Everybody's going to have that so whether it's highlighting the number of google reviews that you have whether it's the sedation Options you have whether it's that the fact that you're in network with most insurances that is what we call effective copy and With a google ad for any of those, people listening who've been into the ads manager themselves You'll notice that there's different keywords and ad copy that you can write based on What the person searched and so that's a big thing there is google's trying to match up with the keywords that you're specifically targeting with what the person searched and then trying to mix that into An ad that matches up with what that person searched.So that's the key right there for good ad copy is making sure that you actually point out something that makes the practice unique and would make you stop and click on it. To follow up with that, Michael, the other thing is always be testing. So, there's some key numbers that you need to look at to determine whether or not your Google Ad campaign is performing.certainly clicks is kind of a vanity number. but the big ones are, your average cost per click. Your click through rate and your conversions. So your average cost per click, pretty, self explanatory. How much are we spending, um, in these ads every time someone clicks on the ad, because that's ultimately how you're being charged.Click through rate is the percentage of times that someone actually Clicked on the ad when it was seen and so with google they typically say, you know anything above two to three percent click through rate is a healthy Click through rate, uh, meaning, you know, you're targeting the right people you have engaging ad copy things like that but for like an emergency campaign we recommend, 30 percent click through rate and then for a general campaign being closer to 10 So that's something you can look at If you notice like your click through rate on a Google Ads campaign is, under a percent, for example, and then your average cost per click is like 15, then you can look at a few things, but most likely it probably has to do with either your targeting or the ad copy that you have in place.And then, of course, the final piece of that is conversions. How many people... Called the practice how many people submitted a contact form? So then ultimately like I mentioned we want to get to a point where we can be pretty predictable and say All right We know for every a thousand dollars we put in we get this amount of new patients out of it And that's the key to making sure that you're scaling a campaign Responsibly and in a way that's going to give you the best return.Michael: Gotcha. Okay. At the beginning of the episode, you mentioned like a lot of people try to do one campaign and then stuff in a bunch of keywords in that one campaign. do we do one campaign for each keyword then? Or what? How does that work? Shane: No, that's a good question. Um, so think of it in terms of service.So, you want to bid for multiple keywords for each campaign, but you want to make sure it's geared around one service. So, if we're running, a emergency dental campaign, then that's where we would, target keywords in that one campaign, such as emergency dentist, uh, emergency dentist near me 24 7 dentist urgent care dentist, you know these type of terms Anything that revolves around emergency dentistry and those would all be keywords that you would bid on in that campaign What you don't want to do is have one campaign and be bidding on emergency dentistry keywords dental implant keywords root canals You know all of these where you kind of throw all the services into one campaign Because ultimately, it's too hard to create that many ads that's going to match up with what the person is searching for and for Google to actually show that.So if you're running a specific ad on implants. Only bid on implant related keywords. Don't bid on, hygiene keywords. If you're running a campaign on, clear aligners or orthodontics, don't also bid on implant keywords in that campaign. So making sure it's very service based. Michael: Gotcha. So really niche, like hone in on that specific keyword and then...Give it what you got kind of thing Shane: Exactly go all in on that one service and you can have multiple campaigns running at once you could have four campaigns But each campaign you said it's a budget you said it's targeting you could run an implant campaign an emergency campaign and a general campaign all at the same time You just want to make sure they're Individually built out and not just kind of, throwing all the keywords into one basket.Yeah. Michael: Okay, that makes sense. And then you mentioned coming with a realistic budget. What's the realistic Shane: budget? So it's gonna, it's not a great answer for this, but it's gonna depend where you're at. what I can tell you based on our experience is if you're in, you know, competitive area, Southern California, South Florida, areas like that.I mean, honestly, coming in at a bare minimum of 1500 a month is probably what you're going to need to spend, in more rural areas, you can get away with, somewhere between 1000 a month, 1200 a month is kind of a starter. but, Michael, we have offices that. Have 3, 500 a month, 4, 000 a month that they spend in Google ads, single offices, and there are bigger offices out there that spend 10, 15, 20, 000 a month.So it's not necessarily about how much you spend. Certainly that has an impact because you're paying. 10 every time someone clicks on your ad and you have a 50 a day, threshold, you're only going to get five clicks on your ad a day. some of that has to do with it, but it's not necessarily the person who has the biggest budget that's going to win.In this case, it's going to be making sure you're doing everything that you possibly can to make those clicks count. And that's. Having the proper landing page set up having the conversion tracking set up writing that engaging ad copy We talked about using some of the tips we discussed so you can be more efficient and kind of be the the underdog in the fight and still get some of those patients, but you have to come into it realistically You can't think if I spend 500 a month at Google Ads I want to get 10 new patients out of that because that's most likely just not realistic Michael: Gotcha. Awesome. So any final pieces of advice you want to give to our listeners on this? Shane: One final piece of advice I'll give is there's something recently that came out, in dentistry in the last two to three months or so, called Google local service ads. And I don't know if anybody's talked about these on here yet or not, but these are ads that used to only be available for like the home service industry.So you're like HVAC companies, heating, you know, air and plumbing, things like that. They opened it up to dentistry. And so right now what I would do is I would recommend everybody go through the verification process Uh, it's called google local service ads. You can create an account on there. You have to submit information Such as your dental license.There's a few things there that you have to do But once you do that, you can run google local service ads Which if you go right now, and if you type plumber near me at the very top You'll see a few businesses that'll be listed above every ad on the page It has the google review rating. It'll have a phone number.It'll say the business name and then it will usually have a green Circle with like a check mark in it. It says google guaranteed So when you submit this information Your office can get this google guaranteed badge And then you can start running these local service ads and a lot of dental practices are starting to pick up on this now But there's still a lot of people who aren't running them.So it's way less competitive and the other cool thing about this michael is You only pay per lead with Google local service ads. So they only charge you when somebody actually calls and schedules an appointment. And if they call and they don't schedule an appointment, you can actually dispute it and let Google know that, hey, this person didn't actually schedule and they won't charge you for that.So Google local service ads, you're gonna start hearing more about this. And I wouldn't be surprised, Michael, if we do an episode on those here in the coming months. Michael: Nice. Awesome, Shane. I appreciate your time. And if anyone has further questions, you can definitely find them on the Dental Marketer Society Facebook group, or where can Shane: they reach out to you directly?Yep. They can always, uh, deal with marketer Facebook group of course. And, uh, crimson media group.com is the other place that you can reach us, and fill out a contact form there. And, uh, we also always like to help our friend Michael out do a free marketing analysis for any of the listeners, of this podcast.So if you wanna do a marketing analysis, us give you some data feedback, you'll go to crimson media group.com and, uh, we'll help you out. Michael: Awesome. So, Shane, thank you so much for being with me on this Monday morning marketing episode. Thanks, Michael.‍

Welcome back to another insightful episode of The Dental Practice Launch Podcast, hosted by Shane Simmons, the founder and CEO of Crimson Media Dental Marketing. In this episode, we dive deep into the world of dental practice acquisitions with our esteemed guest, Brian Hanks, the expert behind Dental Buyer Advocates.   If you've ever dreamt of owning your own dental practice or expanding your existing one through acquisition, this episode is a must-listen. Shane and Brian will guide you through the crucial steps you need to take when purchasing a dental practice, ensuring that your venture is not just successful but also a seamless transition.   Brian Hanks, with his extensive experience in dental practice acquisitions, shares invaluable insights on:   The Dental Practice Landscape: Understand the current trends and market conditions in the dental industry to make informed decisions.   Determining Your Ideal Practice: Learn how to identify the perfect practice that aligns with your goals, vision, and values.   Financial Considerations: Get tips on evaluating the financial health of a practice, from revenue analysis to expense scrutiny.   The Due Diligence Process: Brian breaks down the essential steps to take during due diligence to avoid surprises down the road.   Negotiating the Deal: Discover strategies for negotiating the purchase price and contract terms that benefit both parties.   Legal and Regulatory Aspects: Gain insights into navigating the legal and regulatory requirements associated with practice acquisitions.   Building a Transition Plan: Plan for a smooth transition that maintains patient trust and retention.   Whether you're a recent dental school graduate looking to start your career or an experienced practitioner seeking to expand your dental empire, this episode equips you with the knowledge and confidence to navigate the complex world of dental practice purchases.   Tune in to The Dental Practice Launch Podcast and embark on your journey toward practice ownership or expansion with wisdom and clarity. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the best in the field, Brian Hanks of Dental Buyer Advocates, and take that important step towards achieving your dental practice dreams.     Website: https://ppodentalconsulting.com

In this exciting episode of the Dental Practice Launch Podcast, your host Shane Simmons, a seasoned expert in dental marketing and the owner of Crimson Media Dental Marketing, sits down with a true visionary in the dental industry, Vincent Crump, Founder and CEO of Midline Dental Partners. Together, they dive deep into the intricacies of expanding your startup dental practice into a multi-location success story.   Launching a dental practice is no small feat, and taking it to the next level by expanding to multiple locations can be a daunting challenge. But fear not, as Shane and Vincent share their wealth of knowledge and experiences to guide you through every step of the process. Social Media for Vincent Crump:   https://www.facebook.com/vincent.crump.165

Welcome to the Dental Practice Launch Podcast, where your host Shane Simmons dives into the world of dentistry with industry experts. In this episode, Shane sits down with the accomplished Dana Moss, a seasoned professional in dental insurance and negotiations. Together, they explore crucial insights on what dentists should know when going in-network with PPO plans, along with valuable tips on negotiating for the best reimbursement rates. Whether you're a seasoned dentist or just starting your practice, this conversation is packed with invaluable advice to help you navigate the complex world of dental insurance and maximize your practice's success. Tune in and level up your dental practice game with our latest episode!   Website: https://ppodentalconsulting.com

‍(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our listeners a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍‍Welcome to this week's Monday Morning Marketing episode! I'm joined by my good friend, Shane Simmons, and today we're going to explore the untapped potential of your online presence and SEO! We are hashing out the importance of tracking patient traffic and learning the nuts and bolts of an effective Search Engine Optimization campaign. In today's world, Google Maps is such a prominent part of our everyday lives, so we are going to show how YOU can best leverage it. From best practices for Google Maps, to SEO strategies we think are outdated, we're diving in the deep end today. Don't miss this opportunity to make your Google Business listing a valuable tool for growth in the digital age.‍Catch my conversation with Shane for some of his best strategies to thrive in the ever-evolving world of digital marketing!‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Website: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/‍Other Mentions and Links:Google MapsGoogle My BusinessYelp‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey Shane. So talk to us about s e O. How can we utilize this, or what advice, suggestions, or methods can you give us that will help us actually attract new patients through Shane: s E O? Yeah. You know, Michael, this is one of the things that in the marketing landscape, we see so much change year after year, month after month, and new technology come in and, and out and, and everything's always and in flux.But SEO has always stayed top importance for many dental practices because Google still is one of the main drivers of new patients. And so today what I really want to share with your audience is some of the insights that I've learned from. From people who are plugged into Google on what are some things that you can do to help get more new patients organically, specifically through the Google Maps, uh, or map pack as many people call it.So it's kind of a brief overview. I won't spend too much time on this, but, you know, and, and your s e o um, you know, you have two different. Areas really. You have your search results, which are like your websites that show up. Mm-hmm. You know, on the first page. And then you also have, especially for local businesses, what we call the Google Map Pack, which is like, you know, if you searched dentists near me right now, you would see, you know, three practices show up with their Google reviews, and then you may see one, you know, ad right above that.And I'm gonna focus today on that Google Map Pack because it's something that Google is putting more priority on because they control it, right? They own your Google Map listing, whereas they don't own your website, and so they want you to be in engaging with patients and updating that Google business profile.Just like you would update your website. And so there are a few things that I'm gonna talk about that can really help you, um, show up in that organically and not only show up, but actually get patients from it. Um, the first thing, and this is I think probably the most common way that people associate, using your Google business profile is, You gotta be getting Google reviews.I don't think there's any, surprise there about that. but not only is it the practice that gets the most reviews or has the most reviews, but there's two other factors here that's gonna determine showing up. One is what we call review velocity. So it's how often are those reviews coming in?Um, so sometimes. If you see especially like older practices that have 500 Google reviews and you see a practice that has a hundred Google reviews above it, and people will ask us, well, why is the practice that has 500 reviews below the practice that has a hundred? And one of the reasons for that could be the fact that the practice with a hundred got that a hundred much quicker than the practice who got that 500.So review velocity is a big portion there. That's why we recommend having some sort of. Review automation system in place to where yes, you want your team asking for reviews, but you need to have an automated system in place because that is one of the big factors that Google's looking at and, and ranking you in that map area.the second thing kind of tied to reviews is, the type of reviews that are left. So, uh, yes, somebody could leave you a five star review, but what we have found is if somebody in that review, mentions like a keyword, for example, that you're trying to rank for, that has an impact on whether or not you're showing up in the maps or not.So a perfect example of this is if somebody were to leave a review and they just said, great office, amazing doctor, you know, highly recommend. That's a great review. But if that person said, Hey, if you're looking for a dentist in Indianapolis, I highly suggest, you know, Crimson Dental office that has the keywords, dentists in Indianapolis, within that review.And that's something that Google is taking into consideration when, uh, ranking these different businesses in the Google Map pack. So that's the second thing. And then, I would say the third on this is your Google business profile. We need to treat it like our website. So remember, you know, years ago, uh, it was imperative.You had to blog, you had to blog every 30 days, um, and, and continually update and update content. And while blogs certainly have value on websites today, It's essentially that is turned into what you need to be doing with your Google business profile, which is adding update posts to that profile every 30, 45, 60 days or so, adding your services to your Google business profile, adding products on your Google business profile.And the cool thing about this, Michael, is. Google, literally like on a silver platter, hands this to you and says, here are the things that you need to do to optimize your profile to make it as effective as it can be. If you are signed into your Google account and you Google your practice, you'll see your Google business.pop up and there's like a bunch of different settings at the top now where it says, reviews, performance, all of these different things. Right below that, there's boxes of different things that'll say, you know, add a map, add an update, add a product or service, add a promotion, and they're literally right in front of your face and everybody should go in and be filling those out regularly and updating those regularly.To show Google that your profile is active, that you're an active business, and ultimately what Google's going to do is see who's most active on those Google business profiles versus those that that aren't active at all. Who's getting reviews, who's not getting reviews, and all of these things together.Start to impact where you're showing up in those Google search results. So the biggest key takeaway that I could give people in the short amount of time is make sure that your Google business profile is optimized. Make sure you're filling out all the information that Google's really looking for, cuz they're telling you right there in those settings.And, and make sure that you're, you're getting that updated regularly updating it just like you would regularly update your website. Michael: Gotcha. Okay. So mainly those three factors have to be, and it all kind of revolves around at least this part right here revolves around the reviews, right?Like the review velocity, keywords in the review, and then blogs and updates, uh, post every 30 to six, one to two months, right, kind of thing. now when it comes to keywords in the reviews, I guess how can we make sure they are doing that? Or is that just kind of like, we just hope like they're two words.Shane: That, that's a good question. Some of it is hope, um, right. So some of that is, is hope, but some of it is with some of your patients that maybe you, um, you are closer with and maybe you've, you know, seen over the years you have a really, you know, good relationship with them. Just letting them know like, Hey, you know, this really helps us, if you do leave us a review, if you just mention something about, looking for a dentist in Our city, our location. it helps, us tremendously when you do it that way. So you don't have to, you know, force or make people do it. But if you just ask, you know, if, if that's a way that they could write that review, if they're going to leave you a review, uh, that's a great way to, to do that.Otherwise, uh, some of that just kind of happens naturally. Now. One thing that you can do is you can reply using some of those keywords as well. Now you don't want to keyword stuff. I'm not saying that. But let's say if somebody left that review of, you know, amazing Office, I had a, a great experience.I highly recommend. You can reply to that review, which everybody should reply to their reviews and say something like, thank you so much for choosing our, you know, Indianapolis dental practice. Like we can't wait to see you again soon. So you can still reply with a keyword like that in your review, which is also going to be helpful and show relevance to Google.Michael: Yeah. Okay. I remember working for a practice and. You know how like there's like smaller, not smaller holidays, but like we're not off for like the whole week or two weeks, or even if that was the case, it was more like if we're not shut down for like a couple months, but if we're only off for like a day or two cuz of a holiday or something like that, all they told me was to like, Hey, just update the voicemail.Right? Just say, Hey, we're closed for the Christmas holiday or whatever. Right? But we never really updated the. The Google business page. Now, if we're off, let's just say like, oh, you know, the doctor's taking a vacation, uh, and then the team decides to take off, although there's no holiday or anything. Or even if there was like one like Labor Day, would it still help to mention on there, like, we gotta adjust it, the timing?Or is it like, eh, it's just gonna take day, it's more work? Or, or no. Shane: Yeah. As far as like on the Google Business Profile listing? Yeah. Michael: Like having to go all the way and Shane: change it. Yeah, no, I definitely recommend that because a, again, it one, I mean, it's beneficial to people who are doing a search and like next week for example.Mm-hmm. Um, you know, being, uh, July 4th, uh, and then many offices are taking off. The third and the fifth as well. I'm seeing that. So if you're going to be closed those days, you need to go into your Google business profile and adjust that, uh, accordingly and let, um, Google know that you're gonna be off those days.And that does two things. One, I mean, it's gonna benefit. somebody who's doing a search maybe on Monday, and maybe they had a, an emergency and they searched dentist near me. And let's say your shows up and it says that you're open and then they call and you're actually not open. You know, that's gonna be frustrating for the patient.but the second thing is it counts as an update. Uh, you know, Google seeing that you're using that platform to update searchers on, whether you're going to be open or not. And so it has. Two benefits there. And all of those benefits are gonna tie back to, local, you know, SEO results and how you're going to show up.And one thing I, I wanted to mention too, on all of this is the key in knowing, whether or not the things that you're doing on your Google business profile, like whether or not it's making a difference or not. Everybody should have, you know, tracking set up in, in any of your marketing, because if you don't, you just, you don't know what's really bringing patients in.You can ask patients, and we always say, you know, ask patients, how did you hear about us? But let's be honest, sometimes it's hard for patients to remember where maybe they first ran into you or how they first, you know, found you online. And so that's where, you know, having call tracking set up and your Google business profile and your website, all of these things, so you can know specifically where all of these patients are coming from.And with the Google Business profile, this is something that a lot of people get mixed up on because. There's this thing called, you know, NAP consistency, which is name, address, phone number, and, and it being consistent on the web. And a lot of people would never put a tracking number on their Google business page because they wanted that consistency.Well, now Google offers an option where you can put a tracking number on your Google business profile and still have your primary number, listed on there as well. But anybody who calls from the Google business profile will call the tracking number, and then you would know who called from that. So then you can actually measure, you know, hey, we had, you know, 15 calls in June from our Google business profile, and we've been doing these things that I.Heard on the Dental Marketer podcast and in July we had, uh, 30 calls, you know, and so you can actually measure that and, and listen to those calls too. So that's something I just wanted to mention that's so important is, is having that call tracking set up so you can actually, you know, get measurable, uh, results from what you're doing.Michael: Nice. Okay. And now is there any minimal things that don't really move the needle but that have been over-glorified a little bit that you've been seeing? Shane: Yeah. You know, I think that one of them is, uh, citations or, you know, getting your practice listed on different directories. There's value to it.So, don't take it as, that's not valuable, but, The fact that you have to build out, 700 different listings, um, it's just, it's just not true. And, and Google's even come out and said that it's more so of being listed on the high authoritative sites, um, the ones that are really strong.So think of your. Facebooks your Instagrams, you know, your, uh, Yelps, even though I know there's a lot of controversy around Yelp, but at least just having like a profile. Uh, these are things that are important to kind of build that credibility with Google, but some of these sites that are like nobody's ever heard of, and then, you know, people tell you, oh, you need to have a profile on these sites for seo.It, it really doesn't move the needle anymore, on some of those. So just wanna make sure that. You know, and you can Google this and look up, uh, you know, what are the most authoritative free directory sites and just making sure that you're built out on those, keeping those updated consistently is, is really one of the main things that you can do, especially for, uh, a newer practice right off the bat.That's something that's really important. Ah, Michael: so Shannon, I appreciate your time and if anyone has further questions, where can they reach out to you directly? Shane: Yeah, so they can always, uh, go to our website, crimson media group.com. And of course for the, the Dental Marketer, uh, podcast listeners, we always, um, offer, you know, free marketing analysis for their practice.So you can reach out there and, and get that analysis done. And then you can also, uh, find me in the dental, uh, marketer Facebook group as well, Shane Simmons. Michael: Awesome. So guys, that's all gonna be in the show notes below. So Shane, I appreciate it. Thank you for being with me on this Monday morning marketing episode.Thanks, Michael.‍

Welcome to The Dental Practice Launch Podcast presented by Crimson Media with your host Shane Simmons! In this episode, we dive into the world of dental practice management software and how it can help dentists close more cases in their practice. Our special guest today is Dr. Rania Saleh, a seasoned dentist with years of experience and expertise in implementing efficient systems for dental practices.   In this conversation, Dr. Saleh shares her insights on the challenges dentists face when it comes to case acceptance and how Oryx, a revolutionary dental practice management software, can transform the game. With its innovative features and user-friendly interface, Oryx has proven to be a game-changer for dentists across the globe.   Dr. Saleh delves into the unique functionalities of Oryx that can help dentists streamline their workflow, improve patient communication, and ultimately increase case acceptance. She highlights the software's ability to store and organize patient records, automate appointment reminders, and simplify treatment planning.   Throughout the episode, Dr. Saleh and Shane explore real-life scenarios where Oryx has made a significant impact on case acceptance. From seamless treatment plan presentations to comprehensive reporting, this software has been designed to address the specific needs of dental practices and enhance the patient experience.   Join us as we uncover the secrets to boosting case acceptance rates and learn how Oryx can revolutionize the way dentists run their practices. If you're a dentist looking to close more cases and provide exceptional care to your patients, this episode is a must-listen.

Episode Description: Welcome to The Dental Practice Launch Podcast presented by Crimson Media Dental Marketing, where we uncover the strategies and insights that help dental professionals take their practices to new heights. In this episode, your host Shane Simmons sits down with Liz Lord, a distinguished coach and consultant in the dental industry, to discuss the power of adding additional services to your dental practice and how it can significantly enhance profitability.   As a dental practitioner, you're constantly seeking innovative ways to grow your practice and provide exceptional care to your patients. Liz Lord brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, having helped numerous dentists transform their practices into thriving and profitable enterprises. With her expertise in practice management and business development, Liz offers practical advice and proven strategies to expand your service offerings and unlock new revenue streams.   To learn more about Liz Lord Coaching & Consulting, follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/liz.lord.980/

In this episode of The Dental Practice Launch Podcast, our host, Shane Simmons, sits down with Justin Brammer of INVST, a renowned financial advisor specializing in guiding dentists towards smart money management and long-term wealth growth.   As a dentist, you've dedicated years to perfecting your craft and providing exceptional care to your patients. However, navigating the world of personal finance and investment strategies may seem overwhelming. That's where Justin Brammer comes in. With his extensive experience in assisting dental professionals, Justin brings invaluable insights and tailored advice to help dentists make the most of their hard-earned income.   Join us as we delve into the key principles of money management specifically curated for dentists. Justin shares a wealth of knowledge on topics such as debt management, tax optimization, and strategic investment decisions. He breaks down complex financial concepts into easily understandable language, empowering dentists to take control of their financial future. Learn more about INVST and reach out to Justin here: https://invst.com/

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our listeners a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍‍Hey guys, welcome back to our Monday Morning Marketing series! Today, Shane Simmons and I are lunging into the untapped potential of your online presence. In this episode, we explore the crucial importance of tracking where your patients are coming from, and the nuts and bolts of how to do it! Getting well versed in your patient traffic flow will help you to make informed decisions to optimize your digital marketing efforts. Nobody likes to question whether or not their website is actually doing anything, right? Well, let's discover how we can make yours a valuable tool for growth, guiding you towards a thriving practice in the digital age!‍Step into my conversation with Shane Simmons this week, and we'll learn the vital intricacies of websites together!‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Website: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing/‍Other Mentions and Links:Google AnalyticsSite Map LookupSwellInstalling Conversions with Google Analytics VideoGoogle Tag Manager‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey Shane. So talk to us about websites. How can we utilize this, or what advice, suggestions, or methods can you give us that will help us actually attract new patients through Shane: websites? Yeah, Michael, I mean, our website, I think this is too many times. We look of it and we think of it as just kind of like a digital billboard for the practice, and we know it's there.It's a necessity, but. A lot of practices we talk with don't really know what they're getting from their website or how patients are finding them. And so that's really what I wanna focus on today and, and the first piece of advice, and probably the most critical piece of advice that I would give anyone when they're reviewing their website or building a website for their practice is, Make sure that you have the proper tracking set up and in place.And what I mean by that is there are things that you can set up in Google Analytics and uh, Google Tag Manager for anybody who's heard of that. Where if somebody fills out a form on the website, you can actually go into your Google Analytics account and you can set up what are called conversions, where Google will show you, you know, how many form submissions you had on your site in the last.30 days where those form submissions actually came from. So what was the first touchpoint? Did they go, uh, to a Google organic search and that's how they got to the site and filled out a form. Did they come from a Facebook ad? Did they come from an insurance referral? You can start collecting that data.So each and every month, like what we do at our agency is we review that data with our clients and say, you know, hey, we had 20. You know, form submissions from Google Organic. We had 15 from Facebook ads, 10 from Google Ads, so on and so forth. And so that's the first thing is make sure that you have conversion tracking set up so you know that your website is doing what it's supposed to be doing.And then if it's not, then that's when you can go in and start to make some changes in corrections. So that's number one. The second part about the tracking is, uh, call tracking. And so I make, tell everybody you have to have call tracking on your website, so you know, again, where are your patients coming from?Are they coming from Google? Are they coming from a referral or insurance, whatever the case is. Have some form of call tracking set up. That way you know where those patients are coming from and the, and the blowback that sometimes very few, but some people will give us on that is, well, if I change the number on my website to a call tracking number, I.Is that going to throw off my patients? And the answer to that question is we have dozens and dozens of accounts who have call tracking set up, and we have not heard one message about somebody saying, this isn't your phone number, or you had the wrong phone number on your site. Because in the world we live in on our mobile phones, people just click that call button and that's it.Right? They're, they're not memorizing their dentist's phone number anymore, so don't worry about that. It's imperative that you know where your. patient base is coming from. So that's number one is, is call tracking and form tracking on the site. Michael. Um, the second thing that I'll go into is your site structure and making sure that your structure is set up properly.So the way that I kind of put this in dental terms is if you were going to place an implant, uh, you had the tooth extracted and all of this, and you're ready to place that implant. You'd wanna make sure that the bone structure is there and is healthy for an implant. Same thing goes for your website. You need to make sure that the structure of that site is correct before you start sending traffic to it, doing SEO and all of these different things.And so, What site structure boils down to, in nerdy terms, is making sure that you have one H one header on your website. You can Google this, it'll, it's really clear, but it's basically the first biggest heading on your site. That's your H one header, and that's the most important header on the site because that tells Google what the page is about.Then under that H one header, like for your subsections on a page, Those would be your, what you call H two headings. And then you have H three. So it's like a bullet point system of prominence down to, you know, maybe the, the least prominent on the page. You need to make sure that that's set up correctly.Because if you have multiple H one headers on a site, which we've seen in many dental, uh, practice sites before, or, you know, uh, that structure is, is all over the place. It confuses Google at the end of the day, and anything that confuses Google is going to hurt your presence online. So make sure that you have the proper site settings, uh, set up.You can do a site map lookup. Um, it's a free tool online that you can use and see that you have that, uh, set up properly. And then the third thing that I'll touch on here, Michael, before we kind of open it up for questions for you is, you may wanna look into having a web chat on your site. And, and this is something that.Uh, we really like using with, um, some of the different vendors that, that we work with to have a web chat put on there. That way your team can get notified anytime. Somebody may have a quick question on there. Maybe they wanna know if you're a network with their insurance, whatever the case is. It's all about convenience for the patient at the end of the day.That's why we love having web chat, online scheduling, all of these tools where thinking about, you know, if you were the patient, what would be the most convenient way? For them to get an appointment, at your practice. And that's really what you need to do is put yourself in the, in the shoes of the patient.And if you do that, you have, you'll form, um, a web form chat on your site. If you have online scheduling on your site, you have that hierarchy set up properly, like we talked about in that site structure, and you have that call tracking and form tracking set in place. You're gonna notice a big difference in how your website is actually generating patients for you, rather than just feeling like your site's there just to be there.Michael: Mm-hmm. Gotcha. So these are three really, really key, uh, factors important. One thing I wanna rewind back on is where you talk about proper tracking needs to be set up in place. How do we even get started with this? So if you could, I guess, like. Walk us step by step. We're on Google Analytics now. We, we set it up or I'm pretty sure that's a lot of people have it set up or they ask their agency to, to see it.Now how do we kind of look into it? Shane: Yeah, so once you have Google Analytics installed on your site, which everybody listening to this should have Google Analytics on their site. It's a free tool and it's, it's a great tool to use to give you insights. Once you have Google Analytics set on your site, um, that's when you'll want to go to something that's called Google Tag Manager.And so, uh, Google Tag Manager basically allows you to put a snippet of code on your website. On certain areas where conversions would happen. So if somebody were to fill out a form on the site, once they fill out that form, Ideally they should go to what we call a thank you page, where a screen loads and it says, you know, thank you for filling out the form.We'll be contacting you soon. And on that thank you page within Google Tag Manager, you can copy and paste a piece of code that basically tells Google if somebody sees this page. They have filled out a form on the website, and that's a conversion. And what Google does is it installs cookies on that person's browser so it knows where that person came from, whether it was from a Google search or from Facebook or Instagram, whatever the case is, they know that.So then it's gonna give you that data back. That said, this form submission. Was through, uh, you know, a Google search. So that's the first thing and is in Google Tag Manager. The second thing that you can do, and I I think this is really underutilized in Google Tag Manager, is you could actually, uh, put uh, like a tag on a button on your page, um, and then take appropriate actions from there.So what I mean by that is, let's see, we have a video on the homepage of your site and you wanna track how many people watch that video. who interacted with it, these type of things. You can actually, within Google Tag Manager, just put a piece of code on that button where people click to watch the video, and it will give you direct feedback of, this is how many people in the last 30 days, watch the video, here's where they came from.And then what you can do is then use that to retarget them on Facebook or Instagram maybe, where if they saw your video on your page, you can then start to put, you know, patient reviews in front of them and things like that. So, There's so many things that you can do in Google Tag Manager, obviously, you know, our agency, uh, helps practices with that and we set that all up for all of our clients.But if you're, somebody who wants to try to do that on their own, um, go to YouTube, type in, um, installing conversions with Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager, and there are step-by-step, you know, walkthrough videos there. If you have some experience in, uh, backend web development, um, you may be able to do that yourself.Gotcha. Michael: Okay. So where do you recommend we put these Google tags? So you said specific conversion pages. So if you're making a website or somebody's looking at their website and they're like, man, I don't even know. I just asked my agency and they give me a report, or they tell me this, but I don't even know where would you recommend you put these tags on there?Shane: Yeah, great question. So first off, make sure that you've tagged any, if, if there's form submissions happening on that site or that landing page, make sure that you're tagging those form submissions and that's going to a thank you page. That way you, you know, that's the, the lowest hanging group. The easiest thing to tag right there, a new lead is anybody that fills out a web form.That's number one. Um, if you have online scheduling, which as we know, a lot of practices do have that now. You can tag the button there. in the online scheduling, so you can see how many people actually clicked to schedule online. We would recommend tagging that. We also tag anytime someone has clicked on the phone number on the site.Even though we have that call tracking in place, we still like to know how many people, actually clicked the number on the site and where they clicked it at. And then the fourth part there is if you have any video content on the site. Tag that as well, so you know how many people are actually watching those videos and engaging with it.Um, if anybody, because if you spend thousands of dollars to maybe get, you know, videos done and nobody's watching them, you're not really using that investment to your advantage. Maybe that video needs to be placed somewhere else on the site, or maybe it's not clear. Maybe there's like a small play button and it's not clear to the person that that's a video.So all of that data will allow you to see how can we get this video in front of people easily where they know, you know, it's a video that they should watch when they come to our site. And you can start to track that. So those are the areas, the thank you page or contact us page. Um, once they've filled out a form, online scheduling button, if they've clicked that phone number, tag your phone number and any video content that you may have on a webpage, those are four right there that if you start tagging those, it's gonna give you a great amount of feedback.Michael: Gotcha. And so if we ask our, let's just say our marketing agency or company, Hey, let me see the numbers for this, right? What are we looking for when it comes to like, oh man, nobody's filled out web forms. Or like, there hasn't been that many people clicking on phone numbers or onsite, or they don't even provide that.What are we looking for to ask when it comes to this particular question with analytics? Shane: Yep. Yeah. So the first thing you wanna look at is for any calls that we've had to the practice, um, you'd want to take a look at those calls. Where do those calls come from in your online marketing? So you'd like to, you know, get a report so you can see Google Organic calls versus, you know, if you're running Google Ads or Facebook ads, how do those calls break down?So that would be the first thing. Um, second thing that you would want to ask for is, For any of our contact form submissions on the site or online scheduling, what are the analytics like as far as where patients are coming from when they're filling out that information. So that would be, uh, an important aspect there because I.If you see that you're getting, you know, 80% of your form submissions are coming from referrals or existing patients, and you're spending thousands of dollars on online ads and you're not seeing, you know, very many conversions, then that's, you know, a red flag to know, okay, maybe we need to shift our focus or the campaign, whatever the case is there.So knowing where those, um, form submissions, contact form submissions. Actually came from is a great, you know, insight to ask your agency if you're working with someone. And then the easiest way is just be able to look at the site and say, okay, I see how many visitors we had that came to the site. I see how long, you know, the average person spent on the site, all of this data, but.What you really wanna look for is where's the acquisition, where are they coming from? And they should be able to provide you a report where you can see, where your patients are actually coming from, um, in the practice. And, and the rule that we have at Crimson Media is ideally if you're, you know, you want Google Organic to be your number one source of new patient traffic.Then any sort of digital ads you're running. And then third would be, um, referrals or existing patients who visit the site directly. That's kind of the hierarchy that we like to see, um, as far as where patients come from. Michael: Gotcha. That's a good rule, man. Okay. And then when it came to web chat on our site, which one would you recommend where you're like, we've seen fantastic results from this, and if you can let us know, which one would you say like, there's lots of kinks to Shane: work out.Yeah, we've, I mean we've seen a lot of them. Um, I would say our go-to and favorite one to use is through Swell. Um, so if you use swell for your online reviews, which is where most of our clients, we use them as well, full transparency there. but they have a, a web chat as well, and a lot of people don't really know that, I don't think.Mm-hmm. And so, We've had a lot of success with swells, web chat, um, very easy to install for your agency, and, uh, has some great prompts and things in there that you can build in. And I think it's just overall the smoothest, interaction for the patient too. Some of these web chats out there that I've tested and demoed have been just a little.Glitchy, uh, and they just aren't very user-friendly, whereas the one that we've used was swell. It's just very user-friendly, it's clean looking, and we've had a lot of success with, with those, but there are so many out there you can research and see what one is best for you. But that's been the, the one that's been most successful for us.Awesome. Michael: Shane, I appreciate your time and if anyone has further questions, you can definitely find 'em on the Dental Marketer Society Facebook group, or where can they reach out to you directly? Shane: Yeah, they can, as you mentioned, dental marketer Facebook group, we're always hanging out in there, but you can also go to our website, crimson media group.com.If you come in, if you book a, you know, a free marketing strategy, um, call with me. Uh, let me know that you came from the dental marketer, Michael, and, uh, we'll hook you up with a special surprise. Yeah, that's Michael: a cool thing. Everybody listening gets a very comprehensive strategy. When you book it with Crimson Media Group.So guys, go ahead and do that. It's gonna be in the show notes below. And Shane, thank you for being with me on this Monday morning marketing episode. Thanks, Michael.‍

Welcome to the latest episode of The Dental Practice Launch Podcast! In this exciting installment, we dive into focusing on how to begin your dental practice with a resounding success. Whether you're a recent dental school graduate or an experienced professional venturing into independent practice, this episode is packed with valuable insights and expert advice to help you kickstart your dental journey with a bang.   Join our esteemed host, Shane Simmons, and guest, Robin Morrison, as they explore the key elements necessary to establish a thriving dental practice. From strategic planning and building a strong foundation to effective marketing strategies, financial considerations, and patient acquisition techniques, we leave no stone unturned in this comprehensive guide.   Learn more about Robin Morrison here: https://rlmmarketing.com/

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our listeners a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍‍In this episode, Shane Simmons, from Crimson Media Group, dives into one of the new marketing strategies he has seen working for practices! Shane suggests looking up local small business Facebook groups in your area, and joining them with your personal Facebook profile. Once in these groups, you can scout out a potential collaboration among the members. If you find a good match, invite the business out to your practice for a full or half day. After utilizing their services and supporting their business, they will most likely reciprocate by sharing your business on their social media. This method of cross promotion can be a powerful and mutually beneficial tool for your marketing!Don't miss out on this week's episode to hear more on Shane's uncommon marketing strategy!‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Crimson Media Group WebsiteFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing/‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Our Sponsors & Their Exclusive Deals:CARESTACK | Cloud-Based Dental SoftwareSCHEDULE A FREE DEMO TODAY!Click the link below and get 1 MONTH FOR FREE + 10% OFF your Annual Subscription + 50% OFF Your Set-up Fee!Check out CARESTACK now: https://lp.carestack.org/thedentalmarketer‍‍‍Dandy | The Fully Digital, US-based Dental Lab‍For a completely FREE 3Shape Trios 3 scanner & $250 in lab credit click here: meetdandy.com/tdm !‍‍Mango Voice | The best VoIP phones for small business with top software integrations & in-house customer support.Click here for Mango Voice's completely FREE startup package!ORClick here to get 2 FREE MONTHS with Mango Voice‍Thank you for supporting the podcast by checking out our sponsors!‍

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our listeners a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)In this episode, Shane Simmons, from Crimson Media Group, brings up some important points on internal marketing and how to set up a successful community event! Shane suggests planning an annual event for your patients where you provide food, games, and fun giveaways. He notes that it does not have to be anything wildly expensive or extravagant and it will pay off in the long run. Building rapport with your patient-base through events encourages them to invite friends and family to your office. As with most things, consistency is key here! If you keep at it with fun annual events, it will bring your dental community together over time.Listen in on Shane and Michael's conversation here to pick up the latest tips on event planning and internal marketing!‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Crimson Media Group WebsiteFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing/‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Our Sponsors & Their Exclusive Deals:CARESTACK | Cloud-Based Dental SoftwareSCHEDULE A FREE DEMO TODAY!Click the link below and get 1 MONTH FOR FREE + 10% OFF your Annual Subscription + 50% OFF Your Set-up Fee!Check out CARESTACK now: https://lp.carestack.org/thedentalmarketer‍‍‍Dandy | The Fully Digital, US-based Dental Lab‍For a completely FREE 3Shape Trios 3 scanner & $250 in lab credit click here: meetdandy.com/tdm !‍‍Mango Voice | The best VoIP phones for small business with top software integrations & in-house customer support.Click here for Mango Voice's completely FREE startup package!ORClick here to get 2 FREE MONTHS with Mango Voice‍Emitrr | The Complete Customer Engagement Solution (that drastically reduces no-shows)Emitrr is giving all of our viewers & listeners an amazing exclusive deal, to schedule a free demo with Emitrr, visit our link here! https://emitrr.com/the-dental-marketer/‍Thank you for supporting the podcast by checking out our sponsors!‍

In this episode Malika and Michelle speak with Shane Simmons, the Founder and CEO of Crimson Media, a digital marketing agency.  In order to attract their ideal patient, practices need to create a trustworthy online presence that tells a story. Optimizing your internal and external marketing will put your practice above the rest and guarantee an healthy influx of business 0:23   Introducing Shane 2:15   What's your story 5:56   Authentic advertising 9:15   Avoid stock photos 12:40  Find your why 18:06  Office culture 20:20  Reviews and videos matter 27:50  Where to post and how to track 32:10  Listen to the calls 35:31  In conclusion 37:30  Outro Shane Simmons linkedin.com/in/shane-simmons-b-s-a5051564 https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/ Twitter @shanesimmonstv   Malika Azaroon ZarDentalConsutling.com https://www/linkedin.com/in/zardentalconsutling/   Michelle Affanato AffinityManagement.co linkedin.com/in/michelle-affanato-7326b921  

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our listeners a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍‍In this episode, Shane Simmons, from Crimson Media Group, gives us three main pillars to an effective paid social media campaign:‍Be creative: People do not typically want to see highly branded and professional ads on social media. Making an ad that does not look like an ad can be a great way to connect with potential patients. Try making a personalized video or even taking a selfie with the practice in the background!‍Have effective copy: When forming an ad for social media, the written portion is just as important as the main photo or video. Summarizing who you are, what you do, and your values are a great place to start. Have fun with this! Try adding emojis to accentuate your offerings or services.‍Optimize your landing pages: The final step is making sure the page you are sending potential patients to is a high converting page. Having a specific goal for each campaign, and representing that in the landing page helps visitors experience less confusion. To help ease some anxiety from the first patient visit, try adding a video showing what patients can expect on their first day!‍Catch Shane and Michael's discussion on these points and additional insight into effective paid social media campaigns in this episode!‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Crimson Media Group WebsiteFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing/‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍

Crimson Media Group founder Shane Simmons chats with Gary about accidentally finding his agency's niche, how he has used referral relationships to build a client base without spending on ads, and what it takes to make good hiring decisions, and why great marketing is all about storytelling. Website: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com Business Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing Say hello to Shane! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-simmons-b-s-a5051564/#experience Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shane.simmons.5 Twitter: https://twitter.com/shanesimmonstv

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our listeners a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍In this episode, Shane Simmons, from Crimson Media Group, reminds us of the first three main things we need to think about with patients brought in by ad campaigns:‍Answer the phone! Do not let the phones go to voicemail when people call after seeing an ad. These people are colder leads than referrals, and will quickly call the next in line. For this reason, try exclusively running ads during your call hours.‍Get to the root of their problem. We always get the question "How much does 'procedure x' cost?" The answer to this question is unique to each patient. Asking great follow-up questions and inviting the caller in for a consultation will show you care, and give you a better understanding of their needs!‍Send a personalized welcome video via email! When a patient schedules an appointment, send them an email with a video welcoming them to your practice and giving a short introduction on what you are all about. This does not have to be 100% personalized to each patient. Even a welcome video not mentioning names, can help add a personal touch!‍Be sure not to miss this episode, and get more in-depth on Shane's tips for ad campaigns, phone skills, and how to bring those patients in!‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Crimson Media Group WebsiteFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing/‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our guest a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍Have you ever asked yourself this: "I have someone doing SEO on my website for years now... and I have a beautiful website… but no results… I'm still not on the first page of Google's search results... what is going on?" It usually comes down to this one single most important thing.‍In this episode, Shane Simmons, from Crimson Media Group, gives us the rundown on backlinking and how important it is for your SEO! Backlinking is when other sites link to your site, and can offer a huge boost to your visibility in search engine ranking algorithms. Shane gives us an inside look at high quality backlinks, such as from .edu and news sites, and how to facilitate these for your business. He goes over ways to differentiate as a practice, and how to pick up interest from local news sources. He also mentions that running a sponsored event at your undergrad or dental school can be a great way to generate potential backlinks. When it comes to SEO, Shane highlights that you should not be discouraged without instant results, and it is normal for your ranking to fluctuate in the short-term. Dive into this episode to hear more of Shane's thoughts and strategies on SEO and the use of backlinking!‍‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Crimson Media Group WebsiteFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing/‍Resources (Keyword Analysis Websites):https://ahrefs.com/https://www.accuranker.com/‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

The Dental Marketer University: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/tdmu/‍In this episode Shane Simmons shows us how to attract more implant cases to our practice through Google Ads. He shows you how to be more efficient and how we can steal traffic and leads from the big competitors. We discuss how theres 3 main things you must do with every single ad that you run for implant cases: 1) Don't just have an ad running, you need a great offer with it. 2) Have a dedicated landing page for the this campaign. 3) Know your cost per conversion and acquisition. You want to run your ad for at least 3 months to collect enough data to know when is the best time to run ads, what are the best keywords/ terms to bid on, and how to readjust for better results.You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing/Website: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

The Dental Marketer University: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/tdmu/‍In this episode Shane Simmons lets us know how to easily and quickly attract new patients with predictability on Google. If you knew how many patients you needed to attract plus how much you needed to spend to attract these patients, then growth would become a lot easier! Attracting new patients would be insanely predictable. Well, that's the formula that Shane is giving us. We also discuss the number one mistake most practice owners and marketing agencies make with conversion and tracking your Google Ads. You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crimsonmediamarketing/Website: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our guest a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍In this episode Shane Simmons tells us why we need to retarget our existing patients on social media! He lets us know the strategy we need to execute, what type of content should we use to retarget, and also the budget we should put behind the ads for this campaign. We also discuss how we can utilize email marketing to get our existing patients to pull the trigger on their unscheduled treatment (or share about your practice to their friends). ‍‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Email: ssimmons@crimsonmediagroup.comWebsite: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/If you do decided to sign-up with Crimson Media Group, you automatically get a WAIVED SET-UP FEE!‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:‍‍Email: michael@thedentalmarketer.site‍My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/Ground Marketing Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/738965052973156‍The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

Rob and Paul were happy to host Shane Simmons from Crimson Media to discuss how dentists can grow their practice and stand out in competitive marketplaces through digital marketing. Shane is the founder and CEO of Crimson Media, a company based in Fishers, Indiana which helps dental practices attract new patients using online marketing. He is an expert storyteller and two-time Emmy Award winner. With his innovative storytelling techniques, Shane helps clients “build freedom in their practice.” Many potential patients are reluctant to visit the dentist because they are afraid of uncomfortable procedures or have had bad experiences at prior dentists. Rob, Paul, and Shane discuss how dentists can transform these expectations and attract new patients by sharing positive experiences using digital storytelling techniques such as testimonial videos. These techniques help practices show what makes them unique and how they have improved their patients' lives. The Amigos also discuss the importance of omnipresent marketing. Prior to deciding which practice they should visit, patients seek information from several sources including family and friends, social media, online directories, and the practice's website. In order to grow their practice, dentists should build name recognition and form relationships with potential patients by marketing on all these numerous platforms. Finally, Shane breaks down the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) in attracting new clients. He explains the three key elements necessary for a practice's website to appear at the top of search results. Practices who implement these tactics consistently find themselves generating greater website traffic and expanding their business. Listeners who want to learn more about Shane or Crimson Media can visit www.crimsonmediagroup.com or email info@crimsonmediagroup.com. If you mention The Dental Amigos Podcast, you will receive a free in-depth online marketing analysis for your practice. Listeners who want to reach out to Paul can do so at Paul@DentalNachos.com and those who want to reach out to Rob can do so at Rob@RMontgomery-Law.com.

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our guest a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍In this episode Shane Simmons tells us the two types of videos you should have created and need to continue to create in order to get new visitors, new leads, and new patients in your practice. He lets us know how you need to have Formal Videos that go onto your website and certain moments on social media too. Ultimately, what will lead to more conversions is the second type of video marketing which is "raw" videos. Shane tells us what to record, how to do it, and what to add to these videos to amplify the results! ‍‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Email: ssimmons@crimsonmediagroup.comWebsite: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/If you do decided to sign-up with Crimson Media Group, you automatically get a WAIVED SET-UP FEE!‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:‍‍Email: michael@thedentalmarketer.site‍My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/Ground Marketing Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/738965052973156‍The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/crimsonmediafree/Shane always gives all our guest a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍In this episode Shane Simmons tells us the three things every single website needs to have in order to be relevant to Google and to be seen by people who are searching in your community. He lets us know how sometimes the minimalism style that you are looking for can possibly cause your Google Search rankings more harm then good. We also discuss, where it is essential to put keywords so Google can favor your, where is it best to have videos, and what you should have on a home page to convert visitors into new patients.‍‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Email: ssimmons@crimsonmediagroup.comWebsite: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/If you do decided to sign-up with Crimson Media Group, you automatically get a WAIVED SET-UP FEE!‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:‍‍Email: michael@thedentalmarketer.site‍My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/Ground Marketing Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/738965052973156‍The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/Shane always gives all our guest a: Free Marketing Analysis (just mention our podcast name)‍In this episode Shane Simmons tells us the type of content you NEED to create every single month, the format it should be in, and how to distribute it. He tells us how we need to have "evergreen written content and videos", and how these videos do not need to be straight clinical but something that the general person would look at! He gives us great examples and where we can go to get ideas and more!‍‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Email: ssimmons@crimsonmediagroup.comWebsite: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/If you do decided to sign-up with Crimson Media Group, you automatically get a WAIVED SET-UP FEE!‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:‍‍Email: michael@thedentalmarketer.site‍My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/Ground Marketing Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/738965052973156‍The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

(If you DO want to work with Crimson Media Group, be sure to mention this podcast/ episode!)Reach out to Crimson Media Group here: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/Here is the article that goes with this episode: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/blog/how-we-generated-19-dental-emergency-calls-in-3-days‍In this episode Shane Simmons tells us the exact instructions on how to create and launch a successful Google Ad Campaign to attract "Emergency" Patients. During COVID-19 emergency patients were the only way we could keep our doors open, so this caused Shane to create amazing emergency campaigns through Google Ads that brought in new patients like clockwork! He tells us how the offer must be simple and clear, the ad MUST attract emergency patients only, and where to send the traffic from these ads.‍‍‍You can reach out to Shane Simmons here:Email: ssimmons@crimsonmediagroup.comWebsite: https://www.crimsonmediagroup.com/‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Marketing, ask me on these platforms:‍‍Email: michael@thedentalmarketer.site‍My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/Ground Marketing Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/738965052973156‍The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041

We pre-recorded today's conversation via Zoom to learn about the microloan program offered by People Inc. to area small businesses. Joining me on the Zoom was Rachel Fogg, Public Information Officer for People Inc. and their Director of Community Economic Development, Shane Simmons. Shane explained the small business microloan program is customized to meet the needs of each individual borrower. Loans can be as little as $500 or as much as $50,000. They can have terms of as little as seven months or up to six years. The first round of SBA assisted loans was offered May through Sept. 2020, and 56 small business owners were able to use borrowed funds to keep their businesses open during the pandemic while the SBA paid some of – in some cases, most of – their monthly payments for that loan. He gave us examples of the the money money borrowed could be allocated for: equipment, inventory, payroll, working capital, etc. The SBA will help borrowers make payments on qualifying loans closed between February 1, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2021. This opportunity is available for small businesses in Clarke County, Frederick County, Page County, Shenandoah County and Warren County. Small business owners within the CIty of Winchester can go to sba.gov and type in their zip code for access to similar resources. You can call the toll-free hotline to start the process or ask questions: 833-437-0115 or visit their website: http://peopleinc.net/

Today's edition of the Blue-White Breakdown features a look at the arrival of grad transfer John Lovett and decisions to leave by tight end Pat Freiermuth and defensive end Shane Simmons. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It was an eventful day for Penn State's roster on Monday. First, Penn State defensive lineman Shane Simmons announced he was passing on his final year of eligibility at Penn State to begin focusing on his business career. Second, Baylor running back John Lovett announced he is grad transferring to Penn State. Also, what is the perfect way to expand the College Football Playoff? SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW! New episodes Locked On Nittany Lions post live beginning at 12:00 AM ET and can be accessed on all major podcasting platforms. Subscribe today to never miss a single episode, and go back and listen to previous shows! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | iHeart Radio | Amazon Music | Overcast | Himalaya STAY SOCIALLY CONNECTED

Today's edition of the Blue-White Breakdown features a look back at Penn State’s 39-24 win over Michigan State and an exclamation point on Shane Simmons’ career with his seven tackles and 1 1/2 sacks against the Spartans. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this Facebook Live series converted into a podcast, Len sits down with Shane Simmons to discuss the power of Omnipresence Marketing for your dental office. Creating an omnipresence is the future of the successful dental practice. With competition at an all-time high, how do you stand out and separate your practice from the noise? Crimson Media's Shane Simmons will breakdown how to become omnipresent and attract new patients month after month like clockwork. Things you will learn from this episode:  1. What is omnipresence marketing?  2. The $2 a day retargeting campaign that's a game changer for dentists.  3. How to get in the top Google search results.   Shane Simmons is the founder and CEO of Crimson Media who says he wants to transform the way dental practices build relationships in their communities through online marketing. Fun Fact: Shane is a two-time Emmy Award winner who embeds storytelling into his client's marketing.  

Shane Simmons is an expert on all things Appalachia. I came into contact with him when he started a podcast called Hillbilly Talk and then kept following him and a group he co-founded called the Appalachian Project. Shane loves to promote Appalachia and all that's good about our region and I'm a fan of what he does. Shane is also an author and co-author - Legends & Lore of East Tennessee, and most recently, a children's book entitled Petey the Pink-Tailed Possum: A School Tail. Maybe the most knowledgeable guest we've had to date on the ins and outs of what makes Appalachia tick, I think you're going to love hearing from Shane. Enjoy and share with friends!

Shane Simmons is the founder and CEO of Crimson Media, located in Indianapolis, IN, who says he wants to transform the way dental practices build relationships in their communities through online marketing. The slogan, "Helping dentists build freedom in their practice," sums up the company mission. Fun Fact: Shane is a two time Emmy Award winner who embeds storytelling into his clients marketing. If you'd like to learn how Crimson Media can help grow your practice, visit www.crimsonmediagroup.com.

We're sending you into the holiday weekend a little early with a Thursday edition to cap the week. Sean Fitz and Tyler Donohue are back to talk about when players will get back to campus to prepare for the 2020 season. We also talk season scenarios, dabble in some new 247Sports rankings and talk wide receiver recruiting. In the second half of the show we talk defensive end with Shane Simmons, cornerback with Tariq Castro-Fields and take a couple rankings-related questions from the five-star mailbag. Follow the guys on Twitter: @seanfitz247 @TDsTake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

College football and basketball can begin voluntary activities in June. Ohio State eyes the possibility of playing football games in front of 20,000 fans. Two young Penn State players from Florida highlight the Lions’ many options at wide receiver. And Penn State’s Shane Simmons looks to finish his football career on a high note. We’ll break down those headlines on this edition of The Penn State Update. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How can you stand out and differentiate your practice while facing the challenges of commoditization in dentistry? Shane Simmons of Crimson Media is here to answer that question and more. In this episode, we discuss the changes in the industry, as well as and what it takes to establish trust and gain understanding throughout the market. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2oHa9YG

Reviewed this episode: Rocketman Interested or Ignore: The Dead Don't Die Trivia: Bill Murray / Adam Driver Movie Trivia Sponsored by: Lagunitas

No practice owner should go it alone. In an age of growing corporate dental clinics, commodity-influenced pricing on dental services, and uncertainty for recently graduated dental professionals, Smile Source is working to preserve private practice. In this interview, Shane Simmons interviews Trevor Maurer, the president and CEO of Smile Source. They talk about building a community in dentistry and how we can play our part in sustaining the private practice. Interested in learning why 550+ practices are a part of the Smile Source network? Click here to learn more. Be sure to subscribe to The Nothing But The Tooth Podcast!  Looking to grow your dental practice through proven online marketing? Contact Crimson Media today. We are also a 5-star Dental SEO who've helped many clients rank in the top spots of Google, including this dentist in Pasadena, TX.  

On Episode 104 we're LIVE in the Studio with podcaster Shane Simmons. The 8E8 (pronounced “88”) Show is a regular dental podcast answering marketing's most important questions. The show is hosted by Joshua Scott. Learn more about his approach to marketing at http://joshuascott.com. Article - SUPERSTARS GET BOOED - Dealing with Negativity and Criticism in a Very Public World https://www.joshuascott.com/articles/superstars-get-booed   Reviews - Do Me A Favor and Leave a Review on iTunes: http://bit.ly/8E8SHOWreviews   Music - KoKo (@djkokomusic) & Bayati ft. Haliene - Never Say Goodbye https://soundcloud.com/officialkokomusic/koko-bayati-ft-haliene-never-say-goodbye   iTunes Link https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-8e8-dental-marketing-show/id991056407?mt=2   Stitcher Link http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=65328&refid=stpr   Video Version - https://www.joshuascott.com/videos/LIVE-with-podcaster-Shane-Simmons #dentalmarketing #dentistry #dental #dentist #dentalpractice #dentalconsulting #dentalconsultant #practicemarketing #practiceconsulting #practiceconsultant #dentaladvertising #dentalstartup #deliveringwow

In this Episode I met with Shane Simmons from Crimson Media and Nothing but the tooth podcast and we shared ideas on how to market a dental membership program! Shane is the Founder of Crimson Media, a dental marketing firm based out of Indianapolis, Indiana that is helping dentists build freedom in their practice. In addition, Shane is the host of the Nothing But The Tooth Podcast. Shane has been married to his wife Kristen for 5 years, and loves traveling and learning everything he can about the future of dentistry. Fun Fact most people don't know about Shane -- he is the recipient of 2 Emmy Awards for his previous journalistic storytelling.

Shane Simmons of Crimson Media Group joins us again, this time to talk about video. Video gets more attention and frankly gets rewarded by Facebook and Youtube. In today's episode Shane shares with us three easy ways to use video! Shane's links: Nothing but the Tooth podcast Crimson Media Group Facebook Pixel Shane's email: ssimmons@crimsonmediagroup.com  

Do you want to start building an implant practice but you’re not sure if you want to make such a large investment right now? In this episode of The Nothing But the Tooth Dentistry Podcast, Shane Simmons interviews Dr. Phillip Gordon of Dental Implant Practices and talks about how you can get started. Be sure to subscribe to The Nothing But The Tooth Podcast. Looking to grow your dental practice through proven online marketing? Contact Crimson Media today!

Steve continues his time in Mexico as Penn State hoops prepares to take part in the Cancun Challenge! Topics: Chiefs/Rams make NFL history, Penn State football Seniors to be honored this Saturday, Steve breaks down tape of younger Nittany Lions on defense including the impressive play of Yetur Gross-Matos, Shane Simmons and Robert Windsor as well as the other side of the ball!

Steve continues his time in Mexico as Penn State hoops prepares to take part in the Cancun Challenge! Topics: Chiefs/Rams make NFL history, Penn State football Seniors to be honored this Saturday, Steve breaks down tape of younger Nittany Lions on defense including the impressive play of Yetur Gross-Matos, Shane Simmons and Robert Windsor as well as the other side of the ball!

Today's episode features Shane Simmons of Crimson Media Group. They are a company that helps dentists with marketing their practices. Shane is also the host of the "Nothing But the Tooth" podcast! In today's episode Shane shares with us three easy things that can help your practice show up in the coveted Google Maps three pack! I'm not going to lie to you...I went ahead and made one simple change on my Google My Business page today and it was effortless! Shane's links: Nothing but the Tooth podcast Crimson Media Group Bright Local Shane's email: ssimmons@crimsonmediagroup.com Komet has done it again! They've created the Cut, Finish and Polish kit for zirconia and lithium disilicate. You can cut it off, adjust it and polish it...all with one great kit! Go check it out at dentalhacks.com/cutfinishpolish and take advantage of an amazing Komet discount! Buy $300 worth of our favorite Komet products on the website and use the coupon code "HACKS100" and receive $100 off your order! Our friends at Itena have a nanocomposite that you NEED to try! It's called Reflectys. It's a universal composite that comes in compules or syringes, 16 shades and is satisfyingly radioopaque! Even better, it's an "A+ nanocomposite at a C+ price!" Go find out more at dentalhacks.com/reflectys! You can buy Reflectys through the following dealers: DC Dental, Henry Schein, Benco, Dental Health Products and Pearson Dental. You can request a free sample by emailing Callie Schutt at callie.schutt@itena-na.com!  

Have you ever ran ads for high-ticket cases like dental implants or orthodontic treatment? Have you had an issue with your leads showing up to their appointment? If so, listen to Shane Simmons and the one tip his clients have implemented to double their leads show-up rate and close more cases. Need more patients? Crimson Media guarantees new patient growth.

leader talks Aretha Franklin, Jalen Ramsey, breaks down Yetur Gross-Matos, Shane Simmons, and Shaka Toney plus new NBA draft room mock draft. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/leader-johnson/support

It's with heavy hearts we say farewell to Shane Simmons, host of the ROI Podcast and warmly welcome Matt Martella to take his place. Shane is embarking on a new adventure as a start-up entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Crimson Media Group, a medical marketing agency. Shane pioneered the ROI Podcast in April 2017, along with Associate Dean of Acedemic Programs, Phil Powell. Together they have produced more than 50 episodes with a wide range of guests, including Gov. Eric Holcomb. Each episode is geared toward leadership development, entrepreneurship, time management, and other great topics for personal growth. As we say farewell to Shane, we would also like to welcome our new host, Matt Martella. Matt received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Grand Valley State University and carries close to 5 years of professional journalism experience. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/35aeAfZ

In today's economy, employees switch jobs at a much faster rate than their parents and grandparents. For companies to retain their employees, they have to get creative. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Mike Petrie breaks down how Merchants Bank of Indiana has kept a 90%+ employee retention rate. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/35aeAfZ ---- Show Notes: Shane: Hello all of you ROI Podcast listeners! Let me ask you something, how many jobs have you had in your lifetime? If you're a college graduate, how many jobs have you held since graduating college? Well, especially for us millennials and gen z'ers, the data shows that we change jobs much more frequently than say the baby boomer generation… And we've talked about this in previous episodes of the podcast. So if you're a manager in a company – or you're aspiring to take-on a leadership role – keeping your employees is going to be a real challenge for you. And today, you're going to hear from someone who's mastered this – and we'll reveal what his secret is to keeping his employee retention rate above 90 percent! Let's start the show! (ROI Podcast Intro Music) Shane: Alright everyone – welcome back. I'm Shane Simmons and we are pumped that you are here listening to The ROI Podcast presented by the Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus in downtown Indianapolis. So, as you picked up from our introduction, we're talking about employee retention, especially as you begin to see major growth in a company and your human capital suddenly becomes a huge expense when you have to find replacements for those who may have moved on. We talked about this issue before with one of our previous guests, Val Grubb, who put it like this. Val Grubb: As a manager, you've got to be better at your game. You've got to be much more about goal setting, you're really got to coach and provide that feedback, and really allow flexibility at the office. Shane: We've learned through these 50+ interviews we've done that people are so valuable – the best asset to the company. For you longtime ROI listeners, you may remember Randy Stocklin, the CEO of an e-commerce business in Greenwood, Indiana talk about the value of people. Randy Stocklin: We quickly learned that people make or break a business. For us, our business has always been very people-centric, one of our core values is our people matter most. Shane: People are switching jobs quickly. How do you keep them in your organization and avoid losing them to other businesses? Mike Petrie The biggest thing is providing a vision for people to follow because people need to know where they're going. Shane: That was Mike Petrie, Director, Chairman, and CEO of Merchants Bank of Indiana, which holds more than $3.7 Billion in assets and is consistently listed as one of Indiana's best places to work. To receive that kind of recognition, you have to be doing something right – while still growing at a fast clip with more than 200 employees. So, we asked Mike, how do they do it? What's the secret to keeping your employees at the company in this day in age when people switch jobs faster than ever? Mike Petrie: One of the things about our culture, my partner and I are pretty fortunate in what's allowed us to be successful - ever since we've been in business, we've made well over $12B in multi-family loans. That's been over a period of 28-29 years and we've had one $2M loan go bad over that course of time, just one. IN the industry, we're known as people who really underwrite good loans, so then that helps you when you want to sell a loan. That's the culture that we wanted our employees to embrace -don't chase bad loans or just do one, make sure it's good so that we're around for 20 years. Shane: So that's the first piece of insight Mike wants us to remember – so write this down: you need to have a great product. Mike Petrie: First, your customer has to be successful using your tool in order for you to be successful. That's kind of the same thing we had, our goal is to lend people money so that they can be successful and grow their businesses - if they're successful, we are too. It's the same thought process. When you go to work, you want your employees to be successful so that you can be successful. Everyone has to succeed in order for you to succeed. It's got to be a win-win. Shane: That's first and foremost. If the product stinks, your employees will know it stinks, and they aren't going to be passionate about it. And we know from various studies that passionate, engaged employees are more loyal to the company. So that's tip number one. Mike Petrie: The other thing is, part of our culture was to educate everybody. I can't tell you how many MBAs I've bought here at IU that we've trained - I trained my people just like I was, I got my undergrad here and my MBA here while I was working at Merchant's National Bank. I've done the same for my employees, [because] if we invest in them, they know we want them to stick around, and we have a very high retention rate, 90%. We have a lot of people that have been around, been educated, we moved them up, there's a lot of opportunity for them, and for the last three years, we've been one of the top places in Indiana to work, according to that [Indy] Chamber of Commerce survey. We invest in our employees so that they improve their careers, which benefit us as they develop these products and sell loans off. Shane: There's tip number two from Mike – develop your employees. Offer incentives for them to further their skill set and education. This again shows them that you care about their development, but it's also benefiting the company in a major way by creating a better product or service. (Closing Music) Shane: And finally: communicate. Talk with your teams, make sure their managers are having discussions with them… At the end of the day, help improve your employees. Make them better at everything they do – and show you truly care about their future. If you do this, it will pass down to the customer, which will feed into results – and that's a winning formula for keeping employees and a thriving business. (ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Closing comments

Just one week from the opening of “Title of Show”! Bill meets most of the gang at the Two Birds Taphouse for a pre-rehersal dinner and drinks. (Did you know Marietta Theatre Company has their own drink?)   The team feels confident as Bill speaks with the actors (Blaine Clotfelter, Gina Ann Riggs, Jeff Cooper and Becky Ittner) who are “off book”.    Bill also speaks with the musical director, Shane Simmons about the crew and his life before the Marietta Theatre Company.   Get your tickets while they last!   https://mariettatheatre.tix.com/schedule.aspx?orgnum=5266   Two Birds Taphouse https://www.twobirdstaphouse.com

Do you hear that? That's the sound of children across the world sneaking out of bed, tiptoeing in their onesies down the hall and trying to overhear The Dental Hacks Podcast their parents are listening to. The Dental Hacks have created a movement of dentists who love to share their experiences in dentistry -- that includes the good, bad and ugly. In episode #7 of The Nothing But The Tooth Dentistry Podcast, Shane Simmons, CEO of Crimson Media Group and an experienced marketer performing SEO for dentists, interviews co-host and co-founder of Dental Hacks, Dr. Alan Mead. They talk podcasting, taking action, and build a brand in the dental world. Gather 'round, grab a snack and check out this candid conversation. About Dr. Alan Mead: Alan Mead is a 1997 graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. He’s been a practice owner in Saginaw, MI since 1998. An avid podcast listener and blogger since 2008, he often wondered “why couldn’t I do this?” After meeting Jason at a Cosmedent course in 2013, Alan finally pestered Jason into starting the Dental Hacks Podcast in June 2014.

Why do nearly 50% of startups fail? Can growing a business too fast be a detriment? In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Brent Tilson, who's the founder of Tilson HR and a published Forbes author, discusses the common pitfalls of a growing organization while offering advice from his book Go Slow To Grow Fast. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: Shane: What is going on ROI Podcast listeners! We have got a great show for you today and the topic is about scalability: How do you scale the business, do it responsibly, and avoid the trap of sliding off the rails into the red... We have a Kelley School of Business alum, and most recently, author, Brent Tilson, who was one of the very few whose book has been published by Forbes... Let's get into this value-packed episode!  (The ROI Podcast Music)  Shane: Alright, alright, welcome back to the ROI Podcast presented by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus in downtown Indianapolis. I'm one of your hosts, Shane Simmons and the associate dean of academic programs, Phil Powell, is here with me. Phil, how are you?  Phil: Shane, I'm doing wonderful and I cannot wait to share with our listeners these insights from Brent Tilson. He has written a marvelous book with great insights that enables very profitable and efficient business.  Shane: Brent Tilson is the founder and CEO of Tilson HR in Greenwood, which is on the south side of Indianapolis.  Brent: I'm doing wonderful, another great day in Indiana!  Phil: Brent is what you could call a CEO to CEOs. His company, Tilson HR...  Brent: We've been in business now for 23 years  Phil: Has been helping businesses for more than 20 years focusing on business efficiency and performance improvement... And in his new book and in this interview – he's pulling back the curtain and reveals how business can overcome the pains of growth while avoiding the common pitfalls that have eliminated organizations...   Brent: That's correct, Go Slow to Grow Fast, the title of my book sums it all up. At one point, my business was the highest-growing company in the country back in the 2000's, followed up the next year even faster - I was living it. I was also working with businesses that were having the same success! 5:08 As I worked with them, what I realized was that all of them had these predictable growth cycles - I was trying to work with my fellow CEOs to help them anticipate and understand how to help them grow their business. There's a traditional S-curve Life Cycle for businesses that many entrepreneurs and CEOs all recognize, and I was looking at that [thinking] how do I help companies not go to what I call “The Drama Zone."  Shane: Let's talk about the drama zone... What is that?  Phil: The drama zone is when the business may stop seeing, or even lose the growth they were once seeing. Think of dips in revenue or human capital. Brent: Many companies spin out of control in the drama zone and end up going out of business or reverting back to prior business models, trying to salvage themselves and live.   Phil: Brent says one problem many CEOs struggle with is the fact they spend too much time working on tasks that could be delegated – which is costing the company real revenue... And can lead to the drama zone we just talked about.  Brent: Owners should be working on their business, not in it – that's a very common saying in business today. It's easy to say, hard to do, because just the day-in, day-out volume and speed of business makes it very difficult for leaders to truly step back and recognize what's important and not – I call it “materiality”.  Brent: For CEOs and leaders, when it comes to working on your business, you have to look at something that's in front of you and determine if it's material to the impact of your business – if it is, you need to focus on it; if it's immaterial on a day-in, day-out, someone else needs to be working in the business on those matters. They're important, but are they material?  Phil: Now, let's go back to the S-Curve for a moment... In that S curve, you have ups and downs – as we've mentioned... At the bottom of that curve, you usually have an entrepreneur who has a few employees, and the executive is still doing a lot of the work... But when growth hits and the acceleration moves in full force – you have problems that will arise...  Brent: All of a sudden, they have success in the business and they're growing – they quickly find out that their infrastructure isn't designed to even handle the sales and record them in their accounting system. They don't have the production and distribution because they quickly out-scaled what they could possibly do, so then they're scrambling to be able to meet those needs. If they grow too fast, then they're trying to hire people as fast as they can, so what ends up happening is they start cutting corners and paying people under the table or whatever it takes to keep the company alive. One day, they wake up, and they've hit this inflection point – an order doesn't get made, an employee makes a mistake, the IRS knocks on the door - something happens where the company realizes they don't have the infrastructure to support the sales, and they quickly start to spiral and try to figure out how to salvage themselves.  Shane: That's when you have a mess on your hands?  Phil: Exactly. That growth may seem like a great thing – but in reality, if there aren't processes in place to handle that growth – you can have real problems you have to fight through.   Brent: Statistically, 50% of startups go out of business in the first few years, and if you go and look at all the stats that exist, you'll find that that's very hard to get past the first five years. I would propose and suggest that the reason why a lot of companies fail is that they don't have the scalability - they get into that problem, start to have success, and they don't plan for the future.  Phil: So first and foremost, fast growth isn't always great for the business – and that's assuming you don't have the proper systems are in place. But what are those systems? What do they look like?   Shane: I'm assuming you have to have metrics?   Phil: Yes, metrics are necessary – but Brent says too many times organizations will rely on the financial statements – and view them as black and white – when in reality – there's often a hidden story...  Brent: The reality is the financial statements don't tell the whole story, they just tell part of it, because if I were to take two identical financial statements and lay them side-by-side, one may have an amazing operation that can scale, succeed, and double in size, while the other one has never invested in their infrastructure. The other metrics for us to measure are those things that aren't measured by financial statements - it could be employee turnover, which maybe indicates a moral problem, maybe it's a loss of clients! So they're adding a business on the top line, but they're going just as fast out the back. It's [about] measuring these things that are a non-financial statement that help businesses understand how effective they are at running their business. I propose that effectiveness is as important - or more important - to measure, than just bottom line Return On Investment and profitability.  Phil: Measuring things that aren't on the financial statement is critical... Culture, moral, these are things that can't be quantified on a piece of paper... But let's move to employees effectiveness... How do you measure that? Brent has a very simple way to look at it, which has helped companies hit all new levels. It's called Revenue Per Employee.  Brent: To me, Revenue Per Employee, measures the ultimate effectiveness of an organization because everything contributes at the end of her day into generating Revenue Per Employee. First, let's think about a software company, one of the highest Revenue Per Employee industries - you can write the software, get it to a certain level, maintain it, sell it as a software where there are very low infrastructure costs other than the programming, and you can maximize very high levels of Revenue Per Employee. Thus, why technology firms trade at such high multiples, how they raise such high levels of value, because they maximize Revenue Per Employee, where a law firm, engineering firm, or professional services firm, at best, is 100-125,000. By industry, companies can measure themselves against and compare where they stand up to their competition - the Revenue Per Employee is such a critical measure because everything contributes to that. If I'm losing clients and my turnover of clients is bad, that's going to drive revenue down per employee because I'm having to replace it just as fast as it's going out the door. If I can make my employees more effective, they're able to do more with less, and they're just better performing, then that means they can take on more capacity, adding more Revenue Per Employee on the top line. If you unpack and look at all the variables that affect Revenue Per Employee, you start to find out where all the leaks are in the organization – you start to find out where those issues are, that normally wouldn't surface, that impact Revenue Per Employee.  Phil: There's always an inflection point... And what do you do? Hire more people at a really fast pace?  Shane: But if you do that, there's so much time and costs into training, getting the team up to speed – having this mass hiring's in a short period of time can be risky, right?  Phil: Exactly – and that's when outsourcing can become your ally.  Brent: I think companies, as they look at their lifecycle and they're making these strategies on how to run their business and to maximize driving zones, minimize drama zones, the key is to look at the organization and find what are the most important things that drive value. If you double in your size and you're outsourcing, let's say, IT, your IT provider then is able to meet your needs, because they have all the professional expertise when you need it, as you need it, to help you scale. The same thing with the Human Resources side, if you outsource the HR infrastructure, and you have professionals that meet all the needs and can anticipate and look around corners, then your drama zones can be greatly minimized. Every company will always have a little bit, you can't be a perfectly 45-degree growth line - how do you maximize the driving zones, and if you take out the friction and do that through outsourcing, those non-critical, market differentiating things from your organization, then you can minimize and maximize.  Phil: At the end of the day, it's all about minimizing your chances of hitting those danger zones... and having the systems and processes in place to handle growth... We've just scratched the surface in the podcast interview... In Brent's book, Go Slow To Grow Fast, you'll hear a fable drawn from Brent's work with hundreds of businesses over the years – which Brent creates a case study that will walk you along this business journey...  Brent: I'm very excited to roll out my book, Go Slow To Grow Fast – it encapsulates and expands on the topics that we've talked about in this podcast. I would encourage the listener to pick up a copy, available on Amazon, and it will help the reader and take them through a fable based on my many years working with businesses. Those who have read alongside with me as I've written the book have said they can see themselves in these characters, so I think the reader will find themselves pulled into the book, able to start to understand and give themselves a path for the future, and what to anticipate as they step into a CEO role. It might be one of those tools that you have on your shelf that you pull out over the years and say, “These are the things we're experiencing today, let's talk about them and plan for the future because we've got to go slow to grow fast”.  (The ROI Podcast Music)  Shane: Go Slow To Grow Fast... Brent Tilson's book will be out on June 4th -- you can get your copy on Amazon... And that's going to be a wrap for this episode of The ROI Podcast. We'd like to thank Brent Tilson for sharing his lifelong business experiences with us and really pulling back the curtain on real issues companies face, and how to tackle those issues. Be sure to subscribe to the ROI Podcast and leave us a review. And we'll be right back here next week with another episode for you!   

Healthcare costs continue to increase, but physicians are becoming more involved with the business side of healthcare. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Todd Saxton discusses SoPe, Indiana's Chapter of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs, and how its goal is to create more entrepreneurial physicians. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes:  Shane: "Doctors are going to have to start thinking about the broader business, which is something they haven't really been pushed to do before. If they want to continue to contribute to the organization and understand how they fit in, they need to understand how they're contributing to the economic vitality of the organization." Those are powerful words regarding the future of physicians in this country, spoken by our guest today – Todd Saxton – professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the Kelley School of Business. And today – we're talking about an initiative that could impact everyone's healthcare in this country.  (The ROI Podcast Intro Music)  Shane: Welcome back! Here we are with another ROI Podcast coming at you from the Kelley School of Business on the downtown Indianapolis campus. I'm your host Shane Simmons and as usual, Phil Powell, who's the associate dean of academic programs at the Kelley School, is right beside me. Phil – how's it going?  Phil: (Response)  Shane: Today, many people's minds are going to be amazed – because we're talking about something that touches us all: healthcare.   Phil: Get this, in 2016, $3.3 Trillion was spent on healthcare expenses, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That's a massive number that continues to rise... And who is going to play a critical role in the future of healthcare in this country? Physicians. And our guest, professor Todd Saxton, says physicians are beginning to, and need to, engage more in the entrepreneurial world.  Todd: One of the things that I think is very interesting to me, now [that I've been] observing our roughly 200 folks up close and personal that have been through our program, is physicians are extremely entrepreneurial - I would put 75%+ of them in the top 10% percentile in terms of entrepreneurial thinking [on] how they approach their own clinical practice.   Todd: I see them engage in the entrepreneurial world in three different ways: One is the physician entrepreneur who wants to start their own thing - we've had several students who've started their own business in the course of attending their own program and are now doing great things as alums. There are the physicians who want to be involved in the venture community as angel investors and or advisers - we've actually had a group formed in conjunction with the program called Angel Bomb that is an angel investing group with Vision Tech, and again, some of the physicians aren't necessarily ready to leave their day job and start a new thing, but want to be active in the community and give back, and that's a tremendous benefit to innovators that are trying to access clinicians not just for their money, but the insight they have in life sciences and the ability to bring that to bear on the start-ups and help them move toward a successful trajectory is really powerful. The third category isn't necessarily interested in starting their own thing, investing, or advising, but are innovators within their own institutions. Innovating in healthcare is really tough and I think some of the lessons they learn, partly from their colleagues, partly from the faculty in the program, allow them to become more successful change agents within their own organizations and institutions.  Phil: Five years ago, here at the Kelley School, we launched one of the few physician-only MBA programs - we were told physicians wouldn't go back to school [because] they were too busy. But they're coming back, and we're enjoying them in the classroom right now. And generally speaking – these physicians tend to think differently than your traditional entrepreneur... But Todd and Dr. Paul Szotek have co-founded something called SoPe – Indiana's chapter of the society of physician entrepreneurs... He says it's leading a step in the direction of creating an ecosystem for physicians here in the Indianapolis region, can you talk about that?  Todd: SoPe's mission is to bring together pieces of the life science venture ecosystem to allow innovation to happen, whether that's entrepreneurship or innovation within hospital systems. It's not clinician-only, it can be other parts of that life science ecosystem, whether you're a care provider or a supporter of life science types or organization - it's a fairly inclusive organization with 50% [of the members being] physicians and there's a strong element of the physician entrepreneur that is trying to be served. I like to think of it in terms of degrees of separation: between any entrepreneur with an idea and success are probably five key people that they need to talk to and get feedback from, [which] will lead to customers and other things. For most clinicians, they are probably three to four degrees of separation, if not more, from those folks that really need to talk to [them] to be successful as an entrepreneur. What SoPE does, and what the Kelley school can enable, is to shorten those degrees of separation to one or two.   Phil: So Shane, when I was talking to Todd about physicians and their entrepreneurial journey, he brought up something about how physicians are trained in med school, and some of the major hurdles they face when they take that entrepreneurial leap.  Todd: In addition to the fact that they're all very bright and motivated, they think scientifically, that's how they've been trained to make diagnoses in most cases of complex scenarios, and take apart and diagnose what's going on - in their world, that's been with a patient who has some kind of problem. In the start-up world, what you're trying to do is frame some hypothesis about the marketplace, what the problem is, what the solution might look like, what pricing might look like, etc., and systematically navigating that uncertainty by framing hypotheses, testing those, and then move onto the next stage - physicians just naturally think that way.  Phil: We're going to pause here for just a second... And pay close attention to what Todd says next.  Todd: It's funny because sometimes, particularly in the tech transfer world and universities, you'll hear we need to train our technologists and researchers to think more like business people – 9:04 I would actually flip that and say we need to train our entrepreneurs to think more like scientists, to think about the problem, craft hypotheses, and systematically navigate through that, as opposed to engaging in entrepreneurship as a random journey.  Phil: But one challenge some physicians face, according to Todd, is that they typically are trained not to take risks... But once they can overcome that challenge – they can accomplish amazing feats.   Todd: There's no recipe for being a successful entrepreneur, and I would say one lesson is to get feedback early: the traditional approach to entrepreneurial education was we're going to get these students, they're going to write a business plan, and have a business plan conference. It was all contained within the walls of the university, no interaction with the marketplace. Ventures that start with a closed-door mentality 30:53 doesn't fly, you need input from the marketplace and you need to reach out to customers and other informed folks who can give you candid feedback. So step one, plan on a lot of iterations in the idea phase when you're coming up with the concept, interact with the marketplace, get feedback, and be comfortable with pivoting. Lesson two is you have to be passionate about the problem that you're solving: a lot of entrepreneurs are enamored with the idea of making a lot of money and inventing the next sliced bread but don't really have a committed to an idea or the problem it is that they're solving. Those entrepreneurs are very rarely successful, so you have to find a problem or know of one that you are passionate about and committed to solving. The third lesson I would say is to get education, whether that's formal or not - coming back to the batting average or hit-rate mentality, the more education you can have the different pieces of uncertainty, how to navigate that, and [being] more informed about the choices that you're making, the more likely it is that your venture will survive the very rough seas of launch and sailing to your destination.  (Closing Music)   Phil: Entrepreneurship can be a scary journey – that's the reality... But out of this risk, can breed massive reward... And with our healthcare moving forward – we need physicians steering the ship – both as clinicians treating their patients – and administrators with the vision of making our healthcare system better than it's ever been.  (Closing ROI Podcast Music)  Shane: Great job on that interview with Professor Todd Saxton... As we say here at the Kelley School: We're changing healthcare one physician at a time – and that's why the society of physician Entrepreneurs' chapter in Indiana is so important. If you'd like to learn more about SoPe, and receive more information about the inaugural event on June 21 – visit www.sopein.com and you can find out all the information there. And don't forget subscribe and leave a review to The ROI Podcast! We'll be back here again with you next week here on the ROI Podcast! 

Create the culture, add a great service, and you have a recipe for success. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, listen to Counterpart's Chief Strategy Officer, Drew Linn, on how their culture and innovation has helped them become one of the most successful software development companies in Indianapolis. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Welcome in, everyone to another episode of The ROI Podcast presented by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI campus in downtown Indianapolis. I'm your host, Shane Simmons. I've got the associate dean of academic programs for the Kelley School, Phil Powell, with me once again – and today, we're going to jump into company culture – and the critical role it plays to innovation. Phil: You're right and here is the irony. In a technology company, we think the fundamental driver of value is things like artificial intelligence, the coding, the electronic circuity, but it's not. In the end, it's people, just like in any other organization. And what motivated people is the culture that they work in.  Shane: Today – you're going here from Drew Linn, chief strategy officer at Counterpart – a custom software development firm based in Indianapolis. Phil: And what Counterpart does is they help organizations around the state to innovate… That's their job – and software is that vehicle. Drew: There are a couple different things: companies need to innovate, and software can help make that happen very quickly. Phil: But as the Chief Strategy Officer at Counterpart, Drew says the company has been so successful throughout its existence because of the culture it has created. It's a tech company – and as we know – tech companies are really disrupting the traditional work environment – and that works for Counterpart which helps them deliver a better product. And that starts with the right team. Drew: The first is we've got to have the right team: personalities aren't all the same, but we all rally around a common goal - some of us are closer than others, but we all have a mutual respect for each other. So the members of the team are a challenge, and what's interesting is we have several that are founder-level age, [who are] a great resource and they all spend time mentoring, and then we have this new, younger, under-30 group that looks at things differently but mesh well. Phil: The right people are in place. There's a mix of age groups which bring experience and new ways of looking at projects, issues, and solutions. And one of the ways they're able to keep up that culture that works for them is through flexible work hours – which Drew says only enhances the quality of work they produce. Drew: You've got to make sure that the dynamics, the chemistry that's in our environment is solid. We also not only check the time but other than client meetings, you can work from anywhere you want. We're about to move into a brand new office that we hope will create that environment that would encourage the collaboration and the time together, but if you want to work from home, because that's what works for you -- in fact, we have a couple that comes in once every week. Dealing with that dynamic, it's hard to build relationships when you aren't together. What we're trying to do is allow each individual to, Yes, whether it's how much they're going to deliver to this client every week, it gets down to when you're hired, you're just given a budget, and you go buy whatever technology you want. Then every two years you get another allotment to go upgrade it or replace it, and then it's yours. It's how you want to do it - we try to embrace the personality because not everybody's the same. I'm typically in the office around 8 until late, and we've got some that come in at 11, and then they work until 7, 8, or 9. Phil: Shane, we're starting to see this type of environment more and more – the freedom to work from home or on your own schedule, but making the employees hold themselves accountable to completing their projects. And Drew says that's a big selling point and why people want to work for them. Drew: One of the biggest things has been just embracing the talents, strengths, and expertise of the members on your team, and not trying to control them - you hired that person, you brought them in to do a responsibility on your team, let him/her do it. The culture is really what I'm talking about, you've got a team that's willing to do what you need them to do, and you want them to do it well, otherwise, with us being so close to our team and community, it's going to go around town and that's not going to be helpful with your business model. Phil: We've flexible work hours, letting the employees manage themselves and their areas, and bringing in a mix of people from different age groups and backgrounds – but Drew says just as important as all those factors are transparency. And we've seen this with other companies we've interviewed like One Click Ventures in Greenwood – and what Drew said about transparency was really interesting to hear. Drew: Like I said earlier, transparency on all levels [is important], the company does well if everybody knows how it's doing. You can be running a marathon, but if you don't realize you're going to end halfway through because you're out of energy, you're not going to survive. What we've done is not only on the financial transparency from the salary-standpoint, where everybody can have access to know what everybody's making, it's also on the company performance. Not only do we do fully transparency P&L balance sheet performance sessions every week, over-arching all of this, we also have an employee profit-sharing program. Everybody benefits this quarter because we invested [and] brought on a couple new people - we also chose to invest in one particular client project that won't have profit-sharing. Now second and third quarter, we're primed for significant profit-sharing, so everybody's aware of what's going on and where the money's being spent, it just brings you a sense of a common goal. We understand what sacrifices are going to happen - some get involved in all of it, some don't, I think that's been a real motivator to keep us all aligned. And it's not a money thing, it's also the impact thing. Phil: Impact – remember when we discussed social impact investing in last week's episode? We're seeing this reoccurring theme. More companies are considering the impact their making on the community, in the case for Counterpart, helping other companies innovate and grow, while having a positive impact on their employees and being completely fair and transparent with them. And Drew says their main goal is community impact: (Closing Music) Drew: I know that sounds cliché, but you know, we're in this community together - we can do great things, but if the community around us isn't thriving and surviving, then we're not going to thrive very long. (ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Close out the podcast

What if you could increase profits and help the community and environment all at the same time? Social and environmental strategy isn't just charity, they can produce real profits for organizations. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Jay Geshay reveals how to skyrocket profits through social impact investing. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: Shane: We are in the midst of a global shift – and have been for the past few years. Millennials and Gen Z consumers care more about where their products come from and how they are produced – with an emphasis on global sustainability… More and more investors are putting their capital where it aligns with their social objectives – and this is changing the game as we speak… Let's get to the podcast! (ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Hey everyone! Shane Simmons here and welcome into another episode of The ROI Podcast presented by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. We are recording this from the IUPUI campus in downtown Indianapolis on a beautiful spring day. I've got the associate dean of academic programs, Phil Powell, here beside me once again. Phil, how are you? Phil: (Response) Shane: Let's talk about social impact investing. Phil, I feel like when this topic was discussed previously, it wasn't as attractive as it is today… Phil: Some would say the social impact is simply charity in disguise and it's going to cost the stockholders value and try and broaden the scope of a for-profit organization… But according to Jay Geshay of United Way, an expert in social impact investing, companies who are investing in socially positive practices have reaped a multitude of benefits. Jay: In a traditional view of capitalism, you could definitely say that's the case - when you take your eye off the ball, when you get off your hedgehog idea, you consider that would dilute revenue and profitability. I think what you're seeing in missional companies - companies that are created to solve problems that are social in mind, whether it's around education or healthcare - when a company is missional, the social impact is embedded in it. What research is finding is companies that are doing this social good retain their employees more, are actually able to maintain or improve profits, and if you look at companies that are over 100 years old and you do a study of those, you'll see that a successful company are those that bring in the community and help as part of them, solving their issues, and not just using them for profits. Phil: Now, some people may have some preconceived notions in their head of what social impact investing is – and may get it mistaken for charity… Jay breaks down this misconception. Jay: If you look at a charity, it's basically high social impact, but -100% in ROI. Charities outstand ably, philanthropy plays a huge role in our society. If you look at social impact, it's really changing measurable outcomes in our community for the better. But when you look at social impact investing, yes, it's changing the social impact outcomes, but it's also returning a percentage on the financial side. If you look at many reports and research that has come out, they're showing that social impact funds, like Colorado Impact Fund, for example, are actually achieving market rates of return. Phil:  So what has happened over the past two decades. Why are we seeing this shift to social impact investing? Jay: I think the traditional view twenty years ago is if I want to make money, I do things like venture capital and private equity, but if I want to do good, I give to United Way - those two do not cross. But we learn through experience, by seeing success in those that are trend-setters and are on that edge of learning. We've learned that you can do both, and that social impact investing can return a market rate of return. Shane: But society is also changing… Values have shifted, especially with generations like millennials and gen z… Phil: That's true… And there are companies out there who are making social responsibility the backbone of everything they do. Rather than looking at profits, they're looking at the impact on people and their community. And Jay says talks about some of those organizations he's seen. Jay: Eli Lilly, although they would never say they were a social impact company, I think by the way they operate and work within the community with United Way, we worked strategically with them on early childhood and was able to advance that in our state. I think about all the good that they do in our community and what their stock does as well through Lilly Endowment. But if I were to look at some companies that aren't as well-known, I would probably look to Endova, they're out of Chicago and they're a start-up company funded by another social impact fund called the Impact Engine. They do education for prisoners, on a tablet, and their goal is to help recidivism be reduced so that when they exit out of prison, they can do that. Another [idea] that I find very interesting is an app that is on your phone for food stamps, called EBT Fresh , and what it allows is it shows food stamp recipients where they can use it and how much is on their card, because you might only be able to learn about your balance by calling an 800 number. Those are great products that are raising capital to expand - they don't want grants, they're actually issuing equity - because they know capitalism is the way to sustain and the scale rapidly. Phil: So if you're a young manager out there – and you're wanting to make sure your company's social and environmental values are aligning with this notion of social responsibility – you're probably asking, “What can I do? How can I play a part?” Jay answers that here: Jay: I would caution a young manager to try to move an organization towards a social Enterprise status. Because the social enterprise, the heart of it, really needs to come from the top and come from the founders or the owners of the organization. I would encourage a young manager to think more in terms of corporate social responsibility. Because I think you can do corporate responsibility and combat it more from retaining employees, the brand lift of an organization. And I think that organizations that aren't missional focused on social impact can still look at CSR… And they can say, “Yes. It is helpful if our employees can do volunteer work in the community. It is helpful if we can run a United Way Campaign, it is helpful if we do these things well in the community because the value back to the company is measured by employee engagement and satisfaction and brand lift. Rather than come at it from a social impact side, I'd probably come at it from a CSR side, unless you can convince the owners otherwise, but typically I think it would be hard to shift the missional focus of an organization. Phil: You know, Shane, like all great ideas, the application of them evolves over time. What we are seeing now is something fundamental. A convergence between profit, and a sense of social mission or social impact. In the past, in many ways, our business models and our charity models made those mutually exclusive, as you've said. But innovation and newness of thought and change in social values now make that one in the same. And the good news is, the more those converge, the more good we have for everyone. (ROI Podcast Music) Shane: (Closing Remarks)

The job interview can be terrifying. It's what prevents many people from searching for a new job, but in this episode of The ROI Podcast, Josh Killey, Director of Career Services, breaks down the dos and don't of the job interview process. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: (Dramatic Introduction Music) It can be terrifying. It keeps people up at night, causes shortness of breath, sweaty palms and prevents people from dislodging themselves from their cushiony comfort zone. We're talking about the fear that unravels even the coolest of minds – it's called: The job interview.  And today, we're here to tell you what NOT to do, and a great follow-up tip. Let's do this! (ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Have no fear, l, dies and gentlemen. That dramatic intro, hopefully, didn't bring back any chilling memories, but let's face it – people don't like job interviews. We've all been in that spot where you're trying to go over all the questions in your head, telling yourself not to stumble over your words or say something you might regret. But the fact of the matter is – we can nail that job interview when it arrives – and that's what we're going to be discussing today on The ROI Podcast. Of course, I'm your host, Shane Simmons. And today, we're going to tell you why people fear job interviews, and how you can prepare yourself to overcome that fear! This is going to be a fun episode – and who knows, maybe you're listening to this right now and you know you'll be interviewing for a job here soon, so pay attention! (Intro Music) Josh: In some respects, you're putting people on the spot, you're making them tell things about themselves, some people aren't comfortable with. Shane: You just heard from Josh Killey, director of career services at the Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI campus here in downtown Indianapolis. Josh has helped hundreds of people ease their fear of interviews and he says it really breaks down to this: Josh: I think the biggest issue we see with interviewees is the lack of preparation – not completely understanding themselves, the company, the position they're applying [for]. There's definitely some things that can help an interviewee if they've done the preparation and if they've thought through the process. Shane: Tip number one: Preparation. Preparation is huge with anything we do… And Josh says you've got to know who you are, what your strengths are, and how you can really impact the organization. And if you don't know enough about the organization, because you didn't do your research, you're not able to really put yourself into position and standout from all the other applicants. Now here's an interesting thought: You have two types of applicants who Josh helps: students who have little work experience fresh out of school, and working professionals who've been out in the workforce, but are looking for something different, whether that be a new company or position… Josh says the two have some similarities but area also very different. Josh: I think as far as similarities, there's going to be a number of them – they're still going to have to understand their own interests and skill sets to be able to convey that to a company. The experienced professional is going to have considerably more backgrounds, skills, and ability to demonstrate what they've done than an entry-level candidate would. This is what we focus a lot [on] when we talk to students, it's about getting internships and getting that related experience so that you have direct examples of what it is that you're trying to convey to an employer. Shane: Tip number 2: Know yourself. Know the skills you have and own them. Whether your new to the job market, or a seasoned veteran, you have to know your skillset and convey that to the organization. And part of that is building out your resume in a way that shows tangible results. Josh explains. Josh: A lot of times, what you'll see with [resumes and even] experienced [ones] is they've got key results/accomplishments that are embedded in them - that's a way of saying they've done these things at the particular position, but here are the three to five things that really impacted the organization. Being able to speak to those effectively, convey that to the company, and selling your abilities is going to be critical.  Shane: So for example, I helped generate the company an additional $200,000 in revenue through service sales in Quarter 1 of 2017 – or I help implement lean strategy that saved the organization $2 million in wasted manpower. Those are powerful. They stick. And that's what leaves an impact. Next Tip: Research, research, research. Here are some ways to research the organization you've applied for. Josh: As far as strategies, I think the most important thing is researching as much information as you can get [from] the company and the position beforehand. The job description itself will give you some of it, but [you should utilize] resources like the company website, of course, and another one is Glassdoor. Glassdoor.com is an excellent resource because people go on there and put things the company might not necessarily want you to know – the good, bad, and the ugly, if you will – about the organization, their culture, and even their interview process - a lot of information can be gleaned from Glassdoor.com. Of course, there's a variety of different resources, like LinkedIn and other things you can do to go through to prepare and understand the organization and position as much as you can. Utilizing those resources to help prepare yourself is key. Shane: And the final tip – follow up after the interview. Josh says handwritten letters can be very powerful because let's face it, most people are do everything digitally now. So if you can get a handwritten letter to the right person, this can be very powerful in your follow up. Just thank them for their time, and if there's anything you wish you would have mentioned during the interview that you didn't, that's a great time for that as well. (ROI Music) Shane: Closing Comments

So, you're wanting to scale your business to the next level? Or, maybe you've recently launched a startup with high hopes of its success. Well, you're in luck. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Faraz Abbasi, a partner at a private equity firm, reveals what they look for in a business before considering an investment. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Welcome back to The ROI Podcast, everybody! I hope you're having an amazing day out there! I'm your host, Shane Simmons. I've got the associate dean of academic programs for the Kelley School of Business, Phil Powell next to me and we have a really cool episode. As you know, we are a few episodes into our CEO series, where we've been interviewing some amazing executives and figuring out what has helped them elevate their careers so they can live their best life. Well in today's episode, we're talking to someone who you could call a CEO to CEOs. His name is Faraz Abbasi, he's a Kelley School graduate who's the Senior Managing Partner at Centerfield Capital – a private equity firm in Indianapolis. And Phil, I know you've known Faraz for some time now. Phil: Absolutely. I knew Faraz as a student in the Evening MBA Program. During the program, he made a decision that he wanted to go into private equity, and to make that jump, he contacted Centerfield Capital to volunteer his time. And now he finds himself as a managing partner. He's been very successful. It's a classic example of going after what you want to do. Now he finds himself making investment decisions in new businesses. So, he brings a lot of wisdom and I'm glad we could have him in our episode today. I started my chat with Faraz talking about the factors that determine whether or not a venture fund chooses to invest in a company. Faraz: So the common sentence in our industry is we're investing in management, not in the company necessarily - the management team holds the most critical component of our investment thesis. The most important point I would make is when management teams have a strong track record and put skin in the game. We've done a ton of analysis over 18 years where we've looked at what has worked for us and what hasn't. The one thing which sticks out is when the management team has skin in the game – they're re-investing their capital, they take some chips off the table, and for the first time, they're becoming investors in the company. Phil: So Faraz says the management team needs to be engaged and have skin in the game – which he says is when they are re-investing their capital in the company. But Faraz makes it clear – that many firms, before investing in a company – are looking at the first impression they get from the CEO. Faraz: When we go into a management presentation where a management team is presenting to us an investment opportunity, if several people are on their cellphones, we walk out – we try to wrap the meeting up pretty quick. If they're not fully engaged with the conversation, [that's not good]. Faraz: In terms of other things with management, if they're not engaged and it's a team where we feel one person is talking during the whole management presentation and the rest aren't participating, that's a big red flag as well. This person leading the organization must be a control freak, he's one that's demanding or controlling the whole conversation. We'd like to get a chance to speak to each member of the management team and look at their management depth – again, we're not investing in one person, we're investing in a whole team. Phil: So if you are out there looking for investors or venture capital – think about what Faraz just mentioned. It's not always the idea or product that investors are looking at – they are also looking into the management. This is where you really have to sell yourself! But what about specific traits investors may look for? Here's Faraz's response. Faraz: I would say the knowledge. I'll give you a quick example, we invested in an outdoor gaming product company in Westfield, and it was a company which in the initial review didn't pass The Smell Test because of the size – it was a smaller company, and we typically invest in companies with four million of [unintelligible] plus. Because it was local, we decided to talk to the management team and discuss the company further. Another risk has we thought it was a one-product company, mostly cornhole and beanbag games. Long story short, we went and visited the management team, spoke with them, and they really wowed us in terms of the knowledge they had. They seemed to be not only very knowledgeable but also very partnership-driven, so we took that meeting, came back, and decided it was a company we wanted to go after and invest in. Phil: So, to all of you business owners or executives out there looking for investors – Faraz mentions knowledge and having a partnership-driven attitude. Faraz: That's a big win, and the other big win is where the CEO has built such a good team that they have a strong succession plan. If they get hit by a truck, they have enough people in a place where the company will still survive and thrive without them. That, again, that bolds to a higher evaluation for that kind of businesses. It's not common to see those kinds of CEOs in our businesses where, again, often times we augment the CEO in place already with other people where in 3-5 years the CEO will retire and the next tier of management team will take over for that reason. Shane: So here is the lesson Faraz really wants our listeners to take away: You may have an awesome product or service, but without great executive leadership, those businesses don't look nearly attractive in the long-term. And this is especially important if you are looking to raise capital for the business. Phil: It's really this simple: A good venture capitalist, when she gets a business plan, first turns to the leadership bios, and if it pasts that test, then they look at the business model and the product. So it's the complete opposite of what you think. That's the way smart money follows smart opportunity.  Shane: And as I listened to this interview, Phil, I picked up on something Faraz said and we all talked about after the interview, and that is that better executives can let go faster. Meaning, they don't have to be involved in the day-to-day, they've built a strong enough team who can take care of the details, while they focus on the big picture. Phil: If you're going to be an effective executive then you have to scale yourself. Which means you constantly have to be shedding tasks. As the chief executive officer, you're really the chief communicator. (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: That's going to do it for this episode of The ROI Podcast. We want to thank Faraz Abbasi for being on the show and giving us an inside look at what investors are looking for in leadership before investing. We will be back here next week talking about traps to avoid as an executive – and how to prevent feeling too overwhelmed. In the meantime, don't forget to subscribe and leave The ROI Podcast a review on iTunes. Keep up with everything we're doing! And we'll talk to all of you next week here on The ROI Podcast!

Have you ever sat down at night and wondered, "Where did my day go? I feel like I didn't get anything done." We've all been there. Thankfully, there are some very simple hacks you can apply to your life that will allow you to stay laser focused and get more accomplished. Episode 39 of The ROI Podcast will explain these hacks so you can start getting more done. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: (ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Welcome back! We are recording episode 39 of The ROI Podcast which is presented by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business – coming to you from downtown Indianapolis on the beautiful IUPUI campus. I am your host, Shane Simmons. And today, we're bringing you an episode about productivity – and the 5 productivity hacks you can start implementing today so you can rock your life and business. And throughout this episode, we're going to share productivity hacks from some of the greatest entrepreneurs out there, including Elon Musk and others. And we'll even hear from one of our Kelley School alumni, Scott Abbott, on how he's able to get more done and face those tasks we all dread tackling. So let's start with Scott – who says – you've got to start writing your tasks down, which will help you hold yourself accountable. Scott: Let's take all that stuff that keeps you up at night and deal with it, move it on, do something with it so you can get it out of your life and business. Then you need to go execute! This doesn't automate you, you still got to go back to work and follow through. It's so much easier now because you've documented it, agreed as a team that this is how you're going to get rid of it, and now you hold yourself and everyone else accountable for getting it done - you can't hide! I believe you can do that with yourself in your own life as well by assuming and thinking you've got a board of directors, even though it's just you in your house. Write things down, check off your list, make sure you're getting these issues out of your life – by the way, issues can be also be good, just like how the word “argument” socratically is not necessarily bad because it helps people get through some of the sensitivity of things and get to what needs to be done. So that's the whole point, get it out there, debate it, solve it, and move on. Shane: So there's productivity hack number one: create a list of tasks that need to be completed. Start tackling those tasks and marking them off, and when you can, solve the assignments you are least excited about because once those are off your plate, you can create momentum and relieve the burden of keeping those tasks lingering around. Its ultimate those tasks we continue to procrastinate on that weigh on us the most – but by clearing those and tasking massive action – you can free yourself from that feeling. Here's productivity hack number two from Scott: Scott: you need a system – one that's proven, that's clear and has results. You put both of those things in your life, the generations come together, the business does better, and the individual lives a tip-top life. Shane: So hack number two is to have a system in place. You can't just be blind and firing at the hip – you need to have an actionable plan together, looking at the big picture, and then breaking that down into small, actionable steps to accomplish the task at hand. And this is what the greats do. They don't get overly stressed out because they look at the big picture, then break that down into daily and even hourly tasks. For example, we interviewed Laura Vanderkam a few months back. Now Laura is the author of many books, including 168 hours – which is a magnificent read on time management. And Laura suggests breaking your days downtown a spreadsheet so you can set specific times to accomplish tasks. Take a listen: Laura: I use a spreadsheet to track my time. It's just excel, nothing fancy. It's got half hours blocks on the left side and the days of the week across the top and so it's 336 cells to represent 168 hours. And I just fill it in as I go. I wake up, I write what time I wake up, and a couple times a day write what I've done since the last time I've checked in. And it doesn't have to be perfect, I can say stuff like “work” or “hang-out with kids” or “drive somewhere” or “eat dinner” – whatever it is.  Shane: So for Laura – she's breaking that time down into 30 minute increments, keeping track of her tasks, and ultimately this gives her a view of where she's spending her time and maybe where she could begin dedicating some of her tasks. So time management is super important here. Take Elon Musk as an example. He's the CEO of two companies who've taken the world by storm – both in Tesla and Space X. According to Elon, he works between 85-90 hours a week between the two companies. And he takes it a step further: breaking his days down into 5 minute increments. And our final productivity tip is one that too many of us need to work on and that's handling email – and how not to let it bog you down. Here's Laura Vanderkam on how to get around this: Laura: Email expands to fill the available space. And so the only way to spend less time on email is to choose to spend less time on email. There's no one “hack” that's going to make your inbox be under control. It's absolutely a decision you must make to decide how much time you are willing to allocate to this. So as much as possible, designate a few times throughout the day to check email. Even if you have to check very frequently, you're better off checking say for 15 minutes once an hour as opposed to checking constantly on and off through a day. So 45 minutes off and 15 minutes on would be a way you can do it. If you can go longer that's great. You could be off for 90 minutes, you could be off for two hours, awesome. Shane: So as we close this productivity version of The ROI Podcast – consider what we've heard from guests on the show: Create a list of tasks you need to accomplish, put a system in place to accomplish these tasks you've setout to do. Create a time audit and schedule particular time slots for certain tasks and DEDICATE your time to those time slots. And finally, don't let email be a distraction. Set specific times to opening and sending emails, and if you stick to those times, you'll notice a jump in how much you can do! (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: So that is our productivity hack episode of The ROI Podcast. We want to thank Scott Abbott for being on the show and giving us some insight. And of course, Laura Vanderkam sharing her interview from a few months ago and how she's tackling productivity. And of course we are going to come at you with more of these types of episodes in the future, but for next week we are going to pick back up on our CEO series where we are diving in to see how the best CEOs are able to grow their companies and thrive in life. So, be sure to stay tuned for that. Don't forget to subscribe to The ROI Podcast and leave us a review on iTunes. Other than that, we will be here next week with another episode for you all.  

In part two of our interview with Kelley School of Business Dean Idie Kesner, Idie discusses how she measures her success, why surrounding yourself with the right people can transform your life and the secret to magnifying your results. This interview is part two of The ROI Podcast's CEO Series. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: (The ROI Podcast Intro Music) Shane: Welcome Back! We've got another episode for you here on The ROI Podcast Presented by The Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus in downtown Indianapolis!!! I am one of your hosts, Shane Simmons. And Phil Powell is here with me. As most of you know, Phil is the Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the Kelley School. How are you, Phil? Phil: I'm doing great, Shane! It's always a good day at the Kelley School. Shane: This is episode 38 of the podcast and its part two of our interview with the Kelley School's Dean Idie Kesner. If you haven't had a chance to listen to last week's episode, then I suggest going back and doing that because there was an interesting discussion about the core characteristics of an impactful leader. But today, we're going to chat more about the emotional drive great leaders have, surrounding yourself with the right team, and we'll dig into how you can keep yourself away from distractions and perform your work at the highest level. Phil, take it away. Phil: As you said – last week we discussed the characteristics that make a great executive and an impactful leader. We mentioned people must have the talent to succeed, the humility to grow, and the tenacity to persevere. So we've covered the mindset – but as an executive, you've got to deliver results. So I asked Idie how do you know on a weekly basis that the organization is moving in the right direction. Idie: Phil, I think you said the magic words in terms of what needs to happen – you have to identify multiple measures all along the path. Simply setting out the end goal, which is important for getting everybody on the page, is not enough. 9:48 You have to have metrics and measures all along the way that tell you're making steady progress and give you opportunities for celebrating within the organization. That first requires knowing your mission, [translating] that mission into goals, and [setting] up measurable objectives that are very specific – quantifiable both in level and in time – and those measurable objectives that fit your organization, your tasks, projects, and responsibilities. They are unique and customized for each organization, [and] they have to be there. Bottom line, you've got to understand your mission, translate it into goals, have measurable objectives that are very specific to the task or project that you're working on that happen all along the way and guide you on your path. Phil: Now those key performance indicators, or KPIs, that Idie mentions may be unique depending on the task at hand. A KPI for advertising may be your total revenue generated compared to the amount spent. Shane: Or, if you're talking about something like boosting company morale, those indicators could survey responses, number of days people called off sick, or more qualitative measurements. Phil: Exactly – but Idie says the implementation is the same: Focus on the objective, monitor the results, and keep your eye on the prize. Idie: I want to key off of something you said when you started that question, and that is, how do you deliver on all of this - basically knowing you're one person with limited hours, and perhaps even limited capabilities. The ultimate answer is you have to surround yourself with people whose talents are a good compliment to yours. That means you have to be very self-aware, you have to understand where your strengths and weaknesses are, and then you have to surround yourself with people who fill those gaps for you, trust that they're good people – hopefully, you've made the right decisions about who you brought in – and recognize that they're going to be able to do their jobs. In fact, because they fill your gaps, they're going to be able to do their jobs better than you would be able to do their jobs. Phil: To all of you listening out there, think about what Idie just said – you have to surround yourself with a team that compliments your own strengths. That's where diversity in talents can really play a vital role in a successful organization. Idie shares an example. Idie: Now I'll give you an illustration for me personally, I do think I actually have some self-awareness about some of the key weaknesses I have. One of them is I'm an extremely risk-adverse person, but in this job, you really do have to take some risks – you have to place some bets down, and you have to try and move the organization forward. So I try to surround myself with people who are willing to take those risks, willing to hold me responsible for moving the organization forward by accepting the fact that they have to hold me to the same standard. I think that that's important: I didn't surround myself with other risk-adverse people, I surrounded myself with a team of people who compliment the few issues that I have that are of concern to me in leading this organization. Phil: Now the final tip we discussed with Idie when it comes to running a successful organization has to do with passion and getting everybody on board with the organization's mission. This is important for two reasons: 1. It prevents burnout and 2. Passion is what drives innovation and creativity which can produce extraordinary results. Idie: There are many times - last night's a classic example - when I go home and was continuing to work until about 10 o'clock. What allows me to do that and maintain that energy is the feeling of commitment, passion, and focus that I have for the organization – it does not work when you really enjoy what you're doing. I learned that lesson from my father, who was a stockbroker, who'd work all day in the office and come home at night. He'd study the market intensively, hours on end, and wouldn't go to bed until late, and he'd be studying the next day to better serve his clients. He enjoyed the stock market, doing well by his clients, making great recommendations, and always said, “I'm not working – this is my passion and hobby and this is what I enjoy doing!” I think, obviously, stay focused on what drives you and what gives you energy from the organization, what inspires you, what makes you feel good about the job you're doing. If you can't answer that question, you need to be preparing yourself for that next position, whether that's advancing yourself educationally or looking for other positions that can speak to your heart and soul. Life is way too short to be in a job that is sheer drudgery, that every hour that I'm there, I'm not enjoying myself. You have to find things that really drive you. Now, some people find ways around this: they have their job, and [a] life outside of work, where they're doing community service and other things. That's a great way to compromise to have the best of both worlds, but how much better can it be when the best of those worlds is embedded in your job when you feel that same sort of commitment and passion, and it comes from your daily work, and not just the sidelines? It's not always easy to understand what that is, but you need to look for it in the organization – what is it that drives me about this organization, what excites me, how can I be a contributor, how can I make a difference? If you find those things, that will be the spark that you need. (Closing Music)Phil: Wow. Those were great insights from Dean Idie Kesner from here at the Kelley School. Our listeners should know that what you've heard from Idie is reflected in how she leads our school on a day-to-day basis. She is an inspirational leader, and the type of leader we want all of our students to aspire to. (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: What a way to kickoff our CEO series! So all of you listeners out there – remember: Understand your organization's mission, create measurable objectives, and follow through… And when you mix passion with that – that's when magnificent results can follow. Shane: That's going to do it for part one of this episode of The ROI Podcast. We want to thank Kelley School of Business Dean Idie Kesner for her time and insights. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review on iTunes! We'll be right back here next week. Have an amazing day!

Idie Kesner, Dean of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, lives by the school's desired characteristics of a Kelley student. She believes great leaders must have the talent to succeed, the humility to grow and the tenacity to persevere. As a Kelley School graduate herself, Idie knows what it takes to run a successful organization, motivate others and overcome business challenges. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Idie discusses characteristics of impactful leaders and gives helpful insights to women executives. Show Notes:   Shane: What's going on, everybody! I am so excited to kick off a brand new series we are starting on this episode which is a CEO series! We're going to be talking to a range of CEOs from all different types of industries. We'll learn how they got into their position, we will talk about their “why”, and see how they deal with pressure, stress and everything that comes along with being an executive leader. (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Welcome back, everyone! It's a great day for The ROI Podcast, we've got 36 episodes under our belt, and we're kicking off what's sure to be one of the most valuable series of podcasts we've recorded yet! Of course, I'm Shane Simmons, and I've got Phil Powell here with me, who's the associate dean of academic programs at the Kelley School. Phil, are you ready for this CEO series? Phil: Absolutely, Shane. When talking to leaders of these large and successful organizations, there's just so much to learn. I'm so excited today because I get to interview my boss. Shane: This is going to be part one of a two-part episode with Idie Kesner – in this episode we're going to talk about the characteristics that make a great executive, and really narrow in the female leader – and some of the characteristics that have helped Idie get where she is today. Phil: Idie has studied executives, she's an executive herself, and I asked her what are two or three things that she believes makes a great executive. Idie: Well certainly, the characteristics of the executive are very important. Phil, you are well aware of the fact that we talk often about characteristics of the ideal Kelley student, and ultimately, the ideal Kelley alum. Fortunately, those same characteristics are also important for successful executives. We talk about the talent to succeed, the humility to grow, and the tenacity to persevere. Now that talent piece, clearly, we're talking here about skills and knowledge sets, so talent is important – it's important for every executive to have talent in order to do the job that he or she is assigned or is tasked to do. But those other two dimensions are less obvious but extremely important – humility means that you recognize that as an executive, there is always more to learn. It means that you're willing to be able to intake feedback, to make changes based on that feedback, and it means you are willing to admit when you make a mistake and fix it. Then there's that aspect of tenacity – some people might refer to it as “grit” if you will - the ability for an executive to roll up his or her sleeves, get the job done, and to persist against obstacles and hurdles. We like to think that those characteristics that we train and look for in our students are also characteristics important to executives. Phil: And Idie says those characteristics translate for women leaders as well. Women executives obviously have a talent or skill set that got them there, they need humility to grow as a leader, and of course, they have to be tenacious to persevere… But, Idie says women also face other challenges. Idie: But there are some unique challenges that women have that they need to think about, and one of them is to try and overcome doubts or lack of confidence. Based on information that's presented in a wonderful book that I highly advise all women executives to read, it's called The Confidence Code, it's by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay, and in that book, there are many great points that they make. They cite a one really intriguing study, in particular, done by HP – it focused on when men would apply to take on a new assignment or role, versus women. What they found is men only needed to be about 60% confident in that they could meet those objectives, versus women, [who] felt that they had to be 100% there, 100% confident that they had those experiences in order to achieve that new role. That's a big gap! I think sometimes women hold themselves back from taking on new assignments and growing in them. I definitely think that women need to basically turn off that voice in their head that says, “No, you're not good enough to take on that assignment”. My advice is to overcome those negative kinds of communications that you do internally and talk yourself into something as opposed to out of something. Shane: That's a good point that I want to take time and reemphasize. Think about how many times you've talked yourself out of something, rather than talking yourself into something. And when you look at the definition of who a leader is and what makes up their character, it's someone who may not always have all of the answers right away, but they will do what they can to find them. Phil: Think about the ways men and women communicate. In general, we communicate differently, but that diversity is what can empower an organization… Idie talks about that here. Idie: I also think that we need to recognize that men and women communicate differently, and it's the diversity that can actually enhance the organization if it's embraced properly. Interestingly enough, even when men and women communicate similarly, it's often interpreted differently – men may be direct to the point, women are bossy in those cases. Men may be passionate or enthusiastic, women are emotional. We have to recognize that communication styles are different, and that difference, that diversity, is actually a good thing for the organization. My advice is don't get discouraged by the negative comments that you may receive as a woman executive, don't worry about your communication style is different from your male counterparts. Phil: And Idie insists that women executives solicit feedback, she says this is very important. Idie: I think women are very good at listening to negative feedback, sometimes I think they integrate it too much. What I'm advocating for is having effective women executives solicit feedback, you can and should go out and find people who will be mentors, coaches, sponsors, and advisors for you. It doesn't have to be one person, it can be a team of people. Doesn't have to be all women, it can be men and women. Doesn't have to be from your industry, can be people from other industries as well, and it doesn't have to be from your own functional area. In fact, I encourage you to solicit advice from people from other functional areas, and it doesn't even have to be at your level! Phil: But here's the tricky part about holding a leadership position… Many times someone has developed into a role because of their technical skill and doing the job very well, but when you're put into a position to lead, you have to know how to help others achieve greatness – and that will reflect on the executive. Idie: If you have only one [aspect], you'll be a very technical person, a great tactician, but you won't necessarily be a great leader. If you have the other, you might be able to inspire people, but the organization may not be able to accomplish it because you have to make sure that that inspiration gets translated into action. You really have to have both components/features to be in a successful role as an executive. Shane: I have a question, Phil. We know that saying leaders are readers. What books does Idie recommend? Phil: Great question – and here's her response to that. Idie: Let me offer a few practitioner books that I think are good. One classic is Good To Great by Jim Collins. Many of your listeners may have already read this book if you haven't then I do highly encourage you to do it. There's some great advice in that book about how to move organizations forward and how to go from good to creating great organizations. A book I just read a couple of days ago was The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. Because it had moments in the title, and because our brand message is go from moment to momentum I thought this might be a good read, and in fact, it was a very good read. Idie: For women executives, I might recommend one more book and that is the confidence code. It really helps you understand why women sometimes have more challenging roads ahead in their executive positions. And I think it's a great book to overcome some of those challenges and to know you're not alone. (Closing Music) Phil: So, if we can conclude what Idie has talked about – a great executive needs those three qualities we talk about here at the Kelley School of Business: the talent to succeed, the humility to grow, and the tenacity to persevere. These qualities will make you a well-rounded leader, and set you on the path to great accomplishments. (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: That's just part one of our kickoff to this CEO series and there was some value here that, if applied, can change your entire outlook, and even the outlook of those around you. And hopefully, all of you listening will be able to start applying these strategies in your life today. Next week, we'll continue our conversation with Idie Kesner, picking her brain about somehow you can measure your success and effectiveness in the organization – and of course, how do you keep yourself motivated when you're in the trenches. Shane: That's going to do it for part one of this episode of The ROI Podcast. We want to thank Kelley School of Business Dean Idie Kesner for her time, and we look forward to sharing part two with you next week! Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review on iTunes! We'll be right back here next week. Have an amazing day!

The year was 1963 when President John F. Kennedy and Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, prohibiting gender-based wage discrimination in the United States and mandating equal pay for equal work. Yet, research indicates that women are still being paid less than men for the same work. Why is this? What can organizations do to ensure they are not discriminating based on gender or race? Kelley School of Business Professor Kim Saxton explains in episode 35 of The ROI Podcast. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: Shane: Before we start today's episode I want to bring up something that's no secret and is going to revolve around our discussion today and that's the issue of equal pay. So I was online the other day and I read an interesting study that found 83 percent of women believe men are paid more than women for the same work – compared to 61 percent of men who believe that statement… So where are we today with equal pay in the workplace? Where did it all begin? That's what we'll be discussing today. (ROI Podcast Music) Shane: It's time for episode 35 of The ROI Podcast presented by the Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI campus here in downtown Indianapolis… Of course, I'm one of your hosts, Shane Simmons. And I've got my friend, Phil Powell, who's the associate dean of academic programs at the Kelley School, sitting beside me co-piloting the podcast. How are you today, Phil? Phil: (Replies) Shane: As our listeners heard in the opening of this show – we're talking about a topic that's hard to believe we're still having to have this conversation and that's pay equality. Phil, as a dean to a business school, as a scholar, and as a person in general, when people are paid unequally, doesn't it hurt our economy? Phil: (Replies) Kim: Great question and I don't know if the MeToo initiative is giving rise to this, but it's something first, people need safe working conditions, but in addition, they ought to be the same people being paid for the same work, irrespective of gender or race. We know it's an issue, so if I were talking to a man, the first thing I would say is just own up that it exists. There's still some people who are debating whether in fact this gap exists – study after study, done as rigorously as possible, controlling for all different kinds of factors does show that there is a gap. We need to recognize that it's there, first of all, and why has it gotten there? The other thing about the gap is that it's not a new gap, it's been around for a long time. If you pull up articles from the ‘60s, there were talking about equality of opportunity for women in 1961. Phil: And if we go back to 1963, President Kennedy passed The Equal Pay Act which made it illegal to differentiate pay based on skills, effort, responsibility, or working conditions in the U.S. Kim: And yet, we still have a big pay gap. How does that happen? Well, there are systematic differences that are occurring that are difficult to control for. First of all, one of the ways that pay does get differentiated is based on experience – remember I said skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. Experience is a valid reason to differentiate pay. Women tend to take time out of the workforce, therefore, they tend to have less experience – so that's one thing that people can justify is, “I should pay him more because he's been working at this longer”. The second thing is that women tend not to negotiate for their pay, while men do - women just don't ask that question. Personally, with a group of women that I mentor, I encourage every one of them who is changing jobs to ask for something. It's really shocking got me that many of them would say, “Oh, I love this offer, it's exactly what I wanted!” - I said, “Now pretend you're a man, what would you want?” One hundred percent of them have gotten more than what they were asking for at the start. That tells me that companies are used to people negotiating, and if women are negotiating, it must be the men who are. But some companies are trying to take these steps to fix this! Phil: But before we get into what some companies are doing to combat this issue of gender pay equality, there are still the behavioral economics that some would argue are embedded within us – even if we don't think we're biased… Shane: Kim said something that I did not realize, and that plays into this whole conversation, and that's when men and women are judged on their performance, both men AND women will evaluate the same performance from a man as better than the performance from a woman. And so when you have pay being based on performance, you can see how this causes an unfair reality for women. Phil: You're right, Shane. And Kim explains how some of these experiments worked to give us a better idea. Kim: Some of it was looking at objective performance – maybe you would look at a group of people and say, “Subjectively, how do I evaluate their performance?”, and then we might look at some objective criteria like the time it took, number of errors, those kinds of things. There's been some research where they had violin players play a piece, and when the audience could see what the gender was, they rated the men more highly - when they couldn't see what the gender was, they rated them equally. Occasionally, some studies have actually found the women's performance was better when you didn't know who it was! Phil: Harvard actually sets this test up in the classroom with a case and Kim discussed these eye-opening results. Kim: Yeah, so this was an interesting case that they did where they took the profile of a really good networker - someone who created connections out in Silicon Valley, an actual real person - and had jobs that moved towards creating these connections with technology and venture-capital firms. They gave the case to half the students where it was a man, and the other half got a woman. Before they came into class, they had to fill out a survey about things like, “how much do you like this person”, “how much would you be willing to work for this person?” When the group that had the person as a woman was always significantly rated lower than the man. It was like, yes, they're an effective networker, but no I wouldn't want to work for them, and no, I don't like them. Kim: I think there are maybe three or four things we could do, or that I would think about doing if I was a male CEO looking at this situation. First of all, you need to have a periodic review - where are we? Let's lay everything out by skill, effort, responsibility, and working condition, and let's just see, are we paying people equally? Salesforce did this in 2016 and 2017, and each year, they had to adjust pay by $3M, women were being underpaid. Now, I would say on an annual basis, $3M out of $11B is probably not a bad investment, but it repeated the next year! Even in one year, they saw it creep back in, so you have to have a periodic inspection of it. The second thing is, we make assumptions about what people are interested [in] and willing to do. Maybe there's an overseas assignment, and you look around and say, “Who should we give this overseas assignment to? Well, she's a woman and she's got kids, she's not going to be able to travel.” Why are you making that choice for her? Instead of making assumptions as to who would be interested in what, open the playing field - give everybody a chance at all the promotions, let themselves select if they want that kind of responsibility or that work life. Being mindful that you are eliminating people is important. The third thing is you have to actually ask yourself who's not at the table – the easiest thing is that we tend to support people who are like us: white men tend to support white men, white women tend to support white women. Ask yourself, do I have a diverse team? Who's not been invited? Find those people – it's not that they don't exist, it's that they don't occur to you to invite them. Every time I step back and ask that question, I find somebody and I say, “Wow, that person is a great asset, I wish I had thought about that!” - those are little promotions that add up to bigger ones. Phil: And lastly… Kim: The last thing is, and back to that periodic thing, we know that the wisdom is that people respect what you inspect. Some people are really excited about the latest news out of Iceland about equal pay - and really, it wasn't so much the equal pay, because they already had that in place, they knew it wasn't working. What Iceland did is they put in an annual certification for employers with more than 25 employees that they have to prove that in fact, they're paying them equally. In your own organization, set up annual inspection of the strategic outcomes that you want to accomplish, and people will perform to them! Shane: So if we were to step back and explore what we can do is managers in an organization when it relates to these issues – we've talked about some different things to look out for… But where do you start? Phil: Kim sums up some practical steps that an organization can take immediately. Kim: The first thing is, look around and ask yourself, are we biased? If there are awards, who's winning the awards? Are people of color or women winning awards at the same rate men are? Promotions? Leaving? Just observe! Many organizations and managers never ask the question, “Do we have a bias?” The first most important thing is to sit back and ask if we have a bias, maybe get some data and see if there are any. What helps for me is I have someone who keeps me accountable – because I know these biases are natural, my significant other will actually be objective and ask, “Now, are you saying that because of that person's gender or race? Or is that what you're really thinking?” So it causes me to step back and ask myself, “Am I being biased?” I don't always like how I answer, but I like that the question got asked. (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: We'd like to thank professor Kim Saxton for taking the time to chat with us about a topic that's so important in our world… Of course, we'd be honored if you subscribed to The ROI Podcast and leave us a review on iTunes… That really helps us out and gives us some feedback on how we're doing. And Phil, next week we'll be continuing this conversation from a legal angle with professor Julie Manning-Magid so be sure to look out for that episode next week. Have a great day and thanks for listening!

Many CEOs feel as though they've plateaued when it comes to growing a company. They quickly find they don't have enough time in a day to get done what needs to be done. Kelley School of Business professor of management, and former corporate executive, Ken Wendeln shares simple ideas that will free up your time and expand the growth without running yourself ragged.  ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: Shane: Before we start the episode, I want to share a quote from the book Time, Talent and Energy from Michale Mankins and Eric Garten, which plays right into what we'll be talking about today. And here's the quote: “Energy is an intangible but powerful force that enables companies to accomplish great things. Leaders who learn to boost and harness their organizations' energy can multiply the impact of their employees' time and talent. The key is to tap the power of engagement, inspiration, and a strong company culture.” (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: Welcome back to the ROI Podcast presented by the Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus here in downtown Indianapolis. Hopefully, all of you are having an amazing day! For those of you who don't know already – I'm Shane Simmons and my co-host is Phil Powell, the associate dean of academic programs here at the Kelley School. Phil, we're talking about executive leadership today – and there's tons of literature out there regarding the importance of great leadership – but today we're really going to get specific on how leaders can measure their success and grow the organization. Phil Responds Shane: Today we're talking with Ken Wendeln who's a professor of management here at the Kelley School – but before coming to Kelley – he was an executive for multiple companies where he was very successful. And Phil, you had a great conversation with him – and we're about to play the soundbite that I thought was very interesting – and that's the obstacle that's holding many organizations back from growth – which can be the CEO themselves because they're too involved. Take a listen: Ken: Let me give you a good example: as a sector executive, I took over a business in California. It was a small business, grew quite nicely, and I was sitting down with the general manager after we had acquired them, and he was talking about his frustration over the fact that he had not been able to grow his business beyond $30M in today's dollars. As I watched how he operated and what he did, what we found was he was trying to do everything. Instead of him being the one who led the business, he was the one trying to run and manage it! The natural point of his inability to grow the business was himself. Eventually, he moved off to do some other thing, we put some professional managers in place who knew how to scale the leadership, how to put people in place to be able to grow the business and were quite successful.  Phil: So, how do smart managers or executive leaders get into this new position of leadership, who've excelled most of their career – all of a sudden, can't see what's so simple? Seeing yourself as the growth inhibitor seems like it should be obvious – but according to Ken it's not that easy and sometimes that's the result of the lack of positive feedback. Ken: As you as move up an organization, one of the things we find in working with our MBAs, is it's hard to get honest feedback – even though we have performance reviews, annual reviews, it turns out that it's hard to get honest, helpful, useful feedback on how effective are you. Without that, you do not know what to change. The habits you had, the things that may have gotten you to where you got before – which may have been a lot of hard work, a lot of doing things yourself – all of a sudden limits you because you've run out of time. As you move up the ladder, you need to then say, “What does the organization need from me? What do I need to do to help others grow through my leadership so that they are the ones who are providing the work, the smarts, doing the things that maybe I did in the past, but I don't have time to do today?” Shane: And Phil, that's an interesting concept to think about: The routines and habits that we may have had that made us so successful – can now almost become our kryptonite as a leader. Phil: Exactly and that's what can get in the way of progress for an organization. As you grow into new roles within an organization, you have to learn to delegate tasks and give up control – but as Ken explained during our chat – there may be others who would be happy to take on those tasks that need to be delegated… And then your time, as the leader of the organization, can be better spent in a different area. But some people may be wondering what kind of tasks they should delegate? Ken explains that here: Ken: Well, I think you want to delegate those kinds of tasks where you can accept somebody else's perfection. As an example, if I'm doing presentations and they don't have to be absolutely perfect, I can give that to somebody who will do a good job, will be more than adequate, and I'll be very happy with. Whereas I might spend a lot more time on things in that presentation that would've taken a lot more time and would've added little value. Or, on tasks I'm not particularly good at or interested in, others may be very interested in doing that. I know when I delegate, I'm very careful about picking what can I give to somebody else, what can I accept of them, and what will they be happy with? I keep just those tasks to myself where either they're something only I really can do, or I know I can't accept somebody else's perfection because it's really important to me.  Phil: And when you're delegating effectively, you're setting your organization up for growth. Ken: Good delegation not only helps free up your time, it also helps you develop with other people because as I give other people the chance to do things, guess what? They do them well, grow, learn, and become part of the team, and they're happy to be there! They see themselves as valuable. Delegating to others and doing it well is a trait that helps not only you time-wise, but also helps others grow in the organization.  Phil: So tip #1 – find ways to delegate tasks. And the second tip that Ken says is critical to growing the organization and thriving as a leader is creating a conducive workplace culture. Ken: Culture is an interesting one because people want to be part of organizations that they can identify with - their personal purpose, and hopefully the organization's purpose, is one and the same, so we like to identify with those that we want to be with. Creating a culture that fits what your strategy [is], what customers want, but also has to fit with what your own employees want – an honest culture is not easy to create! Finding ways that you can have a place where people really want to feel valued is a challenge, particularly in today's workforce. You look at some of the younger kids coming out through school - the millennials, so to speak - they have a set of expectations. How do we meet that? How do we align our organization to fit with what the customer wants, what our culture is, and what our employees need? That alignment, if you can do that, is tremendous because now you've aligned your whole purpose to all those that are stakeholders.  Shane: So Phil, here's my question when it comes to company culture… How does accountability fall into this? What's the biggest mistake executives make in accountability? Phil: That's a great question and many people may be surprised by the answer to this. Ken: The biggest mistake in accountability is not letting people make mistakes! If you don't support those that you ask to do things, even when maybe they made a mistake you have to support them. They have to know that if they mess something up, that's okay, they'll learn from the mistake, and go forward and support you. You really want to create a culture of making mistakes, but making them quickly, and being honest about them: that's accountability. Now people take pride in what they're doing, and if something does go wrong, they'll step back, learn from it, and take another stab. If you don't do that, then people will be fearful of taking things on. I think allowing people to make mistakes, trying things but failing quickly, so to speak, and then supporting them when they do that helps to build the organization and the people.  Phil: To sum up what we've talked about today – the most successful leaders know how to delegate and set the organization and the people in it up for success. And we've also discussed the importance of workplace culture… But if you want to measure leadership – which can seem nearly impossible to do at times – here's a really interesting way Ken says you can do that… Ken: Leadership is hard to measure, because what do you measure? What I found interesting is one trick from a professor I know at another school talks about the measurement is easy - just measure the energy in the room when you started and finished! What happens if I'm having a meeting or teaching a class, if the energy level is here, and I go through that 1-3 hour of class/meeting time, is the energy level higher when I left because of what I did, then I've accomplished something. If it's lower, then I've sucked the energy out of people. Again, just like time, we've only got so much energy. My measure today of how well I'm doing is, was the energy left, were people more people excited, more motivated, and more interested? I started to use that as a simple measure, and it's an easy one to look at because you can see the expressions of people's faces, the pace that they walk in and out of the room. I think it's a great measure, that along with being able to grow others - your talent - make others interested and excited because they're with you, and that becomes your energy level too!    (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: And that's going to wrap-up this episode of The ROI Podcast Presented by The Kelley School of Business – we'd like to send a thank you to Kelley professor Ken Wendeln for all the value he provided in this episode. I think there are lessons we can all learn – whether we are currently in a management position, or if that's something we'd like to achieve in the future. Shane: Don't forget you can subscribe to the ROI podcast on iTunes and leave us a review!  

In the first episode of The Nothing But The Tooth Podcast, we talk dental implants with Paul Goodman. Paul Goodman, DMD’s courses offer chairside and behind the scenes, easy to implement techniques and strategies that decrease stress and increase practice revenue. From cutting-edge implant technology to practice management skills and techniques, participants gain a roadmap for improving patient health and satisfaction, practice profits, and their personal joy. Paul is also the founder of the Dental Nachos Facebook Group. To purchase your spot at Paul's upcoming implant course, visit dentalnachos.eventzilla.net. To learn more about Shane Simmons, visit ssconsultingfirm.com.

Those who are invested in the stock market are looking into 2018 with optimism. GDP growth is up, profits continue to rise and the economy's in a good place. But what changes could impact the markets in the coming year? And are the tried and true investment strategies of the old days still relevant? We sat down with associate professor of finance Rob Neal to discuss these topics. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: Shane: Happy New Year to all of you – hopefully your 2018 has gotten off to an outstanding start! And now it's the time to think about what this upcoming year has to bring – and how you can dominate it and accomplish your goals. With this being a new year, there brings new opportunities and challenges in business – none more pressing than the financial markets. So in this episode of The ROI Podcast – we'll be talking outlooks for the markets – and how you can maximize your returns in the stock market. (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: It's a new year and a new episode of The ROI Podcast presented by the Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus in downtown Indianapolis. I'm Shane Simmons and the associate dean of academic programs here at the Kelley School, Phil Powell is next to me. How's it going, Phil? Phil: (Response) Shane: Today we're taking a look at the 2018 financial markets – and also giving our listeners some tips when it comes to investing, especially when it comes to retirement. Phil: You know, when we look at the financial markets and where they're at and where they may be going, I think back to the mid-2000s where we had a massive segment of growth before the markets collapsed. According to Rob Neal, associate professor of finance at the Kelley School of business on the IUPUI campus, when looking at the markets there are certain factors we look at. Rob: When we think about what drives the markets and stock prices, usually we focus on three factors: corporate earnings, interest rates, and measures of market ratios. When we look at the earnings part, what we saw was from roughly 2014-16, that three year period, earning growth is pretty much flat, save for the S&P 500. Now in 2017, it's rebounded, it's up about 10% for the calendar year so far, which is above its long-term average. Our forecast going forward for next year are slightly higher, about 11%, so that's good news for a market forecast. On the interest-rate side, the current federal funds rate is sitting about 1.25% - the expectations going forward are that we're going to see another interest rate increase 25 basis points in December, and probably another 2 or so in 2018. That's going to take the interest rates up to about 2%, which are still relatively low, certainly on a historical basis. Phil: And you heard Professor Neal mention earnings as one of those three factors that really drives the markets and stock prices. Recently, we just saw productivity growth rate over the last two quarters surpass 3 percent. Shane: And for some of our listeners out there – define productivity growth rate. Phil: (Defines Productivity Growth Rate) Phil: So my questions to Professor Neal was this: Is productivity growth going to be one source that could drive extraordinary earnings growth? Rob: Any time you can do a better job of utilizing resources to produce your products you're earnings are going to benefit.  Rob: my hunch is if we're successful on the corporate side of trying to keep our tax rates more inline with worldwide global averages, then it is going to have a net positive impact on productivity going forward. We've got some demographic changes that we are working against us in productivity and are probably scaling back our long-term productivity estimates, but from my perspective I see a lot of positive developments on the technology side. A lot of innovation going on. Internet of things developments. New censors being able to monitor workflow, and even being able to get traffic patterns to improve. Rob: I think were on the cusp of a lot of potential innovation that's going to have a positive impact. Phil: So some of you out there listening may be thinking this is interesting and has a very positive outlook – but let's not forget what happened to so many people during the crash of 2008 – losing thousands of dollars. Some may say the stock market is like the lottery or like gambling in Vegas. If you're afraid to put your money in the stock market because of that – here's what Professor Neal has to say. Rob: It's definitely NOT the same thing as going to Vegas. You might think about buying a lottery ticket. Alright, all of you listeners out there, don't buy lottery tickets, please. Your payoff to a lottery ticket is about 50 cents on the dollar. Now if you want to blow your money, go to a casino. You can play the slot machines and your payoff there is going to be 90-95 cents on the dollar. Now if you keep on doing this, the probability that you're going to be broke is essentially 100%. But it's going to last a lot longer if you gamble in a casino versus doing it with a lottery ticket. Now in contrast, when we look at the equity markets, on average stock prices go up on an inflated-adjusted basis about 7 percent per year. So you've got that working for you. One of the big risks investors face, and we face it right now and you might think the market is expensive and you want to get out, but being out of the market long term is highly risky and it's a guaranteed failure rate. So you're never going to be able to grow your resources enough to do what you want to do in retirement or down the road. Phil: And Professor Neal says one of the best financial decisions he made was during the crash of 2008. Rob: One of the best investment decisions I made was during the financial crisis. I'm always getting calls from neighbors asking what do I do? The best investment decision I made was to do nothing. So I just stayed put. I rode it out, and for everyone else, you've got to understand that if you get to 7 percent annual rate of return, it's not going to be without risk. There are going to be times when you are going to lose a bunch of money. But what you want to do is focus on where you are likely to be 30 years from now. 20 years from now. 40 years from now. And what's the best plan for getting there? Phil: And another tip, that may seem obvious but a lot of people still don't do this – is contribute enough to your 401k that your employer can reach its maximum match contribution. Rob: From a retirement perspective, this is something that everyone should do. If you have an employee match, be sure to contribute enough to get the maximum match from your employer. That's free money and you're never going to see a rate of return like you get on that investment. So that's rule number one. Rule number two is thinking about an investment in an index fund, it doesn't have to be U.S. funds, in fact, I would encourage a certain amount of global diversification. If you look at European markets they tend to look more attractive on a valuation basis than American markets do. But our historical rate of return on inflation-adjusted dollars is about 7 percent per year on the market. (Closing Music) Phil: Bottom line is the economy is looking pretty good next year, markets are looking good, there are always questions about it. But in terms of your investment strategy, put it in an index fund and just don't do anything else. Rob: put the money in, leave it. And hope for her best, based on the info we have, that's probably the best strategy. (The ROI Podcast Music) Shane: So wrapping this up – it looks like going into 2018 we are in pretty good shape. And we're looking at returns on equities to be positive, but maybe just below that 7 and a half percent average over the past 50 years… Phil: (Response) Shane: That's going to do it for us. Thank you to professor Rob Neal for his insight. And for all of you listeners out there be sure to go to iTunes, Subscribe and Leave us A review – we'd love to get your feedback on the podcast. We'll talk to you all next week!

There are more women being hired today for entry-level positions following college graduation; however, this trend isn't translating for more experienced women transitioning into executive positions. Why is that? How can women break the glass ceiling in corporate America? We talk with Nicole Mitchell with Honda Manufacturing of Indiana about this topic. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5 ---- Show Notes: Shane: Hey all of you ROI listeners out there… Before we start today's show I wanted to briefly reflect on what we've noticed some of the most successful people do to help accelerate their lives to meet their goals. And what it comes down to is developing a vision and implementing a plan to make that happen. That's what it comes down to… And in this episode of The ROI Podcast – we're going to hear from someone who has some insight on how women can meet their professional management goals using the principle we discussed. Let's get to the episode! (The ROI Podcast Intro Music) Shane: Hello everyone! We're back with another episode of The ROI Podcast. I'm Shane Simmons recording solo today… I appreciate you listening to the podcast. We've been recording this podcast for about 8 months now – and we talk to a lot of managers, entrepreneurs and some of the greatest leaders around the country. And our guest today is going to talk about an issue we've dealt with as a society forever – and that's the underrepresentation of women in executive level positions – and the trends we're starting to see – but also how women can take action to help move them towards that direction. Nicole: Men run the corporate world still - we see it in data, and it's something that we can't deny. Shane: That was Nicole Mitchell. Nicole works at Honda within the Indiana Office of Inclusion and Diversity which works to develop inclusive strategies – well, I'll let her explain it better. Nicole: “Inspiring Inclusion” here at Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, or HMIN, is our slogan to create an inclusive and engaging environment for our associates; that encompasses everything from what we're doing externally in the community and working with different populations to 1) get people excited about the automotive industry and expose them to all the interesting and innovating things we're doing here. Also internally, making sure we're creating equitable opportunities for development and promotions on moving up so that we have that representation. Shane: That's important for many reasons – but Nicole brought up a statistic that many people may not realize – and that's only 1 in 10 senior leaders is a woman. And according to a Mckinsey Study with Lean In, we're actually seeing more females graduates being hired within entry level positions – around 57 percent – but that's not translating to the executive positions. And asked her why that is… Is some of it sociological? Here what Nicole's response. Nicole: I think not as much as it used to, women do still take on quite a bit of the household chores. However, we are starting to see a little more balance in the younger generation of males taking on some of those activities as well. You're seeing more households having two people working and bringing in income there, so we're seeing more balance. I don't think that it's necessarily that, I think it's opportunity and understanding how to navigate the workplace to position yourself to get opportunities and be thought of. I think that's our biggest challenge still. And that's what Nicole is going to help our us understand – how can women, minorities, or anyone really, put themselves into position to succeed. Nicole: One of the big things is [to] take a step back sometimes and watch people – I'm in a lot of meetings, and before I engage some individuals as mentors in formal and informal mentorships, I take a step back and watch how people interact and see where you can find a connection point; not everyone is going to be the best mentor for you. Once you take that in and see how people are interacting, it's about not being afraid to go up and say something, like, “Hey, I saw how you handled that meeting, I'd love to sit down and pick your brain on what I could be doing to do better in meetings”. Think of a topic - I think the mistake people make with mentoring is they want someone to come in and fix all their problems. Sometimes it starts just with a simple question, “Can I pick your brain about x?”, and it really helps somebody start to focus on how they can assist you, and everybody always wants to help somebody else. One of the biggest things is being mindful of what you're asking to start that mentoring partnership - that's a really critical first step. Shane: So step 1: Find mentors… Reach out to people you aspire to be like and pick their brain… Listen, you don't have to reinvent the wheel – often times people have already accomplished what you want to and they can help guide you… This is something that's come up several times in our episodes and there's good reasoning behind it. Ok, next piece of insight: Nicole: interaction with your managers – sometimes we can be intimidated, and I have to remember that with some of our younger associates that they may not have had a ton of interaction with some our senior leadership. How do you make sure that you do have those interactions and you're taking advantage of them? As much as we want to think that we're hard workers and our hard work is going to get noticed, sometimes it's also those relationships and networks. Being exposed to your managers, having interactions, even if it's in a meeting by asking a question, those things really stand out. Those are two big [tips] that I would suggest people be mindful of and take a look at, and they're pretty easy to start to implement today.   Shane: One of the points that Nicole brought up when it came to mentoring was that women shouldn't only seek out other women to be their mentors. She says women need that balance and having a male mentor – especially one who has had success in your field – can be extremely valuable. Nicole: But the thing that I think is great is when we can have men mentoring women, it helps break down barriers, and it really is a two-way street for learning, which excites me. Being able to share how to maneuver the workplace politics - as much as we don't want to say they exist, they do – and men do a fabulous job on that. They can really help teach women and guide them on how to be successful, and not taking it away from who you are as a woman or as a leader, but help you understand how to leverage your strengths to be successful in a company; mentoring from the male perspective is crucial. I've had some fabulous mentors here, and throughout my career, that has gotten me to the place I am. Without them, I know I wouldn't have understood how the world works with the different companies, so that's been great. From the female, I think that they can also open the male's eyes in those mentoring relationships on challenges that they might not have been aware of. We talked about the stat of men think we're doing well with women in senior leadership, but being able to have two-way communication through mentoring, I really think that you can break down some of the barriers and misconceptions, and we can take steps to create that equitable environment. Shane: Lastly – Nicole recommends Business Resource Groups within a company – so for example, Honda has what they call LAMP – or Leadership Advanced Mentorship Program. This particular program is a yearlong program and they take their members through different sectors of the company including meeting with executives to help them better grasp what it takes to be at the executive level. Nicole: Business resource groups for companies, again, I truly believe that diversity and inclusion are two-way conversations, and having items like business resource groups and programs, like LAMP, allow us to have those two-way conversations a little more. We call them BRGs, business resource groups, Nicole For instance, women have a tendency to say the success was a team success, which it was, but you played an integral role in the success of that team. Positioning that for yourself in your review process is an opportunity, and a good tip to get you to move forward into those manager roles. Business resource groups allow women to have some of the training and discussions around that, and a safe space to be able to acknowledge it and provide and create ways to overcome those things. BRGs are phenomenal assets to a company, and it also allows companies to ask a question like, “What are we missing?” If you have the viewpoint that women are not represented in management, versus what management may think, business resource groups are a great way to have that dialogue to say, “well here's some things that we could do better” or you could communicate what's happening in the environment a little more to make it more inclusive, interesting, and exciting for women.  (Closing Music) Shane: So to wrap things up – you've got to take action on finding a mentor – findings someone who can help guide you through the challenges you're going to face. Be active within your organization, and talk to your managers – ask them questions and really show them you're interested in taking on advanced roles. And finally, if your organization has a resource group – utilize that. Build your network, create new experiences, and stay persistent! (The ROI Podcast Music) Closing Comments.

For years people have shopped 'till they dropped when it came to the capitalistic holiday Black Friday. But with shifts in consumer's shopping preferences, Black Friday is evolving. Could these changes be the last straw for brick and mortar retailers? Kelley School of Business senior lecturer in finance, Todd Roberson, weighs in on the "new" Black Friday. Show Notes: 8:00 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell introduce this week's episode of The ROI Podcast where the topic will revolve around Black Friday and how it has changed. 1:33 What we are seeing with online retailers is a revolution for consumers. 2:15 Kelley School of Business senior lecturer in finance, Todd Roberson, joins the podcast for a Q and A session on Black Friday. 2:30 In 2016 there were 137 million shoppers and they spent about 45 billion dollars in store on Black Friday. That same day, 5 billion dollars was sold online, a 19 percent increase in sales from the previous year. 5:31 In the past, major retailers were both the retailers and the supply chain. 6:25 As online shopping has accelerated, data analytics and artificial intelligence now have allowed outlets like Amazon to know what the consumer wants before the consumer asks for it. 7:13 Todd believes the future success of retail is in either a highly-specialized, unique retail niche or experience shopping. 7:55 Much of the way retail has changed is due to a radical shift in consumer preferences, but also advances in technology, supply chain management, and data analytics. 8:15 You know what your customers want by collecting data on them.  11:37 Shane and Phil close this episode of The ROI Podcast. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Did you know many small businesses are one fraudulent wire transfer away from going out of business? The average cost for a data breach for a U.S. company as of 2016 was seven million dollars. Many businesses have already been breached but don't even know it. So how do you protect yourself and your company's information secure? Scott Shackelford, assistant professor of business law and ethics for the Kelley School of Business shares how you can keep your information protected from hackers in this episode of The ROI Podcast.   Show Notes: 0:01 What does "hacker" mean to you? 0:36 Introduction to The ROI Podcast with Shane Simmons and Phil Powell. 1:08 In this episode of the podcast, Shane and Phil talk with Scott Shackelford, assistant professor of business law and ethics for the Kelley School of Business. 1:47 The average cost of a data breach for a U.S. company as of 2016 was seven million dollars. 2:19 There have been several data breaches in Indiana, including Anthem. 2:56 It's not only big companies that can be targeted. 4:54 How do you protect yourself and your data from being hacked? 5:25 There's a focus on offense rather than defense in the cybersecurity space. 6:04 Right now many companies have a faith-based approach to cybersecurity where they pray every night nothing bad will happen. 8:00 Tips for mitigating your risk of being hacked. 10:40 Shane and Phil wrap-up this episode of The ROI Podcast. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Do you believe you should have the ability to shop for your healthcare like you shop for groceries? Do you know what healthcare plan is best for you and your family? Deb Gordon, a senior fellow at Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, shares her research on how consumer-based healthcare and the impact it could have on you. Show Notes: 0:35 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell introduce The ROI Podcast. 1:00 Today's episode will be discussing healthcare in the United States. 1:23 Physicians drive 80 percent of the resource allocations decisions in healthcare. 1:49 Healthcare represents 20 percent of the U.S. economy. 2:10 Deb Gordon joins the podcast. Her research focuses on consumer behavior in the healthcare marketplace. 3:47 Deb uses the analogy of shopping for groceries when relating it to consumer-driven healthcare. 4:44 Healthcare consumers are already beginning to ask about pricing and shopping around. 5:53 Deb believes physicians play a more important role now with the changing dynamic of healthcare. 7:00 Deb's research shows clinicians are typically not trained to consider the cost for the patient, but rather just focus on treatment. 8:17 Deb believes the market will win out, and healthcare will evolve to the consumer. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

It's not like the old days -- business has changed. Employees don't stay at their jobs as long as they used to, and managers are finding it harder to motivate and retain their employees. Brian Parsley, a world-renowned speaker, and business consultant share some tips with our listeners on how they can continue to motivate and engage their employees. You'll be feeling motivated and ready to conquer your goals after listening to this episode.   Show Notes: 0:00 Shane Simmons introduces episode 25 of The ROI Podcast. 1:13 Brian Parsley will be on the podcast. Brian is a motivational business consultant who works directly with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. 1:45 CEOs are tired of hearing about the differences among the different generations. 2:06 How do you get people to be engaged with the company and help the honeymoon stage last longer? 3:15 A study conducted by Brian found that employees at a fast growing company weren't as interested in money as they were feeling involved and being appreciated at work. 3:44 Money is a temporary motivator. 4:43 We live in an age of now. 5:00 Leadership is the power of influencing people. People don't care about titles anymore. 5:50 To motivate others, and yourself, you have to go all in. You can't accept failure. 6:24 Success doesn't make you happy, but being happy makes you successful. 7:43 You achieve your goals by taking action. 8:38 Shane and Phil conclude the show. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Indiana, and other states in the U.S., have an interesting dilemma: Jobs are opening up faster than workers can fill. According to a recent survey conducted by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, nearly 50 percent of employers said they have had to leave jobs open because of the lack qualified employees. So how does this impact our state, and what does this mean for the future of jobs? Kevin Brinegar, President, and CEO of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce explains what it all means for our future.   Show Notes: 0:10 Shane Simmons and Luke Cooley open the twenty-fourth episode of The ROI Podcast presented by the Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus. 1:18 Indiana and other U.S. companies are struggling with a labor shortage. 1:44 Indiana Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kevin Brinegar says companies need to start building and expanding their talent pipelines now. 3:03 Tennessee has dedicated dollars from the lottery that they use for workforce training to prevent such talent shortages from intensifying. 3:58 The labor shortage issue is more serious in Indiana because it's such a manufacturing state. 4:44 We are beginning to see more machines and more automation which could totally replace all middle and lower-skilled jobs. 6:55 Workers must continually invest in themselves and improve so they can't be replaced by a machine. 7:49 Kevin says if you are not planning and preparing for the continued labor shortage you could be leaving customer and business opportunities on the table. 9:20 Shane and Luke close this episode of The ROI Podcast. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5  

E.W. (Ed) Kelley was one of the most successful and notable business leaders of his time. Known as the modern-day founder of Steak 'n Shake, Ed Kelley set the foundation for what it means to conduct one's self in life and business. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Ed's friend and colleague, who's also a Kelley School of Business professor, Bob Grimm, discusses Kelley and what we can learn from him. Show Notes: 0:20 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell introduce the episode of The ROI Podcast. 2:07 Our guest, Bob Grimm, was the vice president of human resources for Ed Kelley during their time together at Steak 'n Shake. 2:32 Bob says he learned early on that Ed Kelley loves to work, make progress and see results. 3:22 Ed Kelley was his toughest critic. When he would prepare for a performance appraisal, he would do a self-appraisal and he would put that into his top right desk drawer. He would not allow a superior to be more critical of him than he was on himself. 3:55 Ed had developed the idea of restless dissatisfaction. 5:30 Ed always held high standards for himself and his employees. 5:53 Ed emphasized enthusiasm and energy. 8:00 Shane and Phil share their final thoughts on the episode.  ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Why are some people ultra successful and live a life most only dream of, while others seem to be caught in a rat race? On this episode of The ROI Podcast presented by The Kelley School of Business, time-management author Laura Vanderkam shares her findings after interviewing some of the most successful people in the world who've mastered the art of managing their schedules.   Show Notes: 0:01 The ROI Podcast opens with a soundbite from the Twilight Zone. 0:23 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell introduce Episode 22 of The ROI Podcast. 1:07 According to research released by Salary.com, the average office worker admits to wasting 1.7 hours per day. 2:06 Laura Vanderkam joins the podcast. 3:00 Laura says people need to define a small amount of tasks people want to achieve and work towards those which fit into the bigger picture. 3:52 It's ok to have distractions, but you need to work that into your schedule. 4:45 Laura explains how some of the most successful time managers try to avoid being bogged down with meetings. 5:37 Tip number one to better time management: conduct a time audit. 6:22 Use an Excel spreadsheet to track your time. 7:00 Learn to manage your email and not be encompassed by it. 8:21 You don't have to work around the clock to have a career breakthrough. 10:57 Subscribe and leave a review for The ROI Podcast on iTunes. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Do you want to increase your sales? In the information age, selling techniques need to evolve with the times. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Shane and Phil speak with Phil Gerbyshak, Chief Digital Officer at Vengreso about providing value first to customers, and transforming the way many of us were taught about selling.   Show Notes: 0:01 New ways of buying means you need new ways of selling. 0:18 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell welcome listeners back to The ROI Podcast. 1:14 When you think of sales, what comes to mind? 1:40 In Episode 21 of The ROI Podcast, you're going to learn what it takes to become a sales master in the digital age, and how to use LinkedIn as one of your biggest assets. 1:53 Phil introduces Phil Gerbyshak, Chief Digital Officer of Vengreso, a digital sales transformation company based in Tampa, Florida. 2:03 Ten years ago it was all about the numbers. It was a numbers game. 2:32 Statistics show us that customers need more information today to make a decision. 3:23 Tip number 1 to increasing your sales: you can't wait until the end for that big revealing feature of your product or service. 3:59 Sales today are more story focused. 5:05 You can't just post your achievements on your LinkedIn profile, you need to connect those achievements to your customer displaying how those achievements can translate into value for them and their problem. 5:28 Use video whenever possible. 6:30 Value is king. 6:50 Your goal is not to sell product, your goal is to educate people and help them making a buying decision. 7:08 Marketing and sales must work together in an organization. 8:17 Who is my ideal customer? How do I serve them? What problems do they have? 8:28 The final tip: Don't try to be the jack of all trades. 8:50 You don't need to be everywhere, you need to be where your customers are. 11:00 Be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes for The ROI Podcast. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Uber's recent controversy in regards to the multi billion dollar company's workplace culture resulted in Founder and CEO, Travis Kalanick, resigning and 20 employees fired. So what can we learn from this situation? According to Kelley School of Business Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Elizabeth Malatestinic, the debacle should teach start-ups the importance of the human resource role within a company. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Liz talks about how managers can leverage their human resources department to make the company more profitable, and increase the workplace culture.  Show Notes: 0:01 People want to feel like they matter in the workplace. They want to feel like their contributions are valued. 0:14 Shane Simmons and Associate Dean of Academic Programs, Phil Powell, welcome listeners back to The ROI Podcast Presented by the Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus. 1:15 In this episode, Shane and Phil are talking about the recent controversy with a Silicon Valley company, and the lessons we can learn from them.  2:02 Liz Malatestinic says there is a lot of misconceptions about Human Resources. 2:56 Liz references The hit T.V. show The Office, and Michael's strong dislike of Toby, the HR employee. 3:36 Liz says Uber, under Kalanick's leadership, had a culture where Human Resources was thought of an entity only meant for recruiting new employees. 4:18 Liz mentioned how sometimes the founders of successful startups can be blinded by their own perception of the company culture. 5:33 Phil mentions a common theme he and Shane have come across while interviewing successful leaders, and that's making employees feel like they are an important part of the organization. 6:28 Liz gives an example on how to avoid issues within your company. 6:35 Liz says too often the company's leadership will make a major decision, then approach the HR department and ask that they implement the policy, without every meeting with the department before coming to the decision. 8:20 Once a company gets to about 50 employees, Liz suggests hiring an HR employee.  ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

When Ernest Malone began his firefighting career, he never could have predicted he'd become the chief of the Indianapolis Fire Department. Every day, people look to him for guidance and answers. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Chief Malone explains the secret to his success, and how those seeking advancement in their life can achieve greatness with the proper mindset.  Show Notes: 0:03 I don't want you to lead by showing examples of your power, I want you to lead by showing the power of your example. 0:17 Introduction to The ROI Podcast presented by The Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus located in downtown Indianapolis. 0:46 For the past several weeks, the focus of the ROI Podcast has been about leadership, documenting graduates of the Randall L. Tobias Leadership Center's Fellows Program. 2:04 Today's guest is Chief Ernest Malone, who has been with the Indianapolis Fire Department for more than 30 years. 3:15 Chief Malone encourages people to take lateral moves in their career because of the experience you gain and the connections you make. 4:31 Chief Malone says you can learn from everyone around you. You don't have to only learn from successful leaders or people, but you can learn from those who have failed at times. 5:48 Chief Malone says by leading by example, you gain credibility and loyalty. 6:48 Be people-focused while staying data-driven. 7:20 Chief Malone is a graduate of the Fellows program. He explained how he confirmed leadership is everywhere you look, mentioning his experiences while in the program. 8:46 Chief Malone says to keep an open mind, and be receptive to experiences that you can learn from. 10:00 Shane Simmons and Julie Manning Magid wrap-up this episode of The ROI Podcast. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Managers play multiple roles in an organization while communicating with many different personality types. So how do the greatest managers handle it? According to Natalie Roberts, VP of Support at Monarch Beverage Company, a manager must understand their own personality, strengths, and weaknesses. In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Shane Simmons and Julie Manning Magid, director of The Randall L. Tobias Leadership Center, break down how to leverage your personality, and mold it to fit the needs of your employees. Show Notes: 0:01 Spiderman opening: with great power comes great responsibility. 0:20 Welcome to The ROI Podcast Presented by The Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI Campus. 0:25 Julie Manning Magid is guest hosting alongside host Shane Simmons. 1:17 This episode is part of the Randall L. Tobias Leadership Center series. 1:42 How do you lead a team that's so diverse from a personality standpoint, and as a manager, how do you approach two people who have two very different perspectives. 1:55 You'll be introduced to Natalie Roberts, the senior vice president of support at Monarch Beverage. 3:15 Natalie became an expert at many different tasks because of her movement in the company. 4:12 Your career should be a jungle gym, not a ladder. 5:30 Natalie says The Tobias Leadership Center's Hoosier Fellows Program helped mold their management model at her company. 6:15 Natalie associates herself and her employees with a color. 7:02 Shane mentions how associating someone's personality with a color reminds him of Disney Pixar's Inside Out movie. 8:20 As a leader, it can be scary knowing you hold the responsibility for the development of your employees. 8:58 You must understand you and your team's strengths and weaknesses.  ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Failure is a good thing, as long as you fail taking a risk while attempting to help the company. That's the motto at One Click Ventures in Greenwood, IN, just south of Indianapolis. The company culture is laidback, but very metric and goal driven. Randy Stocklin, the Co-Founder and CEO of One Click, sat down with The ROI Podcast team to discuss how embracing failure has helped grow the company exponentially.  Show Notes: 0:06 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell welcome listeners to The ROI Podcast. 0:45 This episode will talk about embracing failure in the workplace, and how one Greenwood, IN company has seen massive growth practicing this principle. 1:25 When you think of companies with a great culture, many people think of companies like Google, Facebook, Apple and Nike. 2:02 There's a correlation between a company's culture and their growth. 2:25 Randy Stocklin and his wife started One Click out of their home office. 3:00 Their first venture began as a Christmas letter from Santa company. 4:00 Randy and his wife grew their second venture, Sunglass Warehouse, 4X two years in a row. 4:30 Randy says they learned that people make or break a business. 6:38 While One Click Ventures is a very relaxed culture, they are also data-driven. 7:45 One Click gives an award for failure each month titled “The Lame Duck Award.” 9:40 There is a difference between failure and messing up. 11:04 There's so much ownership at One Click because of that underlying culture they've created. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

Is employee retention a challenge in your company? Does it seem like your “younger” employees are leaving as quickly as you can hire them? In this episode of The ROI Podcast, Val Grubb, author and former vice president of strategic operations at NBC Universal, unveils the key to retaining employees, including Millennials and Gen Z.   Show Notes: 0:21 Shane Simmons and Luke Cooley introduce The ROI Podcast. 0:50 The topic of the podcast is managing the new workforce of millennials and gen z. 1:40 Author of Clash of the Generations, Managing the New Workplace Reality appears on the show. 1:50 In 2015, Millennials surpassed Gen X to become the largest generation in the American workforce. 2:08 By 2020, Millennials will be 50 percent of the American workforce. 3:02 Val says there's been a misconception about the work ethic of millennials. 4:30 When managing the new generation, focus on results rather than where or how it gets done. 6:40 Millennials want something meaningful at the workplace. 8:23 Val gives an example of how she kept one of her employees motivated. 11:30 You can purchase Val Grubb's latest book Clash of the Generations, Managing the New Workplace Reality on Amazon. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/3m2G6D5

The tech industry is growing like crazy! But there's a problem: talent to fill the growing positions that are being born. Eighty-three percent of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) struggle to find talent, according to a recent Gartner survey. That's not a problem for EduSource, an Indianapolis tech company that grew 300% in 2016. Jason Beutler, President of EduSource, has created a pool of young talent that he can hire as an apprentice for a two year time period, train and then hire full-time once they graduate college. Listen to how he did it, and what you can learn from EduSource.   Show Notes: 0:07 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell welcome listeners to The ROI Podcast. 0:38 Shane thanks all of the listeners and subscribers of The ROI Podcast. 1:08 Shane and Phil discuss the massive growth happening within the tech industry. 1:35 Indianapolis is becoming a tech hub. 1:52 There are talent shortages due to the expansive growth in tech. 2:56 Welcome to EduSource. 4:00 Jason Beutler gives the backstory on EduSource. 4:40 Jason discusses his opinion on why companies outsource overseas. 5:20 Jason had an “aha” moment while doing some code review for code he had received from overseas. 6:35 The EduSource structure. 08:02 EduSource hires 12-15 students every year. 10:08 Jason shares some management for the listeners. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/2T6VEJm  

In an age where millennials and generation z are set to flood the workforce, research has made it clear these generations are wired differently than their parents and grandparents. It's important for a manager to consider investing in sustainable practices. Whether they invest in energy, human capital, or other avenues, reducing the possibility of a company's exposure is always on a manager's mind. Kelley School of Business Assistant Professor of Accounting Sam Tiras breaks down how a manager can implement Economic Value Added (EVA), and present it to his or her CFO. Show Notes: 0:01 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell introduce listeners to The ROI Podcast. 0:30 Through some online research, Shane learned 65 percent of employees at Fortune 100 companies want to see their CEOs publicly support renewable energy. 0:55 Of those 65 percent of employees, 73 percent are millennials. 1:08 Phil says the millennial workforce is forcing a new perspective on business. 1:36 Shane introduces the episode's topic: sustainability. Assistant Professor of Accounting Sam Tiras explains the broad view people often have of accounting. Sam introduces the listeners to Economic Value Added (EVA). 3:48 Investments come in many forms: human capital, reputation capital, sustainability. 4:37 Investing more in EVA reduces your risk, which prevents your company from losing money. 5:11 Companies that are proactive when investing into sustainable practices outperform companies that just meet the minimal standards. 6:30 EVA says look at your benefits, and then evaluate your cost. 7:58 How to sell investing more capital in sustainable practices to your CFO. 8:58 CFOs want to help you make investments that are good for the company, that means managers need to think beyond the numbers given to them from the accountants. 9:24 This episode's takeaway for listeners. 10:26 How to subscribe to The ROI Podcast. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/2T6VEJm  

A company's supply chain is vital to success. From the planning of raw inputs, to the shipping of the final product, the supply chain touches nearly every aspect of the business. Years ago, many companies operated using the traditional model of supply chain management: buy all the resources at the cheapest rate possible. In today's business world, the supply chain model has shifted with more companies building long-term relationships with their suppliers and ensuring they are operating responsibly. Kelley Assistant Professor of Operations Management Amrou Awaysheh reveals his eye-opening research on this topic and gives managers tips on improving their company's supply chain.   Show Notes: 0:07 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell welcome listeners to The ROI Podcast. 0:26 Introducing the topic of corporate sustainability through a company's supply chain. 0:37 Phil defines supply chain management. 0:50 The traditional way company's looked at their supply chain: reducing cost. 1:08 The new way the research teaches us about supply chain. 1:22 Introduction to Amrou Awaysheh. 2:22 The supply chain “blackbox” 2:31 The impact technology and social media has had on supply chain. 3:15 Doesn't the bad press only impact larger firms? 3:44 Three specific dimensions Amrou's research looks at. 3:50 Supply chain transparency. 3:56 Dependency. 4:00 Distance. 5:04 Cultural differences. 6:03 How socially responsible practices impacts the bottom line. 6:17 Key performance indicators that improve. 6:42 Social responsibility and its impact on labor productivity. 8:22 How to get your supplier on board with sustainable practices. 10:03 Show wrap-up.   ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/2T6VEJm

When you invest your money into stocks or bonds, financial advisors often encourage diversifying. And with the Chinese Central Bank becoming more lenient with their policies, investors in the U.S. can diversify their portfolios even greater by investing in the Chinese Stock Market. Kelley School of Business Associate Professor of Finance Cathy Bonser-Neal explains these historic changes, and gives insight into what the future investments of U.S. investors may look like.   Show Notes: 0:06 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell welcome listeners to The ROI Podcast. 0:40 A glance at the world economy. 0:45 The U.S. economy is a quarter of global activity. 0:56 China's economy, in terms of purchasing power parody, surpassed the U.S. 1:18 The U.S. and European stock markets and how they compare to the Chinese Stock Market. 1:48 Introduction to Cathy Bonser Neal 2:33 The definition of volatility. 2:41 Why China wanted to stabilize its currency. 2:56 Two ways China has stabilized its economy. 3:34 Why the Chinese Central Bank wants to keep its currency stable. 5:30 There's pressure to depreciate China's currency. 6:03 What a more open Chinese market means for foreign investors. 8:15 Where you can listen to the ROI Podcast.  ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/2T6VEJm

Why do some startups fail and others succeed? Is it that some entrepreneurs lack a disruptive idea? Is it passion? Persistence? In episode #3 of The ROI Podcast, Kelley School professor Kim Saxton discusses the key to a startup's success, based on her recent research. Show Notes: 0:07 Shane Simmons and Phil Powell welcome listeners to The ROI Podcast. 0:23 Shark Tank's influence on entrepreneurship. 0:57 Why don't more people become entrepreneurs? 1:08 Introduction to professor Kim Saxton. 1:29 Answering why some startups succeed and others fail. 2:35 The misconception of money. 2:48 The value of getting help. 3:12 Looking at passion for an entrepreneur. 3:49 The million-dollar idea. 4:35 The research findings. 5:15 If you ask for money you get advice (Pitbull song) 5:40 What we've learned about launching a business. 6:20 Shane and Phil wrap-up the episode. 6:59 Where to find The ROI Podcast. 7:18 Preview of the next episode: Changes in China and what it could mean for your investments. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/2T6VEJm

In Episode #1, Shane Simmons and Phil Powell introduce the world to The ROI Podcast. This podcast was built to share business insights with the world from one of the top businesses schools in the United States. This episode's main topic: How to lead a team and get results. Kelley School of Business Indianapolis professor of management Christopher Porter discusses the fascinating results of his research. Show Notes: 0:27 brief overview of The ROI Podcast. 1:10 A list of great teams like the '96-'97 Chicago Bulls, '72 Miami Dolphins and the Apollo 11 Team. 1:25 What great teams have in common. 1:40 General definition of a team leader. 02:08 Two types of team leaders. 2:35 Definition of an outcomes-based leader. 2:54 Definition of a learning-based leader. 4:10 The study's focus. 4:36 Performance-goal team with learning-based leader results. 5:20 The importance of risk taking. 5:37 How to be the best leader you can be. 6:15 Why it's a mistake to assume teams look at achievements the same way. 7:05 Stream or download The ROI Podcast on iTunes, Podbean or hub.kelley.iupui.edu. 7:19 Our next episode. ---- Do you have a question? Looking to get help on a business decision? Know a great guest for our show? Email roipod@iupui.edu so we can help your organization make better business decisions. ---- Ready to take your next step? Check out if a Kelley MBA is right for you: https://bit.ly/2T6VEJm