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BRX Pro Tip: Focus on Strengths

June 8, 2020 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: Focus on Strengths

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BRX Pro Tip: Focus on Strengths

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with BRX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, there is no shortage of counsel out there on how to be successful, how to stay sharp, but one piece that seems to have stood the test of time is this idea of focusing on strengths. Say more about that.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:21] Right. I think that people, in general, are much better served to focus on their strengths, to double and triple down on them because that’s your secret sauce. That’s the thing that makes you different and special in the marketplace. So, everybody has weaknesses. It’s important to know what they are, to acknowledge what they are, but rather than spending all this time fixing your weaknesses to make them strength, I think you’re better served by making your strengths better, learning more about whatever the thing you’re interested in and good at, becoming more and more of an expert in that area. And then, rather than fixing all your weaknesses, just shore them up or delegate them to other people rather than just spending time in areas that you get you frustrated, that you’re not great at, that you’re just kind of okay at, and you don’t really like doing. So, I think your energy and time is much better served making your strengths stronger rather than your weaknesses stronger.

Franchise Bible Coach Radio: Amy Freeman with The Spice & Tea Exchange

June 7, 2020 by angishields

Denver Business Radio

Franchise Bible Coach Radio: Amy Freeman with The Spice & Tea Exchange

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Amy Freeman is the CEO and co-founder of The Spice & Tea Exchange, a specialty retail franchise with locations across the United States, from Anchorage to Key West. Over the last decade, Amy has led the Sales Department, the Operations Department, has worked in Production, Fulfillment, Marketing, and has also become a Certified Franchise Executive. Her initiative and energy have helped move the company from a single store to over 70 locations.

The adversity Amy faced as a teenager and young adult helped shape the persevering, can-do entrepreneur she is today. Her parents divorced at a pivotal point in her life, and was left on her own having to grow up quick. Yet, Amy excelled in every position she was given. By her early 30s, she was a Corporate Sales Manager for Sheridan Hotels – learning the ins and outs of the business world with virtually no higher education behind her. In 2005, Amy stumbled upon a small specialty spice retailer and realized she could take the concept to new heights. Now, as CEO, she guides the overall vision of the company and presides over major initiatives aimed at increasing profitability.

Follow The Spice & Tea Exchange on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About the Show

The Franchise Bible Coach Radio Podcast with Rick and Rob features no-nonsense franchise industry best practices and proprietary strategies that franchisors and franchise owners can implement to improve their profitability and operational efficiencies.

Our show guests are franchise superstars and everyday heroes that share their tips for growth and strategies to survive and thrive during the current challenges.

About Your Hosts

Rick Grossman has been involved in the franchise industry since 1994. He franchised his first company and grew it to 49 locations in 19 states during the mid to late 1990s. He served as the Chief Executive Officer and primary trainer focusing on franchise owner relations and creating tools and technologies to increase franchisee success.

Rick developed and launched his second franchise organization in 2003. He led this company as the CEO and CMO growing to over 150 locations in less than three years. He developed the high tech/high touch franchise recruiting and sales system.

Both companies achieved ranking on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 List. During this period Rick served as a business and marketing consultant to small business and multimillion dollar enterprises. He also consulted with franchise owners and prospective franchisees, franchisors, and companies seeking to franchise.

Rick had the honor of working with his mentor, Erwin Keup as a contributing Author for the 7th edition of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise Bible published by Entrepreneur Press.

Mr. Grossmann has been chosen as the new Author of Franchise Bible and his 8th Edition was released worldwide in January of 2017. He currently serves as an executive coach and strategist for multiple franchise clients.

Follow Franchise Bible Coach on Facebook.

Rob Gandley has served as SeoSamba’s Vice President and Strategic Partner since 2015.

With 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship, digital marketing, sales, and technology, he continues to focus on leading the expansion of SeoSamba’s product and service capabilities and US market penetration. SeoSamba specializes in centralized marketing technology built for multi-location business models and continues to win industry awards and grow consistently year over year.

Concurrent with his work at SeoSamba, Gandley is a strategic growth consultant and CEO of FranchiseNow, a digital marketing and sales consulting firm. Gandley consults digital businesses, entrepreneurs, coaches and multi-location businesses across diverse industries. Prior to SeoSamba, he built an Internet Marketing business and platform responsible for generating over 100,000 qualified franchise development leads used by more than 400 US-based franchise brands for rapid business expansion.

Gandley also held various senior sales and management positions with IT and Internet pioneers like PSINet, AT&T, and SunGard Data Systems from (1993-2005) where he set sales records for sales and revenue growth at each company. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal Business School in 92’ with a BS degree in Finance and emphasis on Marketing.

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn.

David Aferiat with AVID Vines

June 7, 2020 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio

David Aferiat with AVID Vines

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David Aferiat started AVID Vines to solve the problems experienced the next day after celebrating – which is why our selections are characterized by lower dosage, fewer sulfates, and the highest quality and classification of juice.

AVID Vines temperature controls shipments from vineyard to destination to reinforce this approach. In fact, they call it an OCEAN of difference (TM), compared to the industrial production of the widely marketed brands, which stands for: Organic/sustainable methods, Chilled on import, Exceptionally reviewed, Artisanal, with #NoRegrets”

Connect with David on LinkedIn and follow AVID Vines on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

How AVID Vines business has been during the pandemic
The impact on champagne sales with restaurants closed or reopening for take-out and outdoor seating only
How this champagne is different than perennial favorites like Moet or Veuve Cliquot
How AVID Vines has managed the business through COVID and the tariffs beforehand

About Our Sponsor

OnPay’s payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.

Our award-winning customer service includes an accuracy guarantee, deep integrations with popular accounting software, and we’ll even enter all your employee information for you — whether you have five employees or 500. Take a closer look to see all the ways we can save you time and money in the back office.

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

TMBS E87: Suzanne Livingston IBM Food Safety, Waste

June 6, 2020 by angishields

Tucson Business Radio

TMBS E87: Suzanne Livingston IBM Food Safety, Waste

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IBM Technology Promotes Food Safety, Reduces Food Waste, and Revolutionizes the Supply Chain

More About Suzanne Livingston:
Suzanne Livingston, Director of the IBM Food Trust Network
SOCIAL MEDIA: Linkedin |

As the Director of the IBM Food Trust Network, Suzannebrings transparency, accountability, and traceability to the food supply chain using blockchain. Prior to blockchain, Suzannelaunched, and scaled new offerings for IBM, including social software, cloud collaboration, and the fintech platform for developers. Suzanne leads product management organizations with a collaborative, inclusive approach that has been on the frontlines of product management, engineering, and user experience. Suzanne founded the MIT Product Management Club, was a Product Management 101 & 102 Teaching Fellow at Harvard Business School.

World Food Safety Days, June 7, 2020, and was created by the World Health Organization (WHO) to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent detect and manage foodborne risks, and other challenges impacting global food safety. One thing many don’t realize is how common foodborne illnesses are. In fact, the WHO estimates that 1 in 10 people fall ill due to foodborne diseases each year.

(In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that roughly 48million people get sick and128,000 are hospitalized from foodborne diseases each year. Additionally, no single end-to-end view of food delivery exists, making it difficult to manage safety issues within the supply chain when contaminations like Ecoli emerge, causing costly delays and impacting public health).

IBM has found new ways to apply technology to add traceability to the food supply chain, combat foodborne illness, reduce food waste, and solve other challenges with the global food supply chain.

Blockchain technology provides solutions for a variety of issues plaguing the global food supply and the supply chain. A blockchain network can permanently store data through a growing list of records, called blocks, that are linked using written codes (cryptography), where each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data that cannot be altered. The technology could serve as an alternative to traditional paper tracking and manual inspection systems, which can leave supply chains vulnerable to inaccuracies.

For example, Kvarøy Arctic, a Norwegian salmon producer, will begin providing products to Whole Foods stores in the United States with this tracking technology via a QR code. In production, members of the supply chain will download and use an app to scan each salmon lot at each point of receipt. KvarøyArctic then can grant permission to the distributor and retail partners, allowing them to see data about the grade of feed used, the population and density of the habitats the salmon were raised in, their age, harvest date and more, helping keep suppliers, and eventually customers, more informed about where their food came from.

John Ghirardelli with Colo Atl

June 6, 2020 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio

John Ghirardelli with Colo Atl

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John Ghirardelli is Colo Atl’s General Manager. He oversees the planning and implementation of the company’s strategy and manages its overall commercial and business decisions. Mr. Ghirardelli joined Colo Atl in 2019 upon American Tower’s acquisition of the company.

He received his Bachelor of Science in finance and accounting from Georgetown University and MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.

Connect with John on LinkedIn and follow Colo Atl on LinkedIn and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

How the acquisition affected Colo Atl and the telecom industry as a whole
How Colo Atl is different from other similar providers
How the business has changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
How Colo Atl has met the needs of customers during this critical time
Colo Atl’s plans to get more involved with the greater Atlanta community

About Our Sponsor

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Franchise Bible Coach Radio: Leo Rivera with Bishops Cuts and Color

June 6, 2020 by angishields

Denver Business Radio

Franchise Bible Coach Radio: Leo Rivera with Bishops Cuts and Color

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Leo Rivera is CEO of Bishops Cuts and Color. Bishops is a unisex haircare shop established in 2001. Bishops offers a full menu of cuts, color, straight razor shaves, and facial hair grooming that will empower local residents to feel more confident in their individuality. A-la-carte pricing, an unpretentious staff, shops open 7 days a week from the early morning to the late-night, and affordability ensures that Bishops makes self-care accessible.

With a counter-cultural heritage, a contemporary aesthetic, and openness to all-ages and all-genders, Bishops is serious about hair and irreverent about most other things. This is more than a place to get a haircut, it’s a full-on experience.

Connect with Bishops on Facebook and Instagram, and get more information about their franchise opportunity here.

About the Show

Our show guests are franchise superstars and everyday heroes that share their tips for growth and strategies to survive and thrive during the current challenges.

About Your Hosts

Rick had the honor of working with his mentor, Erwin Keup as a contributing Author for the 7th edition of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise Bible published by Entrepreneur Press.

Follow Franchise Bible Coach on Facebook.

Rob Gandley has served as SeoSamba’s Vice President and Strategic Partner since 2015.

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn.

BRX Pro Tip: B2B Marketing is Different – the 4 R’s

June 6, 2020 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: B2B Marketing is Different - the 4 R's

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BRX Pro Tip: B2B Marketing is Different – the 4 R’s

B2B, Business-to-Business Marketing is different, or certainly should be — particularly when it comes to Helping People and Making Money in the professional services arena. So, I believe there are four key questions, considerations (I call them the 4 Rs) that I think we should all invest time, energy and effort in exploring before we make important B2B marketing decisions.

The first “R” is Reality, current reality. For most consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, anyone who provides specialized knowledge and expertise to serve other business people, traditional consumer marketing approaches are simply too slow, too expensive, and worst of all, they’re unpredictable. So, the first question, I believe, that we should be asking ourselves is around this idea of current reality. Is this my reality? Is this (what I’m saying) true for my business? How am I creating new opportunities now? Is it slow? Is it expensive? And are my results unpredictable?

The second “R” or the second key question to consider, I believe, is Relationships. Here, again, I submit to you that for most of us in the B2B arena, the lifeblood of our business is relationships. We don’t need 10,000 more Facebook friends, e-mail subscribers or page views. What we need, what would really move the needle in our business is 10 more genuine relationships; 10 more people who will take our call or meet with us in person; 10 more people who will approach a conversation about our products and services with an open mind; 10 more people who will go out of their way to try to help us if they can. So, the key question here for all of us, I think, is: Are relationships really the foundation of my business? How am I strengthening existing relationships? And how am I cultivating new ones?

The third “R”, the third key question, I think, the topic to consider is Readiness. Now, I spent the first 20 years of my career in the Change Management consulting business. So, I feel like I am speaking with some degree of authority when I say . . . People don’t change until they’re ready to change. Of course, there are any number of things you and I can do to increase readiness for change, including what I’m trying to do right now, right? Share a few ideas that might challenge and stimulate your thinking — and encourage you to give these ideas some genuine consideration as you explore the possibility of changing your approach to sales and marketing for your business. The key question here is: Am I ready to change? Am I dissatisfied with my current results? More importantly, am I dissatisfied enough to seriously entertain a different strategy, disrupt the pattern and do some things differently?

And then, the fourth “R” is ROI, Return On Investment. Now, I realize this may be the first and last time you ever hear anyone from the media business talk about ROI. Usually, people from traditional media want to talk about anything but ROI. Typically, they want to talk about leading indicators, or impressions, or reach, or viewers, or downloads, or demographics, or listeners or engagement . . . anything but actual Green Dollar ROI.

And unfortunately, this traditional media “razzle dazzle” focused on all of these cosmetrics (What we mean by that is Cosmetic Metrics. Just because you can count something doesn’t mean that it counts.) . . . But because of this inappropriate, we believe, focus on cosmetrics that are so prolific and so seductive, many people listening to this right now may not even know how to calculate, much less predict or intentionally create ROI.

And if that’s the case for you, please don’t be embarrassed. It’s not your fault. You probably haven’t had much practice. It’s just not a normal part of the process typically (a lot of times, with marketing period), but almost always with traditional approaches to media as a tool for marketing. But it does mean we ought to be asking some questions. The key question: What is my ROI? What should my marketing ROI be? Do I have, or should I have a marketing ROI discipline?

And marketing ROI is different. It requires a different level of diligence, attention, rigor and discipline. You think investing in options, or lamp oil, or pork bellies or anything in the financial markets is high stakes, high pressure? Consider this . . . Look, you give your stockbroker $100 or you buy an equity for $100. And then, six weeks from now, it’s worth $125. You’re up 25%. You’re up $25. Well, you hand a marketing person $100 or you put $100 in some sort of marketing strategy — and as a result you make a $25 sale, you’re not up 25%. You’re down 75%. You’re down $75. So, there’s a different degree of due diligence. There’s a different approach “soup to nuts” when it comes to planning for and creating Return On Investment from leveraging a media platform.

Now, the good news is you can far out-perform your broker in terms of ROI if you know what you’re doing and you use the media platform properly. But this ROI question is so critical, so foundational, so fundamental to using the platform to Help People and Make Money. And I think we ought to be talking a lot more about it before we ever pull the trigger on anything.

So, those are the four key questions, The 4Rs – Reality, Relationships, Readiness, and ROI. If you’d like to get together and talk about any or all of this with me personally, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can book some time that fits your calendar and mine if you just go to BookStonePhone.com.

Portia Mathis with BarBella Co

June 5, 2020 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio

Portia Mathis with BarBella Co

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Created and founded by Portia Mathis, BarBella Co. was born due to a lack of representation of women of color in the nail care industry. We primarily focus on the creation of innovative and safe nail products, which provides & creates a lasting nail experience. We want to help inspire a sociable experience!

Who said nails did not have to be FUN! Trendy colors and innovative nail products are our passion. We strive to deliver high quality, non-toxic, and at least 5-free products to nail artists/salons all over the globe.

Our goal is to redefine the status quo by diversifying the nail care industry with people in under-represented communities locally & globally.

Connect with Portia on LinkedIn and follow BarBella on Facebook.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

What inspired Portia to start her business and build her brand
The best part of being a business owner in Atlanta
Why community is an important part of entrepreneurship, especially for female and minority business owners
About Ureeka, and how has BarBella Co. been able to expand since working with them
The challenges COVID-19 has posed for BarBella Co.
The lessons COVID-19 has taught Portia as a business owner and plans to incorporate solutions into her business model moving forward

About Our Sponsor

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Franchise Bible Coach Radio: Geoff Batchelder with The Flying Locksmiths

June 5, 2020 by angishields

Denver Business Radio

Franchise Bible Coach Radio: Geoff Batchelder with The Flying Locksmiths

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Geoff Batchelder has been the franchise development manager for The Flying Locksmiths for 5 years and a franchise consultant and franchise development expert for the last 10 years, after spending 25 years focusing on business development in the high-tech industry.

Follow TFL on Facebook.

About the Show

Our show guests are franchise superstars and everyday heroes that share their tips for growth and strategies to survive and thrive during the current challenges.

About Your Hosts

Rick had the honor of working with his mentor, Erwin Keup as a contributing Author for the 7th edition of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise Bible published by Entrepreneur Press.

Follow Franchise Bible Coach on Facebook.

Rob Gandley has served as SeoSamba’s Vice President and Strategic Partner since 2015.

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn.