tinalowe, Author at Business RadioX ® Page

Common Legal Mistakes Made by Small Business Owners, and How to Avoid Them

July 23, 2012 by tinalowe

Helen Rice, Attorney | Robison & Miller

Common legal mistakes made by small business owners, and how you can avoid them

Helen Rice is an attorney who practices primarily in the areas of estate planning, probate, guardianship, elder law, real estate, and small business law. She graduated from Furman University in 1991 and Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law in 1994, and she is admitted to practice law in Georgia and Tennessee. Helen became an attorney because she genuinely enjoys helping people to solve and avoid problems. She began her career working with the disaster assistance branch of the Small Business Administration (SBA) for over seven years. She later served as general counsel to a privately held group of financial services companies with multiple domestic and international offices. She has written and presented proposed laws for passage in the Georgia legislature, and she authored a set of financial services regulations that were adopted by the Prime Minister of Belize in 2008 relating to international commerce. She now works with the small firm of Robinson & Miller in Alpharetta, where she is able to form a personal relationship with each client, getting to know people and situations in depth in order to make custom tailored recommendations. Helen prepares wills, trusts, advance directives for health care, family limited partnerships, powers of attorney, operating agreements, and related documents for individuals, families, and small businesses in order to protect their assets, minimize tax liability, and make sure that their wishes – however simple or complex – are fulfilled no matter what circumstances may arise in their lives.

770-817-4999 | hrice@robinsonmiller.com | @robinsonmiller | www.robinsonmiller.com

Making The Transition From Manager To Leader

July 23, 2012 by tinalowe

Randy Goruk, President | LeadersEdge360.com

Making The Transition From Manager To Leader

Management isn’t leadership and for many managers making the transition to leader isn’t as easy as it appears. The competencies and practices that leaders must develop are different than the competencies and practices of a manager. We will discuss:

• the primary differences between management and leadership

• the most critical leadership core competencies required in today’s new reality of constant change and uncertainty

• the common mistakes new managers make in transition to becoming a leader

Listen to hear concrete strategies to help you cross the bridge from being a manager to becoming an exceptional leader.

Randy Goruk is a seasoned business leader with over 35 years of proven success in sales, marketing and executive leadership. He has primarily served in key leadership positions across North America for Trus Joist – A Weyerhaeuser Business, most notably as the President of Trus Joist Canada, and Sr. Vice President of North American Residential Operations.

678.566.3576 | randy@LeadersEdge360.com | http://www.LeadersEdge360.com | @RandyGoruk

Master Your Prospecting Cycle | 2012 Small Business of the Year

July 16, 2012 by tinalowe

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Mike Scher, President | Frontline Selling

One of the biggest issues facing sales organizations today is identifying net new sales opportunities. One of the main causes can be traced back to the fact that the sales organization is not engaging in enough meaningful business conversations with the right people at the right level in order to uncover those opportunities.

FRONTLINE Selling helps organizations master their prospecting cycle to uncover net new sales cycles. We use a methodology based approach and proprietary technology to identify the right executive, gain access to that executive and to engage effectively in those first meaningful business conversations. We deliver our solutions either as an outsource service and/or as a skills development partner. Either way, our clients experience game changing impact on their sales pipeline.

As a skills development partner, we teach our proven methods to our clients’ inside/outside sales people, as an outsourced service we create Meaningful Interactions on behalf of our clients, and as a technology provider we assist with adoption and lead management.

mscher@frontlineselling.com | http://www.frontlineselling.com | @frontlinemike

Tony De Feria, President | T De Feria Media

Winner of the 2012 Small Business of the Year Award

Tony De Feria is a senior media executive with extensive experience leading print and on line products. As an industry expert in “niche markets,” he led major initiatives including those targeting the growing Hispanic population. Tony’s unique 360° expertise offers business and marketing acumen in fulfillment of global expansion goals in consumer, media and rapidly growing business in all markets. Tony’s skills are further enhanced by his ability to speak, read and write Spanish fluently. He started tdeferiamedia in February 2007.

As part of a joint venture between tdeferiamedia, inc. and Appen Newspapers, Tony served as on site General Manager overseeing advertising, the newsroom, operations, technology and on line initiatives. He helped set the strategic direction for the entire company and in little over a year, re-engineered the entire operation to improve productivity, systems and conceptualized Northside Woman, a monthly publication and website, which was profitable from the start.

As Director of Consumer Marketing and Communications for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tony oversaw the newspaper’s branding efforts and was concurrently charged with evaluating Hispanic opportunities for the company. He played a critical role in the acquisition of MundoHispánico, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the Southeast by The AJC in May 2004. Post acquisition, Tony was promoted to Executive Vice President of Mundo. His leadership in creating cross-selling links to the AJC increased revenue by $700,000 per year and 65% over a twenty-four month period.

Previously Tony served as The AJC’s Creative Director and Assistant Managing Editor for Graphics and Photography where he implemented significant improvement to processes including coordination of the newspaper’s page-size reduction project yielding significant savings in newsprint costs, new advertising opportunities and vastly improved processes. He led the scripting of coding that yielded automation of datelines saving hundreds of man-hours. Under his leadership, The AJC was awarded dozens of awards and received special recognition for Olympic body of work by The Society of Newspaper Design.

Prior to coming to Atlanta, Tony served as Co-design Director-Graphics Editor of The Baltimore Sun. As The Sun’s first Graphics Editor he introduced visual journalism and computer graphics. Tony’s career began as an artist trainee and Assistant Art Director/Graphics at The Washington Times.

His graphics, illustrations and designs have been recognized by national and international design organizations such as The Society of News Design, American Cartographic Association, The Associated Press, American Institute of Graphic Arts and Time Magazine.

As a speaker, Tony has given lectures at The Poynter Institute, American Press Institute, NEXPO, Associated Press and The University of Georgia. He’s also taught courses at The Art Institute, Maryland College of Art and The Portfolio Center in Atlanta. As a consultant, he has helped publications in the U.S., Spain and Eastern Europe.

Tony is or has been an active member of the National Association of Minority Media Executives, International Newspaper Marketing Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, The Latin American Association and Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He served on the Board of Directors of The Boys and Girls Clubs of Atlanta, Atlanta’s Tony-award winning Alliance Theatre and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta helping coordinate Latino outreach programs.

404.630.0639 | tony@tdeferiamedia.com | http://www.tdeferiamedia.com/

In the World of Business, It’s Adapt or Die

July 16, 2012 by tinalowe

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Brad Childress, Partner | TechCXO

Adapt or Die

In the world of Business-to-Business commerce, professional sales is changing because buying is changing. Buyers still need salespeople to help, but if all you are providing is product information and price they don’t need you.

Brad is a highly accomplished senior-level professional offering comprehensive background in company operations with deep leadership experience in global sales and marketing, product and services management, financial management, strategic planning and implementation. He has proven success in developing effective product and technology strategies in the software industry to drive profitable operations and integrating successful sales and marketing plans to accelerate and maximize revenue growth and profits. Brad is skilled at establishing programs to ensure improvement in customer experience through sales effectiveness, executive selling and communication initiatives to support overall company goals and achievement.

Brad’s consulting and sales execution credentials include his role of President and COO of The Complex Sale, a global sales effectiveness consulting and training firm focused on the sales and marketing challenges of B2B selling helping companies drive revenue utilizing sales process, sales strategy, and messaging, which are critical in creating a competitive advantage.

Brad also used his knowledge of what makes salespeople “tick” to lead the successful development and implementation of a a pioneering effort in the integration of methodology and technology or sales effectiveness. Brad spearheaded the development and launch of the Global Planning for Sales (GPS) product suite of sales planning tools that integrate with major CRM systems which became the fastest growing segment of the business. Additionally, Brad effectively managed the company’s largest account (Oracle), which resulted in generating millions of dollars of revenue and 400 percent increase in overall company revenue from 1995 to 2000.

Brad’s corporate career includes his most recent role as EVP, Sales at nuBridges, an enterprise software company providing technology solutions for extended enterprises that share sensitive data and face complex security and compliance mandates In this role Brad exceeded plan in all revenue areas in 2010, notably grew software business by 29% year over year, increased average deal size by over 50%, successfully developed and implemented recruiting, hiring and onboarding processes for sales resulting in 50% increase in time-toeffectiveness for new sales team members, implemented a forecasting methodology resulting in greater accuracy in predicting revenue for license sales and adopted strategic sales approach resulting in higher win ratio and increase in average deal size. The culmination of these efforts led to a very profitable and successful exit through acquisition by Liaison Technologies.

Prior corporate executive management roles include Vice President & General Manager, D&B Software, where Brad directed all functional areas related to sales, professional services and support for the largest region in the company, significantly exceeding its established annual goal and recognized as the Number One Region in the company. Also significant during Brad’s tenure at DBS was his role as Vice President, Solutions Marketing. In this role he led the development of a global solutions strategy where his team developed a comprehensive product I solution marketing approach that led in the integration of all functions of the company including design, development, product certification and launch.

Brad has a B.S. from Georgia Tech, is a guest speaker at the Georgia Tech School of Management, and program facilitator for Georgia Techs’ Executive Program.

4043860132 | brad.childress@techcxo.com | www.techcxo.com

Brian Sholly, CMO | Chief Outsiders

The Fractional CMO – A New Way To Grow Your Company

Chief Outsiders provides part-time marketing executives to growth and mid-sized businesses for a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Most companies have focused the past few years on operational efficiency to survive. Now, as focus returns to growth, many companies lack the skills and resources to drive knowledge based, efficient growth strategies. Rather than take the significant financial risk to hire a seasoned senior marketing executive, companies can now engage a fractional CMO. We will talk about how fractional executives work – and how it can help you grow your business.

A global leader with a strong growth record in software, technology, consumer products and start-up organizations, Brian Sholly is passionate about building businesses. Sholly has proven his ability to drive growth and profitability at companies such as Procter & Gamble, GTE (Verizon) and his own start-up business. He defines aggressive but disciplined strategies and builds outstanding teams to establish share, volume and profitability growth quickly and efficiently. Sholly has established a strong reputation for his outstanding interpersonal skills, strategic thinking, leadership, collaboration and ethics.

Most recently, Sholly drove his division at Kaplan Learning Technologies from $5 million in revenue to more than $19 million. His two international acquisitions, internal B2B direct sales expansion, and key partnership development transformed the business from a stagnant IT test prep business into a global enterprise software company in the US, South Africa, England and Australia. Sholly also led the development of an innovative new technology called “PerformIT,” which delivers performance-based testing in a scalable, global platform. This technology is now being tested by two Fortune 50 software and Internet search companies. In late 2011/early 2012, Sholly led the successful sale of the division.

In his 15-plus years of senior level marketing at Procter and Gamble, GTE (Verizon) and Qwest, Sholly drove numerous innovative businesses-building programs. For Qwest he quickly turned around an underperforming $800M wireless business by redesigning the pricing strategy and prioritizing feature initiatives — reducing total price plans by over 30% and product features by 69% while delivering more than $8.5M in annual savings. At GTE (Verizon), Sholly pioneered GTE’s entry into e-commerce while leading a total marketing budget of over $160M for the Wireless, Small Business, CLEC and Internet divisions. He also led a national GTE agency review that yielded $10.5 million in annual savings.

At Procter and Gamble Sholly achieved a consistent record of share, revenue and profit growth for such products as Oil of Olay, Clearasil, Crest Complete, and Denture Care products. As brand manager of Denture Care products, Sholly managed the P&Ls of five separate brands with total revenue exceeding $75 million. In two years, he quadrupled total brand profits while increasing market share from 33% to a record 44%. He was awarded the coveted P&G World Class Advertising Award and the Health Care World Class Advertising Award for two consecutive years. Sholly was nominated to participate in the exclusive Agency Internship program where he worked on a creative ad team at a New York ad agency. Here he became the first P&G intern to successfully develop and sell a national ad campaign.

In addition to his experiences with large companies, Sholly also understands the unique challenges of building a successful small business, having successfully founded, built and sold his own start-up firm. He holds a BA degree from Grace College and an MBA from Ohio State University, where he graduated with top honors.

770-598-5445 | bsholly@chiefoutsiders.com | www.chiefoutsiders.com | @bsholly

The Cloud – Mobile Marketing – Fleet Management

July 16, 2012 by tinalowe

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Steven Eppinger, President & CEO | Ownersite Technologies

Managing fleet assets from the cloud with Ownersite

Ownersite Technologies, whose customers have maintained nearly 250 million miles of records using our solution, provides comprehensive web-based and mobile solutions to enhance the safety, reliability and value of its customers’ personal and commercial assets and vehicles. Our low cost asset management tools put the advantages usually reserved for large fleet owners into the hands of small business owners for a fraction of the cost. Ownersite.com is distributed directly to businesses and consumers online as well as through our channel of financial service and insurance providers, automotive service shops, and enthusiast networks. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Roswell, GA, Ownersite Technologies is privately-held.

Steven Eppinger is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ownersite Technologies, a personal asset management software company, whose products include Ownersite and Home Ownersite. Ownersite and Home Ownersite provide consumers with the Internet’s most comprehensive tools for managing all aspects of the ownership lifecycle of their vehicles and homes.

An Internet entrepreneur by trade, Steve earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from New York University. A brief stint in software service and sales following graduation led him to predict that the web would become the world’s greatest marketing and social networking tool.

It was with this vision that he created, in 1996, the framework for what would become F150online.com, now the largest late-model F-150 site on the Internet. F150online.com draws in excess of 300,000 unique visitors through over 3,000,000 page views each month and provided Steve with several CRM consulting opportunities with Ford Motor Company. In April 2007, Internet Brands purchased F150online.com and Steve’s exclusive focus became Ownersite Technologies.

A frequent speaker on industry trends, Steve was recently featured as a the keynote speaker on consumer solutions at the Jefferson Parish Hurricane Preparedness Expo in the New Orleans area, where he spoke about the importance of home inventories and the safe and secure storage of important home documents.

Born and raised in Danbury, CT, Steve currently lives with his wife Christine and their son in Roswell, GA. In addition to improving his golf handicap, Steve is currently training to earn his private pilot’s license. Steve also spends much of his time studying up on the business and financial aspects of the automotive industry and is an active member of the Roswell United Methodist Church, as well as several charitable organizations.

404-402-7117 | seppinger@ownersite.com | www.ownersite.com

Larry Block, President | Mobile Marketing Technologies

Mobile Marketing Technologies combines an entrepreneurial spirit; a deep fascination with and understanding of mobile communications; and a fierce commitment to client satisfaction to provide creative, value-added, single-source solutions to companies looking to more effectively, efficiently, and affordably communicate with their prospects, clients, employees, and the public in general.

Our mission is to make Mobile Martketing Technologies brand synonymous with innovation and quality. We want to be an integral part of our customers’ lives, providing exceptional and memorable experiences with their mobile phones. By recognizing, valuing and responding to their needs.

Our goal is to empower consumer-facing companies to take advantage of wireless as a content delivery, marketing and communications channel. We want to become the link between the physical world – the world around us – and the digital world. Everything in the physical world has an electronic link, somewhere.

404 775-7982 | info@rutxting.com | www.rutexting.com

Helping Franchisors in their struggle to know how their Franchisees are really doing!

June 27, 2012 by tinalowe

Jerry Bell, CEO | ZeeWise

Franchisors have very little insight into the performance of their Franchisees. ZeeWise’s patented software enables powerful business intelligence similar to that available to the Fortune 500, for the first time to the franchise community.

Jerry Bell has a long and distinguished career in the Franchising industry. Jerry spent 15 years with The Coca-Cola Company including service as an International Division VP. He also served as President of the Far East for Campbell Soup. He later spent 7 years at AFC Enterprises as a Division Chief Operating Officer creating the International Divisions of 2 separate companies, Cinnabon and Seattle’s Best Coffee, which he subsequently merged and grew from 30 to 400 franchised units in 40 countries.

Jerry joined ZeeWise in 2005 as a Senior Advisor and member of the Board of Directors and was later appointed CEO in 2006. ZeeWise’s customers include such noted Franchisors as: TGIFriday’s, FastSigns, Oreck Vacuums, Focus Brands International, Right-At-Home and many others. Jerry has been associated with the franchise community for over 30 years and is an active member of the IFA, where he has served for many years as a business roundtable chair. Jerry received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard University.

678-252-6844 | jbell@zeewise.com

Connecting Small Businesses

June 21, 2012 by tinalowe

Robert Hilburn, President | GnatWork Networks

From Cloud Computing to Security- New Basics in IT for Small Businesses

Questions and answers about cloud services have many small businesses or startup companies unsure of the best decisions for their IT structure. We will go through some steps that can help with making some decisions on new cloud technologies, company security, and ongoing IT management.

In 2001, after working as a support engineer and consultant for over 20 years, Robert Hilburn started GnatWork Networks to help bring technologies that were fiancially or technically out of reach for small to medium size businesses. Robert directed GnatWork in acquiring business from two failing IT support companies and building customer bases in medical, legal, and financial practices around the Southeastern United States.

Robert received a degree in Management and two minors in Psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned an MBA from Mercer University’s Stetson School of Business and Economics receiving both Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi honors.

678-417-9885 | robert@gnatwork.com | www.gnatwork.com | @gnatwork

Pamela Adams | The BizLynks Center

Where Businesses Go To Connect

Entrepreneurs. Freelancers. Consultants. Mobile professionals. Industrialists. Whatever the title, when it comes down to making business happen, numerous small business owners opt to bypass their home office or the expense of brick-and-mortar storefronts for the convenience of public Wi-Fi hotspots at coffee shops and bookstores. However, public may be too public…from loud background music and the chatty baristas to the librarian’s continuous reminder of the “Quiet, please!” sign.

The nation’s economic rollercoaster has made many rethink business expenditures, especially fancy “virtual” offices – matchbox spaces that too often feature more fees and isolated workspace. Sure, you may have a hi-rise downtown address, but is it worth it if you can’t afford the office space and office supplies?

What’s a successful business owner to do? Coworking spaces provide an opportunity for small business owners to mix work and business collaborations in a professional environment designed with them in mind. Coworking builds a community of focused, business-oriented people who desire increased productivity and networking. The BizLynks Center was born out of the desire to offer small businesses and mobile professionals a “work, learn, play” environment where they can work for themselves but not by themselves.

Pamela Adams is a technology strategist, trainer, speaker, author and the owner of BizLynks Consulting Group, LLC, an Atlanta-based technology consulting firm. With a career that spans over 20 years in Information Technology and Internet marketing strategies, explaining the technical to the “technically-challenged” is what she does best. In keeping with her tagline, Linking Technology to Business Growth, Pamela’s mission is to help businesses increase their productivity and sales through the effective use of technology. As a serial entrepreneur, in June 2011, she opened The BizLynks Center, a world-class meeting, training and social workspace that offers business and personal development workshops, networking and social events and a coworking community where professionals can work without the overhead of leasing and maintaining an office suite. Pam served as the Regional Development Director for Constant Contact from 2007 – 2011, and during that time, presented to over 14,000 seminar and conference attendees. She continues to provide email marketing workshops and boot camps, speaks regularly at conferences and offers email campaign management services and consulting as a Constant Contact Solution Provider & Local Expert. She has designed programs and trained numerous small businesses, entrepreneurs, associations and non profits on how to enhance and improve their businesses through innovative and affordable Internet marketing strategies. With a heart for God and a passion for helping others connect with that still small voice within, R. Pamela has also complied some of the most moving messages circulated online in recent year in her inspirational gift book, “God is in Your Inbox.” She serves as the Minister of Business Affairs at DaySpring International Ministries, Inc., is a member of Women About Biz and is a 2005 & 2011 Turknett Leadership Character award nominee. Pamela, a native of Hinesville, GA, graduated from Emory University with a Math and Computer Science degree and a Psychology minor.

678-825-5201 | rpamela@thebizlynkscenter.com | www.thebizlynkscenter.com | @bizlynkscenter

Extend the life of your IT infrastructure

June 21, 2012 by tinalowe

Todd Bone, Founder | XS International, Inc.

Forrester Research reports that 76% of the total corporate IT budget is allocated to maintenance, operations and support. Yet, most companies do not plan for this when making IT acquisitions. XS International, Inc. shows companies how to cut these costs while extending the life of the initial IT purchase. Todd Bone has founded five IT related companies including XS International, AvarSYS and MaxCommerce. His two current companies sell IT services to commercial accounts and to the Federal Government. Todd is actively involved in the Entrepreneur’s Organization which has 8500 members worldwide. He has served on the Atlanta EO Board for 8 years, was President in 2010 and recently chaired EO’s regional conference in Atlanta for 420 members from the Eastern U.S. Todd makes wine as his hobby.

6785374108 | tbone@xsnet.com | www.xsnet.com | @xsinternational

Human Capital | Finding the Right People and Motivating Them

June 11, 2012 by tinalowe

George Horrigan, Founder and CEO | Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc.

Work Less, Make More and Have Fun in Your Business

A typical business owner has expectations for today, hopes for tomorrow and dreams for down the road for their business. However most business owners say to themselves, this is the business I have, these are my hopes and dreams for my business, here is where I am at, there is where I want to go; how do I get from here to there?

Complicating this is that for many business owners there is a chasm between the business they actually have and the business of their dreams.

George Horrigan, Founder and CEO of Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc. will show you step by step how to build a bridge across this chasm to your hopes and dreams for your business.

George will discuss his forthcoming book Thriving Businesses, which guides you in creating a successful, thriving, and immensely profitable business. The book Thriving Businesses provides you with a systematic, structured approach that enables you to eliminate the trial and error, guesswork, and uncertainty involved in growing your business and increasing its profitability.

770-642-4220 | george.horrigan@gotofcg.com | gotofcg.com

Robert Vale, CEO | ClearStar

ClearStar has served the human capital management industry with background check and drug test technology and services since 1995. Organizations select ClearStar due to our advanced technological and data security capabilities, our dedication to service, quality and compliance, and our deep subject matter knowledge.

Our team of experts are experienced with designing systems to maximize operating efficiencies and enhance workflow, providing enterprise-level system support, building seamless systems integrations, providing high-level data security, complying with state and federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) laws; administering regulated and non-regulated corporate drug testing programs; and providing and processing high-volume, high-quality record and verification services at the lowest possible price.

Our Aurora technology platform is HR-XML Consortium certified and seamlessly pre-integrated with a large and growing list of ATS/HRIS. We empower our clients to control the user experience with innovative development tools like Web services, Web Application Programming Interface (Web API) and shared source code.

At ClearStar, our culture is built on trust, transparency and truthful representations. We operate by the credo of doing what it takes to make our world safer. We do this by securely providing our clients with the technology, services and information they need to ensure the best possible hiring decision are made.

ClearStar is a four-time Inc. 5000 honoree.

678.679.0662 | http://www.clearstarlogistics.net