On this edition of DeKalb Business Today, host Matt Holmes looks at ways to grow and maximize your business with marketing guru Diane Conklin, as well as Earl and Danielle Walker of Image 360 Tucker. We also go behind the scenes at one of Metro Atlanta’s fastest-growing colleges, talking with Cynthia Dorsey Edwards of Georgia Piedmont Technical College.
Diane Conklin/President & Founder of Complete Marketing Systems
Diane Conklin is an internationally known author, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, marketing and business strategist, implementation specialist and speaker. Diane is a direct response marketing expert who specializes in showing business owners how to integrate their online and offline marketing strategies, media and message, to get maximum results from their marketing dollars.
Diane also shows entrepreneurs and small business owners how to outperform their competition by measuring their marketing, and strategically use multi-media campaigns to stand alone in their marketplace as the go-to provider for their products and services.
As the founder of Complete Marketing Systems, Diane and has been involved in numerous campaigns grossing over $1,000,000.00 several times in her career and routinely helps people grow businesses to 6 figures, and beyond, in short periods of time, several times in as little as 90 days.
As a speaker, Diane has shared the stage with the likes of Barbara Corcoran, Joan Rivers, George Foreman, Cal Ripken, Jr., Harry Dent, Marie Forleo and many others. Diane was voted Glazer-Kennedy Marketer of the Year for her innovative marketing strategies and campaigns and was nominated for Atlanta Business Woman of the Year.
Earl & Danielle Walker/Image 360-Tucker
Image360 – Tucker provides specialized graphic solutions to businesses and organizations. From the small and unassuming to the vast and complex, their team of professionals works closely with customers to maximize the creativity and visual impact of multi-use signage, custom banners, environmental graphics, mobile advertising, wayfinding signage systems and illuminated displays. By combining the familiarity and cost effectiveness of a local graphics expert with the resourcefulness of a network with hundreds of partners, Image360 – Tucker assures a best-in-class solution every time.
Serving Tucker and surrounding regions for over 15 years, Image360 brings a fresh approach to professional graphic solutions with enhanced customer service to the area. They’ve served clients such as Grecian Gyro, Silverman Construction Program Management, DeKalb County Government, The Ministers Council, ABCUSA and Burlington Coat Factory.
Cynthia Dorsey Edwards, Vice President of Community Engagement & Public Affairs for Georgia Piedmont Technical College
With convenient locations, the HOPE Program, and a warranty, Georgia Piedmont Technical College is committed to preparing students for successful careers and maximizing student success.
Established in 1961, Georgia Piedmont Technical College is one of the oldest and most respected of Georgia’s 33 technical colleges. Recognized for our student-centered atmosphere, Georgia Piedmont Technical College prepares individuals with the education, training, and skills to enter the workplace ready to make a difference in their hiring companies and in the ever changing global economy.
Residents of DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton, and Morgan counties have the opportunity to attend classes at one of two campuses and five centers conveniently located throughout the service area. Georgia Piedmont Technical College provides real-world skills for rewarding careers. In fiscal year 2010, the College served 24,590 students and conferred 1,118 awards to graduates earning associate degrees, diplomas and technical certificates of credit. Graduates have a 99 percent job placement rate with 69 percent graduate placement in jobs in or related to their program of study or in further education.
The best kept secret in Georgia is the HOPE Program. HOPE, Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally, provides financial assistance for students to enter and to complete associate degree, diploma, and certificate programs as follows: HOPE scholarships assist students in associate degree programs (“B” average required); HOPE grants assist students in diploma and certificate programs (“B” average not required), and HOPE vouchers assist GED graduates to enter postsecondary technical education.
Our programs are guaranteed. Curriculum standards have been developed with direct involvement of business and industry. These standards serve as the industry-validated specifications for each occupational program. “If one of our graduates educated under a standard program or his/her employer finds that the graduate is deficient in one or more competencies as defined in the standards, the technical college will retrain the employee at no instructional cost to the employee or the employer.” This guarantee is in effect for a period of two years after graduation.
Students also have the opportunity to accelerate the power of their resume with membership in campus clubs and organizations. With opportunities ranging from the chess club to the international honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, Georgia Piedmont Technical College students can easily fulfill their need to serve and be recognized. When a prospective employer sees Student Government Association on a resume, they know the applicant is a team player with experience in getting things done.
The Georgia Piedmont Technical College adult education program is one of the largest adult and international literacy programs in the state. Programs and services offered include adult basic reduction (ABE), GED preparation and testing, English literacy programs (ELP), and citizenship education (EL/Civics) and are offered at 18 convenient locations throughout the four-county service area.
Georgia Piedmont Technical College is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, a unified system of technical education, custom business and industry training and adult education. Our programs use the best available technology and offer easy access to lifelong learning for all Georgians. This system is part of a seamless education process for Georgia in which students can transfer credits efficiently as they advance from secondary schools to technical colleges and to the colleges and universities within the University System of Georgia.