Midtown Business Radio Archives - Page 5 of 6

Experiential Marketing

February 24, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Experiential Marketing

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Experiential Marketing

This week I sat down with experiential marketing expert, Stu Sheldon of Escalate. Stu spent several years building brands for Coca Cola, including Mello Yello. Like that refrigerator pack your 12 pack comes in? Coca Cola introduced that idea and tested it with the Mello Yello brand with impressive success. Stu shared some excellent information about the difference between paid advertising campaigns and experiential marketing.

In an economy where every dollar counts, companies that are seeking to increase frequency a customer purchases their product or service as well as adding new customers can often gain greater results through an experiential marketing approach. Stu talked about the fact that even in situations where a company has an advertising agency that has produced creative material, Escalate can collaborate with company and agency to build on what has been created to “Make it come to life”.

Stu explained that while even a small company can benefit from experiential marketing, they typically work with mid-sized to large companies seeking to expand brand awareness. They have an impressive list of success stories from Coca Cola to non-profit organizations. Check out this great episode–I think you’ll find it both informative and interesting!

Special Guest:

Stuart Sheldon, Chief Advocacy Officer at Escalate

BA, English and Journalism, Washington and Lee University
Former Senior Brand Manager, Coca Cola Company
Founder and Former Evangelist Prime, ConnectUs Marketing
2006 Coca-Cola North America Big, Bold & Inspiring Marketing award; Coca-Cola Worldwide Marketing Excellence award finalist.

Correctional Medicine – Top Docs Radio

February 12, 2015 by angishields

Top Docs Radio

Correctional Medicine - Top Docs Radio

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Correctional Medicine

This week we continued our monthly series with Medical Association of Georgia. I sat down with MAG CEO/Executive Director, Donald Palmisano, Jr., and Director of Correctional Medicine, Clyde Maxwell. We talked about how MAG became involved with accreditation of numerous correctional medicine facilities in the state of Georgia.

MAG created its Correctional Medicine Committee in 1975 – following the prison riots in Attica, New York, and just before Georgia State Prison was placed under the jurisdiction of the federal courts for maintaining health care facilities that violated a constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The committee was charged with “studying and recommending ways to improve the delivery of health care in non-federal prisons in Georgia.”

MAG developed standards for evaluating health care in jails and prisons in the state as part of a national initiative; these evolved into the standards that are now used by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

In 1982, MAG developed legislation to establish an accreditation program for health care for correctional facilities in Georgia. The state began funding the program in 1983, and MAG subsequently started charging application fees for site accreditation visits.

The Medical College of Georgia assumed responsibility for the health services contract for state prisons in the 1990s.

MAG currently surveys eight county jails and 33 state prisons.

A number of major deficiencies have been corrected at jails and prisons in the state as a result of MAG’s site accreditation visits, including some that were related to…

Physician and nurse licensure
Physician and nurse CPR/ACLS certification
Expired pharmaceuticals
Needle and narcotics security
Nurse call systems
Inmate physicals
Mandatory CQI and infection control meetings

Special Guests:

Donald Palmisano, CEO, Executive Director of Medical Association of Georgia

JD Law, Loyola School of Law
Board of Directors, Physician Advocacy Institute
Medical Payment Subcommitte Member, State Board of Workers’ Compensation
Treasurer, Board of Directors, Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine
Former Director, Government Relations/General Counsel/Director, GAMPAC

Clyde Maxwell, Director of Correctional Medicine of Medical Association of Georgia

Masters, Hospital Administration, Baylor University
Certified Correctional Health Professional
Active duty in the Medical Service Corps for more than 20 years
Designed the “Quick Reaction Hospital” that is used to respond to natural disasters through much of the world

SoundRiver Advisors and Emerging Artist Network

February 3, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

SoundRiver Advisors and Emerging Artist Network

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SoundRiver Advisors and Emerging Artist Network

This week we sat down with experts from SoundRiver Advisors and Emerging Artist Network. Bo Wilkins, one of the experts from SoundRiver Advisors who focuses on insurance strategies and solutions came back on and introduced us to Dave Sutton of Emerging Artist Network. Dave brought along his partner, well-known guitarist, Peter Stroud. SoundRiver Advisors is an Atlanta firm whose team is made up of investment finance, insurance, and tax experts. They work with privately-held companies to help them plan compensation packages for key executives as well as position themselves for generational transition.

Bo introduced me to Dave Sutton, who along with Peter Stroud and Dan Lipson, had started a technology company called Emerging Artist Network. With his extensive background as a marketing expert with TopRight Partners charged with helping companies expand their brands’ awareness, he saw an opportunity to fill a void in the entertainment industry. Dave has leveraged this experience with brand development and marketing with a passion for music to help develop a technology platform that utilizes a collection of data points about emerging bands as well as brands. The data enables Emerging Artist Network to use gamification and analytics to match brands seeking to grow to emerging artists whose data profile and band dynamic matches the picture for that particular brand. Peter Stroud has been a touring musician with a long list of artists such as Sheryl Crow, Sara McLaughlin, Don Henley, Peter Droge, and numerous others. He co-founded the boutique amplifier company, “65amps“, whose amps are used by a host of accomplished artists as well.

Dave and Peter talked about how challenging the music business is now for artists to make money on their music, outside of touring. In today’s digital age that has changed the way fans purchase music, royalties have declined significantly. That means emerging artists must look for sources of revenue to support their creative efforts and recording costs through such channels as strategic relationships with brands willing to sponsor their work. Peter talked about how securing sponsorship has often had a negative stigma in the music industry among artists, being viewed as “Selling out”. Emerging Artist Network seeks to get to know a band, their style/genre, and their listeners and using innovative algorithms, they’re able to match artists with brands who are looking to include musical acts in their brand awareness campaigns. As Peter and Dave described, they seek to let the bands they work with be who they are rather than seeking to change them to fit a sponsor. I look forward to having them back on the show to feature a delighted brand they were able to link up with a band.

Special Guests

Bo Wilkins, Partner, SoundRiver Advisors

Former Executive Managing Director, Wealth Management, Reliance Trust Company
Former Partner, Nease, Lagana, Eden, & Culley
BA, History & German, Hampden-Sydney College
CLU – Chartered Life Underwriter; ChFC – Chartered Financial Consultant; CAP – Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy

Dave Sutton, CEO/Co-Founder of Emerging Artist Network

MBA, Marketing, George Washington University
Published Author
President/CEO, TopRight Partners

Peter Stroud, Co-Founder/ Artist Relations of Emerging Artist Network

Guitarist, Musical Director for Sheryl Crow
Co-Founder/Partner, 65amps
Founder of the band, Big Hat

Profitability Revolution Paradigm

January 20, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Profitability Revolution Paradigm

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Profitability Revolution Paradigm

This week we hosted Ruth King, CEO/Founder of Profitability Revolution Paradigm, a New Media, internet-based TV station in the Atlanta area. The focus of the content, which now runs 24/7/365, is on information that will help business owners better manage their small businesses and achieve maximum profitability. Ruth, who has started and built at least 7 businesses over the last 30 years, shared common mistakes and misperceptions business owners have that can leave them blind to the true financial status of their companies. One of these mistakes occurs when business owners don’t review their balance sheet each month to insure data is correctly entered and key financial indicators are showing positive trends. By performing this simple procedure, which literally takes minutes, the entrepreneur can identify negative trends or opportunities to improve efficiencies that lead to greater profitability.

Ruth talked about her book, The Courage to Be Profitable, published in 2013. In her book she shows entrepreneurs the activities they should make routine that will take them ~30 mins./month that will make them better able to make decisions about their business. She covers the difference between cash and profits, talks about important ratios found on the Profit & Loss sheet or Balance sheet that indicate the health of the business, and many other important factors that a business own can benefit from knowing about. Ruth shared some descriptions of the types of shows airing on the network as well as the subscription-based instructional content available on their site, profitabilityrevolution.com.

Special Guest:

Ruth King, CEO/Founder of Profitability Revolution Paradigm

MBA, Finance, Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson College of Business
CEO, Business Ventures Corporation
Author, The Courage to be Profitable
Founder of 7 businesses over 30 years

Government Contractors Association, Modavate, Amyra Tutoring Services, and SuiteLife Systems

December 30, 2014 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Government Contractors Association, Modavate, Amyra Tutoring Services, and SuiteLife Systems

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Government Contractors Association, Modavate, Amyra Tutoring Services, and SuiteLife Systems

I got to sit down with experts from Government Contractors Association, Modavate, Amyra Tutoring Services, and SuiteLife Systems this week. Recently on LinkedIn I read a great post by Abe Xiong, of Government Contractors Association. I related to much he shared in his article about his pleasant surprise encounter with a stranger who had hit his car while he was on a trip. The stranger who had bumped his fender was kind enough to leave their contact number and had already contacted their insurance company about the incident when he called. I thought it was a great story to share and that inspired me to look into what Government Contractors Association was all about. Given their expertise in the steps required to secure a contract with a government agency I thought it would be great to have him join us on the show. Abe shared some excellent information about the association and if you have a business that has a potential to grow through doing business with the government (as Abe points out, the largest customer in the world), membership with Government Contractors Association is a must. They provide coaching along the way and serve up an array of tips and information that increase the likelihood a company can successfully do business with a government agency.

Abe introduced us to Buki Opanuga, of Modavate. They’re a digital marketing and technology company. They help businesses develop a plan for and executing a marketing strategy across the full gamut of digital platforms. Their suite of services includes web design, SEO, SEM, social media marketing, and more. They work with a wide range of companies and even organizations such as CDC. Buki talked about how Modavate came to be and how they had hoped to grow by expanding to include government agencies as clients. She linked up with Government Contractors Association and took advantage of the helpful services they provide, ultmately becoming 8(a) Certified, which has lead to even more opportunity. She gives some great advice for business owners thinking about vying for a government contract.

Barbara Culp, of Amyra Tutorial Services, also a member of GCA and benefactor of their expertise, joined us to talk about their K-12 tutoring services. She shared how she became inspired to open her business and the meaning behind the name she chose. It’s clear she has a passion for helping children learn and now, by being able to effectively engage with the public school system, she is starting to see great potential for her company to grow.

Kenny Miller is the National Director of Sales for SuiteLife Systems. They offer a software solution that gives an enterprise a platform through which they can monitor mission-critical equipment for trouble in an effective, easy-to-use interface that lets their users achieve efficiencies in how they monitor/react to problems, and even how they consume power. Data their solution provides empowers users to moderate the way they manage their power consumption in ways that lead to substantial cost savings overnight. SuiteLife Systems solutions make sense for a wide variety of enterprises and even organizations like schools and churches that have large operations and/or media networks/content generation services.

Special Guests:

Abe Xiong, President of Government Contractors Association

Bachelors, Business Management, Minor in Leadership, Shorter College
Former President/Founder, Metro Furniture
Co-Founder, Fmr. President, Government Business Consultants
Fluent, Hmong

Buki Opanuga, CEO/Digital Marketing Strategist of Modavate

Masters, Internet Marketing, San Francisco University
Former Product Support Specialist, Onity
Successful Freelance Web Designer
Second Language, Yoruba

Barbara Culp, President of Amyra Tutorial Services

Certified National Trainer, Time To Teach
Former Clinical Supervisor, School of Education, Brenau University
Retired Principal, Atlanta Public Schools
MA, Education, Clark University

Kenny Miller, National Director of Sales of SuiteLife Systems and NFB Consulting

Former Senior Account Manager, Comprehensive Technical Group
Former Manager, Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers
Former Senior Account Manager, Niche Video Products

Escalate

December 23, 2014 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Escalate

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Escalate

This week I sat down with Chief Advocacy Officer, Stuart Sheldon, of Escalate. He talked about how Escalate delivers measurable value to their clients through two core Marketing competencies:

1. Experiential – Engage consumers/customers directly, through all five senses + emotion

2. Word-of-Mouth (including Social Media) – Who says what about you, and how can you get involved in the conversation?

as we engage people with meaningful, authentic brand experiences that begin and sustain brand love, amongst your raving fans…and beyond.

Why is it crucial? Because successful brands clearly can’t build brand loyalty (or a sustainable business) with just traditional marketing & media strategies and tactics when:

• An average consumer sees 3,000+ marketing messages a day

• 76% of consumers don’t believe companies tell the truth in ads

• 78% of consumers claim to trust information from other consumers more than any advertising source

• 19% of purchase decisions made only on personal recommendation, 86% at least partially

• Experiential + Word Of Mouth marketing efforts can deliver purchase intent as high as +60% vs. traditional efforts

While many of the firm’s clients are medium to large companies they also have success stories about small businesses they have helped to improve the way they engage their prospective customers, leading to growing sales.

Special Guest:

Stuart Sheldon, Chief Advocacy Officer at Escalate

BA, English and Journalism, Washington and Lee University
Former Senior Brand Manager, Coca Cola Company
Founder and Former Evangelist Prime, ConnectUs Marketing
2006 Coca-Cola North America Big, Bold & Inspiring Marketing award; Coca-Cola Worldwide Marketing Excellence award finalist.

Three Fantastic Female Entrepreneurs

December 16, 2014 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Three Fantastic Female Entrepreneurs

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Three Fantastic Female Entrepreneurs

This week I got to sit down with Three Fantastic Entrepreneurs from the Atlanta area. Diana Keough, CEO and founder of ShareWIK Media Group (Share What I Know), LeeAnn Maxwell, Co-Founder of Vixen Vodka, and Lara Hodgson, multiple-time successful entrepreneur and CEO/Founder of NOWaccount. We talked about some of the challenges they faced as women launching their own businesses, hear what they believe helped them succeed as entrepreneurs, and advice they offer for women contemplating starting a business of their own. For the longest time most of us would envision a man when thinking “CEO” or “Doctor”, or even “Entrepreneur”. And, as our guests shared, many times they’re the only female CEO/Entrepreneur in a room full of men. Times are slowly but surely changing. And today many women are launching successful brands and businesses, some of which are now global brands.

ShareWIK Media Group is a licensed content-generating group, producing high quality, interesting content across all media types for use in population health management efforts, inbound marketing/branding, testimonial content, and pertinent health optimization content. Diana talked about her transition from a journalist for the Plains Dealer newspaper to a Chief Executive Officer in a leadership role. She says, “If you are not surrounding yourself with people who are better than you and open to the fact that you might be wrong; or they might have a better idea on how to do things, then you’re not going to grow.” Over the weeks since I met Diana I’ve had the opportunity to meet several of the folks who make up the team at ShareWIK and seen some of their work. I can tell you: if your organization or agency needs to move an initiative or your business forward and you rely heavily on engaging your target audience to drive awareness you MUST include ShareWIK Media Group on your shortlist of content providers. At their core, the people at ShareWIK Media Group are journalists with expertise across all media types. On top of journalistic skills they bring knowledge and expertise within the healthcare journalism space as well.

Vixen Vodka is an EXCELLENT vodka that was born out of a trip to St. Simons Island, GA where two friends, drinking cocktails by the pool, decided they should launch their own vodka, branded and tailored for women. As LeeAnn says, “We came home, sobered up, and remembered it was a great idea.” “A dream without action is merely a fantasy.” It took them 2 years from beach to shelf. She shared how she and her good friend (also a woman) broke into the spirits business, starting with ZERO knowledge of how to make vodka much less how to bring one to market. After being told her idea was fantastic by a business consultant he turned around and told them, “I’ll never work. The spirits industry is a Good Ol’ Boys network. Those men will chew you up and spit you out!” That was several years ago and now the brand is adding more states to the seven states where they’re currently sold.

NOWaccount got started as a solution to a problem Lara Hodgson encountered as an entrepreneur with an earlier business, the impact of not having access to cash that is tied up holding unpaid invoices, particularly when they aged for several weeks (or more). She firmly believes that a successful business needs to have people behind them who are providing the product/service to solve a particular problem for their customer more so than “to sell lots of ‘X’ and make lots of money because it’s a great product”. She said, “So many people come up with a great idea and they fall in love with the ‘What’. They fall in love with the widget or the product. And if your ego and your passion is in the product then they are going to woefully un-deliver. But if your ego and your passion are in the “So What?” and the impact and the problem you’re solving then the sky’s the limit.” NOWaccount is a merchant services company that provides the B2B company with access to capital by selling slower-paying invoice accounts within 2-5 days for basically the same cost as accepting a credit card. Their solution is invisible to their client’s customers, has no minimum time commitment, and includes only those accounts selected by the B2B they’re helping. The NOWaccount option gives businesses the capital they need to accept larger orders, add staff, often enabling them grow larger and faster than was possible before.

Special Guests:

Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation

MBA Harvard Business School
Former Adjunct Professor of Finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
Board of Directors, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Owner, Insomnia Group
Chairman of the Board, Atlanta Heights Charter School
Second Language–Japanese

Diana Keough, CEO/Founder of ShareWIK.com

Journalism Instructor/Guest Lecturer, Emory University
Member, Koles College of Business Advisory Board, Kennsaw State University
Former Front Page Series Writer, The Plain Dealer
Former Reporter/Commentator, WKSU
Co-author, “Building a Business, Building a Life: The Incredible Life of a Woman Business Owner”

LeeAnn Maxwell, CEO/Co-Founder of Vixen Vodka

28 years experience in finance sector
former Director, Client Services of AccousTech Music Productions
Crossfit fan
50% Firecracker
50% Do-It-Yourself Woman

CimCo, Voice At Large, and Fountainhead Consulting Group

December 9, 2014 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

CimCo, Voice At Large, and Fountainhead Consulting Group

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CimCo, Voice At Large, and Fountainhead Consulting Group

This week we sat down with B2B experts from CimCo, Voice At Large, and Fountainhead Consulting Group. Bill Plunk and wife, Deidre, founded CimCo Commercial Collections. After teaching in public school for a number of years, Bill made a professional change and entered the banking world. Early on he was tasked with collecting money on loan accounts that were delinquent. Prior to this assignment he had received no training in how to conduct collections calls so he decided he would try to do so in a manner he would hope someone would use if they called HIM to collect on a debt. It quickly became apparent his approach to contacting persons and businesses behind on payments was very effective. He was able to bring many accounts current that had been months (or more) behind, avoiding significant write-offs. He ultimately broke off and started his own company, CimCo Commercial Collections, providing the same courteous, respectful service to his clients and their delinquent customers. His typical results bring resolution on delinquent accounts within 90 days. And his approach to collections has inspired several of the businesses he was collecting on to become customers themselves; a true testament to how he goes about this challenging business.

Bill was kind enough to introduce us to our other guests, Randy Reeves and George Horrigan of Fountainhead Consulting Group. Randy comes from a long background as a dj and voice talent in broadcast radio, spending time in a number of radio stations. He saw an opportunity to become an independent voice actor for stations and various advertisers and for the last few years he has done just that. Listening to the broadcast it’s quickly apparent he has a voice that lends itself to radio and voice over functions. Along with a voice with qualities that make it right for voice talent work, he also brings a pleasant, professional demeanor, making him a great choice as a business partner for the company seeking voice-over talent.

George Horrigan is Founder and CEO of Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc. which provides consultations on a full range of business planning and operation issues thus enabling you to “Work Less, Make More and Have Fun in Your Business” (the title of his soon-to-be-released book). George has personally has started and operated seven companies and understands the mindset and mentality of an entrepreneur thus giving him both professional and personal perspectives on creating a thriving business. From his over 25 years of experience of being a CPA and a business planner he has a proven track record of showing people step by step, how to grow and take their businesses to the next level by eliminating the guesswork, trial and error, and uncertainty that plague so many business owners. George also introduced us to his book, “Creating a Thriving Business”, aimed at helping the entrepreneurs reading it to do just that by addressing several key data points and strategies that he believes are vital to a successful business venture.

Special Guests:

Bill and Diedre Plunk of CimCo Commercial Collections

BS in Education, Minor in Business, Northeastern State University
Former Teacher and Coach, Oklahoma Public Schools
Board Member, River of Praise Ministries

Randy Reeves of Voice At Large

Can be heard frequently on Adult Contemporary and Country Stations
Voice talent for numerous TV and Radio ads
Recently ranked #14 on Benztown’s Top 50 Biggest Radio Voices of 2014

George Horrigan, Founder and CEO of Fountainhead Consulting Group

BBA Accounting, Cleveland State University
MS, Financial Information Systems, Cleveland State University
Author, “Creating a Thriving Business” and “Work Less, Make More, and Have Fun In Your Business”
Former Director of Information Systems, BET
Former Financial Services Consulting Manager, HBO & Company

Payscape Advisors

December 2, 2014 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Payscape Advisors

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Payscape Advisors

According to the Atlanta Metro Chamber, “Georgia is 3^rd in the nation, just behind New York and California in FinTech revenue. Georgia FinTech companies have produced more than $83 billion of shareholder value since 1995 and revenues are more than $34 billion annually. Wages in Atlanta’s financial and IT industry are lower than competitive markets. Here, there is a convergence of three key sectors: finance, IT, and software, all of which have a strong presence in Atlanta, along with an abundant IT, software and financial labor force.”

Today I got to sit down with 3 of the folks on the team from Payscape Advisors, an Atlanta company through and through that is an important player in those amazing statistics. I was joined by Rachel Lawrence, Technology Integration Specialists, Hunter Hudson, Director of Business Development, and Zach Wing, Product Manager. Hunter Hudson has been with Payscape Advisors for a number of years and he shared the story of how Payscape Advisors was started and launched by two Atlanta residents, Jeremy Wing and Adam Bloomston. They have since grown the company to include offices in 13 cities nationwide that also has clients and partners around the globe. The company initially focused on payment processing but saw opportunities to expand their suite of services to include point-of-sale processing, access to working capital, SaaS services including Reg Point and Billing Orchard, international payment processing, web development for eCommerce sites (including compliant payment features) and more. The company has striven to provide the gamut of services to merchants

As Hunter described why they’re different than many of the other merchant services companies out there, “We do have those feet on the street. We have a team. We have somebody you can call. You’re gonna call their cellphone and you’ll have their email address. We’re not just a 1-800 number. You’re gonna have someone who’s going to be there for you.” He went on to talk about the different service options they provide and how they collaborate with SaaS developers to provide the payment interface for their applications, enabling them to provide a more desirable, robust product to their users.

We talked about the innovative user registration software they make available to groups such as camps and other large events that provides a secure way for attendees to sign up and enter sensitive information and provide payment. The company also offers several avenues for companies to access working capital when bank loans are not readily available.

As I sat with these 3 experts it was clear that they all share a passion for what they’re doing and take pride in engaging their clients and partners with a personable, professional approach with the goal of forging long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships.

Special Guests: Payscape Advisors

Rachel Lawrence, Technology Integration Specialist, Payscape Advisors