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Veteran Owned Small Businesses

September 22, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Veteran Owned Small Businesses

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Veteran Owned Small Businesses

This week I was joined in studio by friend of the show, Lara Hodgson, CEO of NOWaccount. We focused this episode on veteran owned small businesses. Lara introduced us to Kit Walker, a combat-disabled veteran who started his own small business, EBS-4U, after spending several years in the corporate world.

His company provides professional cleaning services for businesses and has begun to expand into construction clean-up. After completing certification as a minority business enterprise and combat-disabled veteran, Kit began to expand his business through fulfilling federal contract opportunities.

We also met Melinda Coker, of Small Business Access Partners, of Gainesville, GA. This non-profit organization works with small business owners, helping them get access to available small business loans for their particular needs.

In our discussion on veteran owned businesses, Melinda explained there are numerous options for business owners today, and shared some information about veteran owned businesses.

Coker explained a resource available through the Veterans Administration. If you go to the VA’s website which is va.gov and click on the resources link and then select businesses, there are several helpful links for veteran small business owners who are seeking financing for their businesses.

VA’s website also allows business owners to customize their search criteria by zip code to find financing options applicable to their area of operation. SBA’s website also has a special tool now for small business owners known as SBA Linc that allows small business owners to fill out a survey for the financing they are looking for and then SBA distributes that information to a network of lenders who can then

respond based on the financing need requested. The applicant is also provided the contact information for the lenders interested in their request.

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

Kit Walker, CEO/Founder of EBS-4U

MBA, Management & Organizational Behavior, Woodbury University
Combat-wounded veteran
Previous VP Relationship Manager, Bank of America
Former Consultant, Migration Project Partner, Wells Fargo Bank

Melinda Coker, of Small Business Access Partners

Pay Per Click Advertising

March 7, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Pay Per Click Advertising

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Pay Per Click Advertising

This week I caught up with Eric Jones from Jellyfish, the digital strategy experts. We talked about Pay Per Click Advertising, mistakes that can be made, things to think about when planning your campaign, and why it makes sense to work with experts such as those at Jellyfish to engage in a digital marketing campaign that employs pay per click advertising.

Having tried our hand at DIY Google AdWords campaigns that quickly cost us $$$ while getting us no conversions, our business can surely say there is value to working with experts who can guide you and help you spend wisely. Eric talked about the value of analytics to track the effects of a given campaign, as well as why it’s important to consider the page on your website the ads direct your prospective customers to.

Eric shed some light on how the bidding process works in determining where your ads will rank, ultimately controlling where your ads will be displayed (1st page?, top of 1st page? etc). We talked about how when there is much competition for a given set of keywords the cost per click can rise significantly, so advertisers must be prepared for that.

I also discussed some guests who have been on the show before that our listeners could benefit from getting to know. I’m planning to incorporate some occasional shout-outs to be sure the companies who need their solutions can link up with them. We hope you enjoy our show and subscribe to the podcast. Let us hear from you with feedback, guest recommendations, and where you’re listening from. If you tweet us questions or put them up on Facebook we’ll try to get them on the air and/or follow up with the guests after the fact to get you answers. Thank you for listening to us! Looking forward to 5000 downloads!

Special Guest

Eric Jones VP, Client Strategy with Jellyfish

CEO, Avenue J Development LLC
Previous Board of Directors member, Toolbank Baltimore
>10 years in leadership roles in digital strategy/marketing companies

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

HEAR LARA’S FULL INTERVIEW HERE

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

LeeAnn Maxwell, CEO/Co-Founder of Vixen Vodka

HEAR LEEANN’S FULL INTERVIEW HERE

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

Jesus Ricardo (Rick) Tapia, Founder of La Bodega International, LLC and Creator of J.R. Revelry

17 years of experience in alcohol beverage industry
Successful entrepreneur
Actively involved in the community, supporting Hispanic and Latin American Chambers of Commerce
BA, Boston University
Speaks Fluent Spanish

Ron Herman, CEO of SionicMobile

HEAR RON’S FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Founder and Former CEO, Urban Informatics Corporation
>19 years of Executive Leadership roles in Technology Start-up to Fortune 500 Companies
Former CEO, Intellione Technologies

Mario Montag, CEO, Co-founder of Predikto Analytics

HEAR MARIO’S FULL INTERVIEW HERE

> 15 years of experience developing transformational technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies
Former Director, North America Oracle Master Data Management practice
MBA, IT, and International Business, Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson College of Business
Fluent in Spanish

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

Small Business Administration

February 10, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Small Business Administration

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Small Business Administration

This week I hosted Small Business Administration’s Southeast Regional Administrator, Cassius Butts and Sherry Kinard, Vice President and Manager of Government Guaranteed Lending of Brand Bank. They came by the studio to talk about their State of the Region event held the previous week where they shared information about the variety of indicators that show the economy of the Southeast is on the rise.

As the SBA’s media announcement of the State of the Region Address announcement quoted Cassius, “I am honored to present the SBA Inaugural State of the Region Address. This regional event is timely and encouraging to our economy as we have backed $4.5 billion in loans in the Southeast Region this past fiscal year. Our financial economic forecast looks promising and I am excited to portray where we are now and how we plan to influence our small businesses and lending institutions looking forward,” says Regional Administrator Butts. The regional address will present successes and new data from Region IV of the SBA: Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Sherry talked about how Brand Bank partners with Small Business Administration to help small businesses gain access to capital needed to make their businesses run. We talked about the variety of mentoring services available for entrepreneurs that will link them up with experienced, successful business executives who can help them craft an effective business plan and insure they have their proposal in order before seeking a small business loan.

We’re pleased to support the business community by giving them a voice in the media through which they can tell their stories and move their businesses forward. And we are happy to collaborate with the Small Business Administration to help them share information that can help entrepreneurs gain access to resources (many of which are free of charge) that can help them have a greater chance of succeeding.

Special Guests:

Cassius Butts, Regional Administrator, Small Business Administration’s Southeastern Region

Masters, Public Administration, Urban Administration, Clark Atlanta University
Fellowship, Presidential Management Fellow, US Office of Personnel Management
Advisor, South Cobb Redevelopment Council
Former Branch Chief, Real Estate Division, US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Sherry Kinard, VP and Manager of Government Guaranteed Lending, Brand Bank