Archive for the ‘Event’ Category

Every industry has important lessons for entrepreneurs — and one industry that often goes untapped, because of its complexity, is retail. That’s why for BusinessCast #159, we interview Lloyd Perlmutter — former Canadian President of retail giants including, The Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy as well as EVP for Indigo Books and Music.

Lloyd cuts through the clutter associated with industry-specific dynamics and shares his insights about how the retail industry successfully tackles key business challenges such as integrating new technology, recruiting staff and harnessing the “customer mindset”. Listen to BusinessCast #159 and you’ll get some nuggets that you can use to ensure your business’ success — regardless of your industry.

Lloyd also shares his wisdom about the retail industry regularly on his blog: www.theretailthereapist.wordpress.com.

**Recommended event for business leaders/managers: Online Marketing Summit (in Houston on July 23).**

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When we chat with North America’s business leaders, we’re always focused on identifying guiding principles and practical tactics that you, as an entrepreneur, can apply to enhance your own business success. But, our guests always have unique definitions of current success and predictions for future success.

That’s why for BusinessCast #158, we launch the first in a new series: “The BusinessCast Top 10 in 10“. In each BusinessCast Top 10 in 10, two of our guests answer 10 critical business questions in the span of just 10 minutes! For the first in this new series, we turn to two recent guests: Carl Yankowski — former CEO of Sony Electronics, Reebok and Palm as well as Steve Smith, former CEO & President of WestJet and Zip Air.

**Recommended Event for business leaders/managers: Online Marketing Summit (in Chicago on June 30).**

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Robert and I were recently asked by some of the organizers of Canada’s web conference – Mesh 2010 – to get involved in this exciting event . So, for BusinessCast #156 we sat down with one of the conference’s most anticipated keynote speakers, Arvind Rajan, Vice President, International at LinkedIn.

Of course LinkedIn is a tremendous business success story as well as a critical tool for all business managers and leaders. In BusinessCast #156 Arvind shares key business lessons that LinkedIn learned while managing its fantastic growth. At the same time, he shares insights about how entrepreneurs like you can leverage LinkedIn to build business, recruit key staff and stay ahead of the competition.

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Just like very entrepreneur, you strive to deliver exceptional customer service. But, are you creating and sustaining the right customer experience — you know, the one that truly wows your new and existing customers? To tackle this critical question — and provide some practical tips — we sat down for BusinessCast episode #155 with Stephen Smith (former President and CEO of WestJet and Zip Air).

Stephen is obsessed with ensuring that leaders cost-effectively establish and strengthen long-term profitable relationships by creating positive and consistent customer experiences. So, its no surprise that he is a strong advocate of using technologies, work processes, training and customer engagement strategies to help companies understand just how effective they are at creating positive customer experiences. Listen to BusinessCast episode #155 and build the customer experience that will be the envy of your industry and ensure your continued success.

Tools You Can Use Now: Scattered throughout BusinessCast episodes, we`ve identified several easy-to-use tools to help you get a sense of what your customers are saying about you and the experience you create for them. For example, begin by setting up a Google Alert with the name of your company. Also,  set up a Social Media Alert (from SocialMedia.com) which is just like a Google Alert but taps into the Internet`s prominent social media sites. Finally, use free Twitter search tools (e.g Twazzup) to get a read on your company in real time.

**UPCOMING EVENT FOR ENTREPRENEURS**: MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments are hosting a series of one-day seminars across North America. Check out the Online Marketing ROI conference (coming to Toronto on June 10) where you can also win an iPad.

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Six Sigma. Process Re-engineering. Continuous Improvement. Total Quality Management. Entrepreneurs have been hearing about these involved methodologies for years. And yet, many entrepreneurs are very successful without implementing any of these structured approaches for improving the performance of work processes and productivity. So, why should entrepreneurs care? We answer that question in BusinessCast #154 — The Lean Enterprise.

We sit down with Richard Shaw of the EnPower Group (enpowergroup.com) as he shares with us some guiding principles (and practical tips) that all entrepreneurs can apply for developing and honing “lean” work processes — i.e. those that are as productive as possible. Since every entrepreneur wants to minimize inefficiencies, lessons from BusinessCast #154 are business essentials.

**UPCOMING EVENT FOR ENTREPRENEURS**: MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments are hosting a series of one-day seminars across North America. Check out the Online Marketing ROI conference (coming to Toronto in June) where you can also win an iPad.

Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes