Archive for the ‘Growth’ Category
Seth Godin and the Art of Marketing
Seth Godin is probably best known for being the father of “permission marketing”. But, he’s also the World’s most renown marketing “thinker”. His books are international best sellers and senior marketers from across every industry flock to listen to his provocative analysis, insights and predictions. In BusinessCast episode #144, we caught up with Seth at the Art of Marketing conference in Toronto.
As the chosen podcast media guest and sponsor, we also gathered key insights from the event’s other leading speakers/authors, Max Lenderman and Frances Cole Jones.
If you missed out on the Art of Marketing event, watch out for the eMetrics Summit — touring the World’s major centers. The conference remains the gold standard for helping entrepreneurs get a handle on measuring the business value of the Internet’s many platforms (e.g. websites, email, social media and podcasts) and popular tools (e.g. Twitter, YouTube, etc.).
Choosing the Right Buyer
You’re being courted by a handful of companies that want to purchase your business. Wow! That’s an exciting scenario that many entrepreneurs strive for and consider essential validation that they’ve been successful.
But, the truth is that rather than being an easy destination in itself, this is a critical cross-roads that takes a great deal of determination, patience and focus. The countless number of issues that you need to address include:
- How do you choose between potential buyers?
- Is this the right time to sell?
- What’s your role going to be once the purchase is complete?
- What are your key measures of a success?
- When should you walk away from the deal?
- Who should you involve in the selling process?
- What are the likely surprises that you’ll face?
To get the answers to these questions in BusinessCast #142, we interview Chris Carder, President of Thindata 1:1 — one of North America’s leaders in multi-channel and database-driven marketing solutions.
In March of 2008, Transcontinental purchased the company that Chris and his partners built. So, in BusinessCast #142 Chris provides practical hands-on insights and candidly shares his pre-purchase concerns and post-purchase lessons. This is essential listening for any entrepreneur who ever thinks about selling their company.
*A reminder of upcoming (Toronto) events critical for all business leaders:
- The Art of Marketing (March, 2010)
- Emetrics Marketing Optimization Summit (April, 2010)
The Boss’s Survival Guide
In BusinessCast episode #141, internationally renowned business author Bob Rosner sits down with Robert and me to share insights from his updated best seller, “The Boss’s Survival Guide“. Always presented with a great sense of humour, Bob’s advice ranges from the contentious to the sublime.
But, whatever type of business you are leading, chances are you’ll find at least one practical business nugget that you can begin implementing tomorrow in BusinessCast episode #141.
*Reminder of upcoming (Toronto) events critical for all business leaders:
- The Art of Marketing (March, 2010)
- Emetrics Marketing Optimization Summit (April, 2010)
A New Breed of Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs are evolving — successfully adopting new business models, new technologies and finding new ways of penetrating markets. That’s why in BusinessCast #140, Robert and I sat down with Jessica Herrin, Founder and CEO of Stella & Dot. Jessica is a successful serial entrepreneur perhaps best known for building and growing The Wedding Channel.
Well, Jessica’s entrepreneurial acumen is back in full force with Stella & Dot — a wildly successful direct sales business that has grown quickly and profitably by anyone’s definition. In practical terms that means she’s seen her workforce grow to over 5000 engaged, committed and enthusiastic members (called “Stylists”) in under three years! Much of this success is because Stella & Dot has tapped into, and enabled, a new breed of entrepreneur.
Then we spoke to one Toronto-based “Stylist” to get the inside scoop into this new breed of entrepreneur. The findings are inspiring for any business leader and manager!
Listen to BusinessCast #140 and you’ll learn some of the keys to Stella & Dot’s rapid success. Then, visit Stella & Dot as well as the website of our guest stylist to see how Stella & Dot actively uses social media and web technologies to support their growing workforce.
Finally, using the latest Internet technologies and tools is a critical part of Stella & Dot. But, if you’re like most entrepreneurs, you need to get a handle on some key online metrics before truly optimizing your online/social media efforts. In just a few weeks, many of North America’s leaders in “e-metrics” will gather in Toronto to share their insights and stories for entrepreneurs at the Emetrics Summit. Robert and I will be there as accredited members of the media. Let us know if you plan to attend and we’ll meet up.
Managing the Numbers
“FINANCIAL NUMBERS“. Even the mention of the phrase can frustrate the most intrepid entrepreneur. The sheer abundance and sources of critical financially-relevant data in (and around a) business is often difficult to identify, never mind interpret. But, entrepreneurs need to acquire some dexterity in financial numbers to be successful. So where do you begin? After all, you’re running your business, looking for growth opportunities, putting out fires, establishing strategic partnerships and constantly updating your business strategies.
That’s where our special guest comes in for BusinessCast episode #139. Intuit’s senior marketer Barb Anderson provides insight on the first step of successfully working with financial data: managing the numbers. Barb taps into a wide community of growth-focused companies of all shapes, sizes, ages and industries. She shares very practical tips on how to get a handle on your financial data so that you can make better and faster decisions.
Complimenting Barb’s insights on how to manage the numbers, check out BusinessCast episode #98 — Financial Intelligence — where we interview the author of the book for quickly getting comfortable with interpreting financial data. Together, these two episodes give you insights and resources that will increase your financial skills and confidence.