5/25/10: Jacqui Chew Talks Marketing Strategy, Mike Schinkel and Marna Friedman on The Business of WordPress Conference
Jacqui Chew of iFusion Marketing
GFR interviewed Jacqui Chew of iFusion Marketing today. Jacqui is an expert on developing and executing go-to-market strategies for emerging and established brand that produce results. During her career, Jacqui has accumulated 15 years of experience delivering multi-channel marketing, public relations and business development programs to global companies in the enterprise software, Internet, information security and consumer products and services sectors. Previously, she held leadership positions at CoreCard Software, Manning, Selvage & Lee, PeopleSoft, Silverpop and Stonesoft. She has also consulted at such Fortune 1000 businesses as Chupa Chups USA, eBay, IBM e-Business Services and SSL International. Jacqui had some great advice for startups and small businesses. Definitely listen to the interview.
Mike Schinkel
Next up we were joined by Mike Schinkel and Marna Friedman. They are the organizers of The Business of WordPress Conference coming up on June 22-23rd. We talked a little bit
Marna Friedman
about why WordPress is such a great platform and content management system for small business owners. The Business Of WordPress Conference is for non-technical business people who need a marketing roadmap for improving their organization’s web presence and who have chosen or are evaluating WordPress for their web platform. Find out more about what is being offered at this great conference or visit their website for more information.
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5/18/10: Andrea Arena shows us how to be in “2 Places at 1 Time,” Johnny Knatt prepares us for the new the new Avatar work culture and Chris Colston has advice for tech businesses
We had an ACTION PACKED show this week! Three great guests, and three great insights on how entrepreneurs can build successful businesses.
First up was Andrea Arena, owner of 2 Places at 1 Time, a corporate concierge serving cities throughout the U.S. and Canada — and she started the whole thing (literally) from her car. And what was the big “ah-ha” revelation that propelled her from local entrepreneur to national multimillion dollar enterprise? Instead of selling her service to individuals, she went direct to large corporate clients and convinced them to offer her service as a benefit to employees, making them more productive during the business day. As a secondary market, she also offers her services as a loyalty program for companies serving high net worth clients. Andrea’s business is the perfect example of how taking an existing, proven business model and giving it a little “tweak” can equate to incredible success.
Johnny Knatt is one of the principles at ODHR Consultants and works with companies on a lot of HR-related activities. The focus of our discussion though was on personnel development, building an organization that fosters the right kind of culture in an increasingly virtual workplace. It’s also very important, according to Johnny, that companies work hard to build cultures that are not only willing to change but also encourage change. This interview is an absolute MUST listen for anyone who is in a management role in their business.
Batting third on GFR was Chris Colston, who has spent his career working in management roles in large technology businesses. Now an entrepreneur, Chris has started his own firm, the BizTech Group, whose objective is to bring multiple technology businesses together for mutual gain. His group of tech entrepreneurs and managers meets once a week and Chris and his partners use the sessions to facilitate group mentoring, networking and accountability. Chris acknowledged that a lot of technology firms keep themselves in “silos”, isolating themselves from the business world at large and Chris is looking to change that, one group of businesspeople at a time.
Thanks to all our incredible guests for joining us this week!
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5/11/10: Brand Strategy with Dorian Usherwood
This week we were joined by Dorian Usherwood of branding consultancy Dauhaus and he offered some insights on branding. The first great tip he gave was that good brands are based on a solid foundation of values; branding can’t be faked and it can be difficult to try to impart a deeper meaning on a brand after the fact.
The worst mistake you can make when naming your company? Dorian says it’s never a good idea to give your business a name just because it sounds cool, or because you like it. There needs to be a connection between your name and your brand and what you are trying to achieve as a business.
This was a terrific show and thanks so much to Dorian for taking the time to join us!
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05/04/10: Personal Branding with David Cohen and the Atlanta Street Food Coalition
What is a personal brand and why do you need one? That’s what we asked David Cohen of Equation Arts who is an expert on personal branding. The reality is that you have a personal brand whether you know it or not. The question is, “What are you doing to highlight the positive traits of that brand while downplaying your shortcomings?” Nobody’s perfect after all. David offered some great insight about what people can do to promote themselves and get to do more of what they like doing and less of what they dislike doing. We also talked about the difference between your professional and personal brand and how the two intersect. He had some great free advice as well which is “Be yourself.” Like us, David is a big fan of authenticity. He thinks people need to be themselves but obviously the best version of themselves that they can be. Definitely listen to this interview. Great advice for all of us!
Next up we were joined by Hayley Richardson and Greg Smith, founders of the Atlanta Street Food Coalition. Both Erik and I are huge street food fans but the only problem is we can’t get good street food in our own city (legally, anyway)! Street food has been around forever but there’s a new breed of street vendors popping up around the country that are serving up not only gourmet cuisine but healthy, locally-grown produce as well as creative entrees and desserts. Many of them have large numbers of fans who follow them (literally) as they post their whereabouts on sites like Twitter and Facebook. In an economic climate where opening a restaurant might be out of the question, a food truck is a more affordable alternative. We 
really hope Hayley and Greg get some help with their efforts. They’ve only been around four months but Hayley said that there is a lot of interest. While they wait on the laws to change, they’ve begun organizing events around the city on private property. They just had an “Urban Picnic” at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market downtown. For more information, follow the Atlanta Street Food Coalition on Twitter or Facebook and via their website. We really enjoyed having them on the show! Thanks, guys! :)
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