Tag: interview

Small-business Expert Interview: Peter Shankman, Founder of Help A Reporter Out

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DollarDays Blog is pleased to share the expertise of Peter Shankman, founder of Help A Reporter Out (HARO).

DollarDays Blog (DDB): Please tell us a little about yourself and HARO.

Peter Shankman: Since I founded HARO in 2008, it has become one of the fastest-growing social media companies in North America. Every day, HARO brings nearly 30,000 bloggers, reporters and journalists—over 80,000 news sources and thousands of small businesses—together to tell their stories, promote their brands, and sell their products and services.

Since its inception, HARO has published more than 60,000 journalist queries, facilitated nearly 7,000,000 media pitches, and marketed and promoted over 2,500 brands to the media, small businesses and consumers.

HARO is entirely free to sources and journalists. Unlike a majority of social media companies, HARO is independently owned and funded and has been profitable since day one. HARO’s tagline, “Everyone is an Expert at Something,” proves over and over again to be true, as thousands of new members join at helpareporter.com each week.

Beyond HARO, I would describe myself as an entrepreneur, author, speaker and worldwide connector. In addition to HARO, I am founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc., a boutique marketing and PR strategy firm located in New York City with clients worldwide.

DDB: It sounds like HARO is meant mainly for reporters. What are the advantages for small-business owners?

Shankman: HARO provides small- to midsized businesses with 75% to 80% open rates on the ads that headline each of its thrice-daily email digests containing reporter queries. HARO also helps many small businesses directly market to their key audiences and make money. Everyone who receives the HARO newsletter must opt in, meaning they choose to receive the e-mail. The advertising messages are custom written either by [myself] or by a HARO family member and present the product or service in a fun and positive light that highlights its importance and utility. Furthermore, since HARO is a digital newsletter, hyperlinks are directly embedded within the message.

DDB:How can media exposure help a small business? Do you have any success story examples from your clients?

Shankman: Media exposure pushes a product or service into the spotlight, instantly gaining consumer focus and attention. The best way to demonstrate HARO’s success is […] by citing the successes of our users.

For example, Michael Jordan, owner of BullyStickDirect.com, called the response to his ad “overwhelming” and noted that he received about a 2,000% increase in website hits the afternoon his ad appeared and into the next day. Not only was HARO the most successful advertising venue Mr. Jordan had tried, he’s also used HARO to achieve additional visibility by getting quoted in a book and major publications simply by responding to HARO queries.

Another HARO user, Jason Sadler, has called his HARO ad the “tipping point” for his website, IWearYourShirt.com. Sadler said his first ad helped him sell two- to three-months’ worth of shirts in days, moving $8,000 worth of merchandise and generating “a ton” of press exposure.

DDB:Since HARO is itself a small business, what are some of the decisions you’ve made that enable HARO to compete with larger players?

Shankman: HARO was originally conceived as a Facebook group. Since Facebook caps group emails at 1,200 people, an e-mail newsletter was started. As HARO’s readership grew, HARO realized that there was great potential to include a simple, subtle and creative ad at the top of each message. As a small business of its own (HARO has only six full-time staff members), HARO has generated $1.4 million in revenue in 14 months. By utilizing technology and automatic distribution services, HARO is able to keep its overhead low while, at the same time, continually offering high yield ROI on its ads.

DDB: What are some of the best decisions you’ve made as a small-business owner?

Shankman: Hired people whose skills complement my own, listened to people I trust [and] ignored the naysayers I didn’t, believed in my idea, [and] listened to my customers and audience—[c]onstantly.

Small-business Expert Interview: Shel Horowitz

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DollarDays Blog is pleased to share the expertise of Shel Horowitz, ethical/green-marketing expert.

DollarDays Blog (DDB): Please describe your background and business expertise in a nutshell.

Shel Horowitz: I founded my own business in 1981 with a total investment of $200, of which $12 went for initial marketing. I am still in that business, although it has morphed several times and bears no relation to its original incarnation. These days, I break down the bulk of my work into these areas:

  • Marketing consulting, strategic planning, social media/PR strategy and copywriting emphasizing frugal, ethical, green approaches. My clients are primarily authors and publishers, small or micro-businesses, and nonprofits.
  • Helping unpublished writers become published authors.
  • Writing and speaking about frugal, ethical and green marketing and/or book publishing and marketing.

DDB: You describe yourself as an ethical/green-marketing expert. How does ethical/green marketing differ from ordinary marketing?

Horowitz: Ethical marketing does not overhype or mislead. I help companies find and harness the marketing value in the green initiatives they’ve undertaken [or] could undertake.

DDB: People tend to think of “green” anything as being more expensive and more complicated. Is that the case when it comes to marketing?

Horowitz: Nope. Done right, green and ethical marketing can cost less, build customer loyalty, open doors to strategic partnerships, and even turn marketing from a cost that brings in income only from its results into an actual revenue stream that brings in income through both the marketing itself and its results. For instance, you can get paid for speaking and writing, and those activities can lead directly to attracting more clients or customers.

DDB: One of your boldest arguments is that companies shouldn’t worry about marketshare because “marketshare doesn’t matter.” How can you say this? Shouldn’t small-business people be focused on becoming major players in their market? Or is this a comforting message for small-business people who generally don’t have the lion’s share of their markets, anyway?

Horowitz: Look at it this way. There are millions of people who need quality copywriting or who are trying to organize their thoughts into a published book. I can only serve the tiniest portion of them, anyway. If my calendar is full, what does it matter how much marketshare I have? This is true for all service businesses and many product businesses. The former CEO of Southwest Airlines criticized his competitors for chasing marketshare at the expense of profitability. Maybe it’s not a surprise that his was the only airline to stay profitable in the aftermath of 9/11. And yes, I think small businesses can take comfort from that.

DDB: Next year, you have a book coming out called Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green. First of all, please explain a bit about the definition and history of guerrilla marketing. Next, what does green guerrilla marketing look like?

Horowitz: Guerrilla Marketing is a concept invented by my co-author, Jay Conrad Levinson, in the mid-1980s. It’s the idea of being nimble in our thinking and our actions, seizing opportunities that are not open to big, cumbersome organizations that lack the agility to move fast. Guerrilla marketing is cheaper, more efficient, and makes it easier to build relationships with customers.

For instance, I can demonstrate guerrilla marketing in action by seizing this opportunity to tell your readers that they can get notified when the book is available by leaving their e-mail address at guerrillamarketinggoesgreen.com.

Green guerrilla marketing takes it a step farther: as consumers become more aware of issues like climate change, buying local and so forth, they want to patronize companies that understand these green priorities. The new book shows a whole lot of ways to use green principles and commitment to ethics in order to place your company front and center in the prospect’s mind, so when that prospect is ready to become a customer, you’re the company that gets seen as green. If the customer knows your company is concerned about doing the right thing, you are well-positioned to get the sale.

DDB: You claim that businesspeople can slash their advertising costs while seeing better results. How?

Horowitz: I discuss many, many ways to do this in the book and in my individual consulting. Here’s one of my favorites: find a company or organization that already reaches your perfect audience, and show that company why they will benefit from exposing that audience to your message.

DDB: Let’s say I am a small-business person who wants to try something green in my marketing efforts, but I don’t where to begin. Where should I start, and how can I get my customers to notice and to care?

Horowitz: Start with an initiative that not only wins your customers’ hearts and minds, but also saves you money. For example, the hotel industry has successfully positioned their don’t-change-the-towels initiative as a green move, but it also gave them enormous savings on energy, water and labor costs.

Small-business Expert Interview: Ray Silverstein, Author of “The Best Secrets of Great Small Businesses”

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DollarDays Blog is pleased to present the business expertise of Ray Silverstein, author of The Best Secrets of Great Small Businesses. Silverstein has also written a new book called The Small Business Survival Guide: How to Survive (and Thrive) During Tough Times. Silverstein also founded PRO: President’s Resource Organization, a network of peer advisory boards for entrepreneurs. As the founder of PRO, Silverstein has facilitated more than 1,200 “board meetings” over the last 16 years.

DollarDays Blog (DDB): Please provide a short bio and description of PRO.

Ray Silverstein: I created PRO in 1993 based on my success participating in peer advisory boards for larger companies. I wanted to help companies in the critical transition stage of doing to managing.

PRO provides the venue for small-business executives to obtain the experience, insight, imagination and critique of experienced small-business leaders. A monthly meeting with an experienced business facilitator and business leaders concentrates on issues of concern to the attendees in running a business on a daily basis. Emphasis is placed on working on the business and not only in the business. The discussion is candid, and a camaraderie is created between the participants to help each other. Survival and success are critical items of interest to peer advisory board members.

DDB: What are some of the key messages in your new book, “The Small Business Survival Guide”?

Silverstein: Cash is king. If a company is in a survival mode, the outlook is very short term—no survival, no long term. Survival requires the business owner to take action they ordinarily do not want to take but must if they want to stay in business. This may mean cutback of personnel, and only the best should be kept.

Management should have a complete understanding of break-even and the expenses that are necessary at break-even. This means an understanding of the different type of expenses involved in operating the business.

Remember that tough economic times are also opportunities. If a company is not in a survival mode, this is a great time to improve personnel, market position and take advantage of situations.

DDB: How can profit-and-loss statements mislead you about the financial health of your organization, and how can you protect yourself by projecting cash flow needs?

Silverstein: Again, the important point to remember is that cash is king. A company can make a profit and have cash go south due to increases in inventory, fixed assets and accounts receivable. Not being able to pay vendors, financial institutions or employees due to lack of money will put you out of business.

Financial institutions like positive cash flow and collateral. If you are in a service business, there is usually a lack of salable fixed assets—therefore, no collateral to support loans, [and], [t]herefore, only the cash flow of the business will support its ongoing activity.

DDB: You’ve suggested companies can write a “love poem” to their customers to get to the front of the receivables line on collections. Are you being serious?

Silverstein: The goal is to create a relationship and differentiate yourself from others with the accounts payable people. Everyone gets tired of being badgered for payment and may look with favor to someone who takes a different tack. This method has worked and was suggested by a PRO member. But, of course, a company can always take the “hard” line.

DDB: What is the best way to tell your banker if your business is in trouble—while still preserving a good business relationship?

Silverstein: A banking relationship is built on trust. You are better off being upfront and preserving the relationship. Bankers are more apt to work with those they trust.

But just saying you are having trouble is not enough. You must also propose an action plan that will resolve the situation. The plan must not be vague but as objective and quantitative as possible. You should also try to have measurable goals you will achieve, even if it is still a loss. The bank will want to know when you expect to have positive cash flow.

DDB: What are some of the most exciting opportunities that the recession and general economic turmoil offers for small-business owners?

Silverstein: The biggest asset a business has are its people. There are a lot of great people who are looking for work. Now is a time to upgrade your people. Companies that have the cash and fortitude are in a great position to enhance marketshare. In tough times, most companies cut back on marketing, but studies show that the companies that market now will grow faster after the economy turns around.

Times like these make businesses examine what they are doing and eliminate bad habits. This is a great opportunity to look at what your business is and, more importantly, what your business should be, then create the strategies to get where you need to be.

Does any of Silverstein’s advice ring true based on your own business experiences?

Small-business Expert Interview: Joel Dubinski, Head of SMB Sales at InterCall

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DollarDays Blog is pleased to present the small business expertise of Joel Dubinski, Head of SMB Sales at InterCall, a company that offers conference call solutions for businesses, including audio conferencing, web conferencing, and video conferencing.

DollarDays Blog (DDB): Please provide a brief bio and description of your company.

Joel Dubinski: I drive InterCall’s growing small- [and] medium-sized business presence while maintaining its emphasis on [our] customers’ needs and quality of service. I oversee a team of inbound sales representatives responsible for InterCall’s online sales while also managing multiple teams that are solving the collaboration gaps of InterCall’s small- [to] medium-sized business. During my time at InterCall, I helped form a strategic partnership with Huddle, creating the world’s first unified collaboration, communication and social networking platform.

InterCall is the trusted advisor to the small- to medium-sized business owner. Our company specializes in providing a variety of toll-free audio, web and video conferencing solutions, facilitating thousands of meetings each day. Our investment in the latest technology and bridging systems enable[s] our clients to enjoy the highest level of quality and service from each and every conference call and web conference.

DDB: What is web conferencing, and how can small businesses benefit from using it to run more effective, efficient meetings?

Dubinski: Web conferencing is an essential tool for small businesses. It allows them to reach a larger customer base without increasing their overhead costs. Web conferencing can demonstrate to their audience that they are in tune with advancements in technology and are willing to use something new and innovative to increase their productivity. With the use of web conferencing, a small business can shorten their business cycle, which will lead to an overall stronger output in sales, growth and reach.

DDB: How can Web conferencing help SMBs project the image of successful, stable companies?

Dubinski: Many SMBs are startups in every sense of the word. SMB owners may be working on a shoestring budget or even working from home, all the while trying to do the best they can to generate a perception of an established business so they can compete with larger companies. A professional-looking and [professional]-sounding Web conferencing service conveys the perception of professionalism and an established business. Instead of using a sometimes-unreliable home phone, landline or mobile phone to conference multiple parties in and possibly incur static or lost connections, a Web conferencing service ensures clear, effective and efficient conference calls every time. Calls can be recorded, many parties can dial in, and video conferencing can easily be added to enhance meetings.

DDB: What are some of the lessons that InterCall has learned from providing conferencing services to small businesses over the past 15 years?

Dubinski: Personally, I have learned that some business needs do not change. Regardless of how big or small a business is, people will constantly be looking for better ways to communicate and collaborate. InterCall is unique because our mission is to help provide conferencing and collaboration services to all businesses to help them communicate more efficiently and effectively regardless of size. It is also true that although a business may start as what is labeled “SMB,” it has the potential to grow into a larger enterprise company. InterCall wants to be there every step of the way and help them achieve their success.

DDB: Are there any new, exciting developments coming down the pipeline that SMBs should know about in the Web conferencing market?

Dubinski: As Web conferencing becomes more and more evolved, the ways to communicate change—the addition of VOIP and audio broadcasting to Web conferencing solutions are becoming more popular, as are virtual webinars. As Web conferencing is becoming more and more commoditized, these enhancements will help different providers differentiate themselves.

DDB: How can SMBs choose a Web conferencing provider? What should they look for, and what questions should they ask?

Dubinski: As SMBs start to choose a Web conferencing provider, there are a few things they should be looking for. First, does the company have multiple options for Web conferencing solutions? You do not want to be pigeonholed into one platform if your needs change and evolve. Secondly, SMBs should be looking to make sure that their Web provider has a strong integration with audio conferencing, as these services complement each other. Finally, one should make sure the company is putting money back into its own products [and] services for enhancements and R&D, like InterCall does.

In regards to functionality, SMBs should be asking the following:

  1. Is it easy to use?
  2. Is there a low barrier to entry?
  3. Is it a scalable product?
  4. Is this for small collaboration groups, large webinars or both?
  5. Does it have the “core features” that almost all platforms have (Aaudio integration, app/desktop sharing, presentation uploads, chat capability, email integration)?

Those are some of the basic inquires I would be asking if I were purchasing a Web conferencing solution.

Does your company use a Web conferencing or teleconferencing product to communicate with customers, colleagues or vendors?

Small-business Expert Interview: Mark Stevens, CEO of MSCO

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DollarDays Blog is pleased to share the small business expertise of Mark Stevens, CEO of MSCO, sales columnist for Entrepreneur.com and bestselling author of Your Marketing Sucks.

DollarDays Blog (DDB): Please summarize your business expertise in a nutshell.

Mark Stevens: My expertise is to identify and address what it takes for a business to grow and to move from one level of profitable revenues to the next.

DDB: Your bio indicates [t]hat you did not attend business school, but that you got your business education on the streets of Queens. What did you learn there that helped you to succeed in business?

Stevens: The streets provide a far more enriching education than Harvard Business School. They teach you to learn from people who may not look “polished” enough to help you, to expect the unexpected, to act when your back is against the wall, to be prepared for random acts of opportunity and challenge.

DDB: Please explain your idea that less is more when it comes to advertising.

Stevens: Find a single key point about your business or product—for example, Walmart has chosen “low price leader” as its single key point—then push the accelerator on that. Avoid the temptation to tell everything about your business. The key messages will be lost in [the] fog!

DDB: You’ve achieved considerable success with your book, “Your Marketing Sucks.” What are some of the key takeaways from the book?

Stevens: Throw out the traditional marketing playbook. It was written by professors who have never marketed [or] sold anything. Most important[ly], measure everything you do in terms of revenue generation, and stop all initiatives that don’t produce measurable results. ROI is king!

DDB: Lots of people might think that the title of your new book [“God is a Salesman”] is pretty cheeky. How could an omnipotent being, Creator of the Universe, be a salesman?

Stevens: He is not really, and I address that right upfront. But he teaches us the power of belief and faith, which are both critical for every businessperson.

DDB: What is the single most important thing that every small-business person should do and why?

Stevens: Make the decision to be a big business person. Small-business people work for themselves. Big-business people build a team to work for them… and to build their wealth.

What do you think of Mark Stevens’ advice? Is less really more when it comes to marketing?

Small-business Expert Interview: Adam Ishaeik, CEO of Hunter Wellman

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DollarDays Blog is pleased to share the small business expertise of Adam Ishaeik, CEO of Hunter Wellman, a company that assists small businesses with acquiring federal contracts.

DollarDays Blog (DDB):Can you please provide some brief background on yourself and your company?

Adam Ishaeik: I have been involved with federal business development for six years. After my I received my MBA degree, I did a short stint with a large federal contractor and worked at the Department of State doing software release management, as well as proposal support tasks. I really enjoyed the business development aspects of the job. While developing small business subcontracting plans which outline how a large business will allocate work to the small business community, I realized there were a lot of small businesses that would benefit from having sales support in the Washington, D.C., area.

I broke off from the large contractor and started working with small-business vendors seeking to do business with the government. As my success as a consultant grew, I knew the best way to grow was to incorporate as a company, bring in as many agency experts as possible, and offer a full range of services to assist companies with their federal business development activities.

Thus, Hunter Wellman was born, and we are proud to announce [that] fiscal year 2009 was our best year to date.

DDB: How big is the opportunity out there to win federal contracts?

Ishaeik: The federal government is the biggest customer in the world, with a yearly budget of over $500 billion. I would say the opportunity is huge.

DDB: What kinds of businesses have a chance at winning these contracts? For instance, is federal contracting just for defense industry businesses?

Ishaeik: The government utilizes almost every type of service and product imaginable, from janitorial work to cutting edge information technology design. Every federal agency procures a wide array of services and products from the private sector. To get an idea if your service or product is in demand, simply go to www.fbo.gov and type your service or product into the search field.

DDB: What are some of the techniques and tactics that you recommend small businesses use to compete against much larger competitors in seeking federal contracts?

Ishaeik: The first item is to assess whether the federal government is a desired client. It is a labor intensive activity to break into this market; however, once entry is achieved, the company can rely on steady income as many contracts are up to five years in length.

Second, treat the government like you would any other client—with a lot more bureaucracy and red tape. The importance of building relationships with the users of your services and products, offering a unique product or service, providing competitive pricing, and all the other tried-and-true rules of effective business development all apply. The element that separates government contracting from the private sector is the existence of comprehensive rules and regulations outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the contracting offices that are set up for each agency and sub-agency engaged in private sector procurements to enforce these rules.

Third, identify agencies that procure your offerings and the program managers who represent the end users. It is critical to meet with these program managers to build trust and reduce the risk, in their mind, of sourcing their requirements to unknown entities. The best way to do this is to bring in a connected sales professional who can navigate you through these waters—competent ones run about $250K a year. If your sales budget does not accommodate this figure, contract with a company like Hunter Wellman to manage this activity for you—there are a lot of federal business development companies in the beltway, all with differing specialties that can assist your sales efforts.

Lastly, establish a contracting vehicle such as a GSA Schedule, a[n] SBA small-business certification that allows sole source procurements (i.e., 8a, HUBZONE, SDVOB) or any other MAS IDIQ (Multiple Award Schedule Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity). Having a federal contracting vehicle in hand will make your life a lot easier when dealing with the contracting officers. You can make a brilliant sale to a program manager, but when the purchase order is handed to the contracting officer and they have no vehicle to source your services, you run the risk of the program being publicly posted and attracting hundreds of competitors.

DDB: What are the opportunities for small businesses to partner with large companies to win government contracts?

Ishaeik: This is a great way to get started—partnering with a prime contractor. The opportunities are huge, but you have to bring something of value to the table. Relevant past performance is the most valuable thing you can bring. For example, if a large prime contractor is pursuing a contract with the Transportation Security Administration, the big company may seek small businesses that have experience at the agency to provide inside information and strong qualifications to their proposal. Another option is to present résumés of individuals at your small business who have experience at the targeted agency and offer their support with proposal development. If your small business pursues this option, make sure you get a legal review of the teaming and subcontractor agreements, or you run the risk of putting significant resources into helping the large company win the contract without any guaranteed work.

DDB: Finally, what is the single most important piece of advice you think small-business owners and executives need to know?

Ishaeik: Be patient, work smart, think positively and recognize the value that building relationships with government procurers can have for your business development units.

What do you think of Ishaeik’s advice? Have federal contracts been a valuable source of revenue for your small business? If not, does Ishaeik’s advice inspire you to try to capture a federal contract or partner with a larger company on work for the federal government?