Radio Free Enterprise

Several weeks ago I posted a podcast on Radio Free Enterprise on the topic of Touch Marketing. The audio came from a teleseminar I had presented entitled: Touch Marketing for Real Estate.

Below is a 40-minute video of a presentation I made to a small group of successful entrepreneurs who belong to CEO Focus, led locally by DC-area business guru and consultant, Henri Schauffler. These people run businesses which generate between $2 million and $25 million in annual revenue. They get together monthly to share ideas and challenges, brainstorm and hear speakers like myself present on topics of interest.

It appeared as though those in attendance felt they got a great deal of valuable information from this presentation. I hope you will as well.

I reference a number of marketing resources in the video. Below are links to each:

Constant Contact email marketing service

SendOutCards online printing and mailing system for personalized postcards and greeting cards

AudioGenerator system for creating online “Audio Postcards”

Late last year I made a very important decision for my business. I joined BNI.

Choosing to join and completely engage in that organization has had a tremendous impact on both myself and my business. Every week I get the chance to meet and present before 35 or more of the most important and influential entrepreneurs in my town. Perhaps more importantly, I am now able to call these people my friends and partners.

One of the brightest lights shining in my local chapter is Elaine Gibson of BB EnviroSystems. She and her husband Nevin are top-producing dealers for EcoQuest International, the indoor environmental equipment company.

Elaine invited me to present to a group of over 100 other EcoQuest associates at a training event she produced locally. All of us in attendance were fortunate to hear personally from the CEO of this amazing company, Mike Jackson. It was a very high-energy event.

This week’s podcast is my presentation to the group on the topic of Education-Based Marketing. As you listen, think about the impact that my relationship with Elaine - via BNI - is having on me and my business. I’ll be talking about another amazing blessing which has come my way through BNI very shortly.

Stay tuned!

People often ask me about my background - where I cut my teeth in business. In this podcast you get a pretty clear peek at my entrepreneurial roots in the printing business.

This week I was invited to speak to the Franklin Technical Society, a group of folks involved in providing printing and information services to government agencies, corporations and other large organizations here in the Washington, DC area. It was quite a trip down memory lane.

In attendance were executives from the American Red Cross, Library of Congress, Government Printing Office, United States Army and large local printing companies including Stephenson Printing and our hosts, Goodway Graphics.

Though I spent over 25 years in the printing industry, it had been at least six since I last addressed a room full of printers and their clients. This industry has been enduring wave after wave of technological onslaught for decades. And, every time they think they can come up for air, another unforseen marketplace upheaval rocks their world.

Well before desktop publishing, optical disks, the Internet and sub-$100 desktop inkjet printers with photographic quality, printers have dealt with revolutions like the Linotype in the late 19th Century and offset printing in the mid-20th Century. The pace of change only seems to accelerate over time.

If you’d like to hear me tell some stories on myself, and learn about how one industry has continually adapted to change, give a listen to this week’s podcast. And post a comment to let me know what you think.

People often ask me what The Customer Factory is. This video provides the answer.

Over the past 33 years I’ve had the opportunity to meet, work with and present before thousands of entrepreneurs across the country. And all that time, I’ve been fascinated with what differentiates the fraction who succeed from the thousands who struggle.

In my opinion, the answer comes down to a single word: Marketing.

For most business owners, Marketing is a Mystery and Sales is a Dirty Word. I created The Customer Factory Marketing Model to help entrepreneurs make friends with Sales and understand and implement proven Marketing strategies.

The Customer Factory uses the simple illustration of an assembly line factory to put the entire Marketing process into four steps that any business owner can understand and implement.

Take a look at this video and tell me what you think.

I’m pleased to announce that I will be presenting at the Business Building Trade Show being held at the Hilton Springfield (Virginia), Friday September 22, 2006. The trade show runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and my 45-minute presentation starts at 3:00 p.m.

I’ll be teaching The Customer Factory marketing model, explaining my Four Simple Steps to Lasting Business Success to Northern Virginia entrepreneurs and showing them how they can apply this powerful formula to their own businesses to create dependable sales growth for years to come.

The Customer Factory uses the illustration of an assembly-line factory to describe the fundamentals of marketing success in just four easily comprehended steps.

Those Four Simple Steps to Lasting Business Success are:

1. Design Your Customer

2. Pick Your Production Line

3. Tool It Up

4. Turn It On

I hope to see you in Springfield on the 22nd. If you have any questions about the presentation please call me at 703-401-3170.

Click on the headline at the top of this posting for directions to the Business Building Trade Show.